Shed: Exploded View (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Phoebe Eclair-Powell

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 87

Beschreibung

The smallest tremble. A smashed glass. The ripping apart of space and time. Three couples. Thirty years. Mothers and daughters. Lovers, partners, husbands and wives. Babies, teenagers, birthdays, holidays, honeymoons, fireworks, near-misses, rain. This is a play about all of it. A devastating and delicately woven piece about violence, love and loss, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's Shed: Exploded View won the 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. Partly inspired by Cornelia Parker's stunning artwork Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, it was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 2024, directed by Atri Banerjee. 'A gritty and intensely moving account of domestic violence… it is honest, and raw, and left me in bits' - Telegraph 'A formally ambitious exploration of love and violence… Shed: Exploded View shatters and reassembles time, leaving us to pick through the wreckage… Eclair-Powell holds individual moments up to the light, inviting us to see the darkness thrown by seemingly trivial incidents… quietly devastating' - The Stage 'Love, loss and horrific male violence… a play that is as subtle as it is unsettling' - Guardian

Leseprobe

Phoebe Eclair-Powell

SHED: EXPLODED VIEW

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production

Acknowledgements

Characters

Shed: Exploded View

Additional Scenes

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Shed: Exploded View was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester on 9 February 2024, with the following cast:

LIL

Hayley Carmichael

FRANK

Jason Hughes

ABI

Norah Lopez Holden

TONY

Wil Johnson

NAOMI

Lizzy Watts

MARK

Michael Workéyè

Director

Atri Banerjee

Designer

Naomi Dawson

Lighting Designer

Bethany Gupwell

Sound Designer

Max Pappenheim

Composer

Carmel Smickersgill

Movement Director

Sung Im Her

Voice and Dialect Coach

Natalie Grady

Production Dramatherapist

Wabriya King

Casting Director

Nadine Rennie CDG

Birkbeck Assistant Director

Amara Heyland

Dramaturg

Suzanne Bell

Bruntwood Coordinator

Rosie Thackeray

Production Manager

Hannah Blamire for The Production Family

Stage Manager

Sophie Wright

Deputy Stage Manager

Amy Bending

Interim Deputy Stage Manager

Natasha Guzel

Assistant Stage Manager

Amelia Blackburn

Thanks

My thanks to Alice Birch and all the writers on my writers’ group who pushed me to keep going with this idea in 2016. Thank you thank you.

My biggest thanks to Cornelia Parker, whose work, Cold DarkMatter: An Exploded View was the inspiration behind all of this and source of continued wonder. Your art is so special to me. Thank you.

To Louise Stephens and Lucy Morrison who taught me about form and content. To Deirdre O’Halloran who made sure this play had an extra life and got me there. Always, always insanely indebted, grateful and lucky to have you in my life. To the whole team at the Bush, for giving me space and time with Sara Joyce, who is a dramaturgical wonder. To Nacho and Luis and your team in Madrid, for letting me see that this play had legs I never knew it had. To the National Theatre Studio, Stewart Pringle and the team who let us all play in 2023 and gave us great notes, a huge thank you. To every single actor who has workshopped this play, you are all extremely generous and I owe all of you a huge, huge debt. Thank you all.

Thanks as ever to my agent Ikenna Obiekwe and his assistant Jess for keeping me on track.

Thank you, Nick Hern and the team, for all your continued support.

Thank you to the Bruntwood, and the generosity of the Bruntwood Award, to Manchester Royal Exchange and all who sail in that glorious spaceship. To Suz. Oh Suz. You are so very, very brilliant and thank you for your fight. To Bryony Shanahan and all the judges of the 2019 award for believing in Shed.

To the actors: Jason Hughes, Lizzy Watts, Norah Lopez Holden, Michael Workéyè, Wil Johnson, and Hayley Carmichael.

How insanely lucky I am to work with you epic humans. Thank you for believing and being up for the challenge.

To design heroes: Carmel Smickersgill, Max Pappenheim, Bethany Gupwell, Naomi Dawson, and Sung Im Her. Thanks for making a theatre explode.

To stage management: Amelia Blackburn, Sophie Wright and Amy Bending (and Tash!), and Company Manager Scott.

To Amara Heyland-Morrin, what a star you are.

To Atri, thank you for standing by me, for holding my hand, for being the person I could trust most with this bad boy. I am forever grateful for our partnership, for your mind, soul, talent and kindness.

To my partner, Tris, and my son, Arlo. When I wrote this play I had no idea you would be my solar system. How strange and surreal time is.

P.E-P.

Characters

LIL , forty-five to seventy-five

TONY , fifty to eighty

NAOMI , twenty-six to fifty-seven

FRANK , thirty to sixty

ABI , nought to twenty-six

MARK , nineteen to twenty-eight

Despite family connections the casting does not need toreflect this.

Note on Play

This play is based on Cornelia Parker’s Cold Dark Matter:An Exploded View.

It is not meant to be naturalistic, even when it is at its most normal.

That does not mean that there isn’t emotion and heart.

This play is an explosion in action.

This is one order in which the scenes can work.

The scenes each have titles, so that – if the director and actors wanted to – they could reorder the scenes to fit their production. They can even exclude certain scenes that no longer work for them. However, care should be maintained for the overall arc. You will find a section at the back of the playtext with additional scenes that were not chosen for this production.

Rhythm is important for the overlapping/shared scenes.

