A Wilderness of Monkeys
A play for the radio
Larry’s got enough to cope with: the death of his wife has left him crushed yet denied the luxury of being able to fall apart, for he is now sole carer for his learning-disabled daughter Alice.
What he doesn’t need, then, on top of everything else, is the abuse that’s coming from the downstairs neighbours and their kids. Alice is the focus of much of the name-calling, and though there’s not yet been one-on-one violence, windows have been egged and Larry’s car is targetted on a serial basis.
The agencies are united in their reluctance to help: the police shrug and issue incident numbers; the Council shrug and tell Larry to keep a log. He starts logging, but without much hope; in the meantime, he devises a project to distract his daughter from the social carnage outside. Together they work to turn their house into a tropical paradise – walls muralled with beach scenes; coconuts and pineapples all around; Hawaiian guitars on the hi-fi; and of course Polynesian cuisine – including variations on Spam, which, according to Larry’s research, is hugely popular in that far-off Pacific paradise.
Just when it seems their paradise is complete, however, the horror of the world outside comes crashing back – right into the Enchanted Tiki Lounge.
Larry’s got enough to cope with: the death of his wife has left him crushed yet denied the luxury of being able to fall apart, for he is now sole carer for his learning-disabled daughter Alice.
What he doesn’t need, then, on top of everything else, is the abuse that’s coming from the downstairs neighbours and their kids. Alice is the focus of much of the name-calling, and though there’s not yet been one-on-one violence, windows have been egged and Larry’s car is targetted on a serial basis.
The agencies are united in their reluctance to help: the police shrug and issue incident numbers; the Council shrug and tell Larry to keep a log. He starts logging, but without much hope; in the meantime, he devises a project to distract his daughter from the social carnage outside. Together they work to turn their house into a tropical paradise – walls muralled with beach scenes; coconuts and pineapples all around; Hawaiian guitars on the hi-fi; and of course Polynesian cuisine – including variations on Spam, which, according to Larry’s research, is hugely popular in that far-off Pacific paradise.
Just when it seems their paradise is complete, however, the horror of the world outside comes crashing back – right into the Enchanted Tiki Lounge.
A Wilderness of Monkeys was written for actress Sarah Gordy, whose work includes Once We Were Mothers at the Orange Tree Theatre, Into the Blue at the Arcola, and TV appearances in such as The A Word, its spin-off Ralph & Katie, Holby City, Call the Midwife, and the BBC’s revival of Upstairs Downstairs, in which she played Lady Pamela, sister to Ed Stoppard’s Hallam Holland. She has lately starred as Ann Boleyn's fool in the Radio 4 drama Gret and Will. See www.sarahgordy.com
Click here to read an extract from A Wilderness of Monkeys
Click here to read an extract from A Wilderness of Monkeys
