Fury E-Book

Phoebe Eclair-Powell

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Serie: NHB Modern Plays
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 52

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A chilling and powerful modern Medea about motherhood and class, taking an unapologetic look at the single young mum, the one already judged before she's even opened her mouth. This is Sam. Young, impulsive, single mum. Londoner born and bred and never ever left. Sam makes her mistakes, but who can blame her? Tom rents the flat above, the one Sam cleans. If they can come to 'an arrangement' he won't call the Social on her. You might think Tom is a monster. You might think Sam's kids would be better off without her. Someone needs to make a decision. Winner of the Soho Theatre Young Writer's Award, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's play Fury premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in July 2016.

Leseprobe

Phoebe Eclair-Powell

FURY

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Original Production

Acknowledgements

Note on Play

Characters

Fury

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Fury was produced by Soho Theatre and Damsel Productions and first performed at Soho Theatre, London, on 5 July 2016. The cast was as follows:

SAM

Sarah Ridgeway

TOM

Alex Austin

WOMAN

Naana Agyei-Ampadu

MAN

Daniel Kendrick

FURY

Anita-Joy Uwajeh

Director

Hannah Hauer-King

Designer

Anna Reid

Lighting Designer

Natasha Chivers

Music and Sound

Nathan Klein

Casting Director

Nadine Rennie CDG

Assistant Director

Avigail Tlalim

Production Manager

Sarah Cowan

Stage Manager

Rike Berg

Acknowledgements

Thanks to:

Hannah Hauer-King for getting it – completely.

To Kitty Wordsworth for being a gem and all at Damsel Productions. To Nina Steiger for pushing me further, and to Deirdre O’Halloran and Joe Murphy for keeping me going. To Nadine Rennie for her spot-on genius. To all at Soho Theatre for being amazing, supportive and kind people – led by the amazing Steve Marmion. To Tanya Ronder, Phil Porter, the most incredible Dan Nixon, and the brilliant Sarah Dickenson.

To Wally Jiago for being a mate and a great help in showing me the facts and figures, to Rebecca Harvey for telling me a thing or two about care. To Jess Waite for sharing her truth as hard as it was – you are a heroine. To Yasmin Joseph for the starting point – ‘don’t mug yerself’.

To those who helped me hear it for real and made it so – Sarah Ridgeway, Alex Austin, Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Daniel Kendrick, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Lizzy Watts, Jonny Holden, Lucy Thackeray, Greg Barnett, and Tom Shepherd.

To those who bought it to life with their talent – Anna Reid, Nathan Klein, Natasha Chivers, Avigail Tlalim, Rike Berg, and The Other Richard boys.

Thanks to Jamie Jackson – always.

Thanks to Ikenna Obiekwe who told me there were ‘three sides’.

To Tristram Bawtree for your kindness and support with that hard-to-find ending. And to my parents, who, once again, bore the brunt of the bad times and helped me celebrate the good. Especially my mum – who is my best and most trusted confidante.

P. E-P.

Note on Play

The Chorus act like every Greek chorus should – they ask us to bear witness. But this Chorus also manipulates our understanding of the story unravelling before us. They shape our idea of Sam and our sense of judgement. They are a three-headed hydra – with slight differences in allegiance. Fury is more on Sam’s side, Man is on the fence – sometimes playful, sometimes vengeful – and Woman is the least sympathetic – perhaps she has seen this all before and she’s tired of it. When the Chorus speak they take over – they infiltrate the stage and enhance the theatrical journey. They should be supported by music and underscore – they take us out of naturalism and into something far more heightened.

The Chorus lines are written as one big poem, a long-running, free-flowing spoken-word piece. Future productions should feel free to reallocate the lines according to their vision of the Chorus. I would be very happy for people to have more than three Chorus members – in fact, I would love to see a version of this play with hundreds of Chorus! The Chorus should hardly pause for breath – they are fighting to get this story out and it is relentless, an assault on the audience.

The Chorus will sing versions of various songs, mostly ‘Get Free’ by Major Lazer, featuring Amber. They might need a loop pedal and some instruments – microphones and the like. A brilliant sound person can use the songs to create soundscapes, perhaps from Sam’s environment, but the lyrics are important. Tom uses music as a weapon. We use music to take us far away. Whilst the Chorus sing, perhaps Sam and Tom dance, perhaps they dance really, really hard. The Chorus want us to witness, they also want to take charge of who feels what. Our sympathies twist and turn – Sam is our tragic hero; she makes many mistakes. Who can blame her…

Characters

SAM, mother

TOM, monster

CHORUS

WOMAN (W), plays CLIENT/BOSS/OFFICER 1

MAN (M), plays ROB/POLICE/OFFICER 2

FURY (F), plays FRIEND/OFFICER 3

This is one way of sharing the parts, you may find your own, or find another way of allocating the lines – all is up to you.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

CHORUS sing the first verse and refrain of ‘Get Free’ by Major Lazer, featuring Amber.

WSam is a single mother.

FShe is also a Londoner in the truest sense of the word –

MSouth of the river before you ask.

WAnd she lives in a flat that used to be for people like her, but now squeezes the rich and the confused of Peckham, as the bankers roll in.

MThe time is now, or really 2017, the moment when they decided that if two tipped into three they wouldn’t be able to sustain that figure. That child won’t exist – it will just have to do without.

FAnd thousands will have to pack up and leave because they’re just not worth it.

MBack to Sam

WWe have to introduce our hero, our woman of the hour.

FThe hour that you will spend here watching her.

WYou can imagine her how you will.

MWe imagined her like this –

WAnd we will tear her down together

FAs we all do

MAll day

WEvery day.

MThis is the bit where I tell you she stole a golden fleece, shagged a relative, murdered her father or made a pact with a god.

FBut our Sam didn’t do any of those things

Our Sam has lived a normal life,

Mas we all have.

WOur Sam was born, she went to school, she met a boy called Rob and they had two kids too soon

MBut now Rob is married to a vain young woman called Carly, though Carly would laugh and say she’s not a woman, not yet, she’s not ready.

FBut no one is really ready for anything.

W