Preview: Dead To Me at Washington Arts Centre

Dead Funny Show

comes to Washington

Dead To Me

Washington Arts Centre

Thursday 18 September 2014

 

Photo: Selma Dimitrijevic

Dead To Me is a disturbingly funny story about a man’s troubled relationship with a psychic and her spirit guide and comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 18 September

"Blah blah blah PSYCHICS blah blah blah MUST BE REAL blah blah blah HOW COULD THEY KNOW THAT? blah blah blah TALKING TO THE DEAD blah blah IT’S JUST RUBBISH blah blah.”

Sometimes we only hear what we want to hear. Steven is a believer - he believes in reason, logic and humanity. The Psychic believes in the spirits. The dead are always right. Dead to Me is a disturbingly funny story about a man and his troubled relationship with a psychic and her spirit guide. When the truth is confronted, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion and Steven finds out that living people can be unnecessarily cruel because of course the dead are easier to deal with.

Photo: Selma Dimitrijevic

The show has been written by Gary Kitching and is directed by Selma Dimitrijevic.  Director Selma Dimitrijevic said:  "Gary Kitching has been angry about the exploitative, predatory nature of psychics and mediums for years, and instead of going and doing something illegal, he has written a play about it. The play examines the reasons why people seek solace and help from strangers who claim they can speak to the dead, instead of reaching out to their friends and family."

Photo: Selma Dimitrijevic

Writer Gary Kitching is a North East based actor and writer whose show “Me and Mr C” was performed at Northern Stage’s St. Stephens Edinburgh venue in 2012.  Gary said:  “I have been drawn to the supernatural and weird since being a young boy. Watching Friday night Hammer horror films definitely got me hooked in that world. As a teenager and into my early twenties, I would believe pretty much anything that I came across that was spiritual, new age or mystic. I even spent good money on visiting a few psychics and to my shame owned a set of ancient (mass produced) runes. I wanted to believe that there was more to this life than the confines of reality. However the more I read about psychics, healers and general mystics the more it became clear to me that these people where far from the benevolent compassionate personas they wished to portray themselves as. They seemed to me to be greedy unscrupulous vultures picking at the bones of another human’s personal grief and insecurities. It made me angry. It made me realise that instead of escaping the confines of reality what I needed to do was embrace reality, logic and reason. We are all on this planet for a finite time. If we used that time to engage with our fellow humans to share each other’s grief, doubts and joy the world in my view would be a happier and healthier place. Just because I believe a unicorn lives in my garden; it doesn’t mean they actually exist.”

Tickets:

Dead to Me comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 18 September, 7.30pm, tickets are £8.50 / £6 (conc) to book visit www.artscentrewashington.co.uk or call the box office on 0191 219 3455.