Stolen Away

By
Kimberley Mswaka
Written during
KEY WORDS
A Turtle Key Arts
& Lyric Hammersmith Partnership
Project
Funded by
Hammersmith and Fulham fast track
small grants & The City Bridge Trust

First performed at Lyric Hammersmith

23rd June 2018
SCENE 1:
Melody, a young girl who is 15 years old and has lived
with her Mum, Dad, Grandma and brother (Sam, 17
years old) in France all her life. Melody is at the airport
with her parents and brother and they are about to
board a flight to London where they are emigrating.
The family are excited but Melody is not...

Mum: Come on Melody, we’re already late.

Melody is upset and responds half-heartedly.
Melody: I’m coming!
Mum: Cheer up Melody. I know you are upset
about leaving France but you’re going
to like it there. I promise.
Melody nods – still upset.
Calling to Melody’s dad (John).
Mum: Come on John we’ll miss the flight!
(calling to Sam) Sam, make sure you
have your bag for the plane.
Sam: Yeah, I’ve got it. Stop panicking Mum.
Melody is still very quiet.
John: Don’t worry Julia. We’re still a bit early.
The family walk hastily to the departure lounge with
Melody still being quiet and Sam putting his
headphones on listening to music. They all take a seat
and wait for the departure gate to open. After a few
minutes there is an announcement on the tannoy…
Tannoy: All passengers travelling from Paris to
London on the Air France 10 o’clock
flight please go to the departure gate
now. The gate is now open – I repeat –
the gate for the Paris to London Air
France 10 o’clock flight is now open.
Mum: Come on you lot. It’s time to go.

SCENE 2:
The family board the plane. Melody does so reluctantly.
They stow their carryon bags and take their seats on
the plane.

John: I know you are going to miss your

Grandma and your friends but I
promise you that you’re going to like it
 and one day we can come and visit
Paris again.
Melody: What if I don’t like it though?
John: I’m sure you will. There is loads of
things that you can do in London and
loads of great things to see. Like, the
London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham
Palace – where the Queen lives – and
there are also museums and you can go
to Madame Tussauds or the cinema or
see a show. It’ll be great! You’ll be able
to make new friends and keep in touch
with your old friends on Book Face,
Chat Snap or whatever.
Melody shrugs her shoulders – not convinced.

SCENE 3:
The family arrive at their new house. Again, everyone
is excited except for Melody.
Mum: This place is very lovely. I think we’re
going to fit in here. Come on guys let’s
check out your rooms.
Sam: Dibs the big room!
Melody stays quiet and follows them up to her room.

SCENE 4:
Melody is in the classroom at her new school. There is a
teacher – Miss Bakely – who standing in front of her
class. The students are chatting amongst themselves.
Melody is still quiet.

Miss
Blakely: Settle down class. Settle down.
The class fall silent.
Now before we start today’s lesson I’d
like to introduce you all to Melody who
has come all the way from France to
London and has joined us today.
The class start to whisper and chat amongst
themselves. Laughing and pointing at Melody.
Class
chatter: Oui oui! (making fake french accents)
E-haw e-haw! Sacre bleu! Tres grand!
Miss
Blakely: That’s enough! It not nice to make fun.
Melody, find a seat and I’ll go and get
your text books.
Melody takes here seat and is quiet and visibly sad.

SCENE 5:
Melody is sitting alone in the canteen. A group of girls
walk up to her…
Hannah: Bonjour Melody! (in a false French
accent)
Chloe: Do you want some croissants? (she
giggles)
The group laugh at her and walk away.
SCENE 6:
Melody comes home after school and quietly walks
straight up to her room. She drops onto her bed and
starts to cry. Her Mum knocks on the door…

Mum: Melody? Are you ok?

Melody: Go away! I don’t want to talk about it.
Her Mum enters the room anyway…
Melody: I said, go away!
Mum: Why are so upset?
Melody: I want to go back to France and you
don’t understand!
Mum: Yes love, I do understand but this is our
life now.
Melody: Well I hate it!
Mum: I know it’s different but sooner or later
you’re going to get used to it.
Melody: Life was so good back in France. I was
with Grandma and my REAL friends!
Now you have taken that away from
me! I didn’t even get a choice!
Melody storms out of the room leaving her Mum
standing alone…

SCENE 7:
Melody runs into her garden and heads to the back
fence. She jumps over the fence and runs into a field.
She keeps on running and stops when she finds an old
shed. She stops, catches her breath and walks towards
the shed. She gets to the door and sees that it’s a bit
rusty. She manages to budge it open and enters the
dark shed.
Melody stays quiet and creeps towards the back of the
shed where she finds some stairs. She carefully goes
down the stairs – she is looking for some space where
no one can find her and this shed seems perfect.
It is dark at the bottom of the stairs but she finds a
light switch and turns on the light. She sees tools and
boxes scattered around the room. Melody looks around
the room and suddenly screams. She can see a person
in the corner of the room – a young girl (Sarah).
Sarah: Leave!
Melody quickly turns and runs back up the stairs and
out and across the field.

