Brian Friel Plays 1 (32 page)

SIR
:
You’ve already been naughty and attempted that, Anna!

ANNA
:
Because it’s the essence of it all, isn’t it?

SIR
:
Well, of course we can do that. But if we do, then we’re bypassing all that period when different decisions
might
have been made. Because at the point we’ve arrived at now, many different conclusions would have been possible if certain things had been said or done or left unsaid and undone. And at this point it did occur to many of you to say certain things or to omit saying certain things. And it is the memory of those lost possibilities that has exercised you endlessly since and has kept bringing you back here, isn’t that so?

TOM
:
I’m sure he’s right.

SIR
:
For example, Helen, you did think of spending the night with Charlie and Miriam.

HELEN
:
We’ve already been over all that.

SIR
:
We have indeed. And what you said was, ‘No, I’ll see it through.’

HELEN
:
Yes, I stayed; and I saw it through; and I didn’t survive the test. And I’ve cracked up three times since. Now are you content?

SIR
:
It’s your content we’re talking about. And Ben, at this point you still had time to join your friends on the salmon boat.

BEN
:
Am I complaining? Am I?

SIR
:
But the thought did occur to you. And they didn’t set out for – what? – another hour at least. So if you would like to explore that area of –

BEN
:
Just stick to the f-f-f-facts.

SIR
:
But that is a fact. And every time you get drunk, it’s the one thing you keep talking about.

BEN
:
What happened happened. Leave it at that.

SIR
:
As you wish. As for yourself, Anna, you could have resolved – sitting up at that top table in the mess – bored by the talk around you – you could still have resolved to live with your secret –

ANNA
:
‘Live with my secret’! For God’s sake!

SIR
:
Be fair, Anna. You did think of it. In which case Frank’s life would have stayed reasonably intact. Oh, there were many, many options still open at this stage.

TOM
:
I agree completely.

(
TOM
is
ignored.
)

TINA
:
For me, too?

SIR
:
Not for you Tina, I’m afraid. You had no choice. That night you were faced with the inevitability of growing up. But that’s all – well, almost all.

TOM
:
He’s absolutely right – about the rest of us, I mean.

(
No
one
listens
to
him,
either
here
or
later
when
he
preaches.
)

SIR
:
As for yourself, Frank –

(
FRANK
holds
up
his
hands.
)

FRANK
:
You’re in command, Sir.

SIR
:
At this point, indeed at any point, you could well have –

FRANK
:
Please – please. I did what I had to do. There was no alternative for me. None. What I had to do was absolutely clear – cut. There was never any doubt in my mind.

SIR
:
I’m afraid that’s true, Frank.

FRANK
:
So carry on as you think best, Sir. I’m in your hands.

SIR
:
Very well. Let’s proceed. Let’s leap ahead to – yes, several hours later.

TOM
:
Our options are still open – he’s perfectly right.

SIR
:
And for this episode I think I need only Helen and Ben and Tina.

TOM
:
I’m not a sermonizing kind of fellow – good Lord, you know me better than that –

(
The
others
begin
to
drift
away,
each
encased
in
his
privacy.
) – but I’ve got to speak what I know to be true, and that is that grace is available to each and every one of us if we just ask God for it –

SIR
:
Yes – here we are.

TOM
:
– which is really the Christian way of saying that our options are
always
open. Because that is the enormous gift that Christ purchased for us – the availability of choice and our freedom to choose.

(
He
stops
and
looks
around.
SIR
is
poised
with
his
finger
on
his
ledger
–
he
has
all
the
time
in
the
world. 
ANNA
and
FRANK
have
gone.
HELEN
,
BEN
and
TINA
have
not
heard
a
word
he
has
said.
His
rally
falters.
)

So that what I’m saying is – is that at this point there isn’t necessarily an incompatability between your attitude, Sir and my own –

SIR
:
Good. ‘It is 1.45 a.m. and –’

TOM
:
And, Sir.

(
SIR
looks
at
him.
)

(
Forced
roguishness
) Keep watching – you’re going to be surprised.

(
He
leaves.
)

SIR
:
‘It is 1.45 a.m. and Miriam and Charlie are at home, in bed. Charlie is sleeping. Miriam is staring at the ceiling. In the camp the reception is just over. Frank Butler and the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Staff are standing in a corner, conversing privately. Father Tom is in the car park, searching his pockets for car keys. Anna is standing alone at the mess waiting for Frank. In the Butler living – room –’

(
He
breaks
off
because
his
eye
catches
CHARLIE
,
dressed
as
usual,
tiptoeing
across
the
stage.
CHARLIE
senses
the
silence,
smiles
at
SIR
,
touches
his
forehead
with
his
index
finger.
)

CHARLIE
:
(
Confidentially
)
Carry on – pay no attention to me – I’ll just nip over here – look on from that corner.

