A Liverpool playwright has based her new performance 'These Days' on Postnatal depression after her daughter struggled with the condition.
Postnatal depression (PND) affects 1 in 10 women within a year of giving birth and can also affect fathers (as recently portrayed by Eastenders soap character, Stuart Highway). Street crime affects many people directly and indirectly.
Playwright Irene Stuart's daughter, Lucy, suffered PND following the birth of her first child 16 years ago. The play ‘Michael’ portrays her story through the couple Holly (Alice McKillop) and Jay (Jonathan Ali). Irene told the ECHO: "She never suffered with it following the birth of her other three children.
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“The experience is fresh in her memory. She was keen to highlight the horror she went through in the hope it may help others."
Holly is affected by PND. Her partner Jay witnesses Holly change from excited new mother to tearful, anxious and prone to mood swings. Irene said: "I felt it important to portray Jay as a victim too as potential fathers may not be aware the condition exists.
"I’ve attempted to make the characters as realistic as possible, ensuring Holly displays many symptoms of the illness. Jay's reaction is typical of how a partner reacts to the unknown. The health visitor is empathetic and offers Holly the support she needs.
"Experiences of those suffering are often vastly different, for example, my daughter knew she loved her son Alfie, but was frightened she would harm him and couldn't bear to be near him. Others feel they don't love their child but know they have no intention of harming their child."
Many women don't realise they have PND because it can develop gradually. It can happen to anyone and being depressed does not mean they are a bad parent.
Alice (Holly) said: "To prepare for the role I spoke to close friends who told of their experience. I read articles by Zoe's Place and watched interviews by members of the Azaylia Foundation, this gave me confidence to take on this challenging and at times stressful role".
Jonathan (Jay) said: "You need to always push yourself and take on roles that test your abilities. This role has certainly done this. It is an important and emotive subject which needs to be brought to the attention of an audience".
'These Days, at the Casa in Hope Street, on October 6, is part of Liverpool Fringe Festival.
The second play ‘The Hitman and Her’ by Steve Bird is a dark comedy concerning the unsavoury side of street life and explores a mothers relationship with her son. Steve said: "It follows Jay (PJ Murray), a young man who has got himself involved with the criminal underworld. A misjudgment in his criminal activities brings him in confrontation with an enforcer, Kneecap (Tommy Tyler Morgan)
"Jay needs his ever dependable mother Carol (Gemma Knox) to, once again, bail him out. The play highlights how easy it is to get dragged into criminal activity and how life can spiral out of control.
"A difficult story to tell, but one that needs continually to be told and emphasise, crime does not pay".
There will be a collection for Zoe’s Place after the performance. For ticket information click Here.
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