Zoe Cooper - Out of Water

METHUEN DRAMA

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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BLOOMSBURY, METHUEN DRAMA and the Methuen Drama logo are trade marks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in Great Britain 2019

Copyright Zoe Cooper, 2019

Zoe Cooper has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as author of this work.

Cover design: Ben Anslow

Cover image Getty Images/Auste Skrupskyte/EyeEm

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No rights in incidental music or songs contained in the work are hereby granted and performance rights for any performance/presentation whatsoever must be obtained from the respective copyright owners.

All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before rehearsals by professionals and by amateurs to The Agency, 170 Finchley Road, London, NW3 6BP Mail to: No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained.

This text went to publication shortly before the first performance and may differ slightly to the final version presented on stage.

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ISBN: PB: 978-1-3501-2946-7

ePDF: 978-1-3501-2947-4

ePub: 978-1-3501-2948-1

Series: Modern Plays

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Development & Communications Assistant David Andrews

Education Director Imogen Bond

Technical Manager Stuart Burgess

Press & Marketing Director Ben Clare

Education & Participation Assistant Izzy Cotterill

Development Manager Rebecca Frater

Finance Manager Caroline Goodwin

Theatre Administrator Laura Hepworth

Deputy Technical Manager Lisa Hood

Development & Communications Director Alex Jones

Literary Associate Guy Jones

Artistic Director Paul Miller

General Manager Sarah Murray

Executive Director Hanna Streeter

Development Manager (maternity cover) Scott Tucker

Youth Theatre Programme Director Freyja Winterson

Out of Water opened at the Orange Tree Theatre, in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company, on 1 May 2019.

Director Guy Jones

Designer Camilla Clarke

Lighting Designer Jess Bernberg

Sound Designer and Composer Helen Skiera

Movement Director Jennifer Jackson

Musical Arrangement Sarah Dacey

Casting Director Matthew Dewsbury

Thanks

I would like to thank: Guy Jones, Pippa Hill, Paul Miller, Margaret Wilkinson, Clare Deal, Lucy Kirkwood, Tom Wells, Jenny Howe, Emily Cooper, Misha Butler, Gemma Lawrence, Nadia Clifford, Jonathan Kinnersley, Jenny Secretan. My students at Newcastle University, especially Pearl Andrews-Horrigan, Tamsin Rees and Hummy Mazhar. And most of all my wife, Marie Stern-Peltz, who is the most compassionate person I know.

Zoe Cooper

Out of Water

Claire:she/her, thirties, feminine. At the beginning of the story she is seventeen weeks pregnant. By the end of the story, she has given birth.

Kit:she/her, thirties, soft butch.

Fish:they/them, fourteen, AFAB.

Setting

The story takes place in South Shields, a coastal town ten miles east of Newcastle.

Notes

When a character is telling the story speech is set out like this:

Fish I start by saying hello to her.

When a character is speaking to another character within the story it is set out like this, with speech marks around the dialogue:

Fish Alright?

When a character is performing as another character within the story quotation marks are used, and the secondary characters name is indicated after the primary characters name. Like this:

Fish/Hailey You talking to me? Freak.

Italicised speech in brackets (blame) indicates unspoken thoughts.

An indented comma indicates a short pause:

,

Fish/Headcrosses the staff room, clapping her hands.

Fish/Head Gather...

Kit At exactly seven forty-five...