Work Text:
1959
Lights up: a spotlight on PETER on each side of the stage. He holds a copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The light from the windows suggests midday on stage left and late evening on stage right.
Stage left: PETER sits at a desk in a classroom. Stage right: PETER stands in a boy’s room in the middle of a group of four other boys, including ANTHONY, all holding bottles of alcohol they’re too young to legally be drinking.
Simultaneously:
*TEACHER: Will you read Jack, Peter?
*ANTHONY: Will you read Gwendolyn, Peter?
PETER stands up (on both sides of the stage). He begins to read, nervously and quietly on stage left, confidently and theatrically on stage right. As he reads, the other boys laugh, maliciously on stage left, genuinely on stage right. On stage left, another STUDENT mimes Gwendolyn’s lines. On stage right, ANTHONY mimes Jack’s lines.
PETER: Charming day it has been, Miss Fairfax.
PETER: Pray don’t talk to me about the weather, Mr. Worthing. Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite certain that they mean something else. And that makes me so nervous.
PETER: I do mean something else.
PETER: I thought so. In fact, I am never wrong.
PETER: And I would like to be allowed to take advantage of Lady Bracknell’s temporary absence…
PETER: I would certainly advise you to do so. Mamma has a way of coming back suddenly into a room that I have often had to speak to her about.
PETER: Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you I have admired you more than any girl… I have ever met since… I met you.
PETER: Yes, I am quite well aware of the fact. And I often wish that in public, at any rate, you had been more demonstrative. For me you have always had an irresistible fascination. Even before I met you I was far from indifferent to you. We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits, I am told; and my ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you.
PETER: You really love me, Gwendolen?
PETER: Passionately!
PETER: Darling! You don’t know how happy you’ve made me.
PETER: My own Ernest!
On both sides of the stage, PETER pauses.
Simultaneously:
*TEACHER: They embrace.
*FRIEND: They embrace!
On both sides of the stage, the boys laugh even more than before. PETER hesitates a moment longer, then, simultaneously:
*PETER: But you don’t really mean to say that you couldn’t love me if my name wasn’t Ernest?
*STUDENT: But your name is Ernest.
*PETER: Yes, I know it is. But supposing it was something else? Do you mean to say you couldn’t love me then?
*STUDENT: Ah! that is clearly a metaphysical speculation, and like most metaphysical speculations has very little reference at all to the actual facts of real life, as we know them.
*PETER (stage right) drops the book and embraces ANTHONY, then kisses his shoulder, his cheek, and finally his mouth. ANTHONY returns the kiss. It is a messy, inexperienced kiss, but the other boys on stage right cheer.
Lights down.
1966
Lights up: a spotlight on PETER on each side of the stage. The light from the windows suggests early morning on stage left and around midnight on stage right.
Stage left: PETER is in his living room wearing boxing gloves. He is standing opposite his FATHER, who is also wearing boxing gloves which PETER punches. Peter’s arms are quite thin and he doesn’t seem to have much skill – this is new to him. Stage right: PETER is in the middle of a room with twelve other men. ANTHONY has his arm in his and is guiding him through the room. They each hold drinks in their free hand.
A MAN (1) walks quickly in front of Peter and Anthony, almost bumping into them, as he makes a beeline for another MAN (2) on the other side of the room.
MAN (1): Darling! How bona to vada your dolly eek again!
MAN (1) kisses each of the MAN (2)’s cheeks, resting his hands on his upper arms.
MAN (2): I thought you weren’t coming! Looking fantabulosa, though. Love the drag, very zhooshy.
MAN (1): Been to the crimper and got my riah all done up and all.
MAN (2): Get you! Go on, then, who are you trying to blag?
MAN (1): Haven’t you seen who’s here?
MAN (1) turns and points past Peter and Anthony to a man at the back of the stage.
MAN (2): Well! Aren’t you going to introduce me?
MAN (1): I don’t want to ruin my chances. Look at the lacoddies on you, I can’t compete.
MAN (2): Go on, I only want an ogle.
MAN (1): Oh, alright, if you mean it.
