- 119 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Think about it. Think what you could achieve without women in your life. If all the time you spent on them, you spent on yourself. Think how much money you could save. Think how much aggravation you could avoid. Journeying over from the West Indies to England, Ferdy, Lennie, Dennis and Bernie are all eager to make successes of themselves and take full advantage of what they think The Big Life has to offer. So they pledge to abstain from women for three years.
But Mary, Kathy, Zuleika and Sybil have other ideas. They know that man cannot live by bread alone! Will the men stick with their idea of The Big Life, or will Cupid have the final say? The Big Life is a brand new musical, a wonderfully upbeat story of unrequited love and a great comedy all rolled into one. It was produced at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, April 2004.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Big Life by Paul Sirett in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Theatre. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
ACT ONE
Scene 1
At finish of Overture lights dim. Curtain opens to reveal…sea mist. As the mist clears we see the deck of a large ship somewhere at sea. It is 1956. The deck is deserted. ADMIRAL enters with his guitar. He looks out at the audience; he does a double-take…
‘In Inglan’
ADMIRAL: Inglan…
Deck fills with passengers – REVEREND, CONNIE, ENA, JOYCE, LENNIE, DENNIS, FERDY, BERNIE and SYBIL – all straining to get their first glimpse of England.
ALL: Inglan…
A moment as they all stare out to sea.
Big time
We comin
Inglan
We comin
Big time
Inglan
Inglan
We comin
Motherland
We comin
Inglan
We comin
Big time
We comin…
Music continues – as humming. The REVEREND pushes through the crowd.
REVEREND: Let us pray!
The passengers sink to their knees in silent prayer.
Okay.
DENNIS: ‘Okay’? What happen to ‘Amen’?
LENNIE: Hey, I hear in Inglan they have snow.
DENNIS: It’s becos it’s cold, ennit.
LENNIE: I hear they have White Christmas.
DENNIS: Well, of course, man – White people: White Christmas.
ENA sneezes.
LENNIE: Bless yu.
CONNIE: (To ENA.) You know something, you need a hat. That is why you are sneezin, cos in Inglan everybody wear a hat. You neva know dat?
ENA: Me have a coat; don’t have no hat.
CONNIE: You no have no hat! You finished now, you know.
FERDY: (To BERNIE and SYBIL.) So what kind of work you look for?
BERNIE: Engineering.
SYBIL: Office work for me, secretarial. But first, we get married.
JOYCE: You two gettin wed! Congratulations!
SYBIL: Been together three year.
BERNIE: She was the first person I spoke to in Kingston when I went over to study.
SYBIL: It was love at first sight.
BERNIE: (To FERDY.) And you? What you do?
FERDY: I hope to be taking up a position in a university. (To LENNIE.) You?
LENNIE: Get me some work in a garage, man. I can fix ennitin. Big car, small car – I the man! Cap-i-tan!
FERDY: (To DENNIS.) And what about you?
DENNIS: Ennitin man, long as me get plenty money.
FERDY: Do you have a trade?
DENNIS: Don’t need one. I got dis, it’s a medal! (Takes out a medal.) My brudder in the RAF. He get killed in de war. Shoot down over de Inglish Channel. Wid dis – I can do ennitin.
FERDY: Anything?
DENNIS: Ennitin.
LENNIE: Ennitin – such as?
DENNIS: Listen… (Sings.)
Watchman
Stockman
Craftsman
Draftsman
Mi dig a hole
Fish a shoal
Wash a bowl
Stick a sole
Shovel coal
Climb a pole
Mi gettin an di payroll
Climin down di manhole
Forgettin all dat rigmarole
Mi neva lose mi self-control
Mi goana hav de las laff
Climin down de mineshaff
No mixin wid de riff-raff
Splittin nuttin haff an haff
BERNIE: I build a bridge
A big monument
Get me a commission
From the government
SYBIL: I type very fast
Sixty words a minnit
I have certificate
First prize, I win it
(Spoken.) Tell you…
ALL: Kyan wait to get to Inglan
Wi mek it big in a Inglan
Mek it rich and be a hot boy
Mek it all di way…
In a Inglan
BERNIE: (To FERDY.) So what you teach?
FERDY: Philosophy.
REVEREND: Really? What kind of thing?
FERDY: (Spoken.) Well let me...
Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Characters
- Dedication
- CONTENTS
- ACT ONE
- ACT TWO