Another England
Written and Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
The piece is set in England 2022, when a national identity crisis is in full swing, exploring what it’s like to fall between the cracks. It’s a dynamic, lively piece with representations of social exclusion and surreal satire, brilliantly performed by Philippa Cole as Rat and Andrew McLay as Murphy.
The subject matter is dark: Rat and Murphy, our two protagonists, have been stripped of their citizenship on the basis of being disabled people and shipped off to camps, but are currently on the run. However, just as in the disability community, we have explored a fantastically subversive underworld of humour and identity which pervades the piece, bringing a sense of colour and vibrancy.
Murphy is a cantankerous old grouch, a bigot, who Rat would normally go to the ends of the earth to avoid. Rat has a social conscience, based on the experiences of her Mum’s lifetime of mis-diagnosis in mental health services, and challenges Murphy’s thinking. Both have been drawn to a derelict house on the outskirts of town and both feel they have a reason for being there, whilst neither wants the other there.
With both of them in hiding, a story of a painful past emerges which directly connects Murphy to the house, a house he feels is his birth right, whilst Rat demands the house is hers as she was there before Murphy – or so she thinks.
They make a pact to play a series of games and whoever wins gets to stay in the house, whilst the other must return to the camps. Rat ensures that the games reveal a lot about identity, and how both mainstream culture and history have impacted on theirs. As the drama unfolds, an England based on a lie emerges, but who will get to stay.
The subject matter is dark: Rat and Murphy, our two protagonists, have been stripped of their citizenship on the basis of being disabled people and shipped off to camps, but are currently on the run. However, just as in the disability community, we have explored a fantastically subversive underworld of humour and identity which pervades the piece, bringing a sense of colour and vibrancy.
Murphy is a cantankerous old grouch, a bigot, who Rat would normally go to the ends of the earth to avoid. Rat has a social conscience, based on the experiences of her Mum’s lifetime of mis-diagnosis in mental health services, and challenges Murphy’s thinking. Both have been drawn to a derelict house on the outskirts of town and both feel they have a reason for being there, whilst neither wants the other there.
With both of them in hiding, a story of a painful past emerges which directly connects Murphy to the house, a house he feels is his birth right, whilst Rat demands the house is hers as she was there before Murphy – or so she thinks.
They make a pact to play a series of games and whoever wins gets to stay in the house, whilst the other must return to the camps. Rat ensures that the games reveal a lot about identity, and how both mainstream culture and history have impacted on theirs. As the drama unfolds, an England based on a lie emerges, but who will get to stay.
Another England Dress Rehearsal Photographs
Philippa Cole and Andrew McLay, with BSL Interpreter Sue Lee
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Butterfly
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Beatrice, an unlikely heroine, sits in isolation, waiting for the outcome of a forced mental health assessment. She loved Bowie and the Bay City Rollers back then, and now revisits a personal history she only just remembers. But there is an important detail she has forgotten. Boudica and Butterfly guide her through both big historical moments and small personal details to re-imagine the corner she feels she has been painted into. If she could change the past would she?
Beatrice examines whether the chaos theory of stigma has informed the status of people in her present. Whenever that is.
This clever, funny, dark piece allows us to assess how we treat human beings in the 21st century, expertly performed by Jacqueline Phillips.
What this play is not: It is not all in Beatrice’s head – the characters all exist within the world of the piece. It is not an exploration of a mental health condition. It is not about ‘suffering from’ or ‘surviving’ a condition. It is about the history of stigma, and misunderstandings and misrepresentations. It is about setting the record straight.
Oh, and who is Elizabeth?
An ARC Stockton Cultural Shift production developed in association with Little Cog.
Written and Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Performed by Jaqueline Phillips
Butterfly will be BSL interpreted.
Please contact ARC if you have any queries about mental health triggers in this piece.
Vici is an associate artist of ARC Stockton and is currently working as Disability Agent of Change on their Cultural Shift programme. This creation of this piece has been informed by the experiences of people with mental health problems.
Beatrice examines whether the chaos theory of stigma has informed the status of people in her present. Whenever that is.
