Review: Priya Hall: Grandmother’s Daughter

Have you ever wondered how to go about buying sperm on the internet? Turns out, it’s an incredibly difficult exercise, as Priya Hall will tell you. The Welsh comedian and her “tiny little lesbian” partner have had first-hand experience of this in their journey to becoming parents, which has been difficult, costly and downright absurd in some cases. As a gay couple, they’ve encountered little support from the NHS, shared a trying IVF process and as we learn, come head to head with the capitalist venture that is the Danish sperm bank.

Grandmother’s Daughter is an exploration of what you take from your parents and your grandparents and how this becomes intrinsically instilled in you when you begin your own journey. Hall’s easy-going delivery seamlessly draws you into the often ludicrous anecdotes about her family, including her mum’s unconventional journey to the UK, her Fresh Prince-loving Indian grandad and her powerhouse of a nana Sheila from the Valleys. 

Though the story centres on motherhood and the desire to have a child, Grandmother’s Daughter is also a celebration of queer joy, community and the intricacies of our identities. A strong and promising debut hour, this show's polished level of storytelling comfortably sets Hall up as a name to keep a close eye on in the immediate future.