Four new short plays about young people, life and stem cells written by Joy Wilkinson, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru and Tim Cowbury.
Embryonic? is the second stage in Islington Community Theatre's ongoing relationship with The Biochemical Society.
Following the success of Hive 9 in autumn 2009, the Biochemical Society asked us to create four brand new ten minute plays which link young people in Islington to the controversial topic of stem cell research.
Over two day-long workshops, we worked with 16 young people, 4 young directors, 4 professional playwrights and leading scientists and experts. The result: 4 tiny new exploratory plays which were first performed as script-in-hand performances at Charles Darwin House in June 2010.
Each play was directed by a young person from our Work in Progress group.
Download a production programme
Two of the Directors talk about the project:
THE PLAYS
The Right Way
by Tim Cowbury
Directed by Kwami Odoom
About the play: Max is about to have an operation. Tina is there to support him. Then Robbie arrives. In the minutes before the operation, the family finally has to confront what they’ve been avoiding. Can religion and science be reconciled? The Right Way explores the emotional, psychological struggle that might arise for ordinary people, should stem cell research become a commonplace practice in future years. TC
Tim Cowbury is a playwright and writer-deviser for performance. His work has recently been seen at the Old Vic Theatre, Soho Theatre, Shunt Vaults and Bush Theatre. He has also developed work at the National Theatre Studio and Royal Court Theatre. Tim is one third of the new theatre company, Made In China.
Tim on his experience:
"The project was a great experience for me - well run, enjoyable and challenging. The young people's energy and honesty in the workshop was refreshing; and their desire to ask big questions really inspired me as I wrote my play. During the final performances, it was brilliant to see everyone having loads of fun with the plays while continuing to ask big questions. My only regret was that it was all over in a flash - I'm me eager to work with ICT again!"
Time, Please
by Joy Wilkinson
Directed by Daniel O’Keefe
About the play: The workshop was buzzing with big ideas. Discussions leapt from stem cells to religion, ethics, and then to immortality. If you could extend a life by weeks, months, years, what effect would that have on the way we lived, the way we loved? I’ve tried to capture that big idea in a short play, exploring how the amount of time we have together changes relationships and asking how much is enough. JW
Joy Wilkinson’s plays include Acting Leader, which opens at the Tricycle Theatre next week, Now is the Time (Tricycle), Fair (Finborough Theatre & Trafalgar Studios), Felt Effects (Theatre 503) and The Sweet Science of Bruising (National Theatre Studio). She also writes for radio and TV and is a graduate of the BBC Writers’ Academy.
Joy on Embryonic:
"Working on Embryonic was a fantastic experience. The project was ambitious in its aims and the young people responded to that fearlessly, taking complex ideas and making them their own with insight, creativity and wit. I wish I had this kind of inspirational atmosphere for developing every play."
What If
by Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru
Directed by Rochelle Rose
About the play: It is 3048 and all embryonic creation is made by a Single Female, controlled by The Patent Department. When The Patent Department tries to introduce a new synthetic in vitro species, which will mark the end of the Single Female, she takes drastic measures to protect her life. When she is put on trial it is up to Ten ordinary Men to decide her future and the future of the last vestiges of Humanity. MQ-K
Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru has been shortlisted for the Alfed Fagon Awards in 2006 and 2009. She has also been shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award 2007, and is currently on the Royal Court’s Writers Super Group. She has completed an attachment at the Royal Court and is on the Writers’ Group at Soho Theatre, where she has a short play staged. She has written three full length plays and is currently working on a short film, based on her latest full length play, Take Me 2 Manhattan.
Maxine on her Embryonic experience:
"I have never yet come across a more confident, skilled and effective group of young Theatre practitioners. If left in their hands, the future of British Theatre is set to be even brighter. The opportunity Embryonic gave me as a writer was to open my eyes to a new strand of technical, and yet dramatic writing; a real gift to treasure."
For the Good of Mankind
by Hassan Abdulrazzak
Directed by Daniel Rickler
About the play: Mice have taken over the world. Dr. Calvin Goodwill is facing murder charges for experiments he conducted as a stem cell biologists. Will he succeed in persuading a jury of mice to spare his life? HA
Hassan Abdulrazzak is a stem cell biologist. His first play, Baghdad Wedding, was shown at Soho theatre (London) and Belvoir St theatre (Sydney). He is the winner of the George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth and the Pearson theatre awards.
Hassan on the project:
"The fearlessness and imagination of the young actors and directors is awesome to behold. They were truly inspirational to work with. I also think the project was worthwhile as theatre is a good place to debate the social and moral issues relating to cutting edge science. I hope there will be greater funding for this work in the coming years so that the plays generated could reach a wider audience."
Performers
Aisha Ajona
Jemima Ajona
Naomi Bell
Kai Blyth-Foster
Phoebe Burrows
Raphael Braithwaite
Truchelle Carthy
Calvin Dickson
Luke Donnelly
Sean Dottin
Amika Ezer
Alex Kampfner
Dayna Kellman
Aaron Miller
Kofi Odoom
Rakeama Reid-Akbar
Hayley Thomas
Esther Uwejeyah
Heaven Yemane
