Chicken Burger N Chips

Corey Bovell

• Publisher: Salamander Street Ltd.
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781913630430
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático británico

During the summer holidays of 2009 Corey dreams of nothing but hanging around with his friends while ordering as much Morley's as possible… until Jodie comes along.

Meeting her makes Corey realise the changes that are happening within his beloved Lewisham Borough and, for the first time, thinking about what path his future takes.

'Corey Bovell is a master story-teller who oozes charisma, captivating his audience throughout. He is able to truly capture those moments he describes, drawing you in, even when he's just telling you about ordering his Chicken Burger N Chips. It's a deeply personal play and this comes through in both the writing and the performance… Kwame Asiedu's direction brings it to life with energy and emotion…I hope it gets a further run so more people are able to experience this.' ???? Dress Circle Reviews

'For 75 breathless, high energy minutes, writer/performer Corey painted a vivid picture of life on the mean streets of Lewisham, with good friends, a loving family, and the best fried chicken in South London… Corey Bovell enacts that significance with brilliant effect and makes the story of "a good boy in a bad borough" powerful and telling… I loved the powerful performance.' London Pub Theatres

SCENE ONE

The stage has no form of human life present, just the key stage props, which will help, tell this South East London tale. Our stage includes a counter representing ‘Morley’s’ up stage, a few red chairs, and a bed stage right.

After a few moments of nothingness, COREY enters the stage.

Corey – Ahhhhh London, the city, bright lights, fancy restaurants, all these wonderful things God blessed us fortunate Londoners with, to have and to hold till death do us part. To some London is their partner, their homie, their lover – someone who they adore and cherish. For me London is London. I’ve never really got to experience its amazing ambiance or glittering lights or even feel that soft breeze sweeping gently across the cheek on a cold winters night while strolling down Oxford Street enjoying a £10 crepe. Sitting on the open top bus and traveling through central London to see all the tourist attractions, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, British Museum, even the London Eye. Sea World, War Museum, London Zoo, London Dungeon, Madame Tussauds and the Tate. No, that’s not my London. My London is Lewisham Clock Tower, the Catford Cat hanging proudly in the sky seen from Blockbuster’s half a mile away. Constant flashing lights and police sirens damaging my eardrums, Catford pitts where all the ballers go and play, Sydenham, Turnham and Woodpecker youth clubs on Friday evenings. 50p can drinks, the unsavory conditions Ladywell swimming baths is in, but to me, that’s all I know.

Lights, bright lights, flashing lights, blue, red, green, amber, red, blue, amber, green. These lights stay in your brain until they become second nature, until they become normal until these lights become YOU and YOU become these lights within your community. We manoeuvre around the city following a format invented in 1869, and to this day still has a massive impact on our daily lives. We see a red light, we stop, we see amber and we prepare to move, we see green and we GO FOR IT.

(Stage lights change colour, with the text above.)

This didn’t make sense to me until my big cousin broke it down; Yo cuz, in ur life ur gonna come across bare traffic lights and I ain’t talking about the ones you buck on road cuz. Now dese traffic lights come in three different colours and ur job is to find out who floats to you in a ghostly fashion sporting dese colours. Like… Like if man was to cut holes in a bed sheet, throw the towel over me and walk towards you, yeaaah dat kinda ting cuz. Now… the first colour, people come to you in is RED. RED symbolise a negative direction, why you think people use it for warning signs cuz, to stop you from getting close to what’s ahead. The second colour, people will come to you in is AMBER. Now, when you see AMBER cuz, approach with caution. Like what Shaggy and Scooby Doo do when trying to solve a mystery. Last but not least you have your GREEN party. GREEN people, not GREEN party, I’m ain’t tryna sound all political or philosophical now. When dose people come into your life, go with them, because they will take you places, introduce you to new tings, and out of ends girls. Dat’s why my chick’s from Peckham cuz.

Corey – Despite the stench of his medical marijuana, which often smelt appealing consumed the room which we sat in at the time. The smoke clouds descended from his mouth and into the air like a fire-breathing dragon unleashing the smoke. At first, I thought, “This dude is high” then I thought, “shit am I high,” then the penny dropped, he made a valid point. People around you have an indefinite role to play in your life while holding up their colours. RED, AMBER, GREEN. What colour was I? What colour are you?

(We see police lights flash.
Lights help to change the scene to the daytime in COREY’s bedroom.)

It’s the start of our six weeks’ holiday and boy have I been looking forward to this. Waking up whenever I want, playing Football Manager all day, chilling with the man dem going radio. Just not worrying about having to be anywhere or do anything in particular. Well actually I might have to worry about that small thing called, Results Day aka D-Day, but that’s not for a few weeks. I just wanna chill and have fun, this summer.

You see, everyday apart from Sundays, cahh I’ve gotta go church with my parents, we all link up outside Ladywell Morley’s the beacon of our South London community… I ain’t talking about those dead chicken shops I’ve heard my older cousin talk about as well, East London is home to Dixy’s Chicken, North London have Chick King, West London have (Awkward Pause) I dunno. But down South, we have Morley’s. Morley’s isn’t just any food shop on the road, you see, to us, Morley’s is like the Red Carpet, Hollywood, only a place for the elite from ends can step in there during peak times, when we’re occupying it. We usually meet around mid-day and I always leave late, as I live close by and you know black people… they never know time. Some of the man dem are usually outside while the rest chill inside, ordering food or playing on the slot machines, hoping that £1 turns into £50, and then our day is complete. There’s Anton, Liam, Jon, Grey, Dwayne, Ashley, Daniel, and Shawn. I spud them all one by one. The street is usually a lot brighter, with the lights from Ladywell Swimming bars and Riley’s beaming, but they’ve been cut since closing down. No longer an area boosted by its community magnets but impoverished. Grey flicks on a beat and everyone gets gassed, we automatically begin to form a circle around him inside the doorway of the shop. Now the circle has been around long before man knew that Tupperware is just a fancy word for a container. I first saw it in school, during lunchtimes, the olders use to do it a lot.

(Grime Instrumental by Trooh Hippi begins to play.)

It’s when we all gather around and spit bars to grime instrumentals just like on the radio, Shawn always sets pace as he’s the best lyricist in our group;

[Shawn] – Mad about bars since I was 16

All the girls are loving my flow and my good weed

Everytime I step on da road I just look clean

Kicks haffi be all white, inna 9 please

Mad about bars since I was 16

All the girls are loving my flow and my good weed

Everytime I step on da road I just look cle...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Scene One
• Scene Two
• Scene Three
• Scene Four
• Scene Five