A boxing ring, boxing gloves and a bottle of wine.

Mum Fighter by Tracy Harris is a raw, moving piece of theatre that explores the complexities and resilience of motherhood. As I sat in the theatre, captivated by Katie Payne’s performance, I saw the look on the audience’s faces. Some with jaws slack, others sat on the edge of their seats entirely absorbed in the world Tracy has created – that is so similar to her own.

The show follows a mother, Amber, fighting in a boxing ring to win the support that her daughter, Bea, needs to fight cerebral palsy. The boxing ring at the centre of the room and the symbolic act of using the boxing gloves to represent Bea highlights the dominant themes of this play, that Amber and her daughter are fighters.

Amber goes through a rollercoaster of emotions, is knocked down, refused, broken up with, torn apart and put back together again but not at any point does she give up on fighting for her daughter. She is challenging the system and will not settle for the scraps that
they are giving her.

As the show reached its end, the entire theatre stood to applaud. All of us in awe at the performance we just watched, I even had a tear in my eye. Mum Fighter portrays the strength found in vulnerability, challenges the system