I’m really excited to be tackling Base Instruments for the upcoming staged reading. I’m pleased to say that I think that each Mrs. Hawking story so far is better and stronger than the last, partially from knowing the characters better, and partially as I develop as a writer. And this part three has so many new additions to the series that I can’t wait to get this story out there.
Here’s some fun things that are new and special to part three:
It’s a true mystery. A murder mystery, to be precise, a good-old fashioned whodunnit. Those are tough to put together so that they make sense and yet still provide suspense and challenge. Base Instruments is a fair play mystery, too, so the audience will see all the clues the characters see and have the chance to piece things together as the detectives do.
The size of the world has expanded. At this point, the world around our heroes has filled up with interesting recurring characters, including Officer Arthur Swann and Nathaniel’s family, wife Clara and brother Justin. This means that our cast can split up and come back together as they follow various story threads, so multiple plots can interweave and expand the scope of the tale.
Further development of our characters. Several ideas have been seeded in the previous shows that are finally coming to fruition. Mrs. Hawking’s fear of advancing age affecting her career. Mary’s figuring out what kind of protégé she want to be. How much Nathaniel will keep helping Mrs. Hawking from the important people in his life. Base Instruments shows the characters facing these challenges head-on, creating both a satisfying payoff and setting up the next step of their paths going forward.
If that sounds, exciting to you, then be sure to come to the staged reading in Somerville on June 10th!
The staged reading of Base Instruments by Phoebe Roberts will go up on June 10th at 8PM at with the Bare Bones reading series, brought to you by Theatre@First.
