Pests (NHB Modern Plays)

By Vivienne Franzmann

A hard-hitting, claustrophic drama about trying to escape your past.

Pink loves Rolly. Rolly loves Pink. And Pink loves getting bombed off her face.

Sisters from the same nest. Both trapped in a tiny rotting world. Both cuffed to a past that refuses to release them. One wants out. The other needs her in. Trouble is that when you complete each other, you're nothing on your own.

Pests was commissioned by Clean Break in a co-production with the Royal Court Theatre, London, and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. It premiered at the Royal Exchange in March 2014, before transferring to the Royal Court and touring the UK.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Apr 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781780013947

Vivienne Franzmann

Vivienne Franzmann was a teacher who took up playwriting after winning the Bruntwood Playwriting award in 2008 with her first play, Mogadishu, which also won the 2010 George Devine Award and was first staged at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 2011. Other plays include: The IT (National Theatre Connections festival, 2020); Bodies (Royal Court Theatre, London, 2017); Pests (Royal Court, Royal Exchange Manchester and Clean Break, 2014); and The Witness (Royal Court, 2012). She has written for Channel 4, BBC 1, Radio 4 and Radio 3. In 2014, she was awarded a BAFTA for her short film for children, Lizard Girl.