Skate

by Debra Oswald

Inspired by true events that occurred in a south-western NSW town, Skate is about a group of kids battling their local council to get a skate park built in their home town of Narragindi. In the midst of this struggle they are forced to deal with the sudden death of one of their friends. They attempt one final stand; the skate park holds the promise of renewing local youth pride and self-esteem. Skate is a turbo-charged, moving and funny account of the mates, mothers, tricks and traumas of a group of young skaters. Enhanced by live skateboarding, the play is full of the emotional awkwardness of adolescence, its adrenaline, compassion and humour, and reflects the hopes and aspirations of young people in regional Australia.

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Debra Oswald is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She is a two-time winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Award and author of the novels Useful (2015), The Whole Bright Year (2018) and The Family Doctor (2021). She was creator/head writer of the first five seasons of the successful TV series Offspring.

Her stage plays have been performed around the world and published by Currency Press. Gary's House, Sweet Road and The Peach Season were all shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award. Debra has also written four plays for young audiences—Dags, Skate, Stories in the Dark and House on Fire. She has written three Aussie Bites books and six children's novels, including The Redback Leftovers.

Her television credits include award-winning episodes of Police Rescue, Palace of Dreams, The Secret Life of Us, Sweet and Sour and Bananas in Pyjamas.

Debra performed her one-woman show Is There Something Wrong With That Lady? at the Griffin Theatre in 2021 and a month-long season at the Ensemble in 2023.

Reviews

[Abby]

Fantastic play for young adults to read and relate to, explores complex themes of friendship, love, coming of age and grief

[Ashleigh]

Had to read this for school :( it was alright, pretty cheesy. Its quick, and really short. Only like, 70 pages or something. Read if you please but definitely not worth buying lelelel