Patricia Gets Ready, a new play shining a light on domestic violence comes to The Spring Arts Centre, Havant

Written with absolute honesty, it follows Patricia’s experience of recovering from an abusive relationship as she gets ready to meet her ex for dinner.

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.

Written by Martha Watson Allpress and directed by Kaleya Baxe, this one-woman show starring Yasmin Dawes aims to challenge the stereotype of the ‘broken woman’ and instead presents a survivor in all her colours.

Martha says: ‘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 Spring has teamed up with national charity Stop Domestic Abuse, to help shine a sensitive spotlight on this important issue and encourage conversation and awareness of domestic abuse and violence.

A representative of Stop Domestic Abuse will be joining the show's creative team for a post-show chat.

The show is at The Spring Arts Centre, Havant on Wednesday, May 11. For more information and tickets go to thespring.co.uk