Fragments
Raw and Real. A gripping new work on youth mental health.
Swimmers put up their hands when struggling in a rip, but there is no clear, universal signal for people who need help with mental health issues.
Fragments embodies the theme that stress at home, at school and in life is challenging young people beyond their usual coping abilities, often leaving them disenfranchised and vulnerable. The work aims to start a conversation, giving a sense of agency to young people, while reaching out to their peers, families and the community.
Praise for Fragments:
Fragments…. gives audiences a multi-sensory, embodied experience of what it’s like to be a teenager in distress. The cast delivers the angst-driven script movingly… Despite the angst, the script also contains moments of genuine humour, of wit, and of hope. The tragedy isn’t so much the pain the characters feel, but the fact that they’re so consumed by it that they don’t notice that everyone else feels it too. And by pointing this out, Fragments opens up the vital possibility of connection. (Erin Stewart, ArtsHub) For full ArtsHub review, click here.
Fragments was developed in Canberra with the support of the ACT Government (artsACT), LJ Hooker Canberra City, The Street Theatre, Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation (CAPO), Mental Health Community Coalition ACT, Bundanon Trust, Ainslie+Gorman Arts Centres (Ralph Indie Program) and MPS Travel+Tours. Although written for a general audience, Fragments is especially relevant for young people and their families and an ideal choice for performance and discussion in schools.
To preview or purchase the Fragments (electronic) script
or to enquire about production rights/licensing,
please contact Australian Plays Transform.
Fragments – Journeys from Isolation to Connection (Paperback) Big Ideas Press
Release date: 1 October 2021
Raw, unsettling, ironic, funny, heartbreaking, authentic – Fragments is all of this and more.
(E Toohey)
The book will be launched in October 2021
(Mental Health Month).
Check back here soon for details.
Check back here soon for details.
The adaptation of the work for the digital space, supported by The ACT Government through artsACT, will be launched later in 2021.
Tapping Out
10- minute play
Synopsis
Trapped in his psyche, a young man drawn to rhythm, rather than words, taps his feelings for the woman he loves in a desperate bid to ward off reality.
Winner – Judges’ Choice (Week 4) and Third Place, Best Production, Short+Sweet Sydney (2017); SOLO Monologue Competition Winner, Published Category, Hothouse Theatre, Wodonga (2016)
Shortlisted – Short+Sweet Theatre Festival, Hollywood, Auckland, and Wellington (2016)
Performed at the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival, Sydney (February-March 2017) and Brisbane (July 2016)
Leaving
One-Act Play
Synopsis
Siblings clash at the bedside of their ailing, manipulative mother – one resentful that he never left years ago, the other guilty that she did.
Performed in Eltham and St Andrews, Victoria as part of Theatre 451’s ‘A Play, A Pie and A Pot’ program (Melbourne, July 2014).
One audience member commented: A funny, raw and touching account of the confronting and painful journey we face when trying to care for elderly parents.
Rewind
One-Act Play
Synopsis
Scrapbooking the life of a mysterious elderly relative unleashes a storm of conflicting memories, dangerous lies and dark secrets for three generations of women. A funny, moving and provocative play about the urgency of youth, the transformation of getting older and ultimately letting go.
Rehearsed Reading as part of Theatre 451’s Elevate program (Melbourne, November 2016).
The noted author, artist and playwright, Barry Dickins, said: Rewind is brilliant – 10/10!