The Abigail Project
Synopsis:
A party boat leaves port filled with students enjoying their end-of-GCSE Prom night. Mid-way through the evening it capsizes and sinks.
Later a rusty cam-corder is washed up on a beach.
The day after the disaster, a teenaged girl (Abigail, a member of a strict, self-isolating religious community, called the Bible Brethren), rushes down to the beach, pursued by her older sister, Ruth, who warns her of God’s wrath.
As Abigail wanders the beach, we hear a radio report of a devastating Tsunami/tidal surge that’s hit the East coast of England. She sits, takes an i-pod out of a bag, switches it on and looks at the screen. On it appears the image of a boy (Matt).
From here the action flashes back. Abigail eats breakfast with Ruth and her younger sister, Libby, Ruth warning Abigail about the dangers of a decision she’s apparently taken recently- to take her GCSEs in a normal state school. Simultaneously, Matt (a disaffected teenaged boy), gets ready for school on his own, whilst hunting around for his prized possession- a second-hand cam-corder.
We then see secretly shot cam-corder footage of Matt’s class-group, as Matt (in voice-over) picks out individuals, describing them ironically- who’s a loner, who’s weird (for example a boy known as Nintendo, who never speaks), who fancies whom, etc, revealing all the secrets he knows about them.
Into this unpromising and divided mix of students Abigail enters. Her beliefs require her to wear a head-scarf, eat on her own, never to be alone with a boy, never to watch tv or computer screens. She is shy, but with firm convictions. During a presentation about global warming, she cites modern Godlessness as a cause of climatic disasters, thus drawing unwelcome attention to herself, gradually becoming the object of sly bullying from a coterie of girls.
Matt becomes obsessed with her, filming her secretly, following her down corridors, walking home etc, stalking her in essence, playing back the footage of her, alone at night, imagining in fantasy what she looks like without her head-scarf. She becomes his ‘project’.
Meanwhile, in class, the students learn about the Tempest, playing out (half-heartedly) the storm scene and the love scene between Miranda and Ferdinand, Matt watching Abigail’s reactions to something she’s been warned about by Ruth- the simulation/promotion of pre-marital relations between the sexes in school. Another student, Kerry (troubled, isolated) asks Abigail more closely about her life and the Bible, particularly the notions of guilt and forgiveness.
On one occasion, Abigail almost surprises Matt in the act of filming her. He bluffs his way out, but now real contact has been established.
Back in the Brethren meeting house, Abigail’s fellow adherents question her about her life in the school. As she gives snippets away, Ruth, feigning concern for the spiritual welfare of the students, tells Abigail to distribute spare Bibles to each of her new class-mates. Although she knows the risks, because of her beliefs Abigail finds it impossible to refuse.
Sure enough, back at school, having given out the Bibles, the effect is disastrous. Kerry (having found the Cain and Abel story) reveals her sense of responsibility for the death of her younger sister when she was little, and her resentment of what she sees as God’s hatred of her. Dominic, a sharp, bitter boy, secretly harbouring the fact that he’s gay, challenges Abigail about the Bible’s take on homosexuality. The others simply laugh at her, having found and read the more esoteric and maniacal judgements and punishments contained in the Old Testament. Matt tries to protect her, to no avail. As the girls threaten to rip off her head-scarf, she rushes out, Matt following, leaving his bag behind. Inside this, Dominic and others find his cam-corder, switch it on, and scroll back through the footage of themselves, and more incriminatingly, the many, many shots of Abigail.
Meanwhile Matt finds Abigail on a bench in a street near the school. As they talk, the beginnings of a relationship tentatively blossom, Abigail knowingly breaking the rule of being alone with a boy, Matt asking her gauchely about her head-scarf (when she’s allowed to take it off, etc), even daring to ask her to the prom. However at that moment Dominic finds them, armed with the evidence of Matt’s stalking (the cam-corder), and having been apprised of this, Abigail leaves. As Dominic angrily reveals his sexuality, Matt realises how despised he too will now be amongst his class-mates.
The final GCSE exams come and go, Matt undecided about whether it’s even worth going on the prom. He finds himself alone with the silent Nintendo. He ruefully shares his problems with him, knowing he’ll receive no answer. Unexpectedly, however, Nintendo speaks, revealing an untapped wisdom, exhorting Matt to follow his heart. As Nintendo talks of his home life, Matt realises that, with Nintendo’s technical knowledge, together they can use his cam-corder footage to make a film for Abigail (editing the clips he’s taken, underscoring it, adding his voice-over, etc), which they can then put onto Nintendo’s old i-pod, so that she can watch it.
Later, at the Brethren meeting house the i-pod is dropped off for Abigail. Ruth threatens her with the consequences of looking at it, but Abigail has changed. She’s had enough of Ruth’s envious imprecations. She ignores her, and leaves with the i-pod.
