Hybrid Performance Performance Research Women

Detailed Information

Project Date

June 2022

Auntie was a performance inspired by BBC archives from the 1960s written by Mandy Redvers-Rowe and Collective Encounters’ Women in Action group.

The Show

Welcome to Auntie’s Roadshow, an interactive multi-media show that will take you on a journey through lost BBC archives to reflect on the progress of women’s rights from the 1960s to the present day. Hosted by the enthusiastic Auntie, the show celebrates women who went against the grain of society’s expectations, exploring the experience of 1960s societal change using actual documentary footage, satirical dramatisations of archive material and personal reflections from women representing different generations, cultural backgrounds, and experiences. Alongside Auntie you’ll meet a group of feisty women from the 1960s, a troupe of modern-day actors performing a host of humorous sketches, and a couple of researchers ready to bring some historical perspective and a touch of healthy cynicism to proceedings. There will also be opportunities for you to share your own experiences and responses to the material.

The Archive Material

Archive material was shared from the following BBC programmes. Those with links can be viewed on the BBC Archive website. Other material was based on ‘lost broadcasts’ – meaning there is no recording available. Due to copyright restrictions we are unable to share the other archive items online.

Panorama: Family Budgets, broadcast on 9 December 1957
BBC Homemaker Competition, broadcast in 1961
Woman’s Hour: Dropping in at a meeting of the Family Planning Association, broadcast on 20 October 1960
Man Alive: Living in Sin, broadcast on 2 March 1966
24 Hours: Equal Pay for Women, broadcast on 5 September 1968

Credits

AUNTIE is devised and performed by Collective Encounters’ intergenerational Women in Action group with creative support from theatre director Tessa Buddle, writer Mandy Redvers-Rowe, and digital creatives/designers Focal Studios. The research lead is Dr Marcus Collins.

Photos by Jazamin Sinclair.

Performances

Work in progress: 9 November 2022, 5pm, Everyman Bistro, Hope Street

Thursday 7 March 2024, 1pm, Toxteth TV (open dress rehearsal)

Thursday 7 March 2024, 7pm, Toxteth TV

Friday 8 March 2024, 7pm, Toxteth TV

Saturday 9 March 2024, 1pm, Toxteth TV and Online

Saturday 9 March 2024, 5pm, Toxteth TV and Online, includes BSL interpretation

Audience Interaction

The performance included a number of activities inviting audience members to reflect and respond to the material in the show. Scroll through the images and explore the downloads for records of these activities:

Audience discussions about family planning and relationships. The handwritten notes were made by performer Moon Rice. There are 5 sets of notes: one for each performance.
Postcards to the ’60s women’ written by audience members attending each performance. Explore the photos of the handwritten postcards or download the text file.
Download the summary of responses to the ‘BBC Homemaker Questionnaire’

In the final section of the show, audience members were invited to shout their own slogans, expressing how they wanted to continue the fight for women’s rights. Here are the slogans that were shared: