LYRICS: OPERA
BEOWULF
Libretto: Roger Harcourt (1976)
Chorus:
In northern Denmark, more than a thousand years ago, When aged Hrothgar ruled the land, Denmark was ruled in peace. His people loved him, and his Queen Wealtheouw. For fifty years they held the reins of power, assured yet gracious, In loving companionship they ruled.
Through darknesses of winter, locked by the studded portals from the cold, They feasted with their henchmen, drank away the hours. Hrothgar and his gracious queen, proud nobles Unferth, Wulfrac, Wiglaf of the shining spear.
Trumpets brayed their sound, platters steamed with meat,
Splashing goblets drowned in mead toasted the King and Queen.
Hurrah! Hurrah! Loud merriment there was of song, hurrah!
While the roof clanged, sang, it rang – rang to their joy and sprang to the stars, hurrah!
But ever must joy in sadness end.
One day late, there came prowling over the moor, A monster of hideous mien, Grendel by name, fierce son of a foul mother,
Half wickedly human, half insatiably monster: incorrigible! unenlightened! despicable! Ugly of aspect and hideous of mien, twelve feet in height and of incredible girth, Wending his way to the palace with fearsome intent.
With gross paw he strikes the studded door, waves it in the air and strikes again. The bolts shudder, the jambs strain from their hinge.
With terrific smash Grendel, gross and grim, shatters the portal.
With huge reverberating tread enters the great hall, snatches a sleeping thane, And gorging as he goes, carries him home for meat.
Morning breaks, loud is the lamentation, the Danes are struck with grief.
Thereafter lies a nightly sorrow, when Grendel, hungry after human flesh, Treads along the palace path to tear his victim limb from limb.
No man, not one so strong or brave dare tackle the beast.
Alas, alas, no man dare tackle the beast.
Hrothgar: In all our years of peaceful rule there has not been so great a shame.
For fifty years, our happiness unimpaired, through peril and through danger, We’ve led the land, inspired.
Wealtheouw:
… inspired by love of right, well doing and belief in God, Always have our people leaned on us,
Reflecting their belief in our concern.
Hrothgar:
Inspired by love of right, well doing and belief in God, Always have our people leaned on us,
Reflecting their belief in our concern.
H&W:
Then suddenly, without warning,
Grendel, the beast of olden darkness creeps across the face of earth. Remorseless and unstoppable. Destruction is his name!
Hrothgar:
I am old and past enduring the challenge of the wilds. My feeble frame desires to rest in peace.
I offer the wisdom of the years, but strength eludes me. My failing arm can strike its foe no more.
Wealtheouw:
My regal gown flows out behind me, in gracious fan-like sweep, Embroidered all with stars.
I offer the mead cup to the warriors who kneel before their King and Queen.
But now each night my hand trembles, thinking of terrors to come.
H&W:
Our palace is haunted by a beast that knows no satisfaction. Grendel his name, creeping across the face of earth.
No warning! No warning! Away seeps peace and our togetherness.
Hrothgar:
I am old and past enduring …
Wealtheouw:
Who will deliver us? Who will deliver us from the challenge of the wilds?
Chorus:
But listen, listen to the waves, O King. Hark! Groaning with the weight of foreign sail. Listen! Hark! The timbers pressed and curl within the mortices, With speed she skims the last chain to the shore.
Beowulf:
And it is I that leap to land, I Beowulf, with the swift spear of the glittering blade, The shining lance and the sweet thrust.
I Beowulf, Lord of the curling wave, Prince of a thousand fights.
Master of the creature of violent intent,
The twilight foe that causes the night-time shudder,
Fear in the bowels, the depth-loss of hope.
But hope is my guiding star, and my anchor belief in conquest, virtue my scutcheon. I flourish my sword with a whirl, my buckler with a shout,
There is confidence in my youth.
Belief in my virtue, trust in my might.
The challenge is here! The challenge is here!
From over the choppy waters of the Baltic,
The messengers and merchants, brave seafarers have sent me word
That Grendel, half-human, half-animal, wreaks havoc with the lives of Danish men.
So I come at the call of the oppressed,
To rid them of the grim flesh-eating monster.
Let come what may, let hap what haps, let be what God wills.
O Grendel of the deadly paw, the challenge is here! The challenge is here!
Chorus:
Hrothgar greets Beowulf, takes him by the hand, clasps him to his heart. Beowulf bows lows; expresses his respect,
Embraces the cloak of the venerable man. Offers his youth, his vigour, his fearlessness in combat with Grendel
Hrothgar bows low to Beowulf, Hrothgar accepts, takes him by the hand. Enfolds him to the heart.
