In The Wings

12 Oct 2011

In The Wings moved me in a way that not many performances are able to do in the space of an hour. The story is about a girl named Kath who suffers from cerebral palsy, her sister Joe and their mother. Although Kath is disabled it doesn't stop the girls from having a relationship just as any other two sisters might have. The jokes they make, annoying their mum and how, even though Kath has cerebral palsy, she is perfect in the eyes of her sister and mother.

Unless you disability within your family you cannot completely understand the ways in which it affects family life, but In The Wings provides a better understanding of the worry, the financial implications and the fact that in the end it's still a family.

The lives of three women

The play follows the lives of three women, Kath (the girl suffering from cerebral palsy, her sister Joe and their mother. It develops as each one struggles with their own issues, dreams and desires. Kath, who wants nothing more than to know what it feels like to be wanted by a man (she says: "A wheelchair doesn't take away desire."), Joe wants to go to America to study music and their mother has to find the balance between looking after Kath and making sure that Joe isn't left out. But they deal with the usual family issues as well, such as mum mixing up the girls' names and sibling rivalry.

The dialogue, movement and singing all come together to create a breathtaking performance that had me in tears. There is even a little rugby philosophy in it for the men, "we pass the ball backwards, but yet we're still moving forward". (Food for thought there ladies.) The play was produced by the Chaeli Campaign, which raises funds to help those living with disabilities. Every moment revealed another little step in the world of a disabled individual and the life of those around her. However, it was done in a way that made the audience aware and not offended. It was brilliant and I urge everyone to see it.