Our Generation (NHB Modern Plays)

Alecky Blythe

OUR

GENERATION

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production Details

Introduction

Dedication

Characters

Our Generation

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Our Generation was first performed in the Dorfman auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 23 February 2022 (previews from 14 February), before transferring to the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, on 22 April 2022. The cast was as follows:

YOUNGSTERS

ADULTS

All other parts played by members of the company

Introduction

Alecky Blythe

Our Generation was first conceived in 2015 not long after Rufus Norris was appointed Artistic Director at the National, as a way of gaining an insight into the generation of young people in the UK coming of age in the 2020s. Early on I realised that in order to deliver a play with a scale that could go some way to representing the geographical breadth of the country, I was going to need some assistance. I enlisted the help of five budding verbatim practitioners, not long out of university, who were eager to develop their skills in the field. As I was already collecting interviews at a school in South London, five other schools were found nationally for each of my collector assistants to visit.

I knew I wanted to present a rich variety of teenagers from a range of backgrounds and it took a good few visits over the first six months to locate them. Initially every month the collectors would send me ninety minutes of their highlights, which over time I would boil down further. Then once all the subjects had been chosen and good connections had been formed with them and their families, we cut the visits back to once every couple of months.

Who could have imagined what was in store as we headed into 2020? The plan had always been that we would end the interviewing process that autumn so when the first lockdown was implemented, thanks to video calls and FaceTime, we were able to move our in-person interviews to mobiles relatively seamlessly. It was extraordinary to be documenting these teenagers for such a long time, expecting – like they were – for their futures to be moving forward to the next stage of development when suddenly the world stopped. Of course Covid has had a major impact on all of our lives, but I think the disruption it has had on teenagers has been immeasurable. I hope the play goes some way to expressing not only how they have suffered but also how impressively they have found hope and resilience through it.

Over the course of the five years of collecting, I benefitted from a series of workshops at the NT Studio which were incredibly helpful in allowing me and the director, Daniel Evans, to explore the material. At one point a workshop was almost derailed by the second lockdown but operations were niftily moved onto Zoom, thanks to our sound engineer Adrien Corcilius. By that stage the collecting period had come to an end so it was the first time that I’d created the full draft and it amounted to a five-hour marathon performance on Zoom. Since then, as I have continued to chip away at the edifice with the brilliant help and expertise of dramaturg Sebastian Born, a more concise structure has emerged which, although still epic, I hope is more palatable for a theatre audience.

As I proofread this final draft of the play, three days away from our first preview, Covid continues to wreak havoc on our industry and threaten the life of the show. One of our actors has tested positive so Leah Gaffey, one of the collectors, who is also an actor and conveniently Welsh (which is the required accent for the part) is currently winging her way from Wales to take up the role. It’s a wonderful example of the unstoppable spirit manifest in the excellent team I have been lucky enough to work with.

The commitment of the entire cast and creatives has been breathtaking and a clear illustration of their belief in the importance of portraying these young people’s lives authentically on stage. It’s due to the leadership of Daniel Evans as director and Pádraig Cusack as creative producer that this level of dedication has been instilled in the company, so inspiring are they to collaborate with. I want to thank them sincerely for their support and dynamism during the show’s development, during which there were times I feared we wouldn’t make it to the stage at all, such were the challenges.

Ironically I remember sitting in Rufus’s office when we first started talking about the project and I told him of my reservations about writing a piece that could be potentially so freewheeling. I wondered how on earth I would structure it without a central event to aid knitting it together. ‘You never know what might happen over the next five years,’ he said. ‘There could be wars, terrorist attacks, a pandemic.’ I don’t think anyone would wish for what we have all been through over the last couple of years or could have predicted that his words would turn out to be so uncannily prophetic, but I want to thank him for encouraging me to take up the gauntlet.

The Collectors

Special thanks to the twelve teenagers who generously shared their lives with us, and to their families, friends and teachers who also allowed us in. Quite simply, without them, there would be no play.

In memory of my dear friends

Catherine Nix-Collins and Ben Chatfield

Characters

SOUTH LONDON

IERUM, North African, twelve*

MASARRAT, Ierum’s brother, North African, seven

MASOOD, Ierum’s brother, North African, eight

LUAN, British, Kosovan, fifteen*

DRIN, Luan’s brother, Kosovan, eighteen

AGRON, Luan’s father, Kosovan, forties

LULJETA, Luan’s mother, Kosovan, forties

BELFAST

ANNABELLA, dual heritage, thirteen*

ALBERTA, Annabella’s mother, white, forties

CALLUM, white, thirteen*

MARGARET, Callum’s mother, white, forties

RONALD, Callum’s father, white. forties

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

EMILY, white, fourteen*

JEN, Emily’s mother, white, forties

LUCAS, white, fourteen*

GLASGOW

ZAC, dual heritage, fifteen*

NAJMA, Zac’s mother, Indian, forties

ROBYN, white, fifteen*

MIG, Robyn’s mother, white, fifties

JAY, Robyn’s father, white, forties

NORTH WALES

MIA, white, fourteen*

MARTINA, Mia’s mother, white, forties

TAYLOR, white, wheelchair user, fourteen*

PATRICIA, Taylor’s mother, white, forties

GEORGE, Taylor’s father, white, wheelchair user, forties

DYLAN, Taylor’s brother, white, eight

KEG, Taylor’s half-brother, white, nineteen

BIRMINGHAM

ALI, Pakistani, fifteen*

AYESHA, Ali’s sister, Pakistani, twelve*

TASMIN, Ali and Ayesha’s mother, Pakistani, forties

* The ages given here refer to how old the youngsters were at the beginning of the interviewing process.

CHARISSE

HELEDD

ANWEN

CRAIG

CORNELL

MOHAMMED

JAYDEN

NILES

OTHERS

AUDIENCE MEMBER

BOYS’ BRIGADE CAPTAIN

COUSIN 1

UNCLE

GRANNY

BEAUTICIAN

COUSIN 2

Note on the Text

A forward slash in the text (/) indicates the point at which the next speaker interrupts.

Inconsistencies in spelling and grammar are deliberate and indicate idiosyncracies in the speech and delivery of the characters.

All names have been changed for safeguarding purposes.

Notes on Performance

During rehearsals the actors worked directly from the audio interviews, listening to them very carefully through earphones and copying the exact speech pattern as they performed. Eventually the earphones have come off and the lines have been learnt but the actors maintain the original delivery, having learnt the lines incredibly precisely savouring every minute vocal detail that can be heard in the audio.

This text went to press before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

PART ONE

ACT ONE

1.1.1. Hello world

An empty stage. A narrow ramp runs along the back wall from stage-right. There is a hatch in the back wall, upstage-left.

IERUM enters and stands upstage-centre. She looks around the auditorium in awe.

IERUM. Hello world.

1.1.2. Opening

Music plays. The other eleven youngsters enter and join IERUM. As they dance to the music vigorously a projection on the back wall reads, ‘Twelve teenagers interviewed over five years, in their own words.’ A second projection reads ‘Their names have been changed to protect their identities.’ The music fades to a low level as ANNABELLA starts talking.

ANNABELLA. God is angry with the terrorism out in the world. I just, I know it and, I really and – I really, I hate to say but I do think that we will be part of the apocalypse.

LUAN. You hear my name everywhere, everyone’s just talking about me, everyone’s excited (Claps his hands.) about me. Yeah my dad, my dad, my dad was so proud I could just see, he was so proud. All my family members were like, ‘I put my name, our na– our family name on the map.’

ROBYN. We didn’t go away this year. Ah – we just had to – we had to buy a boiler this year (Laughing.) so it’s either a boiler or a holiday so (Laughing.) we got a boiler.

TAYLOR. My dad started crying when he found out I was on the twenty-threes team, ’eah. (Laughs.) I was there laughing at him, it’s funny. To me it’s just a team. Like playing for the local team.

MIA. I’ve stopped going out, I’ve got no friends, I’ve got no life. I’ve got no friends left.

EMILY. If, I’ve never, I never go anywhere. I’m quite stressed out at the moment. (Laughs.) So I’ve got Biology block test tomorrow basically on everything we’ve learnt this year. And I know absolutely nothing.

ZAC. Last week I had, I had, what was it, six concerts in five days? I’ve been finding it really hard to get into festive spirit cos everyone’s like ‘you’ve got all these pre-lims’ and not – they’re not even important but they’re like, they’re your first exams so like ‘ahhh’ and you got all the concerts ‘yaahhh’.

CALLUM. Cos I’m not like a, I’m not a fighter it sounds weird cos I wanna be a wrestler but I’m not like a fighter y’know, oh I don’t take pain very well.

AYESHA. Celebrities are like a big part of my life because I’ve always wanted to become one.

ALI. Kim Kardashian got robbed / I feel so sorry for her.

AYESHA gasps.

Oh, I need to start revising. I’m actually frightened, of life.

AYESHA. I wanna go Hajj so bad. And Australia I wanna getta tan.

ALI. I want to go to America so bad.

AYESHA. I hate you so / much.

ALI. I hate you more.

LUCAS. Mum, when you’re watching this, (Laughs.) I-I did have a girlfriend during exams, don’t be angry, okay? It was really good for me, m– really helpful. (Chuckles.)

1.1.3. Switched

A projection on the back wall reads, ‘IERUM, South London.’

IERUM’s school.

IERUM. I switched, um, friends groups. Er, I’m hanging more round with Sienna, cos like, Sienna’s a quiet girl and she hangs around with, like, people like Amy and Charity and they’re, like, quiet people. And then, yeah cos of that, I think that if I continue hanging round with her then I will get