Glory Whispers The Monkey

These two plays - the winners of Synergy Theatre Project's Prison Writing Competition - tell the tense but often funny stories of drug users and the stress their habits place on their relationships. In Glory Whispers, we see Mina visited by Glory after many years away. Hopeful of seeing Glory's little boy, Mina overlooks Glory's drinking and possible drug use. But when Mina's boyfriend Jonno returns unexpectedly, the troubles and pressures of their relationships see the illusion fall away. The Monkey sees Terry on a rampage trying to reclaim the £500 his friend Alan (aka 'Thick-Al') owes him. Terry's unpredictability, the result of an accident many years before, drives the piece in dark, violent but often hilarious and unexpected ways. These plays were published to coincided with a 2017 production at Theatre503, London, by Synergy Theatre Company.

“Monkey Beach creates a vivid contemporary landscape that draws the reader deep into a traditional world, a hidden universe of premonition, pain and power.” --Thomas King Tragedy strikes a Native community when the Hill family’s handsome seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, mysteriously vanishes at sea. Left behind to cope during the search-and-rescue effort is his sister, Lisamarie, a wayward teenager with a dark secret. She sets off alone in search of Jimmy through the Douglas Channel and heads for Monkey Beach—a shore famed for its sasquatch sightings. Infused by turns with darkness and humour, Monkey Beach is a spellbinding voyage into the long, cool shadows of B.C.’s Coast Mountains, blending teen culture, Haisla lore, nature spirits and human tenderness into a multi-layered story of loss and redemption.

As she peered over the edge of the gallery, Sabrina Cameron trembled at the sight of the sun-bronzed giant striding into view. But she never recognized the stranger...not until the moment she found herself surrounded by arms of warm steel--and drowning in smoldering green eyes that had once held cool disdain but now shimmered with passion. Morgan MacDonnell, the boy, had been her tormentor. Now it looked as if Morgan, the man, would prove infinitely more dangerous... Though hatred divided their clans, Morgan MacDonnell had come to Cameron Glen hoping for a truce...only to find that by evening's end the only way to avert bloodshed between the two families was for him to marry his enemy's daughter. But even as Morgan spirited Sabrina away to his rugged fortress, his battle would not be won. For this delicate rose of a girl would put up a bold fight...and the spoils of victory would be nothing less than a heathen MacDonell's heart.

Did You See The Monkeys? is a love story, not about romantic love between a boy and a girl or a man and a woman, but about brotherly love between two boys who are not born brothers but who choose to be brothers. It's about strong, confident Tom and weak, scared Tad and their brotherly bond that lasts a lifetime. It's about the power of the human heart and the indomitable triumph of the human spirit.

From National Book Award Finalist Eliot Schrefer comes the compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup. Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature.But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to live. In ENDANGERED, Eliot Schrefer plunges us into a heart-stopping exploration of the things we do to survive, the sacrifices we make to help others, and the tangled geography that ties us all, human and animal, together.

The townspeople think the stranger's nephew is a little peculiar but still the epitome of sophistication until the stranger discloses his relative is an ape.