Who is Sylvia? and Duologue
Page 16
Nothing stirs in the room and there is no sound.
I killed you, didn’t I? Say it, Gregory – say it!
The clock quietly and musically begins to strike midnight. There is no other sound. ROSEMARY waits until it is finished, then goes quietly round the room, turning off the lights. The last light left burning is by the sofa. Just before she turns it off, she gently puts her hand on the part where Gregory’s head might, one night, have lain. Then she looks round and sees the decanter still half-full. After the briefest hesitation she picks it up and takes it with her as she turns off the light and goes out. A light seems to linger on the sofa before final complete and silent darkness.
Curtain.
The End.
TERENCE RATTIGAN
Born in 1911, a scholar at Harrow and at Trinity College, Oxford, Terence Rattigan had his first long-running hit in the West End at the age of twenty-five: French Without Tears (1936). His next play, After the Dance (1939), opened to euphoric reviews yet closed under the gathering clouds of war, but with Flare Path (1942) Rattigan embarked on an almost unbroken series of successes, with most plays running in the West End for at least a year and several making the transition to Broadway: While the Sun Shines (1943), Love in Idleness (1944), The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (performed in double-bill with Harlequinade, 1948), Who is Sylvia? (1950), The Deep Blue Sea (1952), The Sleeping Prince (1953) and Separate Tables (1954). From the mid-fifties, with the advent of the ‘Angry Young Men’, he enjoyed less success on stage, though Ross (1960) and In Praise of Love (1973) were well received. As well as seeing many of his plays turned into successful films, Rattigan wrote a number of original plays for television from the fifties onwards. He was knighted in 1971 and died in 1977.
A Nick Hern Book
This edition of Who is Sylvia? and Duologue first published in Great Britain in 2011 as a paperback original by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP. Who is Sylvia? was first published in 1951 by Hamish Hamilton Ltd. Duologue is published here for the first time.
This ebook edition first published in 2014
Who is Sylvia? copyright © 1951 The Sir Terence Rattigan Charitable Trust Duologue copyright © 2011 The Sir Terence Rattigan Charitable Trust Introduction copyright © 2011 Dan Rebellato
Front cover photo copyright © Hulton Deutsch Collection
Cover design by Ned Hoste, 2H
Typeset by Nick Hern Books, London
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78001 346 6 (ebook edition)
ISBN 978 1 84842 165 3 (print edition)
CAUTION 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.
Amateur Performing Rights
Who is Sylvia? Rights of performance by amateurs are controlled by Samuel French Ltd, 52 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5JR, tel +44 (0)20 7255 4302, e-mail plays@samuelfrench-london.co.uk; and they, or their authorised agents, issue licences to amateurs on payment of a fee. It is an infringement of the copyright to give any performance or public reading of these plays before the fee has been paid and the licence issued.
Duologue Applications for performance by amateurs, including readings and excerpts, should be addressed to the Performing Rights Manager, Nick Hern Books, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP, tel +44 (0)20 8749 4953, e-mail info@nickhernbooks.co.uk, except as follows:
Australia: Dominie Drama, 8 Cross Street, Brookvale 2100, fax (2) 9938 8695, e-mail drama@dominie.com.au
New Zealand: Play Bureau, PO Box 9013, St Clair, Dunedin, tel (3) 455 9959, e-mail play.bureau.nz@xtra.co.nz
South Africa: DALRO (pty) Ltd, PO Box 31627, 2017 Braamfontein, tel (11) 712 8000, fax (11) 403 9094, e-mail theatricals@dalro.co.za
USA and Canada: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd, see details below.
Professional Performing Rights
Application for performance of either play by professionals in any medium and in any language throughout the world (and by stock companies in the United States of America and Canada) should be addressed to Alan Brodie Representation Ltd, Paddock Suite, The Courtyard, 55a Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6HA, tel +44 (0) 20 7253 6226, email ABR@alanbrodie.com
No performance of any kind may be given unless a licence has been obtained. Applications should be made before rehearsals begin. Publication of these plays does not necessarily indicate their availability for amateur performance.