Me Too By Ellen Brammar This play was commissioned as part of TEN and first performed in March 2019 by 55 members of Hull Truck Theatre’s Young Company. TEN featured 10 ten-minute plays, each based on a year in the decade since Hull Truck Theatre moved in to its Ferensway home. This play was inspired by 2017’s #MeToo movement. Plot This play is made-up of four thematically linked scenes written in response to 2017’s #MeToo movement. Notes: Recommended for 14+. This play contains mild swearing and references to sexual assault. This play was written to be performed as an ensemble which means that the cast take a shared responsibility for telling story rather than playing individual characters. Each chorus line is indicated by a dash. However, if there is a character name on the left then the dialogue on the right should be spoken by that character. When a there is a / during a piece of dialogue this indicates an interruption. About the playwright: Ellen is a Hull-based writer and founding company member of Middle Child Theatre. She has recently been selected as one of the BBC Writersroom’s Northern Voices and will deliver her first TV spec script as part of the scheme. Her theatre credits include, I HATE ALONE (2017) with Middle Child, WALK IN THE PARK (2019) with Back to Ours, TEN with Hull Truck Theatre (2019) and ORDINARY PEOPLE (2016) with Middle Child and Leeds Playhouse. She is currently writing a new play for Middle Child which is scheduled for 2021. She was longlisted for the BBC Comedy Script Room in 2016 with CULTURED and shortlisted in the same year for the CBBC sketch show, CLASS DISMISSED.
Me Too 2017 By Ellen Brammar
ONE – Just Walking GIRL I’m on Spring Bank West, it’s nine o’clock, not even that late but it’s dark, like dark-dark, like no moon and no stars dark. And the graveyard’s right there next to me, and I’m not scared of dead people ‘cos dead people are like dead, so they stay pretty still. But it’s proper shadowy and like I said there’s no moon and I can hear my breath coming out of me all ragged and Darth Vader-y, I’m sort of rattling, but I don’t want to slow down. I need to keep my little legs moving. Both my hands are firmly wedged into my coat pockets, one hand clutching my phone, two nines dialed and my thumb hovering over the same button. My other hand is gripping my house keys, the sharpest one poised between my thumb and index finger. I scan the houses across the street, eyeing up the ones with lights on downstairs, dismissing the ones that look empty or creepy. I’m not in trouble right now, but I have to be aware, it’s inbuilt in me. I’m so close to home now, five more minutes, I could probably run it if I was fit. I’m not. I can feel myself starting to relax as I check off my nearly home milestones – the lamppost that my dog loves to pee up, the bin that never gets emptied, the graffiti of a willy, the broken rail that – but then, but no wait, but, no, no, no, no. There’s someone behind me. Beat. BOY
It’s proper dark tonight.
GIRL
I don’t know when that happened.
BOY
One of those really dark, anything could happen, nights.
GIRL
I haven’t been paying attention.
BOY
It’s cold too, I walk a bit quicker.
GIRL
They’re walking quicker, getting closer.
BOY
I can hear my breath, I sound asthmatic.
GIRL
I let go of my keys, for just a second, so I can pull my hair out of its ponytail.
BOY
There’s this girl a few steps in front of me.
GIRL
My mind’s racing, I can’t stop it –
- Eighteen. - Such a shame. - But short skirt. - And so dark. - No moon. - Alone at night. - Stupid.
- Silly girl. - What an idiot. BOY
She keeps twitching her head towards me.
GIRL
I think I should probably run across the road, but my legs won’t let me.
BOY
Sorry, I’m taken.
GIRL
All I can do is speed up.
BOY
She’s walking quicker, too right it’s freezing.
GIRL He’s speeding up too. He’s so close. I can hear his breath wheezing right behind me. Is this it? I can feel my breath catching in my throat, my heart beating so hard I can hear it in my ears. I can feel him at my shoulder, close enough to grab me. My stomach is a tight knot in terrified anticipation. Please, please, please, please, please – and then he’s in front of me. Past me. He’s speeding off down the street. He overtook me and kept walking. Just a bloke on his way home, I suppose. My muscles release and I relax a little as I realise I’ve been holding my breath. I’m okay, this time I’m okay. I watch him disappear around the corner and I think – - If only you knew. - Maybe you wouldn’t come so close? - Maybe you’d cross the road? - I know it’s not your fault that I feel like this. - But I wish you knew that I did/ - That I do/ - Feel like this. - Then maybe, we could be on the same team. - That’d be nice.
