Sol B. River: Plays Two

Sol River, Sol B. River, Gee Williams

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781840022667
• eBook ISBN: 9781786823311
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático británico

Includes the plays The White Witch of Rose Hall, The Last Admittance of Man, 48-49, Making Waves, Walk Against Fear and Two Tracks and Text Me The White Witch of Rose Hall explores the horrors of voodoo and slavery. In The Last Admittance of Man Jesus has sought permission from God to see the future. 48-49 looks to the future of black people in Britain. In Making Waves, a West Indian Pentecostal Minister takes on a dispirited circuit of churches within the Welsh community. Walk Against Fear tells the story of James Meredith in 1962, the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi.

TWO TRACKS AND TEXT ME

from The Progressive Album

Foreword

At the core of this theatre is our work with living playwrights of national and regional significance. As I write this we are about to open Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III and are in rehearsal for Sol B River’s Two Tracks and Text Me. These two, both originally from Leeds, show the diversity and scope of writers of this country particular.

Any production of a brand new play is an act of faith in the vision and voice of the writer, and I am very proud that the West Yorkshire Playhouse is able to be the first to present the latest ambitious and individual play by Sol B River. Sol was writer-inresidence at the Playhouse before going on to forge a career in theatre, film and radio. Two Tracks and Text Me first appeared at the Playhouse as a ten-minute short, commissioned and produced by Paines Plough.

The Playhouse continued to support the development of the play to full production. It seems very right that Sol is returning here to connect again with the West Yorkshire Playhouse and its audience.

Ian Brown
Artistic Director
West Yorkshire Playhouse

www.twotracksandtextme.co.uk

Characters

BEEVES
SHUN
HOE
LOUISE
FATHER
YAZZA
KAT
PUNTERS

Two Tracks and Text Me was first performed at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, on 10 October 2003, with the following cast:

BEEVES, David Carr

SHUN, David Webber

HOE, Neil Reidman

YAZZA, Troy Titus-Adams

KAT, Daisy Beaumont

LOUISE, Zoe Thorne

FATHER, Ian Mercer

Director, Joe Williams

Designer, Emma Williams

Lighting Designer, Stephen Sinclair

ACT ONE

Music plays the audience in before the audience are seated and while they are being seated. Diana Ross ‘Love Hangover’ then ‘Should ’ave Known Better’ by Mica Paris, ‘On Top of The Game’ – Sean Paul from 1:30 min fade up…music continues to play over the following.

A still image theatre certificate is displayed on screens.

The guys are first introduced via the screens. In a movie style, credits appear for the title of the play and actors playing the roles. We see an outlined computerised image appear on the screen of each guy in turn, with it we see text appear on the screen informing us about the character almost in the style of a secret agents profile. Music continues. Various screens display all the motion images and text messages. Then…darkness, just the screens with the Sony PlayStation on, FIFA football. We hear the commentary. The audience are lit in snippets. Lighting spots all over the theatre so that the audience seem like they are on stage.

The stage consist of three sets. The first set is a bedroom and other areas in LOUISE’s house. Her bedroom is protected by a gauze that enables us only to see outlines colours and shapes; all of LOUISE’s area is set stage left high off the ground. In the bedroom, LOUISE lies on the bed, we can not see her clearly, thus her identity is disguised. The second set in the centre is the living room of BEEVES’ flat. The third is the girls’ flat, stage right and as equally high and opposite to BEEVES’ place.

The action then begins in BEEVES’ flat. It’s Friday night about 7:00 pm. We see a dark front room lit totally blue in colour, sitting very still within the room are three guys known as HOE, BEEVES, and SHUN.

Music starts again ‘Worst Comes To Worst’ Dilated Peoples, the three guys come alive alternately in time to the music and light, they perform a brief individual dance, we hear a mixed in sharp burst of Air ‘All I Need’, (light’s up on LOUISE’s room) the beginning repeats itself then in short bursts. Then lights up on YAZZA and KAT’s area, we see the shape of them dancing, music mixes in to ‘Give It 2 You’ Da Brat Funkdafied. The music stops abruptly. Bring back ‘Worst Comes To Worst’. The guys are all dressed ready to go out except BEEVES who is the host. He is wearing just a pair of baggy shorts. The room now comes to life, a goal is scored by BEEVES and celebrated in a totally over-the-top fashion. A dance is performed in front of the television in full, it’s a vulgar celebration solely for his opponent SHUN.

SHUN is building up and HOE is eating a double whopper, he is struggling with the burger and can’t help as some mayonnaise falls out of the burger and onto the rug. BEEVES stops his goal celebration. Freeze. Lights go out on the room with the guys.

Music cuts in against ‘Air ‘All I Need’ building in volume, we listen to some of the lyrics. (Almost every time we see the outline of LOUISE from now on the music of ‘Air’ creeps in.) Amber lights up on a large bedroom window. We can see the silhouette of LOUISE sitting, moving toward her bedroom window. LOUISE gets up and paces backwards and forwards before going to lay on her bed. She gets up and begins to dance to the music at the same time as typing a text message into her mobile phone. We hear the sound of the buttons as they are pressed. She is writing a poem. Black. The poem interrupts the FIFA game and begins to appear on the screen. Suddenly she scrambles to turn out her bedroom light. Music cuts out at the same time as the lights, ‘Worst Comes To Worst’ comes back in, snap from LOUISE and back to the guys and hold on them as they gather around BEEVES’ phone before turning in unison and staring at the text message on the screen.

We see cryptic messages appear on screen of the FATHER sending e-mails to his circle of friends.

E-mail: In bush. Swan and blue. Midday. Three. Action. Family affair. Last weeks shots n/w. Best pics yet. Swop shop. Accounts now due.

Whispered in an echoed voice over. At the same time as we hear the following poem we see on the text on the screens.

LOUISE: Shocking, gob stopping, sexy magnolia, blossom all over him / Running, cloudy sky chasing, catching me, holding me, breaking free of the bastard that is pulling on me / To the pit, my destiny, could be funky, sending signs through the text desperately… Hold me. Send me, deliver.

BEEVES: Shit. Who sent that?

(Snap to darkness, leaving the guys in their staring freeze and back to the start of the music of Air.
The stage is in near darkness, faint amber light. In the darkness we see the silhouette of a man who is Louise’s FATHER. Louise’s FATHER sits at the table almost in total darkness, the two are lit by separate spots. He is eating his dinner. Opposite him is a highlighted plate, full of dinner and an empty chair where LOUISE should be sitting.
Cut the light to the stage and up on the screens LOUISE’s face is shoved into her dinner plate in close up before snapping back to the stage.)

FATHER: Louise don’t you want your dinner? You better come down ’ere and ’ave it.

LOUISE: You ’ave it!

FATHER: I’ll give...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 48-98
• WALK AGAINST FEAR
• MAKING WAVES
• THE WHITE WITCH OF ROSE HALL
• TWO TRACKS AND TEXT ME