Hollie & The Under Creature

book by Kalena Victoria Chevalier

songs by Steve Clark & Ed Plough

It's summer in the suburbs, and the cicadas have arrived! Hollie is recently divorced and looking for her next move, when a strange neighbor piques her interests.  Can this dull street contain ancient magic and a timeless plot to control chaos? In this small-cast, single-set show, Hollie explores life's big questions with a little help of monsters from below.

Script Excerpt:

Cast of Characters:

Hollie: The protagonist, Hollie is a recently divorced woman in her early 50s. She does not have children. Hollie owns and runs a shipping company but has distant dreams of ditching it all and living a life of romance and adventure. 

The Under Creature: Hollie’s secret magical companion since her childhood, the many-tentacled Under Creature lives in the sewer and attempts to guide Hollie throughout the show. Toward the end of the show, the Under Creature saves Hollie’s life, but at a tragic cost: the Under Creature must now go away and can never return. 

Leonard: A buttoned-up man with a peculiar gait, who appears to be in his 50s. Leonard moves next door at the top of the show. We quickly learn that Leonard is actually an ancient magical guardian of a curse. When Hollie attempts to shut down the curse, Leonard reveals his true self to Hollie, and they have an action-packed magical showdown with humanity’s fate hanging in the balance. 

The Cicadas: A minimum of three performers, the cicadas are magical insects that plead with Hollie to release the curse that has been placed upon them (and therefore upon humanity). At first the Cicadas are cryptic and strange, but as Hollie develops, so too does the Cicadas’ linguistic clarity. The Cicadas sing everything chorally / in-unison.  

Chris: Hollie’s mailman. A very minor character, Chris appears a few times throughout the show to interact with Hollie. These interactions are typically humorous, as they pull Hollie (and the audience) back into the “real world” for a moment or two before we dive back into more magical adventures. The performer that plays Chris can / should double as one of the Cicadas. 

Daric: A cautious yet laid back 17-year-old young man. His clothes are slightly dirty with bits of paint and mud, as if just living life is a bit messy for him. Presented as a memory, Daric is Hollie’s high school crush whom Hollie never saw again after the night presented in the show. The performer that plays Daric can / should double as one of the Cicadas. 

Jeff: A simply put-together man wearing khakis and a polo shirt. The show presents Jeff as a memory from when he and Hollie were married and experiencing marital strife. The performer that plays Jeff can / should double as one of the Cicadas.

Development:

2020 - first draft written via remote collaboration

2021 - online reading with an invited audience

Concept Poster: