Every Day I Make Greatness Happen

Richard Molloy

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781786825926
• eBook ISBN: 9781786825933
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

It's back to school with a bang for Alisha, Iman and Kareem – they all failed GCSE English and there are only six weeks until their resits. This is their last chance to continue Sixth Form, failure is not an option. It's down to Miss Murphy to see the trio through. But collectively, the students are unruly, she's already snowed under with her other classes and the school is literally falling apart.Gradually scenes set in and out of lessons reveal the difficulties facing students and staff, showing why they have 'failed' and why a stretched education system cannot cope with all the social problems outside. "The play touches on themes of mental health, disability (...) and gender, while presenting the difficulties teachers face when navigating the line between health and safety, child protection, and simply trying to get unruly 16-years-olds to gain some much-needed qualifications." (The Stage) Every Day I Make Greatness Happen won the Nick Darke Award 2017 and premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, London.

Act One

SCENE ONE

September, 2016.

A classroom in a crumbling prefab at a run-down London academy. The students’ desks are cheap and shabby – arranged, not in rows, but in clusters of four: squares and L-shapes. The teacher’s desk is cluttered – on it, there’s a desktop computer, a laptop, a pot of markers, glue-sticks, scissors, a set of exercise books, and a two-tiered plastic tray overflowing with old pieces of paper, worksheets, a disused exercise book or two, and an errant copy of ‘Of Mice and Men’. Dog-eared posters and tatty student-made displays, some several years old, adorn the walls. Yellow-brown water stains blossom on the ceiling tiles. A single door leads out into the corridor; a glass panel is fitted into the upper half of the door.

At lights up, the room is empty. A moment passes before MISS enters quietly. She stands still. She looks around, takes everything in – she has been here in this room many, many times before, but somehow this is different. Her entering the room now is a small but momentous feat. She takes a deep breath and…

The lights begin to fade. Sound swells: the life of the school – bustling corridors, screams in the playground, unruly students, the pulse of an electronic bell. All of which carries on into…

Darkness.

And then, at last, a moment of silence.

When the lights come up again, the room is empty once more. We hear a knock on the door. A few seconds later, the door opens tentatively, and IMAN sticks his head in. He looks around then enters. A sixth former, IMAN wears what the school describes as ‘smart, business dress’ – in his case, chinos or cheap slacks, a shirt and tie, a plain sweater, and a pair of clunky, unfashionable shoes, all of which serves to exacerbate his inherent self-consciousness and social unease. On his back, he carries a massive school bag. For a few seconds, he stands by the door, unsure what to do – he then sits down at one of the desks, opens his bag, takes out a bulging pencil case and an A4 notepad. From the pencil case, he removes a pen and a highlighter. He sets out everything neatly on the desk – he is ready to work.

After a short pause, KAREEM makes a bold, theatrical entrance. He too is a sixth former, but his attire is a little more stylish than IMAN’s, and where IMAN is skinny and awkward, KAREEM brims with tall, handsome swagger. He takes a seat somewhere behind IMAN, dumping his bag on the desk. Neither boy makes any acknowledgement of the other.

Silence. KAREEM bristles with barely contained energy. IMAN is visibly, painfully uncomfortable.

Eventually, KAREEM opens his bag and removes a notepad. He then rummages in the bag again, but this time he can’t find what he’s looking for. He has a thought – he stands up and goes to IMAN’s desk. Still without acknowledging the other boy, KAREEM picks up IMAN’s pencil case and takes out a pen. He then drops the pencil case very deliberately on the floor, before returning to his desk and retaking his seat. After a pause, IMAN bends over to pick up the pencil case. He waits – considers his next move – then turns around slowly.

IMAN: …Uh…That’s not…You can’t just…

KAREEM double-takes as though he’s just noticed for the first time that IMAN is in the room.

KAREEM: (A massive fake smile.) Oh. Hey Iman. How are you?

IMAN: …Uhm…Okay –

KAREEM: Good. Good. Glad to hear it.

Short pause.

KAREEM: Another year, hah…? Another September. Nah, what am I sayin’, man? September’s almost gone. Time’s winged chariot, fam. Gallops apace, innit…Yeah….Bit of Shakespeare for you there. Rome...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Act One
• Act Two