The full scripts of all the plays we toured on our Journeymen venture are included in our Legacy Project Book. Our plays are our intellectual property but we are more than happy for people to use them for their own purposes, for example as play readings, to stimulate discussion on issues, to be performed in part or wholly for festivals etc. What we do request is that if one of our plays is performed a donation is then given to an appropriate charity or organisation.
An evocation of the life of Elizabeth Hooton
Lynn wrote this play in response to our very first visit to Palestine’s West Bank in 2012. We toured it extensively to raise funds for Seir Women’s Co-operative.
Themes of the play include:
-
The experience of early Quakers
-
Speaking truth to power
-
Living completely by one’s conscience
Lover of Souls
This is a one-woman play.
The running time is 55 minutes.
Over the Top
Challenging militarisation in our schools and communities
Commissioned by Central England Quaker Peace Committee circa 2013.
This piece was originally conceived as a theatre-in-education project for secondary schools and colleges.
Themes of the play include:
-
The issue of ‘military creep’ in our society and schools
-
The role of peace activism in highlighting and opposing the glorification of war
-
The imbalance between the promotion of peace-building in schools and that of marking world conflicts in schools
-
The bias shown in the reporting of conflicts
We also have a booklet about Elizabeth Hooton
Red Flag Over Bermondsey
The Ada Salter story
Commissioned by Central England Quakers World War I Committee, 2014.
Themes of the play include:
-
The birth of the Independent Labour movement
-
Social conditions in Bermondsey in the late 19th and early 20th century
-
The impact on the lives of local people by Ada and Alfred Salter
-
The outbreak of World War I and Ada’s response to it
This is a one-woman play.
The running time is 60 minutes.
NB: We used Sankey hymns throughout, so these are included in the text.
Feeding the Darkness
Shining a light on state-sanctioned torture
Themes of the play include:
-
The conditions that can produce abusers
-
The state’s use of and collusion in the torture process
-
The language of state-sanctioned abuse
-
-
Institutionalised disbelief of torture accounts
This play can be performed by two actors using multi-role techniques or by an ensemble of actors.
The running time is 60 minutes.
The Bundle
A true story of a refugee and her children
Commissioned by Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network, 2016.
Themes of the play include:
-
The hostile environment
-
How we define refugees
-
The refugee journey
-
The need for understanding and compassion
-
Obstacles faced by refugees in the UK
All parts are played by one female actor (A) and one male actor (B). Character transformations are rapid and often done in full view of the audience. Actors A and B also function as the link storytellers. It could also be performed as an ensemble piece.
The running time is 60 minutes.
And the Beat
Goes On
Three hundred years of Quaker nonviolent direct action
Commissioned by John and Diana Lampen in 2017.
Themes of the play include:
-
The roots of Quaker NVA
-
The diversity and creativity of NVA
-
Quakers and the slave trade
-
Quakers and the arms industry
-
Conscience above legality
-
Peaceful protest
-
A wide range of characters are featured. These can be played by multiple actors or a small cast able to multi-role.
The running time is 75 minutes if performed in totality.
Rock and a Hard Place
A play about domestic abuse
Commissioned by Gloucestershire Quakers in support of Stroud Women’s Refuge, 2018.
Themes of the play include:
-
-
Gaslighting, coercion, emotional, economic and psychological abuse
-
Collusion in abuse
-
Identifying red flags
The play can be performed by two actors using multi-role techniques or by a small ensemble.
The running time is 65 minutes.
Back Door Parole
A play about the plight of ageing men in our prison system
Commissioned by Mary Brown and Positive Justice Gloucester, 2019.
Themes of the play include:
-
The prison system’s inability to manage the needs of elderly inmates
-
IPP prisoners
-
The role of prison chaplains
This is a play for two actors. The characters are:
-
Ron: an elderly lifer
-
Kathy: a newly appointed Quaker prison chaplain
The running time is 60 minutes.
Breeding Grounds
A play about sustainability and life-changing decisions
Commissioned by Quaker Concern Over Population, 2021.
Themes of the play include:
-
Concerns over the environment.
-
Personal choice and decision-making
-
Population issues
-
Meeting points between the personal and the political
-
Pollution of our waterways
-
The nature and impact of protest
This is a play for two actors. The characters are Ingrid and Stewart, a married couple in late middle age.
The running time is 65 minutes.
