DRY LAND PLAY

DRY LAND

This is a fundraising campaign to help fund Emma Tolleson's master's thesis production, Dry Land. This is a crucially relevant story about an unlikely female friendship and what happens when it's met with an unexpected pregnancy. Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. DRY LAND is a play about abortion, female friendship, resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody's left.

About the director

Emma Tolleson is a London-based theatre director from central Texas finishing up her master's in theatre directing at East 15 acting school. She has been a theatremaker her entire life and started her directing career in the summer of 2018 with the goal to bring free, innovative theatre to central Texas with PSYCHO BEACH PARTY at Temple Texas's Sam Farrow Amphitheater. She believes in the power of storytelling and the ability to change lives and perspectives with political, gritty, and in-yer-face theatre.

OUR STORY

Dry Land is a play about abortion, female friendship, and resiliency. Women, non-binary, and trans folk are being hit drastically by the overturning of Roe V. Wade and the subsequent bills and laws being passed that make getting access to safe and effective abortions nearly impossible. DRY LAND raises awareness that this is happening everywhere and making abortions illegal will not stop them from happening. Donating to this story will allow us to share with London audiences what is currently happening in the U.S. and raise awareness of its effects worldwide.

It’s important to note that the overturning of Roe v Wade does not impact abortion law in the UK.

However, it will no doubt embolden anti-choice protestors (who would love to see healthcare rights similarly reversed over here).

The facts about abortion in the UK:

- The Abortion Act of 1967 legalized abortion – on certain grounds – in England, Wales and Scotland, and came into effect on April 27, 1968.

- The Abortion Act originally allowed terminations up to 28 weeks, but this was lowered to 24 weeks in 1991.

- Abortion is still a criminal act in the UK if it is carried out without a doctor and the approval of two doctors.

- A woman who has an abortion without the permission of two doctors can face criminal punishment, with the maximum sentence being life imprisonment.

- In 2021, there were 214,256 abortions carried out in England and Wales, which is the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced, and 99 per cent of abortions were funded by the NHS.

- This year, a British woman who used medication to induce an abortion after the United Kingdom’s legally allowed limit has been sentenced to prison for 28 months, the PA Media news agency reported.

Where will the money go?

I have a modest budget provided by my university and am raising money to make sure we can compensate our artists. This is an intimate show that requires a licensed intimacy director.

here is a breakdown of the costs we foresee needing:

Venue hire (2 nights): £1050

Actor and artist compensation - £1,000

Production costs and play rights - £500

*No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to GoFundMe*

Find us here

Follow our Instagram, @drylandplay2023 to keep up to date with our production!

Purchase tickets to the production https://theotherpalace.co.uk/dry-land/

Help us succeed!

You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog.

And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.