Long live King Hrothgar! Long live him! His Queen Wealtheouw, long live her! And Beowulf, Beowulf, Protector of the Danes, Long live him! Long live him! There is feasting of King, Queen and Beowulf, Wulfrac, Unferth and the thanes. Of King, I say, and prince of soldiers, Beowulf, Of him the King and Queen and everyone.
Long live King Hrothgar! Long live him! His Queen Wealtheouw, long live her!
The banners in the great hall, emblazoned, sparkle to the stars.
The trumpets, trumpets flare with pride.
Revelry soars in combat with the moon, queen of night.
Oh God! Omnipotent author of our faith, maker of our being and pride of us, With what deep reverence, what quick spontaneity we applaud your being.
Feasting, drinking, the glimmering goblets shine,
Feasting, drinking. Oh joy! In the long hall rings loud revelry. Feasting, drinking. Look at the hospitality Hrothgar provides. Three wild boar steaming hot from the ovens,
Tray upon tray of succulent meat To fill full the stomachs of the soldier sailors from over the sea. In the candlelight the mead cups glitter with bubbles to the brim.
Now the entertainers endowed with ancient skill:
Wrestlers tumbling on the patterned carpet,
Jugglers throwing silver balls into the air.
Magic men with tricks that make you not believe your eyes,
Astrologers tell of great deeds to come, fashioning their knowledge from the stars. Minstrels sing of rousing deeds of old, Enterprises past that win the heart and mind.
The singing soars, confidence waxes, veins run warm with wine. Feasting, drinking, the glimmering goblets shine,
Feasting, drinking. Oh joy! In the long hall rings loud revelry.
W&H:
Who will deliver us?
Chorus:
Feasting, drinking. Look at the hospitality Hrothgar provides. Three wild boar steaming hot from the ovens,
W&H:
Who will deliver us?
Chorus:
Tray upon tray of succulent meat
To fill full the stomachs of the soldier sailors from over the sea.
Long live King Hrothgar! Long live him! His Queen Wealtheouw, long live her! And Beowulf, Beowulf, Protector of the Danes, Long live him! Long live him! Long live them all!
Hrothgar:
You come, dear son, with a burden of fame, from a northern land of ice, Where the panting bear ever seeks his prey,
Where prowling monsters with hidden menace lurk, then pounce.
From those lands you came here to deliver us, deliver us, Deliver us!
Beowulf:
From shore to shore is whispered my fame,
From curving harbour to gentle breakwater,
From squally headland to jutting promontory, the sea savours my name.
With monsters of land I have yet to fight, but to all the oppressed my heart goes out,
That is why, wisest of Danes, King Hrothgar, I am here to help you.
Hrothgar:
I am old and past enduring the challenge of the wilds …
Beowulf:
The sea savours my name….
Wealtheouw:
Who will deliver us?
Hrothgar:
… my feeble frame desires to rest in peace.
Beowulf:
… to the oppressed, my heart goes out.
Hrothgar:
I offer the wisdom of the years, but strength eludes me. My failing arm can strike the foe no more
Wealtheouw:
Who will deliver us, deliver us from the challenge of the wilds?
Beowulf:
… that is why, King Hrothgar, I am here to help you.
So that you should trust me,
let me tell you of the swimming match I lately made with Breca. Breca and I, five miles in the Baltic sea we swam, Test of fibre and endurance, past whirlpool and tidal wave,
Each one to prove his noble manhood.
Dark skies threatened, lowered overhead, up blew the storm.
Black waves lashed and the bitter wind brushed and nipped our naked bodies.
Listen to the squall, the air-whirl, the blustery gale,
Breca cries for help. “Help, O Beowulf, help me. My strength is dwindling, Monsters from the watery deep wend their way towards me.
Help, O Beowulf, help me!”
Listen to the squall, the air-whirl, the blustery gale,
It is I, Beowulf who swims to help, to Breca tossed like spendthrift on the crushing waves. My hands prise apart the monster`s teeth,
my arms support his shoulder to give him strength,
My breast becomes a cradle for his falling head.
At sight of me, the monster of the sea thrashes the wave and is gone.
My strength, oh noble King, is yours to command!
Chorus:
Away in the haunted fens (Listen!) Where spindly trees trail their greying roots to the water (Listen! Hark you may hear!) And straggling bushes gnaw at the sky for light. (Listen!)
The joyless Grendel climbs to the surface of the deep, with murderous intent To tread his way to the palace with men for meat in his mind.
(Hark! Hark! You may hear. Hark! Hark! You may hear – Listen!)
