BLANKET BAN

Set & Costume Design: Isabella Van Braeckel
Video Design: Tom Fitch
Lighting Design: Holly Ellis
Dramaturg: Stephanie Dale

Writers: Davinia Hamilton & Marta Vella
Company: Davinia Hamilton & Marta Vella
Directors: Sam Edmunds & Vikesh Godhwani
Producers: Chalk Line Theatre


Offie Finalist
Winner of the 2022
Untapped Award
Published by
Methuen Drama
Longlisted for the 2022 Popcorn Award
Shortlisted for the 2022 Sit Up Award

grand_jpeg_white.jpeg

“It makes theatre seem essential”
–Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor

“This is a triumph and a must-see.”
–Steph Brawn, The National

“a heart-shatteringly brilliant piece of theatre…”
–Ellen Davis-Walker, The Skinny

“Essential and imaginative.”
–Fergus Morgan, The Independent


Photo by Elisa von Brockdorff

Blanket Ban in the Media

Every year, hundreds of Maltese people seek abortion healthcare, despite the blanket ban on abortion in Malta, and despite the surveys that suggest Maltese people are almost unanimously anti-choice. On abortion, Malta really is a remote island, with deeply conservative views on reproductive rights. But beyond the repression are unspoken stories of courage, resilience, grief, and solidarity. 

Blanket Ban is a devised docu-play interrogating the blanket ban on abortion in Malta; the piece presents the situation through interviews, verbatim work, innovative use of technology, and a fondly critical look at the island state, with its unique brand of Catholic kitsch, modern aspirations and established lore.

It was a winner of the Untapped Award in 2022, and was subsequently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe that year. In 2023, after further development, it ran at the Southwark Playhouse to rave reviews, and has been nominated for an Offie.

In 2025, Blanket Ban was performed at Spazju Kreattiv, in Malta.


Photo by Ali Wright