Claire Bennett | Featured Writer

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Excerpt from

My Mother and Other Strange Creatures

by Claire Bennett

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[words spoken by Millie Diamond, a teenager from Walsall]

" . . .The best thing that ever happened in our school happened today. Even better than the day Miss James said “shit” in assembly. Miss James, Art and Theatre Studies, Sport in the winter when she has to – ‘cause all the P.E. staff are off on jollies on the slopes of Alpine France with years eight and nine – has had a major lottery win.

We know this because she took assembly again. She was awesome!

She met the eye of Mr. Young, Geography, History, same relation to sport (previously suspected of being a homosexual) and she dumped him – big time – in front of three hundred pupils from the upper school, assorted members of staff, Babette, the French assistant and Fleur, the Rastafarian dinner lady who has been doing flower arranging at night school and who has been erecting some stunning arrangements throughout the school.

Sixth form don’t have to go to assembly. But they all wish they’d been there today!

Apparently Mr. Young is fixated with his mother and strives for the friendship of juveniles “because he is incapable of honest, adult interaction”. He also has a fungal infection of his right big toe nail that he’s left untreated and which has been making Miss James want to barf since last August.

Miss James has won eight hundred and sixty four thousand pounds… and she will not be in on Monday . . ,"

The excerpt above is taken from The Original Radio Play in the “Millie Diamond Series” as heard on BBC R4 and BBC R7

WRITER PROFILE

Claire Bennett is a full-time, professional scriptwriter. She has written plays and series for BBC R4 including "My Mother and Other Strange Creatures" which originally brought the opinionated teenage schoolgirl Millie Diamond to the airwaves. Sadly, for the last few years she had fallen out of radio favour.

She is a core writer on 'Doctors' the BBC1 daytime drama made in Birmingham. Her work for the show has been nominated for several, regional Royal Television Society Awards and a National Soap Award.

She has worked for Carlton Television and enjoyed writing for local, independent theatre.

In 2003 she won the commission from Hotbed Media to write their feature film 'The Man Who Wouldn’t Paint Hitler.'

In June 2007 she won The British Soap Opera Award for Best Episode (BBC's DOCTORS )and became a featured writer on www.ComedyMoment.co.uk

Claire directed Red Hat No Drawers a Comedy at a theatre in Birmingham (April 2008)

She is writing a book.

This page was last modified on Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:27:41 PM

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