Sea Things (NHB Modern Plays) (eBook)

ACT ONE

Prologue

The sea.

CHORUS 01. We rage.

CHORUS 02. We foam.

CHORUS 03. We ebb.

CHORUS 04. We flow.

CHORUS 05. We bury people.

CHORUS 06. We bury secrets.

CHORUS 07. We are the giver.

CHORUS 08. And the destroyer.

CHORUS 09. We contain multitudes.

CHORUS 10. Suppressed voices.

CHORUS 11. Bubbling away.

CHORUS 12. Mutating.

CHORUS 13. Forming.

CHORUS 14. Taking hold.

CHORUS 15. Coming to the surface.

CHORUS 16. To shine magnificent.

CHORUS 17. Taking over.

CHORUS 18. Putting the world to rights.

Beat.

CHORUS 01. Three months ago we overwhelmed the town of

Hellsworth.

CHORUS 02. Buried it under our waters.

CHORUS 03. Some fled up to the hill.

CHORUS 04. To Glenhope.

CHORUS 05. An English manor house converted into a camp.

CHORUS 06. For Internally Displaced Persons.

CHORUS 07. IDPs.

CHORUS 08. The camp is run by Maxscore.

CHORUS 09. A private, for profit, company.

CHORUS 10. The IDPs who end up there have nowhere else to go.

CHORUS 11. They hope to be ‘processed’.

CHORUS 12. Given more permanent accommodation elsewhere.

CHORUS 13. The manor has many rooms.

CHORUS 14. People fight over them.

CHORUS 15. We like them fighting.

CHORUS 16. We love to see them stressed.

CHORUS 17. We’re devouring them slowly.

CHORUS 18. Like a good meal.

Beat.

CHORUS 05. A countdown has begun.

CHORUS 06. A change is coming.

CHORUS 09. We ebb.

CHORUS 15. We flow.

CHORUS 04. We rage.

ALL. We are the sea!

Departure

A hall in the manor. It’s July. Temperature 42°C.

JOHN. This is goodbye, I guess.

KIT. I’m going to miss your clichés.

JOHN (with a sigh or an eye roll). Thanks, Kit.

AGATHA. Kit is kidding.

KIT. I can speak for myself.

AGATHA. Don’t I know it.

ARETHA. Where’re you going, John?

JOHN. Maxscore has found me a job in Manchester.

ARETHA. Lucky you. We’re still waiting to be processed.

JOHN. It’s in IT sales.

AMY. Sounds fab.

JOHN. It is… except for one thing… well, for two things, really. Or one big thing, depending on how you look at it.

SAM. Spit it out already.

JOHN. I hate sales. Oh and I hate IT.

BECKY. Then why are you taking it?

JOHN. Beggars can’t be choosers.

KIT. If you drop the clichés, your life might improve.

JOHN. And your life would improve if you stop being so combative.

TINA. You’re lucky to be getting out of this place.

MALCOLM. We’re stuck here like wellies in cow shit.

KIT. I hope you’ll have AC in Manchester.

BECKY. Anywhere but here must be better.

KIT. I doubt it. The country’s gone to shit.

AGATHA. That’s the spirit, Kit.

KIT. And your optimism, Agatha, is stifling like the weather, not to mention deluded.

SAM. Leave Agatha alone.

KIT. She’s not your girlfriend.

NEIL and JAKE arrive.

NEIL. But she’s mine. Hello, darling.

AGATHA. Hey, Neil. Hi, Jake.

JAKE. Hello… everyone.

NEIL. Fuck me, you all look like you’re at a funeral. Lighten up. The worst has happened.

BECKY. You mean the flood?

NEIL. The flood and ending up here at the ironically named Glenhope. Once you’re at the bottom, the only way is up.

KIT. Don’t count on it.

NEIL. Run out of uppers, have you, Kit?

KIT. You’re an unreliable supplier, Neil.

NEIL. John, mate, I’ve got something for you.

NEIL puts a carton of pills in JOHN’s hand or pocket.

JOHN. I don’t know, Neil.

NEIL. A trip for your trip.

JAKE. He doesn’t want it.

NEIL. Sure he does.

JAKE. John, I’ll pray for you to have a safe journey.

NEIL. Jesus wept.

JAKE. People are disappearing. They’re leaving the camp and are never heard from again.