On the boat-trip prom, alcohol-softened and chilled out, the students (including Matt) find a final unity and friendship, just as, on the horizon, an odd, moonlit twinkling in the distance presages the approaching disaster (the sinking, seen at the start).
Back now in the present, on the beach the day after the disaster, Abigail finishes watching Matt’s i-pod film (which includes, in its parting moment, a love-poem from the Song of Solomon, and an injunction to attend to other sections in the Bible, where ordinary fun is allowed- ‘a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance’). She walks down to the surf-line, where she finds the rusty cam-corder. As she picks it up, Matt and the rest of her drowned former class-mates appear out of the sea, move around her, and, to the song “Beyond the Sea”, they dance together, Abigail joining in. As the song finishes, the ghostly children disappear, leaving Abigail alone.
Then, as the lights fade, she reaches up and, looking out to sea, takes off her head-scarf.
Notes:
This is the most film-heavy of my student plays, the result of a commission for the Combined Creative Media GCSE diploma, in which the remit was to fuse film, theatre and dance within a single, year long project, culminating in a performance.
As such, a bit of forward planning is needed (in terms of costume continuity, scene blocking in the filmed sequences etc). This is because the film sequences are often sections of supposedly hand-held footage which cut directly into live action, such that the positioning of actors at the end of a filmed sequence has to match exactly that of the actors at the beginning of a live section and sometimes vice versa (a feat made more complex by the number of actors involved!). The second full film excerpt (the introduction to the class-members) also requires syncing voice-over with action - again, not difficult, but needing a bit of planning with regards timing, etc.
Apart from a few beach-based exterior shots and the representation a pleasure boat’s dance floor, however, most of the filming only requires class-rooms, corridors and school exteriors, so location finding shouldn’t be too onerous.
I kept set design very simple, as so much focus was needed on the film, which was projected as large as possible and at a sufficient height to allow minimal stage furniture to be brought on/off and actors to position themselves silently on stage (in darkness, whilst film was being projected above them) in readiness for the next live scene. The benefit of this was that there was never a pace issue in changing set and the action was seamless.
I also split the cast into two groups and seated them far stage left and right throughout (unless a full costume change was needed). For a live class scene the relevant actors simply brought on the chairs they were sitting on, or a couple of school tables for height/sightlines. Otherwise, these tables and a few signifying props were sufficient to dress other locations (a breakfast table/a communal kitchen/a school office/a bed-room etc).
Synopsis:
A party boat leaves port filled with students enjoying their end-of-GCSE Prom night. Mid-way through the evening it capsizes and sinks.
Later a rusty cam-corder is washed up on a beach.
The day after the disaster, a teenaged girl (Abigail, a member of a strict, self-isolating religious community, called the Bible Brethren), rushes down to the beach, pursued by her older sister, Ruth, who warns her of God’s wrath.
As Abigail wanders the beach, we hear a radio report of a devastating Tsunami/tidal surge that’s hit the East coast of England. She sits, takes an i-pod out of a bag, switches it on and looks at the screen. On it appears the image of a boy (Matt).
From here the action flashes back. Abigail eats breakfast with Ruth and her younger sister, Libby, Ruth warning Abigail about the dangers of a decision she’s apparently taken recently- to take her GCSEs in a normal state school. Simultaneously, Matt (a disaffected teenaged boy), gets ready for school on his own, whilst hunting around for his prized possession- a second-hand cam-corder.
We then see secretly shot cam-corder footage of Matt’s class-group, as Matt (in voice-over) picks out individuals, describing them ironically- who’s a loner, who’s weird (for example a boy known as Nintendo, who never speaks), who fancies whom, etc, revealing all the secrets he knows about them.
Into this unpromising and divided mix of students Abigail enters. Her beliefs require her to wear a head-scarf, eat on her own, never to be alone with a boy, never to watch tv or computer screens. She is shy, but with firm convictions. During a presentation about global warming, she cites modern Godlessness as a cause of climatic disasters, thus drawing unwelcome attention to herself, gradually becoming the object of sly bullying from a coterie of girls.
Matt becomes obsessed with her, filming her secretly, following her down corridors, walking home etc, stalking her in essence, playing back the footage of her, alone at night, imagining in fantasy what she looks like without her head-scarf. She becomes his ‘project’.
Meanwhile, in class, the students learn about the Tempest, playing out (half-heartedly) the storm scene and the love scene between Miranda and Ferdinand, Matt watching Abigail’s reactions to something she’s been warned about by Ruth- the simulation/promotion of pre-marital relations between the sexes in school. Another student, Kerry (troubled, isolated) asks Abigail more closely about her life and the Bible, particularly the notions of guilt and forgiveness.
On one occasion, Abigail almost surprises Matt in the act of filming her. He bluffs his way out, but now real contact has been established.