(
He
begins
walking
again.
)

SIR
:
I’m sorry.

CHARLIE
:
Fascinating to watch people – observe them, you know – just like in the courts – as long as you’re not involved yourself – how the other half lives sort of thing.

SIR
:
It is 1.45 a.m. You arrived at 11.30 and left with Miriam.

CHARLIE
:
Honest to God, you won’t hear a cheep out of –

SIR
:
You’re at home in bed. You’re asleep and Miriam’s awake.

CHARLIE
:
I know the reason for that! If she’s sleeping she can’t think. (
Pause
.) I mean to say – if she’s thinking she can’t sleep. (
Begins
moving.
) Just for this next piece –

SIR
:
Good night, Charlie.

(
CHARLIE
Stops
.)

Good night.

(
CHARLIE
looks
at
him,
sees
he
is
adamant,
and
leaves.
)

‘In the Butler living-room the doors and windows are wide open because the night is sultry. Helen and Ben have a few drinks together.’
I’ll leave it to yourselves.

(
He
retires
to
his
stool.
The
lights
change.
The
lights
from
the
living-room
spill
out
to
the
garden.
BEN
and
HELEN
are
slightly
intoxicated
and
completely
relaxed.
This
must
not
be
played
as
a
drunk
scene,
but
lightly,
full
of
laughter.
BEN
is
striding
about
with
a
glass
in
his
hand,
a
cigarette
in
his
mouth.
The
diffident,
uncertain
BEN
is
suddenly
voluble.
The
scene
is
played
in
almost
constant
movement
– around
the
living-room,
out
in
the
garden,
around
the
garden.
Wherever
BEN
and
HELEN
go,
TINA
follows.
But
their
accord,
their
intimacy,
excludes
her.
)

BEN
:
Follow behind me, keep me in sight, and I’ll lead you there.

HELEN
:
I’m on your heels.

BEN
:
Right. Do you happen to remember a place by the name of Carrickfad?

HELEN
:
Carrickfad! Do I remember Carrickfad!

BEN
:
Good. So you pass Carrickfad. Turn right at the old coastguard station. Pass the old lime kiln. Pass the old rectory.

HELEN
:
Ruins – ruins – ruins!

BEN
:
Cross the wooden bridge and straight down that track until you come to the ring fort –

HELEN
:
On your left when you’re facing the sea.

BEN
:
Turn left there, carry on for three-quarters of a mile until you come to the sand dunes –

HELEN
:
In Culhame.

BEN
:
Culhame is correct. But you have still to find my hermitage. Now, when you get to the foot of the sand hills, you stop, face north-north-west and look straight ahead; and if you’ve very good eyesight you’ll see rising out of the bent the roof of a little blue caravan.

HELEN
:
(
To
TINA
) ‘A secret place’, he says!

BEN
:
And there I can be consulted any morning between the hours of nine and eleven, except on those occasions when I’m off lecturing.

(
He
goes
out
to
the
garden.
HELEN
follows.
Then
TINA
.)

HELEN
:
Secret! I could make my way there now – in the dark!

TINA
:
I was never there.

HELEN
:
Didn’t we spend every Sunday in the summer sliding down those same dunes!

TINA
:
Had you great fun?

BEN
:
And when I’m travelling abroad I can usually be contacted at the nearest Salvation Army hostel. You know, we old army types – a great freemasonry. (
Calls
in
the
direction
of
camp.
)
My greetings, Chief of Staff, Adjutant General and Quartermaster General! God bless you, Number One Army Band!

HELEN
:
They’ve left hours ago, clown!

BEN
:
And warmest wishes to you, magazine, parade square and flagpole!

HELEN
:
D’you remember the day the two of us climbed up on to the roof of the old coastguard station?

BEN
:
A mad, mad pair!

TINA
:
Was Miriam with you?

BEN
:
Mad!

HELEN
:
She went to the top of the walls but didn’t go up on to the roof.

TINA
:
And what happened?

HELEN
:
(
To
BEN
) Tell her what happened!

BEN
:
What happened was that we were stuck up there for six hours.

HELEN
:
Right!

BEN
:
The pair of us clinging to two charred rafters.

HELEN
:
Remember them groaning!

BEN
:
Rigid with fright – couldn’t move either forward or back in case they’d snap.

HELEN
:
Mother calling up, ‘Don’t wriggle, Ben. Don’t wriggle!’