The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - A Play (Acting Edition S.) - Softcover

Blown fuses, real and metaphorical, punctuate the action with flashes of pent up energy in this acclaimed play. The diminutive heroine frequently plunges the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father's records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions. Little Voice has a hidden talent: she can emulate every chanteuse from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf. She hides in her room, crooning and dreaming of love, while her disheveled mother mistakes a seedy agent's interest as affection rather than enthusiasm for the gold mine buried in her daughter's throat. This is an engaging fairy tale of despair, love and finally hope as LV finds a voice of her own.

Little Voice (LV) lives alone with her mother Mari, whose sole purpose in life is to find a man. When Mari's latest catch - Ray -hears LV's impersonations of famous singers, he rushes to exploit it, and the result destroys LV. Finally, however, LV regains the courage to speak and sing in her own voice. This Jim Cartwright comedy, in turn savage and sentimental, was originally presented at the National and Adwhych Theatres with Jane Horrocks, Alison Steadman and Pete Postlethwaite in the starring roles.