Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the birth of the first test tube baby and assisted reproduction remains a pressing social issue. Statistics suggest that 1 in 6 couples will have trouble conceiving naturally, but these stories are usually played out in private behind the closed doors of a fertility clinic. Using case studies, this paper will consider how theatre has been deployed as a space for the public exploration of the medical management of infertility and the social structures that frame such intervention. Drawing on plays performed in London theatres from distinct moments across the 40 years of IVF, I will explore the shifts in representation which reflect changes in both theatrical and social convention, against the background of a developing “fertility industry.”