Beowulf:
My tale is told, it was a tale of courage, of scorning poor odds and defeating the foe. Now King, masters all, while darkness descends, awaiting the monster of the deep,
I will lull you asleep with a song of the past:
Far to the north, in the long Arctic wastes, the day never closes.
At midnight the sun slants its rays still to earth, whilst mankind reposes.
For those who have seen the Aurelian lights, the sight never wanes.
The soul’s always touched of the journeying ones,
Kings, masters or thanes.
They travel through desperate ice and harsh cold to see endlessness.
They always return with fresh hope in the heart, for they have been blessed.
To sleep, to sleep, I lull you. On restful pillows recline you. Alone, let Beowulf protect you. Let you rest.
Chorus:
The sailor soldiers sleep. Alone Beowulf rests.
(Hark! Hark! You may hear! Hark! Hark! You may hear! Listen!)
Grendel! Ugly of aspect and hideous of mien, twelve feet in height and of incredible girth, Wending his way to the palace with fearsome intent.
With gross paw he strikes the studded door, waves it in the air and strikes again. The bolts shudder, the jambs strain from their hinge. With terrific smash Grendel, gross and grim, shatters the portal. With huge reverberating tread enters the great hall…
The silence is broken.
Grendel lumps into the hall, scours the sleeping men with savage eye,
Chooses one to satisfy his hunger, reaches for him with ponderous paw.
Not expecting Beowulf, the young prince,
Oh crown prince to the richest titles of the world, takes hold of the paw and grapples.
Grendel turns in astonishment, breathing deeply, flicks his almighty shoulder
Wheels the paw through the air, turning the body, whacks the gasping Beowulf to the floor. Beowulf crouches close to the ground, while Grendel regains his balance.
He tenses all his muscles, knowing that weapons will not help,
That nothing will avail except the strength of his hands, his bare hands.
Except the strength of his hands.
Angered at the prince’s insolence, Grendel recoils a moment. Waits to summon brutish strength, with total monstrous force, He swipes at the prone human frame.
Nimbly, Beowulf skips aside. Then Grendel crashes to the empty floor.
Quickly, Beowulf treads upon the monster, takes hold of the gigantic paw, Wheeling it backwards, wrenches it from the socket. With excruciating screech. The arm is rent from the body.
Wails Grendel in anguish: Aaoh, aaoh, aaoh, aaoh, a roar to waken the dead. Aaoh! To summon sleeping spirits from their gravesAAoh! Aaoh!
Waving the blood-soaked trophy in his arms, Beowulf presents himself to Hrothgar. The anguished monster crawls back, crawls back to his lair to die.
Crawls back to his lair to die.
Beowulf:
O noble King Hrothgar, wisest man in northern lands, Beowulf has saved you. The monster is mortally wounded, vanished, never to return.
No more will sleepless nights torment you,
Nor troubled dreams bruise the aching mind.
Hrothgar:
The time of fear is gone, today it skipped apart.
God`s mercy bathes us all in light, to give us fresher heart.
To Beowulf God has giv`n great strength with which to fight.
To Beowulf and our God we sing our praise and thanks this night.
Wealtheouw:
Let us give thanks to God whose mighty power quells harm,
Gave Beowulf strength to banish ill with this, his human arm.
Wealtheouw & Chorus:
God`s power lies unrehearsed, still present when unseen,
And when we fear the worst is come, it`s on God`s power we lean.
Chorus:
To God and Beowulf praise, for all their help and love,
May Beowulf`s mortal days be marked by blessings from above.
Beowulf:
I join my voice in praise of God, for the mercy of his power,
For the power of his mercy.
The monster came upon me,
Gross creature from the fenland crawling from its murky Lakeland lair, Flinging down the palace portal.
It was I who saved King Hrothgar from the prowler of the fenland, And I give thanks, give thanks!
Let us hear the call of the trumpet, giving thanks, giving thanks! Let us hear the voice of the drum.
W&H&B:
Giving thanks, giving thanks!
W&H&B & Chorus:
Let us hear the voice of all music, giving thanks, giving thanks!
W&H&B:
Let us hear the voice of the quiet flute, giving thanks, giving thanks!
W&H&B & Chorus:
Let us hear the voice of all humans, giving thanks, giving thanks!
Feasting, drinking, the glimmering goblets shine,
Feasting, drinking. Oh joy! In the long hall rings loud revelry.
W&H:
Let us give thanks to him.
All voices:
Feasting, drinking, the glimmering goblets shine, Feasting, drinking.
