“Gary says it’s not about glamour no more.
Men want girls in their own home, them who look like your neighbour or your best mate’s wife.
Them who you could have in real life.
Amateur girls.”
Amateur Girl
by Amanda Whittington
Following our production of smash hit show Bones, Fifth Word returns with Amateur Girl by Amanda Whittington. Based on real-life stories, Amateur Girl is a hard-hitting, poignant yet wryly amusing play about the reality behind the fantasy business.
Synopsis
Julie is a likeable auxiliary nurse, working long hours for a low wage in a Nottingham hospital. She cares for the elderly and feels her own life is passing her by, she wonders if her best days are behind her. Clubbing with the girls breaks the routine but Julie longs for some real excitement and a bit of spare cash.
When her new boyfriend buys a camcorder, Julie sees a lucrative new career on the horizon. She’s drawn into the world of the amateur girls; the so-called stars of home-made pornography on satellite TV and the internet. Yet Julie’s new life can’t stay secret for long. What starts as a bit of fun becomes anything but.
Based on real-life stories, Amateur Girl is a hard-hitting, poignant yet wryly amusing play about the reality behind the fantasy business.
Cast
Lucy Speed
Photo Gallery
Reviews
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...a very acute script...and a performance that is utterly convincing...tough stuff, but the skill of the piece is that you never for one moment doubt that this is happening to countless women all over the country
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...Observations of the dehumanising influence of the sex industry do not come much sharper...
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...Amateur Girl immediately engages our sympathies for the central character and never lets them go ... [it] is both entirely plausible and an indictment of the collusion between economics and exploitation...
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...dark, yet funny ... it has a great perspective and played with a natural warmth and verve by the talented Lucy Speed [whose] performance is very compelling and extraordinarily naturalistic...
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...a brilliant and sobering narrative, reinforced by sharp, almost cinematic sound effects...What you never feel for Julie is condemnation, and that's the triumph of it.
Artistic Team
- Director(s): Kate Chapman
- Writer: Amanda Whittington
- Associate Producer: Dep Arts
- Design: Eleanor Field
- Lighting: Alex Stafford
- Sound: Adam McCready
Venues
Nottingham Nottingham Playhouse
Doncaster Cast
Lincoln Lincoln Drill Hall
London St James Theatre
Wellingborough The Castle
Canterbury The Marlowe Theatre
Norwich The Garage
Colchester Mercury Theatre
Derby Guildhall Theatre
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre
Scarborough Stephen Joseph Theatre
Mansfield Create
A co-production with
Supported by:
