WIPING My Mother’s Arse is not the most subtle title for a play, but it’s not supposed
to be.
It’s meant to shock, but the play is also very funny, according to actor Johnny McKnight.
And if McKnight – a veteran panto dame and writer – says a show is very funny, it probably is.
It also deals with what he considers one of the last taboos – talking about how we care for the elderly.
“Sex doesn’t feel like the same taboo it used to be when I graduated 25 years ago, but I think the idea of care is a massive taboo,” he told the Sunday National.
“Even a theatre piece that is set in a care home is unusual – I can’t think of any others that do that.
“There’s loads of humour in this play, but the heart of it is asking whether you are willing to give up what you hope for in life to help the person who raised you.”
Written by Iain Heggie, the play won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival back in 2001, but McKnight feels nothing much has changed since then regarding care for the elderly.
“The current system is out of control, but I don’t think people talk about it enough – although I see Andy Burnham is talking about overhauling the care system in England and Wales,” he said.
“Other countries are doing really radical things that are making a massive difference to the lives of the elderly, but we have been in such a privatised culture for the last 40 years that we have been letting private companies pay their shareholders out of the pockets of people who can’t afford it.
“But if we don’t talk about it, we won’t get together to get those shareholders out and have a tax system that works for care homes.”
McKnight believes people are reluctant to talk about the issue because they often feel ashamed if their parent is in a care home or are in denial about what may happen in their lives.
“It makes me think people rely on this shame to make money,” he said. “If you feel embarrassed, you’re not going to get together and take to the streets like they do in France. France would burn the house down.”
At the heart of the play, which is being staged in the studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, is the story of Andrene, played by Anne Kidd, an elderly woman in a care home.
Her conflicted son, Derek, is played by David Rankine who brings his new girlfriend Kath, played by Lisa Livingstone, to meet his mother.
The plot thickens when Derek finds out that Larry, his mother’s main carer, is the man he has previously had a relationship with.
The play explores the chaos, comedy and heartbreak of ageing, where secrets can’t stay buried, and the everyday becomes dangerously unpredictable.
Darkly comic and tender, Wiping My Mother’s Arse challenges audiences to face the uncomfortable truths that are often avoided, while finding humour and compassion in the most unlikely places.
McKnight plays Larry, and it is the first time for a while that he’s trodden the boards in a “straight” part, but he is loving the experience.
“I don’t do a lot of acting because I don’t think a lot of parts suit me,” he said. “I can’t be a 1920s gangster with an American accent, but I’m very good at an Ayrshire, late 40s man. And when I read this and I understood the character, a cynical, gay man of a certain age, I thought I could do it.
“It’s really funny, and it’s got a lot of brilliant stuff going on underneath.”
Another pull was the chance to work at Pitlochry Festival Theatre during Alan Cumming’s first season as artistic director.
“I’ve never worked here before, but I couldn’t think of a nicer place to be in the summer,” said McKnight. “Life is short, so when I’m choosing a job, I have to like the feel of a part and feel like I am going to have a nice time, and I am.
“It’s really exciting here and being part of this season is amazing. There’s such a massive volume of brilliant work coming through, and I’ve not felt a buzz like this in Scottish theatre for quite a while.
“There seems to be a production meeting happening in every room. Pitlochry has always obviously turned out a lot of shows, but it feels like that’s really maximised. I just wanted to come here and experience that energy.”
McKnight hopes audiences will tear themselves away from the Edinburgh festivals to come and see the show, which “goes at a lick”.
“It’s about an hour and a half long straight through, and it’s brilliant for the studio theatre,” he said. “Sometimes when the festivals start in Edinburgh, it feels like everything else in Scotland stops so I think it’s great that this is going on at Pitlochry.”
A History Of Paper will be running in the main theatre at the same time, which McKnight says is a great companion piece.
“They’re both looking at your hopes and your dreams and if you ever get to reach them,” he said.
Wiping My Mother’s Arse will run at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from August 15 until September 9
