Miles - Blackthorn

Charley Miles

BLACKTHORN

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Blackthorn was originally produced by Leeds Playhouse for Furnace Festival 2016. The play was revived at Paines Ploughs Roundabout at Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, on 1 August 2018, and was produced by InSite Performance in association with Leeds Playhouse. The cast was as follows:

For Kilburn
everyone and everywhere that made me

Thanks

This play was born out of the lifelong support of some, and the more recent encouragement of others.

Thanks to Gilly, Sophie, James, Robin, and all at Leeds Playhouse for first believing in it and in me, and giving the play its first breath of life; to Harry Egan and Charlie Bate, for their exquisite talents and instincts; to Matt Hartley for his selfless support, and Paines Plough for the new life; to Marnie Podos, for her brilliance and enthusiasm.

Special thanks to my mum and dad, for their endless support. We might not have understood what we were getting ourselves into, but your unquestioning belief made it feel possible. To Izzy, for being my first reader, always; to Eve, for being easy to make laugh; to Frankie, for his love.

Thanks to the volley of female friends who support me through everything. Most especially, to Tashan Mehta, my sister-in-arms and most wise adviser: I could not understand myself without you.

This play would not have been possible without the relentless encouragement, energy and wisdom of Jacqui Honess-Martin. Thank you for your rigour and insightfor giving me reasons to aim higher.

C.M.

Characters

HER

HIM

A forward slash (/) indicates when the next line begins.

This edition features the full-length version of the play. A shortened version was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.