White Flies: the making of a school production

Ah! Feels like a breath of fresh air has been breathed into my blog (about time I changed the age). I’ve decided, after the brilliant idea from my mum, to tell you about the creation of my play: White Flies.

At the moment I’m coming to the last term of Shells (first year of secondary school, and the scum of the school); why we are called Shells I just don’t know. My theory is it has something to do with coming out of your ‘shell’, others say Latin, but everything’s linked to Latin.

Anyway, throughout the year I’ve been chugging away at this play and with the script almost finished I couldn’t help feeling the absolute urge to put it on. With a school of excellent Drama facilities, and a group of people stuck here 24:7 you can’t really ask for better conditions.

I suppose I aught to tell you what it’s about. I’m fascinated with mental health issues, the theme does pop up a lot in my work, a mind that works so distantly from the mind of you and me makes a wonderful topic. And I find, because it is so hard to understand, we feel so vacant from it, as though watching crashing waves through a window. This had to change, even if I’m only affecting the few people that turn up to the final performance those few people, for forty-five minutes, have to experience exactly what it’s like to have Schizophrenia. The title White Flies comes from the subtle sound of the fly heard in the play and it also sounds like another little phrase…

The play is as simple as it can be: a therapy session, two people acting, one light setting and no scene changes. But don’t worry, it’s not as arbitrary as it may seem, the therapist sits in the middle of the audience, getting them directly involved so there not watching something with that barrier between them; and the voice she hears in her head, Mr. Big, is projected around the audience meaning everyone can hear her thoughts.

It’s not a play of the conventional story lines but one of discovering realities and seeking out truths in Jane. Plain-Jane with a mind like Fancy-Nancy.

To get my play in full swing, and make me finish it over the summer, I had to firstly ask for theatre space (the musical is in the next term, and at my school that’s a big thing). Head of department seemed delighted, thank god; otherwise this would have been a lead balloon. Though he did say ‘a theatre could be hard to fill and the back room was always available’; right then people, time to make this a stage worthy production.