David Hare Plays 3

by David Hare

  Dominic Look, the point is, I really am trying. I really am trying my best. Do you think I’m not changed by what happened? Do you think it hasn’t changed me?

  Esme says nothing.

  You think I don’t have any conscience?

  Esme No.

  Dominic You think it doesn’t hurt me when the children tell me what they’ve seen of your life?

  Esme My life?

  Dominic Yes! They say you’ve completely retreated. Since Evelyn died, they say you see no one at all. You refuse to go out.

  Esme So?

  Dominic begins to get more forceful.

  Dominic All right, you think I’m indifferent, I’m callous, you think I don’t care, but somehow the thought of you suffering … The children say it’s like you’ve given up trying.

  Esme Oh really? They told you that? Is that how it seems?

  But Dominic persists, not willing to be put off so easily.

  Dominic They say you called off your marriage.

  Esme Yes.

  Dominic You were going to marry Frank?

  She throws a glance at him.

  Esme Since you ask. That was some time ago. A long time ago. But I did what Amy was always telling me.

  Dominic I see.

  Esme I decided to take my life in my hands.

  There’s a moment’s pause.

  There we are.

  Dominic But you’re alone now?

  Esme Do you think this is really your business?

  Dominic Well as a matter of fact, I’m afraid that I do. Why do you think I’ve come here to see you?

  Esme To be honest I have no idea.

  Dominic I came because everyone’s worried. I wanted to see you were coping.

  Esme Well now you’ve seen me, so that’s OK.

  She waits a moment, then goes on preparing.

  What, you’re concerned for my welfare? Why? You have what you wanted. You’ve got a great family. The children tell me you’ve got a great wife. Why should it matter what on earth I am feeling? Dominic, do I really matter at all?

  She gestures vaguely outside the room.

  Any more than that dog out there in the alley. The sound of that train going by. That’s all it is.

  Dominic That is just nonsense.

  Esme Oh, is it? The last thing that maybe might stop you sleeping. A source of minor discomfort in the otherwise perfect life you now live.

  She gets up and looks him straight in the eye. All her hostility towards him suddenly comes out.

  I did see the film. I’m appalled by the violence. I know in some way it’s important to people like you. All that shooting and bloodshed. But I don’t understand it.

  Dominic We don’t call it violence. We call it action.

  Esme Whatever. It isn’t how life is. Perhaps I’m just getting old.

  She looks at him, unrelenting.

  I’m tired of it, Dominic. This need you all have to get out the guns, and bam! and wham! and ‘Kill the little fucker’ and ‘Shoot off his stupid bloody head.’ What is it? What is this need you all have now? What happened? Are you just bored?

  Dominic just looks at her, not answering.

  Or is it that you just don’t dare to deal with real experience … with the things that really go on in real life? Like grief … and betrayal … and love and unhappiness … and loss … the loss of people we love …

  Her eyes now have filled up with tears. She is disturbingly out of control.

  Dominic Esme …

  Esme No …

  He has moved towards her in an instinctive gesture of sympathy, but she puts up her hands to prevent him.

  Loss. Yes, let that be your subject. Not childish games with explosions and guns … Which have nothing to do with anything … nothing to do with things that are real …

  She cannot look at him. She turns and goes into the bathroom.

  Dominic You know Amy’s view: you have to love people. You just have to love them. You have to give love without any conditions at all. Just give it. And one day you will be rewarded. One day you will get it back.

  Esme returns. She has put on a pair of ragged trousers and is buttoning a blouse. She is carrying a pair of shoes. She sits and starts to put them on.

  At the end, the fact is – I don’t expect you to like this – but Amy and I were getting on well. No, truly. We were. We came to some real understanding. Of course it’s not … it wasn’t like it was any longer a marriage. But we did manage some sort of real love.

  She is silent, tense now.

  After we’d split, admittedly. You may say it’s easier. But it lasted, I don’t know, three months. Or four. We were closer than at any time in our lives. So now … perhaps this is mad to you … but somehow the story just doesn’t seem finished. Do you understand me?

  Esme Of course.

  Dominic I feel that now I must try and help you.

  There is a silence.

  Esme You want Amy’s death to be of some use.

  Dominic Yes.

  He waits a moment.

  Because she just died – one day she walks down a street, for no purpose, for no reason at all – one day she’s there, then she’s not. I’ve felt since that day, I have to see Esme.

  Esme Why?

  Dominic I do have to talk to her.

  Esme So that I can tell you it wasn’t your fault?

  Dominic No!

  Esme Tell you you didn’t betray her? That none of it mattered? Is that what you want?

  Dominic No, of course I betrayed her.

  Esme Well then.

  Dominic I really don’t think that’s the point.

  Esme No?

  She waits for him to go on.

  Dominic I want you to say, all right, that was one chapter. And now that chapter is closed.

  She sits down, saying nothing.

  It’s just … it’s ever since the funeral … I’ve had this feeling, this instinct, it’s much more than grief. It’s to do with what Amy would have wanted.

  Esme looks down in as much pain as him.

  Amy would have wanted that we should be friends.

  She cannot answer him.

