{"product_id":"laughing-boy-9781839043536","title":"Laughing Boy","description":"\u003cp\u003eConnor is, well, Connor. He loves buses, Eddie Stobart and Lego. He also has learning disabilities. When he dies an entirely preventable death in NHS care, his mum, Sara, can't get a straight answer as to how it happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Sara and her family won't stop asking questions and soon an extraordinary campaign emerges. Demanding the truth, it uncovers a scandal of neglect and indifference that goes beyond Connor's death to thousands of others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSara Ryan's impassioned, frank and surprisingly funny memoir \u003cem\u003eJustice for Laughing Boy \u003c\/em\u003eis adapted for the stage by Stephen Unwin. It was first performed at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2024, in a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStephen Unwin\u003c\/strong\u003e is one of the UK's leading theatre and opera directors. He founded English Touring Theatre in 1993 and opened the Rose Theatre Kingston in 2008, becoming Artistic Director until 2014. He has written guides to Shakespeare's and Brecht's plays, as well as to Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, and Twentieth-Century Drama. He is also the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Complete Brecht Toolkit\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSo You Want To Be A Theatre Director?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a writer for the stage, his work includes: \u003cem\u003eLaughing Boy\u003c\/em\u003e, adapted from Sara Ryan's book \u003cem\u003eJustice for Laughing Boy\u003c\/em\u003e (Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2024) and \u003cem\u003eAll Our Children\u003c\/em\u003e (Jermyn Street Theatre, 2017).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe is a campaigner for the rights and opportunities of people with learning disabilities and was appointed the Chair of KIDS in November 2016, the national charity providing services to disabled children, young people and their families.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSara Ryan\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Professor of Social Care at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of \u003cem\u003eJustice for Laughing Boy: Connor Sparrowhawk - A Death by Indifference\u003c\/em\u003e, about the death of her autistic son Connor while in an NHS care unit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Nick Hern Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51384230478098,"sku":"9781839043536","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_eff71a48-0fb2-4120-ae86-8203f94890d9.jpg?v=1750166705","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/laughing-boy-9781839043536","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}