Full Length                           (black comedy)

 Male 1            Female 5       And one gorilla!

This is the story of a woman, (Jan), slipping into the black hole of depression.  Keith, her husband and also a reformed alcoholic at first fails to realise that Jan is suffering from this illness, believing that her mood swings are a result of two things. The first is his love of amateur dramatics, (which Jan loathes) and the second is the intense pressure that she, a teacher, is finding herself under at school.

We can physically see the turmoil that Jan's brain is going through with the presence of characters Yin and Yang, who represent the positive and negative sides of the brain.  These two comedy characters are never acknowledged by the other actors on stage. Resembling too ugly sisters they flit about the stage causing havoc.

By the end of act one, Keith has successfully pulled Jan back from the brink.  However, during act two we see the results of his efforts, and the toll it has taken on his own health.  Jan has thrown herself into her new hobby of rambling, often leaving Keith on his own while she goes walking with her club.  Yin, seizes this opportunity to tempt Keith back to alcohol.  Jan goes on a walking holiday, and while she is away Keith, led on by a now very sexy rejuvenated Yin goes, on an alcohol bender, climaxing in a very glitzy razzmatazz song and dance routine with her.  Yin and then seduces him, and takes him to bed.  Now suffering from DT’s, he awakes to find, not Yin, but a gorilla lying under the duvet next to him, just as Jan returns home. Slowly it dawns on Jan that depression casts its effects not just on the person that is suffering it, but also on those around that person.

paul@paulhedge.co.uk

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