Shattered
Two Act Abstract Drama - 7w - Single Set
Help can come from the strangest places.
Synopsis
From the New Ideas Festival production.
Hannah Miller wakes up in a hospital bed on a beach. This is a surprise, considering she thought she'd wake up in a nursing home. She's doubly surprised to find her memory has returned - Hannah has Alzheimers.
The beach is not normal. The only person around is a ten-year old tomboy who smokes and is strangely protective of Hannah. There's good reason for this. She is Hannah. There are other Hannah's on the beach as well: some friendly, some not. These other selves arrive to help and comfort. The problem is these selves can barely help themselves. They are all like little hurricanes, consumed with their own moments in time.
Hannah at Forty is the absolute worst. She has no love for her future and can only see what's in front of her face. Forty feels her only way out is death. Hannah tries to convince Forty that life gets better. It has to get better because she is better. A storm crashes overhead as Forty and Hannah battle it out.
The storm passes. The other selves find excuses to make their way back to the beach. They all want Hannah to comfort them, when it's supposed to be the other way around. In the calm after the storm, Hannah realizes that she loved her messed up, crazy life. She wouldn't change it if she could. Finally Hannah is at peace with herself. She stands and listens to the waves hit the shore. She's ready to go.
Characters
There are seven characters in Shattered. Each of them play a different age of one person, Hannah Miller. Seventy is the only Hannah living in the present. The rest live in the past.
- Ten
A tomboy who is too old for her years. - Twenty
Teetering on the fence between childhood and being an adult. - Thirty
Pregnant and on top of the world. - Forty
Looking at the world from rock bottom. - Fifty
Someone who's been given a second chance. - Sixty
Someone who is forced to look back on her life. - Seventy
Struggling to maintain her dignity as she fights Alzheimer's
Setting
The stage directions call for a hospital bed in the middle of a beach. Shattered is a surreal piece; the beach lives in Hannah's head and does not necessarily need sand.
History
Productions:
- Theatre Unbound, Minneapolis, MN
- Constellation Theatre, UK
- New Ideas Festival (as Glass Castles)
- Toronto Fringe Festival (as Glass Castles)
Workshops/Readings:
- New Play Festival Wilfred Laurier University (as Glass Castles)
- Groundswell Festival (as Glass Castles)
Download a PDF of full script