In Avalanche: A Love Story, childlings flit on and off the stage, haunting our unnamed protagonist. ‘Childlings’, not ‘children’, she explains – they’re not real enough to earn that name. They exist only in a potent, torturous realm of make believe, frequent reminders of a future denied to her.

Maxine Peake in Avalanche. Photo © The Other Richard

Adapted from Australian filmmaker Julia Leigh’s acclaimed 2016 memoir, Avalanche: A Love Story first premiered at London’s Barbican Centre in April as part of Fertility Fest, an arts festival devoted to the science of conception and modern families. A co-production with Sydney Theatre Company, it arrives at the Roslyn Packer Theatre with British actor Maxine Peake reprising her role as a woman in her 40s undergoing IVF.

Known simply as the ‘Woman’, Peake’s character starts trying to conceive at 37 with a partner. When that relationship comes to an end – he accuses her of selfishness after she delays fertility treatment to make her first feature film – the Woman decides to go it alone, undertaking six gruelling rounds of IVF. While audiences will be familiar with many of the story beats – “love fucking” gives...