PUNK ROCK
Simon Stephens
Punk Rock is a play written by Simon Stephens, a British playwright most known for writing the play, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'. His other plays include On the Shore of the Wide World, Marine Parade and Harper Regan. Punk Rock has no real plot, but follows a group of teenagers aged 17-18 getting ready for their exams, UCAS forms and universities. This play was first performed in September 2009 in a joint-theatre production between the Lyric Hammersmith, Hammersmith and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. The play is set in modern-day Stockport, Manchester. The play introduces William Carlisle, the main male in the play, showing around new-girl Lilly Cahill. As the story goes on, new characters are introduced. Bennett, the bully in the play who is known for bullying William and Lucy Francis, Cissy, girlfriend to Bennett, Nicolas Chatman, Tanya Gleason, best friend to William who witnesses a major event near the end of the play and Chadwick Meade, afraid of Bennett. There is only one adult character in the play, Dr Richard Harvey at Sutton Manor Hospital who interrogates William when he enters onto scene. At the play goes on, William starts to take a liking for Lilly and decides to ask her out, but Lilly then tells him he has no love interest in him at all and tells him that she likes Nicolas, friend to William. This drives William insane and he suddenly turns on every character in the play. He grabs a gun and goes over to Bennett, who had been treating him like rubbish and kills him in school. William is then taken to hospital and get asked questions by Dr Richard Harvey, psychiatrist. The play is set in 2009, the same year as two icons of the music and film industry died that affected mainly younger children to middle aged persons, Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze.
During the play, there is an unexpected love (triangle) relationship between three characters that builds through the play. In this case, William falls in love with Lilly, but Lilly does not like William and believes they should be friends. Instead, Lilly falls in love with Nicolas, friend of William which drives him made. The play focuses on children of the 21st Century going through grammar school life. The main theme explained in this play is the theme of bullying. Bullying is emphasised throughout the play with one main character bullying the others on stage. This particular theme is key because everyone, ranging from older audiences to younger audiences can relate to. The play helps me understand the world I live in because I am going through the same stages of life as these characters in the play.
