A hospice may seem a grim and cheerless setting for a drama, but according to playwright and poet Patrick Jones such places can be full of laughter and heartening fortitude in the face of fate.
His new play Dandelion has just opened at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff before it tours Wales with the Welsh Fargo Stage Company. It focuses on four characters nearing the end of their lives who are being cared for in a hospice, and borrows from Jones' own experiences working with St David's Foundation Hospice Care as a writer in residence six years ago.
Olwen Rees with Sharon Morgan in a rehearsal for Dandelion. Photo: Janie Jones
He told me: "I would go there to work and have coffee and share stories and poems.
"The patients were really welcoming and were always talking about the sun outside, sharing happy memories or jokes rather than being preoccupied with death.
"It was heartening to see how they interacted and how each person dealt with the inevitable – it was a very warm and human place, like a microcosm of society where everything seemed democratic and decent.
"It really opened my eyes to learn that a hospice can be a place that is full of sparkling and special moments."
Patrick, who is the brother of Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire and lives in Blackwood, its the subject matter feels somewhat rawer and personal this year, after they lost their aunt and uncle, and their father had a nasty fall and broke his pelvis.
"We were very close to them and it was very sad as my uncle had Alzheimer's and went into a home and my auntie was suffering from cancer. They died within three weeks of each other and that really brought it home to me about just how fragile life is."
Patrick Jones. Photo: Janie Jones
When Patrick first sent the play off to theatres it ed little interest until director Michael Kelligan chose to present it as a script-held production at Chapter as part of his On the Edge series in 2009.
The performance went well and inspired Patrick to return to the script for a significant rewrite which Michael then agreed to take to a full production last year.
Patrick said: "Hopefully it's poignant and people will see their parents and grandparents in the characters.
"It is something tragic that we will all go through at some stage but it’s important to know that we do not experience these things in isolation.
"I really hope it creates a dialogue with the audience and provokes them to share their experiences."
Sharon Morgan with Anthony Leader in rehearsal. Photo: Janie Jones
In Dandelion the four main characters – Rachel, Mary, Ernest and Mrs Hartson – embark on different journeys and share their recollections and understandings of death as they near the end of their lives with some hilarious moments thrown in.
Patrick its they are an amalgam of the inspiring people he met at St David’s and also through work at Velindre Hospital, where he was appointed Official Poet last year.
And the title, Dandelion? A beautiful piece of imagery handed to him by his mother who lost her own mother – Patrick's grandmother – to cancer when she was only 58.
He said: "She told me how in August every year she sees the dandelion spores flying around and takes comfort from it because it feels like a message from her mother reminding her that life carries on, but it is as if she is still here.
"I thought it was so beautiful I wrote a poem about it. I’m an atheist so it sort of fits in with my own beliefs and most people's hope that something does live on after they go.
"In the play the character Mary keeps dandelions in a glass of water and it is a very simple and domestic image that strikes me as a perfect metaphor for death.
The play is about allowing the audience to make up their own minds about how they feel about death - I hope there will be tears and laughter."
Anthony Leader, Olwen Rees and Sharon Morgan. Photo: Janie Jones
Dandelion stars Sharon Morgan, Anthony Leader, Olwen Rees and Lynn Hunter and has been directed by Michael Kelligan.
It will be at Chapter until this Saturday, 14 September, then at Taliesin Theatre, Swansea on 20 September; Galeri, Caernarfon on 24 September; The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven on 26 September; Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan on 2 October; Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli on 3 October; and Ffwrnes, Llanelli on 5 October.
For more details about performance times and how to book tickets visit the Welsh Fargo Stage Company website.
For more information about Patrick and his work visit patrick-jones.net.
