An original short play, devised, filmed and premiered at the 2021 Cambridge Festival.

Join us for the premiere of An Everyday Family Practice, written by Patrick Morris, Co-Artistic Director of Menagerie Theatre Company. This touching, darkly humorous and at times challenging drama explores the impact on a family of a diagnosis of terminal illness.

Inspired by literary, historical and sociological research into the experiences of those closely affected by death, dying and bereavement, An Everyday Family Practice follows a young man’s attempts to create what he believes will be a true memorial of himself and of his relationships, even as they alter and are transformed by the extreme situation in which he and his family find themselves. It represents family relationships as they often are, in their ordinariness, rather than idealising them.

This twenty minute play was developed as part of ‘A Good Death?’, a research and impact project based in the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge. Led by Dr Laura Davies, the project uses literature to open up conversations about death and dying, and draws on historical death writing to inspire new ways of thinking and talking about life, death and dying. An Everyday Family Practice is part of a series of short dramatic pieces and an ongoing work-in-progress, in which research and theatre are in dialogue. Three short audio plays, written by Patrick Morris, are available free online at good-death.english.cam.ac.uk/collab

The screening will be followed by a short ‘in conversation’ interview between Laura and Patrick, in which they will talk about the ideas and impetus behind their collaboration and discuss the research which inspired this new drama.

Menagerie is a new-writing theatre company resident at Cambridge Junction. They develop and produce new plays which engage powerfully, imaginatively and critically with the contemporary world. They do this through the Hotbed Festival, community projects, and the Ideas Stage, an ongoing programme of collaborations with academic researchers that uses theatre to examine key ideas which influence our world.

A Good Death? is a research project at the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge. We bring historical and contemporary death literature into conversation, tackling head on the challenge of talking openly and constructively about death and what it means to die well.