Freefall

Michael West

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781408133316
• eBook ISBN: 9781408135624
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

There are things I haven't said. Things I want to say again. I need to think. I need more time. A sudden shock, and a man's life flashes before his eyes. He experiences an intense rush of extraordinary images and tangled memories, revelations and lost connections. People time and places swirl around him. As he valiantly attempts to stitch it all back together, will his luck hold out? The play's conceit follows a man who has suffered a stroke experiencing a series of flashbacks. Trapped within his own head, the audience are taken with him through a whistlestop tour of his life: a series of vivid, often painful episodes from childhood tragedy to crumbling marriage. In a beguiling portrait of mortality and humanity, Freefall explores memory, family and loss. From the author of Dublin by Lamplight and Foley, Freefall reunites award-winning Irish playwright Michael West with The Corn Exchange: Dublin's innovative theatre company who explore the boundaries and possibilities of theatre with their trademark style of Commedia dell'Arte. Freefall is a sharp, humorous and exhilarating look at the fragility of a human life, blending impressionistic beauty, poignancy and comedy.

A bare stage.

Spanning the entire width, there are curtains on a rail that can be drawn open and shut.

A screen on which film can be projected.

Two hospital beds on castors which can double as tables.

On either side of the playing space there are wigs and various props. (In the script, real objects are marked in CAPS; all other objects are mimed.) There are also a couple of microphones, which the performers use for the phone calls and all sound effects. There are some chairs and a sofa. These wings are clearly visible to the audience at all times.

There is a portable camera which becomes A’s point of view in the hospital scenes, with the carers looking into it when they talk to him. In these scenes the actor playing A stands or sits to one side, watching himself, as it were. As the play begins, the camera is placed downstage centre.

Episode One

1.1

The company arranges the space for the performance. This includes drawing the curtains and setting one of the beds as a table bearing the leftovers of a party – some Indian TAKEAWAY TRAYS, wine-stained GLASSES and a couple of empty BOTTLES.

An image comes to life on the screen. It is a close-up of A, in pyjamas, sitting in his kitchen talking to Jack, his eighteen-year-old son. In the sequence that follows Jack is off-screen, holding the camera.

Film footage – Thursday morning

A Well ok, but I’m not really going to say anything, because I’ve nothing to say.

J (off-screen) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself.

A You know everything.

J (off-screen) I don’t. Let’s just start somewhere. Where are you from?

A Limerick.

J (off-screen) Ok, let’s do that again. Where are you from?

A Limerick.

J (off-screen) But you were brought up in Cork.

A I’m from Limerick.

J (off-screen) And . . .?

A And I’ve had a completely normal life.

J (off-screen) In what way?

A I’ve done all the normal things, I’ve been very lucky.

J (off-screen) And is that normal? To think you’re lucky.

How are you normal?

A I am normal. I went to school, got an education, I got a job, I got married. I had a son. Who should be in school.

J (off-screen) And you should be at work.

A Maybe that’s how I’m lucky. (Pause.) I am lucky. I married your mother.

1.2

Kitchen – Friday morning

The curtains open revealing A in pyjamas sitting at the table. B is dressed for work and has a dire hangover. She drinks a MUG of tea and watches him.

B Are you ok?

A I’ve a headache.

B places the MUG of tea beside him. He doesn’t touch it but his heart with his left hand.

A I feel . . .

B I know. I do too. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But I have to go.

She pulls herself together.

B I have to go to work. I’ll call you later. What are we going to do about Jack?

A Jack?

B Will we tell him later?

A What?

B Jack. I want to tell him later. About us.

A Ok.

B What are you going to do?

A With what?

B With your life.

Exit B.

A I’m going to . . . I’m going to put out the bins.

And bottles.

He goes to clear the table of last night’s remains and discovers his right arm isn’t quite right. He drops a BOTTLE. He can’t tear off a BIN LINER; he struggles to open it. He tidies away the FOIL TRAYS. He has a headache and needs a rest. He gets up and tries to walk and finds he is dragging his right leg.

A There’s something wrong with me. It must be my heart. It’s breaking. I need to see a doctor. A doctor. I need help. I’m having a heart attack. It can’t be. I had a check-up. Only last month.

1.3

Check up – Last month

A GP’s consulting room. A is suddenly able-bodied again.

D Is it your leg?

A No, no. That’s an old . . .

D reads a FI...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• A writer’s note: The Naming of Parts
• Characters
• Episode One