Monster

by Duncan Macmillan

"He's got zero empathy. You could be having a conversation and start choking to death and he'd just think, 'Well, this conversation's over.'He'd probably just sit there and finish eating whatever you were choking on."

An inexperienced teacher is given the job of saving a disturbed and violent fourteen-year-old boy from permanent exclusion. Alone in the classroom, an intense battle of wills takes place. But what can be done when a child cares for no one and is afraid of nothing?

Monster won two awards at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and was first performed in 2007 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, where Duncan MacMillan is Writer-in-Residence.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

121 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

This page is for the English playwright. For the Scottish art historian, see Duncan Macmillan.

Reviews

[Jonathan Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Duncan Macmillan and I’m glad I read this play. Certainly not his best but still thought-provoking and well written

[Micaela *CLONAZINE* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lo malo de conocer a un autor por su mejor obra es cuando buscas su bibliografia y te deja indiferente.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

MacMillan's second play builds on the promise of his first, which I enjoyed also. Some of the British allusions I didn't understand, but still a rock solid piece of theatre.

[A M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling!

What a powerful, moving and emotive read. I'm sure it would be amplified on the stage, but the emotion I derived was not enjoyment or pleasure. Rather it was fear and worry! Excellently written to leave the reader with a penny drop moment at the end.

Some terrifically tense moments, incredible twists and I was completely immersed in the horror of the situation.

I was especially gripped by the scene where Daryl visits the pregnant wife at the end with a knife and the conversation the teacher has with the grandma - frustrating yet SO real.

The ending really left me with the realisation that everybody has a little 'monster' within them, not just the troubled teen, but the mild teacher with a violent outburst past, and the new mother struggling with her new baby.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Arden Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rollercoaster. I was on the edge of my seat at the end. Kinda a classic troubled teen and teacher who believes in him story but with a twist!

[Merla Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

this play is so hard to read but so powerful

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5