Pitlochry Festival Theatre in association with Naked Productions present the Sound Stage premiere of
HELPING HANDS
A new play by Cathy Forde
Directed by Ben Occhipinti
Music composed by Niroshini Thambar
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown
Sound Recordist: Sara Mattinson
Assistant Director: Heather Fulton
Cast: Maureen Beattie (Hilda) and Charlene Boyd (Rose)
Pitlochry Festival Theatre is delighted to announce that after the success of the opening season of its new audio-digital venture Sound Stage, it will be premiering two new audio plays over the Autumn – the first being, in association with the leading independent audio production company Naked Productions, award-winning novelist and playwright Cathy Forde’s new play Helping Hands.
Directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Associate Director Ben Occhipinti, Helping Hands will premiere on Sound Stage from 26-28 November.
Helping Hands tells the story of Rose, an agency support worker, who gives care to the elderly and vulnerable in her community. Hilda is one of those clients. One day when both women find themselves in crisis, a relationship develops that neither woman expected but both desperately needed.
Whilst Rose battles to understand Hilda’s determination to stay at home no matter how physically frail she becomes, Hilda is determined not to allow Rose to take the same path in life as she has, stifled by expectation and compromise.
However, whilst the relationship is developing, Hilda is choosing to make a decision that will change everything.
Helping Hands exciting cast will feature Maureen Beattie (Deadwater Fell, ITV, Yerma, Young Vic and The Ferryman, Gielgud Theatre) and Charlene Boyd (Annika, ITV; River City, BBC; The Trial of Christine Keener, BBC; The Macbeths, Traverse Theatre).
Cathy Forde is an award-winning Scottish novelist (Fat Boy Swim, Skarrs, The Drowning Pond, and playwright (Empty, National Theatre of Scotland). She collaborates extensively with schools, festivals and organisations in the development and promotion of creative writing for young people. Cathy is currently working on the musical adaptation of her novel, Fat Boy Swim with Visible Fictions. For the past six years she has been a full-time carer.
Playwright Cathy Forde said:
“Helping Hands is a play which gives voice to characters who are often overlooked: the incredibly old and professional caregivers. The play was born from a pre-pandemic conversation with my friend and colleague Charlene Boyd – an actor for whom I have always wanted to create a character. We traded anecdotes about my elderly, ailing mother and Charlene’s grandmother. Both women would rather remain independent in their homes, if possible, rather than be admitted to hospital for investigations or treatment, even if it meant suffering and discomfort.
I wrote a draft of this play just before the first COVID 19 struck. Thanks to a bursary from Playwrights’ Studio, I was able to develop the script over Zoom with Charlene (as Rose) and Keith Fleming (as Hilda). I am absolutely delighted it has found its way to Pitlochry Festival Theatre to premiere on Sound Stage."
Sound Stage is an exciting new audio-digital venture, designed by theatre makers and leading technologists, giving audiences a unique and engrossing online theatre experience of new plays from the best in British theatre which, in the future, Pitlochry Festival Theatre hope to produce on stage.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman said:
“We are thrilled to be sharing news of another Sound Stage season. This Autumn we will produce two more new plays with much needed support from the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund. We also look forward to sharing news of more events in the coming months too.
Sound Stage has been an incredible way for us to reach existing and new audiences. At the same time, we have been able to develop some great new pieces of writing with wonderful artists for audiences. We have also been really heartened by the platform making it possible for us to bring audiences together from all over the world to share the work but also make new friendships and connections.”
Every Sound Stage performance will be accompanied by a post-show event for each showing, hosted on Sound Stage, inviting audiences to engage further with the creative teams behind Helping Hands.
Helping Hands, which is being produced in association with Naked Productions and has received initial script development support from the Playwrights' Studio, Scotland, will premiere on Sound Stage from 26-28 November. For tickets and further information visit www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.
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