According to figures from the last census, in the UK, over 11 million people – that's 18.6% of the total population – are aged 65 years or older, and in the next 25 years, the number of people living beyond 85 in the UK will double to 2.6 million. Increasingly older people live fully independent lives, but the underfunded nature of the UK's health and social care system means that for those in the last quarter of their lives, deciding what to do should they need assistance can feel like trying the choose the best of the worst of all options.
As we age, losing our autonomy can come in the instant of a trip or fall, or slowly, as with the creep of Alzheimer's. Both instances can be devastating and are explored with compassion and humour in Ad Infinitum's entertaining new play If You Fall, running at Bristol Old Vic until April 15 and then on a UK tour.
Initially conceived by Ni Paldi, this production is helmed by Helena Middleton, who directs an immensely talented multigenerational cast of six that helped devise the show, drawing upon their own experiences. They slip in and out of roles as carers, children, friends and thoughts, but the majority of the 75-minute runtime is centred on Norson, played by Kirris Riviere, a cricket-mad father and teacher, and Margaret, played by Heather Williams, a retired mum of three who loves singing and her lavender plants.
As the audience enters the auditorium, there is already preshow activity on Katie Sykes' minimally clinical but versatile set as a woman lies on a hospital bed while visitors and carers bustle around her. Once the lights go down, we land at Margaret's funeral, accompanied by biting criticism of the service from Margaret herself, who laments its focus on the last few years of her life.
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Margaret wants us to know that she was a person who loved watching TV in bed, drinking coffee and having her home just as she liked it. She achieved a lot that she feels is being overlooked, from becoming a local councillor to once asking a question on Question Time, but that was all before she thoughtlessly left a book on the stairs, which caused her to trip and fall.
We're also introduced to Norson, cooking up a storm while dishing out dad jokes and anecdotes; he's lively and full of banter. But despite appearances, we come to realise that Norson has gradually been succumbing to early-onset dementia that's only apparent to his son after things come to a head at his workplace.
Norson's son and Margaret's three children face the dilemma of how best to care for their parents. The former stumps up the exorbitant care home fees even though his father is resistant, while the latter attempt to cover the workload between themselves to keep Margaret in the comfort of her own house.
Throughout, sound effects and the character's thoughts are expressed in acapella singing and vocalisations, impressively delivered by the musically impervious cast. Sometimes this takes the form of hushed techno; at other times, it's more like an atonal, multi-layered Gregorian chant. Often it's laugh-out-loud funny, as in one recitative-like song about the things that can go through your mind when you're lying immobile on the floor for eight hours.
The play's levity, intimacy and briskness mean its emotional gut punches can easily sneak up on the audience. In a powerful sequence, Margaret's children discover that the strains of sharing their mother's home care may overwhelm them, while Norson's son's frustration with his uncooperative father melts into hopelessness once he no longer recognises him during his visits.
If You Fall doesn't preach or overtly afford blame. Instead, it presents an enlightening and empathetic portrait of an undervalued system held together by those within it. Whether they're one of a rotating cast of low-paid agency workers, a middle-aged child trying to repay a lifetime of care, or an uncooperative parent refusing help, everyone involved is doing the best that they can in a society unprepared and unwilling to talk about ageing.
In celebrating these individuals, If You Fall gently calls for more support for those we care for and those that care for us. On the night we watched, during a preview performance, the audience appreciatively stood during the curtain call. But more telling of its success was the tentative conversations about end-of-life care we heard beginning to bubble up around us as we filed out of The Weston Studio. For anyone who has ever had or been a parent, If You Fall is a compelling, discussion-provoking production.
If You Fall is at Bristol Old Vic until April 15 and then on tour until June 14. Running time is 75 minutes, without an interval, and tickets range from £8 to £12.
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