Three Birds E-Book

Janice Okoh

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

Seitenzahl: 86

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A startling and darkly comic drama about childhood, family and fantasy. Winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, and adapted into a six-part BBC television drama, Just Act Normal. Siblings Tiana, Tionne and Tanika have found themselves home alone. Tiana's keeping it all together by taking charge of housework and homework. But Tionne's experiments are getting stranger and Tanika's starting to act up. As the outside world begins to press in, the three will do anything to keep their secret safe from the adults who come to call. Janice Okoh's play Three Birds won the 2011 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 2013 before transferring to the Bush Theatre, London. It was adapted into an acclaimed six-part television drama for BBC3, Just Act Normal, first broadcast in 2025. 'A play that is as humane as it is savage... as funny as it is alarming. It is written with as much warmth as it is with truth. It's funny and theatrical and alert and alive. It's terrific.' Simon Stephens, playwright and Chair of the Judges for the 2011 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting

Leseprobe

Janice Okoh

THREE BIRDS

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Introduction

Characters

Three Birds

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

IntroductionJanice Okoh, 2025

When I entered the competition in 2011, I hoped it would help my writing career, and it did in so many ways and still does.

Being a prize winner enabled me to teach at university level without a PhD, and it opened doors in the TV world, which is a really difficult place to be as an older black female writer. Getting to create and show-run a TV show as I did with my Bruntwood-winning play means that I am now among only a handful of black female writers in the UK ever to have done so in the history of British television.

I won the prize fourteen years ago, but the amount of kudos it brings makes me stand out in a writer-saturated industry. Looking back over my career, the Bruntwood Prize is the most prestigious of all my awards, and I am so happy that I won it because I feel that without it, I wouldn’t have lasted as long in theatre and TV as I have done.

Characters

TIANA, sixteen, female

TIONNE, thirteen, male

TANIKA, nine, female

DR FEELGOOD, thirties, male, white

MS JENKINS, twenties, female, white

Scene One

Sunday.

A ground-floor council flat, Lewisham.

Inside is tidy, the furniture sparse, the only items of real value being a laptop and a large flat-screen television, which used to be hooked up to a DVD player. The DVD player is missing.

There is a kitchen area, a back door with a frosted window. A corridor leads off to the three bedrooms.

To the left is the bathroom, under whose door light filters at night.

The curtains are always drawn.

A whole chicken sits in a baking tray on the table. TIANA and TIONNE stand behind it. They wear mismatching aprons. TIONNE wears rubber gloves. Beneath his apron, TIONNE wears pyjamas.

TIONNE presses a kitchen knife to the bird’s neck. TIANA looks at the laptop.

TANIKA is on the sofa.

TIANA. Lower.

TIONNE moves the knife.

Lower.

TIONNE moves the knife.

Higher.

A pause.

It’s there.

TANIKA gets up from the sofa to take a look.

Sit down.

TANIKA sits back down.

Higher.

TIONNE. You just said it was there.

TIANA. It is. About there.

A pause.

TIONNE’s hands start to shake. He puts down the knife.

TIONNE. It ain’t fresh, anyway.

TIANA. It is.

A pause.

The halal man swore.

TIONNE. Well, it don’t smell it.

TIANA. You know what fresh chicken smells like?

TIONNE. So where’s the blood?

TIANA. There ain’t none. There ain’t none cos when they kill it, when they kill it they slit its throat, hang it upside down and all the blood drains out. It’s fresh. It’s fresh. It’s the freshest I can get.

TIANA picks up the knife and cuts off the chicken’s head. A tiny bit of blood spools out onto the table.

See?

TIONNE. What d’you do that for? It’s got to be whole.

TIANA. It is whole.

TIANA puts the head back on the table and lines it up with the body.

We could pretend it is.

A beat.

TIONNE heads for the bathroom.

Where you going? T!

TIONNE exits.

A pause.

TANIKA. You shouldn’t of decapitated it.

A pause.

TIANA. You done your homework?

TANIKA nods.

TIANA picks up TANIKA’s exercise book.

‘A week in the life of the god Proteus.’ Who’s he?

TANIKA. Some god.

TIANA (reading). ‘Sunday nothing happened. Monday, nothing’s gonna happen. Tuesday, not much again.’ What’s he the god of?

TANIKA. The future.

A beat.

TIANA. Do your homework.

TANIKA. Why? It’s so dry. Ms Jenkins is so dry. What’s learning about the gods gonna get you? And dressing up. She’s making us dress up, you know. For assembly. Really she should be teaching year fours.

TIANA takes the chicken into the kitchen.

We eating that one as well?

TIANA. Yeah.

TANIKA. Let’s just throw it away.

TIANA. We got to eat it.

TANIKA. I ain’t a dustbin.

TIANA. Tanika –

TANIKA. Can’t we get something from Iceland?

TIANA. I could mince it. Do a bolognese or something.

TANIKA. Why don’t we get something from Iceland? Fish fingers are only a pound and you get hundreds.

A pause.

Why can’t you do it on something else?

TIANA. Like what?

TANIKA. A dog or a fox or something.

TIANA. How we gonna catch a fox?

TANIKA. A dog then. Could get that one from number eighteen. I hate that dog. Barks at me all the time.

TIANA. Don’t bark at me.

TANIKA. We could get it with a bit of meat or something. Chicken.

A pause.

TIANA. Suppose we could lure it in.

TANIKA. Yeah.

TIANA. And you would grab it.

TANIKA. Why me?

TIANA. Cos I’ll be luring it in.

TANIKA. Why you?

TIANA. Cos it don’t bark at me.

TANIKA. Then what?

TIANA. You strangle it.

