The Complete Dramatic Works (26 page)

]
… improvement. [
Takes
off
spectacles,
lays
them
down,
holds
up
bottle
at
arm’
s
length
to
see
level,
unscrews
cap,
swigs
it
off
head
well
back,
tosses
cap
and
bottle
away
in
 
WILLIE
’
s
direction.
Sound
of
breaking
glass.
]
Ah that’s better! [
Turns
to
bag,
rummages
in
it,
brings
out
lipstick,
turns
back
front,
examines
lipstick.
]
Running out. [
Looks
for
spectacles.
]
Ah well. [
Puts
on
spectacles,
looks
for
mirror.
]
Mustn’t complain. [
Takes
up
mirror,
starts
doing
lips.
]
What is that wonderful line? [
Lips.
]
Oh fleeting joys – [
lips
]
 
– oh something lasting woe. [
Lips.
She
is
interrupted
by
disturbance
from
 
WILLIE
.
He
is
sitting
up.
She
lowers
lipstick
and
mirror
and
cranes
back
and
down
to
look
at
him.
Pause.
Top
back
of
WILLIE
’s
bald
head,
trickling
blood,
rises
to
view
above
slope,
comes
to
rest,
WINNIE
pushes
up
her
spectacles.
Pause.
His
hand
appears
with
handkerchief,
spreads
it
on
skull,
disappears.
Pause.
The
hand
appears
with
boater,
club
ribbon,
settles
it
on
head,
rakish
angle,
disappears.
Pause.
 
WINNIE
cranes
a
little
further
back
and
down.
]
Slip on your drawers, dear, before you get singed. [
Pause.
]
No? [
Pause.
]
Oh I see, you still have some of that stuff left. [
Pause.
]
Work it well in, dear. [
Pause.
]
Now the other. [
Pause.
She
turns
back
front,
gazes
before
her.
Happy
expression.
]
Oh this is going to be another happy day! [
Pause.
Happy
expression
off.
She
pulls
down
spectacles
and
resumes
lips,
 
WILLIE
opens
newspaper,
hands
invisible.
Tops
of
yellow
sheets
appear
on
either
side
of
his
head.
 
WINNIE
finishes
lips,
inspects
them
in
mirror
held
a
little
further
away.
]
Ensign crimson. [
WILLIE
turns
page,
 
WINNIE
lays
down
lipstick
and
mirror,
turns
towards
bag.
]
Pale flag.

[
WILLIE
turns
page,
WINNIE
rummages
in
bag,
brings
out
small
ornate
brimless
hat
with
crumpled
feather,
turns
back
front,
straightens
hat,
smooths
feather,
raises
it
towards
head,
arrests
gesture
as
 
WILLIE
reads.
]

WILLIE:
His Grace and Most Reverend Father in God Dr Carolus Hunter dead in tub.

[
Pause.
]

WINNIE:
[
Gazing
front,
hat
in
hand,
tone
of
fervent
reminiscence
.]
Charlie Hunter! [
Pause.
] I close my eyes – [
she
takes
off
spectacles
and
does
so,
hat
in
one
hand,
spectacles
in
other,
 
WILLIE
turns
page
]
 
– and am sitting on his knees again, in the back garden at Borough Green, under the
horse-beech. [
Pause.
She
opens
eyes,
puts
on
spectacles,
fiddles
with
hat.
]
Oh the happy memories! [
Pause.
She
raises
hat
towards
head,
arrests
gesture
as
WILLIE
reads.
]

WILLIE:
Opening for smart youth.

[
Pause.
She
raises
hat
towards
head,
arrests
gesture,
takes
off
spectacles,
gazes
front,
hat
in
one
hand,
spectacles
in
other.
]

WINNIE:
My first ball! [
Long
pause.
] My second ball! [
Long
pause.
Closes
eyes.
]
My first kiss! [
Pause,
 
WILLIE
turns
page,
WINNIE
opens
eyes.
] A Mr Johnson, or Johnston, or perhaps I should say John
stone.
Very bushy moustache,
very tawny. [
Reverently.
]
Almost ginger! [
Pause.
]
Within a toolshed, though whose I cannot conceive. We had no toolshed and he most
certainly had no toolshed. [
Closes
eyes.
]
I see the piles of pots. [
Pause.
]
The tangles of bast. [
Pause.
]
The shadows deepening among the rafters.

[
Pause.
She
opens
eyes,
puts
on
spectacles,
raises
hat
towards
head,
arrests
gesture
as
 
WILLIE
reads.
]

WILLIE:
Wanted bright boy.

