sitting, screaming

By Madelaine Nunn
Directed by Lucy Clements

sitting, screaming

“I could crack open the footpath. Shake the houses until bookcases topple over. And all the porcelain in the world is just dust on the floor. And everything fragile is broken.”

Sam’s in her last year of high school, her dad’s just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. ‘Too much wanking!’ Her mum says, it’s a joke but no one finds it funny. It’s safe to say no one’s coping very well, least of all Sam. Not that anyone is noticing. It isn’t until she ends up in the office of Mr David that she feels like she can finally open up, that she can let it all out.

Shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award and longlisted for the Griffin Award, sitting, screaming is a raw and confronting new Australian play about family, adolescence and the abuse of power. It’s a candid exploration of how vulnerable people and young people slip through the cracks. 

A fierce new Australian play that champions the strength, resilience and courage of young women.

First produced by New Ghosts Theatre Company
& Old Fitz Theatre,
Sydney
20th September - 5th October 2024

cast and creatives

Producing Company: New Ghosts Theatre Company
Playwright: Madelaine Nunn
Director: Lucy Clements
Producer: Emma Wright
Production Manager: Amy Norton
Costume & Set Designer: Hailley Hunt
Composer & Sound Designer: Sam Cheng
Lighting Designer: Luna Ng
Lighting Design Mentor: Veronique Benett
Stage Manager: Natalie Baghoumian
Assistant Director & Understudy: Jade Julian
Assistant Sound Designer: Natesha Ham
Assistant Producer: Helena Cielak
Production Assistant: Elyse Zouroudis

Cast (of 1): Clare Hughes

reviews

★★★★★ “Tour de force of play-writing from Madelaine Nunn… by turns breathtakingly nuanced and subtle, and joyously reckless.”
Stage Noise

★★★★ “sitting, screaming is a work of gripping theatre.”
Suzy Wrong Suzy Goes See

★★★★ “Compelling theatre... a well crafted, robust play, written by Madelaine Nunn.”
David Kary, Sydney Arts Guide

“This excellent one-act play... It’s hard to believe that a new play could hit the mark so well...The largest kudos must go to the actual creator of this messy picture of adolescent confusion, Madelaine Nunn.”
Stage Whispers

“Nunn’s script is brilliantly crafted... deeply moving and intensely inspiring.”
Paul Gilchrist - Theatre Red

“Nunn has once again shown audiences why she is one of Australia’s finest writers”
Gavin Roach, Australian Arts Review

“Nunn has created a world that is complex, rich, troubling and at times rewarding, through her poignant writing for a single character.”
East Side Radio

“Another incredible show for the Old Fitz. An original one woman play, written by the ever so talented, Madelaine Nunn.”
★★★★ Spot on Sydney

“A piece that challenges us to defy its title. This piece yearns for us to stand, and shout our defiance from the rooftops. Nunn’s new play holds an air of Prima Facie about it... (Sitting, screaming) serves as a vital reminder of the endurance of young women in a system set up to see them struggle. Nunn’s piece of new work is also a targeted excavation of the foundations of the public school system.”
Justin Clarke- Theatre Thoughts

trailer