A pain in the drain

Press, 16 September 1987, Page 14

A pain in the drain

A broken toilet sounds more like a plumbing problem than the theme for a play. A “Pain in the Drain,” is written by 17-year-old Burnside High School student, Simon Small, who is one of nine successful playwrights aged between 12 and 20 years to have their plays chosen for the No Kidding AGC Young Playwrights Festival. The festival has been jointly organised by Playmarket, the New Zealand Playwrights agency and script assessment service, and the Downstage Young Theatre, both based in Wellington. The eight plays selected will be performed at Bats Theatre in Wellington from September 17 to 26 by young actors mainly from drama classes held by the Downstage Youth Theatre. Simon Small decided to write “A Pain in the Drain,” after seeing the festival advertised at the Creative Drama Centre in Peterborough Street,

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where he is a member. With only 10 days left before entries closed, he decided this was the incentive he needed. He chose the theme — competition in society — which evolved into the story of a family with a broken toilet and a father wanting to mine under a native forest Simon Small says the toilet is a symbol of the way people dismiss problems and although the play examines environmental issues it is still entertaining and funny. At the end of August the nine playwrights travelled to Wellington to see their plays being rehearsed and directed by four professional directors. Simon was pleased with the production of his play. “The characters had changed slightly from the way I had imagined them

ANABRIGHT HAY

but maybe my writing was unclear or that was the actors’ interpretation.” While reluctant to interfere, he confessed to a desire to direct the play himself and may get the opportunity if the Creative Drama Centre decides to stage it in Christchurch. He says his acting experience with the group and at school has given him some grounding in theatrical staging. While in Wellington he wrote -sev

'eral additional pages of dialogue to rid the play of some staging difficulties.

“The characters needed to say more in some situations, to make the play funny on stage as well

as when reading it,” he said. x

A seventh former taking three Bursary subjects, Simon Small Is also studying performance drama and creative writing- .

He says the was keener on acting than play-writ-ing before he wrote A Pain In the Drain” but is now eager to write another play. At present he is writing a children’s story for his creative writing class, a task he finds much harder than playwriting.

Playmarket administrator, Ann Paetz says that Playmarket received 50 plays from young writers throughout New Zealand and the standard was high.