Chorus:
Look at the hospitality Hrothgar provides…
All voices:
Three wild boar steaming hot from the ovens, Tray upon tray of succulent meat To fill full the stomachs of the soldier sailors from over the sea.
Long live King Hrothgar! Long live him! His Queen Wealtheouw, long live her! And Beowulf, Beowulf, Protector of the Danes, Long live him! Long live him! Long live them all!
FINIS
The Marriage of true minds
Shakespeare, freely arranged by Hilary Spiers
A stage. A piano. Some seating.
Prelude
ACCOMPANIST (to audience) Why then tonight let us assay our plot. (As Beatrice enters, confidentially) You must not, sirs, mistake my niece. (Intentionally louder, with a smile at Beatrice). There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them.
BEATRICE (During this Benedick enters unseen by Beatrice, but seen by ACCOMPANIST. He is amused by Beatrice’s words)
In our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one: so that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his horse; for it is all the wealth that he hath left, to be known a reasonable creature. He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block.
ACCOMPANIST
I see, lady, the gentleman is not in your books.
BEATRICE
No; an he were, I would burn my study. She throws herself in a seat with a book and starts reading. Benedick starts to sing, startling her. She enjoys the song, but is determined not to show it and buries herself in her book. Benedick sings as if unaware of her presence.
BENEDICK:
1. Under the Greenwood Tree – Amiens’ Song from As You Like It II.v
v.1
Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me, and turn his merry note unto the sweet bird’s throat.
Come hither, come hither, come hither. Here shall he see no enemy, but winter and rough weather.
BEATRICE (barely glancing up)
I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.
BENEDICK (affecting surprise)
What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?
BEATRICE
Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence.
BENEDICK
Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart; for, truly, I love none.
BEATRICE (roused and combative, getting to her feet)
A dear happiness to women: they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.
v.2
Who doth ambition shun, and loves to live in the sun seeking the food he eats. And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither. Here shall he see no enemy, but winter and rough weather.
BENEDICK (with studied indifference, taking her book and glancing at it)
God keep your ladyship still in that mind! So some gentleman or other shall ‘scape a predestinate scratched face.
BEATRICE (relieving him of it)
Scratching could not make it worse, an ’twere such a face as yours were.
BENEDICK (mockingly)
2. Come Away Death – Twelfth Night II iv
v.1
Come away, come away death. And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O prepare it! My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.
BEATRICE (in like vein)
v.2
Not a flow’r, not a flow’r sweet,
on my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet my poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown:
A thousand, thousand sighs to save, Lay me, O! – where
Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there.
A thousand, thousand sighs to save, Lay me, O! – where
Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there.
They are both enjoying themselves but maintain straight faces.
ACCOMPANIST (laughing)
I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love.
BENEDICK
With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love: prove that ever I lose more blood with love than I will get again with drinking, pick out mine eyes with a ballad-makers pen and hang me up at the door of a brothel-house for the sign of blind Cupid.
ACCOMPANIST
Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.
BEATRICE
Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a pierce of valiant dust? To make an account of her life to a clod of wayward marl? No, uncle, I’ll none: Adam’s sons are my brethren; and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.
BENEDICK
3. O Mistress Mine – Twelfth Night II iii
v.1
O mistress mine where are you roaming? Oh stay and hear your true love’s coming, That can sing both high and low.
Trip no further pretty sweeting; journey’s end in lovers meeting, Ev’ry wise man’s son doth know.
BEATRICE
v.2
What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter; present mirth hath present laughter; What’s to come is still unsure.
In delay there lies no plenty,
Then come kiss me sweet and twenty; Youth’s a stuff will not endure. Youth’s a stuff will not endure.
Pretending boredom, Beatrice fulfils her original errand, as if about to leave.
BEATRICE
Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.
BENEDICK
Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE
I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me: if it had been painful, I would not have come.
BENEDICK
You take pleasure then in the message?
BEATRICE
Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife’s point and choke a daw withal. You have no stomach, signior: fare you well.
She goes to sweep off. Benedick snatches her hand. A moment. She looks at their conjoined hands. Benedick does likewise. Both seem astonished to find themselves in this position. When Benedick speaks, it is as if he cannot believe what he is saying. At an appropriate point, the accompanist might exchange a look with the audience, perhaps if the lovers’ behaviour is a little over the top…
BENEDICK
Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I love thee.
4. Take all my loves, my love – (Sonnet XL)
BENEDICK
Take all my loves, my love, yea , take them all: What hast thou then more than thou hadst before? No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call:
All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.
BEATRICE: (Much Ado About Nothing III i)
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? Stand I condemn’d for pride and scorn so much? Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, Adieu! No glory lives behind the back of such.
(Sonnet CXX) That you were once unkind, befriends me now And for that sorrow, which I then did feel,
Needs must I under my transgression bow,
Unless my nerves were brass or hammered steel. For if you were by my unkindness shaken, As I by yours, you’ve passed a hell of a time;
BENEDICK
And I a tyrant have no leisure taken
To weigh how once I suffer’d in your crime.
BEATRICE
(Much Ado About Nothing III i) And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee, Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band; For others say thou dost deserve, and I believe it better than reportingly.
(Sonnet XL) Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all: What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
BENEDICK & BEATRICE
(Ben) No love, my love, that thou may’st true love call: (Bea) Take all my loves, yea, take them all.
(Together) All mine was thine before thou hadst this more. All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.
5. It was a Lover and His Lass (As You Like It V iii)
BENEDICK
v.1
It was a lover and his lass
With a hey and a ho,and a hey nonino and a hey noninonino.
That o’er the green cornfield did pass,
In springtime, in springtime, in springtime, the only pretty ringtime,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding,
hey ding a ding a ding, hey ding a ding a ding,
Sweet lovers love the spring.
BEATRICE
v.2
Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey and a ho and a hey nonino and a hey noninonino, These pretty country folks would lie, In spring time, in springtime, in springtime, the only pretty ringtime, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding hey ding a ding a ding, hey ding a ding a ding, Sweet lovers love the spring.
BEATRICE & BENEDICK
v.3
This carol they began that hour,
With a hey and a ho and a hey nonino and a hey noninonino,
How that a life was but a flow’r
In springtime, in springtime, in springtime, the only pretty ringtime, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding
hey ding a ding a ding, hey ding a ding a ding,
Sweet lovers love the spring.
V4
And therefore take the present time,
With a hey and a ho and a hey nonino and a hey noninonino,
For love is crownèd with the prime,
In springtime, in springtime, in springtime, the only pretty ringtime, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding
hey ding a ding a ding, hey ding a ding a ding, Sweet lovers love the spring.
BENEDICK
I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?
BEATRICE
As strange as the thing I know not.
BENEDICK
By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me.
BEATRICE
Why, then, God forgive me!
BENEDICK
What offence, sweet Beatrice?
BEATRICE
You have stayed me in a happy hour: I was about to protest I loved you.
BENEDICK
And do it with all thy heart.
BEATRICE
I love you so much of my heart that none is left to protest.
BENEDICK
Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?
BEATRICE
Yea, signior, and depart when you bid me.
BENEDICK
O stay but till then! Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably. A miracle! here’s our own hands against our hearts. Come, I will have thee; but, by this light, I take thee for pity.
BEATRICE
I would not deny you; but, by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion; and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption.
BENEDICK
Peace! I will stop your mouth.
(They kiss. ACCOMPANIST nods with satisfaction)
BENEDICK
I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.
6. Wedding Song – As You Like It V iv
BEATRICE & BENEDICK
Wedding is great Juno’s crown,
O blessed bond of board and bed!
‘Tis Hymen peoples ev’ry town; High wedlock then be honoured.
Honour, high honour and renown To Hymen, god of ev’ry town!
BENEDICK
(Sonnet X) Make thee another self, for love of me That beauty still may live in thine or thee.
BEATRICE
(Sonnet CX) Now all is done, have what shall have no end.
Mine appetite I never more will grind on newer proof, to try an older friend. A god in love, to whom I am confined,
Then give me welcome, next my heav’n the best,
BEATRICE & BENEDICK
E’en to thy pure, e’en to thy pure, thy pure most loving breast.
(As You Like It V iv) Honour, high honour and renown To Hymen, god of ev’ry town!
They collapse into each other’s arms, whispering to each other.
ACCOMPANIST (conspiratorially to the audience):
Present mirth hath present laughter. What’s to come is still unsure….
Beatrice slaps Benedick and storms off. Accompanist and Benedick exchange a look and then both set off in hot pursuit.
FINIS
THE YELLOW DRESS
Libretto: Hilary Spiers
Projected: the sea, wave upon wave washing towards the audience. It fades with the music. A moment.
A room. It is in darkness. There is a window to one side, curtains drawn. A chair in which, in time, we will see the Mother, sleeping. A key in the lock. A door opens, spilling light into the room. The Daughter is framed in the doorway, case in one hand, a shopping bag in the other.
She pushes the door closed. Darkness. The Daughter flicks a switch and floods the stage with light.
D (As though girding herself, struggling in) Only me.
(She drops the bags inside the door)
God! It’s like an oven in here, mother! How can you bear it? Sitting in the dark. Shall I open the window? Let some air in.
(She does. To an unseen neighbour, with great animation)
Hi! Yes … yes, just got back. It was wonderful! Yes. I know … stifling. Will it break, do you think? Me? I’m fine – yes! Yes, I’m great, really. Full of the joys. Really. (She laughs) No, she’s fine (looking back at her mother) … well, you know … the same. I think. Oh, thanks, yes, I will. She’ll appreciate that. Are you? Tonight? Lucky you! Let’s hope the weather holds. Ciao.
She looks around the place. Looks finally at her mother. Comes down to her. Her mood changes.
Hello. I’m back. Mother?
M awakes
M Oh…
D Yes, here I am again …
M You came back!
D Of course I came back. Did you think I’d gone for good? No such luck. (M starts struggling out of the chair) No, stay there. You just stay there.
M ignores her. Gets up. Starts wandering, moving things. She is confused
M Where are they? (She opens her hand, discovers a tube of sweets) Oh!
D (Taking them from her automatically and pocketing them) They came then, did they, the carers? Yes? Did what was needed? Thank God. No, mother! Sit down. Sit, will you?
She tries to steer her mother back to the chair. She struggles.
M No! No! I had them … (she searches ineffectually)
D Oh, please yourself! The man next door – Reg? Ron? I forget – he sends his best. Sends you his … whatever.
She starts unpacking the groceries. M comes over and picks up the packets, the tins. Interferes
D They’re off on holiday, the neighbours. I get back and they’re off … No, mother, don’t. Give it here … That’s it … Yes, off to the sun. Imagine that. Off out of here. A different sun. A different sea. No chance of rain, no worries. Just sun, the smell of the sea, the sea … You always loved the sea, didn’t you? Remember …
A thread of the mother’s sea music
D You loved the sea,
M I did. I loved the sea … before – (She finds a bag of sweets) Ah! (As she goes to open them,
D takes them from her and hides them. All this done without fuss, a routine)
D … its pitch and pull. The teasing wind, the briny tang, its thunderous roar. Long walks along its ragged shore.
M moves over to the window, looking out, as we believe, to the sea. The image of a deserted beach projected
M The sea, the sea … where is she? Tell me –
D Mother, no!
A mobile phone rings, breaking the moment.
As D scrabbles for her phone in her bag, M turns away from the window, distressed. During the following, she makes her way back to the chair. Sits rocking, then feels down the side and by the end of the call has located another opened packet of sweets. Triumphant
D Oh, wait! I won’t be a minute. (Into the phone) Yes? Oh, yes … no, I’ve only just arrived. Just this minute. Well, she’s … it’s always like this when I’ve been away. Yes, yes … I will, I said, didn’t I? I will. (To her mother) Mother, please! I’m coming. I’m coming … (To caller) I will. I promise. I will. In a bit.
She finishes the call. Throws the phone down. Bends down to M who has hurriedly hidden her sweets.
D Hello, you. Hello. What is it?
M The sea, the sea …
D It’s all right … a dream, that’s all.
M looks at D in confusion. Draws back, alarmed
M No! (She hugs the sweets to her. Crams two or three into her mouth)
D It’s ok. It’s only me. All right? It’s all right. It’s only me. All right?
She settles her mother, and while she is talking to her about the dress, gently eases the sweets from her
D There. What’s this? Is it new? Look at you, all decked out in your Sunday best. Where do you think you’re going? All dressed up like Lady Muck. Off to the races, eh? … (something, a memory, tugs at her) Where did you get this?
She goes to touch M, who again recoils, then snatches for the sweets
D I remember this! This dress. You wore it … no!
Projected: gulls wheeling over a beach. A child’s face in close up, laughing into the camera. The child runs away, screaming. She is wearing a yellow dress. Chasing her, we see a figure in a dress of the same colour and pattern as the one M is wearing
D Those days are gone! Long gone. They slipped away … Like sand between our fingers. The tide has washed those days away.
D goes over to the window trying to recover her equilibrium.
D Look. A whole world out there. Remember? People, cars, buses, kids, the chat on the corner, the words and looks exchanged, the buzz and thrum of life. See the gulls wheeling overthetown,thekiddiesonthebeach. Life…
M struggles again to her feet. This time she goes shakily to D, tries to embrace her. D takes her by the arms – but gently. She is trying to reach her
D Remember that? Life? Remember how it felt? The joy of every waking day … the pumping of a heart alive to life. You knew it, felt it, touched it – tasted every fruit you wanted – is it wrong to want to know how it tastes?
The sea music returns, but wilder, discordant. The mother is distressed
M Please … please … I didn’t …
The music gentles and with it, M’s anxiety. D leads her back to her chair, where M sits, plucking at her clothes. D relents and hands her mother back the sweets
M Oh! For me? Am I a good girl? I am…I am…
D There. There. I’m sorry, mother. Sorry. Too much work, too many people plucking at my sleeve. Like you. Especially you.
She walks agitatedly about
D They’re threatening rain tonight. It has to break, doesn’t it, this heat. It’s unbearable. Pressing down, a weight upon the spirit. It has to break –
Her phone rings again
(Answering it) Yes? Yes! Yes! I know. I’m trying. I swear. But you must give me time … please. It isn’t easy. I will. I promise I will. I’ll ring you when… when I’ve – yes, I do. I do. You know I do.
She finishes the call. She stands in thought.
I never thought, although I dreamed and hungered for a loving friend. Alone at my window, I felt cold winter descend.
Could joy come? Must pain come?
Trapped by fate and sense of duty All my chances slipped away.
The sands of Time ran quicker, every day.
I was afraid, afraid of life,
I felt Love’s power, craved its fire.
Would I be ever alone? Must I be ever alone?
She sits in a chair. A lighting change, focus on the chair. Warm sunshine. Projected: A picture postcard of a foreign landscape – Italy – somewhere warm. The music reflects this. She is sitting outside a café. She responds to an (unseen) waiter.
Un vetro di vino bianco per favore. Sì, sì, asciutto. Grazie. (She closes her eyes. She hums along softly to the music, enjoying the warmth. Then someone obviously approaches her table) Oh, please. Yes, do. No, no, I am quite alone. Please sit. Please. (She hums again until the song starts)
I have waited long for my heart to be awakened.
For your hand to reach out for mine, to enfold me in your Loving embrace, to feel the sun upon our faces,
As eyes mingle in a moment lasting years.
I have waited long for my heart to be awakened
Love is in your smile, is in your eyes, is my salvation.
Lighting change to normal. The projection fades
D comes back to the present. M is reaching out for her but D backs away
D You see? You understand what I’m saying?
M Yes. Her favourites. Wine gums. And mine. No … (A sudden fear) Don’t leave me –
D I have a right! A right! After all these long years of duty and loneliness. All the years you tolerated, ignored me. I have a right! I have a right! Because she was always the one, wasn’t she? From the moment she was born …
M shakes her head but D picks up an old photograph in a frame and thrusts it at her mother. The picture is projected – a pretty girl in a yellow dress
D Some people are blessed with love, blessed all their lives. They are at ease with the world, cosseted, adored. No sharp corners will bruise them. The air is warm upon their tender flesh and their lives are bounded by security and love. How is that? Look at her! Look at her!
D forces M to look at the photo. M tries to avert her eyes
M So pretty. Sugar and spice … sweet …
D She had it. She always had it. Worship was her due. Who would not love her, golden picture- book child, the stuff of dreams?
M begins to weep
D But not me, you didn’t love me. You didn’t love me at all.
M No,I–
D I knew from the start – sensed it like a sudden draught on a summer’s day. Unattended plants, they wither and die. Must pain come? Perhaps I was just in the wrong part of the garden, starved of the sun. But now I’ve just found my sun.
M grabs at her hand. The projection fades
M Please … please … don’t – look, you can have one – (She scrabbles round for something to offer D. Finds a packet) Here –
D Oh, mother … if you knew … the nights I lay and longed for you to come and kiss me in my lonely room. You never came. And all I heard was the soft sob of grief, night after night. You had one daughter left but she was not enough. That day, that dreadful day, has haunted me for years. The dress she wore, it dances in my dreams –
M A dress …
D Yes! A yellow dress –
M The beach. The water’s edge … D You remember!
M And you – D Yes.
D moves away. M unsteadily goes to her. She is importunate
M A girl … a little girl –
D Oh, my beloved sister …
M At the edge, the water’s edge … she is playing – a lolly in her hand –
D I was reading –
M Look! How warm the sun is on her yellow dress –
D I was reading –
M The sea calm as a…still as a…it laps the shore–then…
D What?
M The sun, the sea –
D What are you saying?
M A summer’s day –
D Stop this. Stop this! And where were you? Away, away with your lover- M (Frightened) No –
D Yes, your lover! Can you even remember his name now? Can you? Running hand in hand across the sands. Careless. Carefree. Leaving me to mind her. Did you think of her then? Did you think of her then? Did you?
M … she was with you, the little girl … safe –
D What do you know? You were not there. There was no-one there. Two children left alone upon a beach. The open sky, gulls wheeling and the calling sea. The sea beckoning, sparkling, shining. Who could resist? A sea that teased and tempted, deeper, deeper in. ‘Watch me!’ she cried. ‘Watch me!’
Projected, a girl in a yellow dress, paddling in the sea. The lighting focuses on D. Now, she is on the beach, watching, hand shading her eyes from the sun
D Be careful! Do you hear? The water’s deeper there. The current … Listen to me, you little devil! Wait ‘til I tell Mother … Come back! Come back!
The lighting returns to the present
M You were there! You were there!
D I told you! How many times! I was reading, mother. Reading! And I didn’t know, how could I know, the tug and pull of tides that day? The darkening sky, the sudden squall, I looked up, saw the empty beach, the endless sky and just an echo of a cry. I called, I called and called for you – Mother! Mother, please!
M No, no …
D And she was gone. That laughing child, my sister, in the yellow dress –
The image disappears. The door to the flat is pushed open. Silhouetted in the doorway is a girl (20s) in a yellow dress, startling them both. M gives a terrified cry. She collapses. D catches her as the girl rushes forward to help
D For a moment, I thought …
G What? What?
D Nothing … But why have you come? You shouldn’t have. G I came for you.
D For me?
G Of course. Why else?
They manoeuvre M into the chair where she falls back, eyes closed D Oh God. You shouldn’t be here.
G I couldn’t bear it. I had to come.
D I told you…
G Yes, you told me. But I knew that once you saw her, all your brave words would count for nothing. That old tyrant, duty, would win. And I couldn’t let that happen, my darling. My love.
She puts out a hand. D grasps it and holds it to her cheek.
D I was afraid –
G And so was I. That you would stay with her, abandon me. Abandon me for duty, forget all that we shared and will again.
D But she is–
G Old, yes. And I am young and cruel, I know. The young are cruel; we have to be.
D That dress …
G Oh yes! Do you like it? Do you like it? Do you?
D It was the dress that made her fall. My sister had a dress like that.
G You told me. That night on the balcony. Remember? The waters deep and still beneath us. You told me then.
D It makes you look so young!
G You told me then.
Young I am in the measure of my years Yet I am bolder, older, in command; Bold in love, old in love, I have no fears (bold type indicates parts singing together)
D You have no fears
You do not understand!
G My love, be brave
D I cannot!
G Yes! You must, you must be brave.
You do not see! You do not understand!
What don’t I see? What don’t I understand?
D That guilt has made you sacrifice your life!
And still you hope she’ll take you by the hand! And still I hope she’ll take me by the hand!
G Those lying, dying eyes
Will not meet yours, My foolish darling, you must wait no more!
G So come with me, my heart and soul are yours; Together we will climb towards the sun.
Your hand in mine, discov’ring distant shores, Locked in love, made as one The past but dust. The future calls, my love. For you. For us.
So come with me, my heart and soul are yours
My heart and soul are yours
G Together we will climb towards the sun D Together we will climb towards the sun
Your hand in mine, and on those golden shores D Your hand in mine
G Locked in love, made as one
Let the past die The future calls, my dearest one, my life.
The girl takes D’s face in her hands
M stirs. She opens her eyes, sees the girl. She smiles
M You came back! My darling –
D No, mother! She’s not –
G Wait!
D She thinks you are –
G I know. So let her think it.
D That would be cruel.
G No. Why would it be cruel? To offer comfort to a poor old woman. Surely, that is kind. She bends and kisses M
M My lovely girl … so sweet, so sweet …
M fingers the girl’s dress
G But you must tell her.
D Soon.
G Today. You must. You promised.
D Look at her. How can I?
G Look at me. How can you not?
M (to the girl) I’ve waited, missed you, all these years –
Girl You see? It isn’t you she wants! She’s never wanted you. She never will. But I do.
M has by now retrieved the photo. She cradles it to her bosom, then shyly offers it to the girl
M See how you’ve grown, my little girl. That day upon the sands –
The projected image of the laughing girl and her mother returns
D It never was! Y ou never saw!
M Tell me how it was.
Girl (to M) Would you like to know? To see? Would you?
D No!
Ignoring D, the girl gets M to her feet
G I’ll take you there. We both will. We’ll walk along the beach, me in my yellow dress, and smell the salty air. It will be as it was. The sea, the sand, the sky, and us. Come.
M Will there be –
G Of course there will! As many as you like.
She starts to lead M towards the door. On the threshold they pause and turn back to D. The lights fade until all we can see are the two figures in the doorway and the yellow of the dress
G A little walk along the shore. (She holds out her hand) Won’t you come?
BLACKOUT