Back in the Brethren meeting house, Abigail’s fellow adherents question her about her life in the school. As she gives snippets away, Ruth, feigning concern for the spiritual welfare of the students, tells Abigail to distribute spare Bibles to each of her new class-mates. Although she knows the risks, because of her beliefs Abigail finds it impossible to refuse.
Sure enough, back at school, having given out the Bibles, the effect is disastrous. Kerry (having found the Cain and Abel story) reveals her sense of responsibility for the death of her younger sister when she was little, and her resentment of what she sees as God’s hatred of her. Dominic, a sharp, bitter boy, secretly harbouring the fact that he’s gay, challenges Abigail about the Bible’s take on homosexuality. The others simply laugh at her, having found and read the more esoteric and maniacal judgements and punishments contained in the Old Testament. Matt tries to protect her, to no avail. As the girls threaten to rip off her head-scarf, she rushes out, Matt following, leaving his bag behind. Inside this, Dominic and others find his cam-corder, switch it on, and scroll back through the footage of themselves, and more incriminatingly, the many, many shots of Abigail.
Meanwhile Matt finds Abigail on a bench in a street near the school. As they talk, the beginnings of a relationship tentatively blossom, Abigail knowingly breaking the rule of being alone with a boy, Matt asking her gauchely about her head-scarf (when she’s allowed to take it off, etc), even daring to ask her to the prom. However at that moment Dominic finds them, armed with the evidence of Matt’s stalking (the cam-corder), and having been apprised of this, Abigail leaves. As Dominic angrily reveals his sexuality, Matt realises how despised he too will now be amongst his class-mates.
The final GCSE exams come and go, Matt undecided about whether it’s even worth going on the prom. He finds himself alone with the silent Nintendo. He ruefully shares his problems with him, knowing he’ll receive no answer. Unexpectedly, however, Nintendo speaks, revealing an untapped wisdom, exhorting Matt to follow his heart. As Nintendo talks of his home life, Matt realises that, with Nintendo’s technical knowledge, together they can use his cam-corder footage to make a film for Abigail (editing the clips he’s taken, underscoring it, adding his voice-over, etc), which they can then put onto Nintendo’s old i-pod, so that she can watch it.
Later, at the Brethren meeting house the i-pod is dropped off for Abigail. Ruth threatens her with the consequences of looking at it, but Abigail has changed. She’s had enough of Ruth’s envious imprecations. She ignores her, and leaves with the i-pod.
On the boat-trip prom, alcohol-softened and chilled out, the students (including Matt) find a final unity and friendship, just as, on the horizon, an odd, moonlit twinkling in the distance presages the approaching disaster (the sinking, seen at the start).
Back now in the present, on the beach the day after the disaster, Abigail finishes watching Matt’s i-pod film (which includes, in its parting moment, a love-poem from the Song of Solomon, and an injunction to attend to other sections in the Bible, where ordinary fun is allowed- ‘a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance’). She walks down to the surf-line, where she finds the rusty cam-corder. As she picks it up, Matt and the rest of her drowned former class-mates appear out of the sea, move around her, and, to the song “Beyond the Sea”, they dance together, Abigail joining in. As the song finishes, the ghostly children disappear, leaving Abigail alone.
Then, as the lights fade, she reaches up and, looking out to sea, takes off her head-scarf.
Notes:
This is the most film-heavy of my student plays, the result of a commission for the Combined Creative Media GCSE diploma, in which the remit was to fuse film, theatre and dance within a single, year long project, culminating in a performance.
As such, a bit of forward planning is needed (in terms of costume continuity, scene blocking in the filmed sequences etc). This is because the film sequences are often sections of supposedly hand-held footage which cut directly into live action, such that the positioning of actors at the end of a filmed sequence has to match exactly that of the actors at the beginning of a live section and sometimes vice versa (a feat made more complex by the number of actors involved!). The second full film excerpt (the introduction to the class-members) also requires syncing voice-over with action - again, not difficult, but needing a bit of planning with regards timing, etc.
Apart from a few beach-based exterior shots and the representation a pleasure boat’s dance floor, however, most of the filming only requires class-rooms, corridors and school exteriors, so location finding shouldn’t be too onerous.
I kept set design very simple, as so much focus was needed on the film, which was projected as large as possible and at a sufficient height to allow minimal stage furniture to be brought on/off and actors to position themselves silently on stage (in darkness, whilst film was being projected above them) in readiness for the next live scene. The benefit of this was that there was never a pace issue in changing set and the action was seamless.
I also split the cast into two groups and seated them far stage left and right throughout (unless a full costume change was needed). For a live class scene the relevant actors simply brought on the chairs they were sitting on, or a couple of school tables for height/sightlines. Otherwise, these tables and a few signifying props were sufficient to dress other locations (a breakfast table/a communal kitchen/a school office/a bed-room etc).