[
Pause.
 
WINNIE
puts
on
hat
hurriedly,
looks
for
mirror.
WILLIE
turns
page.
 
WINNIE
takes
up
mirror,
inspects
hat,
lays
down
mirror,
turns
towards
bag.
Paper
disappears.
WINNIE
rummages
in
bag,
brings
out
magnify
ing-glass,
turns
back
front,
looks
for
toothbrush.
Paper
reappears,
folded,
and
begins
to
fan
 
WILLIE
’
s
face,
hand
invisible.
WINNIE
takes
up
toothbrush
and
examines
handle
through
glass.
]

WINNIE:
Fully guaranteed … [
WILLIE
stops
fanning
] … genuine pure … [
Pause,
 
WILLIE
resumes
fanning.
WINNIE
looks
closer,
reads.
]
Fully guaranteed … [
WILLIE
stops
fanning
] … genuine pure … [
Pause.
WILLIE
resumes
fanning.
 
WINNIE
lays
down
glass
and
brush,
takes
handkerchief
from
bodice,
takes
off
and
polishes
spectacles,
puts
on
spectacles,
looks
for
glass,
takes
up
and
polishes
glass,
lays
down
glass,
looks
for
brush,
takes
up
brush
and
wipes
handle,
lays
down
brush,
puts
handkerchief
back
in
bodice,
looks
for
glass,
takes
up
glass,
looks
for
brush,
takes
up
brush
and
examines
handle
through
glass.
]
Fully guaranteed … [
WILLIE
stops
fanning
]
… genuine pure … [
pause,
 
WILLIE
resumes
fanning
]
…
hog’s … [
WILLIE
stops
fanning,
pause
] … setae. [
Pause,
 
WINNIE
lays
down
glass
and
brush,
paper
disappears,
 
WINNIE
takes
off
spectacles,
lays
them
down,
gazes
front.
]
Hog’s setae. [
Pause.
] That is what I find so wonderful, that not a day goes by – [
smile
]
– to speak in the old style – [
smile
off
]
– hardly a day, without some addition to one’s knowledge however trifling, the addition
I mean, provided one takes the pains, [
WILLIE
’
s
hand
reappears
with
a
postcard
which
he
examines
close
to
eyes.
]
And if for some strange reason no further pains
are possible, why then just close the eyes – [
she
does
so
]
– and wait for the day to come – [
opens
eyes
]
– the happy day to come when flesh melts at so many degrees and the night of the moon
has so many hundred hours. [
Pause.
] That is what I find so comforting when I lose heart and envy the brute beast. [
Turning
towards
 
WILLIE
.] I hope you are taking in – [
She
sees
postcard,
bends
lower.
] What is that you have there, Willie, may I see? [
She
reaches
down
with
hand
and
 
WILLIE
hands
her
card.
The
hairy
forearm
appears
above
slope,
raised
in
gesture
of
giving,
the
hand
open
to
take
back,
and
remains
in
this
position
till
card
is
returned.
 
