Dear Joanna, My favourite animals are scorpions
“A strong piece of new writing that takes a familiar adolescent experience and gradually reveals its darker implications.”
“What begins as an innocent form of courtship evolves into a subtle suggestion of the origins of incel culture”
‘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.
The play lands its audience back into the emotional intensity of childhood and adolescence, reminding us what it was like to feel everything all at once. Funny, dark, and surprising, Dear Joanna combines bold new writing with a sharp exploration of gender and childhood.
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.
Directed by Elizabeth Laurence
Performed by Grace Maltman and Joseph Mason-Coombs
Photos by Miranda Mazzarella
Graphic Designer/Poster by Katie Wrench