Maxine
Female | 50s | Under 3 minutes
Starts on page 16
EXTRACT: I bet it's the girlfriend that made her get the coach. To save money. The girlfriend spoke to me when Rebecca rang. One minute I'm speaking to my daughter, then there's this thin little voice on the end of the line, saying how she's so looking forward to meeting Beck's mother. Not Rebecca's mother, Beck's mother. I'm at the end of the crackle, thinking, whose mother? I had to bite my tongue: 'If I'd wanted my daughter to carry the name of a headache product then I would have called her Panadol.'
Maxine
Female | 50s | 3 to 5 minutes
Starts on page 22
EXTRACT: I am a good mother. And it's not just what I think. The parish. They say: there goes a good mother. And they know.When my children started coming out faster than daisies in a spring shower, I was there for them. First Rebecca. 'Mum, I'm a lesbian.' Then two weeks later Martin puts up his hand. 'Mum, I'm gay.' I said, no you're not, your sister's a lesbian and that's quite enough. [A beat.] And Lord, you know I'm not a bigot. Bigots are unpleasant people: they don't drink.
Andrew
Male | 20s | Under 3 minutes
Starts on page 48
EXTRACT: ..pictures into letters, letters into words. The first time is the best: C. R. A . . .[ANDREW mimes reshuffling the blocks] . . . C. A. R. Car. I'd sit there for hours behind the wood slats of my pen pushing plastic blocks into words. [Pause.] So why don't I have the words? I want to say . . . something. But there's this block. I'm not dumb. I know what's happening inside of me. [Pause.] I don't mean with the medicines. I mean, really inside of me. All the Kubler-Ross shit.
Francis
Male | 20s | Under 3 minutes
Starts on page 57
EXTRACT: You want to hear another funny one? On the way home from the club on Wednesday night I ran into a little trouble. Three guys. Not really the bashing kind. More the hold-him-down-and-rape him variety. Thank God for make-up. Covers a veritable multitude. [MAXINE stands up.] I’m alright. Can’t undo what’s happened, can we? You know the bit that gets me . . . the three month wait. You see, protection wasn’t a part of the package. And their parting remark doesn’t instil me with a lot of confidence.
Contains adult themes