The Invincibles E-Book

Amanda Whittington

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

Seitenzahl: 102

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

1917: World War One is raging in Europe. In Britain, Sterling Ladies – known as the Dagenham Invincibles – are playing to win. For two whirlwind seasons, they never lose a game. Yet once peace is restored, the factory girls must hang up their boots and see triumph fade into obscurity. 2023: Injured footballer Maya follows England's progress through the Women's World Cup. The world has changed, yet the roar of the Lionesses echoes the Invincibles' war-cry. Watching at home, Maya fears she'll never play again – but as she loses herself in the present, she hears the call of the past and finds fresh hope for the future. Amanda Whittington's play The Invincibles celebrates two generations of inspirational women, and their adventures on the football pitch a century apart. It was premiered at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch in 2023, and offers rich opportunities for other theatre companies looking to score a hit with their audiences.

Leseprobe

Amanda Whittington

THE INVINCIBLES

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Introduction

Original Production Details

Characters

Never Have I Ever

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

IntroductionAmanda Whittington

The Invincibles is the story of Sterling Ladies, the great Dagenham works’ football team whose unbeaten record was unsurpassed in World War One. As I researched the untold story of the Dagenham Invincibles, the Lionesses were winning their famous victory in EURO 2022. Writing the play in 2023, I felt the pull of England’s Women’s World Cup.

The play opened in early September, meaning the tournament ran through our rehearsals. Could we weave a 2023 story into the 1917–18 world? It felt like a golden opportunity to harness the excitement of the World Cup and trace the invisible thread from the Munitionettes to the Lionesses. Two teams in one play? Game on!

Our first day of rehearsal coincided with England’s scheduled Final 16 match. Yet, what if they fell at the Group Stage? We felt it was a risk worth taking. Led by James Grieve, our brilliant creative team and cast took a giant leap of faith in a story that was yet to be fully written. I’m so grateful to every one of them for trusting the process and believing not only in me but the Lionesses’ will to win.

On August 7th, with three scenes sketched from the Group Stage wins, we all came together in the rehearsal room for an 8.30 a.m. kick-off. England beat Nigeria 4–2 on penalties and we celebrated the win with a read-through of the play in progress. The extraordinary story of Sterling Ladies was in place and we began to infuse it with the energy and drama of the Women’s World Cup.

As we now know, England powered through to the final. As they did, the heroines of 1918 felt thrillingly alive in the room. Nell describes herself as ‘a spark, a flame, a fire’, and that’s what we set out to explore and express: how it feels to play – and, as women through time have found, not to play – the game you love.

Like Sterling Ladies, the Lionesses didn’t get their fairytale ending but hey, that’s football – and theatre. On and off the pitch, there are battles still to fight and our story captures that, too. But this play was written and performed in celebration of a thrilling summer of women’s football, a century of progress and an unbeaten, eternal Invincible spirit.

September 2023

The Invincibles was first performed at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch on 7 September 2023. The cast was as follows:

GLADYS

Gemma Barnett (she/her)

ADA

Georgia Bruce (they/them)

CHOLLY/ BRIAN BADEN

Simon Darwen (he/him)

MAYA

Yanexi Enriquez (she/her)

SAMMY/HANNAH

Emma Feeney (she/her)

TRIXIE

Rebecca Hayes (they/them)

MAUD

Nikita Johal (she/her)

NELL

Eleanor Kane (she/they)

JAMES/GUY

Steve Simmonds (he/him)

Director

James Grieve (he/him)

Designer

Laura Ann Price (she/they)

Lighting Designer

Martha Godfrey (they/them)

Sound Design & Composition

Holly Khan (she/her)

Movement Directior

Lucie Pankhurst (she/her)

Casting

Jenkins McShane (she/her)

Historical Consultant

Steve Bolton (he/him)

Assistant Director

Rebecca Goh (they/them)

Musical Director

Andrew Linham (he/him)

Accent Coach

Mary Howland (she/her)

Football Coach

Lily Jones (she/her)

QTH Creative Lead

Kate Lovell (she/her)

Executive Producer

Mathew Russell (he/him)

Characters

2023

MAYA LEWIS, seventeen, female

SAMMY LEWIS, early forties, female

IDA SHEPHERD, pre-recorded Grass in the Clouds presenter, twenties, female

SOPHIE JONES, pre-recorded Grass in the Clouds presenter, twenties, female

1917

SOLDIER, male

GLADYS FAIRMAN, twenty-three, female

ADA FAIRMAN, twenty-six, female

AMES FAIRMAN, early fifties, male

HANNAH FAIRMAN, forties, female

NELL MARCHANT, seventeen, female

GUY BURNEY, mid-fifties, male

ED ‘CHOLLY’ CHOLERTON, early thirties, male

MAUD READER, twenty-four, female

TRIXIE PETERS, twenty-two, female

BRIAN BADEN, mid-forties, male

The Invincibles moves between the two seasons played by Sterling Ladies from 1917–19 and the summer of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The two worlds coexist in the same space; the Fairman family home is the Lewis family home.

