WILD, a show about birth, will visit Harrogate Theatre on February 22 next year.

Given how hard it is to discuss birth without descending into clichés, Wild decides to do it with ferocity, comedy...and a pineapple.

From an unpicking of Hollywood birth tropes to cabaret song and dance numbers involving Sudocrem and a Fab lolly, it challenges the way we talk about birth.

"Everyone who has ever been born has a birth story," says co-creator Laura Mugridge.

"So why aren’t we talking about them more? Even if we don’t give birth ourselves, the chances are high that at some point we're going to be in close contact with someone who has. It’s a big, messy topic from a very personal point of view."

Mugridge and fellow creator Katie Villa "want you to think about that thing we have all been through, but very few of us talk about", through their strikingly visual show.

Villa and Mugridge recognise that "birth isn’t always the dramatic trapped-in-a-lift event or the white and fluffy experience we’re shown by the media". "This binary may be contributing to a very real sense of failure for a lot of mothers," says Villa.

"We’ve worked with women and birth professionals to discover the real, funny, emotional, empowering, complicated and unique stories everyone has – and now it’s time to add your story too.

"Talking about birth feels like it doesn’t need to be this hard. What if we could change that? What if we got rid of the pressure? It feels like we don’t have the right words for something so complex and individual. We want our audiences to rewrite the rules together, every show, and we want them to have a fiercely brilliant time while they’re doing it."

The conversation will continue beyond the theatre with Stitch, a pop-up exhibition of embroidered birth stories. The pieces have been created over a series of workshops with mothers, where they could share experiences and create beautiful and astonishing pieces that reflect their own birth story.

Stitch will continue to expand, enabling contributors and attendees to all be part of a wider, national conversation.

And it does not stop there: Wild is going to healthcare conferences too, so professionals can be inspired to change their own practices.

"This is a show for parents, grandparents, or for anyone that simply knows someone who has been born," says Mugridge. "Audiences should be prepared to laugh till they cry, cry until they laugh, and change the way they think about birth forever."

Mugridge is an award-winning theatre-maker and comedian, whose first solo theatre show, Running On Air, won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award.

She is an associate artist of Harrogate Theatre and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge and is a birth and postnatal doula (birth companion, birth coach cum post-birth supporter) too.

Villa is a performer, theatre maker and director who has has worked with Theatre Rush, The Story Exchange and Quirk Theatre.

Please note, Wild contains references to birth, trauma and post-natal illness. "This is bold piece of theatre about how we might be using the wrong language when we talk about birth," says Villa. "It is part riot, part disco, part rite of passage. Expect comedy, music, loudness and bold talking. And a glitter bomb."

Tickets are on sale on 01423 502116 or at harrogatetheatre.co.uk.

Charles Hutchinson