Nine Moons by Nilgin Yusef, Mrs. C's Collective (Theatre Production, 2023)

This play is told through nine calendar months and nine full moons. Sage, an awkward, resentful and hormonal teenager lives with her single mum in Romney Marshes. She has issues with her body hair and expends a vast amount of energy, making herself smooth as beauty and conformity dictate. She suffers with dreadful period pains and anxiety. The arrival and befriending of a new girl, Loukia from London, allows her to reframe her own experience. She is introduced to feminism and the ‘politics’ of hair. Loukia encourages her to stop waxing. Sage begins to change. She becomes more confident. Her senses become heightened. Her physical prowess improves. She starts to crave meat. The play starts with Sage howling with pain (as she waxes her thighs) and finishes with her howling with pleasure when the transformation…(to woman, wolf, adult, fully-fledged individual) is realised.