PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

By Simon Stephens

“Everything human beings do finishes up bad in the end. Everything good human beings ever make is built on something

monstrous. Nothing lasts. We certainly won’t…”

Proposed by: Ollie Raggett, Grace Darbyshire and Sarah Sharp

Synopsis

In the library of a grammar school in Stockport, William and his fellow sixth formers are nearing the end of the end of their school life, preparing for their mock A-levels while navigating the pressures of their teenage years. They stand on the edge of life, charged by a desire to live but equally contained by the structures surrounding them. The end of term is fast approaching and an uncertain future life lies ahead. Soon Stockport will be a thing of the past. They are educated and aspirational young people but step-by-step, the dislocation, disjunction and latent aggression is revealed. When the world opens up before you, there’s danger in it that’ll swallow you up. Contemporary, powerful and compelling, Punk Rock perfectly captures the rawness, humour and desire of intelligent young people today yet forcefully suggests that being bright and middle class offers no protection from bullying, fear, mental illness or death. The first six scenes of the play are set in the library of the grammar school. The seventh scene is set in Suttons Manor Hospital.

Written in 2009, Punk Rock was first performed in the Lyric Hammersmith followed by a subsequent national tour appearing at both the Crucible and Royal Exchange in Manchester.

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

Rights per performance are £93 from Samuel French Ltd.

In terms of week slot we would ideally like week 4 or 6. However, we are flexible.

It’s a play with adult themes (steady on.) So we would be looking at an audience of 16+.Cast5 guys, 4 girls

Characters

William Carlisle (17): A complex character. A self- doubting fantasist, highly intelligent but deeply troubled with a tendency to bend the truth. He befriends newcomer Lily only to discover her relationship with Nicholas which breaks something within him. We identify with William as a victim with whom we sympathise despite the brutal climax to the play.

Bennett Francis (18): An absolute malicious bully and terrifying with it. Cruel and vindictive, a fiercely aggressive individual who masks his sexuality by humiliating those around him. He has the air of a privileged young man accustomed to getting what he wants (his family plan to spend Christmas in Reykjavik). His increasingly violent bullying of the enigmatic Chadwick Mead and Tanya Gleason comes across as someone testing the boundaries of what he can get away with. When he spits at one of his classmates he does so simply to see what it feels like. 

Chadwick Meade (18): Coldly omniscient, Chadwick’s school survival strategy involves distancing himself from the world he seems poorly designed to fit into; humanity, he declares in a powerful monologue, is a lost cause. His ambition to study Maths at Cambridge further removes him from forming a close bond with any his peers aside from a mutual hate of Bennett. Yet he can’t be touched by taunts or threats. He is beyond all that.

Lilly Cahill (18): A newcomer to the school, her arrival is the axis upon which the play turns. There is definitely more to her than we might initially presume, including a secret relationship with Nicholas. A practised air of confidence masks her insecurities. She does care for William but struggles to cope with his difficult personality.

Cissy Franks (17): Bennett’s girlfriend, she is quick to defend him and his actions yet her affections are often ignored by Bennett himself and even she is not safe from his aggression. Driven by a fear of failure, she is desperate to leave Stockport despite giving the air of a spoilt little rich girl whose uncaring attitude makes her

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

an unlikable and untrustworthy character. Like her boyfriend she is plagued by personal insecurity.

Nicholas Chatman (18): The star sportsman of the school and the supposed sexual dynamo yet who is in fact a virgin before his relationship with Lily. His unobtrusive character can be easily overlooked and underestimated but it is centrally important within the play with regard to his relationship with William which we will look to develop.

Tanya Gleason(17): She is Cissy’s best friend yet is the victim of much of Bennett’s bullying as she defends those around her. Tanya has not been in private grammar education all her life and this is a world that she sometimes does not fully fit into. Her desires for her History teacher create a light relief within the play, definitely the most likeable character within the play.

Lucy Francis (14): Bennett’s younger sister.

Dr Richard Harvey: Psychiatrist at Sutton’s Manor Hospital. He connects with his patient in Scene 7 - a dynamic we wish to explore.

(We are looking to expand the roles of Lucy and Dr. Harvey in our version).

Artistic Interpretation

People like to look at beautiful things. Yet sometimes what is just as important is to force ourselves to look at the problems and issues that make society ugly. What attracted me to ‘Punk Rock’ was primarily Stephens’ cracking script but also the way the play directly confronts the inherent (but often ignored) problems with our society right now. It questions our perception of what is ‘right’ and hints at the consequences of what may be if the older generation fail to take notice of young people and listen to them. ‘Punk Rock’ questions the conveyor belt and expectations of education as well our treatment and perception of those deemed ‘insane’ in a play with both literal and conceptual significance.

