Resilience

Synopsis:

Liam, a 17-year-old student at Penraven College, has just plummeted to his death.

Was  it suicide?

The senior staff at Penraven have gathered to try and discover how such a thing could’ve happened – how Penraven, a school that prides itself on arming its students with the kind of resilience it takes to meet the world head on, could’ve allowed such a thing to happen.

Under the probing, intrusive, often aggressive questioning of Norris – the lawyer retained by the school’s insurer – we gradually build up a picture of the events leading up to the tragedy.

It is a disturbing one, involving some rather surprising elements that have Blanchard – the school principal – thinking in terms of damage control.

It is at this point, with the incriminating evidence still freshly dissected, that an unexpected visitor arrives:  Liam’s father.

Colonel Sorrell, who has just returned from a tour of duty in the Middle East, knows nothing of his son’s death.

In a searing, often blackly comic drama on the way in which we are raising the next generation, the author forces each of us to confront what lies at the heart of the survivability and, indeed, mortality of our own children.

Character Breakdown:

Eight-hander:  4 females, 4 males:

TIM EASTMAN   Ethics teacher, late 50s, pony-tail

HELEN BLANCHARD    Principal, 50

PAULA SAYERS    Counsellor, 30s

NICOLA FROST   Home room teacher, late 30s

BRENDAN NORRIS   Solicitor, 40s

CHARLOTTE GRAVES    BLANCHARD’S P.A., early 20s

LIAM    Student, 17

DOUGLAS SORRELL    LIAM’S father, mid-50s

Setting:

Boardroom, the present.

Running-time: 120 minutes.

Production History: Not yet produced.

Excerpt available for download for free.