The Sound Collector Company

The Sound Collector

This play is a humorous fusion of Roger McGough’s poetry and a gentle story of friendship and tolerance. Mary and Rose are friends who live next door to one another, Mary is noisy and Rose is quiet. All seems well until Mary is visited by a stranger – the ‘Sound Collector.’ When Mary sets a trap to catch the stealer ofthe sounds that surround her world, she gets an even greater surprise.

Synopsis (for teacher’s information)

Mary is at home in bed with a cold and she tells how rotten she is feeling. The kettle is whistling and she prepares herself a foot bath. She soaks her feet and relaxes to the comforting sounds of home; the radio, the canary, the washing machine, the cat’s purr. She loves these sounds.

Her neighbour Rose pops in for a cup of tea. Their attention is caught by a story in the newspaper. A curious sort of robber, the ‘Sound Collector’, is stealing sounds all around the town. Mary hopes her sounds are safe. Rose has offered to go shopping for Mary and she leaves in a hurry.

Mary chats with the audience about the Sound Collector and what sounds are worth pinching – favourite sounds, urban and country sounds. She starts to get dressed but she is delayed by having a missing sock! Her cold is getting worse and she sneezes. She ponders on wouldn’t it be funny if you didn’t have a nose. She yawns and goes to her bed. She lays her head on the pillow which immediately argues back at her.

The Sound Collector enters, steals all the sounds that make Mary feel so at home and exits. Mary wakes up and the audience tells her what has happened. Whilst she is discovering the loss of each sound, Rose returns with the shopping. Rose does not seem to be bothered and she delivers the shopping and leaves.

Mary is determined to catch the thief and re-instate her sounds. To lure the thief back to her flat she reads the Sound Collector newspaper report and the audience add the sound effects. As the audience’s sound rhythm swells in volume the thief returns and is revealed to be Rose!

The two friends stand apart aghast. Mary asks for an explanation. Rose tells of how she is frightened of sound. When she was a child everything was too loud, she had no peace, no gentle lullabies. Mary sympathises with her and tries to persuade her that this is not true for all sounds; even loud noises can sometimes be fun. Rose is genuinely sorry that she has taken Mary’s sounds and she gives them all back.

Mary convinces her that it is all right to ask someone to make less noise. Rose asks Mary to make less noise in her flat; the sound of the radio, television, kettle whistle and the general domestic symphony drives her crazy. Mary has never realised this. She promises to be quieter and more considerate in future. They retire to Rose’s flat for a cup of tea.

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