No relationship is black and white. Unspoken is all about the grey.
Unspoken is a new original play by Nina Kaye. The May production marks the play's debut, which received a workshopping in the summer of 2011.
Unspoken has an innovative form comprised of a series of vignettes exploring the darker side of romantic relationships. The stories of the play's 22 characters are linked through themes and the poetry of WB Yeats, their lives create a patchwork portrayal of the pain and pleasure of love.
Five talented actors will take on the impressive feat of portraying 22 characters who span human experience from Ancient Greece to the present day.
The language is a rich mixture of poetry and vulgarity that is by turns beautiful and blasting.
Unspoken is an engaging, intense theatre piece that is sure to inspire lively conversation. It tackles the problem of abuse in relationships, engaging the subject in an intelligent and compassionate manner.
Unspoken examines mature themes and contains coarse language.
Excerpts:
Mildred (a 16th century witch):
He came to me at the stroke of midnight with his face all covered; dark as if in a mask of stone.
His voice was deep and commanding, the rhythm of it such, that I was compelled to dance, twisting and turning in
the air like a worm on a hook, leaping over chairs and table alike as if they was no impediment.
He reached for me, and I took his hand. His face was dark as the night itself, but his eyes were twin stars
blazing like fury, capturing all the light in the room. I was as trapped as the light within those eyes.
His hands burned my skin, and his eyes blazed deep into my soul, scorching it with their fire.
We was alone, and the Devil knew how to make me his. I make no pretence of blushing, or stumbling over my words.
I was no honest maid before that night, nor have I since become one.
I will relate the bold truth of my night with Satan that ye may make of my confession what ye will.
Steve (a contemporary English major at University):
King Lear isn’t tragedy.Shakespeare didn’t know what he was talking about. Lear was mad, and then he died.
He never faced any tragedy that came into his life. He just ran away from it. Most of us have to go on. We keep living.
That’s the real tragedy. That life goes on. Modern playwrights know this. Shakespeare just loves
the dramatic moment. ‘Cause it’s easy. Everybody dies. The end.
Well it's crap.
Fucking Lear. ‘I’ll just go pick fucking daisies for a half hour while my kingdom gets destroyed and thousands of
people die’. Bullshit.
You can only avoid unpleasantness for so long. Then you have to face up to reality. We live in a fucked up world,
and it hurts to be alive. This is not a nice place. Deal with it.
You’re alone. You deal with it alone. You deal with the pain because your girlfriend left.
Then you’re alone, but that’s the way things are.
You sit alone, in pain. You sit in silence- because she took all the fucking cd’s!-but you keep living.
You live without music. You live without that person in your life.
That’s fucking tragedy! How can you live without music? How can you live without her...
People are pathetic. Everything ends, everyone dies. It’s hard to bear that.
I’d rather be picking fucking daisies too, but most of us don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice.
(Pause) The end.
Unspoken has an innovative form comprised of a series of vignettes exploring the darker side of romantic relationships. The stories of the play's 22 characters are linked through themes and the poetry of WB Yeats, their lives create a patchwork portrayal of the pain and pleasure of love.
Five talented actors will take on the impressive feat of portraying 22 characters who span human experience from Ancient Greece to the present day.
The language is a rich mixture of poetry and vulgarity that is by turns beautiful and blasting.
Unspoken is an engaging, intense theatre piece that is sure to inspire lively conversation. It tackles the problem of abuse in relationships, engaging the subject in an intelligent and compassionate manner.
Unspoken examines mature themes and contains coarse language.
Excerpts:
Mildred (a 16th century witch):
He came to me at the stroke of midnight with his face all covered; dark as if in a mask of stone.
His voice was deep and commanding, the rhythm of it such, that I was compelled to dance, twisting and turning in
the air like a worm on a hook, leaping over chairs and table alike as if they was no impediment.
He reached for me, and I took his hand. His face was dark as the night itself, but his eyes were twin stars
blazing like fury, capturing all the light in the room. I was as trapped as the light within those eyes.
His hands burned my skin, and his eyes blazed deep into my soul, scorching it with their fire.
We was alone, and the Devil knew how to make me his. I make no pretence of blushing, or stumbling over my words.
I was no honest maid before that night, nor have I since become one.
I will relate the bold truth of my night with Satan that ye may make of my confession what ye will.
Steve (a contemporary English major at University):
King Lear isn’t tragedy.Shakespeare didn’t know what he was talking about. Lear was mad, and then he died.
He never faced any tragedy that came into his life. He just ran away from it. Most of us have to go on. We keep living.
That’s the real tragedy. That life goes on. Modern playwrights know this. Shakespeare just loves
the dramatic moment. ‘Cause it’s easy. Everybody dies. The end.
Well it's crap.
Fucking Lear. ‘I’ll just go pick fucking daisies for a half hour while my kingdom gets destroyed and thousands of
people die’. Bullshit.
You can only avoid unpleasantness for so long. Then you have to face up to reality. We live in a fucked up world,
and it hurts to be alive. This is not a nice place. Deal with it.
You’re alone. You deal with it alone. You deal with the pain because your girlfriend left.
Then you’re alone, but that’s the way things are.
You sit alone, in pain. You sit in silence- because she took all the fucking cd’s!-but you keep living.
You live without music. You live without that person in your life.
That’s fucking tragedy! How can you live without music? How can you live without her...
People are pathetic. Everything ends, everyone dies. It’s hard to bear that.
I’d rather be picking fucking daisies too, but most of us don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice.
(Pause) The end.