NO KIDDING?
No Kidding? is presented by The Real People Theatre, a women's theatre company, founded in 1999 by Sue Lister and Ann Murray. Ordinary women take to the stage with their life experiences and the group move from the personal to the universal, often exploring social issues. No Kidding? gives 'a voice to the millions of older people who are ageing without the support of children - ageing at home alone' (Sue Lister).
These are the scenes on offer from No Kidding? which can be booked individually for small groups, as a whole for larger events or you can pick and mix:
1. SUNDAYS – 2 ageing women sit alone at home wondering how to fill in the long and lonely “family” day; Christmas and other festivals can be lonely too.
2. MY NAME IS BRIAN – a comedy sketch about how a lonely woman deals with a scam phone call purporting to fix her computer.
3. IN TIME OF NEED – a woman collapses in town and is taken to A&E by a friend. She doesn’t want to notify her next of kin and is worried about her cat. There is no one to care for her when she is discharged from hospital.
4. SCATTERED FAMILY – a monologue by a woman whose adult children are now living far away. As parents you want them to live their own lives but...
5. GRIEF OF CHILDLESSNESS – a monologue sharing how not being able to become a mother can blight your life.
6. UNDER PRESSURE – two scenes with audience interventions a) a daughter is about to get married and tells her mother that they have decided not to have children b) 30 years later the mother has been living with the daughter “temporarily” but the time has come to suggest a care home.
7. CORRECTIONAL RAPE – a young lesbian Kenyan shares her story of how her family organised rape to cure her of being a lesbian and how a child resulted.
8. BROODY MEN – Rob shares the sadness of being childless from a man’s point of view. Especially poignant on Father’s Day.
9. AUDIENCE INTERACTIONS – what could be happening? Three statues – a woman upset about a greetings card; a woman with a doll; a woman clasping a mug.
After each scene the audience shares their own experiences, looks for how to cope and raises awareness of the awoc issue from a wide variety of viewpoints. What are we going to do about it?
To find out more about the company, visit
https://www.realpeopletheatre.co.uk
For all enquiries related to No Kidding? contact Sue Lister (01904 488870),
Real People Theatre Artistic Director.