A play for stage, written by Kate Wood (Martinwood)
Hayley returns to her home town of Sheffield after her marriage breaks down with her 10 year old disabled son Ryan and her new - born - non - sleeping baby. She tries to get her son into a much sought after special school by grappling with a dysfunctional care and education system.
Befriending her old school mate Vonny, whom she initially feels she has little in common with now, turns out to be a much needed support and basically a ‘right laugh’ as they trawl through activities offered by single parent support group SLOPS.
As the pressure mounts for Hayley, her friendship with Vonny and indeed her own mental health begin to deteriorate. When Hayley feels her back is against the wall she goes to extremes in order to get what she needs for her son...
Having received funding from Arts Council England, Kate is in the process of writing the play, which follows the story of Hayley who is a parent carer of her 10 year old disabled son. Hayley has hit a crisis point in her life and is having a battle with social care about her son‘s future educational provision.
She has reconciled with an old school friend and a mate of hers, and the 3 women who are all single mums, yet with very different parenting styles and outlooks on life, provide an unlikely support network for each other. However, differences start to appear which has consequences for Hayley and her disabled son Ryan.
It also probes the grim question we don't like to probe - would Ryan be better off dead than being cared for by a dysfunctional system?
Life of Ryan is a dark comedy featuring a local cast of 3 female characters and a disabled dancer. The play deals with mental health, suicide and disability. It uses dance and movement to portray emotion, as well as to move the plot on and it’s comic elements act as a good holding form, as do the characters – all women, not young and mainly northern.
- Joanna Lumley
- Joanne Fergusen (parent / carer)
- Ryan
Kate's inspriation for Life of Ryan
One year I went on holiday with my lovely friend Karen Simpson. My son Ryan was just 18 so it was back in 2013, and she urged me to write about my experiences as a carer of a disabled son.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that hardly anything is written from the perspective of the carer. The caring role is seen as drudgery and strife. Wiping bottoms and presenting our loved ones into the world to make them more palatable. I wanted to show all sides to this infinite shape. I wanted it to be funny, down to earth, female and northern.
I’m not sure where the idea of having a disabled dancer came in, a kind of physical narrator / "Puck" role as an extension of the main protagonist or the essence of Ryan ten years after the play takes place.
The first edition of the play was very much me trying to get all the angst out regarding my struggle with the authorities (mainly social services) throughout the years – although it was funny and passionate, the play as a whole lacked structure.
It was then that my wonderfully positive friend and work colleague, Stacey Sampson read the play and pointed out it’s merit. She also said I should write the play I want with as many characters as needed and not think about whether the play should get put on or not. The life of the project is - the project. If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing. I found this so liberating and realised that it meant I didn’t need permission to write it. The play was mine.
A few people, including Anna Olejeniki, urged me to apply for Arts Council funding to do a research and development of the play. No one was more shocked than me when I secured the funding, and then it was all systems go.
Meet the artistic team
Kate trained as an actor at the Rose Bruford College of speech and drama and has also got an MA in creative writing from Leeds University. She has over 30 years experience of working as a professional actor in theatre (Brassed Off, The Full Monty, Beautiful Thing - The Crucible Sheffield, York Theatre Royal, Derby Theatre, Leicester Haymarket) & TV (Coronation St, In the Flesh, This is England, Gunpowder, Emmerdale). Her experience as an actor has proved useful when writing for creating characters, developing plot and exploring style.
Rod Dixon became Artistic Director of Red Ladder Theatre Company in 2006, following his role as associate director at the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth. He also ran The Hub Theatre School in Cornwall and has been an actor with several companies including Kneehigh Theatre. Directing credits for Red Ladder include The Shed Crew, Mother Courage and Her Children, Glory and Smile Club.
Stacey Sampson is a Sheffield based performer and writer. As an actor she has worked across TV and film for many years, playing Jennifer in two series of This is England as well as guesting in Luther, Waking the Dead, The Syndicate, Casualty, Holby City, Coronation Street, Heartbeat and many more. She has toured nationally with plays and musicals, and is a Regular Collaborator with Third Angel, with whom she devises as well as performs.
Since graduating from actor-training in 2010 she has worked extensively on new writing and devised productions. Theatre acting credits include: Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile (Freedom Studios, Northern Tour); Parallel (Black Toffee and Harrogate Theatre, Northern Tour); Partus (Third Angel and Sheffield Theatres, National Tour); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (The King's Arms, Manchester, Winner of Best Fringe Production).
Annie trained at Bird college where she gained a BA(Hons) in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre, since graduating she has worked with Stopgap Dance Company on their new outdoor piece FROCK, Star Cells, Theatre rites, The Tribe Company, Resident Island Dance Theatre, Emily Robinson Dance, Susanna Dye & Manon Quimet and Candoco Dance Company & Asos Training Intensive.
Ruby-May Martinwood attended Hype Dance Academy in Sheffield for 10 years before embarking on professional training in musical theatre at Bird college in Kent. Her first professional MT engagement was a no.1 national tour of Greece and then onto The Royal Exchange performing in West Side Story. Prior to this she played Winter in BBCs drama Taboo and the co lead role of Phoebes in the feature film Rideby.
Patricia is a kind, passionate and thoughtful Movement Director based in Teesside and London. She is also a Movement Lecturer on BA(Hons) Musical Theatre at Leeds Conservatoire. Her movement work is exciting, dynamic and has a deep lyricism to it. She also makes work about the experience of being British and Latinx, and about our connection to the stories we love.
Melanie Crawley works as an actor and voice artist, she is a member of Equity and Spotlight. She received a 2:1 BA(hons) in drama and visual arts at MMU 1988-91 going on to work in film exhibition / festivals / development. She returned to acting in 2015, mainly working in theatre and audio, most recently she performed in the arts council funded northern UK tour of ‘Tannie & Tannie’ by Claudine Bennent a show she also produced.
Excerpts from the script
Get a sense of the show
The company delivered workshops to a Life skills group at Whirlow Hall farm
Scratch audio recording of full play
Get in touch
For any enquiries please contact Kate Martinwood using the contact form.