Fire Below Read online

  Gerry very good

  Tom the last conflict – what did netanyahu say

  Gerry i don’t give a fuck what that bastard says

  Tom he compared what’s happening to israel to what happened to london and the blitz

  Gerry jesus christ – and you’re ok with that

  Tom i get where he’s coming from because it raises the question – what do you do

  Rosemary i’ll tell you what you do – you stop oppressing the people who are firing the rockets – because that’s the reason they’re firing them – they killed nearly a thousand palestinians – about forty israelis were killed – over twenty per cent of that thousand were children – they fucking know they’re killing children

  Tom the situation is about security – israel is being attacked so it has to defend itself – if that wasn’t the situation life would be far better in gaza and on the west bank – they are only doing what any country would do

  Gerry it’s the equivalent of mick tyson repeatedly punching a baby that’s spitting at him – and the baby can’t move to escape the blows – because there’s hundreds of other babies crowded into the same room – and you know what – they’d fuckin blow that room up too and it wouldn’t bother them

  Tom do you hear yourself when you say things like that – the state has a duty to protect its citizens against terrorism

  Rosemary what about state terrorism

  Maggie i’m sick to bloody death at that – any state that defends itself is also committing acts of terrorism – terrorists are bloody terrorists – that’s it – end of story

  Rosemary so that’s it – the palestinians are terrorists – and israel can do what it likes

  Maggie i didn’t say they could do what they like – i said they have the right to defend themselves in whatever way they see fit

  Rosemary so they do what they like

  Maggie that’s it isn’t it – no one cares what’s already there – generations of people living their lives out somewhere – providing the country with wealth – making it strong and secure – fighting for their country – giving their lives for something noble – but none of that matters – let’s just speak up for the terrorists – the bombers – the murders

  Gerry sderot cinema – you ever hear of that – a group of israelis sat in lawn chairs – lawn chairs – like the ones we’re sitting in – eating popcorn and watching all the missiles raining down on gaza – what’s noble about that

  Tom you think they don’t cheer in gaza when they trail a dead israeli soldier through the streets – it is what it is

  Gerry it is what it is – fuck

  Silence.

  Maggie i’m going home

  Rosemary yeah – you should

  Maggie i was going to say i can’t believe you think like that but it doesn’t really surprise me

  Rosemary why because we’re catholics

  Maggie yes

  Gerry go on fuck off the both of yous

  Tom scrubbers – always have been always will be

  Gerry go on and fuck off – take your cheap wine down to the bonfire – it’s where the two of yous belong

  Tom why don’t you two fuck off down to dublin – that’s where you really want to be – leave this country to us – we built it – it’s ours

  Gerry fuck off to finchley you dickhead

  Tom nowhere – going nowhere – do you hear that – this is our country – we’re going nowhere – our country – our fucking country

  Tom and Maggie leave.

  Rosemary chur mé m’am amú leatsa – an chaint sin uilig – an machnamh sin uilig – caite – curtha amú ortsa – thánig tusa chugamsa – cuimhní ar sin. cuimhní i gćonaí ar sin – tháinig tusa chugamsa a phleidhce bhradaigh – dál an scéil – níl a dheath ‘mhaith ionat cibé – an taon fáth gur inis mé sin duit nó gur duine deas mé agus níor tógadh mé le fuath a bheith agam ar dhaoine eile – a ghadaí gan náire – you shit bag.

  They sit and pour a glass of wine.

  Gerry what was all that about

  Rosemary nothing

  Gerry it was about something

  Rosemary i was giving out to him – i wanted him to hear it in irish – wanted to annoy her

  Gerry right

  Silence.

  Rosemary i’m not sitting here watching that shit

  Gerry nah – fuck it

  They take the wine and exit.

  The bonfire is lit – a red glow.

  Gerry enters. He sits at the table and drinks his glass of wine.

  my land – my garden – my deck – i’ll do what i want – watch what i want – drinking my wine minding my own business – everyone should drink wine on their deck and mind their own business – look at whatever you want – the city – the sky

  Rosemary enters.

  Rosemary thought you had enough of this

  Gerry taking a different approach – going to look up at the sky

  Rosemary sits.

  or across at the city – up or across – not down

  Rosemary the city looks beautiful from here

  Gerry it does – all those lights – all those houses – who the fuck lives there – no different from looking up in the sky – know as much about those stars as I do about the people in those houses

  Rosemary you’ve had too much wine

  Gerry aye – the world’s allowed to be beautiful you know

  Rosemary i just said the city looks beautiful from up here

  Gerry so you did – so you did – you look beautiful

  Rosemary gerry

  Gerry what

  Rosemary nothing

  Gerry you do

  Rosemary thank you – just sit back there and look up at the sky

  Gerry sometimes when i’m sitting here on my own at night – there’s a complete silence about the place – all around – everywhere

  Tom and Maggie enter. They stand for a moment before sitting.

  A lengthy silence.

  They drink wine.

  Tom as if you’d know where finchley is

  Gerry do you know where it is

  Tom in england

  Gerry very good

  Maggie london

  Rosemary north-west london

  Gerry i knew that

  Maggie no you didn’t

  Rosemary yous two know nothing

  Tom know enough

  Lights begin to fade.

  Gerry correct know enough – did your man come back and piss on the wall

  Tom didn’t look

  Maggie why would he come back to piss on the wall – although i wouldn’t put it past them – but why would he

  Gerry i was only asking – i’m going to learn spanish – that’s it – going to do it

  Rosemary good man

  Tom that fire doesn’t last long

  Rosemary only a wee one not worth the waiting on

  Gerry spanish

  Maggie we know

  Gerry right – spanish

  A slight red glow.

  Blackout.

  Appendix

  TRANSLATIONS

  PAGE 17

  Tom Cáide má ‘tá tú

  how have you been keeping

  Rosemary an mhaith go raibh maith agat – tá tú gabháil i bfheabhas

  very well thank you – you’re getting better at this

  Tom go raibh maith agat – tá múinteoir maith agam

  thank you – have a good teacher

  PAGE 19

  Rosemary na sean chinn na cinn is fearr

  the old ones are the best

  Tom is fearr

  best

  Tom best – is fearr

  best –

  PAGE 21

  Rosemary tá Gaelige ró-dheachar dó

  irish is too difficult for him

  Tom ró-dheachar di chomh maith

  too difficult for her as well

  Tom tá feidhm leis

  there’s a point to it


  PAGE 22

  Rosemary it felt like there was genuine hope in the air – everybody saying the same thing – a new beginning – tús nua

  a new beginning

  Tom tús nua

  a new beginning

  PAGE 24

  Rosemary in irish that would be – cnoc silíní

  cherry hill

  Rosemary tá cosa fada a dhith ort le ghabhail ar capall ard

  you need long legs for a high horse

  PAGE 25

  Rosemary ard-oifig

  headquarters

  PAGE 30

  Tom mhuin do bhean a lán dom

  your wife has taught me a lot

  PAGE 31

  Rosemary níor inis – amadán

  no he hasn’t – eejit

  PAGE 36

  Rosemary suirí – ag deanamh suirí

  intercourse – sexual intercourse – full penetrative sexual intercourse

  PAGE 39

  Rosemary srian ar an scéal

  control the narrative

  PAGE 40

  Rosemary nach dóigh libh go bhfhuil smacht againn

  do you not think we do

  Rosemary sin an déil

  that’s the deal

  Tom aontaim

  I do

  PAGE 42

  Tom lámha agus cosa

  all arms and legs

  PAGE 46

  Rosemary múinteoir maith faighte agate

  you found a good teacher

  PAGE 52

  Rosemary mé ag magadh

  I was joking

  PAGE 57

  Rosemary chur mé m’am amú leatsa – an chaint sin uilig – an machnamh sin uilig – caite – curtha amú ortsa – thánig tusa chugamsa – cuimhní ar sin. cuimhní i gćonaí ar sin – tháinig tusa chugamsa a phleidhce bhradaigh – dál an scéil, níl a dheath ‘mhaith ionat cibé – an taon fáth gur inis mé sin duit nó gur duine deas mé agus níor tógadh mé le fuath a bheith agam ar dhaoine eile – a ghadaí gan náire – you shit bag.

  wasted my bloody time with you – all that talk – all that thinking – wasted – wasted on you – you came to me – remember that – always remember that – you came to me – you bastard – and by the way you’re shit at it – only tell you you’re good because i’m a nice person and i wasn’t brought up to hate people the way you were you shit bag

  About the Author

  Over the past twenty-five years Owen McCafferty’s plays have been performed worldwide and have won numerous awards. Previous work includes Titanic: Scenes from thr British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912 (MAC, Belfast); The Absence of Women (Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and Tricycle Theatre, London); Days of Wine and Roses (Donmar Theatre, London; Closing Time (National Theatre, London); Shoot the Crow (Druid, Galway); Mojo Mickybo (Kabosh, Belfast); Scenes from the Big Picture (National Theatre, London), which won the Meyer-Whitworth, John Whiting and Evening Standard Awards; Quietly (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), which won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Play; and Death of a Comedian (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and Soho Theatre, London). He is currently working on his first screenplay, Normal People, and a musical based on the novel The Good Son.

  By the Same Author

  from Faber

  PLAYS ONE

  (Mojo Mickybo, Shoot the Crow, Closing Time,

  Scenes from the Big Picture, The Waiting List)

  PLAYS TWO

  (The Absence of Women, Titanic, Quietly,

  Unfaithful, Death of a Comedian, Beach)

  THE ABSENCE OF WOMEN

  TITANIC

  QUIETLY

  UNFAITHFUL

  DEATH OF A COMEDIAN

  from Nick Hern Books

  ANTIGONE

  (after Sophocles)

  DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

  (after J. P. Miller)

  COLD COMFORT

  SCENES FROM THE BIG PICTURE

  CLOSING TIME

  from Lagan Press / Nick Hern Books

  I WON’T DANCE DON’T ASK ME

  THE WAITING LIST

  SHOOT THE CROW

  MOJO MICKYBO

  from Lagan Press

  THE PRIVATE PICTURE SHOW

  FREEFALLING

  from Tinderbox Theatre Company

  NO PLACE LIKE HOME

  THE CHAIRS

  (after Ionesco)

  libretto

  MAY CONTAIN FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

  LOVEGOLFLOVE

  Copyright

  First published in 2017

  by Faber and Faber Ltd

  Bloomsbury House

  74–77 Great Russell Street

  London WC1B 3DA

  This ebook edition first published in 2017

  All rights reserved

  © Owen McCafferty, 2017

  The right of Owen McCafferty to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights whatsoever in these plays are strictly reserved and applications to perform them should be made in writing, before rehearsals begin, to The Agency (London) Ltd, 24 Pottery Lane, Holland Park, London W11 4LZ. No performance may be given unless a licence has first been obtained.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  ISBN 978–0–571–34528–1