SCENE 8:
Melody is back at school. She is in the school hall where
there is an assembly. The group of girls are standing
near her and continue to tease her accent.

Hannah: Oui oui Melody? (she laughs)

Chloe: Parlez vous English? (they all laugh)
The Headteacher enters the school hall and addresses
the pupils.
Headteacher:
Settle down everyone, I have a very
important announcement to make.
Settle down!
The pupils fall silent.
 I am sorry to announce that one of our
pupils has, sadly, gone missing. Sarah
Oakley has not been home for over two
weeks. They thought that she was
visiting her Dad but he has not seen
her. The police are doing all that they
can to find her but need your help. If
any of you have seen her or know
anything about her whereabouts then
please come directly to me. Any
information could be useful at this
stage. Her Mum is desperate for her to
come home.

Melody thinks that it might be the girl that she found

in the shed but she stays quiet.

SCENE 9:
Melody has left school and has headed back to the
shed. She is carrying her biggest text book to protect
herself…if she needs to…
She walks back into the shed and down to the
basement. She switches on the light and looks over to
the corner where the girl was. The girl is still there,
cowering in the corner.
Melody: Sarah?
Sarah: (nervously) Hello… who are you?
Melody: My name is Melody.
Sarah: You shouldn’t be here! He’ll find you.
Melody: Who? Why are you here?
Sarah: Go! You have to get out of here!
Melody, confused, turns to leave but – thinking better
of it – Sarah grabs her ankle…
Sarah: No, wait! Help me.
Melody: Don’t worry, I won’t let anything
happen to you. Are you hurt?
Sarah: No, not really. I’m tired, hungry and
really scared.
Melody: Who did this to you?
Sarah: He never told me his name. He just
grabbed me and put me here. He said if
I left that he would find me and kill me
and everyone I know.
Melody: Let’s get you out of here. It will be ok.
You’re safe now.
Melody helps Sarah up and leads her out of the shed…

SCENE 10:
Melody and Sarah are in Melody’s room a month later.
They are having a sleepover. They appear to be friends
now.
Sarah: Thank you for what you did.
Melody: Don’t worry about it.
Sarah: You saved my life. Everyone thinks so.
Melody: Honestly, it’s fine – it was nothing.
Sarah: Nothing? Everyone thinks you’re a
hero.
Melody: Well I don’t think everyone thinks that
way…I’m still not sure about Hannah
and Chloe and that lot…
Sarah: Well, they are stupid not to. At least
they’re not teasing you anymore.
Melody: That’s true. It’s actually not that bad at
school now. I’m acing French!
Both girls laugh.

SCENE 11:
Both girls are asleep in Melody’s room. Sarah wakes
and hears footsteps upstairs in the corridor – she is still
quite nervous at night and doesn’t sleep very well. She
gets up and follows the noise through the corridor and
into an attic. She looks around but is attacked by ‘the
kidnapper’…

Kidnapper: I told you what would happen if you

left! You think you can get away from
me? Come here!
Sarah: Help! Help! Get off me!
Sarah continues to struggle with the kidnapper.
Melody comes into the attic and hits the kidnapper
with her text book. The kidnapper falls to the floor
unconscious.
Melody: Mum! Dad! Call the police!

SCENE 12:
Melody and Sarah are in the park sitting on a park
bench two weeks later. Melody seems happier and is
talking more openly to Sarah.
Melody: I’m so happy that we were able to catch
that man.
Sarah: I know. Thank you so much. I’m
sleeping better now knowing that he is
going to prison.
Melody: I’m so happy that I’m able to get used to
being here – in the UK – because I have
a friend like you. You’re the best friend
I’ve ever had.
Sarah: What better than Hannah and Chloe?
(she laughs)
Melody: Ha, ha. They’re actually being quite nice
to me now. But you’ll always be my best
friend.
Sarah: You too. I’m really looking forward to
our trip this summer.
Melody: My Grandma can’t wait to meet you.
We’re going to have the best time and
my Grandma makes the best lemon
cake in the world!
Sarah: I’ve never been to France.
Melody: You are going to love it. We can visit
The Eiffel Tower, see Notre Dame and
got to Disneyland Paris! We’ll have the
best time.
Sarah: I can’t wait!
Melody: You know what, I’ve learnt a lot over
these last few weeks. I’ve learnt that it’s
better to talk about things. You don’t
have to ‘fit in’ – being yourself is just
fine. That change isn’t always a bad
thing and that you can find true
friendship when you least expect it.
Also, that text books aren’t just for
reading – they make really good
weapons!
Both girls laugh. Fade to black.

THE END