Both MEN walk across the stage on either side of Peter and Anthony.
PETER: I don’t understand a word of this, Anthony.
ANTHONY: You will. Don’t take that long really, if you come to places like this often enough. You just pick it up.
PETER: I dunno. I don’t see why I need to. I mean, I’ve got you, don’t I? I dunno why I need to know how to talk to other blokes.
Simultaneously:
*Stage left: Peter’s phone starts to ring. Peter’s FATHER steps back and starts to take his gloves off.
*ANTHONY: It’s not about that. I wouldn’t be trying to teach you if it was, would I? It’s so you can talk to me.
PETER: I’ll get it.
Simultaneously:
*Stage left: PETER takes his gloves off, puts them down, wipes his hands off on his trousers and goes to the phone.
*PETER: I do talk to you.
*ANTHONY: Yeah, when we’re alone. Don’t you wanna be able to talk to me any time? Properly, I mean, you know.
*PETER: Like what?
*ANTHONY: Like –
Simultaneously:
*ANTHONY turns away, then turns back to PETER, pretending he’s just bumped into him.
*Stage left: PETER answers the phone.
*PETER: Hello?
Simultaneously:
*ANTHONY: Hello, fortuni!
*PETER: Hello, fortuni!
PETER: What does that mean?
ANTHONY: “Hello, beautiful.”
PETER (stage right) laughs and looks away, still smiling. PETER (stage left) laughs on the phone.
Lights down.
1972
In the middle of the stage, dividing it in half, is a tall mirror with the glass removed. Behind and slightly to the side of the mirror on each side is a stool and a dressing table with make-up and a cloth on it. There is a record player in front of mirror in the middle of the stage. The light from the windows suggests early morning on stage left and twilight on stage right. Lights up: spotlight on Peter (stage right).
PETER (stage right) is dressed in slightly flared trousers, a shirt and flat shoes. He approaches the record player, turns it on and gently places the needle on the record, four tracks in. David Bowie’s “Starman” begins to play and he sings along.
Second spotlight on PETER (stage left) as he enters the room.
PETER (stage left) drunkenly sways on his feet. He has glittery make-up on his face and is wearing tight trousers, platform boots and a t-shirt that ends above his belly button. PETER (stage left) and PETER (stage right) stand in front of the mirror and undress down to their underwear, dropping their clothes into a pile in the middle of the stage between the mirror and the record player. When they are both undressed they reach into the pile and pick up the clothes that the other was wearing and put them on, then pull the dressing table and stool on their side of the stage in front of the mirror and sit down. PETER (stage left) removes his makeup while PETER (stage right) applies his. Near the end of the song there is a knock at the door, and PETER (both sides) turns towards the edge of the stage.
Simultaneously:
*PETER (stage left) quickly turns off the record player and scoops up the makeup from the dressing table and shoves it in the inbuilt drawer.
*PETER (stage right) adds a few final touches to his makeup, then goes to the window.
*PETER: Ta-da!
*ANTHONY (offstage, laughing): Perfect!
PETER (both sides) exits the stage.
Lights down.
1984
On stage left, a double bed is positioned on a slightly raised platform, indicating a bedroom, with stairs going down to a living room on stage right. Lights up: spotlight on PETER (stage left) and full lighting on stage right where the TV is on, showing a broadcast of striking miners clashing with the police. The light from the windows suggests midday on both sides.
PETER finishes painting a placard with the words ‘OUT & PROUD’, then stands up, holding the placard, and goes down the stairs to the living room. He walks across the stage, then hesitates. He watches the TV for a moment. These men’s struggles seem much more real than his. He turns around and goes back up the stairs.
Lights down, TV off.
1987
The stage is set as before. The TV turns back on, broadcasting Margaret Thatcher’s speech to the Conservative Party at their annual conference:
But it’s the plight of individual boys and girls that worries me most. Too often, our children don’t get the education they need, the education they deserve. Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life – yes, cheated.
Lights up: spotlight on Peter and Anthony (stage left).
