Before I get into my main focus of this blog, I’m going to update you on what I’ve been up to in my second month with NTW. A big highlight for me has been attending my first TEAM Performance party in Wrexham, where I experienced the unique approach taken to by TEAM to engage with the audience, and saw them asking what they visualise for the future of their community.

I think that this is an amazing thing that NTW do to engage with the people of Wales, and make an impact on communities. It gives them a platform to speak out about what they want from us as the National Theatre.

I have also been attending various production meetings, and looking at what the year will look like for NTW in 2019. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in with the productions coming up in the new season, and working with different departments on various projects.

Following the Radical Creatures call out being advertised, I am writing this blog in support of women in the arts. The Radical Creatures project was put in place to encourage Welsh female artists to create an idea for a piece of theatre, inspired by the theme of being a woman in Wales and what that means to them. The chosen idea and artist will be fully supported, and will showcased as part of NTW’s 10th birthday in 2020.

As women, we are just as capable as men to achieve big things, and I hope I can encourage and inspire women to think big and just go for it with this month’s blog about being a woman in wrestling (WWE style).

Professional wrestling is stereotypically a male sport; men watch it, men compete in it and men run it. At least that’s what the industry used to look like. Female wrestling is a rising trend, and we’re a fierce bunch of girls! We’re breaking the poster girl stereotype and proving our worth inside the ring competing all over the country, and have one of the top promotions in the UK - Pro Wrestling EVE, an all-female show.

Being a woman in the industry still isn’t easy, despite how far we’ve come. There are many controversies around our abilities. One of which being that women are forgiven and excused for making mistakes or not quite being up to par with the men, and are not expected to be any good because of their gender. This idea stems from women being told their matches are, “Good - for a woman’s match”. Women are no less able than men and shouldn’t be judged on their ability as a woman, but their ability as an athlete.

It’s also been said that it’s much easier to be booked on a show if you’re female as there is less ‘competition’, but are we really in competition with each other, or is our real competition gender inequality?

However, these controversies are slowly becoming old news. More and more women are proving themselves to be the best athletes in the country, amongst both genders, being described as having match of the night and being involved in main event matches, competing against men and women alike. WWE are also a leading example of appreciating the work that their female athletes put in though holding all women tournaments, calling them ‘athletes’ where before they were ‘divas’, and having a continuing trend of first time ever for women on WWE such as an all-women’s royal rumble and an all-women’s paper-view match.

I’ve been training to become a wrestler for three and a half years, and have been competing for a year and a half. I have had 4 major injuries in my time training, from a broken eye socket to dislocating my shoulder, and a lot of people have expected me to quit. I’m half way through my rehab for a second surgery on my shoulder and I’m far from giving up on my dream. In fact, I am more determined to prove myself as an athlete and an artist, and not be seen as fragile and weak. It has been both a physically and mentally challenging journey, but I’ve overcome more than I could have ever imagined and have learnt and grown so much as a person in these past three years.

I am excited to see what the future brings for my career in wrestling and the place that women have in the industry.

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