  Surely? I mean, with time that is possible. For Christ’s sake, you know what she felt. More than anything she wanted that you and I should somehow get on.

  Esme Oh I see …

  Dominic Yes …

  Esme You’re saying you left her, you’re saying you know you did let her down. But because Amy was good, because she was decent, somehow you shouldn’t suffer? I have to forgive you because she was so much nicer than you?

  He doesn’t respond.

  Some people rise. Well, don’t they? They rise at other people’s expense. For them to rise other people go down. We have to endure that. But please don’t expect us to like you as well.

  Dominic You don’t understand. I’m saying something much simpler. Something for your sake too. Something which means we’ll both be forgiven.

  He looks down.

  Because hating me now is a waste of your life.

  She looks at him a moment, as if genuinely considering this.

  Esme I have my life here in this theatre. My life is when the curtain goes up. My work is my life. I understand nothing else.

  She waves a hand slightly to fight tears, but Toby is already back with two cappuccinos. They are both piping hot and he is juggling them slightly.

  Toby Coffee.

  Esme Oh Lord …

  Toby I think it’s still hot enough.

  He puts the cappuccino down on the surface. Esme resumes getting dressed.

  Esme Do you know Dominic here?

  Toby Are you Dominic Tyghe?

  Dominic Well, yes.

  Toby I can’t believe it. Wow! It’s just incredible. I saw that film you just made.

  Dominic Oh yes.

  Toby The scene where the man’s skull exploded! That shot of the flying blood and the bone …

  He mimes shooting himself, and the effect of t
he back of his head exploding.

  I thought it was absolutely fantastic.

  Dominic Oh well, thanks very much.

  Esme looks at Dominic, but Toby, drinking his cappuccino, does not notice.

  Toby You’re an old friend of Esme’s?

  Dominic I married her daughter.

  Toby Ah yes.

  Dominic We go back a long way. But she died very tragically. Without any warning.

  Toby waits a second, respectful.

  Toby Esme did mention. Do you have children?

  Dominic We do.

  Toby How are they coping?

  Dominic By and large, they cope very well.

  He throws a glance at Esme.

  And they both love their granny.

  Toby Yes. Well, we all love her here too.

  Esme does not want this attention. She busies herself with getting ready.

  Look, you know we only have three minutes.

  Esme What? I don’t believe you.

  Toby It’s true.

  Esme I didn’t hear the call. I must have missed it.

  Toby Excuse me.

  Toby slips out of the door.

  Esme Dominic, you will have to go now.

  Dominic Will you think about what I’ve been saying?

  Esme I’ll try to. Yes. If I can.

  He waits patiently. She moves towards her coffee and takes a sip.

  That day I remember so clearly. The day I walked in. You’d been mending the bike.

  Dominic Yes.

  Esme What was my reaction? Was it just fear of the stranger?

  Dominic Only you know. Is that what it was?

  Esme My daughter was lost to me. One look at you. Everything I had left to me was gone. Do you think it was pure blind instinct?

  Dominic No. To be fair, you did dislike me personally too.

  They smile together, some real warmth between them for the first time.

  Esme It was just chance. It was chance I met Bernard. I was promiscuous. I was also nineteen. But I met this man. And from then on, everything seemed to be different. What if I hadn’t? It was pure luck.

  She stands, lost in thought.

  Life with Bernard wasn’t actually spectacular. It wasn’t as if we were always in each other’s arms. It was just calm. And we laughed at everything. That’s all. Nothing crazy. But always with him, I felt whole.

  There is an offstage call of ‘Beginners, please.’ Dominic takes a couple of steps backwards, pointing to the parcel.

  Dominic Remember, open your present.

  Dominic stops at the door.

  Esme, will you promise to call me?

  Esme If I could, then why would I not?

  He goes out. Esme is alone. She reaches up to the Tannoy, and the sound of the waiting audience is heard. She adjusts her costume in front of the mirror. She looks a moment at herself, then, curious, she takes the parcel he’s left. She opens a drawer and takes a knife out. She cuts the string. She pulls back the paper. It’s a shoebox. She opens it. Inside it are bundles of five pound notes – thousands of pounds’ worth. Toby returns with a jug of water. He sees the box of money.

  Toby What’s that?

  Esme It’s money. Nothing else. It’s a gift.

  Toby looks puzzled.

  My daughter’s ashes. We should go up.

  She puts the box down on her dressing-room table, and leaves it casually open. Then briskly she closes the door. She checks herself once more and leaves the room with Toby and they walk together towards the stage. The dressing room disappears. When they get to the stage, silently without any prompting from her, she leans down, half forward, and he pours the jug of water over her head, soaking her hair and the top half of her body. She smiles at him.

  Thank you.

  He starts taking off his T-shirt.

  Toby Oh, by the way, the director’s not coming.

  Esme Oh really?

  Toby No, he’s changed his mind. So he’s not coming.

  He has taken off his trousers. He just has a strip of cloth round his middle, barely covering him, and he looks pitiful, like Poor Tom in King Lear. She pours the rest of the water from the jug over him, and he shivers. She hands the jug to a stage manager. Then they stand together a moment, he blue with cold, she already focused on the task ahead, both of them curiously innocent in the silence.

