Little Tree
When I went back to Emmanuel, I went to say hello to a little tree. We planted in memory of my friend Nadia Rajan, who died when I was at college. It was good but sad to remember.
I’ve seen literally the last breaths of two people.
In Greek and Roman time average life expectancy was about 28. In 1900 it was 40 – 50. Today, in the West, it’s 77-81.
We go face to face with death so rarely now in the developed world.
The theatre of Shakespeare’s time was much more in tune with death and gore and so was the audience. Now we see it comic book style in the movies or really not at all. Should our theatre today be more in touch with death as well as life? Should our society? Maybe that’s one reason we have such a strong reaction to Sarah Kane.
It was painfully sad but I’m glad I could be there to see the final time Nadia and my father breathed a breath. Perhaps more for me, than for them. Grief is for the living more than the dead. We must all end and if we can do so, watched and beloved, then we are all the richer for it.
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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