The Separation

Richard Molloy

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781783198580
• eBook ISBN: 9781783198597
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

'Do you know what they call someone who doesn't drink, by the way, the Irish...? A pioneer. Isn't that gas? A pioneer. Like you're discovering a new continent.' On a Friday night in Dublin, Stephen Hanrahan ushers a young female colleague in from the summer rain to what was once his marital home. He's ready to work his magic. But Stephen's estranged wife and wayward daughter are about to crash back into his life, casting a history of repressed truths and painful secrets into the light. Set in the build-up to Ireland's historic divorce referendum of 1995, The Separation is an unsettling - and uproarious - journey into the dark heart of a disintegrating Dublin family.

SCENE ONE

The living room of a large house in Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin.

There is one window, looking out on a large back garden (though this need not be visible), and two doorways, one of which gives access to the hallway and the front door of the house and the other to the upstairs and the rest of the house.

The living room is untidy. There are shelves overflowing with books, CDs, vinyl, cassette tapes, video tapes. A stereo system with disorderly piles of CDs beside it. Video cases on the floor by the television. Stacks of newspapers, some so old they are discoloured. A well-stocked drinks cabinet. A coffee table beneath which, and perhaps upon which, there are more newspapers. A couch and armchair, once fairly tasteful and expensive, now in less than immaculate condition. On the mantelpiece above the fireplace, a clock, and a picture frame with a photo of a baby girl. Above the mantelpiece, a mirror.

The room is in darkness.

We hear heavy rain outside…the sound of a phone ringing, off, then the phone stops. Shortly afterwards, the sound of the front door opening, off. A light in the hallway, commotion, off.

The living-room door opens. The lights go on.

STEPHEN: (Off.) Go on. Get in.

MOLLY bundles in followed by STEPHEN.

They are both drenched.

They stand, looking at one another for a moment.

They laugh. She drops her handbag on the couch.

MOLLY: (Looking herself over, half-laughing, half-lamenting.) Oww.

STEPHEN: (Referring to the rain.) That’s biblical, that is.

She’s too caught up in feeling wet to respond.

STEPHEN: I should get you some clothes or –

MOLLY: Have you got a hairdryer?

STEPHEN: Ehm…a towel?

MOLLY: That’ll do.

STEPHEN: I’ll be right back.

He leaves.

She stays rooted to the same spot, as though moving would worsen her plight.

She turns her head to look around the room. A moment passes.

He throws her a towel from the doorway.

STEPHEN: Towel. Back in a sec.

She catches the towel.

MOLLY: Thanks.

She dries her hair, moves to the mirror, examines herself.

MOLLY: Oh my God.

She attempts for a moment to sort herself out, then notices the photo on the mantelpiece, picks it up. When she hears STEPHEN returning, she puts the picture down, moves away from the mantelpiece and continues to dry her hair.

STEPHEN comes in. He has changed clothes. He is carrying a Bryan Adams t-shirt and a pair of old, unfashionable tracksuit bottoms (perhaps made by O’Neill’s.).

STEPHEN: (Giving them to her.) T-shirt. Trousers.

She is unimpressed.

MOLLY: I can’t…This is…

STEPHEN: What?

MOLLY: Bryan Adams.

STEPHEN: (Feigning puzzlement, but enjoying the situation.) Yeah. All I could find. It’s not even mine. I don’t know where it came from.

She looks at him sceptically.

STEPHEN: Seriously. Look at my CDs. I’m fuckin’ cool. I wouldn’t condone Bryan Adams.

Short pause.

STEPHEN: Well, Summer of ’69 obviously / but –

MOLLY: You expect me to sit here in some pissy old sweatpants –

STEPHEN: Ah here, there’s no need for that –

MOLLY: And a Bryan Adams t-shirt.

STEPHEN: I could look for something else.

Short pause.

STEPHEN: I think I have a Meat Loaf t-shirt somewhere.

MOLLY: (Good-natured.) Oh fuck off.

They laugh a little, then fall into an awkward deadlock. They look at one another silently for a moment. Neither one knows what to do next. Each expects the other to act.

STEPHEN: Well.

MOLLY: Yeah.

Sh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Characters
• Scene One
• Scene Two