Begin/End - Poster
“Sometimes things just end.
Not like in films and on TV.
Not with explosions and music and fights.
They just dissolve and disappear and you don’t know why.”
Lili pounds out her anger and uncertainty, one length at a time in the swimming pool. Yaz won’t become what others want and aspires to a life elsewhere.
The birth of their friendship sparks two years of adventure, inseparable friends, a gang of two, they breathe freedom, possibility and ambition.
“I want to plunge her fist into my ribcage. Wrap her hand around my heart so she can feel what it’s made of.”
But something unspoken grows between them. As relationships form and dissolve, it is the beginning and the end of everything.
Projection, moving image and a pulsating orginal soundtrack by one of Britain’s freshest new producers, invigorated this compelling tale that forced us all to question our own truths about who we really are.
This production toured venues and youth settings nationally.
You can access the script of this play via the British Library’s MPS Modern Playscripts Collection.
Writer, David Lane has worked with Half Moon Theatre at White Horse Road since the mid-2000s. He talks about the company’s model of script development and how he developed the play, Begin/End, through direct encounter with young people. Interviewed by Toni Tsaera.
Chris Elwell has been the Director of Half Moon Theatre on White Horse Road since 1997. He talks about Begin/End a play for teenagers about female sexuality, which was shocking for some of the audiences who came to see it. Interviewed by Kavana Joyett.
“Begin/End is not a complicated play. It’s just about two teenage girls who become friends, remain friends for three years and then go their separate ways. It’s about the beginning and the end. It’s the story of Lili and Yaz who meet one New Year’s Eve on the roof of their tower block building in East London, both lonely, but only Lili willing to admit it.
As time goes on they form a unique friendship. Both so different with Lili doing well at school and Yaz completely disinterested, yet they are united by some underlying connection. Perhaps it’s because they both share a dream, Lili to swim and Yaz to dance. Perhaps it’s because they know where each other’s coming from although they’re seemingly headed in different directions.
Amy Costello gives a fantastically honest performance as Lili, compelling as she struggles with her own identity and finds her place in her friendship. She brings a fresh and youthful energy to the stage while Yaz, superbly played by Rachel McKenzie is more street, older than her years and ultimately keen to spread her wings. The chemistry between them is believable, endearing and heartbreaking all at the same time, as the play deals with issues that I’m sure many of the audience can relate to in one way or another.
They way in which David Lane has styled this play somehow adds to the simplicity of it. It’s just about the two girls. There are no other characters on stage. It’s told from Lili’s memory. Her memory of how they met, and the distinct lack of other characters highlights how in her mind it was all about her and Yaz, that is all that mattered.
And this the importance of that friendship is reflected in the design of the stage. It’s a simple set with greydull filing cabinets representing the blandness of their estate and the way in which Lili files away her memories, one`by one, each in their rightful place. All the props are white so that the only remaining colour and life is that of each of the characters.
Half Moon Theatre Company have produced a creative and artistic piece, with the inventive use of lighting and a soundtrack composed by Ed Thomas to create a sense of East London youth culture, making Begin/End a powerful and thought provoking play.”
Helen Chapman, The Public Reviews
Begin/End – Soundtrack
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