Heroes

Isabel Dixon

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781788503204
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

A poignant exploration of fallen idols, family secrets and the human price of forgiveness.

It's 1991. David Bowie's playing an iconic concert in Brixton, and fifteen-year-old Jamie can't wait. His Dad's bought him gig tickets and Jamie's even stolen the family camera to immortalise the night. But a secret's about to come out - and life will never be the same again.

It's 2016. As Jay gets ready to embrace fatherhood, the arrival of a letter on the morning of Bowie's death threatens to bring the ghosts of the past hurtling into the present.

What do we do when the people we look up to do something unforgivable? Do our heroes define who we are? And is it ever too late to start again?

Isabel Dixon's play Heroes is the tense and sensitive story of a family torn apart by an unforgiveable act. It was first staged at VAULT Festival, London, in 2020.

Scene One

A family living room, somewhere in suburbia, in 1991.

A living room, in a smartish but comfortable flat in London, in 2016.

Both of these spaces exist together.

As the audience enter, we see the characters in both timeframes interacting with the world around them.

There are cards and envelopes across the set – we are celebrating something in both years.

In 2016, CAT, mid-thirties and very pregnant, puts a cup of tea down and sits on the sofa, silently reading through a pile of cards. Somewhere in the background water is running.

In 1991, MARTIN, late thirties, watches fifteen-year-old JAMIE as he opens a present. It’s a record player. JAMIE lifts the lid.

MARTIN. Be gentle with it.

JAMIE. I am.

MARTIN. I mean it. I don’t want to see it get broken.

JAMIE. You don’t have to give it to me.

MARTIN. I want to.

JAMIE. If you’re worried I’ll break it.

MARTIN. I know you won’t. I’m just being silly.

Beat.

I got that for my fifteenth birthday.

JAMIE. Nan got me a Walkman.

MARTIN. Not the same. Not as good.

JAMIE. Don’t tell her that.

MARTIN. The thing about a record is, it sounds best when you listen to the whole thing. Without stopping. Start to end, all in the right order, like a story. None of this jumping about or rewinding or skipping to the good bits.

JAMIE. What’s wrong with skipping to the good bits?

MARTIN. You miss out on stuff. Details.

Beat.

Where’s your mum put the iron?

JAMIE. Downstairs cupboard.

MARTIN exits just offstage.

In 2016, JAY, forty, enters, dressed in a bathrobe. CAT doesn’t look up.

JAY. Have you seen the iron?

Beat.

Cat?

CAT. It’s in a box in the bedroom.

JAY. Which one?

CAT. Don’t know.

JAY. I can’t go to work with my shirts all crumpled up, can I?

CAT. Yeah you can. You’ve just moved house.

JAY. To Zone 4, not a cave.

CAT. Try the one by the mirror with all the bathroom bits in.

JAY exits. JAMIE puts a record on. ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie starts to play.

JAMIE. I haven’t got any records.

MARTIN (off). You can keep that one.

JAMIE. Nah. No. It’s alright.

MARTIN (off). It’s part of the present.

JAMIE. It’s your favourite.

MARTIN re-enters, iron in hand.

MARTIN. Can’t go into school with a crumpled shirt, can I?

JAMIE. Nobody’s going to care.

MARTIN. Means I can’t tell your year off for not looking smart.

JAMIE. Who’s Major Tom?

MARTIN. What?

JAMIE. Major Tom. On the record.

MARTIN. Oh, right. He’s an astronaut. He’s not real.

Beat.

I thought, this would be good for before you go to see him.

JAMIE. Yeah. Thanks.

MARTIN. We could both go. I got you two tickets.

JAMIE. Oh.

MARTIN. What?

JAMIE. I thought. I asked / Tom –

MARTIN. Oh, that’s fine. No, that’s alright.

JAMIE. Sorry.

MARTIN. No point going with an old bugger like me. I’ll just show you up.

JAMIE. I can tell him you’re coming instead.

MARTIN. Another time. Eh?

JAMIE. Sorry.

MARTIN. Stop saying sorry. It’s fine.

Beat. MARTIN picks up the record sleeve.

I’ll have to get you some more of these. Dig out my stash in the attic. Don’t tell your mum, she’ll be on at me for not giving Sian a player as well.

MARTIN picks up the wrapping paper on the floor and takes it offstage.

JAY re-enters, iron in hand.

JAY. How many cards is that, now?

CAT. We got five more this morning.

JAY. I don’t know where we’re going to put them all.

CAT. Ha. Wait till Sprog arrives. People send you loads of crap when you have a baby.

JAY. Babies don’t need cards.

CAT. They send us the cards, you muppet.

He picks up a card, looks at it briefly, sets it back down.

JAY. Maybe I should take Friday off. Try and get us properly unpacked before the / weekend.

CAT. Were you crying in the shower?

Beat. She puts her tea down and waits.

Jay?

JAY. No.

CAT turns off the radio – ‘Space Oddity’ cuts out, as if it’s been playing in 2016 and not on JAMIE’s player in 1991.

CAT. Yes, you were.

JAY. Probably next door.

CAT. Next door? She’s in her eighties. Give me a break.

Beat.

I thought I was meant to be the hormonal one.

Talk to me.

JAY’s silent. Meanwhile, JAMIE is still examining the record player.

JAMIE. Sian doesn’t care. She’s not into records.

MARTIN. She likes different things. That’s what I keep explaining to your mum – you take after me.

JAMIE. You think?

MARTIN. Yeah.

JAY. I don’t know.

CAT. You don’t know why you were crying?

Beat.

JAY. Did you hear David Bowie died?

CAT. What?

JAY. Cancer. He died, he had cancer.

CAT. I know that, it was on the radio. Don’t change the subject.

JAY. It’s weird, isn’t it?

CAT. We’re having a conversation, Jay.

JAY. No, I know –

CAT. What, you’ve been crying in the shower because David Bowie died?

Beat. CAT sighs.

JAY. I’m ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Contents
• Welcome to VAULT Festival
• Original Production
• Thanks
• Characters
• Heroes
• About the Author
• Copyright and Performing Rights Information