I feel that to fully engage and successfully communicate the complexity and challenging ideas behind the piece, as a director I aim to approach the audition and rehearsal process slightly differently to the past productions I have been involved in. I want each actor to fully identify with a role they are given and thus my approach will be a collaborative workshop process allowing actors to explore different directions and nuances of the character. At a basic level we have all, within our teenage lives encountered a Cissy, a Nicholas etc but I feel for a piece which carries such emotional weight, to make it as successful as possible an attention to detail and an organic rehearsal process is crucial.

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

The idea of the breaking from conformity, a challenging of accepted norms, is something I really wish to focus upon and an influence that I wish to highlight not only with the technical aspects of the show but also filter into publicity of the show. In dealing with a similar subject matter, the style of Gus Van Sant’s film ‘Elephant’ is something which I wish to colour my version of ‘Punk Rock’. Furthermore, I have taken a lot of inspiration from the music of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta2-VXNIhH0&feature=related) and Innerpartysystem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu-dYBPt3z0) which have been a good foundation to establish an atmosphere for the piece. I would like to create a sense of the break from the normal in a prologue piece of movement emblematic of the themes within the play, the breaking sanity of William and as an exploration of each character, potentially using one of the above tracks. I would be looking to take on a movement/choreographer to help with this in particular.

However, I wish to juxtapose this sense of surrealism against the rigid conformity from which the play has been born out of to blur the boundaries between what is ‘real’ and ‘unreal’, what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. I wish to combine the intense naturalism of the scenes in the library against the unsettling nightmare-ish prologue and interludes to heighten this sense of unease and building tension as the play hurtles towards its intensely dramatic conclusion. This will be achieved through great contrasts in lighting, sound and work from the actors themselves.

The set of ‘Punk Rock’ is very important. For me there is a reason the brutal and horrific events which take place happen within the sanctity and beauty of a quintessentially traditional British school library and so this set would remain static throughout. Ideally we would do the play in ‘the round’ or traverse to bring the audience as close to the unfolding action as possible. I find this style of staging greatly interesting and believe it adds more power to a piece like ‘Punk Rock’ working so close to spectators. (See diagram for initial ideas on this).

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

Technical Aspects

This is not a play that needs the addition of lots of bells and whistles as it is relatively simple in terms of structure and staging. ‘Punk Rock’, in all honesty, leaves a lot of room for interpretation for the technical aspects of the production. Therefore, we have had some initial ideas but we would really like to look to an active team of designers in these areas. Sound: Within this play Sound and Lighting work very closely together. Our plans for a prologue (see above) clearly leave a lot of freedom in this area as well as creating the rising sense of disjuncture and breakdown that develops through the play through the interludes of sudden, very loud music. Sound will be key to harbour this building tension within the piece. We have some ideas of our own that we would like to see put into action but we are looking for someone to come and put their mark on this. LightingThere is a definite sense of place and setting in ‘Punk Rock’ and this is relatively straight-forward. However, again there is full licence for the prologue and in the many musical interludes. However we feel this is an area where we will look to work closely with other members of SUTCO.

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

Publicity

As a fairly new play, ‘Punk Rock’ still has a definite buzz surrounding it; it would be wonderful and fairly easy to advertise and shift lots of tickets! Its themes are simultaneously classic and edgy, which opens up a lot of room for interesting creative interpretation when publicising it. We feel that as a contemporary, somewhat political piece of theatre about our generation, it could certainly attract attention from, and would be of interest to, a lot of students. The fact the play is set so locally would also generate interest within Sheffield and increase its appeal. We would also aim to try and draw in Sixth Form students, possibly by using external projects, because we feel it’s important to try and show the piece to the people that its plot directly revolves around. 

Team

Ollie Raggett – Director

Up until now my participation within SUTCO has been predominantly as an actor, with roles in Our Country’s Good, Alice, and Peter Pan. This involvement has not only given me invaluable experiences but also an understanding of what it takes to direct a show for this fantastic company. Away from University I have gained a range of experience to stand me in a good position to direct ‘Punk Rock’. I studied Drama at GCSE and A level, played many roles in school productions and have been an active member of NYT since 2010. I have worked with professional directors from the National, DV8 and Old Vic and as part of a production at the Criterion Theatre, London. I assistant directed and was choreographer for a show at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 as well as an original piece of devised physical theatre with a theatre company. However I also have gained vital experience of the work off stage of a production as an SM for a production of ‘Sweeny Todd’ at school. This summer I will be joining the course with NSDF and hope to translate much of what I learn from it into this production.

