‘They call me Mum. Everyone calls me Mum now. Or Mummy. I had a name before. Where did that go?’ We talk to amazing actress, writer and mum of two, Katie Guicciardi about her brutally honest one-woman play ‘FOX’ that explores the challenges of new motherhood, postnatal depression, isolation and homelessness.
What inspired you to create your show ‘Fox’?
When I had my first child, we were living in a one bedroom first floor flat in Clapton, London E5. I was absolutely euphoric, if a little shocked at the amount of feeding required and the lack of sleep. One day, an ordinary looking man came and sat on the wall outside the flat and remained sitting there for a month. He sat there all day and lay down and slept there at night. The window of our living room faced him directly and I watched him from above as I sat feeding my baby, day and night.
I experienced many different feelings towards him and about him, alongside a deep curiousity; including fear, pity, worry, anger, warmth and rejection. I began writing about the experience in snippets to try to make sense of it. Meanwhile, a few close friends of mine who had had babies at the same time as me, began experiencing fairly severe symptoms of postnatal depression.
I remember feeling shocked at my own ignorance and unawareness of the topic and of the experience they were having. How could I feel so good and they feel so bad? Our circumstances were similar – planned babies, good pregnancies, healthy births, no history of mental health issues and family support. How had I not been prepared for this very common condition that could have easily afflicted me as anyone else? Why had no one told me about this? That is when I decided that the play would be a great vehicle to do just that.
