interview with writer – sarah gaul Being the only girl in a group of guys isn‟t an issue for Rose. The „same street‟ connection transcends age and gender. Perhaps they all „dated‟ Rose in kindergarten, perhaps one or more of them will develop feelings beyond friendship at some point soon.
Carolyn wrote the monologue, The Last Post How did you come up with your idea for your monologue? I was on Facebook really late one night, and I noticed friends were still posting comments on the page of someone who had passed away a while ago. I looked at this person‟s Facebook page and started thinking about the relationship between Facebook and death. For those who use it, Facebook chronicles our lives in such detail, that it makes sense for it to be a kind of „online memorial‟ after we die. The theme of piece developed from there; the characters are based on people I have seen or people I know, and the setting is based on a small country town where I grew up. What was the process involved in developing your character? I grew up in a small country town, so Rose is based on various people I have known. All Rose‟s friends are as well; Kevin was the character I came up with first. He‟s that guy who always takes the risk, jokes about dying but seems invincible. They all live in the same street – Ryan, Alex, Ed, Rose and Kevin. I remember in my town there was a strong sense of „neighbourhood‟ that I haven‟t seen so much in the city. My own best friends lived on my street as a kid. The characters who never appear in the monologue are as real and important as Rose. She‟s grown up with them, they‟ve shaped the way she thinks, and who she is.
Rose is a character totally open to interpretation. But there are some things about Rose that are very clear to me. She‟s a problem solver. She‟s pretty sharp and she‟s really loyal. She has a boyish sense of humour but that doesn‟t make her a „tomboy.‟ The way she handles herself with Ed suggests she‟s been through some personal tragedy before. Some questions that I asked myself during the process, and that I‟m still considering – does Rose play sport? Does she hang out with the boys at school or just outside of school? How does Rose cope with her grief when no one else is around? What would someone think of Rose just by looking at her Facebook? Does she have many, or any, girlfriends? What was the most challenging part of the process of scriptwriting? The biggest challenge for me was to find language appropriate to both the enormous, universal subject matter, and the seventeen-year-old who is discussing it. It‟s great to use poetic images and phrases in writing. But realistically no school-aged girl who is crippled by grief and loss is going to speak in iambic pentameter. For me it was a process of finding language that works when the character DOESN‟T have the language to express what they are saying. The most important communication happens in the pauses and long silences. What advice would you give to aspiring scriptwriters? If you have an idea, write it down – on a napkin, on a wall, in your diary. Just write and don‟t be afraid of the rubbishy stuff that comes out – work through it and you will