WHEN 4Play Theatre company issued an invitation to actors to join them in their latest production, Wiping My Mother’s A**e, they were delighted to receive a call from Meriel Brooke, a veteran of stage and screen, whose interest was piqued by 4Play’s search for a mature actress.

“I’d never played a part of this age before,” says Meriel, who lives in Brilley, “so I thought it would be an opportunity and a challenge at the age of 78.

“When I read the piece in the Hereford Times, it struck home somehow. There seem to be so many dementia patients and I thought it would be interesting to be involved, and I like the work that 4Play have done before.

“This play conveys a real message about people with dementia – any one of us could develop it. If I can get into the part, I thought, it would give people some idea of the frustration and sadness of the condition.

“I hope to leave the audience with a significant degree of empathy towards my character and to elderly sufferers of dementia.”

Wiping My Mother’s A**e, by award-winning playwright Iain Heggie, receives its Hereford debut next week at The Courtyard and is a profoundly poignant farce which concentrates on the shortcomings of some nursing homes and the cynical way that families can treat their elders.

Meriel’s return to the stage is not, she says, the start of a career revival. “There aren’t a lot of parts for 78-year-olds, but this is a really good one to go out on, though it’s been a difficult part to learn as it’s very bitty, a reflection of the character’s condition.”

As part of her research for the role, Meriel spent an afternoon at a local nursing home for dementia patients. “They were terribly kind to me, taking me round and I learned a lot. I’d thought the script was a bit ‘in your face’ but it showed me that Iain Heggie knew what he was writing about.”

Valuable experience

Meriel retired from the stage 20 years ago, when she and her husband Roger ‘retired’ to Herefordshire and started a rare breeds farm from scratch.

But it had been a career that saw her tread the boards of countless national and international venues including the National Theatre, the RSC and the Globe, working with some of the biggest names in theatre, among them Joan Littlewood and Ian McKellen. It was the former in fact who gave Meriel her big break. “She saw me at the Royal Court Studio and invited me to join her company.”

Meriel’s earlier career as a nurse – “My parents were dead set against me becoming an actress,” she explains – has also proved useful for her current part. “I didn’t work with dementia patients, but having had experience with elderly patients is helpful.”

Joining Meriel in the current production is a strong cast of both new and seasoned actors. Derek is played by Alex Evans, who impressed in last year’s A Number playing three sons. Kath is played by Sam Anderson, a promising drama student at Hereford College of Arts, and Dave Thomas plays Larry.

Wiping My Mother’s A**e runs from Wednesday, January 19 until Saturday, January 22, with an after-show discussion on Thursday, January 20.

To book, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk.