Inspired by real-life stories, Nell Dunn's play Home Death is a courageous, compassionate exploration of how our society deals with the reality of dying, raising urgent questions about palliative care in the UK.
Seventy per cent of us want to die at home, but in reality only a quarter of us do. A lingering death in a nursing home is one of the biggest fears of the elderly, and yet research from the think-tank Demos predicts that by 2013, 90% of us will die in the soulless setting of a hospital ward.
Home Death was first staged at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 2011.
Home Death's universal relevance will make it a moving and rewarding play for amateur theatre companies to perform, or reading groups to discuss.