Ella Hickson Plays: One

Ella Hickson

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781848427532
• eBook ISBN: 9781788500449
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

When her first play, Eight, transferred from student theatre in Edinburgh to the West End and then New York, Ella Hickson was still in her early twenties. She has since built on that promise with a series of engaged and engaging dramas that pit romanticism and optimism against the realities of life as a young person in Britain.

Eight (Edinburgh Fringe, 2008), that astonishing first success, is included here: a state-of-the-nation group portrait in monologues, 'an interactive Talking Heads for 21st-century teens and twentysomethings' ( Independent ).

Also included is Hot Mess (Edinburgh Fringe, 2010), a dark and lyrical tale about twins born with just a single heart between them, and Precious Little Talent (Edinburgh Fringe, 2009; West End, 2011), about two young adults graduating into a world that's sold them down the river.

In Boys (HighTide Festival, Nuffield Theatre Southampton and Soho Theatre, 2012), the Class of 2011 faces a tricky transition to adulthood in a play that 'powerfully captures the mood of a generation' ( Independent ).

The volume also contains an introduction by the author and two short plays: the previously unpublished PMQ, part of the Coalition season at Theatre503, London, in 2010; and Gift, first seen as part of Headlong's immersive theatre production Decade in 2011.

'On the cusp of greatness' Independent

BOYS

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Rob Icke for his hard work and his unfaltering faith, right from the first draft to the first night, it wouldn’t have happened without him. I would like to thank the cast and crew for their ideas, commitment and conviction, it has been a pleasure. My thanks go to Lindsey Alvis and all at Headlong, HighTide, Nuffield and Peter Wilson for their generous support. I am indebted to Jess Cooper, Simon Stephens and all at the Lyric Hammersmith for their continued help and advice.

I would like to thank the inhabitants of Stafford Street, Edinburgh, and 320 Basement, London, for their friendship and for great times spent around the kitchen table.

My thanks to Tim for letting me talk it through, for taking the time to give good advice and for adding to the argument that we don’t have to do it alone. Milk.

E.H.

London, 2012

‘No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde...’

John Donne

Meditation 17: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

‘The crisis of modern society is precisely that the youth no longer feel heroic in the plan for action that their culture has set up. They don’t believe it empirically true to the problems of their lives and times.

Ernest Becker

The Denial of Death

Boys was first performed at the HighTide Festival, Halesworth, Suffolk, on 3 May 2012, before transferring to the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, and Soho Theatre, London. The cast was as follows:

MACK		Samuel Edward Cook
BENNY		Danny Kirrane
CAM		Lorn Macdonald
TIMP		Tom Mothersdale
LAURA		Alison O’Donnell
SOPHIE		Eve Ponsonby
Director		Robert Icke
Set and Costume Designer		Chloe Lamford
Lighting Designer		Michael Nabarro
Sound Designer		Tom Mills

For the brilliant young men and women of Stafford Street and 320 Basement

Characters

BENNY

MACK

TIMP

CAM

LAURA

SOPHIE

A forward slash ( / ) in the text indicates interrupted speech.

Square brackets [ ] indicate unspoken speech.

ACT ONE

Scene One

The kitchen of a five-man student flat, Edinburgh.

An unusually hot summer.

Rubbish bags pile up in the corners.

There are five chairs; one of these chairs is never touched unless indicated.

The kitchen is thick with the usual debris: tobacco packets, Rizlas, wine bottles and beer cans, dirty washing lies around, ashtrays are overflowing, pizza boxes and kebab boxes are scattered, plates and pots pile up in the sink.

On top of this – this morning – there are remnants of a party the night before: helium balloons populate the ceiling, there are streamers and party hats about, a fake pirate’s sword is stuck into the middle of the table, a ‘Barclay’s’ sign is propped up on the side ‘We’ll loan you the best years of your life’.

CAM sleeps curled beneath the table. He is wearing dinosaur pyjamas and still has a pirate hat on from the night before.

BENNY enters in his dressing gown; he winces against the morning sun, he doesn’t see CAM. BENNY collects a bowl, some milk and a spoon. He goes to his cupboard and takes out a packet of Coco Pops, pours himself a bowl – a toy lands in his bowl. BENNY is delighted, he unwraps the toy as if he was a kid – he holds up a tiny toy soldier and then thinks to tell his best friend. An acute sadness falls. BENNY places the little soldier out in front of him on the table and stares at it. He puts the toy in his dressing-gown pocket. BENNY approaches another cupboard – pulls the bin over to it and braces himself. He breathes in deeply – and begins to unpack the cupboard into the bin: jams, mouldy bread, noodle packets, tins of baked beans – he reaches a packet of Coco Pops and looks at it. He takes the soldier from his pocket – puts it into the box of Coco Pops and puts the box on the table. He returns to the cupboard.

BENNY stands.

BENNY takes a balloon – pulls it down and then lets it float back up to the ceiling.

BENNY climbs up on top of the fridge and looks out across the kitchen.

TIMP – impish and toned, tattooed, pierced and sporting a Mohican – wears a pair of tight pink boxers with ‘Spank’ written across the arse. He has an eyepatch over one eye. He walks stealthily over to the kettle and begins making two cups of tea, two pieces of toast.

BENNY. Morning... Captain.

TIMP startles slightly, turns and notices BENNY on top of the fridge.

TIMP. Oh ’ello.

BENNY. What happened in here then?

TIMP. What do you mean?

BENNY. The balloons.

TIMP. Party.

BENNY. Oh really. (Beat.) Laura here?

TIMP. No – why?

BENNY. Who’s the other cup for?

TIMP. Oh – this? Cam.

BENNY. He up?

TIMP. Yeah – rehearsing. What you doing up on the / (Notices that the cupboard has been opened and is half-cleared out.)

BENNY. I thought I’d /

TIMP. Should have fucking been here last night, Benny-boy!

BENNY. Funny being up here at this height.

TIMP. Pirate party for the new intake!

BENNY. It’s end of term.

TIMP. Prospective students, looking around, open day – fresher than freshers.

BENNY. Feels like you can control e...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Eight
• Hot Mess
• PMQ
• Precious Little Talent
• Gift
• Boys
• About the Author
• Copyright and Performing Rights Information