entry five: an excerpt

ACT I

1.1 (MAX, ROSE: clean up)

Lights up. MAX and ROSE are in the living room. MAX (25) is cleaning up the room for Thanksgiving dinner while ROSE (19) is sitting on the dining table, reading Anais Nin.

MAX

Can you help?

ROSE

You seem to be doing just fine.

MAX

I'm trying to sort this shit out before Mum- Fuck, I swear nothing has moved since we were last here. What the- Why is there a-

ROSE

Is that a dictaphone? Jesus, I didn't know Mum wrote.

MAX presses 'play' and their mother, (JOANNA)'s voice fills the room.

JOANNA

His eyes, emerald green with gold flecks, pierce my soul, his lips, soft and warm, hidden under a scruff of beard... And when he took my hand in his, I felt butterflies for the first time, a pulsating, throbbing, flushed-

ROSE

Oh, Jesus-

MAX

That's enough of that.

The dictaphone is silenced. ROSE hops down off the table and saunters around MAX, reading aloud from her book-

ROSE

"And in his eyes he had the look of the cat who inspires a desire to caress but loves no one, who never feels he must respond to the impulses he arouses."

Laughing-

MAX

Get out! You're disgusting!

ROSE

It's Anais Nin, you uncultured peasant. Besides, you're just jealous that Mum's getting more.

MAX

I'm happy waiting for the right guy.

ROSE

Your fairytale prince.

MAX

Exactly.

A silence.

MAX (cont'd)

I wonder what he's like. Mum's new boyfriend.

ROSE

Probably a dick.

MAX

Probably.

ROSE

How long?

MAX

What?

ROSE

How long do you reckon this one'll last?

MAX

With Mum's track record? Who knows. She seems pretty serious about him though. Writing poetry and everything.

ROSE

I hope he's not one of those wierdos, like an accordion player, or a china doll collector, or something.

MAX

It's good to have you home again Rose.

ROSE

Missed you. It's weird coming home, do you feel that?

MAX

Yeah. Strange, huh? Nothing's really changed, but like, so much has. You know?

ROSE

Mm.

MAX

Anyway. I should clear some of this junk away before the gross lovebirds arrive. Can I put it in your room?

ROSE

     Sure.

MAX picks up a box and leaves the room. ROSE heads over to the old record player, and begins to flick through. She finds one, and puts it on to play. Some French something, with the song 'Bang Bang' playing later.

End scene.

~

Until then,
Spinach x

entry four: cold turkey/happy families - character list

Character List and Descriptions

Max Fenley (25):

Max is the older sister of Rose, and the daughter of Joanna. When Max was born, Joanna was only 17, so Max has never particularly felt the mother-daughter connection between the two of them, and resents Joanna a bit for this. Max disapproves of her mother’s lifestyle, and in doing so, has adopted quite the reverse; Max believes in true love and isn’t afraid to wait in order to find ‘the one.’ This is also partly caused by the abuse she suffered while studying at Constance Boarding School. Max is a very strong woman, a dedicated worker, and a loyal friend. She has always got along with her younger sister, Rose, and the two of them (led by Max), would get up to mischief when they were younger. A bright kid, Max always had an abundance of ideas for pranks to pull on her Mum’s boyfriends, and thrived in the chaos it caused. She never really grew out of that. Max is currently working as the bar manager for a local restaurant in the town, and loves her job.

Rose Fenley (19):

Rose is the younger sister of Max, and the daughter of Joanna. Like her sister, Rose also studied at Constance boarding school, however, she left at the end of her second-to-last year to live in Europe. While Rose loves her family, and isn’t a ill-meaning person, she has a habit of doing irrational things that can often get her in trouble. Examples of these include, but not limited to: running away when she feels out of her depth, and drinking to excess in order to avoid prevalent issues. Rose Fenley is a huge fan of author Anais Nin, and finds comfort in the familiarity and safety of books. Other favourites include The Neverending Story, The Magician’s Nephew, Juniper’s Game, The Seagull, and The Wise Man’s Fear. While Rose was living in France, she met artist Céline, and the two became very close. Céline’s decision to leave Rose is what prompted her move back to home.

Joanna Fenley (42):

Joanna is the mother of Max and Rose, and the girlfriend of Keith. Joanna works as a part-time HR consultant for an aromatherapy chain, but prefers her Sunday job working in the local market, where she makes and sells bits-and-bobs (like paintings, children’s stories, pottery, and her own literary works, the latter of which are rather unsuccessful.) Joanna is an incredibly strong person, but hugely flawed, and her strength often goes unnoticed. She made a lot of mistakes when she was younger, but always made the best out of any situation, and turned her life around to accommodate Max, and Rose a few years later. Loves her children more than anything, but is always anxious that she didn’t do enough, or wasn’t a good mother to them. This isn’t true at all.

Keith Robinson (45):

Keith Robinson is the boyfriend of Joanna Fenley, and works in marketing for a trust fund bank. His co-worker, Amelia, dragged him along to an open-mic night writing class, where he saw Joanna read a piece of her (terrible) writing. He bought her a drink after the show, and the two got talking. As a boy, Keith always preferred his own company to that of others, and would pass the time reading C.S Lewis and playing War with his toys. In High School, he was ostracized for his quirks and temper, which placed a strain on his friendships, and the potential for any relationships with girls. As a result of this, Keith can struggle to express how he feels about people, especially when he cares about them. Keith does care for Joanna, but when he sees Max, it throws him, and he begins to slip back into old habits.


Until then,
Spinach x

entry three: where are we now? (where are we now? ~david bowie reference~)

Where Are We Now?

Had to get the Train from Potsdamer Platz

Last Wednesday (Impact day) was one of the most successful days I've had in a long time. I made huge progress on my script. I wrote the one scene I'd been procrastinating due to its content, which hits quite close to home. I called my good friend Calum Gittins (a RADA graduate!), and he stayed on the line for over an hour while I 'um-d and er-d' at my local café, sitting there with my laptop open and a blank document. Calum guessed what was up, and called me on my shit. He told me that this was an important play to write, and that if I was still stuck on where to go with this scene, I should start from the end and write backwards. Which is what I did, and the result is a scene I am so very proud of; Max finally stops blaming herself for Keith's actions, she can finally let go and move on. Although the play is funny in places, it was really important to me to make this scene as honest as possible, as it's a sensitive subject, and needs to reflect that while Max was a victim of sexual assault, it does not define her, and she is so much stronger than she thought. In the end, it is Keith who is without power, who is lesser than Max. And that mental shift, the change of perspective, is what both Max and Keith need in order to move on and change.

On another note, I met up with Sophie Hambleton (whom I worked with on Westside) for coffee, and we had a really good talk about Toi Whakaari and the acting industry in general. She graduated from Toi in 2007, and picking her brain about the school was wonderful, especially as I was selected to be a part of the Acting Associates programme for 2016. Toi Whakaari is a school I will be auditioning for, at the end of this year, and talking to Sophie has really helped by answering some of the questions I have/had, from a person whom I trust.

The other person I've been in contact with a lot lately is play-write Sam Brooks. Brooks is an amazing wealth of knowledge, and has been so, so wonderful to bounce scrip ideas, drafts, et al off of. I won't say too much on my conversation with Brooks for the time being, because we mostly just broke down my script, and now I have to build it back up again. Will also try to upload my script here, fingers crossed it works!

Until then,
Spinach x