Ageing, care and trauma: understanding care dynamics in long-term residential care in A Star Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven.

Abstract

Judi Ann Mason's A Star Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven dramatises the caregiving dynamics in a rural black family in 1960s' America, emphasising the interrelated experiences of ageing, care and trauma. This paper analyses the play within the sociocultural context of rural America during the Civil Rights Movement to examine the diverse manifestations of caregiving embedded in familial relationships. Mason dramatises the emotional and physical labour of care that is unevenly distributed within a patriarchal household, simultaneously exposing the socioeconomic vulnerabilities that shape ageing and dependency. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from care ethics, this paper highlights how care circulates within the private sphere of family, reflecting the broader neoliberal tendencies that privatise care to frame it as an individual or familial obligation. The study ultimately aims to underscore how Mason's play foregrounds a reconfiguration of care as a fundamental right, deconstructing the patriarchal frameworks that govern caregiving roles, highlighting the structural inequities in ageing and care.