Madeleine Whitmore discusses Quickening at Camden Fringe
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interviews, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we published over 60 interviews to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The plan was to stop there, but as shows are still coming to us asking for interviews, we thought we’d do a few more! But we have to stop soon, we’re also very busy seeing the shows now.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews at here.
While global debates surrounding reproductive rights dominate headlines, the complex history of access and care closer to home often remains unexplored. In Quickening, heading to the Lion and Unicorn Theatre this month, Flaming Creature Theatre traces a cross-generational family saga following three women navigating the personal fallout of abortion laws from the early 1970s to 2011. Writer Madeleine Whitmore sat down with us to discuss exploring the human nuances behind contentious headlines, creating safe spaces for heavy topics, and paying homage to the healthcare workers fighting for universal access.
If you had to describe the vibe of your show in just one sentence, what would it be and how does it manifest on stage?
Our show is a cross-generational family saga exploring the impact of changing abortion laws on three women’s lives. We see our main character Lina negotiate the fallout of her own abortion as a young woman in the early 70s, as well as her discussions with her daughter in 2011 after Darla announces a similar decision to her mother and friend. Alongside this, we follow the parallel narrative of Josey, a young mother Lina meets and develops an intimate friendship with on the ward, as well as the lives and decisions of two of the doctors treating the women.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
Abortion legislature is constantly in the news, but not often in relation to the UK. We are lucky here to have some of the most liberal abortion laws in the world, but it’s important to understand how those laws came to be, and what happened to those who previously fell through the cracks as the legislature developed. Abortion is an incredibly emotionally contentious topic, and one that inspires strong feelings one way or another in most individuals; we felt it was important to spotlight the nuances of these feelings and situations, and to explore instances where the decisions involved in having an abortion are not necessarily as cut and dry as they are often objectively viewed. Viewing abortion as a complex and deeply human issue is crucial to improving care and support.
What is something a performer has brought to a character that completely surprised you?
Each of our performers has brought something wonderful and unique to their role – Gaby Albertelli and Madeleine Whitmore conjure a wonderful, intimate friendship between Darla and Sam, as do Betty Blythe and Lola Gordine between Lina and Josey. The warmth Mary Alcott brings to Golder contrasts brilliantly with Horatio Holloway‘s sternness as Welton.
Being fringe and a festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this?
A lot of our show relies on dialogue and exposition via discussion and argument; set is important but certainly not crucial to our message. Given that the two primary settings are both intimate spaces – a hospital room and a living room/bedroom – we’ve found we can quite naturally conjure both using the same basic furniture and objects. The biggest thing we’re using to differentiate between the two is colour – using a bright quilt to show a warm, domestic space that contrasts the white sterility of the hospital sheets. Where there’s a will there’s a way!
How important is audience interaction to you?
Our show is disturbing – we’ve been aware of that from the start and aware that it could provoke quite a visceral reaction from audience members. Given the content and emotion of the piece, it’s really important to us that the audience feel safe watching – we have no qualms about audience members leaving part way if they need to, or needing some space afterwards. We really hope that audience members interact with the show on a personal or spiritual level – that it makes them reflect on their own views and politics privately and safely, without feeling as though the spotlight is on them at any point. There is a time and a place for that – the spotlight is on us for now as we feel comfortable talking about and expressing feelings about these topics! – but before getting to this point it’s crucial that someone feels safe to explore their feelings privately.
That said, we really hope to hear as much audience feedback as we can, and will be encouraging the audience to let us know their thoughts (respectfully!) if they feel comfortable.
If your show had a soundtrack, what songs would definitely be on it?
Given that half of the show is set in 2011, we’ve been listening to a lot of Kesha and LCD Soundsystem! ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ is a particular anthem for Darla and Sam, while Meat Loaf’s slightly older ‘I’d Do Anything For Love’ is the show’s theme overall.
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If your show was a love letter who would it be to?
Quickening is a love letter to the doctors, nurses and activists that continue to campaign for free, safe and universal access to abortion both in Britain and across the world. Our story is a tiny drop in the bucket – UK charities like the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Abortion Talk continue to do incredible work supporting those going through abortions.
If budget or reality was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery you’d love to have in your show?
A huge banner that says ‘Get your rosaries off my ovaries’ – during our preview last month we had to paint one last minute and only had fake blood to hand… which didn’t dry in time… we then dropped a cup of tea on it…
What do you think a one-sentence “fake” review of the show from your grandmother might say?
“Too much discussion of vaginas.”
Many thanks to Madeleine for chatting with us. Quickening plays at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from Tuesday 25 to Saturday 19 August as part of Camden Fringe.
