Wiping My Mother’s Arse review – confusion and subterfuge in a care home

Pitlochry Festival theatre
Iain Heggie’s rejigged 2001 play – now ensconced in the world of voice notes and vapes – is very funny, but the lighter moments jar with some sobering subtexts

These days, shows about care homes, dementia and end of life are very common, but when Iain Heggie’s splendidly named Wiping My Mother’s Arse premiered in 2001, it was ahead of the curve. It is set in an overstretched nursing home where Andrene (Anne Kidd) has developed a close relationship with her care worker, Larry (Johnny McKnight), little realising he previously spent five years living with her son, Derek (David Rankine). Cue the comedy of confusion and subterfuge.

The play’s fault line runs through questions of care, compassion and money. The emotionally detached Derek has been happy to farm out the care of his mother while he lives at the other end of the country. He shows less interest in her welfare than he does in her bank account.

At Pitlochry Festival theatre until 5 September