Giving

(Paperback)

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Description

There seem to be a lot of people out there with a lot of money who dont quite know what to do with it Laura has been commissioned to write an exclusive profile of businesswoman extraordinaire Mary Greene, who has recently become a leading philanthropist. But as Laura digs deeper into Marys charitable motivations, she discovers a much more interesting angle. Michael, Marys Charitable Giving Advisor, seems to have an inordinate amount of influence over her decisions. Is it right that he wields so much power when his motives and priorities might not stand up to scrutiny Or does the rationale for and the morality of philanthropic giving matter less than the outcome Its always better to give than to receive. Isnt it Hannah Pattersons absorbing play asks whether giving to charity can ever truly be altruistic and who actually gains the most - the recipient, the donor or the broker It received a reading at the Arcola's PlayWROUGHT Festival in 2016 and was premiered at Hampstead Downstairs on 12 May 2016, directed by Bijan Sheibani.

Reviews

Hannah Pattersons script begins in an apartment somewhere south of London where Robert (Mark Rice-Oxley) and Joanna (Trudi Jackson) live with their 9-week-old daughter. Joanna, bored, sleepless and recovering from a Cesarean birth, is not thrilled when Robert announces hes invited their friend Jake (Alan Cox) to dinner. Robert adds that Jake is bringing his new girlfriend, Stella (Daisy Hughes), a vegetarian. This is even less thrilling.The guests arrive, the Chilean red flows, and we learn of Joannas unhappiness, Roberts imperiled professorship and Stellas extreme youth. Shes still in high school. But what begins as a riff on Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf morphs into a modern-day Dolls House. * New York Times on "Playing With Grown Ups" *
The lighthearted title of 'Playing with Grown Ups' disguises a darker core. Set over the course of a single evening, Hannah Pattersons . . . play . . . casts a nonjudgmental eye on a 40-year-old first-time mother who finds no pleasure in parenting. . . . There are echoes of 'A Dolls House' and a refreshing lack of preachiness * Time Out New York on "Playing With Grown Ups" *
[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. * Guardian on "Playing With Grown Ups" *
Engaging new writing that asks the important question "can women have it all" without providing a simplistic answer. * Daily Telegraph on "Playing With Grown Ups" *
Pattersons 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 feminisms legacy. * Stage on "Playing With Grown Ups" *

Author Bio

Hannah Patterson's theatre credits include Come To Where Im From (Paines Plough/Southbank Centre), Playing With Grown Ups (Theatre503/Brits off Broadway) and MUCH (Cock Tavern), which she is adapting for film.