Sean Cameron and Sophie Maybury in rehearsal for Next Door But One’s My Mad Mum. Picture: James Drury
IN the wake of the impactful tour of How To Be A Kid in 2025, Next Door But One and Our Time Charity are collaborating anew on a new play, My Mad Mum, to encourage conversations around mental health, identity and being a young carer.
The York community arts collective specialises in raising awareness of often unspoken topics, while Cottingham-based Our Time is the only British charity dedicated to improving the outcomes for children growing up with a parent with a mental illness.
Statistics reveal that 3.7 million under-18s in the United Kingdom have a parent who struggles with their mental health: a total more than the combined populations of Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol.
Commissioned by Our Time, playwright Ant Stones highlights that reality in My Mad Mum, a “fast-paced, fun and fearless collision of real friendships, messy families and surviving the stuff no-one warns you about as a teenager”.
Touring secondary schools in York and North Yorkshire from May, Stones’s play will reach 3,000 pupils aged 11-plus – as well as audiences at public performances at York Explore on May 13 and 14 and specific performances for young carers and those accessing mental health services – with the relatable story of Andy and Harper, played by Sean Cameron and Sophie Maybury (and understudies Adam Kane and Tasha Potts).
Everyone knows Andy and everyone knows his mum. The looks. The whispers. The rumours that follow him everywhere. Andy is used to it – or at least he pretends to be. When Harper, the new girl, arrives at school, things finally start to feel different. Finally, somebody ‘gets’ him, but as their friendship grows, their worlds crash into each other and the truth comes out, and once out, there will be no taking it back.
My Mad Mum director Kate Veysey in the rehearsal room with cast member Sophie Maybury. Picture: James Drury
Poor parental mental health and serious mental illness is an issue that affects one in three children in every UK classroom. Consequently children who have a parent with a mental illness often face unique challenges at school and at home. What’s more, for too many of them, it feels like a secret they have to carry alone.
Next Door But One’s performance, with an accompanying workshop, aims to validate the experience of these young people, raise awareness of their lives for their peers and equip teachers with this knowledge to better support their students.
Last year, Next Door But One (NDB1) and Our Time Charity toured a similar provision into primary schools with proven outcomes from How To Be A Kid on which they are looking to build: 91 per cent of young audiences felt the show helped them to discuss their feelings, emotions and mental health, while 94 per cent said the show helped them to identify a trusted adult in their life to whom they could go when they needed help.
My Mad Mum director Kate Veysey says: “The schools we are touring to really recognise the challenge we are presenting, with many of them already having Young Carers Champions and some signing the Young Carers Covenant.
“As a company we really believe that theatre has the power to bring everybody into the same important conversation and provide the knowledge and confidence to enact real change. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Our Time Charity as, with their 20 years’ experience and resources, we are able to continue encouraging vital social change in our communities.”
My Mad Mum director Kate Veysey, assistant director Matthew Harper Hardcastle (Next Door But One’s artistic director) and NDB1 company manager Jane Williamson watching a rehearsal. Picture: James Drury
Georgie Williams, Our Time Charity’s operations director, says: “For too many children, growing up with a parent who is struggling with their mental health can feel isolating and confusing. At Our Time Charity, we know that when children are given the language, understanding and safe spaces to talk, it can be life-changing.
“This production brings those experiences out into the open in a way that feels real, relatable and accessible to young people. By combining powerful storytelling with practical support for schools, we are helping to ensure that no child feels alone.
“We know that having just one adult that a child can safely talk to has a huge impact them. We give adults the tools to feel more confident to recognise and respond to children whose parent has a mental illness.
Leeds Conservatoire graduates Sean Cameron and Sophie Maybury – who both live in Leeds – are performing with NDB1 for the first time under the company’s scheme of working with fledgling professional actors within their first two years on the books.
“I got an email through the Conservatoire and that’s what then made me apply,” says Sophie, who has a BA in Acting. “It’s been fantastic because the main thing I’ve struggled with, coming out of drama school, has been the lack of sessions, especially in the north, to give you something new to learn or to refresh on.”
Sean, who has a BA in Musical Theatre, says: “I hadn’t seen an NDB1 show but had heard about their work and knew Emily Chattle and James Lewis-Knight – who run Clown Space and are associates of NDB1 – and they really sang the company’s praises. It’s been a really great opportunity and a challenge too because there’s a responsibility to make these people in the play feel represented.”
Sophie adds: “We have to get it right in reflecting their lives, showing awareness that they’re not the only ones going through their experience, so that they do feel connected, not misrepresented.”
Next Door But One presents My Mad Mum at York Explore, May 13 and 14, 5.30pm. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives?srch=My+Mad+Mum.