My Play Got Shortlisted for an Award & Why Google Alerts About Abortion Give Me Hope

I have a Google Alert set for the words "Abortion + Australia." 

Every week, news hits my inbox, keeping me updated on access to reproductive health care. I set it up because I didn’t want to be blindsided by any backsliding on legislation and public opinion. I wanted to be aware, to stay vigilant, and, ultimately to take action—because this matters to me deeply.

My play, Fortress, which has been shortlisted for the Silver Gull 2024 Award, was not born from a desire to take action but from a need to process my own fears. It's a horror-as-tragedy that confronts the terror of losing bodily autonomy to an unwanted pregnancy.   While the news in Australia is better— as of this year abortion is now decriminalised in every state—the threat/reality of restricted access remains a global and deeply personal fear.

I felt a wave of relief when I read about the final enactments of the decriminalisation laws in March, as powerful as the grief I experienced when Roe v. Wade fell. I thought of my sisters and siblings in countries where access has always been unsafe or non-existent. We’re not out of the woods. The struggle continues, and with it, my terror of what could be lost if these rights are eroded further.

Fortress tells the story of a young woman on the brink of self-fulfilment who is thrust into an absurd, nightmarish quest to obtain an abortion in a brutally pro-birth society. It’s a somewhat histrionic play, and I love it for that. While the situation my protagonist faces is unlikely to happen to me (as my Google alerts remind me), the dread is real. The societal, legislative, and religious pressures to conform to expectations around motherhood are overwhelming and, at times, feel hopeless.

comic by Véronique Cazot and Madeleine Martin

The hysteria in Fortress reflects not just the legislative threat of losing bodily autonomy but the deep, often misunderstood importance of a childfree identity. It’s about resisting the constant barrage of dismissals—"You’ll change your mind", "You don’t know real love", "It’s what you were made for". I’ve been navigating these microaggressions for years, and the play is an exploration of the existential horror of being forced to live against my values.

Fortress is a dark work, both funny and tragic, that asks us to sit with our discomfort and shine a light on tender existential questions. But even in its bleakness, there are moments of hope. The title is inspired by the anonymous quote, “The womb is a fortress”, suggesting that our bodies are built to protect us—even in the face of overwhelming odds or pressure to give birth regardless of our true feelings about it.

I’m incredibly proud of Fortress and honoured that the New Theatre has shortlisted it for this award. An excerpt of the work along with the four other shortlisted plays will be read at The New Theatre on the 14th of October where the winner will be announced. I am also happy to send a reading copy to anyone who may be interested in reading the work. just reach out via the contact page on this site.  In sharing these stories, we reclaim the narrative and remind ourselves that our bodies, and our choices, matter.

Full announcement newtheatre.org.au/the-silver-gull-play-award-2024-2/