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    Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays)
    Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays)
    Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays)
    Ebook62 pages57 minutes

    Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays)

    By Margaret Perry

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    About this ebook

    Essie's lost her job. Her girlfriend's left. But she's alright. Except lately she feels more like a chair than a person. One of those folding chairs. Solid one minute. And then.
    Margaret Perry's play Collapsible is a funny, furious monologue about holding on in this collapsing world. It was premiered at the 2019 VAULT Festival, London, where it won the Origins Award for Outstanding New Work.
    It transferred to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Bush Theatre, London, in a co-production between Ellie Keel Productions and HighTide.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNick Hern Books
    Release dateAug 15, 2019
    ISBN9781788501552
    Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays)
    Author

    Margaret Perry

    Margaret Perry is a playwright from Cork, living in London. Her plays include: Paradise Now! (Bush Theatre, 2022); Collapsible (VAULT Festival, London, and Assembly, Edinburgh, 2019); and Porcelain (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 2018, and adapted for BBC Radio 4).

    Read more from Margaret Perry

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      Book preview

      Collapsible (NHB Modern Plays) - Margaret Perry

      ESSIE. I spend a lot of time on the internet. Especially lately.

      The internet knows me so well. The internet tells me which cute animal I am (lamb). Which John Hughes movie I am (Pretty in Pink). Which classic car I am (Cadillac). Which roasted meat I am (lamb). Which sandwich I am (BLT). Which major European city I am (Paris). Which condiment I am (mustard). Which element on the Periodic Table I am (neon). Which type of rabbit I am (dwarf). Which US President I am (Nixon. Nixon? I try again. Obama). The internet tells me I’m a Miranda, a Ravenclaw, a Mulan, a Laura Palmer. A dog person, a beach person, a winter person, a cupcake person, a martini person, a lake person, a bird person. The internet tells me I’m an introvert. The internet tells me I’m an extrovert. The internet tells me I sometimes like to go out and sometimes to stay in.

      And then there’s this video I’ve watched over and over again, of this 1950s housewife on LSD. Back then they were doing clinical trials on humans, and this housewife, meek and shy as they come, has volunteered, and they’ve chosen her because she’s undergone psychological testing and been found to be a stable, normal person. This doctor sits her down and explains everything and gives her a glass of water with a tiny measure of lysergic acid in it. She drinks it down and he waits a bit and then starts to ask her questions. And there’s this one moment – this one – this one moment that I can’t forget where he says, ‘Mary, how do you feel?’ And she says, ‘I don’t understand the question.’ And he points to her and says, ‘How do you feel?’ And she smiles this serene smile. ‘Why, doctor,’ she says, ‘There is no me. There is no you.’ Like it’s the most obvious thing in the entire world. And she looks so happy, so light.

      And that’s where the video ends but I always imagine her when the LSD wears off, putting on her coat and her scarf like ballast, trying to weigh herself back down.

      ***

      It started like this. I lost my job.

      Not my fault I just. Never mind.

      My sister’s arranged to meet me for dinner and I know it’s because Mum’s asked her to check up on me but I go anyway to prevent further questions, and also because, food. She’s brought The Boyfriend. I’ve not ordered very much because it’s not clear if they’re going to pay for my meal or if I am. I’m eating my meal very slowly so as not to reveal how small it is and Maura says, are you not hungry Essie, and I say not

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