Wiping My Mother's Arse

by Iain Heggie

A caustic new comedy by one of Scotland's most important contemporary playwrights




When Derek's girlfriend Kath decides to move in with him she follows the advice of her favourite chat-show host and asks to meet his family. Derek's mother is in a nursing home, resentful of June, the patient with no arms and legs, who gets all the attention. The only saving grace is her care assistant Larry - a camp, ageing clubber. However, what Derek and Kath don't know is that Larry holds the key to a few secrets that are perhaps best left in the closet...
Published to coincide with its premiere in July 2001 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

"Cut-cross dialogue crackles with life; fast, funny foulmouthed" (TES)

"The dialogue cuts into paradox, swagger and self defence as keenly as a surgeon's knife" (Observer)

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Iain Heggie is a Scottish playwright. His Mobil prize-winning play, A Wholly Healthy Glasgow (1988), and his John Whiting award-winning play, American Bagpipes (1989), both premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and were later seen at The Royal Court in London. His short plays, The Sex Comedies (2003), have been produced many times in London, Scotland, Germany and Austria.

An Experienced Woman Gives Advice (1995) also premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and was later produced at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh. His adaptation of Moliere's Don Juan toured Scotland in 1998 and his subsequent more radical adaptation, The Don, he directed himself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. King of Scotland (2000) and Wiping My Mother's Arse (2001) premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and won Fringe First awards, while his contemporary adaptation of Marivaux' Double Inconstancy retitled as Love Freaks (2002) was first produced at The Tron, Glasgow. Recent plays are: Sauchiehall Street (2004), which toured Scotland and the North of England; and Tragic, a play for young adults.

In 2003 Iain Heggie gave his first readings of his short poems and monologues and began work on his first full-length screenplay, Comet's Wake, with Laurent Theillet. His latest work for the stage is Hollywood, an adaptation from the novel by Charles Bukowski.

Reviews

[Cave Empter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strong dialogue with exceptionally poor conclusion.

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

A young man and his girlfriend visit his aging mother in an old folks' home. The male attendant caring for the old woman turns out to be someone from the son's secret past. What will happen when the secret's out?

This piece felt a bit like "Daddy's Dying, Who's Got the Will?" Not having seen that one for years, I'm not sure how close they actually are, but there it is. I like how foul-mouthed the old woman was but it was really to no purpose. The play seemed to operate solely on one purient level, shocking in a pointless way. Very disappointing.