They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina
Page 1
First published in 2007 by Oberon Books Ltd
Electronic edition published in 2012
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They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina © copyright Sarah Wooley 2007
Sarah Wooley is hereby identified as author of this play in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted her moral rights.
All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before commencement of rehearsal to United Agents, 12-26 Lexington Street, London, W1F 0LE (info@unitedagents.co.uk). No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained, and no alterations may be made in the title or the text of the play without the author’s prior written consent.
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PB ISBN: 978-1-84002-818-8
E ISBN: 978-1-8494-3893-3
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Characters
Scene One
Scene Two
Scene Three
Scene Four
Scene Five
Scene Six
Acknowledgements
I would gratefully like to acknowledge the following authors and their books: John Walsh, Tears of Rage; Paula S. Fass, Kidnapped – Child Abduction in America; and Mike Echols, I know my first name is Steven.
I would also like to thank the following for their help along the journey: Giles Smart, Paul Robinson, Will Smitheson, Joy Wilkinson, Lizzy Abusch, Jenny Worton, Dominic Cooke, Ruth Little, Paul Copley, Elliott Cowan, Linda Bassett, Graham Whybrow, Hanne Steen, Sarah Shavel, Janette Smith, The National Theatre Studio, The Lord Clyde Writers, Joyce Branagh, Alexis Peterman, Steph Farrell, Matthew Lloyd, Annelie Powell all at Theatre 503 and the Actors Centre and Raj and Blaise for all their love and support.
They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina was written in the Winter of 2005 and Spring of 2006, before the reappearance of Natascha Kampusch in Austria and Shawn Hornbeck in Missouri, USA and prior to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.
Characters
RAY
60s
EILEEN
Ray’s wife, 60s
CLAY
an American, late 20s
A note on punctuation
The presence of a slash / indicates an interruption
by the next speaker, so that speech overlaps.
They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina was first performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre in a co-production with Theatre503 on 13 November 2007, by the following cast:
RAY Hilton McRae
EILEEN Janet Amsden
CLAY Simon Harrison
Director Paul Robinson
Designer Libby Watson
Lighting Designer Chris Davey
SCENE ONE
October. A room in a house. This is RAY and EILEEN’s home. A large door on one side / back of the stage leading to outside.
RAY I
CLAY Yes?
RAY I
What I
CLAY Yes
RAY Want to know is…how?
How did you
It’s been twenty-two years
CLAY I know
RAY Twenty-two years
CLAY Yes
RAY So how did you find us?
CLAY The newspaper
RAY They gave you our address?
CLAY No.
Yes.
They told me you hadn’t moved
RAY So you you remembered?
Is that what you’re saying?
You remembered where you used to live?
CLAY Yes.
Pause.
Sort of
RAY Sort of?
CLAY I couldn’t remember the name of the village
They told me.
I came here.
I walked around a bit, followed my nose.
It hasn’t changed
RAY You’re American
CLAY Yes.
RAY I wasn’t expecting an American
CLAY Weren’t you?
RAY No
CLAY But
RAY Of course you should be I suppose if
Where do you live?
CLAY You mean now or
RAY In America?
CLAY Well I’ve lived all over
It’s hard to say
RAY You can’t pick one bit
One bit you’d call your own or?
Where did you live the longest?
CLAY Place called Burningtown
RAY Where’s that?
CLAY North Carolina
Pause.
RAY This is this is a shock a
People don’t just
Do you understand it’s
CLAY Yes
RAY And my wife
It’s been years
CLAY I know, I know
RAY We haven’t heard from anyone in a long time.
Of course we used to have a lot of people bothering us
Psychics, letter writers
CLAY Letter writers?
RAY Yes
People pretending they knew something
My brother’s uncle’s been to Florida
You know the thing
CLAY They were lying?
RAY Yes
Maybe
I don’t know.
One man came here, ten years ago
Said he knew something
Said he could help.