TANIKA. Nah, man.

TIANA. Stab it then.

TANIKA. Why me?

TIANA. Cos I’m luring it in.

TANIKA. But it’ll be lured in by then.

TIANA. We can’t stab it. It’ll be barking and everything.

A beat.

TIANA/TANIKA. Poison.

TANIKA. In the chicken.

TIANA. Poison it then cut it up. Cook it and stuff. Make jerk dog.

TANIKA stares at her.

I’ll have to make jerk dog if you don’t want to eat chicken.

TANIKA. I ain’t eating no dog.

TIANA. They eat dog in China.

TANIKA. Lie.

TIANA. They do. So we’ll eat dog, yeah?

TANIKA. I ain’t eating no dog.

TIANA. Well, we can’t just put it out in the bins –

TANIKA. You ain’t making me –

TIANA. For the binmen to find.

TANIKA. I ain’t gonna eat no jerk dog! And it’s gonna be all poisoned up.

A pause.

You’re so stupid.

TIANA. You’re stupid.

TANIKA. I knew you were joking. I did. Joker.

A pause.

T – ?

TIANA. No.

TANIKA. Please?

TIANA. No.

TANIKA. I could do the –

TIANA. No.

TANIKA. Why does he get to stay?

TIANA. Because he’s doing things.

TANIKA. I could do things. Do the bids.

TIANA. No.

TANIKA. But he won’t do them.

TIANA. No.

TANIKA. Ms Jenkins hates me. She never picks me when I know the answer and she always picks others when they don’t.

TIANA. You got to be normal.

TANIKA. Being off sick is normal!

TIANA. I said no.

TANIKA. But –

TIANA. What part of no don’t you understand?

TANIKA bursts out crying.

A pause.

I won’t do chicken tomorrow, alright? I’ll do whatever you want. What do you want? T?

A pause.

T?

A pause.

TANIKA. Chips.

TIANA. Okay. I’ll do chips.

TANIKA. From McDonald’s.

TIANA. Okay.

TANIKA. And Strawberry Millions. And Cheestrings.

TIANA. Gonna get you a fridge full of them.

TANIKA. How big?

TIANA. Like this big. And when you open it Akon comes on.

TANIKA. Justin Bieber.

TIANA. Since when?

TANIKA. Since like for time.

TIANA goes over to TANIKA and they lie in spoons on the sofa.

TIANA. And we’re gonna have, we’re gonna have a garden and a swimming pool and a bedroom and a toilet each with a shower you walk into.

TANIKA. What’s in the attic?

TIANA. The attic? Well, that’s the playroom, yeah, where you play table tennis and Wii and watch films.

TANIKA. And where the fridge is.

TIANA. Yeah and all your friends come round like they do on MTV Teen Cribs cos you got the best clothes and things.

TANIKA. And Ugg boots.

TIANA. Yeah.

TANIKA. Real ones.

TIANA. Yeah.

TANIKA. Not ones that go all mash-up after like one day.

TIANA. I ain’t gonna get you side Uggs and –

TANIKA. I hate side Uggs.

TIANA. Yeah and –

TANIKA. Cos my feet ain’t getting wet in the rain.

TIANA. Yeah and you’ll wear them to school.

TANIKA. Yeah?

TIANA. Cos there’s no school uniform.

TANIKA. No school uniform?

TIANA. Yeah.

TANIKA. Now you’re going on extra.

TIANA. I ain’t.

A long silence.

TIANA gets up.

Tionne!

A pause.

Tionne!

TIONNE comes out.

Do we need it? I’ll get it. If we need it.

TIONNE nods.

Tomorrow.

TIANA picks up the chicken and lays it out on the table.

We can still practise.

TANIKA. Where you gonna get it from?

TIANA looks at her. TANIKA gets on with her homework. TIANA hands TIONNE the knife.

TIANA. Go on.

A pause.

T –

TIONNE takes the knife.

Scene Two

Monday.

TIONNE carefully unpacks a hand-pump and its accessories from a boxed delivery from Amazon. He lays them out on the floor. He examines them.

TIONNE. A man goes to the doctor. He says to the doctor, doctor, my life seems so harsh and cruel. I feel all alone in a threatening world. The doctor replies, the circus has come to town. The great Tagalichi’s going to be doing his magic tricks. Go see him. That should pick you up. But, doctor, he says, I am the great Tagalichi…

A pause.

I am the great Tagalichi… and… and…

A pause.

I got the Havabi one. Only forty-nine ninety-nine, without postage and packaging. Reduced from seventy-five. (Reading.) ‘The Havabi Total Seven Multi-Function Sprayer. Can be used for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses.’

TANIKA enters. She’s back from school.

TANIKA. What’s for dinner?

TANIKA goes to the kitchen, lifts the lids from the pots. She slams the lids back down.

The liar! I ain’t eating it. I ain’t. I’d rather eat my own doo-doo in a sandwich. You think I won’t? T?

She pulls her knickers down, climbs onto the sink and strains as if doing a shit.

A pause.

It’s not ready yet. When it’s ready, yeah, and I ain’t gonna go to McDonald’s.

A pause.

What you doing?

TIONNE ignores her. TANIKA goes over to the laptop. Looks at it.

Knew you wouldn’t do it.

A pause.

They’re gonna split us up, T. Do you want them to split us up? They’ll split us up and I’ll get adopted because I’m young and pretty but you’ll stay in the home because you look like you got problems and white people’ll touch you up. Is that what you want? To be touched up? T?

A pause.

TANIKA sits down on the sofa and opens her school bag. She takes out an expensive camera and begins to play with it. She presses a button. Part of it zooms out, surprising her.

TIONNE looks up at her.