Dear Joanna, My favourite animal is Scorpions
Dave really likes this one girl and also his skateboard. Joanna really wants her friend’s neighbour to leave her alone. dear joanna, [...] explores obsession, innocence and growing up.
about the play:
‘Dear Joanna, […]’ examines the relationship between two children, Dave and Joanna. The piece aims to turn the familiar inside out with themes such as obsession and stalking alongside childhood innocence and first love. Dave is presented as an endearing boy with a huge crush on one of the girls in the neighbourhood. However, in the second act the cuteness of Dave’s unrequited love takes a disturbing turn, and we are forced to confront the darker aspects of adolescence.
Whilst writing this play, Julia deliberately omits stage directions with the intention of eliciting a response that is focused on language in terms of dialogue delivery, rhythm and subtext, granting for a flexible development of the play’s physical life. The play allows for the invention of time and space, as the characters move fluidly between scenes, welcoming the idea of multiple staging opportunities. It asks for active interpretation to theatre-makers and audiences alike and invites interpretive agency.
Performance at the Royal Exchange Theatre
During “An Evening of New Work with Carmen Nasr & Simon Stephens”, a 10 minute excerpt from dear joanna, […] was performed in front of a live audience for the first time. This staged reading was part of a collaboration between students from Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan University. The event took place over 2 days, the 5th to 6th of June 2025.
Writer: Julia Rudd
Director: Elizabeth Laurence
Producer: Martha Ford Tomlinson
Dave: Joel Mutamiri
Joanna: Madeline Davidson-Emmons