Brian Friel Plays 1 (21 page)

Read Brian Friel Plays 1 Online

Authors: Brian Friel

(
MICHAEL
switches
radio
off
.
)

LILY
:
Cheeky young brat, that Skinner! Easy seen he never had no mother to tan his backside.

MICHAEL
:
Was he on the march at all?

LILY
:
Who?

MICHAEL
:
Skinner.

LILY
:
How would I know?

MICHAEL
:
My suspicion is he just turned up for the meeting.

LILY
:
The chairman worked for a full year after we married. In Thompson’s foundry. But the fumes destroyed the tissues of his lungs. D’you think he likes sitting at the fire all day, reading the wanes’ comics?

MICHAEL
:
That Skinner’s a trouble-maker.

LILY
:
But for all he got no education he’s a damn-sight smarter nor that buck.

MICHAEL
:
That’s what I was talking about earlier, Lily. Characters like that need watching.

LILY
:
Who?

MICHAEL
:
Him.

LILY
:
What about him?

MICHAEL
:
I have a feeling about him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a revolutionary.

LILY
:
What do they call you again, young fella?

MICHAEL
:
Michael.

LILY
:
Michael’s a nice name. I have a Michael. He’ll be eight next October. You stick to your books, son.

MICHAEL
:
We’ll watch him, Lily. I’m uneasy about that fella.

(
DODDS
enters.
)

DODDS
:
If you are born into the subculture of poverty, what do you inherit? Well, you inherit an economic condition, and you inherit a social and psychological condition. The economic characteristics include wretched housing, a constant struggle for survival, a chronic shortage of cash, persistent unemployment and very often real hunger or at least malnutrition. And of course the economic environment conditions the psychological and social man so that he constantly feels inferior, marginal, helpless, dependent. Another inheritance is his inability to control impulse: he is present-time orientated and seldom defers gratification, never plans for the future, and endures his here and now with resignation and frustration. The reason for this sense of defeat is the existence of a set of values in the dominant class which stresses the accumulation of wealth and property, the desirability of ‘improvement’ and explains the low economic status of the poor as a result of their personal shiftlessness and inadequacy.

(
The
JUDGE
appears
in
the
battlements
and
BRIGADIER
JOHNSON
-
HANSBURY
enters
right,
DODDS
does
not
move.
)

JUDGE
:
Brigadier Johnson-Hansbury, you were in charge of security on that day.

BRIGADIER
:
That is correct, my lord.

JUDGE
:
Could you tell us what strength was at your disposal?

BRIGADIER
:
The 8th Infantry Brigade, 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment, 1st Battalion King’s Own Border Regiment, two companies of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

JUDGE
:
And equipment?

BRIGADIER
:
Twelve Saracens, ten Saladins, two dozen Ferrets and four water-cannons, and a modicum of air-cover.

JUDGE
:
And the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Defence Regiment?

BRIGADIER
:
They were present, my lord.

JUDGE
:
Under your command?

BRIGADIER
:
As a civilian authority.

JUDGE
:
Under your command?

BRIGADIER
:
Under my command.

JUDGE
:
I’m an old army man myself, Brigadier, and it does seem a rather formidable array to line up against three terrorists, however well armed they could have been.

BRIGADIER
:
At that point we had no idea how many gunmen were inside the Guildhall. Our first reports indicated forty.

JUDGE
:
But those reports were inaccurate.

BRIGADIER
:
They were, my lord. But I would like to point out that we were in an exposed position between the terrorists inside the Guildhall and the no-go Bogside areas at our flank and back.

JUDGE
:
I see. And you, personally, gave the command over the loudhailer to the terrorists inside to surrender?

BRIGADIER
:
I did, my lord. On two occasions.

JUDGE
:
And approximately ten minutes after the second occasion, they emerged?

BRIGADIER
:
That is correct.

JUDGE
:
Brigadier, a persistent suggestion keeps cropping up in the various reports about the events of that day and indeed it was voiced strenuously by counsel for the deceased within these very walls, and I would like to have your reaction to it. The suggestion is that no attempt was made to arrest these people as they emerged, but that they were dealt with ‘punitively’, as it has been phrased, ‘to teach the ghettos a lesson’.

BRIGADIER
:
My lord, they emerged firing from the Guildhall. There was no possibility whatever of effecting an arrest operation. And at that point we understood they were the advance group of a much larger force.

