CONTACT:  aliroe68@gmail.com

GENRE: Socio-political Drama

CAST SIZE (M/F): Minimum 6, Maximum 14

LENGTH:  Full length

SUITABLE FOR ALL:    Yes

‘Consumed’ is a play that exposes the issue of fast fashion.  The following synopsis is provided by way of introduction.

Recent graduate Jenna lives and breathes fashion so, having secured a job with JPS clothing, she is determined to make the most of the opportunity.  Her boundless energy and eye for design yield results but, just as her dreams begin to be realised, JPS’ resident protestors get inside her head.  It’s difficult to celebrate your success if it might have come at the expensive of someone else’s basic human rights.

Following the death of their father, teenagers Durra and Hari are forced to abandon their education in rural Bangladesh to take up jobs at a textile factory in the city.  Appalled at the working conditions they find there, Durra sets about challenging the injustice.  With the support of colleagues, and a boss who holds her in high regard, she feels like the right person for the job. There is a reason why the other women have learned to remain silent though and Durra is quickly and cruelly reminded of her total lack of power.

Perhaps the newly arrived Jenna, who feels like a good ally, can change that?

Both informative and deeply moving, this play lays bare the very unpalatable truths about fast fashion.  It’s a reality that’s very difficult to unlearn and (warning!) your next trip to the clothes shop may not be quite so pleasurable.

GENRE: Black Comedy

CAST SIZE (M/F): 4F, 1M

LENGTH:  One Act

SUITABLE FOR ALL:    Yes

Crowded is a play about that very British tendency to heap unrealistic expectations on a sportsperson who shows signs of promise.  It is also about the disproportionate reactions of the crowd when that hope fails to materialise.

Have you ever been in the crowd at a sporting event and observed the behaviour of those sitting around you?  The people who devour Pimms despite the 30-degree heat?  The people who have personal conversations whilst those around them pretend not to listen?  The people who are transformed into armchair experts, screaming advice to the players?  Crowded focuses on 5 people in a crowd at Wimbledon that do all these things.  It’s about the very British tendency to invest hope in a player who shows promise, followed by the despair and anger that follows when that fails to materialise.  

The play is humorous, but it also has bite.  In a relatively brief amount of time we learn, through a series of inner monologues, about the issues that each of the 5 members of the audience are dealing with in their lives and perhaps that gives us insight as to why they each react the way that they do?  It is a thought-provoking and unique play.

GENRE: Socio-Political Drama

CAST SIZE (M/F): 4M, 3F

LENGTH:  One Act

SUITABLE FOR ALL:    Yes

Flagging is a play that looks at tensions surrounding the proliferation of George Cross flags.  A brief synopsis is given below:

Mike and his family are suffering considerable hardship:  Mike’s job is under threat, they are struggling to pay the bills, and services that they rely on are being cut.  At the same time, the news is fully of stories about corrupt politicians who appear to be doing very little for working class families.  The Reform party offers a tempting alternative and, persuaded by a local candidate in the pub, Mike and his friend Roy agree to take part in a rally.  While Mike begins raising flags however, he and his family are becoming increasingly dependent on the care of immigrants working within the health and social care sector. 

Flagging is an exploration of the tensions surrounding the erection of George Cross flags.  It is sensitively written and sets out the subject without coming down on one side of the other.  It is a play about how we find ourselves with ever greater divisions in society.  Perhaps it is also a play that helps us to understand another perspective?

GENRE: Socio-Political Drama

CAST SIZE (M/F): 1M, 3F

LENGTH:  One Act

SUITABLE FOR ALL:    Yes - contains references to racism

Only Love is an amusing play with a powerful message.  It exposes the apparently contradictory views of a patient who, whilst outspoken about the immigrants ‘clogging up A&E,’ seems content to receive care from the very ethnically diverse group of hospital staff.   A brief synopsis is provided below by way of introduction.

Waiting for an operation is stressful.  Waiting with Joyce, an outspoken patient with racist views, creates a whole new tension!  Both the African-born nurse and Anna’s son Paul try their best to bring Joyce in line. However, it is ninety-year-old Anna, forced to flee Germany at the outbreak of WW2, who has the skills to defuse the ensuing situation.  Kindness can sometimes be considerably more disarming than anger.

GENRE: Socio-political Drama

CAST SIZE (M/F): Minimum 5, Maximum 10

LENGTH:  Full length

SUITABLE FOR ALL:    Yes - although contains some references to violence.

Tooth and Nail is a play that examines the true cost of austerity for families relying on health and social care services.  The play has been the subject of a table-read by RCreatives.  Their summary is provided below by way of introduction.

Tooth and Nail is a well-crafted full-length theatre piece that examines the true cost of austerity and the dismantling of health and welfare services through the eyes of Pauline and Simon, a couple who have a child with special needs. The piece also introduces two social workers from the local council and a Syrian refugee who becomes close friends with Pauline. The play does an excellent job of highlighting its main subject, how everyday families, communities and workers struggle to cope against ever-increasing funding cuts and severely limited public aid. The play highlights the importance and necessity of community, friendship and mutual aid in times of hardship and the positive contributions to society from migration. It also shows the darker side of how tensions can arise when there are limited resources to go around.  The recurring scenes with the MPs are a clever framing device. It both signals the passage of time and gives a humorous respite to the audience. It also highlights the cyclical nature of politics and policymaking and how it affects the people trying to keep up with a hamster wheel of ever-changing bureaucracy. Tooth and Nail is a wonderful piece that brings deep insight and focuses on very current and important themes and manages to do so in a gentle and very human way.