'ICON
IMAGES'
Scene
– Melbourne, 1956
'Icon Images' follows 3 teenagers search for identity – Jenny,
Gabby & Craig. In their search to find out who they are, they are
fooled into thinking that who they are is determined by others' opinions
of their 'image'. As this play deals primarily with teen issues, tackled
from a teen perspective and enacted by teens, there is a great amount
of scope for 'Naturalism'.
Loki: It's all about marketing. Be a Coca-Cola kid,
a Marlborough man, have a Bex and a good lie down. You don't buy the
product – you buy the image. It's Hollywood. Grace Kelly, James
Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis… Icons. Package anything right and
anyone will buy.
(Jenny enters the ‘Icon Images’ store)
Frank: Can I help you?
Jenny: Not really, I'm just looking.
Frank: Just looking… looking for that special
something which will make you really stand out in the crowd.
Jenny: This shop's new isn't it?
Frank: Yes, new… er… the very latest in
up to the minute, 1950s chic.
Jenny: Well what exactly do you sell?
Frank: We're Personal Abstraction Consultants.
Jim: We're sort of like a designer looks company.
Jenny: But what do you actually sell?
Jim: We sell confidence.
Jenny: That must hard to gift wrap.
Frank: What he means is that we provide you with the
image to help you be what you want others to see you as. You’d
be after the sultry look.
Jim: We sold a similar model to a young girl in one
of our Californian stores. What was her name again? Norma-Joan…
Frank: Norma-Jane…
Jenny: Norma-Jean? You don't mean that Marilyn Monroe
bought that same image.
Frank: I think that's what she calls herself now.
Jim: We sell so many of that model that it's hard to
keep track.
Jenny: How much does it cost? I don't have much.
Frank: Well…
