Photo credit: Jeremie Battaglia

Scratch

By Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman

The story of a teenage girl who has an incurable case of head lice while her mother is dying of cancer.

Being a teenager is hard enough, but add to the mix a persistent case of head-lice, raging hormones, and a terminally ill mother, and it becomes impossible. When fifteen-year-old Anna is told that her mother is dying of cancer, she responds in the only way she knows how—by ignoring the issue. Friends and family are unable to understand her reaction and Anna is increasingly frustrated by their attempts to help her, escalated of course by her persistent itching. Told by Anna with assistance from her best friend, father, aunt, and her dying mother, Scratch is a fresh, funny, and realistic play about the urgency of life and the need to live it to the fullest extent.

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Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman has transformed her personal experiences into an original and well-observed play about both coming of age and coming to terms with a parent's death.

The Globe and Mail
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Corbeil-Coleman’s script is full of poetry...(her) wit bursts with surprising details...the quirkiness—and honesty—of the writing keeps Scratch remarkably buoyant.

The Georgia StraightColin Thomas
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Corbeil-Coleman has a sure way with droll dialogue...The result is a touching play about very human people.

Classical FMPaula Citron
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Each character deals with their grief and fear in different ways...A provocative and thought-provoking night of theatre.

The Western StarJamie Harding
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Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman's funny, moving Scratch...There's as much warmth as comedy in the strong writing...

NOW Magazine, TorontoJon Kaplan
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Voilà une pièce qui a de la profondeur, du style et du coeur. L'oeuvre d'une jeune auteure capable d'exposer un sujet sensible et personnel, sans gratter inutilement le bobo. Chapeau!

La PresseLuc Boulanger

Production Details

2 Male

4 Female

90 minutes, no intermission

60-minute, TYA/school version available

By Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman

Purchase Play Script

February 15, 2011

PAST EVENT: Scratch – 5th Company Lane @ Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) Nov 21-24, 2018

February 13, 2011

PAST EVENT: Scratch – King’s Theatrical Society (Halifax, NS) November 7-10, 2018

Anna and Mad running
Maddy and Anna helmet
end of scratch
Scratch Mother and father

Production History

Scratch, opened Factory Theatre’s 2008/2009 season (Dir. ahdri zhina mandiela).
Translated into French and directed by Sebastian David and presented at La Licorne (2014).
Produced in Vancouver 2015 (Dir. Genevieve Fleming, Theatre Plexus).
Produced in Newfoundland, Off-Broadway Players (2017).
Nominated for a Dora Award in the category of Outstanding New Play in 2009 and for a Governor General’s Award in 2010. Winner of the 2007 Herman Voaden Award.
Published by Playwrights Canada Press, 2010

SCRATCH de Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman à La Petite Licorne, 2014

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