PROMISE
by Andrew Goreing


Performed: October/November 1997 at Portsmouth College, Tangier Road, Portsmouth

Top Cat’s first serious full-length piece of theatre was this thought-provoking drama about a woman with multiple sclerosis. It examined the phenomenon of Christian healing through the eyes of both believers and sceptics.

Helen’s incurable illness leads her to visit a Christian rally at which she is given a promise by God. But the play’s two alternative endings show that God can work equally within both scenarios of healing and of continued suffering.

Both endings contain elements of hope and despair, and show there are few easy answers to questions of faith and illness.

The play raised money for both the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the building fund to repair St Jude’s Church in Southsea, one of Portsmouth’s favourite landmarks.

Click here for a review of Promise

Derek (Fudge Fordyce) helps his wife Helen (Jude Salmon) into her wheelchair as her illness gets worse