GUSH, the sharp new play from writer Jess Brodie, follows Ally – a woman on the edge of motherhood – who realises that despite doing everything “right,” something inside her still feels unsettled. In the final days of pregnancy, she’s pushed to confront her identity, her desires, and what she stands to lose or claim as she steps into the unknown. With Becky Hope‑Palmer directing, the show digs into self‑identity, sexuality, and the pressures that shape women’s choices.
If you wouldn’t mind giving us a brief overview of who you are, the show itself, and the creative team involved in this debut piece of writing?
Hello! I’m Jess Brodie and I’m a playwright originally from Edinburgh. My debut play, GUSH, has its world premiere at The Traverse this April.
GUSH follows Ally, a heavily pregnant woman – well-aware that her identity is about to shift and her responsibilities are about to grow, she takes what she believes is her very last chance to explore her sexuality as a woman, before she steps into the role of mother.
The show is directed by the amazing Becky Hope-Palmer, and Ally is played by Jessica Hardwick, who’s recently appeared in lots of very exciting TV.
Would you mind giving us an idea about what GUSH explores? The themes and elements? How do you decide what feels essential to show onstage?
GUSH explores the pressure we feel to fit into certain boxes and play certain roles. We meet Ally amidst a realisation that she’s spent her life meeting other people’s expectations (including adhering to heteronormativity) and basically, doing everything she’s been told.
With the pressure of motherhood on the horizon and knowing that adding a baby into the mix will only push her further into a box, we see her take drastic and urgent action in a ‘final’ attempt to know and understand her true self. Because (she wonders) how can you truly be a good mother if you don’t even know who you are independently? The play questions what it means to discover what you want and ask for it, the tension between compromise and sacrifice, and whether ‘self-actualisation’ is always necessary or even possible.
Ally is quite a volatile, contradictory and complicated character, but one I felt somehow really came out of me organically. It’s written as a one-woman monologue, so writing the play didn’t really feel like a series of decisions; it all flowed quite nicely through her voice. Of course, you then spend ages cutting it down and refining it – I can be very wordy so there was plenty to axe once I’d written it!
When creating a world that mixes intimacy with narrative, what usually guides you first — the feelings, the narrative, the chaos?
Because I felt I was experiencing Ally’s world through her eyes, it felt easy to narrate the action in the first instance and focus mainly on the storytelling. As I got into the 2nd and 3rd drafts, I started experimenting a little bit more with sensation, poetry and sensuality, and how that might sit within the piece. As I said, my work can be quite wordy, and sometimes deep feelings and bodily sensations can’t really be described with words which is quite challenging. Similarly, Ally is quite a neurotic character who favours thinking over feeling, so my reluctance is somewhat reflected in her!
That’s something I’ve found so amazing about rehearsals – you can really see and feel it through the actor, which gives you a whole different perspective on the work and allows these more visceral elements to flourish.
When did this project shift from being just an idea to something you felt needed to be made?
Truthfully, I had the idea ages ago but was putting off writing it until the ‘right time’. This mainly consisted of applying and then being swiftly rejected from residencies, grants, schemes and many other opportunities that are out there. I just kept thinking ‘I’ll do it once I get something’… that something did not come.
Then I saw a call out for a scheme that Playwrights’ Studio Scotland was running called ‘Off the Page’, where you get to hear actors read a first draft out loud. I don’t really know why but I just felt compelled to just write the full play in response to this deadline. Having no pressure helped – my only aim was to get to the end and put it forward. It was selected and to my delight, I received a lot of encouragement. Hearing the actors read it aloud too made me go ‘oh, ok, maybe there’s something here’.
How much of a role does physicality play in the piece? How intentional were you about writing movement and sensation into the script?
I’m actually not a visual thinker at all, so picturing movement really doesn’t come naturally to me. I feel that came a lot later, and now we’re in rehearsal it’s really fun seeing it actually on its feet and having those elements incorporated.
How does humour, if at all, help you balance or relieve the heavier themes in the work?
It’s hugely important to me that my work has humour in it. I’m not a very serious person and I find earnestness when it’s unearned to be really off-putting. So I always try and worm my way into an audience’s favour by making them laugh first, even if it’s at something uncomfortable. It definitely helps offset those more serious aspects to the play, and hopefully helps you come along for the ride.
Did anything in rehearsals — from the cast or creative team — change the way you understood your own script?
So much. The design, sound and lighting (by Becky Minto, Niroshini Thambar and Renny Robertson respectively) completely elevates the piece. It changes the intensity of so many moments, which means you do have to make small edits to try and reflect that in the writing, which has been fun and challenging.
Jess Hardwick is quite astonishing. It’s a really tough piece to carry alone; it’s a long time to be talking, and there’s a lot of multi-roling and energy required. But she’s so engaging and there’s something about her that feels very at ease in this character.
Equally, watching Becky Hope-Palmer work has been incredible. Becky is such a generous and collaborative director, and I feel like the two of them have found this really nice groove with one another. Both of them have helped me shape the script and refine it further throughout the rehearsal process, and their input has been invaluable.
If audiences leave the show feeling transformed, what would you hope that change reflects?
I’m not sure about them feeling transformed, but I’d like them to leave maybe feeling just a little bit more seen. I don’t think this play has the answers, but maybe that’s ok – leaving with questions to talk about in the bar afterwards feels like a good outcome to me.
GUSH will run at The Traverse Theatre from April 10th – 25th
Poster by Beth Chalmers and Laura Whitehouse
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’