We ve become accustomed in recent times to being told that those who have died from Covid are people, not statistics. As though any one needed to be told (with the exception, perhaps, of those who have wangled their way to holidays abroad).
Acknowledged as more than statistics, people always have back stories. And playwright Sonya Kelly, always sharply observant, has taken a real-life incident in 2017 to explore three imagined back stories which have nothing to do with Covid, but relate to lives personally disrupted in an instant.
A man jogging across Putney Bridge in London cannoned into a woman walking in the opposite direction. She fell - into the street, into the path of an approaching bus. The bus driver managed to avoid the woman through expert driving and speedy reaction time. She was bruised, battered, and shocked. But she was alive. The man who had caused her fall didn t know that - he had continued his run and has never been traced.
Phase one of the works is on course to finish in May. New Putney parklet So far, a 20mph speed limit, ‘parklets’ and a city tree which filters air and removes pollutants has been installed. Next in line is the widening of the eastern footway between Felsham Road and Putney Bridge Road, providing a Copenhagen crossing at Werter Road and working with TfL to improve the pedestrian island at the junction with Putney Bridge Road. The council is also continuing to remove guard railing and unnecessary street clutter and exploring the option of additional parallel cycle and contraflow routes. Phase two of additional environmental improvements is expected to commence soon after May.
Updated / Thursday, 11 Feb 2021
18:37
Playwright Sonya Kelly (Pic: Ros Kavanagh)
Playwright Sonya Kelly writes for Culture about the real-life inspiration behind her new work Once Upon a Bridge, which will premiere in a live-streamed production from The Mick Lally Theatre, Galway, this February 11th - 13th.
I don t recall where I was, or what I was doing when I read the story, but it went something like this…
On the morning of the 5th of May 2017, a jogger ran past a woman on Putney Bridge in London, pushing her out of his way and into the path of an oncoming bus. He blithely ran on and never looked back. If the driver hadn’t swerved to avoid her, she would have been killed instantly.