What to see at Barbican's Fertility Fest, from Maxine Peake to the queer family

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Zoe Paskett18 April 2019

Jessica Hepburn had been through 11 rounds of unsuccessful IVF before she founded the world’s first arts festival dedicated to fertility last year.

Wanting to bust the shame and secrecy surrounding fertility issues, Hepburn told that Standard she hoped that “by bringing the arts and sciences together in a festival we can achieve social change”.

Fertility Fest returns on April 24, this time at the Barbican, with more than 200 leading artists and specialists talking about what it means to make – and not make – babies in the 21st century.

Here are the top five events to look forward to at this year's Fertility Fest.

The Queer Family

LGBTQ+ artists come together for a celebration of family in all its forms. Emma Edwards presents her award-winning film Altruistic, which follows the story of the first gay male couple in the UK to become legal parents through surrogacy. Jamie Anderson performs an excerpt of his new show about becoming a dad for the first time as a gay, HIV positive man. Theatre-maker Stella Duffy and her wife playwright Shelley Silas talk about the family they’ve lost and the family they have now.

April 24, the Pit

Festival founder Jessica Hepburn

The Invisible Man

This evening tackles the male experience of infertility, starting with filmmaker Thomas Webb presenting parts of his documentary in which six men talk about going through fertility treatment. Toby Peach performs his solo show The Eulogy of Toby Peach, about finding out, aged 22, he was infertile, and Bob Strawbridge performs from his latest EP Never Alone, inspired by his and his wife’s long fertility struggle.

April 25, the Pit

Parenting After IVF: To the Moon and Back

A mother and daughter reflect on their perspectives of IVF in this two-hander performance – theatre director Anna Furse as the fertility patient and Nina Klaff born as the result of IVF. Their story unfolds with unflinching honesty and difficult truths, demonstrating a close and complicated relationship.

April 26, the Pit

Avalanche: A Love Story

Pip

Maxine Peake stars in this world premiere of a play about a woman who begins IVF treatment. Having rekindled an early love in her late 30s, she and her new husband set out on a journey of medical processes, new hopes and deep doubt. Anne-Louise Sarks directs this adaptation of Julia Leigh’s memoir.

April 27-May 12, Barbican Theatre

Big Fat Festival Day

Lisa Faulkner

Events from artists and fertility experts run throughout the day, including appearances from actress and chef Lisa Faulkner, World Slam poetry competition winner Kat Francois, and artists Faye Glen and Camilla Lyon.

May 3, the Pit

Fertility Fest runs at the Barbican from April 24-May 12, barbican.org.uk

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