Laughing Boy

by Stephen Unwin

Overview

Connor is, well, Connor. He loves buses, Eddie Stobart and Lego. He also has learning disabilities. When he dies an entirely preventable death in NHS care, his mum, Sara, can't get a straight answer as to how it happened.

But Sara and her family won't stop asking questions and soon an extraordinary campaign emerges. Demanding the truth, it uncovers a scandal of neglect and indifference that goes beyond Connor's death to thousands of others.

Sara Ryan's impassioned, frank and surprisingly funny memoir Justice for Laughing Boy is adapted for the stage by Stephen Unwin. It was first performed at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2024, in a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839043536
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	06/17/2025
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Stephen Unwin is one of the UK's leading theatre and opera directors. He founded English Touring Theatre in 1993 and opened the Rose Theatre Kingston in 2008, becoming Artistic Director until 2014. He has written guides to Shakespeare's and Brecht's plays, as well as to Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, and Twentieth-Century Drama. He is also the author of The Complete Brecht Toolkit and So You Want To Be A Theatre Director?

As a writer for the stage, his work includes: Laughing Boy, adapted from Sara Ryan's book Justice for Laughing Boy (Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2024) and All Our Children (Jermyn Street Theatre, 2017).

He is a campaigner for the rights and opportunities of people with learning disabilities and was appointed the Chair of KIDS in November 2016, the national charity providing services to disabled children, young people and their families.

Sara Ryan is a Professor of Social Care at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of Justice for Laughing Boy: Connor Sparrowhawk - A Death by Indifference, about the death of her autistic son Connor while in an NHS care unit.

Editorial Reviews

An urgent look at our broken care system... compelling and heartfelt... a mighty testimony that will leave you furious.” —The Times

“A moving story about love, laughter and the indomitability of one family's fighting spirit... deft and shocking.” —Telegraph

“Heartfelt and colorful... a story told with love and fury.” —Guardian

“Hard hitting... balances the procession of grim, galling details against humanizing, light-hearted moments... succeeds both as a tribute to Connor's family, and as a galvanizing call for deeper compassion and greater support.” —The Stage

“Powerful... hideously timely... a shocking story.” —Evening Standard

“Gripping and thought-provoking.” —Reviews Hub

“A bittersweet docu-play about brutal neglect and apathy... a beautiful elegiac celebration of Connor Sparrowhawk's life and what it means to fight for someone you love... effective and enormously touching.” —Broadway World

“Startling and impassioned.” —iNews

'Touching... properly unnerving... always gripping and informative.” —TheatreCat

“A very powerful, beautifully written play that deserves to be seen as widely as possible.” —LondonTheatre1

From the Publisher