"PRETTY DEAD" by Fred Apke, translated by Chris Trengove
My translation of German writer/director Fred Apke’s play “Das Huhn Auf Dem Rucken” is now available for UK production. Successfully produced in Warsaw, Salzburg and most recently Hamburg, this (mostly) two-hander has garnered rave reviews: "A brilliantly written comedy… in which a psychological and a criminal plot are intertwined." (Rzeczpospolita - Warsaw) "… witty dialogue and profound psychological knowledge…" (Wyborcza Katowice)"… garnished with pitch-black humour and situation comedy. (Hamburger Abendblatt.) Re-titled "Pretty Dead," the English version brings to mind Mike Leigh with a dash of Pinter, its small cast and single set making it ideal for repertory and fringe productions. Contact me for more details.
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‘FLASH CHORD’ – PROLOGUE AND 1ST. CHAPTER
PROLOGUE
It’s late afternoon, an overcast day in a South London cemetery. Stone memorials stretch into the distance – a few pristine, garlanded with fresh flowers, most neglected and crumbling, their etched assurances of eternal life forlorn and fading.
One of the gravelled aisles is blocked by a gaggle of expensive cars – Mercs, Jags, a Bentley – as well as several undertakers’ limos. The cars’ drivers, bulky men in suits and shades, lean back against their vehicles, grim-faced, watchful. A couple of them surreptitiously smoke, cupping their hands over the glow of their cigarettes.
Around one freshly dug grave there’s a straggling group of mourners, gazing at an ornate coffin. Most are old men, grey-haired but hard-eyed, their ageing bodies camouflaged by well-cut suits. Some are accompanied by well-preserved wives their own age. Others by younger, thinner, blonder women. Several are in wheelchairs, but they too share the grim-faced look of the others.
Also among the mourners are several older women, clearly on...