Phoebe Frances Brown has always wanted to be an actor, and at 26 had just been cast in her dream role at the National Theatre; at the same time, she was diagnosed with incurable cancer in the area of her brain that controls speech, language and memory.
The Glad Game is Phoebe’s story of finding herself in the hardest of times, of finding gladness in the saddest moments and of continuing to do what she loves.
Following its premiere in Phoebe’s home city of Nottingham in Sept 2021, the show will now appear in London and Manchester, coming to Hampstead Theatre where director Tessa Walker is Associate Director, and to Contact in Manchester.
The Glad Game is supported by charity partner Brain Tumour Research and produced by Pippa Frith and Nottingham Playhouse.
Finding a new way to talk about cancer and illness, The Glad Game debunks some of the myths around what life is like for people, particularly young people, who live with cancer. The tour continues on whilst Phoebe is having chemotherapy, reflecting on stage what is current everyday life for Phoebe: work and treatments and acting and naps and family and friends and life all existing at the same time in one experience.
The Glad Game is about life: about a life lived with cancer, about creating the life you want in the most challenging of circumstances and about how what and who you love can pull you through.
Phoebe Frances Brown said, “I wanted to write and perform a play about life being stranger than fiction; that even after receiving the most devastating news, there’s still hilarity and joy to be had. There’s still things to be glad about.”
The Glad Game is at Hampstead Theatre 9th – 12th February 2022 and Contact, Manchester 16th – 17th March 2022.
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