Letter To A Daughter (1990)
(For a female singer who can act)
 
SYNOPSIS

MELANIE is an established 'chansonnier' with a cult following. She is writing a letter to her daughter, which she imagines is going to be a letter of advice. It develops into a letter confessing guilt for having been what she feels was an inadequate mother.

The play is punctuated by six songs, five of which are part of the letter, the sixth is MELANIE performing in concert.

Lyrics by the author, beautiful melodies composed by Benjamin Till.
 
EXCERPT
"…You made me feel like a dog on a chain! I had to be free! "I need my space!" I shouted. "No one is going to hold me back!" I raged. "This is my one and only life and I'm going to live it to the full!" Shouted, raged, scolded, and slunk off saturated with guilt like sweat, leaving you in your room so that I could be with the others, always traceable, messages with reception to say where I was, but - this woman, this young woman with energy and appetites was not going to miss out on the fun, was not going to miss out on anything life had to offer and - oh my God, Marike, terrible things happened, terrible awful experiences, traumatic, which you'll never forget and I'll never forget and I will always feel guilty for them and - oh my God! Once I was drunk, so drunk…"
 
REVIEWS
Wesker breaks new ground … a moving depiction of a doubt-ridden single mother … a finely crafted piece of theatre.
Jewish Chronicle

… a very female piece, moving at times, funny at times, but most often radiant with an extraordinary energy and dramatic tension … carefully directed, too …
The Stage
 
Sixth in a cycle of six 'One Woman Plays'.
 
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