A new show opening tonight at the LSPU Hall is taking a deep dive into the subject of women in politics, and the hurdles they face in deciding to run.

The show, created by Ruth Lawrence, is called If She Runs.

Lawrence says she started writing it at a time when she was feeling optimistic about democracy. Over the last few years it took “many dark turns” before arriving at the “relatively hopeful” version that is going to hit the stage tonight.

Lawrence says she wanted to leave people with a sense of hope, but after doing research and conducting interviews, she was feeling “hopeless” and it took a long time to get out of that mindset.

She says it took about 6 months for her to get back to what she wanted, noting that she does see some big differences in this province. “I do see that we have hope here, we still have respect and we have a modicum of understanding each other. And I see that more and more, in contrast to some of the other things that we see in the world.”

If She Runs’ four-day run begins today and wraps up on Sunday.