Chalk Farm - (Oberon Modern Plays) by Kieran Hurley & Aj Taudevin (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Maggie is just in from Sainsbury's Local to make a quick sandwich for Jamie. He likes his cheese and pickle. With the crusts off. A good heart, that lad. Not like those other boys around here. You know what boys are like. Laws unto themselves once they reach that age. But it's those other boys, really. Not Jamie. A boy with a Batman lunch box? What harm is he to anybody?

Co-written by AJ Taudevin and Kieran Hurley, Chalk Farm explores love, responsibility, and the culture of blame and retribution surrounding the 2011 English riots.

"The writing is brilliant, sharp, poetic, passionate, full of searing insight into the politics of blame, matched with a brilliant eye for the detail of life in divided Britain today." Scotsman

"This deceptively simple two-hander comes courtesy of Kieran Hurley and AJ Taudevin, two of Scotland's rising new writing stars." Guardian

"A tender study of the complicated relationship between a single parent and her son... it has a beautiful heart." Time Out (London)

"Most effective in making us rethink our knee-jerk assumptions." Guardian

"The end result is a not-to-be missed piece of dynamite that succeeds in making the political personal, and vice-versa... The writing crackles with energy and insight." Herald Scotland

"Chalk Farm is an exciting attempt to understand and explain the riots that could be even bolder in examining the vitriol behind the accusations..... a wonderfully-written and thoughtfully-acted piece." British Theatre Guide

Review Quotes

"The writing is brilliant, sharp, poetic, passionate, full of searing insight into the politics of blame, matched with a brilliant eye for the detail of life in divided Britain today." --Joyce McMillan, Scotsman

"This deceptively simple two-hander comes courtesy of Kieran Hurley and AJ Taudevin, two of Scotland's rising new writing stars" --Guardian

"A tender study of the complicated relationship between a single parent and her son - it has a beautiful heart" --Time Out

"Most effective in making us rethink our knee-jerk assumptions." --Guardian

"The end result is a not-to-be missed piece of dynamite that succeeds in making the political personal, and vice-versa - The writing crackles with energy and insight" --Herald Scotland

About the Author

Kieran Hurley is an award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker based in Glasgow whose work has been presented internationally and throughout the UK through his work with organizations such as The Arches, Oran Mor, Traverse, BAC, Bush, National Theatre of Scotland and Forest Fringe.

AJ Taudevin is a writer whose credits include Chalk Farm, Demons, The Jean-Jacques Rousseau Show with Oran Mor, UNtruth (Traverse) and The YelloWing (Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival). She is currently on a year-long attachment with the Traverse Theatre as part of the Traverse Fifty.