Pests: NHB Modern Plays

A hard-hitting, claustrophobic drama about trying to escape your past.

Pink loves Rolly. Rolly loves Pink. And Pink loves getting bombed off her face. Sisters from the same nest. Both trapped in a tiny rotting world. Both cuffed to a past that refuses to release them. One wants out. The other needs her in. Trouble is that when you complete each other, you’re nothing on your own. Pests was commissioned by Clean Break in a co-production with the Royal Court Theatre, London, and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. It premiered at the Royal Exchanage in March 2014, before transferring to the Royal Court and touring the UK.

"Intense… a blend of lyrical realism cut with social commentary." - Time Out (London)

"Raw, visceral, painfully funny and sometimes uncomfortably intimate… rings, and positively screams, with authenticity." - The Stage

"Fiercely impressive… powerfully intimate and tense." - The Times (London)

"Heightened language that sizzles, skitters and explodes across the stage like word grenades… makes us sit up and really listen." - Guardian

"Rich, poetic… unflinching, raw and gut-wrenching." - WhatsOnStage

Vivienne Franzmann’s first play Mogadishu won the 2008 Bruntwood Playwriting Competition in association with the Manchester Royal Exchange, and opened there to critical acclaim in 2011. Her other plays include The Witness for the Royal Court in 2012. Pests was written during her time as Resident Playwright for Clean Break.