Synopsis: A dark and surreal comedy of love, longing and one woman’s intense rivalry with a Charolais heifer. Set on a farm in rural Ireland, protagonist Siobhan is forced to share the affections of her farmer boyfriend with the other women in his life - a sneering mother in law figure and a sexy French cow. Heavily pregnant and simmering with jealousy and desire, Siobhan navigates this muddy place with murderous intent.

Cast Breakdown: (M, W)
Siobhan* - Rural, Irish mid to late 30’s Pregnant (W)
Charolais* - An attractive French heifer and sexy chanteuse (W)
*Both characters played by the same actress.

Set/Costume Requirements:
Set: The set should suggest two main playing areas.
A farmhouse kitchen with minimal furnishings for example an old-fashioned kitchen table, chair and sideboard - the practical furniture of working farm life.
A hay shed perhaps containing an old milk churn, bale of hay, turf or bags of animal feed.
Costume: Costume design should allow for several stages of pregnancy, 0-7 months.
A basic knee length dress, plain but pretty. Heavy black tights or leggings and a pair of green wellington boots. An overdress, made from the same fabric as the underdress and concealing a pregnancy bump is worn as required over this basic costume.
A white apron, heavily stained and spattered with blood.

Website: noniclaire.com

Play Service: nonicstapleton@gmail.com

Bio: Noni Stapleton is an Irish playwright and actor. Her play Charolais won the Little Gem Award (Tiger Dublin Fringe), Best Monologue Bouquet (Ed Fringe) and was shortlisted by The Writers Guild of Ireland for Best Theatre Script 2014. Her adaptation of Charolais for radio won a PPI bronze award for Best Drama in Irish Radio Broadcasting and was nominated for a Prix Europa. Noni also won a Best Actress Silver for her performance in Charolais at the New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards. Charolais resumes touring in February 2016 and Noni has been invited to perform at The Celtic Festival, Clywd Theatre in Wales and Springworks Canada this May.
Noni’s collaborative writing includes two plays, One For Sorrow and Two For A Girl. She co-wrote and performed in both productions, which went on to enjoy successful Irish tours. One For Sorrow was adapted for radio at the request of RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster. Two For A Girl was nominated for the Jayne Snow Award for Innovation and Bravery in Theatre and was published by Stinging Fly Press in an anthology of new Irish writing called ‘Freshly Brewed’. A staged reading of Two For A Girl was produced at The Cell Theatre New York in 2013.

Charolais at Bewleys Café Theatre, Dublin. Photos by: Futoshi Sakauchi