Take Care (NHB Modern Plays)

By Zoë Templeman-Young and Sam McLaughlin

Take Care by Zoë Templeman-Young and Sam McLaughlin follows the real-life story of Pam, a woman struggling to move her mother into a care home that's closer to her. An award-winning Edinburgh smash, it is an astonishing, tragic and uplifting verbatim play about the care system in the UK today.
This play is taken from Plays from VAULT 5, an anthology, the fifth from Nick Hern Books, comprising of five of the best plays from VAULT Festival 2020, London's biggest and most exciting arts festival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781788503198

Zoë Templeman-Young

Zoë Templeman-Young is an actor, director and theatre-maker. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her professional credits as an actress include Mary Stuart (Almeida).

Book preview

Two PERFORMERS stand onstage.

They talk directly to the audience.

NARRATOR. The stories you are about to hear are true stories. This isn’t one of those times a precursor will flash up saying:

NARRATOR 2. Based on a true story.

NARRATOR. Which actually normally means ninety per cent was fictional.

NARRATOR 2. Nothing wrong with that.

NARRATOR. No. But it can be misleading. We want to say, upfront, that our stories are one-hundred-per-cent true. From real people, from all around the country.

NARRATOR 2. And even us.

NARRATOR. Oh yeah, us. We’re doing this because we used to be carers.

NARRATOR 2. We have both worked either professionally or personally as carers of the elderly. And our two voices join the thousands of others from around this country. The voices of people who have reached out to us and felt compelled to tell their stories.

NARRATOR. Because they, like us, feel frustrated, angry, confused – about the state of the care system for older people. And how carers are treated.

And we know that when you look after an older person –

NARRATOR 2. It is bloody hard.

NARRATOR. It is exhausting.

NARRATOR 2. But it’s also hilarious and ridiculous. And sometimes makes you laugh so much a little bit of wee comes out.

NARRATOR. And it’s fine if that happens because the person you’re looking after normally wees themselves all the time.

NARRATOR 2. So you’re in the same boat.

NARRATOR. You’re equals.

Beat.

NARRATOR 2. We’re all planning on growing old right? Which means we all expect to be looked after. So it’s time to sit up and listen to these carers. Time to support the supporters.

NARRATOR. So let’s start.

NARRATOR 2. You probably recognise this voice –

DAVID CAMERON. We made a promise to people, that if elected, we would not cut the NHS, we’d put extra money into the NHS and that is what we’ve