Brian Friel Plays 2

by Brian Friel

  All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small –’

  Now Angela sings to the music:

  Angela (sings)

  ‘All things wise and wonderful,

  the Good Lord made them all.’

  You are ‘wise and wonderful’, George: you’re the only one of us that slept all night.

  George Did I?

  Angela For an hour. And you snore.

  George Sorry. (He beckons her to him.) If I ever decide to go, I want your children to have this (accordion).

  Angela You are going –

  George One of them might take it up.

  Angela George, that’s –

  George Bit battered but it’s working all right.

  Angela That’s a lovely thought. (She kisses him.) Thank you.

  George If I ever decide to go.

  Terry Where did Frank say he was going?

  Angela To take photographs, he said. Probably to beat the head off poor old Carlin.

  Pause.

  Terry Listen to those birds.

  Angela Larks, are they?

  Terry ‘And they heard the song of coloured birds.’ You wouldn’t believe me.

  Angela They’re larks, Terry. Ordinary larks.

  George begins to play ‘Skylark’ very softly.

  Exactly, George.

  Terry Has it a name, that game?

  Angela It’s called: how close can you get without touching it? Anybody got the time?

  Terry Just after seven.

  Berna (looking at her watch) Stopped. Salt water finished it.

  Angela When does the minibus come for us?

  Terry Half an hour or so.

  Berna takes off her watch, shakes it and holds it to her ear.

  Berna That’s that.

  She casually tosses it into the sea. Only Trish sees this.

  Terry There must be hundreds of them (birds). And they are coloured.

  Trish (quietly) You put the heart across us, Berna, jumping into the sea like that.

  Berna Are you nearly finished? (Hair-dressing.)

  Trish You shouldn’t have done that.

  Berna I wanted a swim.

  Trish It was a naughty thing to do. It was a cruel thing to do.

  Berna I told you – I wanted a swim.

  Trish Particularly cruel to Terry.

  Berna Oh, poor Terry. (She stands up abruptly.) That’s fine, Trish. Thank you. (to Angela) May I play?

  Angela Of course.

  Terry Well, would you look at that! Carlin has lit his fire again! (He laughs.) What a strange man.

  Angela (to Berna) There are stones over there.

  Terry Maybe he’ll come for us after he’s had his breakfast. What do you think?

  Trish (wearily) Terry.

  Angela (to Trish) Going to play?

  Trish Yes.

  Terry We still have time for a quick dart out and straight back. We’d do it in less than an hour.

  Trish D’you know what I would love? A cup of strong tea!

  Terry There’s still a chance. Why not? I’m offering five to one against. Three to one. Any takers?

  George has come to the last line of ‘Skylark’. Trish sings the line.

  Trish Now. Tell me what to do.

  The music stops.

  Angela The aim is to get as close as possible to that bottle. But every time you touch it you lose a point.

  Trish You lose a point? What sort of a makey-up game is that!

  Terry Looks wonderful in this light (the island). I’m not giving up. Two to one against. Even money.

  Trish We should all be exhausted, shouldn’t we? But I feel … exhilarated. Play something exhilarating, George.

  He plays ‘Regina Caeli’ right through.

  (immediately he begins) That’s not exhilarating, is it?

  Angela (to Trish) Your throw.

  Berna Is there a chill in the air?

  Trish (preparing to throw) Right.

  Berna reaches out to take her scarf from the lifebelt stand.

  Angela (quickly) No; take mine. It’s warmer. Like a hall stand, isn’t it? Good one, Trish. You have the hang of it.

  Berna drapes Angela’s scarf around her shoulders. Frank enters.

  Frank Well–well–well! What Eden is this? And what happy people have we here, besporting themselves in the sunlight?

  Terry (coming down) We thought we had lost you.

  Frank For you, George. Found it in the sand dunes back there.

  The music stops.

  George Yes?

  Frank Interesting, isn’t it? Polished flint-stone. The head of an axe, I think.

  George Thank you.

