Holding the Man Read online

  Tommy Murphy

  HOLDING THE MAN

  adapted from the book by

  Timothy Conigrave

  NICK HERN BOOKS

  London

  www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Original Production

  Characters

  Suggested Allocation of Roles

  Holding the Man

  Afterword

  Timeline

  About the Author

  Copyright and Performing Rights Information

  For Tim

  Holding the Man was commissioned and first produced by Griffin Theatre Company at the SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 9 November 2006, with the following cast:

  TIM

  Guy Edmonds

  JOHN

  Matt Zeremes

  With Jeanette Cronin, Nicholas Eadie, Robin McLeavy, Brett Stiller

  Director

  David Berthold

  Set Designer

  Brian Thomson

  Costume and Puppet Designer

  Micka Agosta

  Lighting Designer

  Stephen Hawker

  Composer and Sound Designer

  Basil Hogios

  This production was revived at the Stables during the 2007 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, and subsequently at Sydney Opera House; Company B Belvoir, Sydney; Brisbane Powerhouse; and Melbourne Theatre Company at the Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse. The play received the 2007 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award for Best Play and the Australian Writers’ Guild Award (AWGIE) for Best Play.

  The play received its North American premiere at the New Conservatory Theater Center, San Francisco, on 29 September 2007, directed by Matthew Graham Smith. The New Zealand premiere was by Silo Theatre at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland, opening on 7 August 2009, directed by Shane Bosher.

  The play received its European premiere at the Trafalgar Studios, London, on 4 May 2010 (previews from 23 April), with the following cast:

  TIM

  Guy Edmonds

  JOHN

  Matt Zeremes

  With Simon Burke, Oliver Farnworth, Anna Skellern, Jane Turner

  Director

  David Berthold

  Set Designer

  Brian Thomson

  Costume and Puppet Designer

  Micka Agosta

  Lighting Designer

  James Whiteside

  Composer and Sound Designer

  Basil Hogios

  Producers

  Daniel Sparrow and Mike Walsh Productions

  Neil Gooding Productions

  Matthew Henderson

  Suzie Franke

  Gerry Ryan

  Associate Producer

  Jaqueline Kolek

  Associate Director

  Adam Spreadbury-Maher

  Characters

  TIM

  JOHN

  At home

  In hospital/at the clinic

  DICK, Tim’s father

  DOCTOR ONE

  MARY-GERT, Tim’s mother

  DOCTOR TWO

  BOB, John’s father

  LOIS, John’s mother

  DR SHEPHERD, a psychiatrist

  At school and college

  Elsewhere

  KEVIN

  NEIL ARMSTRONG

  JULIET

  HOUSTON

  BISCUIT

  MISSION CONTROL

  JACKIE

  SCARECROW

  DERGE

  MARIE, Juliet’s mother

  ERIC

  DOOR-BITCH

  RHYS

  QUEEN

  BARTENDER

  At university

  QUEEN TWO

  LEE

  HARRY, a one-night stand

  WOODY

  NEW ROMANTIC

  ROSE

  FRANCO, a lover

  PETER

  RICHARD, an AIDS patient

  WAITER

  In the theatre/at NIDA

  DIRECTOR

  TEACHER

  NIDA ACTORS

  ACTOR ONE

  ACTOR TWO

  ACTOR THREE

  THEATRE DIRECTOR

  Suggested Allocation of Roles

  This adaptation was originally written for six actors: two actors playing Tim and John and the remaining four playing all the other characters, with meaningful and appropriate doubling where possible. It could also be performed with a larger cast.

  For the original Australian and UK productions, the doubling was as follows:

  1.

  TIM

  2.

  JOHN, MISSION CONTROL (voice)

  3.

  MARY-GERT, JACKIE, RHYS, ROSE, QUEEN, LOIS CALEO, HARRY, NIDA DIRECTOR, DOCTOR TWO, ACTOR and NIDA ACTOR

  4.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG (voice for puppet), SCARECROW, DICK, BOB CALEO, DERGE, QUEEN TWO, WOODY, FRANCO, DOCTOR ONE, THEATRE DIRECTOR and NIDA ACTOR

  5.

  JULIET, ERIC, BARTENDER, PHILIP (New Romantic), NIDA TEACHER, ACTOR, DR SHEPHERD and NIDA ACTOR

  6.

  KEVIN, MARIE, BISCUIT, LEE, DOOR-BITCH, PETER, RICHARD (voice for puppet), ACTOR, WAITER and NIDA ACTOR

  ACT ONE

  One

  The actor playing TIM enters.

  ACTOR PLAYING TIM (to the audience). Let’s begin.

  A small puppet spaceman enters.

  TIM (to the audience). At the end of the sixties the world seemed very exciting for a nine-year-old. Things were changing at an incredible rate.

  The lunar surface. NEIL ARMSTRONG is in conversation with the familiar voices and beeps of HOUSTON MISSION CONTROL.

  School. Meanwhile, TIM, nine years old, is sitting cross-legged next to KEVIN, watching the TV.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG. Okay, Houston, I’m on the porch.

  HOUSTON MISSION CONTROL. Roger, Neil. And we’re getting a picture on the TV.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG. I’m at the foot of the ladder. Going to step off the LEM now. That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

  KEVIN. Is it really there? Tim, are they up there now on the moon?

  KEVIN touches TIM’s leg.

  TIM. Yeah.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG. And Kevin’s touching my leg. Houston, do you copy?

  HOUSTON MISSION CONTROL. Roger, Neil. We’re checking that.

  TIM. The teachers are crying. Why? They’re crying.

  KEVIN puts his arm around TIM.

  HOUSTON MISSION CONTROL. We’re getting a heart rate off the graph, Neil.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG. Yeah. I know.

  KEVIN puts his lips to TIM’s cheek.

  TIM. Don’t.

  KEVIN. I wish you were a girl.

  NEIL ARMSTRONG. Kind of stirring, a buzz coursing through me.

  HOUSTON MISSION CONTROL. Roger, Neil. Just ride it out.

  KEVIN. Tim…

  TIM. Just try to pay attention, Kevin.

  KEVIN. Maybe we shouldn’t play poofters any more.

  TIM (aside). My God, I’m a poofter.

  Two

  Backstage at a shopping centre. TIM is alone. Enter an actor costumed as the SCARECROW from The Wizard of Oz.

  SCARECROW. Who are you? You’re not supposed to be backstage.

  TIM. I’m Tim Conigrave.

  SCARECROW. Who?

  TIM. I am a friend of Juliet’s. She’s in the centre-court floor-show with you.

  SCARECROW. Oh, you’re Tim.

  TIM. Yes, why? What have you heard about me?

  SCARECROW. Nothing.

  TIM. Must be terrifying in front of an audience. Your show was really good today.

  SCARECROW. Yeah, well, it pays the bills. I’m not really… I mean, a
lot of my ideas weren’t taken on board. Some. I went to NIDA.

  TIM. What’s that?

  SCARECROW. Acting school. The national drama school. I left after second year because it can be limiting – that’s the decision I made – but I mean I also do voice-overs and write but this isn’t really me because I’m saving up to go to the States. Juliet says you think you might be gay.

  TIM. What? She told you?

  SCARECROW. Yes.

  TIM. But that’s our secret.

  SCARECROW. I’m a bit of a role model for her and the others. I only wanted to say, mate, don’t you think it’s a bit early to make that decision? You’re only fifteen, aren’t you?

  TIM. It’s not really a decision.

  SCARECROW. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.

  TIM. I know.

  SCARECROW. Do you have doubts?

  TIM. No. Not since primary school. Now I have unrequited fantasies.

  SCARECROW. Which is sweet but just don’t close off your options. That’s kind of a motto for me.

  TIM. Okay.

  SCARECROW. Okay.

  Enter JULIET.

  JULIET ( to SCARECROW). Sorry, Bruce. Sorry about ‘If I Only Had a Brain’.

  SCARECROW. It happens. I know that. Anyone waiting for photos?

  JULIET. Some.

  SCARECROW exits.

  TIM. I know why they talent spotted you at the Maldon Fête, Juliet.

  JULIET. Thanks, Tim.

  TIM. You made a lot of shoppers happy today.

  JULIET. They’re doing Shakespeare at your school with my school next year. You should audition with me.

  TIM. Me? I couldn’t do that.

  JULIET. It’s Romeo and Juliet, Tim. I think I’ll get the role.

  TIM. Because your name is Juliet?

  JULIET. Not only that. Audition, Tim. We’d spend more time together.

  TIM. I’m sad I can’t be your boyfriend, Dorothy.

  JULIET. Oh, look, I’m sick of this. I mean, you say you’re gay, I’ve said that’s okay. Big deal.

  TIM. I had to tell you because I went into such a spakko mood at the dance, outside, when we kissed, and I touched your breast and then went all quiet and then I wrote you that strange letter and I don’t have feelings about girls, but the guys at school? All the time. That guy, John, I pointed out at the dance –

  JULIET. He had his girlfriend.

  TIM. So did I. Sorry.

  JULIET. That’s okay.

  TIM. And she wasn’t John’s girlfriend. They’re just friends.

  JULIET. Like us?

  TIM. Not like us. We’ll be friends for ever. She barely knows John.

  JULIET. Okay.

  TIM. Like I’d know. I don’t talk to John. I never have. I cried driving home from the dance. Supertramp came on the radio and I hid my face from Dad and I cried. I dunno why.

  JULIET. Have you ever had sex?

  TIM. Yes. With Kevin, a boy from primary school.

  JULIET. You did it in primary school?

  TIM. Not till upper primary. Another time too, more recently, at the footy oval, near my house.

  JULIET. Who?

  TIM. A man called Terry I met on a train.

  JULIET. A man?

  TIM. A boy. About eighteen. He had a boyfriend.

  JULIET. He cheated?

  TIM. They had an arrangement. Just as long as they didn’t bring someone home.

  JULIET. Oh.

  TIM. I know. I wouldn’t do that if I had a boyfriend.

  JULIET. And did you just start talking on the train? How’d you know he was a poofter?

  TIM. Um. Well. I was coming home from the fundraising concert for the famine in Bangladesh. We got talking about the bass player from The Little River Band. Terry led it. He was more experienced than me. He had a magazine with pictures of men kissing so it was pretty clear where we stood.

  JULIET. I hope you weren’t in danger.

  TIM. No. Terry was nice. I liked that it felt dangerous a bit.

  JULIET. No, you mustn’t. People get abducted, Tim.

  TIM. This guy John is really quiet and gentle but good at everything.

  JULIET. David Bowie is a bisexual. He likes men and women. Have you ever had sex with a girl?

  TIM. No. Never.

  JULIET. Maybe you should.

  TIM. John’s shy but popular and he has beautiful eyes, dark brown with these eyelashes. He’s captain of the Under-Sixteens.

  JULIET. Well, I don’t think he’ll be –

  TIM. No, I don’t think he’s a poof. But what should I do?

  JULIET. With what?

  TIM. With John. Where do I go from here?

  JULIET. Tim, talk to him.

  TIM. Talk to him?

  JULIET gives TIM a friendly kiss and exits.

  Three

  Classroom. JOHN is checking over his homework. Class is about to begin.

  TIM. Is this… Is someone sitting here?

  JOHN. Nup.

  TIM sits next to JOHN.

  TIM. Do the homework?

  JOHN. Yep.

  TIM. Me too. Difficult?

  JOHN. Nup.

  TIM. Geography sux.

  JOHN. ’t’s-all-right.

  TIM. Yeah. It’s all right.

  Silence.

  I’m in a play with your brother. Seniors’ Shakespeare.

  JOHN. Oh yeah?

  TIM. Yeah. Romeo and Juliet. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

  JOHN. Boring?

  TIM. No. It’s a love story.

  JOHN. Playin’ Romeo?

  TIM. No. The competition.

  JOHN. Who?

  TIM. Paris, the one Juliet leaves for Romeo.

