Backstroke

'Just let go. Let your body float. You'll still be here but it'll feel like flying in a dream.' Bo is busy – balancing the pressures of work and the needs of her struggling daughter. When her mother, the irrepressible force-of-nature Beth, is admitted to hospital following a stroke, the practical realities of the present collide with the complexities of their past. Backstroke is a kaleidoscopic and compassionate play, first performed at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2025. It was written and directed by Anna Mackmin, with Celia Imrie and Tamsin Greig playing mother and daughter.