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

ACT ONE

1.

MAYA LEWIS stands immersed in an atmospheric soundscape of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. From the chanting crowds and the news clips rises a football commentary.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). The day has finally come: July 20th 2023, the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With thirty-two teams over six confederations, record-breaking ticket sales and worldwide television coverage, it’s the biggest and the best of all time. In all four corners of the globe – game on!

As the soundscape tracks back in time, snapshots of football commentary lead to the sound of gunfire on the Western Front. From the cacophony, a WORLD WAR ONE SOLDIER recites a ‘Letter from the Trenches’ by J. B. Priestley, as if his own.

SOLDIER. My dear parents, I am writing this in my dugout. Last night, our troops made an attack on the German front line. It was literally hell upon earth: the sickly smell of cordite, an incessant stream of bullets, the sky lit up with a mad medley of shells, searchlights, star lights. You would hardly recognise me if you saw me. I am a mask of mud.

As the company sing ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’, NELL MARCHANT appears. She stands shoulder-to-shoulder with MAYA.

COMPANY.

They were summoned from the hillside

They were called in from the glen

And the country found them ready

At the stirring call for men

Let no tears add to their hardships

As the soldiers pass along

And although your heart is breaking

Make it sing this cheery song

Keep the home fires burning

While your hearts are yearning

Though your lads are far away

They dream of home

There’s a silver lining

Through the dark cloud shining

Turn the dark clouds inside out

Till the boys come home

(Till the girls)

Till the boys come home

(Till the girls)

Till the boys

(It’s coming)

Come

(It’s coming)

Home.

2.

Maya’s home. 108 Park Lane, Hornchurch. Saturday July 22nd, 2023.

Morning. MAYA wears an England football top. She has airpods in and watches England vs Haiti on her iPhone. She holds her feelings within but there’s an intensity to her gaze. We hear the commentary she’s listening to.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). And when it comes to World Cup penalties, England have failed with their last three. But here’s Georgia Stanway, she’s scored all seven of her attempts for England.

SAMMY, MAYA’s mother, comes home, dressed for work.

SAMMY. Maya?

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Can she do it again?

SAMMY. ‘Good morning, Ma.’

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Oh, a magnificent save from Kerly Théus! World-class!

SAMMY. Maya!

MAYA pulls out her earbuds and shields her phone.

MAYA. What y’doing ’ere?

SAMMY. What are you? Still in your PJs.

MAYA. I’m not.

SAMMY. At eleven in the morning.

MAYA. You’re meant to be at work.

SAMMY. I am at work. I got a valuation. Claire phoned in sick, so I’m…

MAYA. Why don’t you go to it, then?

SAMMY. Park Lane, innit? Three doors down. An’ I ’ope to God I don’t get it.

MAYA. Why?

SAMMY. Agent, vendor, stone’s throw? No, thank you very much.

MAYA (shrugs). Don’t go.

SAMMY. Ain’t how the world works, Maya. Ain’t how the world works.

SAMMY checks her look in the mirror. MAYA puts her airpods in.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Now just a minute – they’re checking the goalkeeper’s position when Stanway struck the ball…

SAMMY. You get up, get dressed an’ get on with it.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Was Kerly Théus off her line? She was!

SAMMY. Work ’ard, play ’ard.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Georgia Stanway with a second chance from the penalty spot…

MAYA. Yes!

COMMENTARY (voice-over). The Lionesses are go!

SAMMY. Maya? (Fixes MAYA with a look.) So, tomorrow?

MAYA. What?

MAYA takes out her earbuds.

SAMMY. Tomorrow. We’re going up London.

MAYA. Since when?

SAMMY. We’ll do a bit of shopping, see a few sights; have a Drag Show Brunch on the South Bank.

MAYA. I don’t think so.

SAMMY. Why not? Be a laugh. Do you good. Do us both good, a trip out together. Mother an’ daughter. Be nice.

MAYA. Why would I go to a drag show wi’ you?

SAMMY. West End, then? They do Sundays now. Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Tina: The Musical, God rest ’er soul.

