Scorpion Tales

The monologues in this volume are designed to be performed in intimate venues and classrooms.

All but one (Mary) are completely self contained and require minimum staging. They are adaptable to any environment and can be performed anywhere. That is the purpose of them.

They are particularly suited to both the HSC Drama and English syllabuses (NSW) and are intended to be used in the classroom.

But they are disturbing. They are meant to be unsettling. They are meant to make us think.

I encourage actors to interpret them as they wish and to find their own ways of staging them. For this reason I have kept settings and stage directions to a minimum. Adapt them. Play with them. They are stepping stones to creating something new.

To address the imbalance of opportunities for women in Theatre, most pieces are written for women. Most are contemporary, or seem it. One is biographical in nature and designed to give a new perspective on a woman remembered for her infamy (Miss Brown).

Ask yourself if the story of Mary is familiar? Does it resonate in our current political climate?

Would you kill your spouse? If they begged you to end their suffering and preserve their dignity?

Where is Harry? Why won’t he come out of his room? And Jimmy Gill? What happened to him?