‘I could crack open the footpath. Shake the houses until bookcases topple over. And all the porcelain in the world is just dust on the floor. And everything fragile is broken.’
Sam’s in her last year of high school. Her dad’s just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. ‘Too much wanking!’ her mum says. It’s a joke but no one finds it funny. It’s safe to say no one’s coping very well—least of all Sam. Not that anyone is noticing. It isn’t until she ends up in the office of Mr David that she feels like she can finally open up, that she can let it all out.
At the doorway between innocence and maturity, simply getting through the day can feel like an eternity—especially when loneliness, grief and abuse of power get in the way. Shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and longlisted for the Griffin Award, sitting, screaming is a raw and gripping exploration of how vulnerable young people slip through the cracks.
★★★★★ ‘Tour de force of playwriting from Madelaine Nunn.’ — Stage Noise ‘Nunn has once again shown audiences why she is one of Australia’s finest writers’ — Australian Arts Review
‘This excellent one-act play… It’s hard to believe that a new play could hit the mark so well.’ — Stage Whispers
Watch Madelaine Nunn discuss sitting, screaming on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/GI9VZ5cN1oA?si=l8zs-BvaTgcEUemV