The play probably needs some musical handling – like it was a score perhaps.

Note on Text

Talking about musical handling, in rehearsals we decided that lines in bold were to be spoken together, those with an ellipsis (…) before the line were canon (as in said just after the line that features on the same line). The rhythm is paramount, but that’s not to say that actors can’t start to play with the musicality of the lines to stop it becoming robotic. Lines in italics are private thoughts – but said out loud, if that’s what you feel is best.

‘Cacophony’ needs to be handled the most like a choir/piece of music. Find what works best for you. It needs to build, huge, overwhelming, a mishmash of voices.

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

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 1993 / 1994

NAOMI.

Ten

Nine

Eight

TONY. Will you marry me?

Seven

Six

LIL. Yes you bastard.

Five

Four

She was right – you’re nice

FRANK. I knew she’d said something

NAOMI. Of course she did – do you want another? I’ve hidden some – behind the sofa. I love New Year –

FRANK. Really?

NAOMI. No, I just, I like the fireworks, I really love a firework – the explosion in the sky, the ones that rain –

FRANK. I want this year gone to be honest – bring on 1994

NAOMI. It’s been alright actually, I got a / job FRANK. Will you kiss me at New Year – when the clock strikes will you?

NAOMI.

Three

Two

One

ALL. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FRANK and NAOMI kiss. Fireworks.

Blackout. In the darkness. A voice:

FORK

NAOMI. There was a fork in her face

An actual fork

He dug a fork into her face

A fork stood on end in her cheek

A fork

He stabbed the meat of her face with a fork and for a moment it stood there, stood out

It reverberated

A fork

HONEYMOON – 1995

Lights up. 1995.

FRANK. Suncream?

NAOMI. We bought some in – the um

LIL. Did you see them?

FRANK. So hot in here

NAOMI. Air-con

Just over by the

TONY. Who the couple next door?

LIL. Of course the couple next door

Big bloke with the tiny wife

TONY. Jesus he was monolithic

Just hit the

Over there

and she looked a bit

Sort of… wet

LIL. Damp I would say damp

You take so long to

Root yourself

FRANK. Yes

NAOMI. Sorry – I got at you then

TONY. Damp is the perfect word for her

FRANK. A little perhaps

Like you could snap her in two

Like you could break her in seconds

LIL. She looked positively drippy

Fancy a mini-fridge beer?

NAOMI. That was mean of me

Sorry

I’m just so

anxious

For this to be –

FRANK. Perfect

NAOMI. Right

FRANK. I know you are, for everything to be –

TONY. Look at the prices!

No we’ll go to the bar

Go look for some bars

Perfect – Why is that?

LIL. We are supposed to be celebrating – one mini-fridge beer

TONY. Celebrating – what for?

NAOMI. I don’t know

LIL. Get out of it

TONY. For getting married? – sorry been there done that –

LIL. Charming

It was a lovely day though

FRANK. Pretty good

NAOMI. Really nice

It was lovely

It was a lovely, lovely wedding

FRANK. It didn’t rain

LIL. It didn’t rain

NAOMI. It’s meant to be good luck actually

TONY. Never has at my weddings

FRANK. You prayed it wouldn’t

NAOMI. And it didn’t

Sorry we just

We did it again didn’t / we

FRANK. Don’t do this

NAOMI. We could get some more champagne

FRANK. You drank it all?

You little drunkard…

NAOMI. We could get some more

Just a drink – need a good drink

LIL. To the bar then! To the bar! Jesus

FRANK. Maybe not

NAOMI. Do you know what?

TONY. Do you know what?

FRANK. What?

LIL. What?

NAOMI. I don’t feel…

I don’t feel drunk

I don’t feel it

TONY. … I don’t feel married

I did the first time – but now,

I don’t know

LIL. Nothing at all?

No, nothing at all

…

LIL. Perfect place for a honeymoon –

NAOMI. I was just saying that – because the warm and the sky

LIL. It’s just perfect isn’t it?

NAOMI. Really, really perfect

LIL. And you know it’s just quiet and calm

NAOMI. Stress-free like they said

LIL. Really actually stress-free

NAOMI. And the beach

LIL. Just perfect

NAOMI. Not too busy

TONY. Lots of couples but you know – no kids

LIL. No – not many kids

NAOMI. So a real young lovers’ holiday

TONY. Or old lovers

Like us

NAOMI. Sorry – no – you’re not exactly well –

LIL. Third marriage for him, second for me

NAOMI. Well that’s not unusual

LIL. Not at all

And you’re on your first

NAOMI. We are

LIL. Lovely

NAOMI. It was. It was a lovely day

FRANK. Well the weather was a bit

And your uncle –

NAOMI. Yeah but it was, we both said it was a lovely day, just how lovely it was

LIL. Yes

FRANK. And this hotel is a bit

TONY. I know exactly what you mean

FRANK. Same food every night

NAOMI. It IS good though, it’s good food

FRANK. Is it?

NAOMI. I think it’s really um…

LIL. The menu is classic

Simple but good quality

FRANK. Hair in my –

NAOMI. It was a mistake – one mistake

It can’t always be perfect

LIL. First marriage – how very, very lovely

How very, very, very, very lovely, oh how lovely, isn’t itlovely, just look, look at her so lovely and young and lovelyshe’s tiny, she’s so tiny – brittle bones look at her sparrow-winged and little dress and big man and down the aisle and