considered names for play

When thinking about a name for my radio play my initial idea was the title unexpected. 

I considered this as she finds out that she is pregnant and never expected to be.

This would sum up the attitude of most teenagers in that they don’t think things will happen to them specifically.

I then came across a TV show in my research called Tales of the Unexpected.

This then led me to consider the title Tales of the Expected.

This is one of my options and I ma considering using it.

In today’s society you expect to see teen pregnancies. It is an expected part of society and is seen on the new, in newspapers and on the streets. The word expected in the title emphasises this.

The word tales can be used as the play follows the main female characters life while she is pregnant and you hear the events that happen to her.

As it is going to be a mix of first person and third I think the name works well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_(TV_series)

documentaries

Born survivors: Kizzy Sex, Prams and Exams

Nine short films co-created by the Media Trust and young people across the country telling their own personal stories of survival.
In the first series of Born Survivors, viewers watched Kizzy Neal's transformation from a carefree teenager to, with her family's help, a responsible single mum at 14. One year on the cameras return to follow Kizzy's extraordinary progress, learning how she's become a full-blown mother to son Kaylib while taking her own first steps towards independence.                         





          
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bornsurvivors/minisodes/series2_kizzy.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bornsurvivors/minisodes/

Teen Mum High



Documentary, made by award-winning Films of Record, which looks at life in a pupil referral unit for school age girls (under-16s) who are either pregnant or have recently become a mum.

With a crèche where the girls can leave their babies, it's not a typical high school. It's one of a small number of specialist pupil referral units around the UK for school girls who choose not to terminate their pregnancies or for whom termination isn't an option.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bf5d0

These two BBC documentaries show that there is an audience for a radio drama about teen pregnancy and that there are many options and differences between each teen pregnancy.



Mom at 16

Jacey Jeffries, a 16 year old high school student, unexpectedly becomes a mother, after giving birth to a baby boy named Charley. Instead of giving him up for adoption as planned, she chooses to keep the baby. Her mother, Terry pretends the infant is hers to allow Jacey to finish high school and lead a relatively normal life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go5eHAmCMgk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZumXPlCoZ8k

For Keeps?



For Keeps is a 1988 movie starring Molly Ringwald and Randall Batinkoff as Darcy and Stan, two high school seniors in love. Complications ensue when Darcy becomes pregnant just before graduation and decides to keep her baby. This movie is noted for being Ringwald's final "teen" movie, and is cited as one of her most mature performances, particularly in a scene where Darcy is suffering from post partum depression after the birth of her child.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDZ9er9Ey1c

15 and pregnant



Fifteen and Pregnant is a 1998 made-for-television drama starring Kirsten Dunst, Park Overall and David Andrews.
Based on a true story, Dunst portrays a 15-year-old pregnant girl,
who has to deal with giving birth before driving a car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAXI0vEUt-w


These movies link to my play as they show the controversial issues that surround teen pregnancy and the effects on both the mother and child.

Waterloo Road

Waterloo Road is a BBC television drama series set in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, about a troubled comprehensive school. The programme focuses on its teachers and students and confronts social issues, including affairs, abortion, divorce and suicide.

Over the course of the 6 seasons of the program there have been several teen pregnancies that have varie in what happens when the teenager finds out.

links to my play

• it shows how the pupils interact with each other and the teachers and this is especially relevant and there may be a scene in my play of the teenage girl talking to her teacher about her pregnancy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1p7
http://www.waterlooroad.co.uk/episodes/episodes.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjJXzB0PGog&feature=related

hollyoaks

Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill. The programme is set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks and is centred around a local higher education college called Hollyoaks Community College, with the characters generally being in their late teens or early twenties. Since 1995, the cast has expanded from just seven major characters to approximately 50 cast members.
Hollyoaks is the only British soap to make use of incidental music, usually a variation of the show's theme music. It is used either as a transition between scenes or as part of a dream-like sequence. These have included bands such as Ocean Colour Scene with the song "Hundred Mile High City", The Pigeon Detectives,  U2, Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, The Libertines, The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, and the Maroon 5 song "She Will Be Loved" was repeatedly played in early 2005.
Over the course of the show's history, Hollyoaks has dealt with a number of storylines based upon serious issues. Given the large and established proportion of young viewers, some feel that the soap is an ideal platform to show a variety of issues affecting young people. A telephone helpline number is often displayed after episodes that feature a particular emphasis on a story that may have affected viewers.
Issues raised in storylines include-
 racism, religion, bisexuality, homosexuality, homophobia, sexual confusion, alcoholism,  domestic violence, anorexia/bulimia, , general bullying, self harm, , teenage pregnancy, and  miscarriage.
This September it was announced that Hollyoaks, teaming up with Channel 4 Education's Battlefront, would explore an underage sex storyline involving 12 year-old characters Finn O'Connor and Amber Sharpe, which would lead to Amber's pregnancy. Explaining the storyline, Paul Marquess said: "Hollyoaks has long been credited for tackling difficult issues that affect young people in a sensitive and intelligent way. I am very proud that we are once again bringing to the forefront a subject for our young audience that many parents, politicians and schools struggle to address. The storyline very clearly communicates to the audience that Amber and Finn were not emotionally or physically ready to engage in any sexual activity. And make no mistake, there will be no fairytale ending for Amber; she is faced with the most difficult situation she could ever imagine.

links to my play

• the show tackles realsitic issues and problems that happen today, especially those that effect young people as my play does.
• It also promtotes awareness of certain issues, as my play aims to do about teen pregnancy.
• Hollyoaks shows realistic teen relationships and how they interact.

http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/index.html
http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/cast/girls/ambersharpe.html

glee

Glee is a musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues.
The groups relationships and the event of a cheerleader getting pregnant are the main focus of the first series.

Glee looks at the humorous side but also shows serious issues. the teen pregnanvy sees the mother deciding whether she will keep the baby, or if she will give it up for adoption. she eventually decides to give the baby to a mother who cannot have children.

Critical Reception

A review by Gibbs mentioned: "It insults kids to suggest that simply watching Characters Behaving Badly onscreen means they'll take that as permission to do the same themselves. And it's set in high school, meaning it's about a journey not just to college and career but to identity and conviction, the price of popularity, the compromises we must make between what we want and what we need."

As Glee's initial success pulled in a large audience, John Doyle of the Globe & Mail wrote that the early shows "felt fresh, mainly because the motley crew of kids had a kind of square naïveté.

Links to my play

• Glee links to my play as it shows the stigma and problems that followhen you get pregnant when you are still at school.
• it shows the emotions and decisions of a teenage mohter and the issue of whether to keep the baby.
• It also shows the relationship with the father of the child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8fn2nbUyY&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sefQqCMusJI