A play in London had to pause for ten minutes during a performance last week as several audience members felt faint and called for assistance after witnessing a graphic depiction of an abortion.
‘The Years’, directed by Eline Arbo and premiered at the end of July, tells the personal story of a woman in postwar Europe against the backdrop of the enormous cultural changes of that era. A graphic illegal abortion features as part of this story.
The play is based on ‘Les Années’, the autobiography of the French Nobel prizewinner Annie Ernaux.
According to reports, during this scene, a man in the front of the stalls signalled that he was not feeling well while others around him gestured for assistance. He was taken to the bar area where he was joined by other theatregoers who were also feeling unwell.
An audience member was said to have shouted that the scene “was a disgrace” and “there was no warning”. In an unusual move, the actresses on stage replied to the man saying that there had been “warnings about the abortion” in the theatre’s guidance.
The ‘Content Guide’ of the Almeida Theatre website states that the production contains a “graphic depiction of an abortion”.
In response to the incident, the theatre said “The performance on Monday of The Years was stopped for 10 minutes so that our front of house team could provide care for an audience member who required assistance. During the stoppage, care was also provided for three other audience members. All audience members were quick to recover after brief assistance”.
It added that warnings were in place on “the Almeida website – here, on the booking page, in pre-visit emails, and on front of house signage in the theatre”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Every abortion, legal or illegal, is a great sadness and no doubt extremely difficult to watch. The abortion described in this play seems to be an act of desperation and highlights the distinct lack of choice that so many women feel ahead of having an abortion”.
“Women in such difficult circumstances should be provided with the support they need to care for themselves and their baby”.
