Pity, 19-22 September 2019

Worthing Theatre Trail

While in no way autobiographical, Pity was sparked in my mind by the experience of caring for my mother as she suffered with early-onset dementia. Her often bizarre (and often hilarious) confusions and leaps of twisted narrative while suffering from this terrible disease was hard to cope with.

But - sometimes, just sometimes - they hinted at fantasies that seemed so real to her that I wondered - had that really happened to her? Was I sure of my own reality? Maybe I didn’t know my mother and her history at all? Maybe it was me that was confused, frightened and forgetful? Was it me that was floating on a turbulent ocean, just waiting to hear the dreadful crack of calving icebergs?

My sister, a visiting carer, completed the inspiration for me when she told me a (possibly apocryphal?) story she had been told during her training.

- Gary

We would like to thank the Worthing Theatre Trail for the opportunity to put this little piece of theatre on. It is a total change from Identity’s usual modus operandi, as directors we are more used to mounting larger-scale plays both through Identity and at the Southwick Players. This little offering is something of a labour of love, and has some personal resonance for all three of us, we hope you like it.

- Nettie & Gary

All production photography by Miles Davies