  JOHN. Poor Paris.

  JOHN is more concerned with his workbook. TIM tries to sneak a glance at JOHN.

  TIM. You’re up for the APS Best and Fairest.

  JOHN. Think I’ve ruined my chances. Argued with an umpire. Which team do you play for?

  TIM. I play soccer.

  JOHN. A soccer choc.

  TIM. Used to play firsts basketball. I’m Tim.

  JOHN. John.

  TIM. Yeah.

  JOHN. Better pay attention.

  JOHN’s pencil case is in reach. TIM gives into the urge and scrawls across it. JOHN looks at TIM’s graffiti.

  (Reading.) ‘U shall win?’

  TIM. The best and fairest medal.

  JOHN. Oh ’s-a new pencil case.

  TIM. Sorry.

  JOHN. No, ’t’s-okay.

  TIM finds that JOHN’s pencil case is now covered in their graffiti.

  TIM (aside, reading the pencil case).

  ‘There’s hope for the living and hope for the dead,

  But there’s no hope for John ’cos he’s gone in the head.’

  I wrote that. It was funny at the time.

  ‘If it feels good and hurts no one, do it!’

  You loop your lower-case ls like we’re meant to.

  ‘John has asked me to stop writing on his pencil case, so I won’t do it any more.

  See, I’ve already stopped.’

  This went on for ages.

  (To JOHN.) Hey, congrats, hey.

  JOHN. Thanks.

  TIM. On your trophy.

  JOHN. Yeah.

  TIM. I need to update your pencil case. Not ‘U shall win.’ TIM scribbles out the word ‘shall’ on the pencil case. ‘U win.’

  JOHN. When’s your play?

  TIM. Thursday and Friday.

  JOHN. You must be nervous.

  TIM. Shitting myself.

  JOHN. Poor Paris.

  TIM. Are you coming?

  JOHN. Don’t know much about theatre.

  TIM. I thought you’d be coming ’cos your brother’s in it.

  JOHN. Guess I should try. Thursday, maybe.

  Four

  Xavier school hall, after the show. Enter DICK and MARYGERT, TIM’s dad and mum.

  DICK. Here he is. Larry Olivier. />
  TIM. I forgot my lines.

  DICK. Oh no, we wouldn’t have noticed except for the prompt you got.

  MARY-GERT. I don’t think I did notice.

  DICK. Yes, you said –

  MARY-GERT. Oh no, I was just caught up in the emotion of it all.

  DICK. Yes. Really good.

  MARY-GERT. Who are you looking for, Tim?

  TIM. No one.

  MARY-GERT. Do you have to see a teacher before we get away?

  Enter JULIET and her mum MARIE.

  TIM. No.

  JULIET. Hi Tim.

  TIM. Hi Juliet.

  JULIET. This is my mum, Marie.

  TIM. Pleased to meet you. These are my parents, Mary-Gert and Dick.

  DICK. You must be very proud of your daughter.

  MARIE. Yes. Lovely.

  DICK. Few shaky flowers at the crypt.

  MARY-GERT. Dick.

  DICK. But very good.

  MARY-GERT (to MARIE). Weren’t they lovely? Pleased to meet you.

  JULIET (to TIM). D’you sign my programme?

  As the parents talk, TIM and JULIET have their own separate conversation.

  MARIE (to MARY-GERT and DICK). Lovely, yes.

  TIM (to JULIET). Yeah.

  DICK (to MARIE). Yes.

  JULIET (to TIM). Did he come?

  MARY-GERT (to MARIE and DICK). The costumes –

  TIM (to JULIET). It was John I was imagining dead –

  MARIE (to MARY-GERT and DICK). Lovely.

  TIM (to JULIET).…at the graveside –

  MARY-GERT (to MARIE). Yes.

  TIM (to JULIET).…to make me cry on stage –

  MARIE (to MARY-GERT and DICK). Yes.

  TIM (to JULIET).…and he couldn’t even bother to show.

  MARY-GERT (to MARIE). All the emotions, I thought. It had all the emotions.