Blood takes centre stage

Behind every great female in your life is a bad period experience.

Your dentist, the barista making your coffees, and the daughters you send off to school every morning. They all have them. But do we talk about them? Not until now.

Local girl Amy Atkins will be performing her controversial show Period. talking all things periods at Palmy Fringe Festival.

Atkins, an actor and writer, has scoured the country, interviewing women, gender non-binary, and trans people from across the country to find real-life stories about period experiences.

She has transcribed her top picks to create a startling performance.

She says she wants to change the way society talks about periods.

“They’re just part of life. Why can’t we normalise it?” she said. “It’s not gross, it’s not exotic, it’s just a series of experiences I’m hoping to share in an empathetic yet light and funny way.”

The show features a tampon monster, a vagina-shaped cushion and plenty of red.

Atkins is the founder of Ephemeral Theatre, a Wellington based company, which aims to explore theatre for social change.

She grew up in Palmerston North and studied for a Bachelor of Arts at Massey University. Her past work includes speech and drama teaching for Tall Poppies Collective, and puppeteering for a small theatre company in Wellington.

The comedy show is appropriate for younger audiences, men, women and the LGBT+ community.

■ Period. at The Dark Room tonight, October 11 for two nights only. Tickets can be purchased directly from Centrepoint Theatre or online via ephemeraltheatre.com