Bristol Theatre News

Laughing Boy at Theatre Royal Bath

New play coming to Bath tells vitally important story about people we must not forget

A brand new play telling the story of Connor Sparrowhawk, will be coming to the Theatre Royal Bath this June.

Connor – affectionately known as Laughing Boy – was an autistic 18 year old who also had a learning disability and epilepsy. His tragic and preventable death occurred on on 04 July 2013 at Slade House, a Short Term Assessment and Treatment Team Unit (STATT unit) under Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. Connor experienced a seizure in a bath and drowned.

An independent investigation conducted by Verita and published in 2014, found significant failings in his care and treatment – all of which directly caused his death.

But it wasn’t until 2017 that the NHS Trust accepted responsibility, pleading guilty to breaching health and safety law in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The trust was fined £2m for the care and deaths of Connor and Teresa Colvin – a 45 year old woman who died in 2012 in an acute mental health unit in Hampshire run by the same Trust.

Connor’s mother Sara Ryan, has been tireless in her campaign to get justice for Connor as well as campaigning to change the way people with learning disabilities are treated.

Her important story as well as Connor’s has been brought to the stage by Stephen Unwin in the new play Laughing Boy. It’s based on Sara Ryan’s book Justice for Laughing Boy: Connor Sparrowhawk – A Death by Indifference.

Laughing Boy is currently running at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 31 May, after which it will transfer to Theatre Royal Bath. It’s been warmly received by reviewers, but more importantly than that, it brings terrible injustice into the spotlight.

There’s never been a more important time to tell the stories of Disabled people and how they have suffered systems riddled with systemic failure.

Laughing Boy will be at the Theatre Royal Bath from 04 – 08 June 2024

For more information or to book, visit: https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/laughing-boy

Cast
Sara Ryan – Janie Dee
Rich – Forbes Masson
Connor Sparrowhawk – Alfie Friedman
Owen – Lee Braithwaite
Will – Charlie Ives
Rosie – Molly Osborne
Tom – Daniel Rainford

Creatives
Director – Stephen Unwin
Writer – Sara Ryan
Designer – Simon Higlett
Lighting Designer – Ben Ormerod
Video Designer – Matt Powell
Sound Designer – Holly Khan
Stage Manager – Daisy Francis-Bryden
Technical ASM – Grace Hancock
Associate Director – Ashen Gupta
Costume Supervisor – Rachael Griffin
Assistant Director – Sam Chown-Ahern
Associate Sound Designer – Anna Wood
Assistant Video Designer – Douglas Baker
Casting Director – Ginny Schiller

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