Me and My Friend
by Gillian Plowman
27 Aug 2009 – 5 Sep 2009
This very different play, which has been described as being funny and extremely
powerful, tells the story of four individuals (Bunny, Oz, Julia and Robin), all former
mental health patients, who have recently been released from a psychiatric hospital
into a 'Care in the Community' scheme -- an early-release programme for such
patients. They live in two small council flats, somewhere in England, and are trying to
get themselves jobs and gradually fit themselves back into society.
Bunny and Oz (two men who are both around 40 years old) conduct fantasy
interviews for jobs they will never get, while the two women, Julia and Robin (in their
late 20s - early 30s) try to 'make plans' as urged to do by the hospital. The action
switches between the everyday and the characters' own psychoses. In a series of
interactions and monologues they share with us their hopes and dreams. The four
patients meet when Oz throws a party.