THE HOME-MADE CHILD [1996]

Edinburgh / Highlands tour / Coventry / Dublin                                       writer Louise Ironside

dir John Mitchell / Lung Ha Theatre Company

This dark fairy tale for adults, based on Bluebeard's Castle, was a great success for Lung Ha's, the Edinburgh-based theatre company for adults with additional learning needs, and the show subsequently toured to festivals in Coventry and Dublin.  In this piece from the beginning of the play, the fabulously wealthy Geltzahler makes his last journey in the knowledge that he is dying.  Actor John Edgar abandons his wheelchair, and with great effort slowly walks the length of the traverse set on two crutches, in a wordless sequence both harrowing and affecting to watch.  This music returns as a travelling motif in the piece.  Jon wrote music for seven plays with the company between 1995 and 2001, for both the full company and smaller, touring casts.