Refuge Woman

Sixteen years. 13 women’s refuges. 687 lists. 12 productions of The Vagina Monologues. And 1 suitcase. Now she’s starting all over again. Again. Cash is a self-confessed “refuge connoisseur”. She knows the refuges with the best counsellors, clothing donations and the ones closest to the heartiest of ?all you can eat’ buffets. Over the past 16 years she has escaped to refuges from Aldershot to Southend-on-Sea. And now she’s just set foot in what she has decided is her final refuge. It’s crumbling round the edges and she shares her room with rats – it isn’t exactly how she imagined escaping from abuse, but now she has a young daughter to consider she’s out of options. Inspired by real life events, this darkly humorous, spoken-word performance provides snapshots of life in a women’s refuge, as Cash attempts to rebuild her life from scratch in a world where an Argos suitcase contains everything she needs to start again.