Short Plays with Great Roles for Women

Suzette Coon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367187132
• eBook ISBN: 9780429582783
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Short Plays with Great Roles for Women is an antidote to the traditional underrepresentation of women on stage, by offering twenty-two short plays that put women right at the centre of the action.

The push for more women's roles has gathered force over the last few years, and this collection is part of that movement, with rich, intelligent roles for women of all ages and backgrounds. This anthology offers a vital slice of life, addressing relevant and diverse topics such as: a young, Islamic woman coming out to her religious mother; black women's navigation of the natural hair movement; bullying in a small-town American school; social media addiction; and the trials and tribulations of family life. Plays from award-winning playwrights are supported by original production details and playwrights' afterwords, forming a broad and comprehensive collection of complete texts that offer full character journeys.

Appealing to aspiring performers, playwrights, directors and students, Short Plays with Great Roles for Women is an essential resource for actor training, assessments, showcases, show-reels, short films and theatre performances.

Part I

Crossing bridges

Two Sisters	Fiona Doyle
A Prince	Dipo Baruwa-Etti
Do You Pray?	Yasmin Joseph
Don’t Cross Bridges	Katherine Manners

1 Two Sisters

Fiona Doyle

Characters

NORAH, early forties, caustic at times.

NIAMH, mid-thirties, a little naive.

AUNTY MARY, late sixties. Estranged sister of Niamh and Norah’s father.

Notes

Niamh and Norah have been responsible for the care of their elderly father for the past ten years. They live in an old cottage in rural Northern Ireland (though this setting can be altered depending on the actors’ needs).

(/) marks the point where the immediately following dialogue interrupts.

(–) marks an abrupt cut-off.

(Beat) indicates a brief break in the dialogue.

(Pause) indicates where there is a thought process happening.

(Silence) indicates the point at which characters do not know what to say next, or how to say it.

(…) indicates where speech trails off.

Original production details

Two Sisters was commissioned and produced by Little Pieces of Gold at Southwark Playhouse on 24 November 2013.

The cast was as follows:

AUNTY MARY	Jo Cooklin
NORAH	Claire Garrigan
NIAMH	Fiona McKinnon
Director:	Rebecca Hill

Scene One

Darkness. Niamh is already in bed. Norah is just getting into bed. Silence. Then hushed voices.

NIAMH: NORAH?

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: Can ya hear that?

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: I think … I think it’s snow.

Pause.

NORAH: You can’t hear snow.

NIAMH: Oh.

NORAH: Go back to sleep.

Pause.

NIAMH: NORAH?

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: How was he?

NORAH: Fine.

NIAMH: Fine?

NORAH: Fine.

NIAMH: Right. (Beat) You sure he was fine now?

NORAH: Yeah.

NIAMH: Right. (Pause) Nor/ah?

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: He was on about Aunty Mary earlier.

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: In his sleep.

Pause.

NORAH: Strange.

NIAMH: Yeah.

NORAH: They’ve not spoken in years.

NIAMH: Yeah.

Pause.

NORAH: Must be all the drugs.

Pause.

NIAMH: I’m tired.

NORAH: Go to sleep then!

Pause.

NIAMH: Cold in here. (Beat) Smells of damp. (Beat) Some sun would be nice. (Beat) An’ some sea. (Beat) An’ a nice jam sandwich. (Pause) Norah? (Pause) Norah? (Pause) Night then.

Silence.

Scene Two

Next morning. Norah and Niamh sit at kitchen table. Their elderly, dying father lies in a room offstage. Norah has a list and is sorting medication into a little pill box. A dressing robe hangs on the back of her chair. Niamh sits and watches her. Both sisters are unfashionably dressed in lots of warm layers. Niamh eventually exits to father’s room offstage. Norah continues sorting. After a while Niamh re-enters and sits.

NIAMH: I don’t think he’ll last long.

NORAH: You said that last year.

Pause.

NIAMH: This place is a dump.

NORAH: What?

NIAMH: Look at that wall there. Right state. An’ don’t even get me started on the damp.

Norah stops sorting momentarily, looks at wall.

NORAH: D’you remember when we were wee things an’ I was chasin’ you? An’ you were runnin’ mad all round the place? An’ you ran an’ ya ran an’ ya ran, an’ then next thing, (Laughs) next thing ya ran straight into it an’ split yer head open.

Pause.

NIAMH: I’ll go see if he wants those curtains opened.

Niamh exits and we hear the following offstage as Norah continues sorting.

NIAMH: (Offstage) Do ya want those curtains open now? (Beat) I think I should open them. Nice day. Bright. Cold but bright. Are you cold? (Beat) I’m cold. It’s cold in here. I’ll get yer robe.

Niamh re-enters, fetches robe from the back of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Professional performing rights
• Introduction
• PART I: Crossing bridges
• PART II: ‘Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away’ (Dorothy Parker)
• PART III: Isn’t she lovely, made of love …
• PART IV: Aping the patriarchy
• PART V: To connect or dis-connect?
• PART VI: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken
• PART VII: The class ceiling
• PART VIII: Siblings in mourning