Play Virtual, Live Real
First Performed at Manor Green College in Crawley, West Sussex. A special needs college for students with moderate to profound learning difficulties. The play was first performed of 30th November 2020, with the following cast:
BRECK Ethan Moran
LEWIS Toby Flude
MUM Eleanor Bell
MATT Toby Hall
EMMA Faith Waite
JAMIE Daniel Martin
CALL OPERATOR Samantha Morgan
Director: Mark Harrington
Co Director: Samantha Morgan
SCENE 1: DARKNESS.
Conversation in darkness.
POLICE OFFICER: Essex Police Emergency
LEWIS: Erm hello, I need police and a forensic team to my address.
POLICE OFFICER: What do you mean? Whatās happened?
LEWIS: My friend and I got into an altercation and Iām the only one who came out alive.
POLICE OFFICER: Are you telling me youāve killed someone?
LEWIS: Yes, I am.
SCENE 2: INTRODUCTIONS
Sounds of game explosions, screams and gaming clicks and sounds.
Jamie, Matt, Emma and Breck are facing the front. The hooded figure of Lewis is facing away from the audience.
MATT: Come on guys, get them.
EMMA: Reload! Reload! Reload!
BRECK: I canāt get to the switch!
JAMIE: Matt get them!
Each gamer freezes/continues gaming as the other talks about Breck.
BRECK: Hi, Iām Breck. Iām 14. I live with my family. I love gaming. When I grow up I want to be a gamer or design games.
JAMIE: Breck was by far the best gamer out of all of us. He helped me to get to level 50 on Shout of War! He was always a good friend.
MATT: Breck was like a brother to me. We would share everything. Heād help me with my homework, buy me sweets on the way home from school. Weād even talk about what girls we fancied.
EMMA: He was always the cute one. I never told him I fancied him. I should have. I miss him.
Breckās Mum interrupts the scene and game play.
MUM: Breck, you need to come off there. Teaās nearly ready!
BRECK: Five more minutes Mum.
MUM: (To the audience) Breck was always on his computer blowing something up or on some quest. He always did his homework before going online though. He was always such a good boy. He helped me with his brother and sisters, did well at school. I never quite understood that computer world he played on but it made him happy. Everything changed when Lewis came online and into our lives.
SCENE 3: ENTER LEWIS.
A ping sound comes up
EMMA: I had been on Lewisās server for ages.
MATT: We all joined.
JAMIE: Me, Matt, Emma and Breck.
BRECK: Lewisās server was the quickest server Iād seen. There were no glitches and he knew loads of strategies and cheat codes for Zombie Hunter 5.
MATT: We all knew Lewis was a bit older than us; he said he was 17.
EMMA: We were only 14, but whatās a couple of years?
JAMIE: Early on I thought everything sounded too good.
BRECK: Lewis was so cool.
LEWIS: (not facing the audience) Let me tell you about myself. Iām one of those young business whizz k...