Theatre Supper – Aunting by Tilly Branson

Ever wondered why people get cards and congratulations when they become parents or grandparents, but not when they become aunties? And why only the horizontal and vertical lines on family trees get inked in? “Bun was the auntie of Mathilda. Mathilda is the auntie of Juno. There are three women in this story and the line that joins them is diagonal” I want to lead you along a zig zagging path down the diagonal lines, jumping between different worlds: my honest confessions about becoming an auntie, sidestepping into imagined worlds where women who don’t want children are ‘fixed”, evil aunties in Roald Dahl books rebel and rewrite their stories, and a dystopian world where aunties fed up with mistreatment are meeting in secret, planning a radical uprising. Tilly has never wanted her own children, but thinks being an auntie is the best thing in the world, and the most important and precious job she’s ever had. Join her as she investigates the clues left behind for her by her eccentric and pioneering late great aunt, and creates a manifesto for aunties to be recognised as important role models in the lives of children and adults.