Preview: Es & Flo

I saw it and loved the characters, themes and the relationships that develop between the women/girls as the story progresses. The play has won the Popcorn Group Writing Award and the Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award.

The empowerment of women, and how a family can consist of any mix of people regardless of age, ethnicity or background. It’s a love story too, but also deals with the challenges of caring for someone with dementia.

I think people will see how the support of non biological/non-traditional  families is as important as that of the nuclear family, and that everyone has a role to play, regardless of age, in the support of someone developing or living with dementia. They’ll also see how memory fluctuates, and that older memories are more durable so must be considered when caring for someone with dementia, or even just ageing.

To work effectively with our young actors, we’ve involved their mothers in rehearsals so that they can continue to work with Anniah and Tessa at home. It’s been important to preserve the humour of the characters, as a play just about caring for someone with dementia could be pretty bleak! We’ve supported the actors to build their relationships and connections as rehearsals have progressed, as they’ve needed to become a tight-knit ensemble.

Es (Carole Coyne) and Flo (Enid Gayle) have been in a relationship for almost 40 years, having met and fallen in love at the Greenham Common Peace camp. Both of them made sacrifices for their relationship, losing family and friends, but they continue to support and care for each other, and despite their cultural and social differences, their relationship has flourished .

Beata (Giulia Balsamo) and Kasia (Anniah Beckles/Tessa Bailey), come into Es and Flo’s lives when Beata is employed by Es’s son, Peter, who despite never appearing impacts all the women in some way, especially Flo and his wife Catherine (Ruth Huggett). He also determines the choices Es makes in order to protect him and make up for her perceived failings and guilt about leaving him as a child, even though this was forced on her as it was for so many women at Greenham Common.

Catherine initially appears at the insistence of her husband, but as the story progresses her priorities change as she is enlightened about Peter’s early life, his father, and his relationship with his mother, resulting in her making some major life- changing decisions.

The characters are all different and have their own tests and challenges, but all have things in common too. They have all given up something to be where they are, or ultimately make sacrifices for a better life for themselves and the group as a whole.

Humorous, moving, empowering