Giving Up Marty

By Karen Bartholomew
Directed by Annie Sutton

Don't you want to find your birth mother?
It's history, whats the point of raking up the past?

But what if the past comes to you?

Joel is found by his birth mum and sister. Hes only eighteen and scared. Identity means a lot, particularly to a teenager. His life is about to change forever.

Until now hes just known Mum, Dad and his sister. Life is safe, settled and secure. Yes, hes been curious about his origins but no more than that. As he turns eighteen, much to everyones surprise, its Martha, his birth mother and Melissa his birth sister who come looking for him. The events that follow, leave Joel embroiled in a family history, that changes his life and identity forever.

Theres long been a fascination with blood ties and those broken, reunited and reshaped. Adoption reunion is epic and complex in nature and never easy but it's this unease that needs to be heard.

Giving Up Marty is a brand new play by Karen Bartholomew. Spare and gutsy, it takes no prisoners.