Drop Stitches Not Bombs: A Play A Day #2: stoning mary by debbie tucker green. Oh dear, I seem to have fallen behind rather quickly in this task I have set myself.
I shall endeavour to catch up with another play I know well... stoning mary (both title and playwright are deliberately lowercase) takes three issues mainly associated with the developing world, and transposes them to a European context - the script specifies that all the characters are white - echoing Tony Blair's comment at the World Economic Forum in 2005 that, 'If what was happening in Africa today was happening in any other part of the world, there would be such a scandal and clamour that governments would be falling over themselves to act in response.' I acted in a production of this at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, and the subject matter made this a difficult one to sell.
It is also intriguing reading back over all the notes I scribbled on my copy of the script, for example: Wow. It was definitely worth it: I still feel very lucky to have been in this play. Good female monologues? 2005. Overview. Stoning Mary, Royal Court, London. Words alone do not make drama: what one craves is a marriage between action and language.
And, although Debbie Tucker Green's third play is boldly directed by Marianne Elliott on a peninsular platform that occupies the Royal Court stalls, it still feels more like an acted poem than a fleshed-out play. Tucker Green interweaves three apparently discrete stories. One involves an Aids-afflicted husband and wife who can only afford one life-saving prescription between them.
A second story has middle-aged parents endlessly wrangling over their teenage soldier son. The third segment deals with a woman's visit to her imprisoned sister awaiting death by stoning. You can see what Tucker Green is trying to do: shock us into new awareness by transposing three putative third world stories into a white culture.
I don't deny our capacity for violence, but I would have been more shocked if the play had shown us how death by stoning, for instance, sprang from cultural and religious practices. Stoning victim 'begged for mercy' A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones. Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped. Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court. Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.
Meanwhile, Islamists in the capital, Mogadishu have carried out a public flogging. Play-script - No.3 - Irish-based actor & director. Title: Stoning Mary Writer: debbie tucker green Setting: The play is set in the country it is performed in.
All characters are white. This play was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, 1st April, 2005, London. Characters; Wife Wife ego Husband Husband ego Mum Dad Child Soldier (Son), his hair shaved down to a number one. Older sister Younger sister (Mary) Corrections Officer Boyfriend Boyfriend ego Older sister ego Synopsis: One prescription isn’t enough for two. My thoughts: This is not an easy play to read and would only reach its full potential in performance. This play has quite a large cast (13), it would suit a theatre company that wished to perform a piece in a festival setting or a company dedicated to producing more experimental theatre. *There are possible female audition monologues, both the Older and the Younger Sister have several, including Older Sister's obsessive questions about Mary's glasses, and Mary's 'bitches' speech.
Useful links: www.royalcourttheatre.com. Frogbattleship.