Help Sarah get to the Edinburgh Fringe

My name is Sarah and I am a Bowel Cancer survivor. In 2018, I underwent successful treatment - surgery and chemo - for a tumour in my lower colon.

 

I have always wanted to write and perform comedy, and this experience spurred me on to write a one-woman show called BADASS - my own personal love note to the NHS - which I was developing for the Edinburgh Festival 2020.

 

Just as I was starting to approach Edinburgh venues, the Coronavirus lockdown shut everything down.

 

The Festival has been as good as cancelled for the last couple of years, but in Feb 2022 I was delighted to receive the news that I have been offered a space at the prestigious Pleasance venue for the whole of August, following on from my application in 2020.

 

This offer is more than I could ever have dreamed of, and comes off the back of years of hard work honing my story and forming my application. I have been visiting the Pleasance for 15 years and being granted the chance to perform there has genuinely floored me.

 

To do a show in Edinburgh is really expensive - from promoting the show, to living in Scotland for a month (!) and previewing the show ahead of time to make sure it's in a good shape for its Edinburgh run. I am also currently working on this project alone, and would love to find someone to work with me (in the form of either a Director or Producer), but it would be impossible (and unethical) to rely on someone to help me like that for free.

 

Since my cancer diagnosis I have campaigned emphatically to raise awareness of the plight of the NHS, and this show is no exception. Having been in and out of Hospital for 4 years, I have witnessed first hand the under-staffing and the obstacles patients face in getting on a care pathway. My experiences are baked into the script for BADASS.

 

I think my show is important, and know that it deserves to be seen. When Edinburgh was cancelled in 2020, I developed the script into a sitcom pilot, which won the BAFTA Rocliffe award for TV Comedy 2020.

 

I truly can’t launch this project without help. I am not sure I would ever be able to afford to do it without crowd-sourcing it, and unfortunately my income has been reduced by Hospital stays and long periods surviving on Universal Credit.

 

ALTHOUGH THE SHOW IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY TO TURN A PROFIT, ANY PROFITS I DO MAKE WILL BE DONATED TO THE CHARITY MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT, WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME THROUGHOUT. SIMILARLY, IF THERE IS AN UNDERSPEND (e.g. if I find ways to cut any of the costs in my budget - also unlikely) THIS WILL ALSO BE DONATED TO MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT.

 

Here is a blurb on the show itself -

 

Badass

(A Love Note to the NHS)

 

“At the beginning of 2018, life is rosy for Sarah Mills: she has the bachelorette pad, a job she doesn’t hate and a clutch of friends who make her feel she’s living in a glossy 90s sitcom. Now all she needs is a fella. But instead of finding a handsome prince, she finds blood in her poo. It’s Bowel Cancer. The next 2 years are spent swapping dresses for Hospital gowns and Lambrini for laxatives as Sarah adjusts to a life with a disability and the newfound knowledge she can’t even trust her own BUM not to kill her. This is her story, in all its painfully funny, gory detail. ‘Heartfelt, important, and very very funny’ (ITV1’s Rob Rinder)”

 

More info - and answers to any questions you might have:

 

Why don’t you save up and go next year?

….I’m not sure I’d get the same venue offer next year, or if I’d be in a position to do it within my surgery plan or work schedule. And, I’d like to start telling new stories in 2023 and move on from this one. It feels like it’s now or never.

 

Is that really how much it costs?

Sadly, yes. Edinburgh is notoriously expensive. Please contact me if you would like a breakdown of how I have budgeted the show. The cost covers things like accommodation for a month in Edinburgh (£1300), hiring a director (£1000) and travelling in advance of the show to preview it (£1500).

 

More info on me if we haven't met....

 

…I was diagnosed with Stage 3c cancer in 2018 after seeing blood in my poo. These were the most traumatic months of my life, as I was told I have a 1 in 4 chance of the cancer returning (and most likely killing me) and was advised against freezing my eggs owing to the low survival rate of my cancer. My surgery in April 2018 was successful in removing the cancer, but I developed an infection and required a second, emergency surgery a few days later, which left me using a stoma bag (where the end of the colon is passed through the bowel wall and faeces is collected in a bag).

 

I have had two more major abdominal surgeries since as doctors have tried to correct complications (fistulas and hernias) that have developed as a result of these initial surgeries. The intent is to reverse my stoma, although doctors are not confident that this will be possible now. I will need at least two more surgeries to finish this process.

 

Throughout these experiences, I have campaigned on three issues. I have written and spoken on my traumatic experiences being treated in an under-funded NHS.. I have also spoken in Parliament on how the Universal Credit system is letting down cancer patients (I myself was handed over to debt collectors during my chemotherapy treatment by the DWP for an error they had made). And finally, I campaign to raise awareness of invisible disabilities and the complications that arise when you live with a stoma.

Thank you enormously for your help.