WINNIE
turns
back
front
and
examines
card.
]
Heavens what are they up to! [
She
looks
for
spectacles,
puts
them
on
and
examines
card.
]
No but this is just genuine pure filth! [
Examines
card.
]
Make any nice-minded person want to vomit! [
Impatience
of
WILLIE
’
s
fingers.
She
looks
for
glass,
takes
it
up
and
examines
card
through
glass.
Long
pause.
]
What does that creature in the background think he’s doing? [
Looks
closer.
]
Oh no really! [
Impatience
of
fingers.
Last
long
look.
She
lays
down
glass,
takes
edge
of
card
between
right
forefinger
and
thumb,
averts
head,
takes
nose
between
left
forefinger
and
thumb.
]
Pah! [
Drops
card.
]
Take it away! [
WILLIE
’
s
arm
disappears.
His
hand
reappears
immediately,
holding
card.
WINNIE
takes
off
spectacles,
lays
them
down,
gazes
before
her.
During
what
follows
WILLIE
continues
to
relish
card,
varying
angles
and
distance
from
his
eyes.
] Hog’s setae. [
Puzzled
expression.
]
What exactly is a hog? [
Pause.
Do.
]
A sow of course I know, but a hog … [
Puzzled
expression
off.
]
Oh well what does it matter, that is what I always say, it will come back, that is
what I find so wonderful, all comes back. [
Pause.
]
All? [
Pause.
]
No, not all. [
Smile.
]
No no. [
Smile
off.
]
Not quite. [
Pause.
]
A part. [
Pause.
]
Floats up, one fine day, out of the blue. [
Pause.
]
That is what I find so wonderful. [
Pause.
She
turns
towards
bag.
Hand
and
card
disappear.
She
makes
to
rummage
in
bag,
arrests
gesture.
]
No. [
She
turns
back
front.
Smile.
]
No no. [
Smile
off.
]
Gently Winnie. [
She
gazes
front.
WILLIE
’
s
hand
reappears,
takes
off
hat,
disappears
with
hat.
]
What then? [
Hand
reappears,
takes
handkerchief
from
skull,
disappears
with
handkerchief.
Sharply,
as
to
one
not
paying
attention.
]
Winnie! [
WILLIE
bows
head
out
of
sight.
]
What
is
the alternative? [
Pause.
] What
is
the al – [
WILLIE
blows
nose
loud
and
long,
head
and
hands
invisible.
She
turns
to
look
at
him.
Pause.
Head
reappears.
Pause.
Hand
reappears
with
handkerchief,
spreads
it
on
skull,
disappears.
Pause.
Hand
reappears
with
boater,
settles
it
on
head,
rakish
angle,
disappears.
Pause.
]
Would I had let you sleep on. [
She
turns
back
front.
Intermittent
plucking
at
grass,
head
up
and
down,
to
animate
following.
]
Ah yes, if only I could bear to be alone, I mean prattle away with not a soul to
hear. [
Pause.
]
Not that I flatter myself you hear much, no Willie, God forbid. [
Pause.
]
Days perhaps when you hear nothing. [
Pause.
]
But days too when you answer. [
Pause.
]
So that I may say at all times, even when you do not answer and perhaps hear nothing,
something of this is being heard, I am not merely talking to myself, that is in the
wilderness, a thing I could never bear to do – for any length of time. [
Pause.
]
That is what enables me to go on, go on talking that is. [
Pause.
]
Whereas if you were to die – [
smile
]
–
to speak in the old style – [
smile
off
]
–
or go away and leave me, then what would I do, what
could
I do, all day long, I mean between the bell for waking and the bell for sleep? [
Pause.
]
Simply gaze before me with compressed lips. [
Long
pause
while
she
does
so.
No
more
plucking.
]
Not another word as long as I drew breath, nothing to break the silence of this place.
[
Pause.
]
Save possibly, now and then, every now and then, a sigh into my looking-glass. [
Pause.
]
Or a brief … gale of laughter, should I happen to see the old joke again. [
Pause.
Smile
appears,
broadens
and
seems
about
to
culminate
in
laugh
when
suddenly
replaced
by
expression
of
anxiety.
]
My hair! [
Pause.
]
Did I brush and comb my hair? [
Pause.
]
I may have done. [
Pause.
] Normally I do. [
Pause.
]
There is so little one
can
do. [
Pause.
]
One does it all. [
Pause.
]
All one can. [
Pause.
]
’Tis only human. [
Pause.
]
Human nature. [
She
begins
to
inspect
mound,
looks
up.
]
Human weakness. [
She
resumes
inspection
of
mound,
looks
up.
]
Natural weakness. [
She
resumes
inspection
of
mound.
]
I see no comb. [
Inspects.
] Nor any hairbrush. [
Looks
up.
Puzzled
expression.
She
turns
to
bag,
rummages
in
it.
]
The comb is here. [
Back
front.
Puzzled
expression.
Back
to
bag.
Rummages.
]
The brush is here. [
Back
front.
Puzzled
expression.
]
Perhaps I put them back, after use. [
Pause.
Do.
]
But normally I do not put things back, after use, no, I leave them lying about and
put them back all together, at the end of the day. [
Smile.
]
To speak in the old style. [
Pause.
]
The sweet old style. [
Smile
off
]
And yet … I seem … to remember … [
Suddenly
careless.
]
Oh well, what does it matter, that is what I always say, I shall simply brush and
comb them later on, purely and simply, I have the whole – [
Pause.
Puzzled.
]
Them? [
Pause.
]
Or it? [
Pause.
]
Brush and comb it? [
Pause.
]
Sounds improper somehow. [
Pause.
Turning
a
little
towards
WILLIE
.] What would you say, Willie? [
Pause.
Turning
a
little
further.
]
What would you say, Willie, speaking of your hair, them or it? [
Pause.
]
The hair on your head, I mean. [
Pause.
Turning
a
little
further.
]
The hair on your head, Willie, what would you say speaking of the hair on your head,
them or it? [
Long
pause.
]