Minefield

Lola Arias

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781786823731
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Scienza e tecnologia militare

In Minefield six Falklands/Malvinas war veterans who once faced each other across a battlefield now face each other across a stage. Together they share memories, films, songs and photos as they recall their collective war and embody the political figures that led them into it. Soldier, veteran, human – these men have stories to share as they take us from the horrors of war to today's uncertainties, with brutal honesty and startling humour.

AUDITIONS:

MARCELO STANDS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. HIS IMAGE IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

GABRIEL: Name?

MARCELO: Marcelo Vallejo.

GABRIEL: Age?

MARCELO: Fifty-five.

GABRIEL: Rank?

MARCELO: Private.

GABRIEL: Your role in combat?

MARCELO: Heavy mortar man.

GABRIEL: Current profession?

MARCELO: I do odd jobs, painting, gardening. And I do a lot of sport.

GABRIEL: What kind of sport?

MARCELO: Running, swimming, cycling. I’m an Iron Man.

MARCELO LEAVES.

DAVID STANDS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.

LOU: Name?

DAVID: David Jackson.

LOU: Age?

DAVID: Fifty-eight.

LOU: Rank?

DAVID: Corporal.

LOU: Role?

DAVID: Julian Thompson’s signaller.

LOU: Current occupation?

DAVID: Psychologist.

LOU: Do you remember any music from the Falklands war?

DAVID: No, not really…

LOU: Does any song remind you of the war?

DAVID: No. But I wrote a song once called ‘Soldier, Soldier’… And I still think it should have been in the play. (STARTS SINGING HIS SONG.) ‘Oh, soldier soldier, you look so handsome and brave. You’ve got a world to save; do you really feel the pain?’

RUBEN ENTERS SINGING A BEATLES SONG,‘WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS’, AND MOVES DAVID, WHO LEAVES THE STAGE.

GABRIEL: Thank you! Why are you singing in English?

RUBÉN: I have a Beatles tribute band. And since I’m the drummer, I sing the songs Ringo used to sing.

GABRIEL: Do you all dress up as the Beatles to play?

RUBÉN: No, I wear a t-shirt that says ‘The Malvinas are Argentina’s.’ I was in the sinking of the Belgrano. Just because I’m singing in English, I don’t stop claiming the islands.

SUKRIM WALKS ON, HOLDING A KNIFE. RUBÉN LEAVES THE STAGE WHEN SUKRIM FACES HIM.

SUKRIM: This is the kukri, a Gurkha knife. If the weapon doesn’t work or the ammunition runs out, we use the kukri as a last option. It is really suitable for close fighting. How do you fight with the kukri? I will show you…

LOU: Stop, stop, stop. Thank you.

SUKRIM LEAVES THE STAGE.

GABRIEL STANDS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.

GABRIEL: I’m a criminal lawyer and in the war I was a mediocre soldier. The only time I fired my gun, it jammed. I didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on. When I got back, the war became a kind of obsession. I saw all the films, read all the books, spoke to historians. My wife calls me ‘the one-topic man’. She says I spoil every party by talking about the war.

EVERYONE COMES ON STAGE WITH A SIGN.

LOU: (TO THE AUDIENCE.) I didn’t attend an audition. I’d been in a film about the Falklands war, and someone recommended me and I flew straight to Argentina. When we arrived in Buenos Aires they were waiting for us with our names on signs.

THEY SHOW THE SIGNS WITH THEIR NAMES ON THEM.

In 1982 when I saw Argentine soldiers for the first time, they were arrogant. The second time they were dead or wounded, the third time they were defeated. Now we are all fifty-something year-old veterans of the same war.

LOU CRUMPLES UP HIS SIGN. EVERYONE FOLLOWS. THEY THROW THE PAPER AWAY AND INTRODUCE THEMSELVES TO THE PERSON NEXT TO THEM.

BECOMING A SOLDIER:

ALL THE BRITISH STAND IN A LINE.

A PHOTO OF LOU IN A GROUP OF YOUNG MARINES IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

LOU: I joined the Royal Marines aged sixteen. That’s me, second from the right on the back row. I wanted to be a gymnast, a dancer or a painter. But I didn’t have the qualifications for that and I wasn’t really encouraged. I didn’t join the Marines to travel the world. I wanted to get away from home. My mother had died when I was one year old. And I hated the foster family that I was with. So the Royal Marines became my family.

A PHOTO OF SUKRIM IN THE GHURKA SELECTION IN HONG KONG IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

SUKRIM: I joined the British Army aged eighteen. My father and grandfather were in the British Army. The first selection was a medical exam…

DAVID PLAYS THE ROLE OF A DOCTOR EXAMINING SUKRIM.

DAVID: Step back! 11 stone 2. Arms up. Down: 36. Breathe in: That’s 38… And that’s 5 foot 3, just. You are very close to the limit. Don’t you shrink in the British weather, will you?

SUKRIM: Yes, Sir.

DAVID: You’ll be now known as 1643.

SUKRIM WALKS OFF.

A PHOTO OF DAVID AS A YOUNG MARINE IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

DAVID: At fourteen I saw a Royal Marines advertisement: heroic men landing on a Caribbean beach with palm trees. So that’s what I wanted to be. I joined the Royal Marines aged sixteen. My great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all in the military. So no surprise really.

LOU: Good morning gentlemen! Time for some physical training! All right, double time. Come on Jackson, hurry up, you’re always late! Double march time stand by… Sprint! Ten press-ups, go! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Keep it going lads, well done! 8, 9, 10. Stand up! Double march time stand by… Sprint!

LOU LEADS THE PHYSICAL TRAINING: RUNNING, PUSH-UPS, SIT-UPS.

DAVID: Stop, stop. Lou, I’m fifty-eight, for crying out loud!

THE BRITISH LEAVE THE STAGE.

THE ARGENTINES ENTER AND STAND IN A LINE.

RUBÉN: We will now begin the draw for the class of 1962 for those who will do mandatory military service.

Order 001, Draw 686.

Order 041, Draw 473.

A PHOTO OF GABRIEL AS A YOUNG CONSCRIPT PLAYING THE DRUMS IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

GABRIEL: I didn’t want to be a soldier. But in Argentina military service was mandatory until 1995. All men aged eighteen were drawn according to the last three numbers of their ID. Many feigned illness, madness, or bribed their way out. I didn’t want to do it but I wasn’t going to cheat either. I got number 473, I did military service in the middle of the military dictatorship.

A PHOTO OF RUBEN AS A YOUNG CONSCRIPT IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

RUBÉN: I worked in a wire factory in the morning and in the afternoon I went to a polytechnic. I had number 935, so there was no getting out of military service. The high numbers went into the Navy. I’d never even been on a boat. I couldn’t swim. I never would’ve imagined I’d end up on a life raft in the middle of the ocean.

A PHOTO OF MARCELO AS A YOUNG CONSCRIPT IS PROJECTED ON THE BACKDROP.

MARCELO: I dropped out of school in seventh grade. When I was thirteen I started work. On the day of the draw I was working in a metal forge and I heard on the radio that num...