Cyberbile & Grounded
Page 6
Grounded breaks many theatrical conventions. There are two distinct stories interwoven: the journey of Farrah trying to reconcile her passion for shipping with the need to be accepted and loved by her peers, and the fascinating events surrounding one of Australia’s most famous maritime incidents. These stories are fused together through a dynamic juxtaposition of theatrical styles.
For directors and actors this means there are nearly unlimited choices to bring this story to life on the stage. Alana has provided a rich theatrical blueprint to work from. But the ultimate success of the play relies on the amalgamation of her words and the participating artist’s imaginations. You can’t make obvious choices in staging this play because it wasn’t written with obvious solutions in mind. You need to work it out. That is why this play is so exciting for directors, and why it is the perfect play to stage with young performers.
Fraser Corfield
Fraser Corfield is Artistic Director at Australian Theatre for Young People, Millers Point, Sydney.
Grounded: First Production Details
Grounded was first produced by Tantrum Theatre at The Playhouse Theatre, Newcastle, on 10 May 2011, with the following cast:
FARRAH MARTIN
Jemima Webber
JACK
Mathew Baird-Steel
CHLOE
Siobhan Caulfield
MATILDA 1, 2 & 3
Tamara Gazzard, Emily Daly, Naomi Dingle
HARBOURMASTER / NIGEL
Paul Kelman
JIM
Scott Gelzinnis
JAMES
Dean Blackford
FIGURES 1–6
Emily Daly, Naomi Dingle, India Wilson, Tamara Gazzard, Dean Blackford, Scott Gelzinnis
Director, Toni Main
Designer, Marion Giles
Lighting Designer, Lyndon Buckley
Sound Designer, Allon Silove
Dramaturg, Fraiser Caulfield
Assistant Director, Rachel Jackett
Assistant Designer, Fern York
Grounded: Characters
FARRAH MARTIN, 15
CHLOE, 15
JACK, 16
MATILDA 1, 2 & 3, Farrah’s mother
HARBOURMASTER, Newcastle harbour
NIGEL, school librarian
JIM, 15
JAMES, 15
FIGURES 1–6
The the roles of Harbourmaster and Nigel are played by the same actor.
THANKS
The author would like to thank the many Novocastrians who contributed to the research and writing of this play, including Captain Timothy Turner, Newcastle Harbourmaster; Captain Timothy Delves; Captain Scott Curline; Captain Sandra Risk; Captain Andrew Beasley; Captain Phillip Hawke; Captain Lyndon Clark; Keith Powell; staff at Newcastle Public Library; and the Tantrum Ensemble participants from both of the workshops which took place in Newcastle in 2010/2011.
Grounded: Production Photos
Clockwise from top: Siobhan Caulfield as Chloe, and Scott Gelzinnis, Naomi Dingle, Dean Blackford, Tamara Gazzard, India Wilson and Emily Daly as Figures in the 2012 Tantrum Theatre production of Grounded in Newcastle. (Photo: Justine Potter)
Tamara Gazzard as Mother, Emily Daly as Mother, Jemima Webber as Farrah and Naomi Dingle as Mother in the 2012 Tantrum Theatre production of Grounded in Newcastle. (Photo: Justine Potter)
Scott Gelzinnis as Jim, Matt Baird as Jack and Dean Blackford as James in the 2012 Tantrum Theatre production of Grounded in Newcastle. (Photo: Justine Potter)
PROLOGUE
On a dark stage there are a dozen or more one-metre models of Panamax class bulk carriers, lit from within. As if we are looking at the Newcastle horizon at night, twinkling with the lights from all the vessels waiting to come into port.
FARRAH: It’s a great place to grow up.
FIGURE 1: It’s a boring place to grow up.
FARRAH: I really like it here.
FIGURE 2: I would so love to live somewhere else.
FARRAH: But I would like to get away.
FIGURE 3: Travel the world.
FARRAH: And then come back.
FIGURE 4: The centre of town is dying.
FIGURE 5: The burbs are the place to be.
