Media

Radio

Unspoken, by Rebecca Clarke
Unspoken is a 50 minute one-woman show about family, disability, love and loss.

"On the 30th of March 1993, my first and only brother was born. I was a teenager at the time. The first thing that we all saw was his bilateral cleft palate. It was a heart-stopping shock. When he was 8 months old he was diagnosed with epilepsy, scoliosis and cerebral palsy (holoprose encephaly). It meant that he was severely brain damaged, that he would never walk or talk and would be tube feed for the rest of his life, however long that might be. The road ahead for him and for us was one of the scariest unknown things that I could imagine. In the everyday “coping” world, we were an efficient and loving family and I was already set for my flight from home into a bigger, promising place. But, at the deepest unspoken level, I had a chronic fear about really engaging my heart in my brother because I wasn't sure how long he was with us, what he understood, or what life was like for him. I didn't know what it was that I could do for him (what I was willing to do) and I had no way of making a real and lasting connection. Also, I didn't want to face what his severe disabilities signalled about me; about my inability to make the most of my full life, my able body and my voice.My parents also kept me at a safe distance and we all became very protective, of our hearts and of each other. It's a beautiful and painful bond. It's strange. It's family."

Click here for the radio interview with Rebecca on 2SER.

Excerpt taken from Rebecca's website www.rebeccaclarke-unspoken.com