We Talk About Death In The Swimming Pool (WIP)

SALTHOUSE presents

A new multidisciplinary theatre work from Beth Bowden, exploring the political and personal dimensions of grief, illness and end-of-life choice.

‘here now, swimming with you, together - Together and floating, floating close and closer and closely as we talk about death,

And dying

and how a month ago you nearly died

/ We don’t talk about that

but we do talk about heaven and bowls of soup’

We Talk About Death In The Swimming Pool explores the personal and political intersection of the Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill, health equity, death admin and anticipatory grief - as well as the joy of living life alongside grief and illness. Told through interwoven stories, new writing, physical performance, and projection, WTADITSP asks questions about death, grief, and health inequality.

Assisted dying is already a legal end-of-life option for 100 million+ people worldwide, but access to quality palliative care, mental health provision and social support in the UK remains unequal. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was defeated in the House of Commons in September 2026. The bill previously ran out of time in the House of Lords and failed to pass before the end of the 2024–26 parliamentary session.

This Work In Progress follows development through Complicite’s Mudlarks & Lighthouse Poole’s Sanctuary Artist Development Programme.