'They were always on the bigger side, those women. In the paintings and things, the statues. They were seen as beautiful. A Goddess. They were seen as something powerful.'

Sea, sand, swimming, tampon strings and him. She's so sick of it.

A woman stands on the shore, reluctantly ready to set foot in the sea under the watchful and ridiculing gaze of her partner when, as the water rises around her, things take an unexpected and unearthly turn.

Razor-sharp and laced with twisted humour, I ❤️🍦 by Andrew Thompson (In Event of Moone Disaster; Theatre 503) is a searing, experimental monologue overlaid with animation, that takes a surreal deep dive into themes of abuse, misogyny and folklore that will leave you gasping for air.

I ❤️🍦 is part of our Creative Exchange: Japan project. In early 2020, playwrights Andrew Thompson and Morna Young undertook month-long residencies in Japan with the aim of producing a full-length work for the stage as part of the British Council's 'Scotland in Japan' project and Creative Scotland's UK/Japan Season of Culture 2019-2020. With restrictions over the last year making physical performances challenging, Andrew honed in on a single aspect of his larger idea to play with and explore in this digital presentation. You can read more about I ❤️🍦's page to stage process in our new blog series.

Supported by British Council Scotland, the Scottish Government and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

The Traverse Theatre is funded by Creative Scotland and The City of Edinburgh Council, with additional support from The Scottish Government Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.

Image: Alex Harwood

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all theatres across the world. At the Traverse, we have lost £3 in every £5 of our income, and any support from the Government will take us only part of the way.

We may be offstage for now, but we're not offline.

In order for us to continue international collaborations, we urgently need your help.

With your support, the Traverse Theatre can offer artists opportunities to build international connections and exchanges to inspire, develop and tell stories across different platforms. Please consider making a donation to the Traverse Theatre today and support the future of international theatre exchange.

- A gift of £100 could provide a translation of a short work, like I ❤️🍦
into Japanese.

- A gift of £50 could help pay for a half-day workshop with an international artist.

- A gift of £10 could help buy a sound effects audio library, bringing digital stories to life.