A new play commissioned by Gloucestershire Quakers and brought to life by Journeymen Theatre company is coming to a number of venues in Gloucestershire this month.

The play, called ‘Rock and a Hard Place’, is based on the serious subject of domestic abuse and will be raising money for Stroud Women’s Refuge.

Lynn Morris, who makes up half of Journeymen Theatre alongside husband Dave, describes what the company is all about.

“We describe ourselves as ‘Theatre of Witness’ in that all of our work is based on real life issues and real people’s experiences of those issues,” she explained.

“This makes our work both a privilege and a responsibility as people entrust us with their stories and often with quite intimate details about their lives.

“All of our work is professionally commissioned by human rights and Quaker organisations. These bodies have invariably seen us perform and then approach us to develop a project that reflects a serious concern they may have.

“Previous commissions have seen us focus on militarisation in schools and state-sanctioned torture amongst other challenging issues.”

Lynn, who is trained in theatre in education and Dave, who spent years in pro-am theatre before beginning Journeymen around eight years ago, previously ran a performing arts department together in a West Midlands Further Education College for 25 years.

The pair are now dedicated to touring their shows with Journeymen full time.

She continued: “Journeymen is just the two us, which can make for a very interesting working relationship as we shift from spouse to actor to director and so forth.

“Our type of theatre is pure Brechtian in style which requires us to effect instant and frequent character transformations during the course of a show. As we're committed to playing our work in any venue, theatre or non-theatre, our sets have to be portable, easy to assemble and take apart and we have to keep the technical aspects simple.

“All of our shows last between an hour and an hour 10 minutes and are frequently followed by a Q&A with the audience. We take our work into schools, colleges, universities, prisons, churches and Quaker meeting houses as well as small scale theatres and community centres.”

‘Rock and a Hard Place’ tells the story of Kayleigh, a teenager suffering in a cycle of domestic abuse.

Lynn, who wrote the play based on true stories of domestic abuse, says that she hopes the play will raise awareness on an issue that can affect so many people.

She continued: “The storyline of Rock and a Hard Place tracks Kayleigh’s life over twenty years. Kayleigh was a student of ours back in the 1990s. She was someone who we all had an opportunity to help at the time but none of us did.

“Embedded within her story are also the experiences of a range of real women who have shared something of their lives with me. A major difficulty of writing a piece about domestic abuse was the overwhelming amount of information that came my way.

“We've been spurred on by the enthusiasm and support of Gloucestershire Quakers, who commissioned the work, and who are so determined to open up this still taboo subject in our communities. We are looking forward to performing this work because we want to be part of that big conversation we hope it is going to stimulate.”

All profits from the plays will go towards the Stroud Women’s Refuge, who support women and children affected by domestic abuse. It’s a cause that Lynn rightfully feels very passionately about.

She said: “Stroud Women's Refuge, like all women’s refuges now in the UK, is overstretched and underfunded. As one of the characters in our play remarks, ‘Now it's just cut after cut after cut. Paper cuts, dirty great sabre slashes.’

“Women’s refuges are there to help save lives, including those of the children who need to flee with their mums. Domestic abuse is an assault on basic human rights and yet there is no ring fencing of provision for these vital services.

“I can express nothing but awe and admiration for the way in which Stroud Women’s Refuge, as is the case with others, refuses to buckle and continues to work for its existence and the women it serves. Many people still do not understand the nature, pervasiveness and prevalence of domestic abuse.

“A major purpose of Rock And A Hard Place is to open people’s eyes to what it is all about, and also to encourage people to seek help for themselves or on behalf of others.”

‘Rock and a Hard Place’ will be at the Stroud Subscription Rooms on Thursday 28th February, The Chantry Centre in Dursley on Sunday 3rd March, and the Sundial Theatre in Cirencester on Friday 8th March.