Stella is now of an age where she realises that she is from a different age. And now, on Christmas Eve and alone, she is forced by circumstances, surrounded by recollections and shadows and conditioned by expectations, to consider her life - the two worlds she inhabits, both ancient and modern. As she sits waiting for her taxi to arrive to take her to midnight mass, her perceptions of her life gently and unwittingly collide with humour and sincerity. The collisions cause wholly unexpected personal revelations to appear. Albeit quicker than Stuart from ‘Speedy Cabs.’
Although a continuous one act play, it is divided up into four ‘chapters’ as indicated in the printed script. It is also available on YouTube to listen to by using the following links:
Part 1: "Brown Owl is a Fascist!"
Part 2: "Vigorously whip until stiff"
Part 3: "Three camp Royals and a boring Farmer"
All four may also be found in one playlist by clicking HERE
Thoughts on the character
Playing age is 65+ or made up to appear so.
Opinionated, unforgiving, exacting, even gently and unwittingly xenophobic. She is a woman of routines, of rituals, of expectations, of standards. Her likes and dislikes have become entrenched and easily supported by evidence of life experience which she relies upon to self-justify. Because of this she is a watcher of people, an observer, an interpreter of life and how she thinks people should live theirs. Equally, she is a reflector, painfully sensitive and whilst not searching for something, has chosen to avoid the painful truth which is the most painful truth of all: the home truth.
Acknowledgements
With grateful thanks to the genuinely delightful, ‘real’ Stella who was the inspiration for this play and for her graciousness when she eventually found out!
Above all, to the talented actress Mandy Mallinson who voiced the recording and brought it so wonderfully to life.
Tracey Rontree for her contribution at the end of part 4 and Louise Brennan for the accompaniments.
Lastly, but by no means least, to Angela Kemp for her skill, patience, and expertise in making and engineering the recording (not forgetting her neighbours who, after several months, must have known the script backwards).
Running time
Approximately 55 Minutes.
Please note that the script for this play is contained within the published collection from the author, 'The First Ten Plays' which can be obtained at cost from this site by going to the 'In Print' tab. It is intended to additionally be used with another monologue piece, 'Last Bus to Whitby' to make a complete evening.
