HEAD.
A Play for Radio by
Commissioned and Broadcast by
BBC Radio 4 on
© Copyright 1996
THE
ACTION OF THE PLAY
CHARACTERS:
ELLA:
POET: A confused romantic poet.
WOLFSKIN: Ella's brother
ENZO;
GHOST/THE HEAD: Ella’s lover
Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Isabella - Liza Sadovy
Enzo/The Head - Tom Hollander
Wolfskin -
Sean Baker
The Poet - Mark Bonnar
With special
thanks:
To Janet Campbell for
pointing me at the poem and Hilary Norrish for commissioning it.
To my resident Dramaturg
Duncan Gough and to Jonquil Panting for treading this
weird landscape with inspiration and patience.
SCENE ONE: PRE-CREDITS.
A GARRET.
THE POET IS WRITING using a scratchy quill pen.
HE SITS IN A SMALL BUT COMFORTABLE GARRET ROOM WITH A CRACKLING FIRE FOR WARMTH
POET:
[WRITING]
‘..........Sick and wan
The brothers’ faces in the ford did seem,
Lorenzo’s flush with love.------- They pass’d the water
Into a forest quiet for the slaughter.
There was Lorenzo slain and buried in..................’
[FLY BUZZES IRRITATINGLY, POET TRIES TO SWOT IT].
[SWOT]
Go buzz somewhere else.
[WRITING]
‘There in that forest did his great love cease;.........’
[FLY BUZZ, SWOT]
THE FLY CONTINUES TO BUZZ.
[WRITING.]
‘It was a vision.----- In the drowsy gloom,
The dull of
Lorenzo stood, and wept: the forest tomb...............
Strange sound it was, when the pale shadow spoke.............’
FLY BUZZ. THE SOUND OF THE FLY
GETS NEARER
CREDITS:
SCENE TWO:
ELLA’S BEDROOM. ELLA IS CRYING.
GHOST:
Isabella.... Isabella... .Isabella....
[ELLA STOPS CRYING]
Isabella....
[SLOWLY]
Don’t be afraid.
ELLA:
[WHISPERS URGENTLY]
Enzo?
GHOST:
[SLOWLY]
Don’t be afraid.
ELLA:
[HOPEFULLY]
Enzo?
GHOST:
I am here.
ELLA:
Where?
GHOST:
At the foot of your bed........
ELLA:
Enzo!
GHOST:
[SLOWLY AS SHE LOOKS AT HIM]
Don’t be afraid.
ELLA:
[INTAKE OF BREATH]
Why are you so... Pale?... So... Undone?.... How did you get here? Where have you been?........ I’ve been waiting....... You........
GHOST:
[INTERRUPTS]
Your grief heaved me from the grave.
ELLA:
Grave?
GHOST:
[CONT’G]
Stalked my death..............
ELLA:
Death?
GHOST:
[INDIGN
You wail so much!
ELLA:
I didn’t know where you were...... You just left without........
[RETORT]
Why didn’t you phone?
GHOST:
I wasn’t watching for death..... Murder has no symptoms!
ELLA:
[SHOCKED]
Murder!
GHOST:
Your brother.
ELLA:
Wolfskin?
GHOST:
Through the heart..... It’s not only his body he likes piercing....... And now your grief shatters my death.
ELLA:
Your death?...... When you left I was....... Wolfskin said .......
[CRIES OUT]
Hold me!
GHOST:
I cannot, this image is transient.
ELLA:
What do you mean?
GHOST:
I lie Underleaf, earthbound.
ELLA:
[DESPERATE]
If you love me don’t torment me with riddles!
GHOST:
The quickening pulse of the soul struggles to free itself. Come find my deathplace. My burying was done in disguise. Mark my mortsafe with this grief which rocks life, mark it forever. Lay your grief in the ground, weep over me and cool my unripe soul.
ELLA:
How will I find you?
GHOST:
The forest holds my boneseed.
ELLA:
I will find you Enzo. I will find you!
GHOST:
I return to my hiding place.
ELLA:
My eyes are covered, go quickly..... ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN.
[SHE OPENS HER EYES, ENZO
HAS GONE. GETS UP
Even If you’ve fallen off the earth... I’ll find your carcass.... I’ll tell it I love it, wrap it in softness, hold your smell to my heart. Coming to find you ready or not.
[SHE OPENS THE DOOR ]
WOLFSKIN:
[SUDDENLY, LOUDLY
Where are you going?
ELLA:
[STARTLED]
Wolfskin.... I...
SHE TRIES TO GET PAST HIM.
WOLFSKIN:
[STOPS HER]
You can’t go out there.
ELLA:
I want to find him. My lover..........
WOLFSKIN:
I told you he’s gone off with a floozy.
ELLA:
He told me you’d ....... You’d.......
WOLFSKIN:
What? What did he tell you?
ELLA:
[CH
That he loved me........
WOLFSKIN:
He had that wandering man glint.
ELLA:
You hurt me.
WOLFSKIN:
He’s gone...... Bury his memory deep.
ELLA:
I need something to bury! Memory’s too cheap.
WOLFSKIN:
It’s dangerous out there.... The lift might get stuck, the beggars will eat you. You are safe here.
ELLA:
If I look out on the balcony.
WOLFSKIN:
I’ve told you before, you must stay back.
ELLA:
I feel like a princess locked up in a tower.
WOLFSKIN:
[LAUGHS]
Go to bed Sleeping Beauty, brother Wolfskin will look after you.
ELLA:
He didn’t say good bye.
WOLFSKIN:
[FIRMLY]
Go to bed.
SCENE 2a:
THE GARRET. THE POET IS WRITING WITH HIS SCRATCHY QUILL.
POET:
When the full morning came, she had devised
How she might secret to the forest hie;
How she might find the clay, so dearly prized,
And sing it one latest lullaby............
The full text of the play is published by Seren Books in a volume of three plays Crossing The Bar, Head and Our Lady of Shadows (one stage and two radio) (Ref 1-85411-266-X).