A Shallow Drowning

  STORY: ACT 1 It’s a stinking hot summer. Sassy, outspoken Fliss (42) – a vulnerable but stubborn soul who’s had a difficult, unsupported past and is now heavily reliant on medication – has just been released from a spell in a psychiatric hospital and returns home unannounced to her estranged elderly parents after a 25-year absence. However, any hope of a happy reunion is dashed when she finds creepy Col (45) – a smelly, smoking, drug-dealing lodger – has usurped her place in the family. Col is quite the thug, dominating everyone and everything with noise, demands and menacing threats. Grumpy father George (75), a resentful and bullying brute who’s gambled away his life savings, is uneasy with Fliss’s arrival and judgmental attitude. Timid mother Marg (65), desperate to see her love harnessed for good, is torn between loyalty to her daughter and her unusual friendship with Col, but her energy is consumed with trying to keep the peace. Angered by Col’s flagrant disrespect and frustrated by Marg’s passivity but resolved to ‘save’ her parents and assume her rightful place in the family, Fliss gives Col an eviction date. He’s now so entrenched in her parents’ lives and happy with the status quo he’s engineered that he dismisses Fliss and laughs her off. ACT 2 After Marg refuses to use any of Fliss’s meagre savings to help pay her way and look after George’s gambling debts, Fliss foolishly gives the money to Col as an added incentive to leave. Though upset with Fliss wresting control from him and then accusing him of locking her in a cupboard as a child, George is nonetheless bolstered by Fliss’s energetic determination. He finally stands up to Col but is punched into submission. When the police arrive, Fliss discovers that Marg believes Col to be the baby son she adopted out before she married. Shocked by Marg’s confession, Fliss absolutely refuses to believe that Col could be her long-lost brother. Scared George drops the charges but Col’s elevated status escalates Fliss’s efforts to get rid of him. When she discovers that Col has blatantly spent her savings, Fliss seduces him in an uncomfortable attempt to entrap him. There’s a sexual tussle between them as Col gets turned on, but he stops when he spots Fliss’s hidden spy camera. It’s no biggie to him as he’s already stolen her laptop where the camera feeds to and just assumes she’s trying to get back at him for stealing her meds. Fliss lashes out in panic over the loss of her meds but Col violently rejects her and makes sure George and Marg know what a scheming whore their daughter is. Marg’s disappointment in Fliss is only equalled by George’s already low expectations. When Col turns up the next morning bloodied and bruised, Marg blames Fliss for arranging his beating. Desperate to get Marg back on side, Fliss finally opens up about why she left home claiming that George paid her to abort the baby from her pregnancy with her school chum Rodney, George’s boss’s son. As Marg slowly comprehends the significance of George’s long-held resentment over his lack of a promised promotion, she’s heartbroken to hear that Fliss’s son died. Col interrupts them as he calls out for Marg but Fliss, tired of her mother doting on him, accuses Marg of being needy. A nervous, confused, exhausted Marg slaps her. George says he’ll pay Fliss to leave but is outraged when Marg accuses him of killing their grandchild. He threatens her and she reluctantly agrees to pack Fliss’s bags. ACT 3 Without her meds, Fliss really starts to lose it. She bags up Col’s stuff and chucks it out the window just as Col arrives in time to see off the locksmith she’s found. Furious Col lies to Marg about taking Fliss’s meds. Fliss attempts to burn the house down but is subdued by George. Confused as to who to believe, Marg cajoles Col to be a good brother and he agrees to make the peace. Instead, he drugs Fliss’s drink, burns her arm with his cigarette and forces George to call social services to get her sectioned. Marg rummages through Col’s things in a frantic search for Fliss’s meds and discovers his stash and cash. She pockets a bottle of pills and makes a phone call. Now so completely out of her mind, Fliss holds a kitchen knife to her wrist and demands that Marg make a choice: to kill one of the men while Fliss kills the other. Marg refuses. Desperate Fliss, unaware that Marg has drugged George, slashes her wrist. A taxi to Women’s Refuge arrives as Marg dials 111 for the ambulance. As Fliss drifts in and out of consciousness, she mumbles that she’s swapped out all Col’s drugs for painkillers. The next morning, with Fliss and Marg gone and George desperately ill, Col goes on the run. His suppliers chase him and give him the beating he truly deserves. Weeks later, at the seaside, Fliss and Marg laugh together in the rain, rewarded by love and forgiveness in their newfound friendship. STORY ARC: A Shallow Drowning is a gritty social/psychological drama about a vulnerable, damaged woman in her forties attempting to come to terms with the neglect and abuse she suffered in the past. While she lacks the ability to transform her way of being and alter her dark, sceptical view of the world, she discovers that she has the power to change other people’s minds and convince them of her worth. Her dogged determination may force confrontation, but her fortitude in adversity finally brings her the love she so desperately seeks. CHARACTERS: Fliss: Fliss is a troubled, unfulfilled and restless soul who’s had a difficult, unsupported past and is now heavily reliant on medication. She’s resilient and intelligent, with a dogged determination, but her sassy and assertive protective veneer stops people seeing how lost and vulnerable she really is. She desperately wants to be loved and being a ‘hero’ seems to be the only way to get that adoration. Col: Col is a noisy, creepy, smelly, smoking, drug-dealing, freeloading thug who thinks he’s God’s gift. He’s smart and smarmy but distasteful and violent, and gets his kicks from clever one-upmanship. He takes pride in his souped-up Celica and enjoys the sense of power he creates through fear. Shifting from house to house as a foster child, he so lacked love that he can’t trust to let anyone in. George: George is an unhappy, resentful and bullying brute who’s lost all his life savings gambling on horses. Lamenting his loss of opportunity, he blames his wife and daughter for everything bad that befalls him. Once hopeful, he now despairs for everything he felt he was owed. Marg: Marg is so scared of her bullying husband George that she lives a timid existence. She wants to be a proud wife and make a happy home, but mostly, she’s desperate to make up for the shortcomings of her mistakes and to see her boundless love harnessed for good. Rodney: Fliss’s teenage love is now the manager of a local supermarket. While Rodney has a soft spot for Fliss and is intrigued when she returns home, he’s ultra-protective of his wife, family and social standing. TONE: A Shallow Drowning is a dark psychological social drama set within the claustrophobic confines of an old house in an established central suburb during a heatwave. It’s an intense horror story of a different kind, where four fragile characters give in to their worst impulses: an elderly father is bullied yet he’s a bully himself, a timid mother has torn loyalties, and two damaged adults – each with a deep desire to be loved and accepted – fight to be top-dog. It’s a gritty, modern tragedy about neglect, abuse, duty, truth, power and family. While the redemptive ending of female empowerment offers a glimmer of hope, this story will scare anyone who cares about the fragility of their ageing parents. AUDIENCE: A Shallow Drowning will appeal to an international audience who enjoy gritty social dramas or psychological horrors. Revolving around characters in their early 40s and questioning how far our duty to our ageing parents goes, the story is expected to appeal to audiences in the 28-50 age range.