Snowflake (NHB Modern Plays)

By Mike Bartlett

'Because Christmas. Well… That's when they say people come home.'
Andy loves nostalgic television, pints down the pub, and listening to the whole album from beginning to end. His daughter, Maya, wears good shoes, likes good arguments, and has a secret plan to bring down the government.
The trouble is, three years ago Maya left home, and they haven't spoken since. But this Christmas, she might be coming back. Andy knows she's going to stay. Maya knows she's not.
Mike Bartlett's play Snowflake is an epic story about generational conflict, fathers and daughters, and whether we're living in the best or worst of times. It premiered at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, in 2018, and was revived at Kiln Theatre, London, in 2019, directed by Clare Lizzimore.
'A winner: warm and funny, but also bracing… Christmas for grown-ups. Excellent stuff' - The Times
'A masterfully written generational clash lies at the heart of this timely story rich in insight, poignancy and optimism… a seasonal show with a heart and mind' - Guardian
'Like a really good Christmas film, in play form, with a strong emotional arc… a heart-warming, topical Christmas show for grown ups, constructed with care and craft' - The Stage
'Terrific, often funny, occasionally heartbreaking' - Theatrecat

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Dec 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788501354

Mike Bartlett

Mike Barlett is an award-winning playwright whose plays include: Scandaltown (Lyric Hammersmith, 2022); The 47th (Old Vic, London, 2022); Mrs Delgado (Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2021); Vassa, adapted from Maxim Gorky's play Vassa Zheleznova (Almeida Theatre, London, 2019); Snowflake (Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2018; revived at Kiln Theatre, London, 2019); Albion (Almeida Theatre, 2017); Wild (Hampstead Theatre, 2016); Game (Almeida Theatre, 2015); King Charles III (Almeida/West End/Broadway, 2014-15); An Intervention (Paines Plough/Watford Palace Theatre); Bull (Sheffield Theatres/Off-Broadway); Medea (Glasgow Citizens/Headlong); Chariots of Fire (based on the film; Hampstead/West End); 13 (National Theatre); Love, Love, Love (Paines Plough/Plymouth Drum/Royal Court); Earthquakes in London (Headlong/National Theatre); Cock (Royal Court/Off-Broadway); Artefacts (Nabokov/Bush); Contractions and My Child (Royal Court). He was Writer-in-Residence at the National Theatre in 2011, and the Pearson Playwright-in-Residence at the Royal Court Theatre in 2007. Cock won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre in 2010. Love, Love, Love won the TMA Best New Play Award in 2011. Bull won the same award in 2013. King Charles III won the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play in 2015. He has written several plays for BBC Radio, winning the Writers' Guild Tinniswood and Imison prizes for Not Talking. His work for television includes Press (BBC One, 2018); Trauma (ITV, 2018); two series of Doctor Foster (BBC One, 2015 and 2017, Best New Drama at the National Television Awards); and The Town (ITV1, 2012).

Book preview

ACT ONE

A church hall in an Oxfordshire village on 24 December 2019. The usual things are there: a stage, curtains, wooden floor, possibly wooden walls, fold-away chairs and an air of being trapped in time since the 1940s.

A doorway to a small kitchen to one side.

The lights are dim. On the stage of the village hall, the curtains are drawn. Leading up behind the curtains are wires – a power lead. Also a piece of tinsel.

In front of the curtain is arranged a banner that says ‘Welcome Home’.

In the hall itself are empty boxes for the decorations, the hall Christmas tree and a few decorations left over…

As clearance is given, ANDY emerges from behind the curtains. He’s about to descend, when he forgets something and goes back. Fiddles with it. Then he comes into the hall, tidies up a few of the boxes, and stands with his phone.