My wife let him visit
Only he didn’t know anything
Just wanted to listen to her talking, going over
We found out later he used to go home and
Well…
You know
CLAY That’s that’s…sick
RAY Yes.
I thought so
We stopped seeing people after that.
Pause.
So you found this place by yourself?
CLAY Yes
RAY That’s what you said
You came alone?
CLAY Yes
Although the reporter
RAY He wanted to come with you?
CLAY Yes
I told him not to
I wanted to speak to you first
RAY You want to sell your story
Is that it?
CLAY No
RAY Well there’s no story to sell
Unless you are.
Beat.
And you’re not.
Beat.
I’m certain you’re not.
Pause.
This…newspaper
Is it a tabloid?
CLAY A what?
RAY A tabloid
A red top?
CLAY ?
; RAY Was there a scandal about some model or
An actor caught with his trousers down?
Was that the sort of newspaper you went to?
CLAY I don’t know
RAY You don’t know?
CLAY No.
But they were interested
Very interested
In me
In you
RAY Were they?
CLAY Yes
You’ve talked to them before that’s what they said
RAY Years ago
CLAY When it happened?
RAY After we came home
We thought it might help
It didn’t
Just encouraged the crack pots.
Short pause.
How old are you?
CLAY Twenty-seven
RAY You’re the right age then
Problem is you look older
CLAY I do?
RAY Yes
I’d put you more…mid-thirties.
Have you been on the internet?
CLAY The internet?
RAY Websites?
Is that how you found about
CLAY No
RAY There must be stuff.
If you look
We had a photograph
They will have posted that somewhere on the world wide web
I’m sure if you put the name into some chatroom or search engine
CLAY Do you think your wife will recognise me?
RAY I didn’t
CLAY Yes but women are more
RAY What?
Beat.
Gullible?
CLAY No, sensitive.
Their memories are more
RAY Selective
CLAY Sensual.
RAY Sensual?
CLAY Yes
RAY What does that mean?
CLAY Well, perhaps there was something about me
My smell
RAY Your what?
CLAY The tone of my voice
The shape of my ear
RAY Your ear looks like any other ear
CLAY To you
RAY Yes
CLAY But not to her.
She will have held me many times
She knows every part of me
Beat.
Where is she?
RAY My wife?
CLAY Yes
RAY She’s at the cottage
We have another house we
CLAY Here?
RAY Yes.
We rent it out
We have guests coming this afternoon
CLAY That’s nice
RAY It’s not.
It’s a lot of work
She has to clean
Does it all herself
We don’t have a housekeeper
And the people they
CLAY What?
RAY Well, depending on
Sometimes they leave a mess they
CLAY Trash the joint?
RAY No
Never that
But if it’s a group
Women
A hen party
CLAY So it’s big?
This house?
RAY No
I wouldn’t say big no
CLAY But you said parties
Sounds like
Sounds like this place is impressive
RAY Impressive?
No
I told you it’s a cottage it’s not big it’s not
CLAY How many rooms?
RAY Not many
CLAY But you have groups stay
RAY Yes / but
CLAY So there must be plenty of bedrooms to accommodate
RAY No.
There are three
That’s all and we have sofas sofas that pull out that
CLAY Become beds
RAY Yes
So it’s not big
Not impressive not
CLAY When did you buy it?
RAY Years ago
CLAY You didn’t own this cottage when I lived here did you?
RAY No
Because you never lived here.
I’ve never seen you before in my life!
Pause.
CLAY You’re certain of that?
RAY Yes
Things like this they don’t just
Well, it’s not very likely is it?
On a scale of one to ten the probability of it’s low very low
There are very few examples of
CLAY You thought I was dead
RAY Yes
No
Our son not you
CLAY So you’d given up
RAY No no
Not given up no never
CLAY But the chances of this happening a reunion of this sort you think it’s impossible
RAY No not impossible not
I never said impossible
CLAY I’m putting words in your mouth
RAY Yes.