  Esme Fair enough then. So we’re alone.

  The light begins to go down, until it is only on the two of them, glazed, nervous, full of fear. Suddenly there is the overwhelming sound of a string orchestra and the light goes down to near-blackness. Then they turn towards us, and the curtain goes up.

  End of play.

  THE JUDAS KISS

  Pour mon amour

  The Judas Kiss was first presented by the Almeida Theatre Company, in association with Robert Fox and Scott Rudin, at the Playhouse Theatre, London, on 12 March 1998. The cast was as follows:

  Oscar Wilde Liam Neeson

  Lord Alfred Douglas Tom Hollander

  Robert Ross Peter Capaldi

  Arthur Wellesley Alex Walkinshaw

  Phoebe Cane Stina Nielsen

  Sandy Moffatt Richard Clarke

  Galileo Masconi Daniel Serafini-Sauli

  Director Richard Eyre

  Designer Bob Crowley

  Lighting Mark Henderson

  Music George Fenton

  Sound John A. Leonard

  This production was subsequently presented on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York, on 29 April 1998.

  The Background to the Play

  In 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, enraged by rumours of his son Lord Alfred Douglas’s relationship with the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, entered Wilde’s club and left him a note accusing him of ‘posing as a sodomite’. When Wilde decided that he could not ignore the challenge, and that he must bring a prosecution against Queensberry for criminal libel, the Marquess retaliated by searching London for a list of young men willing to testify against Wilde. Knowing of this list, Wilde nevertheless persisted with his case. After his private suit collapsed in two days, Wilde himself became liable for public prosecution under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1886, which had made ‘acts of gross indecency’ between men a criminal offence.

  On 19 May 1897, Wilde was released after two years in jail. He went abroad at once, and never returned to England before his death in 1900.

  Characters

  Oscar Wilde

  Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie)

  Robert Ross

  Arthur Wellesley

  Phoebe Cane

  Sandy Moffatt

  Galileo Masconi

  ACT ONE: DECIDING TO STAY

  is set in London in 1895

  Scene One Lunchtime

  Scene Two Teatime

  ACT TWO: DECIDING TO LEAVE

  is set in Italy in 1897

  Scene One Dusk

  Scene Two Dawn

  Some say a cavalry corps

  some infantry, some, again,

  will maintain that the swift oars

  of our fleet are the finest

  sight on dark earth; but I say

  that whatever one loves, is.

  Sappho

  Every man contains his own death

  as the fruit contains the stone.

  Rilke

  Act One: Deciding to Stay

  SCENE ONE

  Friday, 5 April 1895. Romantic orchestral music. A streak of light falls near a bed on which a young couple are making love in a curtained room. The bed is in considerable disorder, a riot of counterpanes, blankets, sheets, and materials in rich brocade. The young woman, Phoebe, is seventeen, milk-white and beautiful. The young man, Arthur, is only a little older, short, sturdy, blond and handsome. In the shadows, she is seen dimly to climb away from him, his face pressed deep into her as she rises. Standing on the bed, Phoebe is now spreadeagled, her arms against the wall, in a gesture of crucifixion, as Arthur kneels against her. The stage picture is
Renaissance: abandoned white flesh against rich patterns, passion expressed as religious torment.

  The light spreads. The outline of an ornate hotel room becomes clearer. To the left of the bed, a huge window is swagged in rich material. To the right, a door. As their excitement grows, a discreet knocking begins. It goes unremarked. The knocking becomes louder. Arthur’s name is called urgently. Then louder. Finally Phoebe hears it. Then Arthur hears it too. The music fades.

  Phoebe Oh Lord God Almighty.

  Like a frightened animal, she pulls free and runs across to the bathroom. Arthur holds a sheet against himself as he goes to unlock the door. He opens it a crack to check, then opens it further. Mr Moffatt is a refined, feline Scot in his fifties, wearing tails.

  Moffatt Ah Arthur, I thought it was you.

  Arthur Mr Moffatt.

  Moffatt You will forgive me if I let in some light.

  Moffatt has come into the room and is heading to the window. Arthur has closed the door, but seems unperturbed. Like Phoebe, he is quite strongly cockney.

  Arthur You’ll see, sir. I haven’t yet started …

  Moffatt has drawn the curtain. Light floods from the window onto the floor. The scene is of late-night abandon. Draperies strewn over the room, flowers, bottles, old meals uncleared from tables.

  Moffatt My goodness. You have had some reckless enjoyment, I see.

  Arthur Hardly, Mr Moffatt. This wasn’t our doing. We were just about to start clearing it up.

  Moffatt I would hope. Who was helping you?

  Arthur Oh, the new maid.

  Moffatt Where is she?

  Arthur She’s in the bathroom.

  Moffatt I see.

  Arthur Her name’s Phoebe.

  Moffatt Thank you. I am apprised of her name.

  Arthur She’s settling in nicely.

  Moffatt Yes, Arthur. I think I had worked that out for myself.

  Moffatt seems untroubled by the scene.

  Does she want to come out of the bathroom?

  Arthur I think she may want to, sir.

  Moffatt (raising his voice) Phoebe, do you want to come out?