4 hours ago
14
The stories told by Patch of Blue can be difficult to hear, but this vital theatre company is well aware of that. In the family drama Cassie and the Lights, at the fringe in 2022, one of the abandoned children kindly lent her froggy hat to an audience member to help them through an upsetting scene. In this new show – which shares that play’s mix of emotional veracity, easy humour and social purpose – the cast once more dip in and out of the story to guide us along.
You feel in safe hands – which is one of the play’s essential themes. It is inspired by disabled actor Keron Day, who also stars as himself, and gives his experiences with a line of personal assistants who provide live-in care. We are introduced to Keron, 22, as he meets PA Dani (Lauren Koster) in a sweary meet-cute – but it’s the friendship between the two, rather than any romance, that muddies the water.
The play, written by Day, Helen Chong and director Alex Howarth (a former care worker), dives into the complexities of defining personal and professional boundaries. Keron relies on Dani, whose duties include cleaning and dressing him; she relies on him, as her employer. Some may see Keron as the one in need; his whistle-stop tour of past PAs (played by Martha Walker) shows they can be the needy ones – or cruelly aloof.
The nature of the work is immediately intimate – his PA, says Keron, is the person he sees at the start and end of each day. Two extremes are posited: the PA as confidant or, after Keron and Dani fall out, as “the robot that takes you to the toilet”. As the title makes clear, the set-up is fragile, the future uncertain, with government cuts hovering over both their lives. The script combines the specificity of this situation – and the pity and ridicule Keron faces not just from strangers but also friends – with a striking universality for other relationships.
Joined by Merle Powell-Smith, who plays her own soothing and plangent folk compositions on stage, the overall effect is not so much of an ensemble as a community. The piece ends with Keron’s commitment to protect others in his position – and the hour itself is handled with utmost care.
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At Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 29 August
