Guest Blog: 'Funny Things Happen Even on the Worst Days': Writer and Performer Katie Arnstein on Finding the Funny in Tragedy in THE LONG RUN

When life handed Beyoncé lemons, she made Lemonade. It went triple platinum.

I am not Beyoncé - no matter how many times I practice the dance routine to "Single Ladies" - but making art about difficult subject matters is a very human thing to do - and I am a human.

I didn’t originally set out to be a writer. I trained as an actor in Birmingham and after graduating I moved to the capital the year the whole world did. 2012. The summer London hosted The Olympics. The city was full of optimism and so was I. The hope I felt quickly left me as I struggled to find fulfilling work as an artist. Some personal professional lowlights of the first few years include:

- a role in a below minimum wage pantomine production of Dick Whittington which toured Northern garden centres
- the unpaid and non-speaking role of “Victorian child ghost”
- un-named woman with an eating disorder in a play that did not explore that issue at all.

Jealous?

Fast forward four years. 2016. A hot-bed of hilarity. Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, Donald Trump is heading towards his election victory and I was, possibly not unrelated, on anti-depressants.

I decided, partially inspired by this political waking nightmare, to write a 15 minute comedy about everyday sexism. It was also a way of me saying “if I can’t get the work I want, I’m going to make it myself”. That 15 minute scratch night piece became Bicycles & Fish - an hour long storytelling comedy I wrote with the help of my brilliant friend and reluctant mentor Daniel Goldman. It premiered at VAULT Festival 2018 and I will forever be grateful to that festival for taking a chance on me and my comedy that does not sound like a comedy.

Following Bicycles & Fish I wrote Sexy Lamp, directed by the stunning Ellen Havard, another musical comedy about sexism in the arts and after that I wrote Sticky Door - a musical comedy about being sexually assaulted. Hahaha, right?

But I really do believe that comedy is the perfect vehicle to talk about, share and heal from terrible things. I’ve heard people say “If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry.” I think great art can make you do both. The best art can make you do both in the same minute.

In 2022 my Mum, Jane, was diagnosed with bowel cancer. By 2023 I had, with my Mum’s permission (and her notes on the script...) written a comedy based on her cancer journey. That show, The Long Run, directed by the phenomenal Bec Martin, previewed at VAULT Festival 2023 and is about to transfer to the New Diorama Theatre.

The Long Run had to be a comedy. My Mum makes me laugh more than anyone (please don’t tell her, she’ll get too big for her boots) so it is only right that the story that centres around her reflects how funny she is. Two. Cancer is awful. I don’t need to tell you that. Three. Funny things happen all the time. Even on the worst days.

The hospital ward where Mum was treated by our gorgeous NHS, was full of people making jokes and cheering each other up. Many of them feature in the show. The Long Run is a celebration of what it means to be human. It’s a love letter to all those who have suffered and seen the funny side.

Life gave us lemons. Beyoncé made Lemonade. Mum made me laugh. I made The Long Run.

The Long Run plays at New Diorama Theatre 29 March – 13 April

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