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- Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
- Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
- Serie: NHB Modern Plays
- Sprache: Englisch
'It is really small. Whatever it is. But it's here. It's definitely here.' A teenage girl has something growing inside her. She doesn't know what it is, but she knows it's not a baby. It expands. It has claws. Eventually it takes over the entirety of her body. No one must know about it. She has to keep its presence, its possession of her, concealed. She pulls away from her friends. She refuses to speak, in case 'The IT' is heard. But she can't contain it forever. Sooner or later something's got to give... Presented in the style of a direct-address documentary, Vivienne Franzmann's The IT is a darkly comic state-of-the-nation play exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within. Written specifically for young people, the play formed part of the 2021 National Theatre Connections Festivals and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It was named Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2023. The IT offers opportunities for a large, flexible cast of any size and mix of genders.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Vivienne Franzmann
THE IT
NICK HERN BOOKS
London
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Contents
Acknowledgements
Original Production Details
The IT
About the Author
Copyright and Performing Rights Information
There are many people who have contributed to the development of this play.
Thank you to Ola Animashawun, Emily Lim, Polly Findlay, Abigail Graham and everyone on the Connections Team at the National Theatre.
Thank you to all the actors who took part in the readings at the Lyric Theatre and at the National.
Thank you to all the youth leaders, teachers and facilitators who chose the play to stage as part of the Connections Festival.
And, of course, thank you to all the young actors who discussed and performed the piece with such enthusiasm, curiosity and commitment.
V.F.
The IT was performed as part of the 2021 National Theatre Connections Festival by youth theatres across the UK, including a performance at the National Theatre.
Each year the National Theatre asks ten writers to create new plays to be performed by young theatre companies all over the country. From Scotland to Cornwall and Northern Ireland to Norfolk, Connections celebrates great new writing for the stage – and the energy, commitment and talent of young theatremakers.
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/connections
Characters
GRACE FREEMANTLE CHORUS STUDENTS MUM DAD SAM BARRISTER MS JARVIS NEWSREADER LOCAL MOTHER SUPPLY TEACHER
Note on Play
The are thirty-two speaking parts. Feel free to multi-role.
The Chorus is a minimum of five people. No maximum.
The Chorus represents all the information that Grace sees and hears.
Members of the Chorus take on the roles of Mum, Barrister, etc.
The CHORUS makes its presence felt.
The CHORUS buzzes. It fizzes. It hums. It is here.
*
STUDENT 1. She was quiet.
STUDENT 2. Yeah.
STUDENT 1. Didn’t really notice her.
STUDENT 2. Nah.
STUDENT 1. Not shy exactly.
STUDENT 2. No, not shy.
STUDENT 1. But not loud either.
STUDENT 2. No, not loud.
STUDENT 1. The sort of person that if someone at school said ‘You know Grace?’, you’d say ‘Who’s Grace?’
STUDENT 2. ‘Who’s Grace?’
STUDENT 1. And they’d say Grace Freemantle.
STUDENT 2. Grace Freemantle.
STUDENT 1. And you’d say, ‘Who’s Grace Freemantle?’
STUDENT 2. Exactly.
STUDENT 1. And they’d say, ‘She’s the one in 11F.’
STUDENT 2. The one in 11F.
STUDENT 1. And you’d say, ‘Oh, the one with the hair and the glasses.’ And they’d say, ‘No, that’s Miriam.’
STUDENT 2. That’s Miriam.
STUDENT 1. And then after a few tries, you’d get it.
STUDENT 2. Yeah.
STUDENT 1. You’d remember who she was. You know the sort, not that good-looking.
STUDENT 2. Nah.
STUDENT 1. Not bad-looking though.
STUDENT 2. Nah.
STUDENT 1. Not clever. Like clever clever.
STUDENT 2. Nah.
STUDENT 1. You know, not in the top sets or anything like that.
STUDENT 2. Nothing like that.
STUDENT 1. But not the bottom sets either.
STUDENT 2. Nope.
STUDENT 1. Not a joker.
STUDENT 2. Nah.
STUDENT 1. Or a troublemaker.
STUDENT 2. Nah
STUDENT 1. Or a loner.
STUDENT 2. Nope.
STUDENT 1. She had friends.
STUDENT 2. Yeah, she had friends.
STUDENT 1. They weren’t popular.
STUDENT 2. Unpopular.
STUDENT 1. No, not unpopular.
STUDENT 2. No, yeah, no, yeah, not unpopular.
STUDENT 1. Grace was just kind of…
Beat.
STUDENT 1. You know those American kids that go into high schools and shoot everyone dead? And the teachers go, ‘No big surprise, he hasn’t spoken for two years, he’s been wearing the same black sweatshirt for eleven months and his chemistry book is full of drawings of guns.’
Beat.
Well, Grace wasn’t like that.
STUDENT 2. She wasn’t like that.
STUDENT 1. She was average.
STUDENT 2. Yeah, average.
STUDENT 1. Grace Freemantle was totally average.
STUDENT 2. Totally average.
GRACE. I am Grace Freemantle. I was totally average.
CHORUS buzzes.
*
STUDENT 3. My dad is mates with Grace’s dad Matt. My dad always says Matt is ‘a good bloke’. My dad’s a twitcher, which means he’s a birdwatcher. Yeah, cringe. Totally. I hear you. Matt, Grace’s dad, is also a twitcher. The pair of them go down the marshes every Sunday with their binoculars and then they go for a fry-up at Despina’s Café and chat about sparrows and bob-tailed tits. That’s a real bird. That’s its real name.
Last year, Matt, Grace’s dad, posted this video of Grace having a tantrum when she was little.
CHORUS. Forty-six likes. Fifteen thumbs-up. Twenty-seven tears-of-laughter emojis.
GRACE. I am five years old. I am wearing my ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ T-shirt. Dad is playing with his new phone. We’re supposed to be going to the park. I ask him. He says he’s busy. But he promised. Before, he promised. And that is not fair.
STUDENT 3. It is a funny video. I can’t deny that. She’s screaming on the floor, little arms and legs all over the place.
GRACE. I am fire and fury inside.
STUDENT 3. Then she gets up and she falls onto her Lego. And if you’ve ever fallen on Lego, you’ll know that it hurts like hell. And Grace’s dad, Matt, films it all on his new phone, giggling away. Not in a horrible way, just, you know, like a dad way.
GRACE. I am red and blood and pus inside.
STUDENT 3. Grace’s mum, Jen, comes in to see what’s going on. She tries to reason with Grace, but there’s no point.
GRACE. I am blast and yellow and clash inside.
STUDENT 3. Jen tries to cuddle her and Grace kicks her.
GRACE. I am rupture and burst and storm inside.
STUDENT 3. And Matt, Grace’s dad, says:
STUDENT 3 and
