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'Acclaimed Sydney novelist Julia Leigh is 38 years old and deeply in love with her new husband. Like countless other couples around the country, they want to have a child together and they make an appointment at an IVF clinic. They are full of hope and shared commitment. So begins this true story.
'Avalanche is Julia Leigh’s riveting, emotionally honest and exceptionally moving account of a profound and widespread experience. She lays bare the highs and the lows, the pull of maternal yearning, the toll on a relationship, and the daily oscillation between hope and doubt. It’s a story we can all relate to – about the dreams we have for ourselves, the hopes we have for our futures and the goals we have for our families.'
Source: Sydney Theatre Company.
Production Details
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Co-commissioned by Barbican London, Sydney Theatre Company, and Fertility Fest. Presented by Sydney Theatre Company at Roslyn Packer Theatre, 29 August - 14 September 2019 (world premiere).
Director: Anne-Louise Sarks.
Designer: Marg Horwell.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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[Review] Avalanche : A Love Story
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 14-20 September 2019;
— Review of Avalanche : A Love Story 2019 single work drama'More than eight million babies have been born through in vitro fertilisation since Louise Brown, the first baby to be conceived through IVF procedures, was born in England in July 1978. In Melbourne, the late gynaecologist Carl Wood and his colleagues were not far behind, with Australia’s first IVF baby, Candice Reed, born almost two years later. Over time, proscriptive access laws have gradually been relaxed to allow single women and lesbian couples to have access to IVF, and expectations of conceiving a family have grown exponentially.' (Introduction)
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Maxine Peake Brings Warmth and Likeability to Raw, Bitter Pain in a Candid Tale of IVF Failure
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 3 September 2019;
— Review of Avalanche : A Love Story 2019 single work drama'Maxine Peake’s character needs to find “another way to be happy”, but she can’t.
'In Julia Leigh’s play Avalanche: A Love Story, based on her 2016 memoir detailing the raw anguish of her six unsuccessful attempts at IVF, these words, though they are kindly intended by her sister (a mother of two), precipitate an angry crisis.' (Introduction)
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Maxine Peake Brings Warmth and Likeability to Raw, Bitter Pain in a Candid Tale of IVF Failure
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 3 September 2019;
— Review of Avalanche : A Love Story 2019 single work drama'Maxine Peake’s character needs to find “another way to be happy”, but she can’t.
'In Julia Leigh’s play Avalanche: A Love Story, based on her 2016 memoir detailing the raw anguish of her six unsuccessful attempts at IVF, these words, though they are kindly intended by her sister (a mother of two), precipitate an angry crisis.' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Avalanche : A Love Story
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 14-20 September 2019;
— Review of Avalanche : A Love Story 2019 single work drama'More than eight million babies have been born through in vitro fertilisation since Louise Brown, the first baby to be conceived through IVF procedures, was born in England in July 1978. In Melbourne, the late gynaecologist Carl Wood and his colleagues were not far behind, with Australia’s first IVF baby, Candice Reed, born almost two years later. Over time, proscriptive access laws have gradually been relaxed to allow single women and lesbian couples to have access to IVF, and expectations of conceiving a family have grown exponentially.' (Introduction)