I really would like the opportunity to direct for SUTCO as I feel this play is the perfect fit for the exciting talent within the society both on and off stage. I recognise the challenges that the process will present but I fully believe I have what it takes to face them and with ‘Punk Rock’, continue the brilliant work SUTCO produces time and time again.

Grace Darbyshire – Producer

This year I’ve really enjoyed being involved in SUTCO; I performed in both ‘Our Country’s Good’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and was recently elected onto committee as Workshops and Project Officer (which is incidentally very similar to the role I would have as a producer...) I also acted in ‘The Rover’, a collaboration between the Crucible and The School of English. Although I am predominantly an actor, I feel that if I were given the opportunity to be part of a production team, I would be able to bring all the experience I have to the role, whether that

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

experience comes from organising or participating in productions. I’ve been involved in several theatre groups over the years, taken two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe and on a Yorkshire tour, and I’ve directed several shows with young people while at school. I won both of my school’s Drama Awards, and was always heavily involved within the department, and I’m pretty good at working within a team. As a theatre student, I deal with the Drama Studio on a regular basis and feel that would help when working with them.

I don’t want to continue to list things I’ve done (it cringes me out) so I’ll just finish by saying that I think I would be a passionate, committed and most importantly approachable producer. This is a play that I truly believe would be a great choice for SUTCO, and would be great for everyone to get involved in, simply because it is both relevant and powerful.

Sarah Sharp – Stage Manager

As soon as I came to university in September, I immediately auditioned for King Lear, which in my opinion one of the best decisions that I made during fresher’s week. This is down to the fact that I have now been in three SUTCO shows this year and have loved every single one of them and additionally all of the others that have been put on too. I have gained lots of experience in theatre before joining SUTCO as I have been a part of a theatre company since I was five years old until the age of 16 and studied Drama up to A Level. I also did my NYT course last summer.

This constant involvement in theatre has been invaluable to my gaining not just acting experience, but also of what goes on behind the scenes of a production. I have written, directed and staged my own drama performances in the past, working with lighting technicians and sound operators and so I feel confident in these areas. From this, I feel I am able to help everyone involved with a production to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. I aim to be considerate, reliable and enthusiastic in every aspect that I can bring to the role of stage manager and I would really love this opportunity. I have been eager to do it ever since September and feel I am now fully ready to take on all of the challenges it may entail with confidence and enjoyment.

Why should SUTCO do ‘Punk Rock’?

As a student drama company it is important to test ourselves and take risks. This play is extremely different to those put on this year so gives us the opportunity to explore new genres, new styles and harness the exciting talent within the society as a whole. We firmly believe that variety is not only important but is wholly essential for a society that looks to grow and develop. It is important internally – for us to engage with differing material of differing contexts, and also for our audiences – to appeal to as wide a range of people as possible. If we can fulfil these and engage people with theatre that challenges perceptions and norms then we are all the better for it.

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PUNK ROCK PROPOSAL – Ollie Raggett, Grace Daryshire, Sarah Sharp

It’s a CHALLENGE. From its ideas to the set design this will really test everyone’s creativity. And everyone loves something to get their teeth into!

It is a NEW PLAY about OUR GENERATION and so something we can readily understand and identify with as actors, designers and an audience

It’s has brilliantly written dialogue with fantastic character roles. This play really is AN ACTOR’S DREAM.

It’s a COLLABORATIVE project. Just because it’s a cast is 9 doesn’t mean there has to be few people involved.

It is a play which will be EASY TO SELL. It is set just over the Peaks in Stockport and about students in this country. There will be local interest as well as being something we could sell to schools and colleges to increase our connection with the local community.

A final word….

‘PunkRock’ is a play which is important for this generation right now. In a time of arts cuts and a lack of funding we cannot afford theatre to fall merely into ‘safe work’ it is time for it to justify its place within society. Now is the time more than ever to make a point, to address these issues through our work. The success of previous SUTCO productions shows that people want to engage with theatre so now SUTCO should engage with what matters to us as a new generation. It is not an anti-statist play, it challenges us to think and talk about things that we are sometimes afraid to, but it is now more than ever important that we do.

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