As Georgie Steele enters a sparsely furnished stage at Camden People’s Theatre (a chair, a microphone and stand), she is in black dress and blue floating cloak.
And I’ll Blow Your House Down shines a spotlight on the unpaid carer (“That’s me,” says Steele), but in an original and entertaining way.
Semi-comic moments like ‘Tombola of Health and Social Care’ sit alongside gut punches around clueless social workers, patronising pity from strangers, and, saddest of all, a small boy asking his mum “it says for life-limiting conditions – that’s not me, is it?”
There are visions sparked by the extreme shock of having not one, but two children diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which causes a degenerative loss of muscle strength and a stressful visit to the dentist.
Steele tells us of the forms, the hoops, the suspicion, the rigmarole, the lack of useful help. She reads a ‘Heroic poem’ and shares the story of the Three Little Pigs, the tale of the wolf at the door. She moves around as if searching for answers or affirmation.
And I’ll Blow Your House Down has been seven years in the making and is on a tour of various fringe theatre festivals. Although some names are real and used with permission, Steele’s sons decided not to comment or participate in the work, and there’s no expectation to do so.
It’s the story of all the family, but it is mostly mothers who deal with both the implications of caring and the attention of those who can issue funding, with caveats that may not always be helpful.
There’s a sequence lamenting the red tape that causes a risk assessment around an electric wheelchair and access to fail (“someone will have to push him around in a manual chair”), and another noting money can be granted to “wash the child” and not the dishes.
With a lot to unpick and many different tonal and stylistic choices, And I’ll Blow Your House Down achieves the aim of making us think about this hidden and largely unheralded workforce.
It ends with a moment of laughter in the family car, without reason, but something to hold on to in lieu of the traditional “happy ending” and a stage left as messy as real life.
There’s also a plea from Steele, as there has been at each festival, to sign a petition associated with the topic of the show. For Camden, this is migrant carers and the Carers Skilled Work Visa. Read and sign here.
And I’ll Blow Your House Down is at Camden Fringe until 25 Aug with tickets here. Directed by Greta Rilletti, clown director Jon Davison.
Read my interview with Georgie Steele now.
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