Both sides now
One woman’s story of bereavement, resilience, healing and personal growth
‘Both Sides Now’ follows the journey of Jenny, a woman struggling to cope with the recent death of her best friend, an event which in turn brings the impact of her traumatic childhood to the fore. The play describes how, with support from a psychologist, Jenny slowly gains the resilience she needs to deal with both her grief and her past, enabling her to take positive steps for change.
Philosopher Judith Butler describes the idea of ‘grievability’ - the idea that some lives, or relationships are not considered valuable, and therefore if they were to be lost, that loss wouldn’t register as such. It is only lives that were acknowledged by the culture as having a value that we consider worthy of grief’.
Both Sides Now was commissioned by Rowans Hospice to celebrate their 25 year anniversary. In its exploration of bereavement, resilience, healing and personal growth this compassionate and thoughtful play beautifully reflects the important work and ethos of the Hospice.
“...the themes of bereavement, resilience, and personal growth that the play sought to explore resonated so deeply with the work of Rowans Hospice...”
Brian says…
I was honoured and privilege to be commissioned by Rowans Hospice to create a play to commemorate their 25th anniversary. Ruth White the CEO had previously seen three of my plays about compassionate healthcare and she particularly wanted to look at resilience and bereavement. Paul Bleadon has articulated the process so well in his blog.
To write the play I drew on some of my own experiences of grief – losing my closest friend to terminal cancer less than 3 years ago – he would never accept that he was dying hence many things between us were left unspoken. I hope the play creates some of the conversations we might have had. As one ages, then the loss of family and friends is, sadly more commonplace. How do we integrate the gaps left by those we lose into our daily lives? How do we build resilience to deal with the anniversaries, the longing to pick up the phone to hear the voice of someone we have loved and lost and who can replace those who have been witnesses of our own lives?
I hope the play explores some of the facets of love and loss – not moving on but integrating the past into our present.
The play has humour – there is humour in all of life – it looks at very real people and situations that we can all relate to. I hope it can be performed to help enable people to share their stories and to engage with characters who I hope we will all recognise!
