Play based on the book “Say That Again” was performed at NeuroArts Festival 20th & 21st July 2019 in Rochester.
It was a great honour to be asked to adapt Say That Again into a one act play for the first NeuroArts Festival to take place on the 20th and 21st of July 2019. It wasn’t easy turning a 600 page novel into a play of just under an hour but I was very pleased to be asked and even more pleased with the result.
The Hempstead Players took on my play and did a wonderful job with it and I was more than happy with their performances. The actor who portrayed Benedict, my hero with Parkinson’s, didn’t over play it and got it just right! On man living with Parkinson’s had to leave the room for a few minutes because he was so choked. Another man said his father had lived with Parkinson’s and he was also moved to tears. However, as with my novel, it had some very funny moments in it which the audience responded to with a lot of laughter. Both performances were full and Sunday especially was standing room only.
Eastgate House in Rochester High Street was a beautiful venue and especially relevant as Dickens often frequented it when he live in Rochester and it is mentioned in two of his novels.
The Hempstead Players then performed it again at Medway Little Theatre and put it in for the Duncan Rand One Act Play competition where it came second. It also won Best Lead Character, Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer. I was so happy for them because they did fantastic job. The Director, lighting and stage manager were all brilliant and they all worked so hard to bring my play to life for the festival. See the photos for the performance and them with their awards. I am deeply grateful to them for taking it on.
On the back of this success, I will be sending the play to Radio 4.
In the next few months I will continue to give talks to various Parkinson’s groups and libraries, but my main focus is my new novel, You’re Not Alone Anymore, which is now for sale from this website (and soon on Kindle).