Guest Blog: Actor And Playwright Lucy Roslyn On Inspiration For Her New Play PENNYROYAL At Finborough Theatre

"Here they were at last, face to face with the problem which, through all the years of silence and evasiveness, had lain as close to the surface as a corpse too hastily buried" - The Old Maid, Edith Wharton

Just before the Covid pandemic hit, director Josh Roche introduced me to the 1922 novella The Old Maid. It's about the close relationship between two women becoming taut and knotted in the face of family values and societal expectations. It showed complicated, loving, fuming, forgiving women and the drawn-out repercussions of a life lived bending to the rules. There's an image in their minds of the people they thought they would be, and the brittle acceptance of the people they've become. It is ugly, and beautiful, and relatable in many ways.

I have a sister and I'm extremely lucky to be very close to her. She is a writer herself (an extraordinary one). As I wrote this play during lockdown, I spoke with her a few times about our dreams and aspirations. About not losing hope in the things we had set out to do.

After ten years of trying to find a footing for my work, at the closing of the theatres, I felt the gig was, perhaps, finally up. However, on my long walks I was accompanied by the sisters of Pennyroyal, Chris and Daff. Their enduring love. The rocky, unplanned way that life works out. The opportunities, if you seek them, to find your way back to people. I hope they resonate with others, just as Edith Wharton's story resonated with me.

I am indebted to the people I spoke to and resources I read about Premature Ovarian Insufficiency. There is a running theme of frustration that women's health is kept in the shadows. Often dismissed and rarely taught. How you are supposed to stagger, quietly, from one stage of life into another. That these stages can be the curveball that shakes the very image of yourself and the things you hope for. It is a complex and many layered topic and I hope I have done it some justice. Overall this is a story of a relationship. A joyous one, I feel. Two magnets, trying to get back to each other.

This is the second play I have written in my own (Coventry) voice and it can feel very revealing to do such a thing. It is with heartfelt thanks to the Pennyroyal team that we have made it this far. The pandemic kicked the knees out of many ambitions and hopes, and this dedicated and talented team - with its scheduled Zoom readings and multiple WhatsApp groups - gave me the drive to put my trousers on and finish writing it.

During the pandemic I was asked to speak with some students in a conversation roughly titled "When your career doesn't work out like you thought it would". It took me a while to understand my place in this talk, but it was on target. Things have not worked out quite like I planned. I am unsure of my image of myself. It has changed... but not necessarily for the worse.

There is a tradition in Pennyroyal. Every Christmas the sisters watch the 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life. In it George Bailey is given the opportunity to look back on a life full of dashed dreams, and sees instead all the acts of kindness that improved the lives of those around him. It was not what he had planned, but it was wonderful. "All you can take with you is that which you've given away" - Pa Bailey

Pennyroyal is at the Finborough Theatre from 12 July - 6 August

Photo Credit: Lucy Roslyn

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