Thievin’ Thugs Play # 7 by Kate Herbert, May 2020

Kate Herbert · Thievin' Thugs Solo Kate Herbert 26 Mar 2020

Covid19 Iso Project 

 

This is an audio reading of  Thievin’ Thugs Play # 7 in the Cycle of 8 X 10. This reading is done unrehearsed by me, solo, playing all characters, unedited and reading stage directions. This is my Covid19 Iso project - or part of it. Enjoy! More to come with me doing all characters or with another performer. 

 

This play is about two teenage lads, Zac and Gabba, who roll people for their phones, IPads and laptops at the railway station or outside the school. Their last robbery is more violent than usual.CHARACTERS - 2 MALE

ZAC: 16. Loud, brash, confident, street-smart. Thief, thug, leader. Expects GABBA to follow orders. Wears loose jeans, hoodie, phone, over-sized headphones, backpack. 

GABBA: 15. Loud, under-confident, inarticulate. Follows ZAC’s instructions Wears loose jeans, hoodie, phone, over-sized headphones, backpack.  Uses ‘f’ instead of ‘th’ -e.g. ‘fousand’ not ‘thousand’. Loves and understands technology but not much else. 

BOY (VOICE): 10-13. Off-stage only.

MAN (VOICE): Any age. Off-stage only.

 

SETTING Suburban laneway beside train line.

 

Extract of Thievin’ Thugs is earlier in this blog.

8 X 10 - A cycle of 8 plays approx 10 minutes each

Play # 1 Baggage
Play # 2 Phone Calls on a Train
Play # 3 Social ME-dia
Play # 4 Lover Boy!
Play # 5 The House That Alex Built
Play # 6 DB and Scruff
Play # 7 Thievin’ Thugs
Play # 8 Foxy’s Hangout

The 8 plays are connected not by a narrative thread, but by themes and characters. A character that is only mentioned in a play then appears in the following play until we get to Play # 8, when a character is mentioned who appeared in Play # 1.

 

As I wrote the plays, I realised that each dealt with a different social issue: bullying, perceptions of disability, street violence etc. I then noticed that each play had characters using mobile phones and that phone technology had become a character!

 

Cast

Baggage – 1 Woman, 1 Man

Take My Phone -Please! – 3 Women, 2 Men

Social ME-dia – 1 Woman, 1 Teenage Girl

Lover Boy! – 1 Woman, 1 Teenage Boy

The House That Alex Built– – 1 Man, 1 Woman

DB & Scruff – 1 Man, 1 Woman

Thievin’ Thugs – 2 Men (2 off-stage voice)

Foxy’s Hangout ­ – 2 Men

                     

 See extracts on following pages of blog.