ROOTE stands, goes to the desk, sits, switches on the microphone.
ROOTE (into the mike)
Patients, staff and understaff. A merry Christmas to you all, and a happy and prosperous new year. And on behalf of all the staff I’d like to wish all the understaff the very best of luck for the year to come and a very happy Christmas. And to the patients I should like to send a personal greeting, to each and every one of them, wishing them the heartiest compliments of the season, and very best wishes, on behalf of the staff, the understaff and myself, not forgetting the Ministry, which I know would be glad to be associated with these words, for a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.
Pause
We have had our little difficulties, in the year that is about to die, our little troubles, our little sorrows as well as our little joys, but through working together, through each and every one of us pulling his weight, no matter how lowly or apparently trivial his job, by working, by living, by pulling together as one great family, we stand undaunted.
Pause
We say goodbye to the old year very soon now, and hail the new, but I say to you, as we stand before these embers, that we carry with us from the old year … things … which will stand us in good stead in the new, and we are not daunted.
Pause
Since I last spoke to you I have travelled far. I have seen many lands and many peoples. And today I have received greetings and gifts from many of my cousins who reside in other lands, far off lands, and they tell me that over there things are not really very different to over here. Customs may differ, languages may differ, but men are the same, the whole world over. And I think it’s appropriate at this time of year to remind you that our cousins are stretched right across to the far corners of the earth and that they are no different to we, and that we are no different to they.
Pause
Some of you, sitting at your loudspeakers tonight, may sometimes find yourselves wondering whether the little daily hardships, the little daily disappointments, the trials and tribulations which seem continually to dog you are, in the end, worth it. To you I would say one simple thing. Have faith.
Pause
Yes, I think if I were asked to convey to you a special message this Christmas it would be that: Have faith.
Pause
Remember that you are not alone, that we here, for example, in this our home, are inextricably related, one to another, the staff to the understaff, the understaff to the patients, the patients to the staff. Remember this, as you sit by your fires, with your families, who have come from near and from far, to share this day with you, and you may be content.
He switches off the microphone and sits.
The lights go down on the office.
Darkness.
A low light on the stairway and the forestage.
Squeaks are heard, of locks turning.
The rattle of chains.
A great clanging, reverberating, as of iron doors opening.
Shafts of light appear abruptly about the stage, as of doors opening into corridors and into rooms.
Whispers, chuckles, half-screams of the patients grow.
The clanging of locks and doors grows in intensity.
The light shifts from area to area, rapidly.
The sounds reach a feverish pitch and stop.
Lights up on the office in the ministry.
LOBB rises as GIBBS enters.
LOBB
Ah, come in, Gibbs. How are you?
They shake hands.
Have a good journey down?
GIBBS
Not at all bad, thank you, sir.
LOBB
Sit down.
They sit.
LOBB
Cigarette?
GIBBS
No thank you, sir.
LOBB
You haven’t been waiting long, have you?
GIBBS
Oh, no sir, not at all.
LOBB
My secretary’s down with flu. Rather disorganised. What’s the weather like up there?
GIBBS
Quite sharp, sir.
LOBB
Been fair to middling down here, for the time of year. Treacherous, though. My secretary, for instance, quite a stalwart sort of chap, strong as an ox, went down like a log over the weekend.
GIBBS
It’s certainly treacherous.
LOBB
Dreadful. How are you feeling yourself?
GIBBS
Oh, I’m quite fit, thank you, sir.
LOBB
Yes, you look fit. Remarkably fit, really. You wear a vest, don’t you?
GIBBS
Yes, sir.
LOBB
There you are. Very sensible. My secretary, for instance, strong as an ox, but he never wore a vest in his life. That’s what did it.
Pause
Well, I’m glad you got down to see me, Gibbs.
GIBBS
So am I, sir.
LOBB
Rather unfortunate business. You’ve made out your report, I take it?
GIBBS
Yes, sir.
LOBB
I haven’t seen it yet.
GIBBS
No, sir. I have it with me.
LOBB
Hand it in to the office on the way out, will you?
GIBBS
Yes, sir.
LOBB
Got any definite figures?
GIBBS
Yes, I … have, sir.
LOBB
What are they?
Pause
GIBBS
The whole staff was slaughtered, sir.
LOBB
The whole staff?
GIBBS
With one exception, of course.
LOBB
Who was that?
GIBBS
Me, sir.
LOBB
Oh yes, of course.
Pause
The whole staff, eh? A massacre, in fact?
GIBBS
Exactly.
LOBB
Most distressing.
Pause
How did they … how did they do it?
GIBBS
Various means, sir. Mr Roote and Miss Cutts were stabbed in their bed. Lush –
LOBB
Excuse me, did you say bed, or beds?
GIBBS
Bed, sir.
LOBB
Oh, really? Yes, go on.
GIBBS
Lush, Hogg, Beck, Budd, Tuck, Dodds, Tate and Pett, sir, were hanged and strangled, variously.
LOBB
I see. Well, I should think there’s going to be quite a few questions asked about this, Gibbs.
GIBBS
Yes, sir.
LOBB
What’s the position now?
GIBBS
The patients are all back in their rooms. I’ve left the head porter, Tubb, in charge of things. He’s very capable. All the understaff, of course, are still active.
LOBB
They didn’t touch the understaff?
GIBBS
No. Just the staff.
LOBB
Ah. Look here, Gibbs, there’s something I’d like to know. How did the patients get out?
GIBBS
I’m not sure that I can give an absolutely conclusive answer to that, sir, until the proper inquiry has been set in motion.
LOBB
Naturally, naturally.
GIBBS
One possibility though is that one of their doors may not have been properly locked, that the patient got out, filched the keys from the office, and let the others out.
LOBB
Good Lord.
GIBBS
You see, the locktester who should have been on duty – we always had a locktester on duty –
LOBB
Of course, of course.
GIBBS
Was absent from duty.
LOBB
Absent? I say, well … that�
�s rather … significant, isn’t it?
GIBBS
Yes, sir.
LOBB
What happened to him?
GIBBS
He’s … not to be found, sir.
LOBB
Well, it would be a good thing if he were found, wouldn’t it?
GIBBS
I shall do my best, sir.
LOBB
Good-o. (Slight pause.) Tell me. Why weren’t you killed? Just as a matter of interest.
GIBBS
I was engaged on some research, sir, alone. I was probably the only member of the staff awake, so was able to take measures to protect myself.
LOBB
I see. Well, it’s all most unfortunate, but we can’t really do anything until the report has gone in and the inquiry set up. Meanwhile you’d better try to get hold of that locktester of yours. I think we shall probably want to have a word with him. What’s his name?
GIBBS
Lamb, sir.
LOBB (making a note of the name)
Lamb. Well, Gibbs, I would like to say on behalf of the Ministry how very much we commend the guts you’ve shown.
GIBBS
Thank you, sir. My work means a great deal to me.
LOBB
That’s the spirit. (Slight pause.) You can carry on now, I suppose? We’ll have some reinforcements down in a few days. Can’t be sooner, I’m afraid. We’ve got to get hold of some properly qualified people. Not as easy as all that.
GIBBS
I can carry on, sir.
LOBB
You’ll be in charge, of course.
GIBBS
Thank you, sir.
LOBB (rising)
Don’t thank me. It’s we have to thank you.
They walk to the door.
One last question. Why do you think they did it? I mean … why did they feel so strongly?
GIBBS
Well, Mr. Lobb, it’s a little delicate in my position …
LOBB
Go on, my boy, go on. It’s the facts that count.
GIBBS
One doesn’t like to speak ill of the dead.
LOBB
Naturally, naturally.
GIBBS
But there’s no doubt that Mr Roote was unpopular.
LOBB
With good cause?
GIBBS
I’m afraid so, sir. Two things especially had made him rather unpopular. He had seduced patient 6459 and been the cause of her pregnancy, and he had murdered patient 6457. That had not gone down too well with the rest of the patients.
Blackout on office.
Lights rise on sound-proof room.
LAMB in chair. He sits still, staring, as in a catatonic trance.
Curtain.
A NIGHT OUT
A Night Out was first performed on the B.B.C. Third Programme on 1 March 1960, with the following cast:
ALBERT STOKES Barry Foster
MRS. STOKES, his mother Mary O’Farrell
SEELEY Harold Pinter
KEDGE John Rye
BARMAN AT THE COFFEE STALL Walter Hall
OLD MAN Norman Wynne
MR. KING David Bird
MR. RYAN Norman Wynne
GIDNEY Nicholas Selby
JOYCE Jane Jordan Rogers
EILEEN Auriol Smith
BETTY Margaret Hotine
HORNE Hugh Dickson
BARROW David Spenser
THE GIRL Vivien Merchant
Produced by Donald McWhinnie
The play was televised by A.B.C. Armchair Theatre on 24 April 1960, with the following cast:
ALBERT STOKES Tom Bell
MRS. STOKES, his mother Madge Ryan
SEELEY Harold Pinter
KEDGE Philip Locke
BARMAN AT THE COFFEE STALL Edmond Bennett
OLD MAN Gordon Phillott
MR. KING Arthur Lowe
MR. RYAN Edward Malin
GIDNEY Stanley Meadows
JOYCE José Read
EILEEN Maria Lennard
BETTY Mary Duddy
HORNE Stanley Segal
BARROW Walter Hall
THE GIRL Vivien Merchant
Produced by Philip Saville
Act One
SCENE ONE
The kitchen of MRS. STOKES’ small house in the south of London. Clean and tidy.
ALBERT, a young man of twenty-eight, is standing in his shirt and trousers, combing his hair in the kitchen mirror over the mantelpiece. A woman’s voice calls his name from upstairs. He ignores it, picks up a brush from the mantelpiece and brushes his hair. The voice calls again. He slips the comb in his pocket, bends down, reaches under the sink and takes out a shoe duster. He begins to polish his shoes. MRS. STOKES descends the stairs, passes through the hall and enters the kitchen.
MOTHER: Albert, I’ve been calling you. [She watches him.] What are you doing?
ALBERT: Nothing.
MOTHER: Didn’t you hear me call you, Albert? I’ve been calling you from upstairs.
