Phoebe McIntosh
Grace’s Satchel Delivery: The Soon Life at Southwark Playhouse
Well now, village readers – you don’t often see childbirth on stage, do you? Usually theatre keeps it off in the wings, whispers about it in passing, or pops it in for a cheap laugh. But The Soon Life, arriving at Southwark Playhouse Borough this October, isn’t shying away. In fact, it’s marching straight into the contractions, complications and choices of bringing a baby into the world – and it’s bringing some expert voices along for the ride.
On Thursday 9th and Thursday 16th October 2025, after the evening performance (9.10pm, at The Little, Southwark Playhouse), audiences are invited to stay for special post-show discussion panels. Partnering with Birthrights, the UK’s leading authority on the human rights of women and birthing people, and Make Birth Better, who support those affected by birth trauma, these conversations promise to be open, honest and utterly unapologetic.
The play itself? We meet Bec, an expectant mum in the thick of her homebirth during the COVID lockdowns. Her birth plan is all laid out – but then her ex, and the father of her child, Alex, turns up. Cue the very real messiness of labour colliding with the emotional landmines of a broken relationship. Inspired by both the creative team’s own experiences and reported scandals in UK maternity care, this is theatre taking on a subject that affects half the world’s population – with rawness, dignity and a spark of catharsis.
The panels bring together a powerhouse of voices:
- Laura-Rose Thorogood (Make Birth Better CEO, also behind LGBT Mummies and Proud Foundations) – a true trailblazer in fertility and maternity equity.
- Miranda Atty (Birthrights comms manager, ex-broadcast journalist, human rights activist).
- Michelle Tolfrey (Clinical Psychologist, Make Birth Better), whose work around reproductive trauma is informed by her own lived experience.
- Elif Ege (Birthrights policy & campaigns manager), a feminist campaigner pushing for safe, discrimination-free maternity care.
- Phoebe McIntosh herself – the writer and performer of The Soon Life. You might know her from Dominoes (Stratford Circus, 2018) and A Secret Life (Theatre503, 2016). This, she says, is her most personal work yet, inspired by her own daughter’s birth.
- And Sarah Meadows, the director (credits include Ride at San Diego’s Old Globe, Blithe Spirit at the Harold Pinter, and The Good Enough Mums Club). She’s keen to explore how this extraordinary yet everyday process of labour can bend time, reality and control on stage.
Phoebe puts it best: “The birth experience depicted in The Soon Life is one story out of many. It’s about a broken-hearted woman, living through a pandemic, giving birth in the way she chooses… there are curveballs, challenges, things to fight for – all so she can safely deliver her child with dignity.”
So yes, village readers – this is theatre breaking waters and breaking boundaries. If you’ve ever thought “why don’t we see this on stage?”, well, here it is. A chance to watch a story of strength, choice and upheaval – and then stick around to hear from people fighting for safer, fairer births in real life.
The Soon Life
The Little, Southwark Playhouse Borough, London SE1
Post-show panels: Thursday 9th & Thursday 16th October 2025, 9.10pm
Pack a hanky, pack your questions, and don’t miss it.
— Grace
About the Author
