Is there any author more unlucky than the one who launches his first book in April 2020?
When Shannon Molloy’s Fourteen came out, it couldn’t help but be overshadowed by those strange early days of the pandemic.
But rather than disappearing into the vortex of other cultural artefacts of the time, Molloy’s harrowing memoir became a bestseller, connecting with readers around Australia mostly thanks to word of mouth and Zoom book clubs.
Now, with a stage adaptation premiering on Saturday for Brisbane festival, it widens its reach further.
Fourteen charts a year in the life of Molloy, a teenager in central Queensland. But at 14 – before he’s even properly worked out his sexuality – his classmates at an all-boys Catholic school have decided for him. The result is an unrelenting and criminal level of bullying; there are moments when the reader wonders if Molloy will actually be killed, either by his own hand or by his classmates.
Molloy did survive – and has thrived. At 37, he’s now a Sydney-based journalist, husband, new father and author. And his story of that brutal year is being performed by Shake & Stir Theatre Company, with Conor Leach (Sequin in a Blue Room; SLAP. BANG. KISS.) starring in the main role.
Molloy’s story came to the attention of the publishing industry following a 2016 piece he wrote for News Corp, where he worked. “I was bashed, ridiculed, taunted endlessly, you name it. I was almost run over. At a school camp, I was tied to a tree and beaten with an oar,” he wrote of the relentless bullying he suffered. “A program like Safe Schools might’ve helped.”
But turning those experiences into a whole book, Molloy said, was “intense”.
“The first stuff that I wrote, the feedback from my publisher was that it was super dark. I had forgotten any of the light in that year of darkness,” he says, listing his girl friends, the youth centre and his mother’s hairdressing salon among the things that got him through. “That year shaped me in such a profound way.”
Anyone who grew up in a country town in Australia will recognise the violence, boredom and binge drinking, as well as the long afternoons after school hanging out at the shops. And anyone who grew up in the 1990s and was a bit “different” might also recognise the cruelty and violence that kids dish out to other kids.
Molloy wrote a first draft in a speedy five months. “It was cathartic to write it – there were parts that were hard. I would have to put it down for a couple of days and come back to it. I didn’t have to prod very hard for it to come spewing up.”
There is a trend in publishing for so-called trauma memoirs – but writing and promoting them can be retraumatising, particularly for debut authors.
“When writing, you are opening Pandora’s box and hoping for the best, but there’s a lot of power in sharing these really dark stories, because everyone has their own thing – queer or not, country town or not,” says Molloy.
“There is a danger in putting someone in a room and saying, ‘Write about the worst time of your life’ – but for me, all-in-all, it was a really positive experience.”
Response from readers, including teachers and parents, has been rewarding, too.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of men traumatised by their own upbringings, and there is solace knowing that it wasn’t just them that went through hell,” says Molloy. “Things are a lot better now, and a lot has changed. But in the Bible belt in Sydney, or country towns, some things haven’t changed.
“The most powerful response was people reading it saying, ‘This is not ancient history.’”
Theatre company Shake & Stir began working with Molloy in September 2020.
The company’s artistic team are from “similar backgrounds as me. All of them felt a sense of not fitting in and they loved the survival element of the story. It relates to any small town,” he says. “I never thought the book would be turned into a glitzy production and that it would be handled with such care.”
Molloy was involved in the creative process too. “It was fun to sit in a room and throw ideas around and see how they translate to the stage,” he says. “It’s normally such a lonely process to write.”
While Molloy initially found it hard to find the light, artistic director Ross Balbuziente said Fourteen got the balance right between tragedy and triumph.
“We owe it to Shannon – and anybody else whose experiences mirror his – not to shy away from the more triggering moments and challenging themes,” Balbuziente says. “But we also want to show the absolute power friendship and family can have on a 14-year-old.”
The play also features plenty of the music that got Molloy through that tumultuous year. “Expect lots of Shania Twain and S Club 7,” he says.
Fourteen is showing at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre from 27 August – 17 September as part of Brisbane festival
