The Well & Badly Loved

A Queer Trilogy

Ben Webb

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781849431705
• eBook ISBN: 9781849432795
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

This collection of short plays is a passionate response to the effect of Clause 28 on the artistic and social language of a generation. The plays dance between intimate details and the big, historical picture, telling the story of a love affair from three different angles. Each piece is formally inventive & draws on a rich history of gay and queer theatre practice, whilst innovatively pushing the form forward.

This collection includes:

So Little of You Left - This begins as a traditional poetry reading and rapidly disintegrates into physical theatre, combining poetry, children's games, physical risk & bold imagery to tell the story of a love affair from start to finish. So Little details the marks that love leaves on our bodies.

His Spread Legs - One year later. Tom, alone in his flat in the early hours, begins to speak. A haunting and heartbreaking monologue, inspired by the biblical Song of Songs, excavating the relationship between love, language and identity.

The Actor Has Told of His Pain - In this final installment, the two lovers from So Little meet again and a third character – another ex – helps to give shape to the stories they have been telling each other. A three-act play with a queer twist, about the act of leaving and being left, and coming to terms with the end of the world.

1

So Little of You Left

As the audience enters they hear the almost subliminal sound of two boys making love, snatches of dialogue, poetry, a radio tuning in, fragments of music repeating, fading in and out, a distant argument, remnants and remembrance of things past.

A flowing sense of childhood, loss, hesitancy, expectation and occasional flashes of joy.

Enter TOM.

TOM: Hello. Hi. Thank you for coming. It’s great to see so many of you here this evening. My name is Tom and I will be your host tonight. Could I just take a moment to ask you to turn off your mobile phones? Great, thanks. So, we’ve got a great lineup for you this evening. I’ll be kicking off in a moment with a few of my own poems and then we’ll be joined by Derek Arrow reading from his new collection. And we’ll end with some very exciting new poems from Sally Walker. You may have seen the recent feature on Sally in the Guardian Weekend magazine – she is without doubt one of Sheffield’s, if not this country’s, finest Industrial Beat Poets. So it’s a pleasure to have her here this evening. OK, so I’m going to start now by reading some new poems of my own. I hope you enjoy them. This first one is called ‘So Little of You Left’. OK so – At 2 a.m. this morning I sent you – oh –

TOM falters, drops paper, tries to act as if it didn’t happen. Lights dimmer.

TOM: Erm, At 2 a.m. this morning I – Oh...

An orgasm unexpectedly shudders through TOM’s body. He tries to act as if it didn’t happen. Did anybody notice? Lights dim slightly further. The fire exit signs stutter off.

TOM: At 2 a.m. this morning Oh Oh Oh Ah.

Sudden total black.

Distant rain.

A little light reveals TOM’s clothes in a pile.

Lights slowly fade up further to reveal TOM’s flat, just before 3am.

Enter TOM. He has woken from restless sleep. Dressed in only his underwear he has come from the bedroom into the living room. He picks up his mobile phone. He shivers, realises he is cold and crosses the room to put on a cardigan. He buttons the cardigan up. He realises he is thirsty and crosses the room to take a swig from a half-empty carton of orange juice. He recoils – the juice is off. He checks his phone – no messages. He shakes his head, shivers, and stands for a moment, at a loss for what to do next, looks around.

He looks out of the window and sees rain falling outside.

TOM puts his hand to his mouth in thought, then very slowly and almost imperceptibly begins to make love to his hand. He is physically present but mentally elsewhere. Emotion flickers across his face. The kissing builds until the noise of his kisses sounds a little like rain. He looks up as if a drop of rain is falling on him. He takes a couple of steps forward. He holds out his hand to feel for rain. He flattens his palm.

Music.

In the gloomy room, MATT appears behind TOM and they dance together. TOM begins to thaw. The dance ends when MATT puts the cardigan over TOM’s head, stands him in the corner of the room, and walks away. TOM is left alone.

TOM raises his head as if a drop of rain has fallen on him and he holds out his hand. Pause. TOM takes the cardigan off his head and drops it on the floor. He lies down on the floor and deflates.

Slow heavy fade to black.

* * *

Birdsong in the darkness. Rapidly rising light.

It is the brightest, happiest, warmest day possible.

Birdsong intensifies.

TOM turns to see MATT crossing downstage with a neat pile of clothes. They beam smiles at each other. There is a spark between them – our boys in happier times. MATT puts the clothes down, picks up the discarded cardigan and neatly folds it, before throwing it aside.

Music.

MATT crosses to face TOM and begins to dress him, playfully and affectionately. TOM balances himself with a hand on MATT’s head. MATT ruffles TOM’s hair and steps back to admire his work.

MATT: I give you this.

TOM: You give me this.

MATT: Yes.

TOM: Yes sir.

MATT: Why do you say yes sir?

TOM: Because it pleases you.

MATT: What are the letters in my name?

TOM: M – A – T – T – H – E – W.

What are the letters in my name?

No answer.

They turn away from each other.

Lights shift.

The first meeting: TOM nervously rehearses his poems. MATT puts a cigarette in his mouth and searches in his pockets for a lighter. For a moment they are two strangers, then –

MATT: Sorry mate, have you got a lighter?

TOM: Sure. Here.

TOM holds out a lighter. Their han...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Acknowledgements
• A NOTE ON THE TEXT
• Epigraph page
• Contents
• 1 So Little of You Left
• INTERMISSION
• 2 His Spread Legs
• PART 1
• PART 2
• PART 3
• PART 4
• RAIN
• PART 5
• PART 6
• PART 7
• PART 8
• PART 9
• INTERMISSION
• 3 The Actor Has Told of His Pain
• ACT ONE
• ACT TWO
• ACT THREE