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Holding On

    by Alice M Underwood


Runner-Up - Derek Jacobi Playwriting Competition, 2019/20
National Drama Festivals Association

Synopsis

Drama Play Script: 'Conkers' by Alice M UnderwoodHenrietta, has spent her whole life believing, that at the age of thirteen she was the cause of her baby brother’s death.  Based upon this huge sense of guilt, she has made erroneous decisions that have circumscribed her life both emotionally and professionally with devastating effect.

As an older woman she now wishes only to write and believes if, as Virginia Wolf prescribed, she had at long last ‘A Room of One’s Own’ this ambition could be fulfilled.

Initially it might seem odd that she has stumbled into the antenatal department but as her story unfolds it transpires that a baby is embedded in her memory. Once there she revisits her life, replaying scenes from it - those key moments when some things change, and others are resolved.

In the first scene of the play, we see Henrietta as a gentle book-loving child, and in the second scene, after the baby’s death, we meet her as a sulky adolescent, having been sent to a boarding school which she believes is her parents’ punishment for her being the cause of her brother’s death.

In a further scene, we meet her as a failed actress, recalling an audition with her lost love and his unwillingness to reignite the relationship following the termination of her pregnancy, without consulting him, the ‘father’.

Henrietta has a caustic tongue, which can cause amusement as well as pathos but only when she finally accepts the friendship and compassion of the care assistant does she, quite literally, face her fears and understand the cause and implications of witnessing a cot death.

Being admitted to hospital means Henrietta finally acquires a room of her own, yet the audience are left to ponder whether or not she has the ability to achieve inner peace.


Duration

45-50 mins approx

Characters

Principals (1m, 3f, 1jnr-f)

  • Girl - Age 12/13, gentle book-loving child, also plays age 15/16 (f)
  • Henrietta - the ‘Girl’ but now elderly, 60s/70s, suffering from a bang to the head, dementia (f)
  • Mary - 40s upwards, Health Care Assistant, caring and tries to be patient and efficient (f)
  • Actress - late 30/40s, Henrietta when she was a younger woman and failed actress (f)
  • Jonathan - 30-50, an ex-lover of Henrietta’s when she was an actress (m)

  • Preview E-Script (Holding On)
    £0.00 Preview E-Script (Holding On)
    A free preview script containing a significant part of the full script and provided as a pdf file sized for A4 paper.
  • E-Script (Holding On)
    £3.75 E-Script (Holding On)
    The full script provided as a pdf file for A4 size paper. You have a maximum of three attempts to download the file which will expire after 30 days. You are licensed to print this once for your personal use. If you want to...
  • Printed Script (Holding On)
    £7.25 Printed Script (Holding On)
    A printed script provided as an A5 paperback acting edition. You are licensed to use this for your personal use. If you want to make multiple copies for use at rehearsals, a Script Copying Licence is required in addition...
  • Script Copying Licence (Holding On)
    £14.99 Script Copying Licence (Holding On)
    If you've bought an e-script or a printed script, this licence permits you to make copies of it for rehearsal use.  PLEASE NOTE: The licence will be e-mailed to you as an A4 pdf file - it is not instantly downloadable...
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