ALBERT: You seen my tie?
MOTHER: Oh, I say, I’ll have to put the flag out.
ALBERT: What do you mean?
MOTHER: Cleaning your shoes, Albert? I’ll have to put the flag out, won’t I?
ALBERT puts the brush back under the sink and begins to search the sideboard and cupboard.
What are you looking for?
ALBERT: My tie. The striped one, the blue one.
MOTHER: The bulb’s gone in Grandma’s room.
ALBERT: Has it?
MOTHER: That’s what I was calling you about. I went in and switched on the light and the bulb had gone.
She watches him open the kitchen cabinet and look into it.
Aren’t those your best trousers, Albert? What have you put on your best trousers for?
ALBERT: Look, Mum, where’s my tie? The blue one, the blue tie, where is it? You know the one I mean, the blue striped one, I gave it to you this morning.
MOTHER: What do you want your tie for?
ALBERT: I want to put it on. I asked you to press it for me this morning. I gave it to you this morning before I went to work, didn’t I?
She goes to the gas stove, examines the vegetables, opens the oven and looks into it.
MOTHER [gently]: Well, your dinner’ll be ready soon. You can look for it afterwards. Lay the table, there’s a good boy.
ALBERT: Why should I look for it afterwards? You know where it is now.
MOTHER: You’ve got five minutes. Go down to the cellar, Albert, get a bulb and put it in Grandma’s room, go on.
ALBERT [irritably]: I don’t know why you keep calling that room Grandma’s room, she’s been dead ten years.
MOTHER: Albert!
ALBERT: I mean, it’s just a junk room, that’s all it is.
MOTHER: Albert, that’s no way to speak about your Grandma, you know that as well as I do.
ALBERT: I’m not saying a word against Grandma—
MOTHER: You’ll upset me in a minute, you go on like that.
ALBERT: I’m not going on about anything.
MOTHER: Yes, you are. Now why don’t you go and put a bulb in Grandma’s room and by the time you come down I’ll have your dinner on the table.
ALBERT: I can’t go down to the cellar, I’ve got my best trousers on, I’ve got a white shirt on.
MOTHER: You’re dressing up tonight, aren’t you? Dressing up, cleaning your shoes, anyone would think you were going to the Ritz.
ALBERT: I’m not going to the Ritz.
MOTHER [suspiciously]: What do you mean, you’re not going to the Ritz?
ALBERT: What do you mean?
MOTHER: The way you said you’re not going to the Ritz, it sounded like you were going somewhere else.
ALBERT [wearily]: I am.
MOTHER [shocked surprise]: You’re going out?
ALBERT: You know I’m going out. I told you I was going out. I told you last week. I told you this morning. Look, where’s my tie? I
’ve got to have my tie. I’m late already. Come on, Mum, where’d you put it?
MOTHER: What about your dinner?
ALBERT [searching]: Look … I told you … I haven’t got the … wait a minute … ah, here it is.
MOTHER: You can’t wear that tie. I haven’t pressed it.
ALBERT: You have. Look at it. Of course you have. It’s beautifully pressed. It’s fine.
He ties the tie.
MOTHER: Where are you going?
ALBERT: Mum, I’ve told you, honestly, three times. Honestly, I’ve told you three times I had to go out tonight.
MOTHER: No, you didn’t.
ALBERT exclaims and knots the tie.
I thought you were joking.
ALBERT: I’m not going … I’m just going to Mr. King’s. I’ve told you. You don’t believe me.
MOTHER: You’re going to Mr. King’s?
ALBERT: Mr. Ryan’s leaving. You know Ryan. He’s leaving the firm. He’s been there years. So Mr. King’s giving a sort of party for him at his house … well, not exactly a party, not a party, just a few … you know … anyway, we’re all invited. I’ve got to go. Everyone else is going. I’ve got to go. I don’t want to go, but I’ve got to.
MOTHER [bewildered, sitting]: Well, I don’t know …
ALBERT [with his arm round her]: I won’t be late. I don’t want to go. I’d much rather stay with you.
MOTHER: Would you?
ALBERT: You know I would. Who wants to go to Mr. King’s party?
MOTHER: We were going to have our game of cards.
ALBERT: Well, we can’t have our game of cards.
[Pause.]
MOTHER: Put the bulb in Grandma’s room, Albert.
ALBERT: I’ve told you I’m not going down to the cellar in my white shirt. There’s no light in the cellar either. I’ll be pitch black in five minutes, looking for those bulbs.
MOTHER: I told you to put a light in the cellar. I told you yesterday.
ALBERT: Well, I can’t do it now.
MOTHER: If we had a light in the cellar you’d be able to see where those bulbs were. You don’t expect me to go down to the cellar?
ALBERT: I don’t know why we keep bulbs in the cellar!
[Pause.]
MOTHER: Your father would turn in his grave if he heard you raise your voice to me. You’re all I’ve got, Albert. I want you to remember that. I haven’t got anyone else. I want you … I want you to bear that in mind.
ALBERT: I’m sorry … I raised my voice.
He goes to the door.
Harold Pinter Plays 1 Page 22
