Not She

Not She (2019) is an audio play presented as internal monologue that responds to, and inverts, Samuel Beckett’s Not I. Contrary to the Beckettian verbal onslaught, the protagonist here recalls a time she was unable to speak, and subsequently begins to wonder whether she has ever been heard at all.

Disoriented by several inner voices, she finds herself railing against an increasingly apparent dictate of grammar: one that disturbs her use of the first person singular. As she struggles to make sense of past experiences, ideal tangents offer a renewed sense of agency — not despite, but with and through the very same means of language.

Duration: 00:24:44

  • Written and directed by Flo Ray
  • Performed by Polly Nayler
  • Sound engineering by Sam McCormack

Publications available on request.