After rather a shaky start, I find myself back in rehearsal mode for a play that has caused some divided opinions within my local drama group.
On the face of it Laura Wade's play, Colder Than Here, is a modern day piece (set in 2005) about a dysfunctional family of four struggling to find common ground and ways to communicate with each other.
We have two sisters, Harriet and Jenna, as
different as chalk and cheese - one reserved and "grown up", responsible and settled. The other, a flighty individual who smokes, swears and whom you could be forgiven for saying "thinks the world revolves around her". We have Alec, a husband and father who obviously feels a great deal, but who struggles to communicate emotions and intimacy with his daughters or his wife. And finally, we have Myra, the wife who is struggling to try and build bridges over the gaps between each member of her family.
What has caused the consternation within our group is the underlying theme of the play. Myra, is dying. She has terminal bone cancer and the background setting of the play flits between the family living room and several different "Green Burial" grounds as the play progresses through the 6 months that the doctors have given her.
Understandably this is a theme which is very close to home for many, with cancer now affecting around 1 in 3 people*. The idea of doing a play where the "Big C" is openly discussed, along with details such as what physically happens to the body when a person dies and someone planning their own funeral, might not be everyone's "cup of tea", however all these little details are handled with care. The humour, although quite "painful" at times, is light and adds to the realism of the play rather than detracting from the seriousness of its subject - and as one of the actors, the more I read this play the more I feel drawn to the aspect of the changing relationships within the family dynamic, rather than this being a play about death and dying.
So with trepidation I start to learn my lines. I do wonder how this play will be received locally, though I genuinely hope that people will see past the initial subject matter to appreciate the rest of this play.
ST.
*I've not been able to verify if this is correct, apologies if it isn't.
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