(Short pause.)
FORREST: I’m away from all these troubles here.
(Macready nods and leaves with Ryder. Pause. Forrest starts to go, stops and comes back. He looks around the theatre. With sword in hand, he stands, not knowing where else on earth he wants to go.)
END OF PLAY
NEW ENGLAND
For Patricia Macnaughton and Peter Franklin
PRODUCTION HISTORY
New England was commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company and was first performed by them on November 23, 1994, at the Pit in the Barbican, London. It was directed by Peter Gill; the design was by Hayden Griffen, the music was directed by Terry Davis; it was produced by Lynda Farran, the stage manager was Jane Pole, the deputy stage manager was Caroline Beale and the assistant stage manager was Lynda Snowden. The cast was as follows:
ALFRED/HARRY BAKER
David Burke
GEMMA BAKER
Diana Hardcastle
ELIZABETH BAKER
Selina Cadell
PAUL BAKER
Duncan Bell
SOPHIE BAKER
Annie Corbier
ALICE BERRY
Angela Thorne
TOM BERRY
Mick Ford
New England was subsequently produced by The Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Director) in New York City, on October 17, 1995. It was directed by Howard Davies; the set design was by Santo Loquasto, the costume design was by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, the lighting design was by Richard Nelson, the sound design was by Mark Bennett and the stage manager was Franklin Keysar. The cast was as follows:
ALFRED/HARRY BAKER
Larry Bryggman
GEMMA BAKER
Allison Janney
ELIZABETH BAKER
Mia Dillon
PAUL BAKER
T. Scott Cunningham
SOPHIE BAKER
Margaret Whitton
ALICE BERRY
Penny Fuller
TOM BERRY
Tom Irwin
CHARACTERS
HARRY BAKER, professor of music at Dutchess Community College, New York State, sixties
ALFRED BAKER, Harry’s brother, sixties
GEMMA BAKER, Harry’s oldest child, thirty-nine
ELIZABETH BAKER, Harry’s other daughter, thirty-seven
PAUL BAKER, Harry’s son, thirty-two
SOPHIE, Paul’s wife, forty-one
ALICE BERRY, Harry’s girlfriend, fifty-four
TOM BERRY, Alice’s ex-brother-in-law, forty
All the characters are English except for Sophie, who was born in France.
SETTING
The present, a farmhouse in Western Connecticut, just across the border from New York State.
SCENE 1
A small room on the ground floor, which serves as a study. Late afternoon; a Friday.
Harry Baker, sixties, sits at a desk. On the desk is a CD player and a row of CDs—all classical; Harry is a professor of music at the local community college. He reads or looks through a book as he listens to music—Debussy’s The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (played on the violin) begins with the scene.
After a moment, Alice Berry, fifty-four, enters from the hall; she is Harry’s girlfriend and she shares the house with him. She stops, looks at Harry for a moment; he is absorbed in thought or in the book or the music, and does not at first see her.
Harry suddenly lets out a large sigh.
ALICE: Harry?
(Harry turns, startled.)
How’s the—headache? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—you had a headache. You took some asprin?
(It has taken him this long to realize who has startled him. Finally, he nods and turns back to his book. The Debussy continues.)
Tom’s here.
(No response.)
I just picked him up. His bus was even on time, if you can believe that. A miracle! (Tries to smile) He’s very excited. A weekend out of New York . . .
HARRY (Without picking his head up from his book): Who’s Tom?
ALICE: Harry, I told you about— You said it was— We talked about!!—
HARRY (Over this): It’s fine, Alice, I just forget who Tom is!
(Short pause.)
ALICE: He’s my—Bill’s brother. He was my brother-in-law. So he’s my ex—
HARRY (Over the last part of this, turning to Alice): He was good to you, wasn’t he? During your divorce. He was very helpful to you.
ALICE: He was, Harry. If you didn’t want—
HARRY: I think that is wonderful! That Tom’s here. Someone you like. Someone who has been—helpful.
ALICE: I hadn’t seen him for—
HARRY (Over this): Someone like that doesn’t change. Someone— helpful. Good.