This clever, funny, dark piece allows us to assess how we treat human beings in the 21st century, expertly performed by Jacqueline Phillips.
What this play is not: It is not all in Beatrice’s head – the characters all exist within the world of the piece. It is not an exploration of a mental health condition. It is not about ‘suffering from’ or ‘surviving’ a condition. It is about the history of stigma, and misunderstandings and misrepresentations. It is about setting the record straight.
Oh, and who is Elizabeth?
An ARC Stockton Cultural Shift production developed in association with Little Cog.
Written and Directed by Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Performed by Jaqueline Phillips
Butterfly will be BSL interpreted.
Please contact ARC if you have any queries about mental health triggers in this piece.
Vici is an associate artist of ARC Stockton and is currently working as Disability Agent of Change on their Cultural Shift programme. This creation of this piece has been informed by the experiences of people with mental health problems.
Butterfly Development Residency Photos September 2015
Jacqueline Phillips
The Art of Not Getting Lost
at Art Stockton and Northern Stage May/June 2015
Vici Wreford-Sinnott is a professional disabled playwright and theatre director based in the North East of England. Having trained in Theatre Direction at the University of Kent she has worked in theatre and Disability Arts for 23 years. The Art of Not Getting Lost signifies a return to theatre-making after ten years in strategic roles in Disability Arts. The piece tackles mental health stigma using visual, digital, physical, political theatre.
Most of us get lost at some point in our lives, in train stations, car parks, in a maze, the wilderness, the desert, or the forest. We get distracted or have a trauma, and we get bored or ignored. With whatever survival kit we can grab, we try to leave our mark.
Two characters, Everyone and No-One, have made their home in the hidden underground tunnels of Bakerloo Station, creating their own fictional Lost Property centre. The station clock is against them as their presence has been detected, and the heavy boot mob is closing in. The piece is an exploration of friendship, truth and lies, and what happens to people when they are under pressure of stigma. Do they hide, do they look the other way or, do they stand up and be counted. It’s an exploration of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and Everyone and No-one tell the stories of mental health past and present, stolen lives and well kept secrets, and look at how we arrive at our ideas of what is and isn’t ‘normal’.
One in four people will experience mental health distress at some point in our lives. It does not define who we are but there remain many negative and stereotypical perceptions. It affects all of us in some way and if we do not talk about it, it will remain hidden, shameful and stigmatised.
The Art of Not Getting Lost is performed by Ree Collins and Eleanor Crawford.
The performance is BSL Interpreted
“intense, innovative and thought provoking, cleverly written and skilfully executed”
Shout North East
“Compelling theatre. I was completely drawn into the world the characters had created.”
Audience Member Rehearsed Reading at ARC
Most of us get lost at some point in our lives, in train stations, car parks, in a maze, the wilderness, the desert, or the forest. We get distracted or have a trauma, and we get bored or ignored. With whatever survival kit we can grab, we try to leave our mark.
Two characters, Everyone and No-One, have made their home in the hidden underground tunnels of Bakerloo Station, creating their own fictional Lost Property centre. The station clock is against them as their presence has been detected, and the heavy boot mob is closing in. The piece is an exploration of friendship, truth and lies, and what happens to people when they are under pressure of stigma. Do they hide, do they look the other way or, do they stand up and be counted. It’s an exploration of the stigma surrounding mental health problems and Everyone and No-one tell the stories of mental health past and present, stolen lives and well kept secrets, and look at how we arrive at our ideas of what is and isn’t ‘normal’.
One in four people will experience mental health distress at some point in our lives. It does not define who we are but there remain many negative and stereotypical perceptions. It affects all of us in some way and if we do not talk about it, it will remain hidden, shameful and stigmatised.
The Art of Not Getting Lost is performed by Ree Collins and Eleanor Crawford.
The performance is BSL Interpreted
“intense, innovative and thought provoking, cleverly written and skilfully executed”
Shout North East
“Compelling theatre. I was completely drawn into the world the characters had created.”
Audience Member Rehearsed Reading at ARC
The Art of Not Getting Lost Residency Zinc Arts 2014
Victoria Gibson as No-one, The Art of Not Getting Lost Scratch at Zinc Arts March 2014.
