Josh’s Monster’s, The Bike Shed Theatre Monday 21st to Saturday 26th February, 7:30pm
This play begins in the leafy lanes of Devon and ends up on the dusty dirt roads of Afghanistan. Josh’s Monsters embraces the frictions fun of family life familiar to us all, but made all the more intense when lives are on the line.
This new play by the Multi Story Theatre Company invites the audience to experience Chrissie and Doug’s dilemma from the inside.
Sat around tables between the two acting areas, 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.
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.
How have Chrissie and Doug’s choices shaped their children’s lives? Why does one son find fulfillment at the top of a mountain, the other with a gun in his hand in Afghanistan? Should a parent’s love and support be 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.
This is part of a national tour that already has audiences buzzing – both moved and amused by commonly shared experiences.
Tickets cost £10 and can be purchased by logging on to www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk or call 01392 667080.