S-27
First produced by Lifeboat and Widsith at the Finborough Theatre, London (2009)
Winner of the iceandfire/Amnesty International Playwriting Competition 2007
“You can’t use a large aperture, cos then the depth of field’s too shallow and the background looks blurred. You gotta slow down the shutter speed, but that means you can’t hold it. Cos even if you think you held the camera still, it ain’t possible, not for such a long time. You shake, you see? You don’t notice it but you do. The whole image gets blurred. And they have to be clear. The images. Or it’ll be someone else taking the pictures and you in that chair.”
If survival meant complicity with a brutal regime, what would you sacrifice for someone you love?
May's revolutionary idealism has earned her a job as a prison photographer. But as the faces of the regime's 'enemies' pass her unflinching lens, will they shake May's belief in the world that she helped to create?
Inspired by the history of Cambodia's S-21 prison under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, S-27 draws on prison records and interviews to create a startling and affecting drama.
A play about survival and betrayal.
'a play that lingers in the mind long after the curtain has fallen.’ Gina Flaxman, Time Out Sydney
Click here to buy a copy of the script.
S-27 has been produced by:
Lifeboat and Widsith at the Finbourgh Theatre, London (2009) - Time Out London Critics' Choice.
Two Birds One Stone at the Griffin Theatre, Sydney (2010) - Time Out Sydney Critics' Choice.
Intersection Theatre at the Annex Theatre, Toronto (2012).
Bristol DramSoc at the Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol (2014).
Two Tall Theatre at The Royal Exchange, Newcastle, Australia (2016).
Feet First Collective at the Freemantle Festival (2019) and Adelaide Festival (2020).
A digital stream of the original Finborough production was released as part of #FinboroughForFree during December 2020 and January 2021
S-27 was the winner of the iceandfire/Amnesty International Playwriting Competition 2007. It was shortlisted for the Kings Cross Award 2007 and the Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers 2010.