FIGURE 6: The new hub.
FIGURE 1: Like the centre is probably going to come back.
FIGURE 2: That’s going to take a very long time, and I’m gonna be out of here by then.
FIGURE 3: It’s not totally bad or totally good. It just is.
FIGURE 4: Like there’s a limit in Newcastle and by our age, you’ve already reached that limit.
FIGURE 5: So I plan to go.
FIGURE 6: Go.
FARRAH: Go.
FIGURE 1: I’m going.
FIGURE 2: Go. For sure.
FIGURE 3: I’m not saying Newcastle is terrible but I just don’t think that I’d live here forever. I want to like leave and then come back when I’m heaps older.
FARRAH: Yeah, but that’s what you don’t understand.
FIGURE 4: I’ve got big plans. Big plans and as soon as I turn 18 I’m out of here. What are my plans? I dunno. But they’re definitely big.
FARRAH: And that’s all mine are too.
FIGURE 5: Newcastle is confused. It’s a bit in love with the past and it’s keen on the future but it’s not sure how to get there.
FARRAH: If I had to say something?
FIGURE 3: If I had to tell someone something.
FIGURE 4: If I had to talk about living here.
FIGURE 5: I’d mention the beach.
FIGURE 6: I’d talk about the ocean baths.
FARRAH: I’d talk about the port.
ALL: The what?
FIGURE 1: You mean the tankers that go past Nobbys?
FARRAH: They’re not tankers.
FIGURE 2: What’s your problem?
FARRAH: I mostly keep it hidden.
FIGURE 3: Not really.
FIGURE 4: She’s different.
FIGURE 5: She’s just different.
FIGURE 6: Like a bit of an interest would be okay.
FIGURE 1: She just takes it too far.
FIGURE 2: For attention.
FIGURE 3: Because that’s become her thing, you know.
FIGURE 4: Being different.
FIGURE 5: Kindy iffy.
FIGURE 6: Wired to the moon.
FARRAH: But you don’t understand.
FIGURE 1: A few coconut crumbs short of the full lamington.
FARRAH: I’m the same as you.
FIGURE 2: And not good different.
FARRAH: Deep down I’m the same.
FIGURE 3: Odd different.
FIGURE 4: You know.
ALL: Farrah Martin she’s a freak
Stares at tankers every week
FIGURE 5: Spends her afternoons alone
FIGURE 6: Lives in a world all her own
FIGURE 4: We’ve tried to be nice to the little geek
FIGURE 5: But Farrah Martin’s too oblique
FIGURE 6: We’ve tried to make her part of the groove.
ALL: Who knows what she’s trying to prove?
A small group of FIGURES walk past the seated FARRAH and make the noise of a ‘tooting’ boat horn. CHLOE hurries over to FARRAH.
SCENE ONE
CHLOE: Ignore them.
FARRAH: They were pretty loud.
CHLOE: We can still fix it.
FARRAH: I don’t think so.
CHLOE: What you have to do is like not mention it at all for… just a while.
FARRAH: Okay.
CHLOE: Do you think you can do that?
FARRAH: Sure. I don’t have to talk about it all the time.
CHLOE: Right.
FARRAH: I’m interested in other things.
CHLOE: Great.
FARRAH: I like the movies.
CHLOE: Apart from Titanic.
FARRAH: Yeah.
CHLOE: What?
FARRAH: The Poseidon Adventure. The Hunt for Red October.
FARRAH: One’s about a submarine.
CHLOE: Yeah. Really different.
FARRAH: They are really different.
CHLOE: Nothing that has anything to do with water.
FARRAH: Right. Um. Transformers.
CHLOE: Great.
FARRAH: I’m really into Transformers.
CHLOE: Not too into it. You don’t want them to think you’ve just transferred one obsession to another.
FARRAH: I dunno, Chlo.
CHLOE: You want to get invited to Tom’s party, don’t you?
FARRAH: Yeah.
CHLOE: So you’re coming to the mall then?
FARRAH: For what?
CHLOE: For something to wear to Tom’s party.
FARRAH: They’re bringing the Saga Ruby in this arvo.
CHLOE: The what?
FARRAH: The Saga Ruby. It’s a cruise ship built in 1973 in the UK, the last cruise ship ever to be built in the United Kingdom and this ship is just, I’m not kidding, it is just an absolute stunner. Like cruise ships usually look all boxy and square and this one is just pure elegance, the lines just sway around the vessel. The funnel is placed amidship and there’s a sheer on the hull that is just, well it’s just gorgeous.
CHLOE: No. No. NO!
FARRAH: What?
CHLOE: You can never talk like that. Ever.
FARRAH: But. How can I stop it? It just comes out.
CHLOE: Okay. When you feel yourself like about to say something about a ship just transfer it to a dress. Or a pair of shoes. So try it.
FARRAH: What?
CHLOE: The Saga Rubies are these shoes you really want.
FARRAH: And like platforms are just usually all boxy and square but these shoes are just pure elegance, with straps that just sway around the heels. The buckle is placed amid… strap and there’s a shine to the leather that is just well, it’s just gorgeous.
CHLOE: Not bad. Lose the ‘amidstrap’.
FARRAH: Too much of a hint?
CHLOE: Way too much.
Pause.
FARRAH: Seriously, Chlo, I don’t know if I can do it.
CHLOE: You want to be like Natasha Green, who had to leave the school?
FARRAH: Of course not.
CHLOE: Then you’ve got to hide it. A bit.
FARRAH: You don’t.
CHLOE: I do. Like ’cause I don’t mind being a little bit unpopular, but I don’t want to be totally dropped. You know.
FARRAH: I don’t want to be totally dropped.
CHLOE: Then…
FARRAH: There’s a shine to leather that is absolutely gorgeous.
CHLOE: Right.
FARRAH: And I’ll go and get them tomorrow.
CHLOE: Farrah, you’re not going out to the port.
FARRAH: Last time, I promise.
SCENE TWO
FARRAH is leaning on her bicycle, referencing a book, when JACK rides in on a skateboard. For a moment he stands at the other side of the stage.
JACK: Oi.
FARRAH ignores him.
Hey, girl.
FARRAH: What?
JACK: What are you doing?
FARRAH: What’s it to you?
JACK: You shouldn’t be here.
FARRAH: Says who?
JACK: This is our place. Scoot your boot.
FARRAH: Does it have your name on it?
JACK: Yeah.
FARRAH: What are you, twelve?
FARRAH goes on reading.
JACK: What’s your book about?
FARRAH: Nothing you’d be interested in.
He comes closer.
JACK: Looks like it’s about boats.
She closes it quickly.
FARRAH: No it’s not.
JACK: I know you. You’re that boat girl from school.
He snatches the book from her.
FARRAH: Give it back.
JACK: Will you get in trouble if it gets damaged?
FARRAH: Give it back.
JACK: I will just tell me if you’ll get in trouble.
JAMES and JIM enter on their bikes.
JAMES: Who you talking to?
JACK: That boat-brain girl from school.
FARRAH: My name is Farrah.
JAMES: What are you doin’ out here?
FARRAH: Nothing. I was just clearing my head. Going for a walk.
JACK throws the book to JIM.
JACK: Nothing with a library book.
FARRAH: Yeah.
JACK: Yeah. Ya like boats, do ya?
FARRAH: Not particularly.
JACK: I do.
FARRAH: Really?
JACK: Sometimes I just stand here and watch the tugs take those whopper tankers out through the mouth of the harbour past Nobbys.
He takes her by the cords of her hoody and pulls her forward.
I like it when the biggest tug leads the tanker right up to where the buoys are and then turns around and then it like goes backwards, so cool and then the tugs on either side keep going.
JIM comes over and gets on one side of FARRAH. JAMES comes over.
FARRAH: Then how about when they just slide it out the mouth of the harbour. Guide it through and then away it goes.
JACK: Gotcha.
