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It’s still early in the year to award prizes for most intriguing play title, but Briony Martha and Zak Reay-Barry’s “Do Astronauts Masturbate in Space?” must be a contender. We met with them to find out more about it. 

Hailing from Greenock and Cumbria respectively, Briony Martha and Zak Reay-Barry have studied and worked in the UK and France, before meeting whilst doing a play in Paris in 2021, and immediately becoming friends. After working together in various projects, “Do Astronauts Masturbate in Space?” (aka “DAMIS?”) is their first joint writing venture, premiering at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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What can you tell us about “DAMIS?”

Briony: “DAMIS?” is a dystopian dark comedy, set in a very bonkers Britain where due to overpopulation, everyone now needs a licence, or a “Stork Card” to have kids. 

We play Lily and Gareth, a young couple who accidentally fall pregnant and need to attend a one-week ‘Retreat’ where their capacity as potential caregivers and their love for each other is put to the test. If they fail the retreat Lily will be forced to terminate the pregnancy, so the stakes are high. The play is a real firecracker that swings between absurdist comedy and a very human drama about a loving couple being pulled apart by their own Government. Think ‘Gavin & Stacey’ meets ‘1984’.

Can you share a little about what inspired this topic?

Zak: I first had the idea a few years ago when my Dad was refused an insurance claim after an accident because he’d been prescribed antidepressants (which he didn’t even end up taking) when he was a much younger man. It stuck in my mind this idea of your vulnerability and past being used against you later on. At the same time I was reading “The Body Keeps The Score” by Bessel van der Kolk, and the consequences of developmental trauma, the stigma it has in society even today and the impact it has later on when you yourself become a parent. This sparked the question – ‘should some people not have kids? and if so, who decides that? What would that mean for women and abortion rights? What would that world look like if the state controlled who could and who couldn’t become a parent?’ I started a draft but immediately felt I wasn’t qualified enough to write this story so I called Briony, who seemed like the obvious choice given her talent and intelligence to come on-board and tell this story with me. 

Briony: I was really interested in coming on-board because the idea felt really interesting to explore as a play. It also felt extremely relevant given the state of the world today. I think the most terrifying aspect of the play is that it’s set in a dystopian world that doesn’t actually feel too far away, despite how absurd it is at times. It’s a story that talks a lot about women’s reproductive rights, mental health and State oppression, and I believe that this is an important story to be told on stage.

Everyone will want to know more about this title – how many did you discuss before choosing this one? Any notable ones you rejected?

Briony: So, we actually went through loads of potential titles but funnily enough this was the first title idea we had. We knew we loved it but we were just a bit… nervous? I mean, it is a bit out there, isn’t it? We went through a few “tamer” alternatives…we had ‘The Retreat’ ‘The Elder Tree’ ‘Stork Card’, trying to link the title to the themes of the play, but nothing really spoke to us like DAMIS did. So in the end we trusted our guts and went with ‘Do Astronauts Masturbate in Space?’ and it wasn’t until we had our meeting with Greenside (where the play will premiere at the Fringe) that Tara, the artistic director, told us we had one of the best titles she’d ever seen. It was then we realised we had something which people could really latch onto. 

Zak: Without spoiling it, it’s a very important line in the play! Come and see the play and you’ll see what we mean, there’s a method to our madness.

As early career artists, what has the creation process been like so far? Has anyone in particular helped you along the way?

Briony: Oh, we still can’t believe so many have reacted so wonderfully to our little story and come on-board to help us. 

We’d love to give huge shout outs to our lovely director Nathalie Alisson, our stage manager Ruben Sparks and our producer Kevan Salahkar who believed in us right from the beginning and our other producer Camille Dreyfuss who keeps us sane as we muddle through the production side of this play. Two other wonderful people we’d also like to thank are Mirren Wilson and Shelley Middler, both brilliant playwrights and actors, for their wisdom, support and pure friendship. 

Zak: Also just all the people who helped with the production of the play, the poster, to everyone who has shown unbelievable support on our Crowdfunder. 

As far as the creation process is concerned, it’s actually been absolute bliss. It’s so funny we’ve never actually talked about this together, we’ve been so full on with producing the play we haven’t actually had the time to stop and think. 

Briony and I are almost always on the same page. We’re very good at listening to each other, we often agree on where the story needs to go. I’ll often have an idea and before I can message her via WhatsApp to explain what it is she’s already proposed the same idea to me. 

Briony: Totally. We like to say we share the same brain cell. It helps as well that we both have the same sense of humour. We both encourage each other in following through on our wacky ideas, it’s a very safe space for us to try out stuff and follow whatever impulse comes. There’s a lot of trust and it’s really nice knowing you have someone who’ll support you in exploring your ideas, even if they’re not fully formed yet. 

Zak: We are also not afraid to tell each other how we feel, which is super nice. We don’t hide anything.

Briony: No, like, I know I can tell Zak whether I’m not sure about an idea, or when he says “I think we can cut that” I’m not devastated by it. But I’m learning a lot about being a producer. I had a lot of respect for producers before but wow man, since doing this play it’s really opened my eyes.

Zak: Like wow. It’s been crazy. It’s been quite transformative for me personally. I haven’t been so invested in a project as much as this one.

What challenges have you faced getting to this stage in the creative process?

Zak: For the amount of work that we have done, I would still give anything just to have more time. Because when I work Briony’s off and when I’m off work, she’s working so we are in this constant struggle to find a time where we can just focus on the play. 

Briony: This whole process has been incredibly eye-opening:  the development of a play, the marketing, managing people’s availability…

Zak: We spoke about this the other day, there’s always something that needs our attention concerning the production of the play. Like we’ve been working on it since October last year and there hasn’t been a single day we haven’t either texted or called. It’s been a crazy ride and we’re only halfway there.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers/performers/artists wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Zak: Honestly, we’re not sure if we are the ones to give advice cause we’re still figuring it out ourselves but if you’re called to write something, if you have an idea or if you want to try something just give yourself the license to explore it. Allow yourself to write something without judging whether it’s good or not, that’s not what’s important, what matters is doing it, getting it out into the world. It’s scary but that’s a good sign, it means it matters to you and no matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you get rejected or you fail – own it and keep going. It is a very brutal, competitive world but what’s the alternative? If you have a voice that needs expressing just remember that no matter how tough it is, there’s someone out there who needs to hear what you have to say.

Want a sneak peak of “DAMIS?”

There will be a rehearsed reading at The Wee Red Door, at 7pm on 28th April: https://fienta.com/do-astronauts-masturbate-in-space-rehearsed-reading 

Want to see “DAMIS?” at Edinburgh Festival Fringe? “DAMIS?” is showing at 19:50 from 1 – 23 August 2025, at venue 16 (Willow Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court). Tickets are available now:  https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/do-astronauts-masturbate-in-space