That's the problem isn't it? Now we can have it all, we're expected to bloody do it all.

Late thirties, careers under their belts, and a new baby just arrived. Isn't that what everybody wants? Faced with the reality of her new life, Joanna tries to make sense of the events and decisions which led her to this point. Full of regret, with a husband who's pretending that everything's fine, the last thing she needs is her ex-lover turning up with an unexpected guest. Or maybe it's exactly what she needs.

A wry, provocative look at what it is to be a woman today, in a society which tells us we can have it all and our ambitions can be unlimited.

Hannah Patterson's Playing with Grown Ups is a frank and funny exploration of relationships and what it means to be a woman in contemporary society.

About the Author
Hannah Patterson is a writer for theatre and film. Her debut play, MUCH, premiered at the Cock Tavern in 2010. Other plays include The Weakness In Me and AID (Winners of the one-act New Plays Project; Jersey Arts Trust/Old Vic New Voices), and Resistantes, which she also performed (Paines Plough /'Come to Where I'm From'). Hannah is the co-writer and producer of the documentary film Shelter in Place, winner of the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation's Pitch Prize, and has written for publications including Sight & Sound, The International Film Guide, Time Out and the Guardian.

Reviews
Patterson's sharp, funny script twists the knife into twenty-first-century life, bleak in its portrayal . . . of a generation of women struggling with the reality of feminism's legacy. -- Tom Wicker * Stage *
[An] enjoyable and thought-provoking four-hander ... There is something for everyone in this sharply observed comedy, which tackles everything from middle-aged regret and the myth of having it all to the question of whether fulfilment lies in a pile of nappies. It is potential dynamite and there are moments when this piece fizzes with comedy as well as emotion ... the play is smartly funny and intelligent, and dares to confront a taboo: that not every woman falls head over heels in love with her baby, and that sometimes work may be more alluring and fulfilling than motherhood. -- Lyn Gardner * Guardian *
Engaging new writing that asks the important question "can women have it all?" without providing a simplistic answer. -- Alicia Luba * Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9781472530691
Author Hannah Patterson
Format Paperback
Page Count 112
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 118g