Daisy Moon Was Born This Way

Emily Sheehan

• Publisher: Currency Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781760622985
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Teatro

Daisy, you don't wanna fit in. You wanna stand out. Way out. So far out they'll think you were from outta space.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Daisy Moon—founder, president and so-far only member of the Batemans Bay Little Monsters Fan Club—is in a world of her own. She's the only girl she knows who hasn't got her period yet. She's the only one who can't afford tickets to see her idol Lady Gaga. She's the only one who feels like she doesn't belong.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Meanwhile, her brother Noah is back in town after being expelled from his private boarding school, armed with plenty of cash but very little sympathy.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%When the effortlessly cool Parker turns up and wants to join the Monsters fan club, Daisy's world is sent spinning into a strange and wondrous orbit.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Emily Sheehan's dark and funny coming-of-age drama unfolds the insecurity blanket of the teenage years … and covers it in sequins.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%'What is so impressive and urgent about Emily's work is that it speaks to both the very truthful and considered peaks and troughs of adolescence, while remaining poignant and resonant for children and adults alike.'—ArtsHub.%##CHAR13##%

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

The bus stop on Daisy Moon’s front lawn. Except it’s not a bus stop. It’s the stage of a Lady Gaga concert.

In the darkness, fans cheer: ‘We want Gaga! We want Gaga!’

Lights slowly rise on DAISY MOON. Fourteen years old. Silver sequined UFO skirt, disco ball earrings. A crown of vintage troll dolls. And long-faded glow stick bangles.

DAISY is surrounded by a galaxy of gemstones made of homemade collages and glitter glue signs with swirling lyrics.

GAGA: What’s on your mind, Daisy Moon?

GAGA is a voiceover of Daisy’s own voice, modulated and melodic. GAGA is like a super sassy Cheshire Cat.

DAISY: Gaga, I’m thinking about changing my name. To Celeste. Celestial. Celestial Moon.

GAGA: That’s tight. But then you wouldn’t be Daisy anymore.

DAISY: Daisy’s not so great.

GAGA: Transformation is in the air, girl. The energy at this precise moment in time is electrifying. So buckle up star-seed, and let the music guide you through new and exciting positions.

GAGA lets out a lengthy cough.

Daisy, I can’t make my show tonight. I have laryngitis.

DAISY: Is it a bacterial infection?

GAGA coughs again

GAGA: Viral.

DAISY: The only cure is bed rest.

GAGA: Daisy, you’re the only person I trust to take my place on stage tonight.

DAISY: You can count on me.

GAGA: Did you practise the song?

DAISY: Just like you told me.

DAISY puts on her sunglasses and picks up a sparkling ukulele. Nervous, she gulps.

GAGA: Well?

DAISY: It’s—it’s scary! What if someone from school sees?

GAGA: Daisy, you don’t wanna fit in. You wanna stand out. Way out. So far out they’ll think you were from outta space.

An electric guitar chord buzzes in the air. DAISY’s glow stick bangles light up.

DAISY sings an acoustic rendition of ‘Born This Way’ by Lady GAGA.

SCENE TWO

The bus stop on Daisy Moon’s front lawn.

DAISY: Four years ago today. Ten years old. Double digits.

Come into the kitchen and up at the bench, in my usual seat at the kitchen counter, Mum’s bought Coco Pops and Milo. Yum! Chocolate for breakfast. Next to the cereal is a small, square present. Shimmery turquoise wrapping paper with an orange ribbon.

The card reads: ‘Happy Birthday Daisy. Kiss kiss. Mum’.

I pull at the bow slowly. Peel back the sticky tape, and out slides a CD.

On the front is a pink neon triangle outlining a woman’s face. She has super thick eyeliner and black lipstick. Ice-white hair swirling around her face.

In pink letters across the bottom of the CD reads: ‘Lady Gaga Born This Way Two-Disc...