"THANK YOU FOR THIS JOYOUS WORK OF ART AND UNDERSTANDING
HANDS DOWN THE BEST PLAY I'VE SEEN IN YEARS"
Paloma Faith

OFFIES NOMINEE 2026
in the following categories

CREATION 
Jane Upton

PERFORMER 
Jamie-Rose Monk

PRODUCTION 
New Perspectives

ABOUT THE PLAY

“So good we thought it was written by a man!” 

M is a writer.  M is a mother.  M is a woman.

The triumph of M’s hit play is hijacked by motherhood - M is burnt out, angry, lonely, craving intimacy but disengaged, and terrified of the future. 

She wants to tell her story, her way. But, everyone around her shares their opinions on who she is, who she should be and how she’s f*cking everything up. 

Fiercely funny and brutally honest, award-winning writer Jane Upton’s Bruntwood Prize shortlisted play shatters the glossy veneer of motherhood, exposing its raw, messy truth, and dares to question the definition of (her) Self.

A montage of production shots featuring 4 actors, two women and two men

Featuring Cast: Lizzy Watts, Jamie-Rose Monk, André Squire and Cian Barry. © Charlie Flint. 

Content warning: Contains strong language, reference of a sexual nature and neonatal death.

Cast: 

4 actor headshots

Creative Team:
Writer: Jane Upton
Director: Angharad Jones
Designer: Sara Perks
Lighting Designer: Lily Woodford
Sound Designer: Bella Kear
Associate Sound Designer: Hattie North
Dramaturg: Sarah Dickenson
Video Designer: Matt Powell
Associate Video Designer: Farah Ishaq
Original Movement: Lucy Glassbrook
Casting Director: Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG
Associate Director: Jessy Roberts

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAMME

purchase a copy of the script 

 

More Reviews

"Lizzy Watts’ full-throttle performance is gripping" Reviews Hub

“Jamie-Rose Monk is a notable standout” West End Best Friend

"Angharad Jones' direction adds weight and intensity" Operation Live Theatre

“Exceptional dialogue – crackling, fizzing, scabrous, very in-your-face and very, very funny” London Unattached

“Sharp and witty…powerful” All That Dazzles

"A ground-breaking play" Fringe Review

"Unfiltered look at early motherhood wrapped in thrilling metatheatre" The Stage

"It’s rare to find a piece that might genuinely change your perspective on life and relationships, but this is one..." The Reviews Hub

"It is affecting, sometimes disturbing, but it challenges your assumptions and when you leave the theatre you don’t leave the play behind" East Midlands Theatre

"Extraordinary... unique and powerful" Elementary WhatsOn

TAKE A PEAK BEHIND THE SCENES

"This play screams the truth of women, especially mothers" checkout Angharad Jones' first person piece in Exeunt click here

Lyn Gardner talks to writer Jane Upton about Motherhood, ambition, and the knotty rope of writing in Stagedoor click here

TW:Weekly caught up with Jane Upton on (the) Woman click here

A Young(ish) Perspectives caught up with Director Angharad Jones click here

Tune into the British Theatre Guide podcast with writer Jane Upton and Director Angharad Jones click here

(the) Woman has been developed with support from National Theatre Generate Programme, originally produced as a New Perspectives and Royal & Derngate, Northampton co-production

PERFORMANCES

Spring 2025 tour, a New Perspectives and Royal & Derngate co-production
14 - 15 February, Royal & Derngate, Northampton
18 - 19 February, Northwall Arts Centre, Oxford 
27 - 28 February, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry 
7 - 8 March, Birmingham Rep 
10 - 11 March, Nottingham Playhouse
13 March, Connaught Theatre, Worthing 
15 March, The Exchange, Twickenham 

Autumn 2025, in association with Park Theatre
24 September - 25 October 2025, Park Theatre, London

Image design by Steph Pyne; photography by Gemma Poyzer
Trailer and behind the scenes filming by Karl Poyzer

Banner image: Lizzy Watts. © Charlie Flint.