Dear Joanna, My Favourite Animals Are Scorpions – Bread and Roses Theatre
Dear Joanna, My Favourite Animals Are Scorpions is an unsettling exploration of childhood friendship, adolescent obsession and the ways in which seemingly innocent behaviour can develop into something much darker.
Written by Julia Rudd and directed by Elizabeth Laurence, the play follows Joanna, played by Grace Maltman, and Dave, played by Joseph Mason-Coombs, from childhood into adolescence. Dave becomes fascinated with Joanna and repeatedly tries to establish a friendship that she does not reciprocate. As they grow older, his attempts to gain her attention become increasingly obsessive. Letters, rumours and eventually voyeuristic behaviour shift what initially looks like an innocent childhood infatuation towards stalking and harassment.
The writing is the production’s biggest stren...