PETER and ANTHONY go down the stairs, hand in hand, each holding a placard, and exit stage right.
Lights down. Audio from ‘80s Pride marches are played for a few seconds before fading out.
1988 – 2015
Lights up: full lights on stage left. The light from the windows fluctuates on both sides, rapidly going through indications of different times of day. The stage is set as before.
PETER and ANTHONY are in the middle of the room on stage left, unpacking boxes and taking out photos of the two of them together and displaying them around the room. Once they are all displayed, PETER picks up a few and carries them through to stage right while ANTHONY exits stage left. They are replaced by slightly older actors while out of the audience’s sight. This continues throughout the scene – as ANTHONY displays more photos on stage left, PETER carries more of the older ones through to stage right, the actors being replaced by older ones each time they go offstage, until there are an equal number of photos on each side and Peter and Anthony are old. Near the end of the scene, ANTHONY brings in photos of him and Peter on their wedding day, at which point wedding bells play and PETER kisses ANTHONY as he returns to stage left to collect more of their older photos.
Lights down.
2016
Lights up: full lights on both sides of the stage. The light from the windows suggests midday on stage left and early evening on stage right.
PETER is sitting with ANTHONY on a sofa in their living room. There are photos of them throughout the years on a mantelpiece at the back of the stage. PETER has his arm over the back of the sofa, resting his hand on Anthony’s shoulder. ANTHONY has his hand on Peter’s knee. An INTERVIEWER sits beside Peter, facing a CAMERA OPERATOR who sits on their other side.
On stage right, a TV is turned on to a news channel, on which Peter’s interview is being broadcast, in sync with the interview on stage left.
INTERVIEWER: Good afternoon, I’m here with Peter, one of the organisers of Pride in London this year, and his partner Anthony.
PETER: Husband.
The INTERVIEWER turns to Peter and Anthony.
INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry, husband! How long have you been married?
ANTHONY: Well, it depends on how you define it, really – we got a Civil Partnership in 2005 and then we had our second wedding, I suppose, in 2013.
INTERVIEWER: Which was when the Marriage Act was passed.
ANTHONY: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Do you feel that was a significant step forward?
PETER: Well, it was significant for us, yeah, but you hear people saying that, you know, the Tories passed the bill so we’ve got nothing to worry about now, and I just want to say to them, like, not all of the Tories voted in favour, and Cameron idolises Thatcher, he idolises her, and that’s where it all started. People were on the streets demanding the right to marry because their lovers were dying in hospital and they didn’t have the visitation rights to be there until the end. We had friends go like that, alone, and you know, we’re very lucky to still be together. We grew up together and we’re incredibly lucky to be sitting here together now, and the bill won’t bring our friends back, and it’s not enough. It’s not enough. That’s why I got involved with Pride because, you know, what about the people who aren’t even thinking about marriage, what about children? We don’t just need people saying “it’s alright for you to get married now,” you know, we need people saying “it’s alright for you to exist.” It’s alright for girls to like girls and boys to like boys. And who’s gonna say that? Not David Cameron, not any of that lot. Not teachers, not vicars, not even the TV, because things are improving, yeah, but, you know, name an action hero, any action hero.
INTERVIEWER: James Bond.
PETER: James Bond, who else?
INTERVIEWER: Indiana Jones, John McClane, Jason Bourne…
PETER: Exactly, and superheroes, you know, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Iron Man, what do they all have in common?
The INTERVIEWER shrugs.
PETER: They’re all straight, all of them. And you know, these are the models little boys are being given, this is who they’re being told to look up to. It was the same when we were young lads and it’s the same now. These are “real men”, you know? And that’s why it’s not enough that we can get married, because you know, it’s like, what good is that to a scared little boy who knows he’s different but doesn’t understand it because nobody’s talking about it? That’s not good enough. That’s why I’m talking to you now, because who’s gonna say this except us, except the people who’ve been through all of that themselves? Little boys need men like me.
PETER takes ANTHONY’s hand. They look at each other for a brief moment, smiling fondly.
PETER: Little boys need men like us.
Lights down, TV off.