CLAY And you don’t like it
RAY No.
Look, what do you want?
CLAY I want to meet my mother
RAY I think you should go.
CLAY But I want
I want your wife to see me, she’ll recognise she’ll
RAY Please.
I don’t know who you are or what you want but I won’t have my wife upset
Do you understand?
She was ill she
took pills for years
She used to cry every day
I won’t go through that again.
CLAY I’m not here to make trouble
I honestly thought you’d be pleased to see me
I just
RAY What?
What do you want?
Who are you?
CLAY I’m Patrick
Your missing son
I’ve come home.
I knew you the moment I walked through the door
RAY But there is nothing
Do you understand?
Nothing that would make me think
The way you look or
Patrick would never have turned out like you
CLAY But for years I’ve tried to remember
to figure out to
I searched
and I found you.
I want a happy ending
RAY We don’t have money
If that’s what you want
Is that what you want?
CLAY No
RAY I earn nothing
I don’t work
We never take holidays
My clothes are ten years old.
CLAY You don’t work?
RAY No
CLAY But you used to
RAY Yes
CLAY You used to work in the town.
RAY Yes.
Everyone did
Everyone does
There are no jobs here unless you’re a farmer or you work in the pub
CLAY Your wife.
She used to work in the pub
The one in the next door village
RAY She didn’t
CLAY She did
RAY No
CLAY But I remember she went out she
RAY You remember?
CLAY Yes
In the evenings
She used to come home in the dark
She used to bring home chips
RAY Chips?
CLAY Potato chips
RAY You mean crisps
CLAY They must have sold them behind the bar.
The landlord
He’d let her take the chips
The crisps I mean
They were meant for me, she let me eat them in bed
I remember
RAY You don’t.
CLAY I do
RAY You don’t
She never did that
CLAY She did
RAY She didn’t
If my wife had bought crisps I’d know about it
CLAY Would you?
RAY Yes
Beat.
>
CLAY Well maybe she didn’t tell you
Maybe, it was a secret
RAY My wife and I don’t have secrets.
It’s just been us all these years we
We are good people
We give to charity
We care about orphans and lost dogs and local schemes
We don’t want trouble.
Pause.
CLAY This room
It hasn’t changed
RAY It has
We decorated last year
CLAY No
It’s exactly as I remember it
This is where
On my birthday
we had a party.
Kids came and your friends
RAY No
CLAY You mean we never celebrated birthdays?
RAY No
CLAY But I remember
I had a cake
with blue icing.
I remember because I liked the colour
It was an odd colour not natural at all
It didn’t make the cake look particularly appetising but I liked it because it was
Unusual
And as a kid I liked unusual things
Didn’t I?
RAY I don’t
CLAY Didn’t I?
Beat.
And where are the pictures?
RAY What pictures?
CLAY They’re gone too
You used to have photographs
Over the fire
Me in a christening gown me at the birthday
The cake with the blue icing
RAY Why would I have pictures of a child I don’t know?
I’ve never met you before
Until today
Until you rudely turned up in my garden / uninvited
CLAY Did you take them down?
RAY Have you been watching me?
Have you?
Have you been waiting?
Waiting to pounce while I cut the roses
Or put the bin out or stopped to post a letter or
Beat.
Do you want to hurt me?
CLAY Where are your friends?
RAY Friends?
What friends?
CLAY You used to have photographs
Of friends
Right here.
They’re gone too
Like the birthday snaps
RAY No
CLAY Yes
You were laughing
Drinking
On holiday
Somewhere in Europe?
Spain perhaps
You were happy
I remember those people very clearly
They were your guys
Mates from the old days
A man called Bill
I used to call him Uncle Bill
God I so remember / Bill
RAY Look
We don’t see anyone, alright
Not anymore.
No one comes here
CLAY Why?
RAY What?
CLAY Why?
Do you not like company?
RAY No
Yes
But I’ve got my wife
The two of us we