Sick

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Drama on 4: Sick

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Funny and dark 'vom com' about hyperemesis gravidarum by Annalisa Dinnella.

By Annalisa Dinnella. In her second pregnancy, Kate suffers from hyperemesis gravidarum. So what happens when the person who meets everyone else’s needs develops needs of her own?

Kate is the woman who has it all.  She’s the perfect Mum, wife and daughter until – for the first time in her charmed life – things do not go to plan.  In her second pregnancy, Kate develops extreme morning sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum) and, quite literally, cannot stop vomiting.  

So how does all this endless purging, spewing and upchucking (not to mention the non-stop urge to spit into a bucket) change Kate’s understanding of her family, her marriage and, ultimately, her own identity?  And, of all the visitors to her bedside offering tea, dry toast, and stories from her childhood, who can she really trust?  

This funny, dark and joyfully disgusting “vom com” by Annalisa Dinnella takes inspiration from the playwright’s own experience of this rare and often misunderstood complication of pregnancy – also made famous by the Duchess of Cambridge.  Do not try to eat while listening.    

Background note:
The classic story of the ‘tortured child’, which is used as a framing device in the drama, first appeared in Dostoyevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov in 1880. The philosopher William James returned to the theme in 1891 in The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life and,in 1973, Ursula Le Guin used the metaphor as the central conceit of her short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.

Cast:
Naomi…………………………......Cariad Lloyd
Kate………………………….…....Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Evelyn………………………….....Alison Steadman
Dr Manning/Smart Phone…Teresa Gallagher
Dan/Nurse Craig………………Alex Lowe
John……………………………....Sean Baker
Young Kate…………………….Kathleen Keaney
Young Naomi………………….Lola Page
Sophie………………………….Sophie Xu

Writer: Annalisa Dinnella
Sound design: David Thomas
Director: Karen Rose
Producer: Karen Rose

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