Writer: Davinia Hamilton and Marta Vella
Director: Sam Edmunds and Vikesh Godhwani
In case it hadn’t already been said, we are living in a time of upheaval. There are so many issues facing the people of this world, and the Fringe has always been a place to discuss them. It can also be quite easy for issue-based shows to become preachy or cliched, and to lose the point altogether. Blanket Ban is not one of these shows.
The two writers and performers, Davinia Hamilton and Marta Vella, start the piece with an introduction to their beloved Malta. It’s a hilarious love letter to the country in which they both grew up. Malta seems to be a tiny paradise of great food and generously kind people, except it has a blanket ban on abortion.
Hamilton and Vella have an infectious energy, expertly setting comedic moments within the seriousness of the piece. They have interviewed a range of people: doctors, sexual health experts, and people with lived experience. Snippets of the interviews punctuate the show, projected onto white cloths.
These interviews are only a small percentage of the material collected to write this show. Marion Mifsud Mora, a Maltese-Canadian woman, is one of the featured interviewees. She tells her story of being refused healthcare that would have saved her life while in Malta due to complications with her pregnancy. Her testimony of the treatment she received is shocking and reminiscent of what might be expected from a doctor in the 50s, not from today. “I’m a grown woman, I think I could make some decisions for my own body.”
Hamilton and Vella employ a multitude of theatrical and storytelling techniques, discussing the influence of Catholicism and traditionalism on a usually accepting population. The Virgin Mary is their guiding light, a symbol of how women are meant to be, and any discussion otherwise is swiftly quelled, if not punished.
Due to the extreme bans, Maltese women are forced to turn to black-market pills or risky procedures in other countries, which cost a fortune and cannot be discussed with anyone for fear of persecution. These women must carry these financial and emotional burdens alone – some had never told anyone until their interview with Hamilton and Vella.
Despite this unforgiving ban, Hamilton and Vella remind us to love Malta as they do. These two, as Chalk Line Theatre, have borne witness to these women’s stories, and this piece is a compelling case for reproductive rights across the world.
Runs at Underbelly, Cowgate – Big Belly until 28 August 2022
