The Soup Kitchen

The Soup Kitchen is a devised drama produced in 2008 by a group of amateur actors, actresses and writers in the North East of England. It was first performed in April 08 starring A-level students Dale Jewitt, Thomas Whalley, Jessica Carter, Sean Bell, Carl Beeley, Martyn Jamieson and Chris Maynard. Direction and Assistance was provided by Miss C Thirlwell.
The piece focuses on the lives of seven people who are somewhat "dwelling impaired".
Within the play there are the homeless, the dark and sinister and the young. But regardless of category or tag, 'The Soup Kitchen' proves that all are simply 'forgotten' and above all 'vulnerable'.

Synopsis
The play opens in an unknown time and setting. Through a video montage and various monologues, the characters and their well beings are introduced. It is here we see the definition of the 'worlds', the streets, the soup kitchen and the homes. Rusty, a down trodden whimsical musician, collects his pittance and claims sarcastically that the money he makes busking keeps him alive. He wanders into the warmth of the soup kitchen, a homeless shelter which caters for the needy and forgotten people of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The scene changes to reveal Nigel, whom we later discover is a volunteer at the soup kitchen, and Mary, a young teenage girl who succumbs to the grooming charms of Nigel, posing as the teenage 'Travis' in an internet chat room.
He talks about his desire to meet her alone but then also soliloquises about what his life has come to. The scene ends mid way through their conversation.
Three men, Rusty, his best friend Frank and casual acquaintance Nick are sent away from the soup kitchen by Nigel, who is closing up for the night. The three men wander drunkenly through the streets, discussing the dire situation in relation to their social status. Nick leaves the scene and the two remaining men become children in a flashback sequence, showing their playful yet damaging time in the orphanage. As the flashback ends, Rusty and Frank instantaneously re-adopt their adult personas. Frank shows Rusty his mother’s necklace and a vicious fight ensues as Rusty implores Frank to sell the heirloom, claiming that they need “money, not memories”. Frank punches Rusty and flees. The scene changes once more and we see Nick deep in argument with what we believe to be his wife. Nick is thrown out and turned away at his friend’s house. With nowhere to go, he finds comfort in a bottle and decides to live up to his name and pursue a new life as a member of the criminal underworld.

Setting

Characters in The Soup Kitchen
*Rusty - (Dale Jewitt) a homeless musician.

*Frank - (Sean Bell) friend of the above, a homeless waste of skin.

*Mary - (Jess Carter) innocent girl. Robbed of her life, virginity and innosence.

*Nigel - (Thomas Whalley) volenteer at the soup kitchen. Raped the above. A selfish man who cares too much.

*Nick - (Carl Beeley) a petty larceny rascal.

*JD - (Chris Maynard) the new kid on the block. Naive and clueless.

*Pete - (Martyn Jamieson) the medical school drop out. Drug addict.

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See Also

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