Bad Victims
Synopsis: A brutal, hilarious and emotional rollercoaster that follows three women’s struggles, their decision making and unpredictable reactions, in the aftermath of violent encounters. Bad Victims is not only important and timely but, more so, unexpected, unsettling, laugh-out-loud funny, and hard hitting. [*explicit trigger warning for implied sexual assault/language 18+ yrs, or 16-18 yrs PG]
Bad Victims first showcased in development, winter 2022, at The Courtyard Theatre, London UK. It sold out its run and was re-booked for a spring return 2023, which also sold out with strong audience private invite only reviews.
Click here to read the original playbill.
Bad Victims first showcased in development, winter 2022, at The Courtyard Theatre, London UK. It sold out its run and was re-booked for a spring return 2023, which also sold out with strong audience private invite only reviews.
Click here to read the original playbill.
Bad Victims picks up where psychological thrillers like Promising Young Woman and Anatomy of a Scandal left off. Pickering’s writing is Sarah Kane meets Noel Coward with the deviousness of Phoebe Waller-Bridge to flip a scenario on its head
Erica Gould (Neil Labute, Theresa Rebeck)
As impacting as when the Vagina Monologues came to town—a culture must"
Kirsty Allen, author
A blast of Kane an echo of Tarantino"
Johny Brown, LTW magazine
Don't Harm The Animals
Synopsis: A woman stranded up a mountain without a car needs to get some milk.
Don't Harm The Animals had its premier in New York City at The Chain Theatre in summer 2023. It is Pickering's debut one woman show written and performed by Pickering. It has been commissioned as 90 minute play with Broadway producers.
One of the powerful one woman one acts of theatre you can see "
Eric Krebs
Broke our hearts then united the audience to make a difference"
ICWP
Stuns and surprises. Pickering's magnetic performance keeps us enthralled. The humanity of trauma unites us"
Christine Cirker, Barrow Group FAB women
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The Endgame
Synopsis: Jane plays chess with an unlikely component.
The Endgame was developed as part of The Women's Work Lab act New Perspective Theatre in New York City in 2022, after Pickering was selected to join the lab. It was performed in a development run at New Perspective Theatre, directed by award-winning Illana Stein, in summer 2022. It then went to Paris as a staged reading with The Big Funk Company in winter 2022.
The Endgame was developed as part of The Women's Work Lab act New Perspective Theatre in New York City in 2022, after Pickering was selected to join the lab. It was performed in a development run at New Perspective Theatre, directed by award-winning Illana Stein, in summer 2022. It then went to Paris as a staged reading with The Big Funk Company in winter 2022.
Brutally honest and intense—it gets under your skin and stays with you long after”
Joel Stone, NJ Rep Theatre
So tense you could hear a pin drop"
Stage Buddy
Thought provoking, a game of chess with high consequence"
director Caytha Jentis
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Read an interview with Pickering and Stein on Center Stage Magazine here.
Truth, Lies and Deception: A Trilogy
Truth, Lies and Deception premiered in Paris in December 2021 and sold out its entire run.
Synopsis: A collection of plays including Sylvie and Sly, Cat and Mouse and Beach Break.
Cat and Mouse – Marcus Meekus is a Hollywood movie director. Jade is bussing tables having just appeared in her first acting role — a tampon advert. When their paths cross, Jade thinks her life will change forever, but both are in for a shock.
Sylvie and Sly – Sylvie and Sly tells the tale of an aging actress, who is in denial about her tragic reality, and decides to save a floundering career with the help of a devoted friend and social media.
Beach Break – In Beach Break, two young female friends go away to a holiday resort to escape problems at home. It’s only a matter of time before something terrible happens. Something that will have dark and explosive repercussions.
Listen to Joanna on the Centre Stage Podcast interview with International Centre of Female Playwright about Truth Lies and Deception in Paris
Synopsis: A collection of plays including Sylvie and Sly, Cat and Mouse and Beach Break.
Cat and Mouse – Marcus Meekus is a Hollywood movie director. Jade is bussing tables having just appeared in her first acting role — a tampon advert. When their paths cross, Jade thinks her life will change forever, but both are in for a shock.
Sylvie and Sly – Sylvie and Sly tells the tale of an aging actress, who is in denial about her tragic reality, and decides to save a floundering career with the help of a devoted friend and social media.
Beach Break – In Beach Break, two young female friends go away to a holiday resort to escape problems at home. It’s only a matter of time before something terrible happens. Something that will have dark and explosive repercussions.
Listen to Joanna on the Centre Stage Podcast interview with International Centre of Female Playwright about Truth Lies and Deception in Paris
writing is fierce, complex, nuanced, deep and honestly human."
