Thrown E-Book

Nat McCleary

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

Seitenzahl: 75

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

'We can be strong. We can be loud. We can be brutal. And if it makes people uncomfortable? Good.' Five wildly different women gather in the muddy fields of the Highland Games circuit to compete in the obscure art of Backhold Wrestling. Can bold beginners Imogen, Chantelle, Jo, Pamela and Helen transform themselves into a team and win the championship? Or will their differences sabotage them, and send them face-planting into the mud? The pearls are off, influencer videos posted and 'Gucci' bags from the Barras Market set aside. This is it. Hold on tight. A poignant, dynamic exploration of belonging and identity, Nat McCleary's play Thrown opened in 2023 at Victoria Hall, Dunblane, directed by Johnny McKnight, before embarking on a Scottish tour which culminated in a run at the Traverse Theatre, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Leseprobe

Nat McCleary

THROWN

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production Details

Characters

Notes

Set

Thrown

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Thrown was produced by National Theatre Scotland and opened at Victoria Hall, Dunblane on 22nd July 2023, before embarking on a Scottish tour which culminated in a run at the Traverse Theatre, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. The cast and creative team was as follows (in alphabetical order):

IMOGEN NGWENYA

Efè Agwele

HELEN MACLEOD

Maureen Carr

PAMELA CLARK

Lesley Hart

JO BUCHANAN

Adiza Shardow

CHANTELLE WATSON

Chloe-Ann Tylor

Movement Director

Lucy Glassbrook

Costume Designer

Sabrina Henry

Associate Director

Niloo-Far Khan

Writer

Nat McCleary

Director

Johnny McKnight

Casting Director

Carolyn McLeod

Sound Designer

Tom Penny

Lighting Designer

Lizzie Powell

Composer

Luke Sutherland

Set Designer

Karen Tennent

Design Assistant

Chell Young

Lighting Supervisor

Josh Brown

Deputy Stage Manager

Kara Jackson

Stage Supervisor

Kyle Jessiman

Sound Supervisor

Andrew King

Costume Supervisor

Barbra Kolasinski

Assistant Stage Manager

Scott Ringan

Lighting Programmer

Pippa Reilly

Costume Technician

Kathryn Weaving

Company Stage Manager

Emma Yeomans

BSL Consultant

Louise Fisher

Audio Describer

Emma-Jane McHenry

Captioner

Alison Pendlowski

BSL/E Interpreter

Yvonne Strain

Community Engagement Facilitator

Sarah Rose Graber

Back-Hold Wrestling Consultant

Heather Neilson

Gaelic Consultant

Alasdair Whyte

Characters

JO BUCHANAN, cis female, mixed ethnicity, queer, Scottish/ Jamaican, 54kg weight category, under thirty years. Private, disillusioned, articulate. Working class.

CHANTELLE WATSON, cis female, Caucasian Scottish, 60kg weight category, under thirty years. Ambitious, insecure, sharp-tongued, loyal. Working class.

PAMELA CLARK, Gender questioning/non-binary, 60kg weight category, early forties. Confident, natural leader, blunt. Middle class.

IMOGEN NGWENYA, cis female, African heritage, London accent, Scottish born, open weight category 79kg+, twenty years old. Woke, unapologetic, bold. New money.

HELEN MACLEOD, cis-female, Caucasian Scottish, 54kg weight category, sixty. Sweet, conflict-avoider, warm. Middle class.

Notes

Each character is always present on stage and active.

Direct address is in bold and heard only by the audience regardless of how many are speaking.

Dialogue in [square brackets] is unspoken or continued thought.

A forward slash ( / ) denotes an immediate interruption or line pick-up.

Set

A simple patch of turf at the Highland Games, or in a town, city, or Nation wherever in the world they may be happening.

Highland Games tannoy announcements to be used, or not used, at the director’s discretion.

‘Josie Stewart we’ve got yer bank card at the tannoy tent, ye can stop panicking noo.’

‘…and that’s how you make the hammer handle sticky.’

‘…and now the cannon will fire to open the games! BOOM!’

‘Come sling a welly! The welly toss is about to start, let’s find the best tosser here!’

‘Get that dug aff the field afore it gets knocked oot by a haggis!’

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

One

Smoke begins to fill the space. The lights dim. Pumping Scottish techno fills the tent. The lights flash. A wrestling-ring bell sounds. A presenter microphone descends, grabbed by:

HELEN (in the style of a WWE ring announcer). Tonight, we welcome a new contender to the ring. All the way from the central belt, the beautiful, the deadly, TARTAN TERROR!

The crowd goes wild as CHANTELLE appears in an outrageous lycra wrestling costume and cape. She screams at the audience in defiance. Canned chanting fills the room. ‘TARTAN TERROR! TARTAN TERROR!’

Suddenly IMOGEN appears behind her in another equally over-the-top wrestling costume. The canned crowd are going wild.

Uh oh! I smell trouble! It’s the Bagpipe Bandit. What’s she doing here?!

IMOGEN rushes at CHANTELLE who clotheslines IMOGEN, dropping her to the floor like a bag o’ tatties. CHANTELLE follows up with a People’s Elbow.

Oh wow!! Squashed her like a midge!

But out of nowhere PAMELA appears! HELEN is delighted, hyping the drama.

Wait! What?! The Haggis Horror! This is OUT OF CONTROL!

PAMELA rushes at CHANTELLE who ducks and throws PAMELA over her shoulder. PAMELA lands hard, rolling around dramatically, gesticulating wildly to the audience for sympathy.

She tossed her like a caber!! This is crazy!! Can anyone stop the Tartan Terror?!?!

CHANTELLE turns last minute to see JO attack as PAMELA and IMOGEN tag team into a ring rope and bounce JO straight into a clothesline. JO bounces off the floor immediately into an upright sitting position saying:

JO. You know it’s going to be nothing like that.

All take off their ridiculous costumes revealing normal get-ups as the scene continues.

CHANTELLE. How do you know?

JO. I think we should keep our expectations… realistic /

CHANTELLE. / So niche! This is exactly what I wanted. Soon it’ll be blue tick…

CHANTELLE trails off aware she’s about to break a consistently enforced rule.

JO. You’ve got thirty seconds.

CHANTELLE. Do you know what this’ll mean?! Of course you don’t. It’ll mean I’m influential enough to need verified Jo! Famous enough to be impersonated! Ooh, and I can start blue-tick dating! Think of all the potential power-couple combos, think of the endorsements, the sponsorships, think of the lifestyle! The holidays! The gear! Ten grand to write a tweet! I’m a hundred per cent buying a super-expensive dog, one of those super tiny ones that fit in your handbag – that’ll never go out of fashion, and a white sofa with a matching white carpet I’ve always wanted that, and a massive jacuzzi with all the settings, oooh and his-n’-hers Porches with private regy plates, I know I cannae drive but who cares they’ll look cute in the driveway, and to think all that starts with just one little blue / tick.

JO. / And time’s up.

JO play throat-punches CHANTELLE who reciprocates.

CHANTELLE. Fine. But I’m telling you, an online profile might finally land you that promotion at work, I mean, you obviously need to change something, it’s been whit, five years /

JO. / Three years /

CHANTELLE. / Influence is everything. How you are seen matters, Coco Pop.

JO. Aye, cheers for the insight, Rice Krispie.

HELEN enters. Cardigan twin set. Pearls. Slacks. Nervous.

CHANTELLE. Oh, hiya, doll, the knittin’ group is in the community room. Next on your right.

HELEN doesn’t make any move to leave.

Eh, you okay?

HELEN.…

JO. You here for the wrestling team?

JO and CHANTELLE look at each other: ‘as if’. HELEN’s nerves are overridden by her fear of silences. Without drawing breath –

HELEN. I saw this flyer the other day when I was in the post office posting a parcel to my cousin Anne she’s been having a difficult time of late she’s coeliac and I thought well Helen you’ve been wanting to try something new and you aren’t getting any younger it’s probably now or never and so I thought I would come today to see what it is like because you never know until you try at least that’s what my Jim always says.

A long awkward pause. BANG. The door slams into the wall as IMOGEN makes her entrance – a sports-luxe, Gucci-sports-bag-carrying force of nature.

IMOGEN. This wrestling 101 then? Soz for the basic entrance but I gave my entourage the day off. I’m Imogen.

CHANTELLE. Chantelle. You might know me from my YouTube and Insta channels – Chan-tells-all.

IMOGEN. I’m only on TikTok, babe.

CHANTELLE. Sweet Gucci bag. Clearly you know Tony down the Barras too then?

IMOGEN (to JO). Wah gwan fam?! First brownskin I’ve spied since moving up here. Where we all hiding, eh?

IMOGEN goes for some skin, JO leaves her hanging. Awkward pause.

HELEN. So where have you moved here from?

IMOGEN. London.

HELEN. Oooh the big smoke how exciting you know I’ve often wondered why all capital cities don’t have ‘big’ nicknames you know, Big Apple, Big Smoke, Big… what made you move up here then?

IMOGEN. It’s home.

CHANTELLE. Eh? How’s it home? Am I steamin’ drunk or is this lassie speaking with an English accent.

JO. Chantelle, who cares?

IMOGEN. Yeah, I’ve got an English accent but I was born in Scotland, what about it?

PAMELA interrupts as she enters, enters talking loudly on her phone.

PAMELA. / Yes, and that is what we call an informed cognitive choice, James – a good first step towards realigning your emotional past with your emotional present. Now, I hate being on these things, destroying the planet and my brain tissue so I’ll see you at your next session. This call will be added to your bill. And remember, ‘look in to live out’. (Without drawing breath.) Pamela. The coach. Names.

PAMELA points at each person in turn, rapid fire – CHANTELLE, JO, HELEN, IMOGEN – then blasts on with her introduction.

Winning the Championship. Focusing our collective mind towards one singular goal. I will not tolerate failure. We will work diligently and we will get what we deserve.