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We at Theatre Village managed to catch up with Tanieth to give us an interview about her show currently playing at Edinburgh Fringe. ( Headache | Theatre | Edinburgh Festival Fringe (edfringe.com)
What inspired you to create this thought-provoking play about family and
loss?
HEADACHE was inspired by the aftermath of my dad’s brain injury. He became a different person almost overnight and I was aware of how isolated I felt because people that weren’t directly affected by the changes in him like my friends didn’t see them so I struggled to feel understood and in the end, I stopped talking about it to anyone outside of the family.
There is an appalling lack of support and care for carers in general but there is also space where understanding and awareness should be and this lack of awareness was a big part of why I wrote HEADACHE. I wanted to create a play that would help other people effected by brain injury feel seen and understood but I also wanted to use it as a way to raise awareness for brain injury.
How did you go about capturing the nuances of dealing with a brain
injury in your characters?
As a writer you are always told to write what you know and a lot of what I know is about the effects of brain injury on the sufferer and their loved ones. Although HEADACHE is based on real life and my experience, I didn’t want the play to be about just me because I wasn’t the only one effected in real life. AJ is the main character in the play and I hope through her the audience will see the many different facets of life (like anxiety, grief and anger) that are added when a loved one has a brain injury.
What has the process been like of bringing this deeply personal story to
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?
That’s an excellent question.
The process of bringing a show to the fringe in general has been an interesting one- as I imagine it has been for many other companies- but bringing this story in particular has been a bit of added pressure. I want to do the story justice and if I do it right, then there is a really good chance that at least one person will go home feeling understood or having a new understanding of brain injury.
There was a time where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring the story anywhere else or if I wanted to be the one telling it but in the end I realised that I wanted to be the one to do it because I knew I can do it right.
How have you balanced the heavy themes with moments of levity or hope in
the writing?
I tried to make sure it wasn’t heavy all the time but I was also aware that sometimes, life can be really heavy for long stretches of time and I didn’t want to shy away from that.
For a time after my dad’s brain injury, there was a lot of ‘heavy’ all around my family but there was a lot of love and I couldn’t really see it at the time but looking back, underneath the fear and pain, love was what fuelled everything we did for a while.
Love and fear have always been two sides of the same coin and I knew it was a delicate balance to get right but I think I have managed to do that- and I am really proud of it.
What has been the most rewarding part of bringing this play to life on
the Fringe stage?
I did a run at Brighton Fringe as my run up for Edinburgh and after the shows I would get to talk to people. Some who had no experience with brain injury and others who had a loved one or friend who had a brain injury and we got to talk about it with understanding and compassion. I’d say that has been the most rewarding thing to date; I felt so happy that HEADACHE reached and resonated with the people that I hoped it would!
What has the feedback been like so far from audiences experiencing this
poignant family drama?
Really positive! There was a lot of great conversations that happened after the shows at Brighton and I hope to have more after the shows in Edinburgh!
How have you drawn from your own life experiences to lend authenticity
to the characters and their struggles?
Although the play is made up of fictional circumstances, I put a lot of myself into the play, especially in the character of AJ. It was almost impossible not to.
A lot of the emotions I had in the early stages of my dad’s brain injury where processed through writing this play and on several re-writes I was able to understand myself better and refine the play to be used as a resource for those struggling with the often life shattering changes brought on by brain injury. I am really proud of what I have achieved so far and I am excited to begin in Edinburgh.
Book Tickets For The Show Here:
Headache | Theatre | Edinburgh Festival Fringe (edfringe.com)