  Frank That’s the hole for the handle. Beautifully shaped, isn’t it?

  George Lovely.

  Terry Where did you find it?

  Frank Just behind the pier. Probably buried in the sand at one time. Then the sand shifted.

  Terry May I see it?

  George Thank you, Frank.

  Frank Some weapon. That’s a lethal edge there.

  Terry And the weight of it.

  Frank We’ll make a handle for it; and on your next tour, if audiences aren’t appreciative enough – (He mimes striking with the axe.)

  Terry That is sharp.

  Frank Meant for business, that weapon.

  Terry Did you get some good pictures?

  Frank Don’t talk to me about pictures! Tell you all in a moment.

  He goes to Berna and presents her with a bunch of wild flowers.

  For you, my lady. (He kisses her.)

  Berna Oh, Frank.

  Angela Aren’t they pretty? Look at that blue.

  Trish You got them around here?

  Frank Just over the sand dunes.

  Trish (to George) He’s a real gentleman.

  Frank (to Berna) And d’you know what? – I could eat you in that dress.

  Berna They’re beautiful, Frank. Thank you.

  Frank Welcome.

  Angela Now – Berna (the game).

  Trish You want to know how it’s really done, girls? Just watch this.

  They continue playing.

  Terry Lovely flowers. Thank you.

  Frank The place is full of them.

  Terry We thought maybe you’d gone to chastise Mr Carlin.

  Frank Just before daybreak there was a white mist suspended above the island; like a white silk canopy. And as the sun got up you could see the mist dissolve and vanish. So of course I thought: Oileán Draíochta emerging from behind its veil – capture this for posterity!

  Terry Did you get it?

  Frank Two bloody spools of it. Wasted all my film.

  Angela (to Trish) Not bad. Not bad.

  Trish Not bad? Wonderful!

  Berna Very close, Trish. Good one.

  Trish I think this could well be my game. Want to play, Frank?

  Frank (to all) Listen to this. You won’t believe what I saw out there, Trish.

  Trish What?

  Brief pause.

  Berna What did you see, Frank?

  Frank looks at them. He is not sure if he will tell his story.

  Frank Just as the last wisp of the veil was melting away, suddenly – as if it had been waiting for a sign – suddenly a dolphin rose up out of the sea. And for thirty seconds, maybe a minute, it danced for me. Like a faun, a satyr; with its manic, leering face. Danced with a deliberate, controlled, exquisite abandon. Leaping, twisting, tumbling, gyrating in wild and intricate contortions. And for that thirty seconds, maybe a minute, I could swear it never once touched the water – was free of it – had nothing to do with water. A performance – that’s what it was. A performance so considered, so aware, that you knew it knew it was being witnessed; wanted to be witnessed. Thrilling; and wonderful; and at the same time – I don’t know why – at the same time … with that manic, leering face … somehow very disturbing.

  Berna Did you get pictures of it?

  Frank Nothing. You’d al
most think it waited until my last shot was used up before it appeared. Thirty seconds, maybe a minute … Unbelievable. (embarrassed laugh) Another apparition, Terry.

  Terry Maybe.

  Pause. Frank is now embarrassed at his own intensity and because the others are all staring at him. He laughs again.

  Frank So I saw a porpoise or a dolphin or something leap out of the water and dance about a bit. Wonderful!

  Trish I love dolphins. I think they are terrific. (briskly) Right. Who’s next?

  Angela, Trish and Berna play their game.

  Frank Left them speechless, didn’t it? – my Bally beg epiphany.

  Terry Sorry I missed that.

  Frank (to George) Upset me, that damn thing, for some reason.

  Berna nods and smiles.

  Terry Drink?

  Frank (gesturing no) Could have done with one back there. It really was a ceremonial dance, Terry – honest to God. And they look so damned knowing – don’t they? – with those almost human faces … I’m getting to like this (jacket).

  Terry Well, what are our chances?

  Frank Chances?

  Terry indicates Carlin’s house.