JUDGE
:
So you dismiss the suggestion?

BRIGADIER
:
Completely, my lord.

JUDGE
:
And an arrest was not attempted?

BRIGADIER
:
Because it wasn’t possible in the circumstances.

JUDGE
:
And had you known, as you learned later, Brigadier, that there were only three terrorists involved, would you have acted differently?

BRIGADIER
:
My orders would have been the same, my lord.

JUDGE
:
Thank you, Brigadier.

(
The
JUDGE
disappears.
BRIGADIER
JOHNSON
-
HANSBURY
goes
off
right.
)

DODDS
:
Middle-class people – with deference, people like you and me – we tend to concentrate on the negative aspects of the culture of poverty. We tend to associate negative values to such traits as present-time orientation, and concrete versus abstract orientation. Now, I don’t want to idealize or romanticize the culture of poverty; as someone has said, ‘It’s easier to praise poverty than to live in it.’ But there are some positive aspects which we cannot overlook completely. Present-orientated living, for example, may sharpen one’s attitude for spontaneity and for excitement, for the appreciation of the sensual, for the indulgence of impulse; and these aptitudes are often blunted or muted in people like us who are middle-class and future-orientated. So that to live in the culture of poverty is, in a sense, to live with the reality of the moment – in other words to practise a sort of existentialism. The result is that people with a culture of poverty suffer much less from repression than we of the middle-class suffer and indeed, if I may make the suggestion with due qualification, they often have a hell of a lot more fun than we have.

(
DODDS
goes
off
left.
The
dressing-room
door
is
flung
open.
SKINNER
is
dressed
in
splendid
mayoral
robe
and
chain
and
wears
an
enormous
ceremonial
hat
jauntily
on
his
head.
At
the
door:
)

SKINNER
:
‘You’re much deceived; in nothing am I changed/But in my garments!’

(
He
comes
into
the
parlour
carrying
robes
and
head-gear
for
the
other
two.
LILY
gives
one
of
her
whoops.
)

LILY
:
O Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

SKINNER
:
‘Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all.’

LILY
:
Mother of God, would you look at him! And the hat! What’s the rig, Skinner?

(
SKINNER
distributes
the
gowns.
)

SKINNER
:
Mayor’s robes, alderman’s robes, councillor’s robes. Put them on and I’ll give you both the freedom of the city.

LILY
:
Skinner, you’re an eejit!

SKINNER
:
The ceremony begins in five minutes. The world’s press and television are already gathering outside. ‘Social upheaval in Derry. Three gutties become freemen.’ Apologies, Mr Hegarty! ‘Two gutties.’ What happened to the Orphans’Orchestra?

(
He
switches
on
the
radio.
A
military
band.
They
have
to
shout
to
be
heard
above
it.
)

MICHAEL
:
Catch yourself on, Skinner.

LILY
:
Lord, the weight of them! They’d cover my settee just lovely. (
To
MICHAEL
) Put it on for the laugh, young fella.

SKINNER
:
Don the robes, ladies and gentlemen, and taste real power.

(
LILY
puts
on
her
robe
and
head-dress.
MICHAEL
reluctantly
puts
on
the
robe
only.
SKINNER
has
the
Union
Jack
in
one
hand
and
the
ceremonial
sword
in
the
other.
)

LILY
:
Lookat-lookat-lookat me, would you! (
She
dances
around
the
parlour.
) Di-do-do-da-di-doo-da-da.

(
Sings
)
‘She is the Lily of Laguna; she is my Lily and my –’. Mother of God, if the wanes could see me now!

SKINNER
:
Or the chairman.

LILY
:
Ooooops!

SKINNER
:
Lily, this day I confer on you the freedom of the City of Derry. God bless you, my child. And now, Mr Hegarty, I think we’ll make you a life peer. Arise Lord Michael – of Gas.

LILY
:
They make you feel great all the same. You feel you could – you could give benediction!

SKINNER
:
Make way – make way for the Lord and Lady Mayor of Derry Colmcille!

LILY
:
My shoes – my shoes! I can’t appear without my shoes! (
MICHAEL
takes
off
his
robe
and
sits
down.
LILY
joins
SKINNER
in
a
ceremonial
parade
before
imaginary
people.
They
both
affect
very
grand
accents.
Very
fast.
)