Inside view

The Inside view performance

The 'Inside view' performance was funded by the Wellcome Trust with the intention of stimulating and informing debate about prenatal screening during early pregnancy. The dilemmas and questions were explored from the perspectives of both health professionals and pregnant women. The performance raised questions about some of the social, ethical and cultural issues and stimulated debate. Download here a poster of this project.

The performance drew on the findings of a research project on the 'Social implications of prenatal genetic screening'. This was funded by the ESRC within the Innovative Health Technologies Programme (L21825042). This project collected questionnaires from several hundred women in two different locations both before and after birth. It also carried out interviews with women during pregnancy and postnatally. It recorded consultations within two maternity clinic sites and interviewed the staff working there. The project provided a wealth of rich narrative data from health professionals, women and their partners about prenatal screening, which was used to inform this performance.

Wellcome Trust Award - research team

Professor Gillian Hundt, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Dr Claudette Bryanston, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

Dr Kevin Spencer, Consultant Biochemist, Barking Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust, Harold Wood Hospital

Professor Jane Sandall, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London

Dr Pam Lowe, Department of Sociology and Policy, Aston University

Additional members from the ESRC project 'Social implications of innovations in prenatal screening' (L21825042)

Professor B Heyman, St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, City University

Dr C Williams, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London

Ms R Grellier, based in Johannesburg, South Africa

Ms L Pitson, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London

Dr M Tsouroufli, School of Social Studies, Cardiff University

Director: Claudette Bryanston

Writer: Tinch Minter

Performer: Kathy Joyce

Media Artist: Saul Cross

Inside view

Before viewing the following video Vignettes you should download and read the Moderator Notes provided: Moderator Notes . Furthermore, please download the relevant papers/publications for this project here.

Vignettes from Inside view video footage

 

1 Water Fall.

Opening Vignette.

2 The Genetic Gamble.

3 The Potter can't control the whole process.

4 We are on our journey together.

5 Phlebotomist drawing blood.

6 They know more about me than I do.

7 You will be able to see your baby.

8 I can see its heart, astonishing. Hello little bump.

9 Of course I want a picture. You can't separate scanning from screening.

10 I have all this choice.

Key participants

Claudette Bryanston - Director

Claudette Bryanston co-founded Classworks Theatre in 1983 of which she is co-artistic director. She has directed performances and workshops for over 25 years in the UK America and Europe. Recent work includes The Children by Edward Bond and Dictation by Mike Kenny for Classworks Theatre’s national touring programme; she is currently preparing a contemporary version of Gilgamesh by Derrek Hines co-produced by The Belgrade Theatre. Other activities include workshop productions for the RSC summer schools in conjunction with Warwick University and advising for Creative Partnerships, Coventry. Claudette was the Drama Consultant for the Wellcome Trust leading to the national ScienceCentre Stage Festival in 2002. She directed the final festival production at the Linbury Theatre in the ROH. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at Warwick Medical School.

 

Tinch Minter - Writer

Tinch’s work spans theatre, film, radio, adaptation and translation. She has had plays and features on BBC radio and won the first Empty Space Award for her work on Marieluise Fleisser. In 1998 she set up Berern Arts to enable people with and without disabilities to work together on arts projects. As its Artistic Director she has written, directed and produced three short films on disability issues, which all use humour to charm the viewers. The last, Wheeling Dealing, features Jane Horrocks as a professional newscaster hijacked by an unsighted woman, Kirin Sayeed, who presents the alternative news – the adventures and achievements of people with disabilities. She has recently completed a stage adaptation of Gunter Grass’s The Tin Drum and a play about the persecution of Falon Gong practitioners in China. At the heart of all her work is the desire to provoke change and to stimulate debate in her audiences. She is driven by a fierce belief in human rights and personal integrity.

 

Kathy Joyce - Performer

Kathy is a director, writer and performer and is currently Associate Director of the Shysters Company based in Coventry. Kathy is currently devising and writing their next tour, Shards, which is an exploration in porcelain and performance with six actors. This unique company is an ensemble of actors with learning disabilities. The company has pioneered specific working processes within the field of community performance and embraces a wide variety of physically based genres. Kathy’s performances as an actress have ranged from classics, to include the playing of Titania and Antigone, to contemporary and new work such as The Wedding produced by The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Kathy has also worked with the Birmingham Rep and the Young Vic on a variety of community and drama education projects.

 

Saul Cross - Media Artist

Composed music and soundscapes for the RSC summer school for The Tempest, August 2002. Produced video and audio media for The Plymouth Theatre Royal for the tour of Dictation by Mike Kenny, April 2003. Digital audio editing for Rick Mellies Education ICT Company. Created a promotional video for Oxford Brookes Media Technology Dept. Manipulated and integrated two-dimensional live video images to form high-resolution scientifically viewable images for Warwick University (Engineering dept.). Director of www.AfikomanMedia.com. www.AfikomanMusic.com plays an active role in the U.K dance and pop music scene. To date AfikomanMedia has signed artists to a number of independent dance labels and has had continual play for over three years on both BBC Radio 1.