Whether you enjoyed or just endured the post-natal coffee group, or if you don’t have a clue what coffee groups do, Losing Faith, a new play written by local playwright Liz Breslin, has something for you.

Set in the lead character Faith’s lounge, the play invites the audience to watch Faith, a first-time mother, as she hosts coffee groups, meets with the Plunket nurse, spends time with her husband, and time alone.

It’s a darkly comic look at life after birth and the issue of post-natal depression (the trigger-warning tag on the play’s poster advises viewers to be aware the play contains "distressing baby cries, post-natal depression and sweary language”). It’s an honest take on a subject - parenthood - that can be both one of life’s best experiences, and one of its most difficult ones.

"Comedy is such a good vehicle for serious issues,” Liz explained. "Dark humour is a coping strategy in its own right.” And she pointed out that post-natal depression is a timely topic, with the numbers of parents who suffer from it on the increase. "It’s 15 percent of new mothers and 13 percent of new fathers. It’s a lot of us,” she said.

The play is directed by Fiona Armstrong, who was one of the lead actors in Liz’s last locally-staged play, the freedom camping farce ‘It’s Your Shit’. The show enjoyed five sold-out performances in the Hawea Flat Hall and a two-night stint in Arrowtown.

Losing Faith also features Gilly Pugh, well-known in Wanaka for writing and directing her own pieces and running the Aspiring Children’s Theatre School. Becky Plunkett, who trained formally in London and was a "jobbing actor” for a few years before taking up ski instructing, plays the role of Faith. And Will Cole, the youngest member of the cast, will be familiar to audiences from his role as the Reverend in this year’s Mount Aspiring College musical, ‘Footloose’.

None of the new parents in the cast are parents themselves. To this end, they have been researching hard, and director Fiona has been putting them through their physical paces. "They’re an amazing group of actors who have invested so much into their characters. They have done their research, they have improvised key moments in their lives and they have both physically and mentally committed to telling us their story,” Fiona said.

‘Losing Faith’ is being performed from September 27-30 at 7.30pm, and on October 1 at 11am, at Edgewater Resort.

Cash tickets can be purchased for $20 ($10 concessions) from Pembroke Wines on Dungarvon St.

PHOTO: Laura Williamson