TWO – Just So You Know - Dear Person with Power, - Firstly, we want to congratulate you. - It really is a great achievement. - And we know you’ve worked really hard to get where you are today. - Or at least had a powerful/ - Rich/ - High-ranking/ - Parent/
- To get you where you are today. - Either way, well done. - You’ve made it. - You’re at the top. - And you’re doing some great work. - We love the work you’re doing. - And your words. - Yeah, absolutely, your words are just/ - Well, they’re just great. - We really like the words you say. - And you come across as nice. - Powerful and nice. - Powerful and strong. - You make funny jokes. - And you give great speeches. - And, like we said, you choose great words. - And we hear you give to charity. - Which is nice. Beat. - But the thing is/ - And we’re sorry to bring it up/ - But the thing is, we’re sort of worried. - Because we know what power can do. - We know you might feel a touch invincible. - And that all these feelings of power have made you feel, well – - Powerful. - Which must be nice. - But we want you to know that that doesn’t mean you get everything/ - Whatever/ - Yes, thanks, whatever you want. - You can’t take.
- You can’t grab. - You can’t manipulate/ - Or bribe/ - Or coerce/ - Or blackmail/ - Or pressure/ - Or force. - Because we’re not going to stand for it. - We just wanted you to know now. - We don’t want you to be surprised. - We thought it best to be transparent. - Lay it all out, so you know the rules. - Because, apparently, in the past, some people were confused. - They were still the same rules but it’s like some people didn’t understand them. - Which is a bit weird. - But you know them now. - And you know that we won’t stay silent. - We won’t accept it. - We won’t believe you over her. - Not anymore. - We’re changing our reaction. - The rules are still the same. - You just can’t ignore them anymore. - Your power doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply to you. - They do. - We hope you understand. - We hope you heed our warning. - We hope you act like a decent human. - All the very best with your power stuff. - We’ll be watching. - Yours sincerely,
- Us.
THREE – Just Standing Here - He sniffed my neck! - Yep, you heard right. - He sniffed/ - her neck! - Gross. - She was just standing there. - He looked so chuffed with himself. - Of course, he did. - And you? - Sort of scowled. - A subtle furrowing of the brow. - That showed him. - And you? - We laughed. - It was funny. - It was proper gross, but we had to laugh. - It was a good story. - I knew it was a good story, I knew it would make you laugh. - Everyone loves a good ‘that man over there’s a gross groper’ story. - And then we all forgot about it. - Not forgot about/ - No? - No, more like, added it to the pile. - Because between us we have a pretty big pile. - And we don’t have the time or energy to think about them all the time. - So, we just add them to our pile. - Our ‘this thing happened to me today’ pile. - And sometimes we don’t even bother telling each other.
- Y’know, if it’s something ‘everyday’. - It hardly seems worth mentioning it. - Like, ‘one whistled at me in my school uniform today.’ - Or, ‘one barked at me from his car today.’ - Or, ‘one stroked my bum as I was waiting for the bus today.’ - It’s just a part of being a girl. - It’s just a part of growing up. - It’s just something we have to put up with. - It’s best to make it into a joke. - Laugh about it. - Otherwise we’d cry. - Because we can’t do anything about it. - We can’t stand up to them. - No? - They’re bigger than us/ - Stronger than us. - Sometimes older than us. - Have more power than us. - Have more penises than us. - And they don’t mean any harm by it. - It’s just banter. - A compliment. - A little innocent joke. - It makes them feel good. - They can’t help it. - It’s harmless. - They’re harmless. - And we shouldn’t overreact. - No one want’s to be ‘that girl’. Beat. - Although…
- Yeah? - Maybe we should be ‘that girl?’ - And not put up with it? - Because it makes us feel…what? - Intimidated/ - Angry/ - Belittled. - And maybe, maybe it’s not harmless.
FOUR – Not Just Me - We’re so tired. - Tired of/ - ‘Girls’/ - ‘Don’t go out late.’ - ‘Don’t wear that.’ - ‘Don’t use headphones.’ - ‘Don’t put your hair in a ponytail.’ - ‘Be safe.’ - ‘Be safe.’ - ‘Stay safe.’ - And we try. - We try. - We try to stay un-harassed. - Untouched. - Un-winked at. - But we’re so tired. - It’s exhausting. Beat. - I’m not going to put up with it anymore. - I’m not going to smile when they say, ‘cheer up.’ - Or laugh when they grab me in front of their friends.
- I’m not going to ignore that unsolicited wink. - Or feel ashamed when they call me a whore. - Because it’s not my fault. - And I’m going to stand by other girls and women and humans who need support. - And they’re going to stand by me. - Because we are tired of it. - We’re tired of being scared. - And explaining why we’re scared. - And reassuring you that we still like flirting. - We just want to be a willing participant in that flirt. - And insisting that we know it’s not all men. - We know it’s not all men. - But it is me. - And me. - And me. - And me. The ‘And me’ can be repeated if needed. - And me too. - And that’s not okay.