press release
Chrissie and Doug live in the same house but only communicate by Skype. They are a loving couple who upped sticks twelve years ago to give their sons a better life in Devon. So what are the strains and stresses of parenthood that have brought them to this point?
Their eldest boy, Ben, climbs mountains. Their youngest son, Josh, is about to return for a second tour of duty to Afghanistan. If they are to see him off then they must leave in an hour. But whilst Chrissie is in the kitchen baking cakes for Josh and his mates, Doug is down in the cellar in front of his computer screens refusing to accompany his wife.
multi story theatre company’s new play, Josh’s Monsters, invites the audience to experience Chrissie and Doug’s dilemma from the inside. Sat around tables between the 'kitchen' and the 'cellar', the audience can both eat Chrissie’s cakes and watch Doug’s video-mixing on two large screens as the pair of them search for common ground and try to find a way forward for their family.
A play that starts in the leafy lanes of Devon and ends up in the dusty dirt roads of Afghanistan, Josh’s Monsters embraces the frictions and fun of family life familiar to us all but made all the more intense when lives are on the line. How have Chrissie and Doug’s choices shaped their children’s lives? Why does one son find fulfilment at the top of a mountain, the other with a gun in his hand? Are a parent’s love and support unconditional? And are the 21st century communication channels that we use a help or a hindrance?
Josh’s Monsters is firmly rooted in Devon. It was developed through the agency of Beaford Arts’ ‘Breathing Space’ programme and is supported by North Devon Theatres.
(these dates) are part of a national tour that already has audiences buzzing – both moved and amused by commonly shared experiences.
