eBook - ePub
After Edward
About this book
'I think it's queer.
And it's about to get queerer…'
Edward II wanders on to the empty stage, bloodied and confused. He has no idea where he is, or how he got here, but he does have an ominous feeling that something is wrong. As that feeling grows, so too does the threat on the other side of the auditorium doors.
Edward finds himself locked inside the theatre with some rather anarchic fellow inmates: Gertrude Stein, Harvey Milk and Quentin Crisp. As they set about unravelling what has happened, only one thing is certain: everything is not as it seems...
A daring new play written specifically for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in response to Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, After Edward welcomes us into a chaotic world of pride and shame, with moments of elation, outrageous humour and heart-breaking tenderness.
Oh, and Maggie Thatcher.
In a play that reminds us of the power of theatre to provoke recognition and reflection, this is Edward II as you've never seen him before.
And it's about to get queerer…'
Edward II wanders on to the empty stage, bloodied and confused. He has no idea where he is, or how he got here, but he does have an ominous feeling that something is wrong. As that feeling grows, so too does the threat on the other side of the auditorium doors.
Edward finds himself locked inside the theatre with some rather anarchic fellow inmates: Gertrude Stein, Harvey Milk and Quentin Crisp. As they set about unravelling what has happened, only one thing is certain: everything is not as it seems...
A daring new play written specifically for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in response to Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, After Edward welcomes us into a chaotic world of pride and shame, with moments of elation, outrageous humour and heart-breaking tenderness.
Oh, and Maggie Thatcher.
In a play that reminds us of the power of theatre to provoke recognition and reflection, this is Edward II as you've never seen him before.
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Yes, you can access After Edward by Tom Stuart in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & British Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Blackout.
Choral singing.
A hatch in the ceiling opens.
An arm appears through it with a lit candle – as though someone is trying to survey the space below.
The singing stops.
The candle goes out.
A figure, EDWARD, falls through the hatch.
He lands with a bang on the stage.
Beat.
EDWARD: Bugger.
Beat.
An Elizabethan bishop, CANTERBURY, enters with a lit candelabra.
We can now make out EDWARD lying crumpled on the floor. He’s dressed in period doublet and hose.
Both men speak with modern accents that jar with their outfits.
CANTERBURY has a casual demeanour, incongruous to the situation.
He looks down at EDWARD.
CANTERBURY: Alright?
EDWARD: … Not really.
CANTERBURY: Rough landing?
EDWARD: Yes.
CANTERBURY: Did you bend your knees?
EDWARD: Did I –?
CANTERBURY: Bend your knees? On impact.
EDWARD: I don’t think so.
CANTERBURY: That’s the advice, as I understand it. The official line. Always bend your knees.
He leaves EDWARD and begins lighting candles around the space.
If in doubt, bend them. Same goes for lifting. It’s all about your lower back. You could’ve hurt yourself.
EDWARD: I did hurt myself.
CANTERBURY: You came down with a wallop. A right bang. I thought – he’ll feel that in the morning.
EDWARD wriggles and shifts uncomfortably on the floor.
(Casually.) Anything broken?
EDWARD: I don’t know.
CANTERBURY: Probably winded. Do you feel winded?
EDWARD: Maybe.
CANTERBURY: Would’ve knocked it right out of you I should think. Quite the drop. What on earth were you thinking?
EDWARD: When?
CANTERBURY: When you fell.
EDWARD: I wasn’t.
CANTERBURY: Wasn’t what?
EDWARD: Thinking.
CANTERBURY: Well what possessed you to take such a leap?
EDWARD: It wasn’t a choice. I don’t know what…
EDWARD manages to sit up, rubs his head, takes in his surroundings.
What is this?
CANTERBURY: What is what?
EDWARD: This.
CANTERBURY: (The candelabra.) This?
EDWARD: No this. (The space.) Where am I?
CANTERBURY: Here.
EDWARD: Yes but where is here?
CANTERBURY: It’s here, isn’t it… I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m following –
EDWARD: Did something happen?
CANTERBURY: Yes, you fell. We’ve covered that. Didn’t bend your knees, remember?
EDWARD: Before that, before I fell…
CANTERBURY chuckles to himself.
CANTERBURY: All sorts went on.
EDWARD looks at him expectantly. CANTERBURY is oblivious, focused on his candle duties.
EDWARD: You were saying?
CANTERBURY: Was I?
EDWARD: What happened –
CANTERBURY: Terrible pickle.
EDWARD: Okay.
CANTERBURY: Positively grizzly it was in the end.
EDWARD: What was?
CANTERBURY: Listen, should you be sitting up? I imagine you must be smarting. That’s a hardwood floor that. Oak by the looks of it –
EDWARD: Am I dead?
CANTERBURY: Do what now?
EDWARD: Dead. Am I dead?
CANTERBURY: I shouldn’t think so.
EDWARD: Okay.
Beat.
CANTERBURY: You look disappointed.
EDWARD: I was expecting more of a definitive answer. I thought you’d be more of an authority.
CANTERBURY: On what?
EDWARD: Death… Dressed like that.
CANTERBURY: I get that a lot. I’m quite taken with it, between us. I was ambivalent about the skirt at first, but I like the way it swishes round a corner – it adds an unexpected flourish to almo...
Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- After Edward