Claire Dowie (born 1957 Birmingham, England, United Kingdom) is an English writer, director, practitioner and actress.
(winner of the London Fringe Award 1991), Drag Act, Easy Access (for the boys) and H to He – I'm turning into a man.
Premiere: Traverse Theatre Edinburgh 1990 Written in 1987 Adult Child/Dead Child is the story of a young person growing up with their parent's impossibly high standards – "One hundred per cent do it right, do it the best, be brainy, be talented, be sporty, be good, academic athlete, well-mannered, is considered a friend at first until a cruel comment from neighbours results in Benji prompting the child to throw a brick through the neighbours' window.
Throughout childhood, Benji is kept a secret, even throughout therapy sessions for fear of ending up in "The Snake Pit".
Eventually, due to Benji causing trouble, the child is sectioned and begins to shake off Benji and their fears and begins to live on their own in the "adult" manner which so confused them before, although at the end it is left ambiguous as to whether the character has made a full recovery.