By Joanna Trainor

Jill, Lola and Ketamine Kerry are on the precipice of greatness. Tonight will change their lives forever; a representative from Diamond Records is coming to see the G Stringz play at the Half Moon pub. If he likes them the band will be signed on the spot. That’s a lot of pressure for 18-year-olds, but these kick-ass women have got it covered. They will not apologise for the space they take up, and their songs are feminist anthems, surely they’ve got this in the bag.

A disclaimer: I recommended The Half Moon Shania last summer in an article about young and emerging companies. It was before the Fringe started so I hadn’t seen the show, just heard great things and knew they were part of Incoming Festival and one of the New Diorama’s Graduate Emerging companies.

I am a big advocate for trigger warnings. Care for your audience is so important, and if films and television programmes can have warnings then there is simply no reason theatre can’t. Had I known that The Half Moon Shania contains rape content, I would have made sure to outline it in my article, and I apologise profusely that this wasn’t the case.

This is a no fucks given, feminist-fight-song of a show but there should be a content warning somewhere. It’s not on the flyer, on their website or on their Key Info page on the VAULT festival website, and if you’re putting a piece on that’s about the bonds of female friendship then really, you should be a friend to the people watching and give them a heads up. They do note that they can’t guarantee it’s going to be comfortable for us, but that might as well be referring to the seating* in its ambiguity.

It’s not to say that the topic isn’t handled well within the piece. The scene doesn’t feel like it’s been written in for the sake of it, and Freya Parks, Catherine Davies and Cara Baldwin give raw, emotional performances that are devastating to watch for entirely different reasons. But Burnt Lemon please consider adding a trigger warning before going out on tour with your show this summer, it could make an enormous difference to someone.

*Although they have now put cushions on the Pit benches and let me tell you it’s life changing.

The Half Moon Shania runs until 10 February.

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