(He turns back to his desk. She looks at him, confused. He pushes a button on the CD and the Debussy begins again. Alice turns to leave and there in the door, having just arrived, is Tom Berry, forty. Alice is startled.)
TOM (Smiling): Sorry. I couldn’t find the— In the bathroom— which towels should I . . .?
ALICE: Tom—this is Harry.
(Tom goes to Harry with his hand out to shake.)
TOM: How do you do? I can’t thank you enough for— Sometimes the city— It gets so depressing. Most times! (Laughs)
HARRY (At the same time, shaking hands): Welcome, to our humble— Alice has told me all about you— She’s been looking forward to—
ALICE (Over this): Tom said the bus ride up—
TOM: It was beautiful!
HARRY: It’s supposed to be a nice weekend. Weather-wise.
ALICE: I heard it might rain, but—
TOM: Whatever. It’s—great to be in the country.
(He smiles. No one knows what to say.)
ALICE (Finally): I’ll show you where we keep the towels, so if you need . . .
TOM (To Harry): Thank you for inviting me. I’ll see you later.
(Alice and Tom leave. Pause.
Harry pushes the button on the CD player and the Debussy begins again.
He opens the drawer of the desk and takes out a revolver. Without hesitation he cocks it, sets it on the desk, takes off his glasses. He notices that they are dirty, and with a handkerchief begins to clean them, then realizes what he is doing, laughs to himself and stops. He puts down the glasses, picks up the gun and puts the barrel to his head.)
ALICE (Entering from the hallway): Tom’s so happy to be— (Sees what Harry is doing. Screams) Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
(He pulls the trigger, gunshot. He is dead.)
SCENE 2
Much later that evening.
Part of the kitchen of the house. There is large rustic wooden table, which has been used both for eating and as a sort of desk. Piles of papers, bills, catalogs, etc.; a phone, whose cord extends to the wall, making a kind of obstacle for anyone going around the table. There is a transistor radio on the table.
The Debussy continues from the last scene, though over the theatre’s speakers now.
Tom enters from the pantry; he carries a bowl, a spoon, a box of cereal. He does not hear the music. He sets his things down on the table and goes off again. From off, we hear the opening and closing of a refrigerator. Tom returns with a carton of milk. He sits, pours the cereal, the milk; he reaches across the table for the sugar. He spoons on the sugar and begins to eat. He stops and turns on the transistor radio. The Debussy is gone and from the radio we first hear a pop tune with a lot of static. Tom fiddles with the knob, tries another station, then another. He hits upon a religious program. He listens for a moment to the minister on the program as he eats.
The phone rings. Tom doesn’t know what to do. He looks in the direction of the door. It rings again. And again. He puts down his spoon, begins to reach for the phone, when the ring stops—someone has picked up the phone on another extension.
Tom changes the channel again, then again, then again—everything is junk: pop tunes, commercials. After
about the twelfth station, he turns off the radio.
In silence he eats.
Alice enters from the living room. She has a drink in her hand. At first she says nothing; Tom just eats. Then finally:
ALICE: That was Elizabeth on the phone. She’ll be here in a minute. She’s just down the road at the gas station. She couldn’t remember the turnoff.
TOM (Eating): Which one is—?
ALICE: She’s the middle child. She lives in the city, too. (Smiles) She’s in publishing.
TOM: In the same—?
ALICE: She’s with a different house. (Notices that he is eating)
TOM: I found some cereal, I hope that wasn’t—
ALICE: You haven’t eaten anything, have you?
TOM: I didn’t expect—
ALICE: You come out for the weekend and—and you don’t even get fed! What could I have been thinking—
TOM: Alice, I’m—
ALICE (Looking for food): I’m not normally like—
TOM: I am fine, Alice! Please.
(Beat. She stops looking around.)
I don’t expect anything. Not now.
(Pause. Tom eats. Alice sips her drink.)
ALICE: You want a drink? I . . .
TOM: If I do, I’ll find it.
(Neither knows what to say. Alice sighs.)
