Backstroke - Paperback

by Anna Mackmin (Author)

An extraordinary play that puts the audience inside the maelstrom of its characters' lives...a multifaceted portrait of motherhood. --Arts Desk

Bo is busy balancing the pressures of work and the needs of her struggling daughter. When her mother, the irrepressible force-of-nature Beth, is admitted to hospital following a stroke, the practical realities of the present collide with the complexities of their past.

Backstroke is a kaleidoscopic and compassionate play that offers a heartfelt, unsentimental portrayal of the slippery cord of maternal connection (The Stage).

Author Biography

Anna Mackmin is an award-winning writer and theatre director. Her plays include Backstroke (Donmar Warehouse, London, 2025). Her first novel Devoured was published in 2018. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot prize, and named the New Angle Book of the Year.