MONKEY
written by David K. Barnes
© Maxwell Tyler
“People can’t resist giving money to a monkey.”
A few months ago, you could have found Barbara leaping from tree to tree in the depths of a distant jungle. Now she works for an organ grinder on the shores of the English seaside, dancing for spare change and having a thoroughly miserable time. Anxious, trapped and bored to tears, Barbara finds solace in the company of the organ grinder’s wife – but can either of them escape from the lives they never wanted?
A short tale of a little monkey in a bad and baffling world.
~~~
A few months ago, you could have found Barbara leaping from tree to tree in the depths of a distant jungle. Now she works for an organ grinder on the shores of the English seaside, dancing for spare change and having a thoroughly miserable time. Anxious, trapped and bored to tears, Barbara finds solace in the company of the organ grinder’s wife – but can either of them escape from the lives they never wanted?
A short tale of a little monkey in a bad and baffling world.
~~~
Monkey was first performed on Sunday 3rd & Monday 4th May at the Drayton Arms Theatre, London.
It was paired with a new production of Timothy.
Barbara (Voice) ~ BETH EYRE
Barbara (On Stage) ~ ALYS HENRY
Paula ~ SARAH SORENSEN
Marcus ~ PETER WICKS
Tech ~ ALICE GREENING
Designer ~ JOSH GILES
Producer ~ MAXWELL TYLER
Directed by JOHN RUSHTON
for TumbleDry Theatre
Duration: 60 minutes
~~~
It was paired with a new production of Timothy.
Barbara (Voice) ~ BETH EYRE
Barbara (On Stage) ~ ALYS HENRY
Paula ~ SARAH SORENSEN
Marcus ~ PETER WICKS
Tech ~ ALICE GREENING
Designer ~ JOSH GILES
Producer ~ MAXWELL TYLER
Directed by JOHN RUSHTON
for TumbleDry Theatre
Duration: 60 minutes
~~~
Monkey was written to be paired up with a new production of Timothy, and had to feature the same cast and similarly low set requirements. Working to that fairly flexible brief, I outlined to John an idea I'd had in my head for a few months. I wanted to explore the relationship between an organ grinder, an organ grinder's wife and an organ grinder's monkey. As I developed the idea, I realised that having the monkey, Barbara, portrayed by two actors - one on stage and one providing Barbara's thoughts as spoken dialogue from off-stage - opened new avenues for how I could develop the story.
Despite that, it wasn't until I relocated my play from a conventional living room to a bench upon the beach in the sleepy (fictional) seaside town of Piltdown that the story really began to come together, and in a much darker way than I'd initially expected. Drawing inspiration from the little-seen cult classic series The Strange World of Gurney Slade (by way of, oddly enough, Garfield), it's a sinister and humorous play which I should love to develop for a full production run.
Despite that, it wasn't until I relocated my play from a conventional living room to a bench upon the beach in the sleepy (fictional) seaside town of Piltdown that the story really began to come together, and in a much darker way than I'd initially expected. Drawing inspiration from the little-seen cult classic series The Strange World of Gurney Slade (by way of, oddly enough, Garfield), it's a sinister and humorous play which I should love to develop for a full production run.