ALICE: I’ve been in his study—cleaning up.
TOM: I thought that’s what that woman—
ALICE (Over this): She missed some places. Look at this. (Holds out the small photo album she’s been carrying) They’re already in the album. I didn’t even know he’d got the photos back yet. And they’re already in his . . .
TOM: And that is unlike him?
ALICE: Very. (Looks at the photos) From Bermuda. We were there in— Last month.
(Pause. They look at the photos, saying nothing.)
(Hearing something) Was that a car? (Listens) No.
TOM: It looks like you had a really nice time.
ALICE (Not hearing him): He’s got papers . . . It’ll take weeks to go through everything. I thought the priority seemed to be the cleaning. I didn’t think his family should see— (To herself, running through a list) I called the school. I did that.
TOM: What school?
ALICE: Harry teaches at Dutchess— I didn’t tell you this?
TOM: Maybe you did.
ALICE (Over this): How could I not tell you this?! What could I have been thinking?!
TOM: Alice!
ALICE: You’re staying, right?
TOM: If that’s what you want.
ALICE (Sighing): I can’t face his family.
TOM (Taking her hand): If I’m not in the way.
(He pats her hand. Alice, not listening to Tom, turns again toward the door, as if hearing something.)
ALICE: She doesn’t like me. We’ve only met five, six times— Harry kept us apart. I asked him to. She’s also in publishing.
TOM: So you said.
ALICE: So we know a lot of the same people. (Hearing Tom) Did I? (Beat) She’s going to walk into here and start telling us all what to do. In my own home. There’s her car.
(Sound of car in the driveway.)
I think I’ve done everything. I like that man at the funeral home. I thought funeral home people were supposed to be— I don’t know.
TOM: I guess not all of them are. There are exceptions.
ALICE (Smiling): And he is one.
TOM: I guess so.
ALICE: So—we’re lucky. (Sighs) I feel like I haven’t stopped.
TOM: You haven’t.
(Elizabeth Baker, one of Harry’s three children, enters. She is thirty-seven.)
ELIZABETH: Alice!
ALICE: Elizabeth!
(They hug.)
ELIZABETH: I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to say.
(Alice begins to cry. Elizabeth hugs her. Tom tries to be inconspicuous.)
ALICE (Crying): So—you couldn’t remember the turnoff.
ELIZABETH: I knew it was— I should have just followed my instinct. Anyway.
(Alice gets ahold of herself and they part. Elizabeth looks at Tom; Alice sees this.)
ALICE: This is Tom. Berry. He was my ex-husband’s brother.
TOM: I still am. (Tries to laugh)
ALICE: Right. That’s true.
TOM: I always liked Alice. And when she left my brother I liked her even more. (Smiles at his joke; no one else does. To Elizabeth) How do you do?
ALICE (To Elizabeth): Do you want something to eat? To drink?
ELIZABETH (Shaking her head): There was no traffic.
ALICE: It’s late.
ELIZABETH: That’s why then. (Looks at Tom again)
TOM: I came up on the bus. This afternoon. I also live in the city.
ELIZABETH (To Alice): This afternoon? I thought, it only happened—
ALICE: It did. I called you right away, Liz. Tom—happened to be here for the weekend.
(Beat.)
TOM: I needed to get out of the city and Alice was nice enough to . . .
(Pause.)
ELIZABETH: Do you have a Coke or something?
ALICE: I have some seltzer.
ELIZABETH: Seltzer’s fine.
(Alice hurries off into the pantry. Tom and Elizabeth are left alone. Short pause.)
TOM: I’m sorry about your—
ELIZABETH (Interrupting): I have a bag in the car. Excuse me.
TOM: Let me—
ELIZABETH: It’s not heavy, please. (Goes out)
(Alone, Tom doesn’t know what to do, he sits again, begins to take another bite of cereal, notices the photo album open on the table and begins to look at the open page.)
ALICE (Entering with the seltzer and a glass): Where’s—?
TOM: She’s getting her bag.
