Good Grief – I expect everyone’s clocks to stop. Not just mine.

After 30 happy years of marriage, a husband is left to wade through the oncoming tide of grief, as a procession of friends and family, either unable or unwilling to find the right words, unwittingly exacerbate his heightened emotions and irrational outpourings.

Inspired by a true story of love, loss and friendship, Good Grief is a brutally honest and personal account of one man’s attempts to deal with the reality of loss and the ensuing void which threatens to consume him. At no time does the story become self-absorbed or descend into mawkishness: it’s both visceral and funny, often within the same breath.

This is Matt Adie’s first play. Drawing from his own personal experiences, he has undoubtedly laid himself bare and, as a result, the play packs very real, and sometimes uncomfortable, punches. He explains: “In today’s society, where so many barriers are being knocked down, we’re still left with this massive taboo surrounding loss. I wanted to give it some prominence, so maybe others might question their self-awareness and gather some insight when dealing with those who are affected by grief. I hope it might also serve as some sort of twisted therapy for anyone else who may be coping with loss”.

Vanilla – Will you be entering through the back door tonight?

Dan and Katie are your ordinary couple living in an ordinary one-bedroom flat. They’re in their twenties. They’re making advancements in their career. They used to drink at the local pub every Friday. Now they just do jigsaws. Dan and Katie can’t remember when their sexual mojo disappeared. Or where to. All they know is, they have to get it back – and they have to get it back tonight. But how far do they go? And how vanilla is TOO vanilla?

A fresh, honest and awkwardly funny look into an isolated relationship and the repercussions of wanting too much – or not wanting enough.