Upton (the) Woman

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-78850-885-8
Verlag: Nick Hern Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 104 Seiten

Reihe: NHB Modern Plays

M is a writer. M is a mother. M is a woman. The triumph of M's hit play is hijacked by motherhood. She is burnt out, angry, lonely, craving intimacy but disengaged, and terrified of the future. She wants to tell her story, her way. But everyone keeps giving her their opinions on who she is, who she ought to be, and how she's fucking everything up. Fiercely funny and brutally honest, Jane Upton's play (the) Woman shatters the glossy veneer of motherhood, exposing its raw, messy truth and what happens when a woman dares to question the definition of (her)self. It was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, and first performed by New Perspectives on tour of the UK in 2025.

Jane Upton is a playwright whose work includes: (the) Woman (New Perspectives / Royal & Derngate tour, 2025); The Price of Home (Paines Plough & Derby Theatre); Finding Nana (New Perspectives, 2017 & 2018); All the Little Lights (George Devine Award, 2016; Fifth Word UK tour, 2017); Watching the Living, an adaptation of two Daphne du Maurier short stories (New Perspectives Theatre UK tour, 2014); Swimming (Menagerie Theatre Hotbed Festival, 2013/Soho/Edinburgh Festival, 2014); and Bones (Fifth Word, Edinburgh Festival/UK tour 2011-2012). She was the winner of the 2024 Adopt a Playwright Award run by Off West End Plays and Playwrights. Author photo by David Hammond

Autoren/Hrsg.

Upton, Jane

Leseproben

Scene One

A New Beginning (1)/Detonation

M ( Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)

M. Hello. Hi. Hi.

I’m your mummy.

Yes, I am. Yes, I am.

Ten perfect fingers

Ten perfect toes

Skin as soft as velvet

Tiny button nose

Here we are

You and me

It makes sense

Now I see

What life is all about

( DOCTORS/MIDWIVES ) Excuse me!

() Up until this moment

My head was all a mess

Drowning in confusion

Things I can’t confess

But that’s all gone

My life is new

I’ll be perfect

Just for you

A brand-new shiny me

( DOCTORS/MIDWIVES ) Excuse me!

MEDICAL STAFF

Baby girl, comrade, sister

I’m gonna raise you up, won’t try to fix ya

I’ll celebrate your traits and never judge ya

Let you trash boundaries and always love ya

When acne plagues your face I’ll kiss your skin

Won’t nail-poke your belly

We’ll destroy the word slim (MEDICAL STAFF ) ICK!

We’ll hail high our sisters and roar our truth

Occupy space and smash the roof

This is our moment, we’re power manifested

We’re the toil our foremothers invested

Obliterate the patriarchy, slam the system

One mess at a time, too many to list them

From here I will be better

From here I’m growing up

From here I’ve found my voice

From here I’m showing up

.

DOCTORS/ MIDWIVES.

Excuse me!

And I’ll hold you

And I’ll tell you you’re the best thing that ever existed

I’ll fill you so stuffed full of your own brilliance that nothing dark will ever get through the cracks

But I’ll make you aware of your own privilege

And I’ll show you the world isn’t fair

And that there are very bad people

But

Also

We’ll have so much fun

And I’ll make sure you’re never sad, or lost, or lonely, and that you never give your body to anyone who doesn’t deserve it

No matter how beautiful they are. Or good at playing guitar.

Everything you need, I’ll give to you

Perfectly

To ensure you are top-to-toe full

Of electric confidence.

A strong independent woman

Who never doubts her own worth

NEVER

( MIDWIFE) What’s happening? Excuse me!

MIDWIFE .

She’s not crawling up to the areola like they said she would.

MIDWIFE ( M). Right. Let me just

M. I’ve read all the books. I know how to do it. She’s just not

MIDWIFE. You’ve got to squeeze your nipples. Really hard.

M. Oh, OW, excuse me, that’s my, OWWWWW

MIDWIFE. You’ve got to force the milk down. Keep squeezing.

M () Ow. Owwwwww!

MIDWIFE. Oh come on!

M. I’ve got another contraction

MIDWIFE. Have you delivered the placenta?

M. What?

MIDWIFE. That’s it. Push. Push

M. Push? Owwwww.

I never saw this in the movies! Or the nativity

MIDWIFE. Men wrote that, love.

MIDWIFE

M. Hang on, don’t I want to fry that or bake it or something?

MIDWIFE. Right.

MIDWIFE .

M. She’s still not

MIDWIFE

MIDWIFE. You’ve got to squeeze – () I’m coming!

M. Ow, please don’t

MIDWIFE. You have to keep () I’m coming!

MIDWIFE

M

This is a new day, a fresh start, a second chance, for me

A brand-new start for me.

M

Scene Two

Top of the Pops/Self Harm

M MATT

MATT’ BIG JOHN

MATT. Alright.

M. Hi.

MATT M.

MATT. Jesus.

M. Yeah.

MATT (). That yours then?

M. Yep.

MATT. God, how long’s it been?

M. Twenty years.

MATT. Must be. The years have not been kind, eh?

M. Likewise. Got any of these towels in white?

MATT. That is white.

M. Looks like dried spunk. I’ll leave it.

MATT. Suit yourself.

Jesus. Can’t believe

M. What?

MATT. When I saw you with the buggy.

M. What?

MATT. No, I just, expected

M. What?

MATT. More

M. More than what?

MATT. Kids. You. Here.

M. You still live here.

MATT. Yeah, but

M. You expected me to do more with my life than have kids in hometown?

MATT. Yeah.

M. Like what?

MATT. I dunno.

M. No, come on

MATT. No. I mean. .

M. ?

MATT. You were always good at singing.

M. And you thought

MATT. I just thought one day I’d be sitting in my armchair with a beer flicking through the channels and suddenly you’d be there in some sequinned-bikini thing, loads of mad make-up, dancing like some crazy fucking fire woman and I’d just start

M. What?

MATT. Wanking, I suppose.

M. Right.

What is it about this then that disgusts you?

MATT. I didn’t say disgust

M. That’s not enough for you?

MATT. Don’t be like that.

M. Like what?

MATT. Is that a crime? To think that? Of everyone at school I just didn’t see you

M. What?

MATT. Doing this. It’s a fucking compliment.

M. So who did you see doing this?

MATT. I dunno. Marie Marshall. Natalie Smith. That sort. Look, I just thought, when we went out

M. Fucked on that field

MATT. A few times

M. Fucked on that field a few times

MATT. We went for a beer

M. Did we?

MATT. In The Bell.

M. We got thrown out.

MATT. We went to the offie a lot. Anyway, I just

M. What? You thought, she’s going to change things, as I laid back on that dog-shit-stained grass and let you cum over my eyelids

MATT. Okay, yeah

M. Cool

MATT. You were, I dunno, different

M. Different?

MATT. From the other girls. That’s why I went out with you

M. Fucked in a field

MATT. That’s another compliment. You need to learn to take compliments.

M. No. Honestly. Thank you.

MATT. You were always so free. So up for it.

M. Up for what?

MATT. A laugh. Anything, really. You were fucking cool. Not tight like most of them. And clever, as well, straight-A student. An unusual combination in a girl. Look, I don’t wanna have a fucking debate about it.

M. Course not

MATT. I don’t wanna justify my words. I’m just saying. What?

M....