Students should be able to identify the social, cultural and historical influences on the writing of ‘Find Me’. They should be able to give examples of how these influences are apparent within the text or can be realised in a performance. Preparation: As a class or in small groups read the scene that is set in the playground at Verity’s school. Common misconceptions or difficulties students may have Although some of Verity’s symptoms are similar to that of a person that suffers from autism there is no suggestion that autism is the cause of her mental health issues. It may be helpful to research the condition of autism to gain a deeper understanding of Verity’s behaviour’s, however we cannot be sure that this was Verity’s diagnosis. It is important to consider the time in which the play was written and the differences between how patients were treated differently to people who are diagnosed with mental health problems now. When exploring this point is will be useful to use the following as points for discussion and research: Improvise a scene at a school coffee morning at Verity’s school. The parents at the meeting are discussing the events in the playground the day of the Wellington boot incident.

Write a letter of complaint from the mother or father of the French family at the restaurant. Students can use the following as a starting point:Exploring the playIt is essential that students have a good understanding of the whole text, from the perspective of a performer, designer and director. Students need to practically explore the whole text and have a good understanding of how it can be performed. After reading the whole text you may decide to look at key scenes first. This can support students understanding of the key moments in the text and you can discuss how this affects events in the rest of the text. Some key scenes to start exploring Find Me include: urn:lcp:findmeplay0000wyma:epub:370381ac-2e4c-47a5-8312-816ddf475457 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier findmeplay0000wyma Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s2fmhh1hhsc Invoice 1652 Isbn 0573114315 Her most successful play was Find Me (1977), [3] about mental illness, which is still used as a set text for drama qualifications in UK schools. [4] Others included Gymnasium (1972), Loved (1980), Best Friends (1984), Strike Up The Banns (1990), and Mirror Mirror (1992). [5] She also wrote dozens of BBC radio play adaptations, [6] including her 2001 version of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain; one of her last works, it starred Paul Scofield in one of his greatest radio roles. [1] Personal life [ edit ]

Wymark was a member of the Royal Society for Literature and the Académie Française, an active member of the Theatre Writers' Union, and also served on the Arts Council drama panel for some years. Lccn 81104289 Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-1-g862e Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 1.0000 Ocr_module_version 0.0.15 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-0001112 Openlibrary_edition Find Me’ was written whilst she was working as a Gulbenkian Writer in Residence at Kingston Polytechnic in Surrey in 1977. It was then performed at both Kingston Polytechnic and later at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1977. Use forum theatre to create an alternative ending to a scene. In this version of the scene the health care professionals take preventative actions to stop the situation escalating.

As a result of setting fire to the chair the police and fire brigade were called. After a hearing which investigated the incident at Canterbury Crown Court, Edward and Jean are told that Verity will be admitted to Broadmoor Hospital under Section Sixty five of the Mental Health Act. Hot seat one student in role as Verity (or allocate a Verity and get the students into groups). Ask her a series of questions that enable her to explain her actions both during and in the aftermath of the swimming gala.

In small groups or as a whole class discuss why you think Verity was so upset by not being able to compete in the gala? Decide who you think was to blame for Verity’s breakdown following the swimming gala. In groups, get students to justify their choice using quotes from the text.

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Choose an event that you think could have been avoided. (Suggested events are the scene with Sister Moses and the Physiotherapist or when Verity jumps out of the window at the halfway house) Explore how this would have changed the events in the play, or improvise a new scene to explore the characters motivations. Students need to have studied the central themes of the play and consider how they impact the acting, design and direction of a performance.