Review: Wiping My Mother's Arse at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, starring Anne Kidd and Johnny McKnight
- Lisa in the theatre
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Pitlochry Festival Theatre stages a revival of Iain Heggie's Fringe-First winning play Wiping My Mother's Arse twenty-five years after its debut. Wiping My Mother's Arse plays in Pitlochry's studio theatre until 5 September. Read my review here.
Wiping My Mother's Arse ★★★⯪☆
Review: 20 August 2026 | Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Ian Heggie's dark comedy play Wiping My Mother's Arse was a sold-out hit when it premiered at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2001. Now twenty-five years later, the team at Pitlochry Festival Theatre - under the direction of Deputy Artistic Director Sam Hardie - stage a revival of the play, which has been redeveloped by the writer Ian Heggie for its 2026 outing in Pitlochry's studio theatre.
Andrene (Anne Kidd) lives in a care home for the elderly where she's well looked after by her overloaded carer Larry (Johnny McKnight.) She has little patience for the other residents; her laundry is always returned damaged - if it's returned at all - and she never feels quite at home. With a harrowing sadness, Andrene repeatedly asks Larry when she can leave. When Andrene's long-absent son Derek (David Rankine) finally writes to announce a visit, Andrene's hopes are raised, and she would be even more elated if he brought some grandchildren with him.
Set within Jenny Booth's beautifully detailed and authentic clinical care home set, Wiping My Mother's Arse begins as the most beautiful Scottish two-hander play between Andrene and Larry. Their tender relationship and natural, tragicomic dialogue is stunning. I could've watched a play of just the back-and-forth between these two characters for hours such is the richness of the prose and the black comedy that runs through every sentence.
As Larry dutifully makes up Andrene's bed, they chat about everything and nothing, perfectly demonstrating Andrene's confused mental state and her disquieting defencelessness. It's a sadly familiar scenario perfectly played out with a beautiful balance of light and shade. I was completely enthralled.
Johnny McKnight steps out from behind his illustrious pantomime dame persona to deliver a moving performance as the overworked, helpless but caring nurse Larry. But his comedic prowess is never far away. The scene where he hides from Derek, who arrives unexpectedly, is priceless.
Anne Kidd is outstanding as the confused yet feisty Andrene. She deserves all the awards for this tour de force performance. I can't remember ever seeing such an accurate, heartfelt portrayal of a vulnerable yet spirited elderly person live on stage. Kidd is masterful. Heggie's dialogue is sharp and witty, with much of the laugh-out-loud comedy relying on Andrene's confusion and expert comic timing. Anne Kidd never misses a beat with the intelligent, complex wordplay, and it's glorious.
When son Derek unexpectedly brings girlfriend Kath (Lisa Livingstone) to meet his mum, the play becomes a more elaborate beast as it explores not just the heartbreak and chaos of ageing but of family responsibility, guilt, money, and homophobia. Because, much to Larry's shock, it turns out that he and Derek know each other very well.
Both Rankine and Livingstone are excellent support for Kidd and McKnight; the four dance nimbly around the stage under Heggie's incisive direction with a clear understanding of how to play to all sides of studio theatre space. Wiping My Mother's Arse does become a little bogged down in plot somewhere in the latter half of the 80-minute play as Larry and Derek's shared history is laid bare, girlfriend Kath's motivations are explored, and secrets and duplicity are unravelled.
Wiping My Mother's Arse is a powerful, bittersweet play that can sometimes make for uncomfortable viewing, but is primarily a thoroughly entertaining, thought-provoking piece of theatre. Performed for the first time in twenty-five years, Pitlochry Festival Theatre's new production feels bang up to date and as relevant as ever as we struggle to understand the true cost of placing a loved one in the care system.
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