  Forget him. Next time we’ll bring our own boat.

  Terry Sorry. Not allowed.

  Frank Maybe you’re right. Maybe he still will come. Who’s to say?

  Terry moves to the end of the pier where he sits by himself.

  Angela That hit the bottle. Point lost, Trish.

  Trish Didn’t hit it, did it?

  Angela Sorry. Point down. Berna?

  Berna, her flowers still in her hand, picks up a stone close to Frank. At the same time she puts one of her flowers in her hair and blows a kiss to him. As she does this George plays ‘Bring Flowers of the Rarest’:

  ‘Bring flowers of the rarest, bring blossoms the fairest

  From garden and woodland and hillside and dale

  Our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling

  The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.’

  Trish (immediately after George plays the first line and as he continues playing) I know that song, don’t I?

  Frank So do I.

  Berna It’s a hymn – is it?

  George Guess.

  Frank It is a hymn – isn’t it?

  Berna Play the chorus, George.

  Trish I do know it, whatever it is.

  Frank I do, too.

  George now begins the chorus: ‘O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today –’

  Trish Yes! (sings) ‘– Queen of the angels and queen of the May –’

  Frank Haven’t heard that since I was a child.

  Trish and Berna (sing)

  ‘O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,

  Queen of the angels and queen of the May.’

  (to George) Thank you.

  Frank Not since I was a child.

  Brief pause. And immediately Angela plunges into ‘O Dem Golden Slippers’. And as she sings, George accompanies her. She picks up Frank’s shoes, and singing loudly, raucously, defiantly, and waving the shoes above her head she parades/dances around the pier. She sings the entire chorus. She stops suddenly. The performance is over. Pause. Now she sings very softly the first two lines of the chorus of ‘I Don’t Know Why I’m Happy’. She tails off listlessly. She looks at the shoes and tosses them over to where Frank is sitting. She looks at them all.

  Angela What a goddamn, useless, endless, unhappy outing this has been! (Pause.) I’m sorry, Terry …

  Pause.

  Frank (to Terry) May I (drink)? (He pours a drink and scoops up water.) Should do a rain dance. Well’s almost dry.

  Terry now rises and joins them.

  Terry I just remembered – I do have a story.

  Trish Too late, Terry. Story time’s over.

  Frank No, it’s not. It’s always story time. Right, Berna?

  Berna Is it?

  Frank Certainly is.

  Trish All right. But make it short, Terry. Short and funny. I need a laugh.

  Frank Terence …?

  Terry Yes. Well. The solicitor who is handling the sale of Oileán Draíochta – he told me this story. We were having lunch together. No; we had finished eating. He was having coffee and I was having tea and we both –

  Trish The story, Terry.

  Terry (almost reluctantly) Yes – yes – the story. Well, the story he told me was this. Many years ago a young man was killed out there.

  Berna Killed how?

  Terry I suppose … murdered.

  Frank God.

  Terry His name was Sean O’Boyle. He was seventeen years of age. If you were to believe my solicitor friend he was … ritually killed.

  Trish What do you mean?

  Terry A group of young people – he was one of them – seven young men and seven young women. It wasn’t a disagreement, a fight; nothing like that. They were all close friends.

  Angela And what happened?

  Terry The evidence suggests some sort of ritual, during which young O’Boyle was … (He shrugs.)

  Trish Oh, my God.

  Berna What evidence?

  Terry Burned-out fires – empty wine bottles – clothes left behind – blood smeared on rocks. It’s thought there was some sort of orgy. Anyhow, at some point they dismembered him. That’s accurate enough – from the pieces they found.

  Frank Jesus Christ, Terry … oh, Jesus Christ …

  Angela When did this happen?

  Terry 1932. On the night of June 26.

  Angela These young people – they were from here?

