Street Lights. (Description, Characters and Setting.)

Brief description:

Street lights looks primarily into the life of Adam Blake, it is an understanding of how his life has
gotten to where it is now. For me its first person insight into growing up at the present moment. Although this is probably an heightened view of times now, it looks at the thoughts of a teen/young adult nowadays. The street light that will be part of the stage, signifies the cross between young adult to an actual adult, for me it is metaphor for losing that light and spark you had as a child the imagination and creativity that once made your life exciting and bearable, is now traded for the stress of the "big wide world."

Adam's father is hiding the secrets of his daughters "suicide" to protect his friends, however the guilt of these skeletons in his closet have changed him entirely into a drunk and violent man. Adam is a gifted linguist and his monologues tend to be spoken like a poem he would have written, this helps him deal with his problems, but as things get tougher he loses his spark and it begins difficult for him to express himself through a pen. His mother left after the passing of his sister as she saw the storm coming, but she left Adam behind so that she would never display her sadness and anger through him.

Towards the end secrets become apparent, and things take a turn for the worse, with Adams mum returning home and seeing the destruction that was left through horrible circumstances.


Characters:

Adam Blake: Adam is 19, slim, has dark hair and a scruffy beard. Although the rest of his face looks full, his eye sockets are hollow looking as if he has seen things that keep him awake. He tends to wear slim legged jeans with holes in the knees, baggy jumpers that look like charity clothes or hammy downs, shoes that are tattered and dirty, a big black coat that has a pocket big enough to fit a black book and some pens. He is intelligent, but that doesn't mean that he's made any smart choices throughout his life. He trust people more than he should, can be very lazy, is the type of person to not take any shit whether he is in a group or on his own, but is terrified of his dad. He feels that he is stuck in a degrading job, which is a call center, and wishes to do more with his creative outlook on writing, there are many a times in the play which his monologues will be something he has written in his black book.

Family:

Andrew Blake: He is 54 years old, medium height, quite chubby, really short grey hair and poorly groomed stubble. You'll tend to find him wearing trackie or jogging bottoms, a football Liverpool football shirt on, big blocky rings on his fingers, tattoos and either slippers or tatty old trainers depending on the setting. Andrew use to be a family man, who only drank when it came to going to the pub with friends or to football matches, after his daughter's passing he has become a recluse in a one bedroom flat, but that doesn't matter as he passes out on the sofa by the time its night. You will mainly find him sat in-front of the telly with a crate of beers a pack of fags surrounded by takeaway boxes. His friends use to mean a lot to him which is why he found it so difficult to cover up the truth behind his daughters death, in order to protect them.

Thalia Goodman (Blake): 49 years old, short mousy brown hair, she does show signs of aging, but never smoked or drank so its not as noticeable, she is short and has an average weight for a lady of her age. She wears hooped earings, blue jeans, a top, topped off with flat shoes and blouse. She looks like a normal woman of her age, but it has taken years to build that persona after her daughters death, she now lives another life as a carer, with a husband and two step sons. Unlike Andrew she hasn't dealt with the grief by drinking and destroying her life, and will come across confident in an argument, although more often than not she backs of when she knows she is in too deep and closes off to the other.

Lesley Blake: She died 20 years old, her description doesn't matter as she does not feature in the play, this is just for my own personal referencing. She had long mousy brown hair, medium height and skinny. She was strong willed and stuck up for her little brother in more fights than he can remember, she knew was different than anyone else around the area and so took it in her own hands to protect him, she understood Adam and always supported his choices treating him more like a best friend and a little brother.

Friends:

Hannah Tisby: 17 years old, with light blonde hair, she is short and is an normal size for someone her age. She wears skinny jeans, band tops, and converses. She comes across as a tom boy, but inside is far from it, Adam was introduced to her through his and her group of friends. Her parents are very well of for somebody living in the area and she gets a lot of grief for having wealthy parents by others. She is shy, but stands up for others, there is a sense of loyalty, from her without any reason other than it being right or wrong. She is strong minded and pushes Adam to do what he is capable of, with the care and nourishment a mother would give a son.

Jacko (Jack Francis): Jacko is your typical 18 year old lad, he has dark hair, light skin tone and is tall. He enjoys being fashionable, but doesn't have a lot of money and so you will find him wearing knock off clothes. The style he likes is jeans, trainers, shirts and sport jackets. Jacko's outlook on the world is very simple minded, which in turn can anger Adam, however he is driven by making people laugh constantly and thinks he is quite the ladies man. He is Adam's best friend, Jacko's views makes him very easy to talk to.

Ellen Bisby: Ellen is 17, she has long brown hair and is short. She likes wearing girly dress and boots. She is in a sense, the sheep of the group, she hasn't grown up with this group as she moved 5 years ago. So at times she feels left and and will do what she can to be apart of the group's shenanigans. She can be easily persuaded by Ashley and sometimes is taken advantage of, to me she is like the baby of the group always trying to be older to fit in with the others.

Harry Mopps: 19 years old, medium height with black hair and a stocky sized weight. You will mainly find him wearing jogging bottoms, trainers and tracksuit tops. He is the trouble maker of the group, he will find a fight in something as simple as a conversation over sandwiches, the beauty of this within the play is you feel on edge with some of the things he says, whether it will stir violence or he is simply just joking with the group. Trouble making aside Harry is a very loyal guy and will always be there to protect and stand up for his friends.

Ashley Travis: Ashley is 18, medium height with hair that she changes the colour of every month. She is a bit of a tom boy and so wears jeans, baggy tops and canvas shoes. She feels like the head of the girls, she always has her ways around the guys and draws on that power to her advantage, pitching the boys against each other, but never fazes Adam and this annoys her. She is insecure about her looks and is very defensive, in other words you bite, she bites back harder.

T (Travaughn Labon): he is 21 years old, his mother is African and moved here when T was 5, he has short black hair is short and built like a shit brick house. His skin colour has got in the way of him making friends within the area, hence the fact he hangs out with people younger, but this is purely for the fact they don't care. T receives a lot of hate from people in the area, and so you can find him an Harry in the center of a fight more times than none. T is a very sweet and humble guy, who always appreciates the good things that happen in his life, at the same time as understanding that the bad things make him stronger.

The actor/actress can take on the character the way they see fit after reading the play, the description is a rough baseline for me to write off. However the traits and clothing needs to be stuck to within reason.

Setting:

The play is set in a flat in Buckland, Portsmouth in 2014.

The flat belongs to Adam, but characters pass through in scenes. Adam isn't wealthy his job just about allows him to supports himself by putting a roof over his head, food in front of him and some tatty clothes.

However the niceties of this flat will be a door stage right, which is the front door and one stage left which leads off to the bedroom and bathroom. The room that is focused on in the play is the main living space/ kitchen. The way I would set it is a large sofa angled downstage right, there is a TV, but however you don't need to show it on stage. Then have the kitchen upstage left with a table and chairs upstage center.

Adam's flat is very tatty with peeled wall paper, a grungy wooden floor and furniture that looks like its been taken from a skip and flogged of in a charity shop. The lighting is dingy as there is only one light source in the room which is a single dangling bulb.