(Alice sees that Tom has been looking at the album and she goes and looks over his shoulder.)
ALICE (Pointing to a photo): Harry bought that bathing suit for me in Hamilton. That was so unlike him. He was scared to buy me anything. Afraid, he said, I’d just take it back. (Smiles) It took me about two days to get the nerve to wear it in public. Finally—I did. (Short pause) After your brother—
(Tom looks at her.)
I’d convinced myself I’d never meet another man. You see other women, my age and— You see yourself in their shoes. I expected nothing. Then I met Harry.
(Elizabeth enters with her bag. Pause. For a moment no one knows what to say. Finally:)
Here’s your seltzer.
(Elizabeth finally takes it and drinks it.)
ELIZABETH (As she drinks): I had lunch with Dick Riley last week. Your name came up, Alice. He said you were the best managing editor they’d ever had. (Finishes drinking) What a shame it was when you left. (Beat) So—know that even after a couple of years, you’re still missed.
ALICE (To Tom): I was cheap. I didn’t know any better. That’s all he means. (Turns to Elizabeth) The man at the funeral home—he’s not bad. He’s not what you’d expect.
ELIZABETH: Good.
(Beat.)
ALICE: Gemma and Alfred have made it as far as Denver. They have to wait till morning for the next flight. They called.
ELIZABETH: Good. (Beat) I mean good that they called, not that they have to wait—
ALICE: I understood. And Paul and Sophie—they’ll get a flight in the morning as well. (Turns to Tom) From L.A.
TOM (To Elizabeth): I was amazed when she told me everyone lives in the States.
ELIZABETH: Why?
TOM: That’s rare, isn’t it?
ELIZABETH (To Alice): He wouldn’t say that if he worked in publishing—
ALICE (Over this): You wouldn’t.
ELIZABETH (To Alice): Have you worked out where everyone will sleep? It isn’t a very big house.
TOM: I can move—
ALICE (To Tom): There’s the pullout couch—
TOM: The floor is fine—
ALICE: I meant for Paul and Sophie—
ELIZABETH (Picking up her suitcase): Let’s figure it all out.
ALICE: I think I have. Harry’s brother can have my room. It’ll work out. I’m going to the grocery store in the morning—
ELIZABETH: You’re not going to cook! There are too many people! I won’t let you, Alice. Gemma and I can share a bed. We shared a room as kids.
ALICE: That’s what I thought.
ELIZABETH: What about Chinese?
ALICE: There’s a terrific Chinese— Just in our village. Harry loves their dumplings. (Stops and corrects herself) He loved them. (Short pause. Tries not to cry; turns to Elizabeth) He did it in front of me. I think that’s what I can’t forgive him for. (Beat) But I don’t think he meant to hurt me.
ELIZABETH: No—
ALICE: Because, he loved me. (Takes Elizabeth’s hand) Your father was a very—tired man.
ELIZABETH: I know. And he’d been tired for years—long before he met you, Alice.
ALICE (Looking up at her): Thank you.
(Beat.)
ELIZABETH: This isn’t a surprise. (Then to change the subject) So—it’s Chinese! (Turns to Tom) Do you like Chinese?
TOM: Anything is fine with—
ELIZABETH (Not listening to him, turning to Alice): I knew I’d have at least one good idea. I think Father once even mentioned the restaurant—
ALICE: Usually the Chinese food you get up here in the sticks, but this place—
ELIZABETH: I know what you mean. But I’ll bet this place is great. Father always had good taste.
(Alice takes Elizabeth’s hand.)
ALICE: Thank you.
ELIZABETH (Realizing that Alice has taken this as a compliment): I didn’t mean . . . But—of course that too. With you too. That’s obvious. Father had impeccable taste.
ALICE: He was a refined and cultured man.
ELIZABETH: I always thought so. Come on. (Helps Alice up) Let’s you and I figure out where to put everyone.
(They go. Pause. Tom is alone. He takes another spoonful of cereal and—)
SCENE 3
The kitchen, early evening of the next day.
Goodnight Children Everywhere and Other Plays Page 19