Unspoken
By Neil Rathmell, in collaboration with Dr. Trudy Stewart
Age range
11 – 13, 13 – 15, 16 +
Cast size
Under 10, 10 – 15, 15 +
Approx. running time
60 – 90 mins
Gender breakdown
Male: 9
Female: 4
Also: 16 non-gender specific roles.
Female: 4
Also: 16 non-gender specific roles.
Setting
Mainly empty stage with minimal props to suggest a small variety of settings. The present.
Note
A contemporary drama for large or small groups.
First performance
Leeds Arts Centre, West Yorkshire, July 2017
Synopsis
Alex is getting ready for an important date. Tonight, over dinner at a restaurant, he is going to ask his girlfriend to marry him.
Alex has grown up with a stammer. As a young man he has learned to control it. His girlfriend doesn't even know about it. But he does and he wants her to know, because his stammer is part of who he is.
Facing the audience as if looking in a mirror, he remembers all the times in his life when his stammer has got in his way. As those memories crowd around him, he grows more and more anxious about how his girlfriend will react. Will proposing to her be just one more unhappy memory?
Written in collaboration with a speech and language therapist, Unspoken is an authentic account of the experience of stammering. With up to 29 acting parts it offers maximum levels of involvement in a piece of genuine ensemble theatre.
Alex has grown up with a stammer. As a young man he has learned to control it. His girlfriend doesn't even know about it. But he does and he wants her to know, because his stammer is part of who he is.
Facing the audience as if looking in a mirror, he remembers all the times in his life when his stammer has got in his way. As those memories crowd around him, he grows more and more anxious about how his girlfriend will react. Will proposing to her be just one more unhappy memory?
Written in collaboration with a speech and language therapist, Unspoken is an authentic account of the experience of stammering. With up to 29 acting parts it offers maximum levels of involvement in a piece of genuine ensemble theatre.