Actor, director, playwright and journalist Guy Willoughby died last August of an Aids-related illness after refusing to take anti-retroviral drugs.
The death of the talented actor was mourned in entertainment and media circles, and fierce debate raged about the rights of chronically ill people to refuse top-drawer medical care.
The story of Guy Willoughby’s life – and death – is brought to the Festival with the Fringe production, I Need to See Myself.
Written by and featuring Guy’s sister, Corinne, the play is set on the last day of his life, and tells the story of the dynamics between the siblings in dealing with his imminent death.
‘It was brave of Corinne to write such a gutsy piece. It was impassioned and real,” said Posy Keogh, who directs the play.
Keogh explained that the piece was challenging to stage as it told a true story.
‘The challenge has been that Corinne is both herself and an excellent actor.”
Real expression
Corinne agreed, saying that although she was playing a character on stage, it also allowed her to express how she really felt.
‘I didn’t put myself aside completely because I didn’t want to soft-soap or hide it. It’s painful and I wanted the audience to feel the pain. I didn’t want to paint a pretty picture even though it was a beautiful story.”
Corinne said that while the story is a tragedy, it isn’t ‘all gloom and doom”. It includes quirky stories and moments in the siblings’ past, building up to the devastating finale.
‘It’s helped that there’s humour in it, but even that highlights the poignancy,” said Keogh.
‘It’s Corinne’s story but it has universal appeal, and is for anyone who has lost someone. It’s intense theatre but at the same time a very delicate piece,” said Keogh.
‘I think it also has a lot to do with their relationship and acceptance. It’s also about choices and decision.”
‘Guy took certain decisions and went down certain roads, and suffered the consequences,” she said.
Corinne added, ‘The tragedy lies in the fact that he chose to hide his sickness” because he did not want to be a victim of prejudice.
‘The play might be about our story but it’s his more than mine because he can’t tell it himself.”
This piece is from Cue Online, a project of Rhodes University’s New Media Lab.