Tickets: £17
Concessions: £13 (Full-time Education, NHS, Universal Credit)
[Please note an additional £1.50 admin fee is added at checkout.]
Presented by Next Stage Theatre Company
Wednesday 10th - Saturday 13th September 7:30pm
Matinee Saturday 13th September 2:30pm
Claire: “It’s my life.”
Carol : “It’s not just your life, Claire. You’re part of a FAMILY.”
Carol is organising a 21st birthday party for her severely disabled son, Andy. But herding her disjointed family together brings a host of challenges in Rory Kinnear’s enthralling play.
For a start, where is Andy? His carer who’s supposed to be bringing him is stuck in traffic. Carol’s daughter Claire is distracted by other concerns and her parents are - well, her parents. Factor in a couple of uninvited guests and a lasagne that may not be enough to go round and a host of tensions come to the surface.
By turns comic and heart-rending, tough and tender, The Herd reveals the struggles of coping with a disabled child while trying to hold a family together… a family that tests the idea of a herd instinct.
Rory Kinnear - best known as an actor in four James Bond films as well as many other roles - based the play on his own experience of growing up with a sister with severe learning difficulties. He was joint winner (with Phoebe Waller-Bridge) of the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2013, yet this is his only play to date, and a Bath premiere.
He has spoken about an “unseen fellowship” of those coping with the practical and emotional impact of coping with someone needing constant care, and of highlighting an issue not often seen in drama.
Presented by an experienced cast from Next Stage, The Herd is directed by Bob Constantine.
Contains some strong language.
