Taking the Stage 2022 - The Saltiness of Time

First performed as a scratch piece in October 2021 and later developed with dramaturg Andy Routledge.

When Amelia stepped away from the life she knew to become the primary caregiver for a frail and ageing loved one, she had no idea how dramatically it would alter her life. Struck years on by the realisation that her “new normal” is nothing like the past and nowhere near what she has envisioned for her future how should she be viewed by society? Selfless, foolish or a martyr?

Shirley Jones 

Woman The winner of the adjudicator’s special award for her one-act play at the AllEngland Drama Festival, Shirley Jones is a former journalist who has lived in Milton Keynes for 25 years. She currently writes commissioned pieces for special events, mystery evenings and pantomimes while also undertaking acting and directing with local community groups and for corporate clients. During lockdown she developed a series of thought-provoking monologues - Lone Voices - which can be found on You Tube and most recently contributed to developing the mini-panto “Rats!” for the Open University when a larger production had to be shelved because of Covid rules. Having taken a career detour to provide care and companionship for her frail mother she has some experience of the themes explored in The Saltiness of Time and is interested in the long term implications of an ageing population and how the right infrastructure of support might be developed.

Rebecca Higgins 

Amelia Rebecca has been an actor and drama practitioner for over thirty years. Early roles included working with Pentabus, Women & Theatre and Wolsey TIE, Ipswich. She also appeared as Dot in the BBC’s Playdays. Rebecca returned to performing with the role of Amelia for The Play’s The Thing in Autumn 2021 and now as part of Taking The Stage. As a practitioner Rebecca specialises in drama as creative communication with young people across a range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and led the pilot project in special schools for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She is currently working with Carbon Theatre on the Sensory Sounds in Nature project. Rebecca also leads regular music sessions as part of the Musical Inclusion team at NMPAT. Her PhD explored the relationship between creativity and cognitive development. Rebecca is currently co-writing a handbook for Theraplay® practitioners working in special education.

This performance for Taking The Stage was hit by Covid. Shirley Jones, the writer, stepped in to play Amelia and Linda Cartwright played Woman.