The Golden Age

Louis Nowra

• Publisher: Currency Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781921429590
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

An epic play about two young hikers who accidentally discover a lost community deep in the forests of Tasmania. Lost in time, the group clashes with the culture of modern Australia, with tragic consequences.

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

Hobart, 1939. A garden. It is a hot Australian night full of the sounds of cicadas and crickets. ELIZABETH ARCHER, a middle-aged woman, stands in front of a small, crumbling Greek temple. She wears a copy of an ancient Greek dress. For a moment it seems we are in ancient Greece, but she is playing Iphigenia from Iphigenia in Tauris.

ELIZABETH: ‘I dreamed I had escaped from this island and lived at home in Argos. There I was asleep when suddenly the earth shook and tore apart. I ran outdoors and helplessly watched the whole house crumble into the earth. Out of this ruin, which was my father’s house, one column stood. Brown hair grew from its head and it spoke in a human voice. Weeping, I performed for it this murderous ritual for strangers, sprinkling water, as on one destined to die. I interpret this dream thus: it was my brother Orestes I prepared for death and he has died. For what are pillars of a house but its sons. And those whose heads I touch with purifying water die. So now I want to pour libations for my brother.’

WILLIAM, about the same age as his wife, enters as Orestes. He is handcuffed, wears glasses and a dinner jacket. He stands before Iphigenia.

‘Do you know where you are?’

WILLIAM: ‘Tauris, my High Priestess.’

ELIZABETH: ‘And what is it known for?’

WILLIAM: ‘Any Greek who lands on its shores is put to death.’

ELIZABETH: ‘And yet, mysterious stranger, you are Greek and you dare to step on our island. You should have left when you had the chance.’

WILLIAM: ‘I was shipwrecked.’

ELIZABETH: ‘I do not believe your story. Do you see the dark stain on the altar? It is the blood of previous sacrifices. Your blood will mingle with that blood to delight the goddess Artemis.’

WILLIAM: ‘I would not care to die if my sister were here to prepare me for my burial.’

ELIZABETH: ‘A hopeless wish for a lost soul. Your sister would never be in this savage country. I gather you were captured with another man.’

WILLIAM: ‘My friend Pylades. He is rich, his house is pure and untainted while I live nowhere and everywhere. I am an outcast, hated by the gods.’

ELIZABETH: ‘I too am far from home and live only to perform these dark rites which are so savage as not to be sung. Last night I dreamed my brother, whom I have not seen since we were children, was dead. Killed. His house in ruins. I now have nothing left to lose. Cruelty has overtaken me, possessed me. You are the first to sail here in a long time but you will never return home. You will die in pain and lie in an unmarked grave.’

SCENE TWO

The same place, next morning. A SERVANT sets up outdoor tables and chairs. Off, in the distance, FRANCIS and PETER play tennis. While the SERVANT sets up, MR TURNER enters. He is blind and confused. The SERVANT doesn’t see him and heads off, humming, to get another chair. MR TURNER hears.

MR TURNER: Am I in the garden?

The SERVANT doesn’t respond.

Excuse me, am I in the garden?

Silence. He goes a little further and finds himself on the steps of the temple. This confuses him further.

Hello, is anybody here?

He enters the temple and disappears.

[Off] Mrs Archer?

The SERVANT re-enters with another chair, followed by WILLIAM.

WILLIAM: I admire the boy’s stamina playing in this heat.

ELIZABETH: [entering behind him] His driver said he dropped him at the front door and now he’s disappeared. Vanished!

She exits again. The boys appear. PETER looks very English in his whites. FRANCIS wears tennis shoes with football socks, a T-shirt and black football shorts.

WILLIAM: Who won?

PETER: Francis, by a whisker.

FRANCIS: By a mile.

They laugh. PETER pours lemonade for his friend and himself.

WILLIAM: [to FRANCIS] You know what you two are about to do is quite dangerous.

PETER: Don’t nag, Father.

WILLIAM: Francis, didn’t Mary lay out some tennis whites for you?

FRANCIS is embarrassed.

PETER: She did, but Francis didn’t know they were for him.

ELIZABETH enters.

ELIZABETH: I can’t find him anywhere.

WILLIAM: He’ll turn up.

ELIZABETH: I want to personally give him his cheque. I think the School for the Blind should be quite pleased at how much was given last night. [Glancing at FRANCIS’ clothes] Francis, didn’t Mary—?

WILLIAM: [interrupting] We’ve been through that.

ELIZABETH: [sitting] The weather is exquisite! Have you been to Tasmania before, Francis?

FRANCIS: First time. Thank you for letting me stay here—

ELIZABETH: [waving this away] Our pleasure. Half the time we think we’re a separate country from the rest of Australia.

The boys finish their lemonade.

PETER: We’ll go and clean up.

ELIZABETH: Make it snappy. I’d like you to meet Mr Turner.

The boys exit.

Did you speak to them about their trip?

WILLIAM: They’re determined.

ELIZABETH: They should consider something less hazardous.

WILLIAM: It’s part of the attraction.

MR TURNER emerges from the temple behind them, lost and confused.

ELIZABETH: That Francis, he’s a strange boy. I watched him playing tennis from the balcony. He plays with such fe...