The Merthyr Stigmatist

Lisa Parry's play deals with the themes of faith, community, and the power of youth today. The dialogue of the play text is beautiful, and despite only being a quick 30-minute read, it can provoke so many discussions among your students.

Unlike a lot of plays, there are notes on dialogue at the beginning of the script which will allow you to explore the idea of punctuation as a language. There are only two characters within the play, and it would be perfect to explore as a duologue with A Level students studying the Edexcel specification. There is also an extended monologue at the end of the script that would also be ideal for the duologue/monologue section of the Edexcel specification.

The character development throughout the short script is very clever, with the theme of facing trauma shifting between the teacher and student. It also really makes you think about the way that a teacher's actions, or lack thereof, might impact a young individual.

On reading the script I find myself developing a desire to direct it – the simplicity alone would make it extremely interesting to explore, with the language of the play being central to the way the story is told. There is so much to be explored with visual symbolism to add to the interest of the play and make it appeal to a modern-day audience.

What really stands out in this play is the sense of community. The play is set in Merthyr, an old town in Wales which has a long history of industrial heritage. The writing captures the idea of how locations such as these have communities where there is a real love for the town and a reluctance to leave them. The idea of a town being such a community is almost forgotten in modern day society, but this really reminds us of how it used to be.

I would highly recommend reading this text with A Level students, as I believe it will lead to some interesting conversations surrounding themes and metaphor. The play's setting is unique, making it the perfect addition to your pool of texts to explore in class.