Like ‘The Landlady’, this piece expertly walks the tightrope, revealing itself to you as you read. It’s hard not to think of this whenever some poor soul is paraded in front of the TV cameras to say how everything is alright, really. And that alone might merit its place, as a story that sticks with me.
I loved it when I first read it, voting for its inclusion. But I loved it all the more when I heard it read out live (brilliantly, by Jennifer Tan). Because pitch this one wrong, and it wouldn’t work. Because the conceit, here, is that someone is reading words written for them, reading them in as neutral manner as you could with a gun being held to your head, and still managing to rebel, to pass on a message the writers of the speech expressly didn’t want to be passed on. (“Do NOT send help…”) And if that isn’t genius level writing–and acting–I’m really not sure what is.
Performed at Liars’ League, 2011 and available to read and listen to here
A Personal Anthology 