Audience Feedback
The overall arc of your plays with regards to human behavior was absolutely masterful. The writing has fantastic moral ambiguity, the darkly comic interchanges power the stories, and the relationship forward”
Phil John, BAFTA Downton Abbey director
Pickering is like a 19th century anarchist tossing bombs into the audience
Scott Bergstrom, Louder Than War Magazine
The play is a twisting, disturbing, yet seductive “Cat and Mouse” like chase that will make the audience question what they’ve seen for a long time — weeks or months — after blackout.
Scott Bergstrom, Louder Than War Magazine
At the Drama Book Shop
Cat and Mouse from the trilogy was performed at The Drama Book Store in New York City in 2023 starring The Wonder Years Dan Lauria, AMT theatre's Tamara Flannagan, Gabriel Torres, Namakula Mu, directed by Christine Cirker, and with talk backs with Joanna. The reading sold out.
In 2020, the trilogy, Cat and Mouse, Sylvie and Sly and Beach Break were first staged to audiences by The League of Professional Theater Women, with directors Susan Izatt, Lorca Peress (Multistages) and Amanda Moresco (The Actors Gym) under the artistic direction of Christine Cirker (The Barrow Group Theater, FAB -- for and by women) in 2020 with starring Broadway's Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years), and Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) in a staged reading at Julia's reading room, New York City.
A great voice, impeccable timing, and is a wonderful story teller. I loved all three plays, which cover a wide emotional range. I highly recommend these 3 plays to read, enjoy, use for auditions and scenes, and hope they will have numerous productions."
Lorca Peress (Multistages)
“Finding a writer that can not only cross mediums, but also theatrical disciplines is a real treat. Such is the case of Joanna Pickering. She’s crafted three plays that capture the essence of some of the dark side of show business. Challenging roles for women all wrapped in three engaging tales—packed into one acting edition. Aug 1! Only from Next Stage Press!”
Next Stage Press
Beach Break
Synopsis: Two friends go on holiday to a small island-- within 72 hours they have spent all the money, acquired class A drugs and the night before they attended a fiesta which will have explosive consequences.
Beach Break, the one act play was Pickering's debut play. It was first selected and debuted with Primitive Grace Theater Ensemble in the Duende Series at The Bridge Theater in New York City, August 2018. It was official selection top five finalists for HBO'S Catalyst Content, ITV fest sponsored by The Academy and The Writers Guild US and aired on th HBO sponsored live play podcast. It was a top finalist winner for Screencraft stage plays judged by two Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, and Award-winning writer on Ava Duvernay and Oprah Winfrey's OWN’s Queen Sugar. It aired as a live HBO podcast. It was performed with The League of Professional Theatre Women in 2012. It forms part of the trilogy Bad Victims and Truth, Lies and Deception performed on sold out stages in London and Paris.
Beach Break, the full play, was developed at The Actors Gym in New York City with Amanda Moresco and Bobby Moresco. In 2019, it was awarded a scholarship with HBO's then Vice-president of talent development acquisition, Kelly Edwards (pandemic postponed). As of 2023, it was developed into a TV series with academy award-winning executive producer Bobby Moresco and director Amanda Moresco.
Beach Breaks makes 2020 The Red List as top rated stage and screenplays for 2020 by Coverfly.
Read Screencraft interview here
Read Broadway World here
Beach Break on Resonance FM's Bad Punk performed by Anna Tempte and Joanna Pickering, stage directions by Tim Lalonde, with soundscape by Inga Tillere on February 21st, 2019, London, UK.
Centre Stage Podcast with International Centre of Female Playwright, Joanna Pickering's Beach Break
Centre Stage Podcast with International Centre of Female Playwright, Joanna Pickering's Beach Break
"I wanted to explore the effect of sexual assault from the female perspective, by not showing it as an event but the aftermath. I wanted my focus to be on the break downs and relations after, in the coping mechanisms, or lack of. In all my work, I wanted to consider and explore the non-credible victims. To somehow explore vulnerability within strength, and strength within vulnerability.
Joanna Pickering, International Centre of Female Playwrights, Podcast Interview
The gender wars have never looked so stark
Phil John, BAFTA winning director, Downton Abbey. Marvel
The characters and story are strong, go for it!"
Irvine Welsh, Best selling novelist,Trainspotting
Your characters are wonderfully complex -- human, fragile because of the situation, out of control due to neurosis and cycle of friendship -- it was like watching a train wreck unfold"
Madeline Stephenson, writer, director
A stunning play. Brilliant in the way it built up slowly, piling up suspense, brilliant in the lifestyle it portrays ..and the characters. And smashing in it's end. An astonishing work, because it lingers in your mind which means it's literally unforgettable"
Howard Bloom, Award-winning Author
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