I have been looking into more text that I could use as inspiration. I have looked into songs that are about divorce and I found alot of text that I could possibly use in my piece.

Love of a child – Jason Mraz

What about taking this empty cup and filling it up
With a little bit more of innocence
I haven’t had enough, it’s probably because when you’re young
It’s okay to be easily ignored
I like to believe it was all about love for a child

Divorce song – Liz Phair

And boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Burned it up and thrown it away

Your Dictionary – XTC

But the hollow ring has no finger in
So let’s close the book and let the day begin
And our marriage be undone

Come into my world – Amy grant

Come into my world
So lovely from the outside
So dark in here the demons dance and twirl
And find their pleasure frightening this girl
If you are brave then come into my world

You better sit down kids – Cher

Now how should I put this
I’ve got something to say
Your mother is staying
But I’m going away
No, we’re not mad, kids
It’s hard to say why
Your mother and I
Don’t see eye to eye

I know you don’t want this, neither do we
But sometimes things happen
That we can’t foresee
Now try to be calm, kids
And don’t look so sad
Just cause I am leaving
I’ll still be your dad
Just remember I love you
And though I’m not here
Just call if you need me
And I’ll always be near

Quite early on in the separation and divorce, something bad had happened, mum had called her mum, dad and brother. Dad locked mum out of the house and one of them had smashed through the glass to get back in.

It would be quite easy for me to punch myself in the face and blame it on you then you would be gone, you would be out of here. I then got out of the car and she charged at me with the car, she tried to break but was going too fast, I manged to jump out of the way and the car rammed into the hedge.

• mum went out to the car, dad followed her and she tried to hit him with the car.
• Mum beat herself up and blamed it on my dad.

Mum had threatened to cut herself with a knife, I backed off and the kids were all behind me and sister came in behind her and wrestled the knife out of her hand.

• She had a knife, went to cut dad but caught sister in the crossfire and cut her arm.

Whoever got the most kids won the game.

When divorce involves children it gets very messy. Clearly the situation you are in is not good for anyone.

I didn’t feel that she was fit enough, sane enough or had the right skills to look after my kids.

I got a call from someone, they were hysterical, and all I could hear was screaming and crying in the background, I thought mum had gone crazy, but her Nan had died.

Desperation, worrying, up in the air, on hold, spiralling, uncertainty, instability/unstable

There was a double life that went on: you had the everyday and normal life went on, then there was the other shit, courts and cafcas and letters and threatening phone calls.

She got stability in a life that was spiralling and we did too.

Full cup of hot tea, mum claimed that she was taking out to the kitchen, being very threatening towards me and I felt that this boiling hot cup of tea was going to be thrown all over my face, so I wrestled her and the cup fell and smashed.

https://www.thespruce.com/top-kids-divorce-books-2997245

http://www.marriage-ecosystem.org/divorcestories.html

http://www.littleparachutes.com/subcategory.php?sid=15

Above are some links that I have found that have stories about people telling their childhood divorce stories. There are also some books that parents can purchase to tell them about an iminant or already processing divorce, to make it easier for kids to understand what is going to happen.

Anna Deavere Smith said in an interview: ‘Listen to people and listen to stories…Tell a story that has multiple points of view…The old idea of the single author is flawed because ultimately it takes multiple people to tell the story of a community.’

The definition of a community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. My piece is story about me and my community. My community being my family.

Not directly though.

Smith also said in the same interview: ‘Acting is the ability to believe that you are someone else.’ I don’t want my piece to be a sob story about my life and the hard things me and my family have been through, it will be my life but through a different character eyes.

I will listen to my family and listen to their stories and then tell my story, that has mulitple points of view, through someone else.

Anna Deavere Smith interview – http://bigthink.com/videos/how-do-you-get-into-character

Chris Goode’s The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley