WAITING
Characters:
Alan impatient, intolerant of inconvenience, keen on his rights.
Betty disagreeable semi-invalid.
Charlie businesslike ferryman.
Derek Tanya's affectionate husband.
Enid shrewish, still grieving for the death of her daughter.
Gareth disgruntled and petulant.
Helen helpfully sympathetic, a born organiser.
Ian quietly sensible.
Jenny exuberant daughter of Enid and Ron.
Ken calm and logical.
Louise Alan's wife, placid and sensible.
Mark Betty's long-suffering husband.
Nell Betty's carer.
Owen humorous and philosphical.
Pam Gareth's wife. Sensible, tries to temper her husband's aggressiveness.
Ron Enid's husband, with a less rosy view of their deceased daughter.
Sally a former nurse, helpful and conciliatory.
Tanya worried about an unspecified misdemeanour in the past.
Val teenager, anxious to get back for a task at home.
William coach driver, asleep and unnoticed for most of the action.
Scene
A nondescript river bank with a few logs that serve as rough seats. The river itself is out of sight, but there are references to a boat-landing jetty off-stage right, and to a forest as the "fourth wall."
Time
Resembling the present.
Stage 12 Page 21