MAYA. Take Nan.

SAMMY. I wanna take you.

MAYA. I said no.

SAMMY. Fine. No problem. Just thought I’d check. Cos, me, I’d ’ave jumped at a chance like this at your age.

MAYA. You was never my age.

SAMMY. I’d a bin out there painting the town.

MAYA. I got plans.

SAMMY. What plans?

MAYA. My plans.

SAMMY. Good, do they possibly feature fresh air an’ exercise?

MAYA. I ain’t a dog.

SAMMY. Y’could try a little run? Pick up me prescription, it’s ready.

MAYA. Can’t you?

SAMMY. Gaw’on, please. Before two. If that fits with your ’ectic schedule of doing naff-all for the last five weeks.

MAYA. It’s the ’olidays.

SAMMY. It’s actually not when you’re not going back.

MAYA. I’m still busy, aren’t I? Planning me future.

SAMMY. You’re seventeen, Maya.

MAYA. So when me results come, I’m ready.

SAMMY. This is a golden time between school and whatever comes next. No ties, no responsibilities –

MAYA. No one telling us what to do, where to go, who to be?

SAMMY. Don’t waste it, that’s all I’m saying. Don’t be sat here messing around with your phone –

MAYA. Don’t get pissed on prosecco with RuPaul.

SAMMY. I’m trying to ’ave a serious –

MAYA. Go to Pret. ’Ave a sandwich. Smashed avo.

SAMMY. We could go Lakeside, ’ave one together.

MAYA. You’re going up London.

SAMMY. Don’t have to.

MAYA. You want to.

SAMMY. But if you wanna do something? Get out the ’ouse an’ away from it all.

MAYA. I ain’t watching.

SAMMY. No?

Beat.

MAYA. No.

SAMMY. Cos we ain’t going back down that road.

MAYA. We won’t.

SAMMY. This time last year, the Euros on telly an’ you –

MAYA. I’m over all that.

SAMMY. What’s done is done.

MAYA. Yep.

MAYA looks SAMMY in the eye.

SAMMY. Good. Cos y’know there’s a big wide world out there waiting –

MAYA. It’s eleven. You’re late.

SAMMY. We don’t want these four walls closing in on ya.

MAYA. They won’t.

SAMMY. Again.

MAYA. They won’t.

Beat.

SAMMY. Done your physio?

MAYA. Not yet.

SAMMY. It’s important.

MAYA. I know.

Beat.

SAMMY. Only a game, innit, ey?

MAYA. Go.

SAMMY. Maya –

MAYA. S’only a game.

MAYA offers a smile. SAMMY returns it with an awkward hug. Leaves with difficulty.

MAYA listens. Waits until she’s gone. Feels the silence. Puts airbuds in and returns to the match.

COMMENTARY (voice-over). Half-time whistle here in Brisbane. There’s little between the two sides but a contested penalty leaves us England one – Haiti nil.

3.

Fairman home. 108 Park Lane, Hornchurch. A Saturday in July, 1917. ADA FAIRMAN works on an upturned Raleigh Ladies’ Roadster bicycle. She’s fully absorbed in the routine tasks: tightening nuts and bolts, oiling the chain, checking tyres. ADA sings to herself as she works.

ADA.

Keep the home fires burning

While your hearts are yearning

Though your lads are far away

They dream of home

There’s a silver lining

Through the dark cloud shining

Turn the dark clouds inside out

Till the boys come home –

GLADYS, her sister, breezes in.

GLADYS. Sun’s out, bed’s made an’ you’ll be in trouble.

ADA. Says who?

GLADYS. Still in your overalls, grease on your ’ands.

ADA. Sat’day morning, it’s what y’do.

GLADYS. What you do.

ADA. Repairs an’ maintenance.

GLADYS. Don’t you wanna make her feel welcome?

ADA. Who?

GLADYS. The new ’ousecat.

ADA. Miaow.

GLADYS. The Girl.

ADA. She’ll take us as she finds us, Ma says.

GLADYS. In me best bib an’ tucker. Well?

ADA gives GLADYS a cursory glance.

ADA. Lipstick?

GLADYS. A little.

ADA. She’s from London.

GLADYS. Quite.

ADA. Not West End, East End. Shoreditch, Stepney, Bow.

GLADYS. Why d’you say it like that? (Sinister.) ‘Bow’.

ADA (sings).

‘I do not know’

Say the great bells –

GLADYS. They ain’t all poor, sick an’ afflicted.

ADA. Diseased an’ ’alf-starving in ’ovels.

GLADYS. She’s a Munitionette.