20 Apr Yasmin Dawes announced as lead for UK tour of award-winning show Patricia Gets Ready
Fresh from its 5-star run in London and Edinburgh in 2021, Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her) will tour to venues across the UK this May.
Midlands born actor Yasmin Dawes (May Queen, Paines Plough; Education, Education, Karaoke) will now bring to life this striking show which aims to shatter the weathered stereotype of the ‘broken woman’ and instead presents a survivor in all her colours.
Written by Martha Watson Allpress, this production shines a delicate light on the realities of domestic abuse and those who experience it.
The show has been heralded with accolades on its previous runs winning the Charlie Harthill Award with Pleasance Theatre in 2021, The Infallibles Theatrical Excellence Award in 2020 as well as receiving an OnComm Commendation from the Offies in 2020. It was also named Show of the Week at VAULT Festival in the same year.
Patricia has spent a year crafting a kick ass speech while recovering from an abusive relationship. But, when she bumps into her ex on the street and accidentally agrees to dinner with him that night, she’s got some big decisions to make; what to wear? What to say? And whether or not to go? Join Patricia as she gets ready for the date, tells stories of her past, how it has affected her present and looks honestly at her future.
Writer Martha Watson Allpress comments, Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her) was written as a form of self-care. After exiting an abusive relationship, I knew I needed to do some healing, but had no idea how. Looking into self-care post trauma, a lot of what I found felt reductive; face masks, long baths, gin… So then I turned to movies, TV shows and theatre; trauma survivors in art were frail, apologetic and diminutive. But there I was, still funny, still enjoying sex, still functioning. And so I decided to stop searching and start creating.
The direction by Kaleya Baxe (Paines Plough’s Trainee Director) is influenced by years of working with domestic abuse charity Tender – an arts charity that seeks to end domestic abuse and sexual violence (https://tender.org.uk). She has sought to educate young people on healthy relationships and, for her, the power of the story lay in giving Patricia the stage to tell her narrative, her truth, and not shy away from a subject which is too often still taboo today.