FARRAH: What?
JACK: Knew I could get you to show us what a freak you are. All you have to do is mention tankers and she gets [mockingly] all choked up.
FARRAH: You know that they’re not called tankers, they’re called bulk carriers.
JIM: Oh, and I thought that was just your mother.
JAMES: Yeah, she’s a bit of a bulk carrier, isn’t she?
JACK: Why are you suddenly pretending that you’re not into boats?
FARRAH: ’Cause I’m not.
JACK: Yeah, ya are. We know a boat-brain freak when we see one.
The boys circle FARRAH on their bikes and then they ride off.
SCENE THREE
FARRAH arrives at the library, slightly breathless. The librarian, NIGEL, is there to meet her.
FARRAH: I need a request for library purchase form.
NIGEL: No.
FARRAH: What do you mean, no?
NIGEL: We’ve run out.
FARRAH: Then I can do it online.
NIGEL: No.
FARRAH: No?
NIGEL: No, we can’t order any more books about the history of, the construction of, the decommissioning of, the practices for the loading and unloading of, the tonnage of, the passage of, disasters of, or design of bulk carriers.
FARRAH: Why not?
NIGEL: People make other requests.
FARRAH: So?
NIGEL: People have interests other than shipping.
FARRAH: What?
NIGEL: Lots of things. Birds, plants, insects, costume design, woodwork, geography, travel.
FARRAH: So you can buy them as well.
NIGEL: People have begun to ask why all our new acquisitions are about shipping.
FARRAH: You may have noticed that we live in a port.
NIGEL: Yes and people want to read stories about crime and ancient Egypt and interior design in London.
FARRAH: Why?
NIGEL: Because they’re not you, Farrah. Because they have an interest in things other than bulk carriers.
FARRAH: Why?
NIGEL: Okay, now I know you’re being obtuse.
FARRAH: What’s obtuse?
NIGEL: Well, if you would like to look it up in a dictionary I’d be only too happy to direct you to the reference section where you can see and open books about, miracle of miracle, things other than shipping.
FARRAH: Actually, I didn’t want to order a book about ships.
Pause.
NIGEL: What are you doing?
FARRAH: What?
NIGEL: This is a trick.
FARRAH: It’s not a trick.
NIGEL: You want to order a book about something other than shipping?
FARRAH: I do.
&nbs
p; NIGEL: Nah, this is a trick.
FARRAH: It’s not. [Pause.] Aren’t you going to ask me what I want to order?
NIGEL: No. Because it will be a book that sounds like it’s about something else but it’s really about shipping.
FARRAH: Mr Cornwell?
NIGEL: Yes, Farrah.
FARRAH: Do you have holidays coming up?
NIGEL: What, like a working holiday as a seafarer on an Asia-bound container vessel?
FARRAH: Do you?
NIGEL: No. But I know that’s the only kind of holiday you would be interested in hearing about.
FARRAH: Actually, I wondered if you had any books on leadership.
Pause.
NIGEL: Are you wanting to try for school captain?
FARRAH: No.
NIGEL: House captain?
FARRAH: No.
NIGEL: You sure?
FARRAH: I’m just interested in what makes people, you know, popular.
NIGEL: Popular enough to become school captain?
FARRAH: Whatever.
NIGEL: Well… there are books on management and there are books on group dynamics. But really if you want to learn about becoming a captain the best way to learn is from watching someone who is a leader.
FARRAH: Like who?
NIGEL: Well, I dunno. Is there anyone you know who is a leader?
FARRAH: No.
NIGEL: Someone in your class?
FARRAH: Not really.
NIGEL: Well, the books on management are in the centre aisle.
FARRAH: Thanks.
NIGEL exits.
SCENE FOUR
CHLOE enters and takes up a martial arts pose.
FARRAH: What’s happening?
CHLOE: The PE teacher is sick so kids from Year 11 are taking the class.
FARRAH: In what?
CHLOE: How do I know?
FARRAH: But who said they could?
JACK: What are we going to do?