Many Moons

by Alice Birch

Juniper is looking for love, Robert is trying to avoid it, Ollie doesn't know what it is and Meg has resigned herself to never having it. As these four people move through a July day in London, they orbit each other, unaware that they are hurtling towards one moment that could devastate them all.

Many Moons opened at groundbreaking Theatre 503 in summer 2011.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

54 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2012

Reviews

[lief · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW - sexual assault, rape, pedophilia

damn, i REALLY gotta start reading the trigger warnings for things
this was exquisitely crafted, but oh my god so harrowing
incredible progression from the menial to the truly soul-baringly vulnerable
please do tread carefully, these trigger warnings are very explicit and i do wish i myself had treaded with more care

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a play that seems designed to make people feel better about their own choices, their own practices, their own desires. Here are some awful, awful people who behave in ways and have done things about which it is easy to feel morally superior. Congratulations, reader, you are not one of the terrible people who haunt this play.
This is not an exercise in empathy or understanding – not that theatre must always be that, but I tend to want the theatre I read to ask more questions and ask me to be more curious. But that isn't what Many Moons wants at all. My heart felt heavier every page as this play moved toward its obvious-from-the-first, inevitable, depressing conclusion. No thanks.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this play, having read it alongside my father in a manner that inspired an hours-long conversation. I personally revel in the opportunities text provides me to not know the answers, to not know who the titular hero's identity or who I should admire most within the cast. This is definitely one of those works. Each character reflects some facet of the others, making it unclear whether all are damned or if all are excused from their wrongdoings. Each of the four characters written uses the audience as some certain device, and the writing style is paced so as to reflect this persuasive hope. I would highly recommend /Many Moons/ to anyone who wants to question human tendency towards emotion or who is simply looking for something to chew on.

Alice Birch should certainly have placed some content warning on this play, at least warning readers of the existence of disturbing content if not naming it precisely, as it is present in abundance. That is why this play is only receiving four stars from me, but I would suggest it nonetheless.


Spoilers:

CW-sexual abuse of a child, rape, molestation (child and adult)

[Jenny Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
I think this is probably my fault for not researching the play first but I read it for drama and where juniper's monologue was very light hearted this play was Not. Extremely serious themes but I'm not sure they were explored in quite enough detail for the play to quite hang together as a text - like the reveal around ollie was incredibly sudden. But I was a fan of the ambiguous ending it might all be better on stage and a huge metaphor for the failures of the justice system? Juniper is a great character though

[Madalynn Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope that if I were to see this play live I would have a more visceral experience opposed to what I just had while reading it. Alice Birch is clearly a wonderful writer. It’s written incredibly well, in a very heady and smart way. Although, it turns the stomach upside down yet leaves you feeling removed and at arms length. Almost as if in an episode of disassociation. A layer that I’d like to see incorporated by a director.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNING. That’s all I will say as I wish someone had written that on the outside of this book.

Alice Birch is an incredible writer and I will read anything she writes. This is an intense play. I can’t really say much else right now.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it took a while to get going, the play as a whole was very well thought out. I must say that the end of the play was extremely shocking and fairly gruesome. I wouldn’t recommend reading if you are easily triggered by sexual abuse.

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, I found Juniper a bit annoying but at least she wasnt a sex offender. If you read this play, TW for SA. I spent most of my time reading it in horror and disgust, just asking myself why? WHY?

and im disappointed bc I wanted Meg to kill Robert

[roudah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[James Brautigam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strange show. Would be worth it to direct, as there are a lot of implications that eventually lead to a certain event that happens.

[Lucy Jennifer Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for monologues !

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying. Extraordinary. Grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you. Sublime in the gothic sense. Rattling.

[Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. I loved the style of writing, although on occasion it felt a tad jerky. I loved the flawed characters and the slow reveal of their stories. I love when they all come together and there is an almost tangible shift in the direction of their lives. Don't read it if you don't like explicit language or themes, as it did make me quite uncomfortable in that sense, but all in all I thought it was an interesting play and would love to see it on a stage.