What do you think?
Rate this book
Cuckoo
Texas Fried Chicken, abject misery and a one-way Ryanair ticket.
Everyone hates Iona. Everyone except Pingu. Fitting in is hard when one of you can't shut up and your silent best friend wears a tuxedo to school every day. Sick of the ceaseless bullying and despair, Iona and Pingu decide to get the hell out of Dublin.
Turns out that emigrating is a great way to get noticed by the cool kids. Loving the attention, Iona is drunk on her new-found popularity until she discovers she's messed with the wrong crowd. In a world where reputation must be defended tooth and nail, this can only end in disaster for all involved.
From Kylie Jenner lip kits to Lucozade, this is a fresh, modern look at what it means to be young in Ireland today. Shortlisted for the Papatango New Writing Prize, Lisa Carroll's sharp and sparkling debut dissects the true cost of belonging, and reflects on how hard it is to break away from the place you grew up.
"There is both snap and crackle in the writing, she knows how to place a smart joke, but it is also terrific on the teenage insecurities that make friendship so treacherous, particularly in the digital age." Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
Everyone hates Iona. Everyone except Pingu. Fitting in is hard when one of you can't shut up and your silent best friend wears a tuxedo to school every day. Sick of the ceaseless bullying and despair, Iona and Pingu decide to get the hell out of Dublin.
Turns out that emigrating is a great way to get noticed by the cool kids. Loving the attention, Iona is drunk on her new-found popularity until she discovers she's messed with the wrong crowd. In a world where reputation must be defended tooth and nail, this can only end in disaster for all involved.
From Kylie Jenner lip kits to Lucozade, this is a fresh, modern look at what it means to be young in Ireland today. Shortlisted for the Papatango New Writing Prize, Lisa Carroll's sharp and sparkling debut dissects the true cost of belonging, and reflects on how hard it is to break away from the place you grew up.
"There is both snap and crackle in the writing, she knows how to place a smart joke, but it is also terrific on the teenage insecurities that make friendship so treacherous, particularly in the digital age." Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
114 pages, Paperback
Published November 27, 2018
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 14, 2024
Other than the fact over 50% of my reading is of contemporary play scripts, my OTHER impetus for reading this is that it's one of the first plays with a non-binary character (back in 2018) - although those are becoming more common as time/progress marches on. Pingu, the character on the right with the long black coat, is rather fascinating - but one of the conceits of the play is that they are voluntarily 'mute', so one never gets to hear their story told by themself.
Other than that - and the lower-class Irish milieu, there is really nothing very original or novel about this - it follows a half dozen teenagers doing teenager-y things and everything that happens is foreseeable from a long way off. And - aside from Pingu, NONE of the other characters are at all likeable. Still, for a debut effort it shows promise, and points for trying to be inclusive.
I'd actually read her most recent play, The Misandrist, prior to this one, and - except for an inordinately long run time - it was an improvement all the way round, with much more likeable characters.
https://www.londontheatre1.com/review...
https://theblogoftheatrethings.com/20...
https://www.thereviewshub.com/cuckoo-...
https://theplaysthethinguk.com/2018/1...
https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2018/11...
https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2018/11...
Other than that - and the lower-class Irish milieu, there is really nothing very original or novel about this - it follows a half dozen teenagers doing teenager-y things and everything that happens is foreseeable from a long way off. And - aside from Pingu, NONE of the other characters are at all likeable. Still, for a debut effort it shows promise, and points for trying to be inclusive.
I'd actually read her most recent play, The Misandrist, prior to this one, and - except for an inordinately long run time - it was an improvement all the way round, with much more likeable characters.
https://www.londontheatre1.com/review...
https://theblogoftheatrethings.com/20...
https://www.thereviewshub.com/cuckoo-...
https://theplaysthethinguk.com/2018/1...
https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2018/11...
https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2018/11...
March 20, 2022
What's the craic?
Two teenagers, Iona and Pingu were fed up with their lives - getting bullied and being 'uncool' in Crumlin, Dublin. They decided to move to London and stay with Iona's father. The unexpected popularity caused by the move made Iona to have second thoughts. Iona got in argument with her best friend, Pingu. In the end Pingu left her, and move to London by themselves.
Pingu are so bad-ass. They are a non-binary character who refuse to speak. I wish I could have their qualities and attitude - sticking with their friends and trying to help them when they could not see the situation clearly, and also following their belief wholeheartedly.
The writing is fast and snappy - in the style of how I would imagine current teenagers would speak.
Two teenagers, Iona and Pingu were fed up with their lives - getting bullied and being 'uncool' in Crumlin, Dublin. They decided to move to London and stay with Iona's father. The unexpected popularity caused by the move made Iona to have second thoughts. Iona got in argument with her best friend, Pingu. In the end Pingu left her, and move to London by themselves.
Pingu are so bad-ass. They are a non-binary character who refuse to speak. I wish I could have their qualities and attitude - sticking with their friends and trying to help them when they could not see the situation clearly, and also following their belief wholeheartedly.
The writing is fast and snappy - in the style of how I would imagine current teenagers would speak.
December 28, 2023
Very dark ending but super funny writing throughout. Iona is a great role but Pingu is brilliant too.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews