I Would Walk at Night R&D Blog Post 5

So today marks the end of an incredible two week R&D of our newest production ‘I Would Walk at Night’. It is hard to summarise the process in a few paragraphs but I am going to try.

‘I Would Walk at Night’ started with an article. The article outlined a study which asked women ‘if men disappeared from the earth for 24 hours, what would you do?’. And the overwhelming response was ‘I would walk alone at night’.

I read this article and thought back to the numerous times I have walked at night, with my keys between my fingers in one hand, and my thumb poised over speed dial in the other. Walking alone at night was frightening. But being frightened, for me, was…normal.

This led us to wonder; what else is considered ‘normal’ for women in the 21st century, that should and needs to be questioned.

The last two weeks has been an incredible process of attempting to unpick and explore this question. We’ve delved into subtle sexism, systemic sexism, the cost of beauty, the gender pay gap, brilliance bias, the mental load, taboos and censorship, expectation and tradition. And I can honestly say, I think we have just scratched the surface.

I don’t think I was quite prepared for the complexity of the issue, or of the sheer breadth of the topic. But I leave the process feeling absolutely certain that this is a project that needs to continue.

The success of these two weeks is whole-heartedly down to the brilliant group of women that we worked with. Their openness, creativity and talent, combined with passion for the topic, meant we had 2 weeks of insightful, thoughtful, playful discussion and creation. And I finish the process extremely excited about what comes next.

Thank you to all the incredible creatives involved. The process would not have been possible without you!