  Terry Part of a group from this parish who had just returned from Dublin from the Eucharistic Congress. The older people went straight to their homes. The young group – our fourteen – apparently they had been drinking all the way home from Dublin – they stole a half-decker – from this pier actually – and headed out for Oileán Draíochta. Some people say they had poitín stashed out there and that one of the girls was a great fiddler and that they just went out to have a dance. My friend has his own theory. These people were peasants, from a very remote part of the country. And he believes they were still in a state of intoxication after the Congress – it was the most spectacular, the most incredible thing they had ever witnessed. And that ferment and the wine and the music and the dancing …

  Trish I don’t know what you’re saying, Terry.

  Terry That young O’Boyle was … sacrificed.

  Frank Jesus Christ.

  Berna The other thirteen – they were charged?

  Terry No charges were ever brought.

  Trish Why not?

  Angela The police weren’t brought in?

  Terry Oh, yes. But by then the situation was away beyond their control. The parish was in uproar. Passions were at boiling point. Families were physically attacking one another. The police were helpless. The only person who could control the situation was the bishop of the time. He had led the group that had just made the pilgrimage to the Eucharistic Congress. And every year on August 15 he organized a pilgrimage out to the island.

  Trish So?

  Terry So the thirteen were summoned to the bishop’s palace. All that is known is that they made a solemn pledge never to divulge what happened that night on the island; that they had to leave the country immediately and for ever, and that before the end of the week they had all left for Australia.

  Trish Oh, my God.

  Berna So nobody was ever charged?

  Terry Nobody. O’Boyle was an only child. Both his parents were dead within the year.

  Angela Oileán Draíochta – wonderful.

  Terry Then the war came. Times were bad. People moved away. Within ten years the area was depopulated – that’s your derelict church back there, Frank. The local belief was that the whole affair brought a curse on the parish and that nothing would ever prosper here again.

  Frank Jesus Christ, what a story! Jesus Christ, we don’t know half of what goes on in the world!

>   Terry (to Trish) I’m sure that’s the real reason why the pilgrimage out there really petered out. Couldn’t have survived that.

  Trish Damn you, Terry Martin, how could you have brought us out to a place like that?

  Terry Trish, it is just an –

  Trish And how could you have bought an evil place like that?

  Terry The place is not evil, Trish.

  Trish I hate that story. That’s a hateful story. You shouldn’t have told us that story. (She moves quickly away and busies herself with her belongings.)

  Silence.

  Berna (to Frank) These grew (her flowers).

  Frank What’s that?

  Berna He said nothing ever grew again. These did.

  Frank True … that’s true … Going to be another warm day.

  Terry Think so?

  Frank Yes. Very warm. Wonderful.

  They all drift apart.

  Trish Shouldn’t we tidy the place up a bit? Carlin could arrive any time.

  Berna You mean Charlie, don’t you?

  Trish Do I? Whatever.

  They begin tidying up, each attending to his/her own belongings. First they put on their shoes. Then Terry puts bottles, flasks, etc. back into the hampers. Trish folds up sleeping-bags and packs her other belongings. Berna folds her now dry clothes and puts them away. Frank looks after his cameras, binoculars, etc. Angela makes a pile of the paper napkins, plastic cups, etc., scattered around the pier. George watches the others at their tasks. While all this tidying up is taking place, the following episodes happen:

  Berna takes her scarf off the lifebelt stand and puts it round her neck. Then she sees Angela’s hat.

  Berna Isn’t this your hat, Angela?

  Angela Thanks.

  Berna Do you want it?

  Angela My good hat for God’s sake! Why wouldn’t I want it? Thank you. The only sun hat I have.

  Berna hands the hat to Angela. A moment’s hesitation. Then she removes the scarf from her neck and knots it on one of the arms of the stand. Frank witnesses this episode.

  Trish (to George) I’ll take that (accordion).

  George Why?

  Trish What d’you mean ‘why’? I’ll put it in the case for you.

  George Why?

  Trish Because we’re about to – Fine – fine! Suit yourself!

  George Yes.

  Trish moves away from him. Frank goes to the stand, takes off his belt and buckles it round the upright. Now he sees Terry watching him.