Very few actors can afford not to have another job, and for many years, most of her working life infact, Eleanor has been a care assistant. She has worked with many different 'client groupings,' but for the last ten years or more she has worked with the Elderly. "I have worked in the community as a 'home help,' but for the most part I have worked in residential care (in a 'home') both in the private and public sectors."

Increasingly dissillusioned and concerned with the impact of poor working conditions on quality of care, this was a major motivation for writing the show, along with the desire to express the wisdom that older people have to offer.

"Elderly people, and especially those with dementia, do not have a voice, neither do care assistants. We are wives and mothers, we are young men and women from abroad, and we may not have a 'higher' education, English may not be our first language, and we may not concern ourselves with speaking, or have the confidence to. We are busy caring for others, but we are neither stupid nor unimportant. We notice the things that others dont, and we have something to say."

Kirrie has been directing plays, ranging from Shakespeare to new writing via Chekhov and Noel Coward, for the past ten years. Directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Les Liaisons Dangeureuses, The Cherry Orchard, Present Laughter, The Dresser by Ronald Harwood and Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, all at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. On the London fringe, favourite productions have included Drinking to Remember by David Varela, W;t by Margaret Edson and Romeo and Juliet, in a promenade performance in the crypt of St Andrew's Church, Holborn.

Last year she directed Rupture by Jason Charles for First Draft, and she has also recently been working with Judy Upton on her new play, Once Around the Sun. This year she directed Counterfeit Skin by Jason Charles at the new Courtyard theatre in Hoxton. Kirrie trained as a director with Mike Alfreds, Katie Mitchell and Tatiana Olear (Living Pictures Productions).

Tickets are available on the door of all listed venues, however, seats are limited hence advance booking is strongly advisable.

I would like to thank:

Ian Wisdom
Andy Parsons
Kate Lord
Lee Menzies
James Seabright
Sue Scott- Davison
Jackie Pert
John Ryder
Beate Hohmann
Kirrie Wratten
Terry Perkins
Bernadette Reed
Le Voy Wilson

and Gingercat (for calming me down)

and all my wonderful friends for their long-suffering patience and support!