JOHN. People just want to put this place behind them.

AGATHA. John, you’ve got to tell the outside world about this camp. How badly it’s run.

KIT. Yeah, I can really see John doing that.

AGATHA. Unlike us, he’ll have internet access. He can start a campaign.

BECKY. Is that true, John?

JOHN. I’m not sure, Becky. The government is trying to regulate the internet.

KIT. You mean censor it.

BECKY. You could stream BTS all day long!!

JOHN. Stream what?

BECKY. BTS? The Korean band? You’ve never heard of them?

AMY. Few have, Becky.

BECKY. That’s not true, Amy. BTS are huge.

AMY. They were, but like thirty years ago.

BECKY. My dad adored them.

AMY. It’s 2050. Get with the times.

BECKY. The past was way better.

KIT. What happened in the past is what’s led to this disaster.

SAM. People were afraid to look at the harsh reality.

NEIL. Not afraid. Just bored. Climate change is boring.

JAKE. How can you say that?

NEIL. I took a truth pill. I wish you would too.

ARETHA. Here is some money.

JOHN. What for?

ARETHA. Get formula for my sister’s baby.

MALCOLM. She hasn’t given birth yet.

ARETHA. You’re stupid or something? She’s due.

TINA. Don’t kick off.

JOHN hands ARETHA back her money.

JOHN. I don’t know if the army will allow me to come back here once I leave.

AGATHA. The camp authority should be supplying those things. And giving Rick his medicine.

JOHN. Rick, you haven’t said anything.

RICK. I can’t believe you’re leaving.

JOHN. I’m going to miss you, mate.

They hug.

You’re gonna be alright?

RICK. They tell me my medicine should arrive any day now.

KIT. You’re better off dead.

JAKE. Jesus, Kit.

JOHN. That was inappropriate.

NEIL. Kit, darling, you need to chill.

JOHN. Remember what I told you, Rick.

RICK nods.

SALLY, KIERAN and PAT arrive wearing distinct uniforms. The atmosphere shifts.

NEIL. Here comes the law.

SALLY. Are you ready, John?

JOHN. I am.

KIERAN. Bags packed?

NEIL. What bags? Poor sod has only the clothes on his back.

KIERAN. We need to talk, Neil.

NEIL. I have nothing to say to you.

KIERAN. There are rules about what can be brought from Hellsworth and how.

AGATHA. If you were doing a better job, Neil wouldn’t need to /

JAKE. Agatha!

KIERAN. Wouldn’t need to what?

AGATHA. Nothing.

SALLY. Cat caught your tongue?

Beat.

John, Pat is going to take you to the train station.

KIERAN. In the company car. We will be charging you for the cost, I’m afraid. Not now, when you get paid.

PAT. The army has given us the all-clear to pass the checkpoint. It’s about an hour’s drive. You’re in safe hands.

KIERAN. Ready?

JOHN. Yes.

The IDPS gather around JOHN and hug him.

The Kiss

Everyone exits except PAT and JOHN. They are in the car driving.

JOHN. I haven’t been in a car in… I don’t know how long.

PAT carries on driving.

I’m going to miss everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to be getting out. Even though I’ll be doing a job I hate. I’ve always gone with the flow, ended up in jobs I hated, in relationships I’ve hated. But I adapt, you know. Is that resilience? If your life turns out shit, it’s not resilience, just stupidity. I miss so much about the outside world… I miss… I miss takeaways. Yeah, I’d like to say I miss art galleries or the theatre or something. But no, I miss takeaways. I don’t understand why they picked Glenhope to be an IDP camp. It’s in the middle of nowhere. Did the government do this on purpose so we wouldn’t talk about how bad the flood was? Sorry, there are lots of conspiracy theories going round. It must be hard on you, too. It’s not like it was your childhood ambition to work as an officer for Maxscore, was it? Or was it?… Was it? Sorry I’ll shut up. I talk a lot when I’m nervous. Well, when I am excited. When I am nervous and when I am excited. I’m babbling. I’ll be quiet.

PAT stops the car.

Why have we stopped?

PAT gets into the back seat next to JOHN.

PAT. We’ve been watching you, John.

JOHN. Who is ‘we’?

PAT. And we think you’re ready.

JOHN. Ready for what?

PAT. It won’t hurt. Much.

JOHN....