Squawk

by Megan Gail Coles

This daring new play from Newfoundland playwright Megan Gail Coles showcases a bold and refreshing approach to theatre for young audiences. Coles deftly interweaves Canada’s colonial history with online gaming as our Indigenous protagonist struggles to understand and reconcile her past, present and future.

Annie Runningbird doesn’t have time for the games boys want her to play. She’s aging out of foster care on her next birthday. The system has decided she is an adult, so Annie must make adult decisions. Where will she live? How will she make money? Demanding grown-up choices preoccupy the young girl’s mind as she navigates relationships with boys and men in her company. Does she like Isaac, a cute yet naive boy she met at the mall food court? Can she trust Louis, her older and increasingly overbearing foster care worker? Who can Annie depend on in her ever-shifting world? This intel is important. Because Annie needs to win the very real game she’s playing. She must save herself to save the day.

Genres: Plays, Canada, Theatre

80 pages, Paperback

Published November 13, 2017

About the author

Megan Coles is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and the National Theatre School of Canada. She is co-founder and co-artistic director of Poverty Cove Theatre Company. Megan is currently working on a trilogy of plays examining resource exploitation in Newfoundland and Labrador titled Falling Trees, Building Houses and Wasting Paper. She is a member of the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, Playwrights' Guild of Canada, Playwrights' Atlantic Resource Centre and Playwrights' Workshop Montreal. Her completed plays include Our Eliza, The Battery and Bound. Megan, originally from Savage Cove on the Great Northern Peninsula, currently resides in St. John's where she works at Breakwater Books. Eating Habits of the Chronically Lonesome is Megan's first fiction.

Reviews

[Ameema S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Short, and absolutely wonderful, I read this in one sitting.

I’ve read a few plays before, but I haven’t always enjoyed them this much! Annie is a spectacular, fiery character (& also my hero). The game part was a little weird at first, but I got into it.

The imagery was amazing, I would love to see this performed as well. I couldn’t put it down! A great, important read, and a great, important play! It touches on a multitude of tragedies, right here in Canada, and somehow still comes across as youthful and tender.

Excited to read more from the author!

[Alejandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the script of a play. I would love to see this play staged in Calgary. There are only three characters: Annie, an indigenous teenager about to age out of the foster care system; Isaac, a cute teenage boy she met at a food court; and Louis, Annie's case worker.

Loved the whole exchange about GTA and the role violence plays in video games - true mastery of words on showing how even saying exactly the same things, they have a completely different meaning depending on each person's experiences and culture.

Annie is an amazing character, full of fire and not willing to back down and accept the rules of the game she is forced to play.

Really loved this!

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and likable read. I didn't get anything out of the story's video game elements.

[Heather Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I know I will come back to read again and again. Heavy messages for a short play.

[Tysia · Rating 4 out of 5]

24/11/24
3.75*

[Gabs 🫧 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unconventional portrayal of Native troubles and the problem of the missing of the Indigenous women and children. Worth reading to see the strength of being true to oneself.

[Meg]

It's a little different to read the play vs experiencing a play, but there you go. Annie is my hero.