Being diagnosed with – and treated for – breast cancer is devastating… but putting your life back together can be no picnic either. Eight out of ten women are not told about the possibility of developing long-term anxiety and depression by healthcare professionals, according to research carried out by Breast Cancer Care and Mind.

Picking up the pieces after a mastectomy has inspired one woman to devise a play about women’s experiences of life after breast cancer: the result is Rebel Boob, which will be shown at The Old Market in Hove this March as part of the Reigning Women programme and then at the Brighton Fringe in May, with the aim of a national tour in the future. There will also be a residency hosted at Brighton Girls which we are using to share the message of resilience and empowering women, to show that nothing can hold us back.

Angela El-Zeind, who heads Speak Up! Act Out!, a Brighton-based community interest theatre company, has used the testimonies of a number of women to create a play that uses digital technology along with heart-rending monologues to take the audience on their own journey.

“We are still in the dark about cancer. It is still a taboo subject and we are not talking enough about the numbers of women, and men, who survive and go on to live rich, fulfilling lives,” she explains. “It is a raw, funny, honest and beautiful insight into the magic which can happen when your life as you know it stops. This piece is all about the strength of women, and what our bodies and minds are capable of.”

To book tickets or to find our more, please visit: