Who Knows Where the Time Goes
a play in three acts
by
Bob Harle
Copyright 2011 Bob Harle
Smashwords edition
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Contents
A story of life in London in the late sixties, with recorded and live music from the period. The set shows two floors of a large rented house, with part of the garden visible at one side and part of the street (including the front door) on the other. An upper floor might be indicated by stairs going up and a basement by stairs to (e.g.) the front of the auditorium.
Characters
Kathy O'Connell, 23, a social worker. "Left-wing political".
Mary Pace, 25, blonde. An American graduate student. "Older & wiser".
Sue White, 21, a Lancastrian teacher. ("Hippy" -Long dark hair, long dresses, headband and beads).
Linda Barnard, 22, an art student. "Trendy" - Short skirts and long plastic boots.
Sally Johnson, 23, a secretary at an Ad Agency.- "Materialistic & insecure", Dresses expensively.
Pete Craig, 23, a PhD student. "Uncommitted".
Geoff Williams, 26, an accountant/businessman. "Success at any price".
Ken Davidson, 23, a teacher. "Left-wing political".
Barbara Simpson, 22, a teacher & friend of Ken.
Bruce Marsden, Colin Eastwood, Kevin Smith, and Keith Carlton are four Antipodean gentlemen with a fondness for the Amber Nectar.
Simon Gill, 24, a medical student.
Dave Llewelyn, 24 and Welsh - another medical student.
Liam Roberts, 28, an architect.
Jack Knight. 25, a Customs officer.
Helen Dixon, 22, a nurse. "Sexy and flirtatious"
Sylvia Roberts, 23, yet another medical student.
Karl Matthews, 23, a minicab driver and part-time PhD student.
Mrs Summerfield, 52, the landlady.
Mrs Annie O'Connell, 41, Kathy's mother.
Sean O'Connell, 44, Kathy's father.
Sam Davidson, 49, Ken's father.
Edward Everett and Ronald Collini are two villains, and
DI James Floyd, DC Adam Fisher, Constable John Green, Constable William Young, WPC Lynne Bailey and Constable Eric Hunter are the boys in blue
The house, 1975. Music: "In My Life" by the Beatles. BARBARA, MARY, HELEN and SUE are sitting in the lounge having afternoon tea. SUE is holding a baby. LINDA comes to the door with a twin pram and two large bags of baby equipment. Music stops after the words "...some are gone and some remain". LINDA rings the doorbell.
BARBARA: That'll be Linda. I'll let her in. (She gets up and goes to the door)
(Music starts: "When I'm sixty four" by the Beatles)
MARY: I'll get her some tea. More for you, Sue?
BARBARA: (at the door) Linda - how are you?
SUE: No, not right now, thanks.
(MARY goes into the kitchen)
LINDA: Hello Barbara - did Kathy come?
BARBARA: (as they manoeuvre the twin pram into the lounge) No. Said she didn't feel well.
LINDA: That's a shame. I don't think she gets out enough.
SUE: Hi, Linda! I didn't know you had twins. What are their names?
HELEN: Hello, Linda
LINDA: Hello Helen, Sue. Yes, I decided to have the whole family in one go. This is Katie, the noisy one - and this is Sarah, the other noisy one.
SUE: They look lovely - but they must be a lot of work. Don't you think you'll have any more, then?
LINDA: I won't have time! (She starts arranging her bottles and sterilisers and disposable nappies, etc.)
SUE: Disposable nappies - are they any good?
LINDA: Well, they're not ...
MARY: (coming back from the kitchen with a cup of tea for LINDA) Hey, how're you doin' Linda? Here - tea.
LINDA: Hello Mary - thanks. Just what I need. (to SUE) Well, they're not perfect – the tabs at the sides sometimes don't stick properly - but I couldn't manage without them.
SUE: I bet. I don't know what I'd do with twice as many to wash.
HELEN: Oh, look - Stevie's awake.
BARBARA: Is he? (They all crowd round to look at SUE'S baby) Oh yes. Look, he's just lying there watching everything.
LINDA: I wish the twins would do that ... Does he sleep through the night?
SUE: About from eleven to four or five, usually.
LINDA: Great! I can't remember what it's like to have a night's sleep. Is he on solids?
SUE: Yes - just one meal a day. What about Katie and Sarah?
LINDA: I've tried them a few times. God, what a mess they make!
SUE: It's hard to imagine more mess than Steve makes ...
LINDA: Just come round to our place!
SUE: ... and the stuff's so hard to clean up, isn't it? Especially if you don't do it straight away.
LINDA: I know. I forgot once and went to bed - it was like concrete in the morning.
HELEN: (To MARY) This is enough to put you off having kids, isn't it?
MARY: Yeah. Every time I think it would be nice to have a baby, I'll have to invite Sue and Linda round.
LINDA: Ah, but while we're surrounded by cuddly grandchildren ...
HELEN: ...We'll still be fighting off the boyfriends.
SUE: (pause) You never got anybody else in the house, than?
BARBARA: No. It's fine, just the three of us. Downstairs we use as an office, and Sally's room .... Nobody uses Sally's room.
SUE: Poor Sally.
LINDA: I still feel all shivery just thinking about it.
(Music: "Remember (walking in the sand)" by the Shangri-las)
BARBARA: And poor Geoff. He never really got over Sally, did he?
SUE: Neither did Pete.
BARBARA: Well, that's different. It's not safe for Pete to be around.
SUE: Pete didn't do it!
BARBARA: Of course he did. Even before Sally - I remember what he did to Simon.
SUE: God, Barbara - that was for you! Simon was ...
BARBARA: Simon wouldn't have done anything ...
SUE: (They are both getting angry) Look, I was there watching them. Simon was ...
MARY: (Interrupts) I hear Geoff's been seeing a lot of Kathy.
BARBARA: Yes (she calms down, while SUE looks upset). I think he's helped her a lot, since Ken ... that horrible accident ...
SUE: I'd still like to know where his money comes from. I can't believe it's legal.
LINDA: So how come you're still here, Mary? I thought you were going back to the States?
MARY: Yeah, I went - but there's nobody there I know any more.
HELEN: (To SUE) Can I hold him?
MARY: Some of the guys went to Canada ...
SUE: Yes, of course (she hands over the baby).
MARY: ... some of them went to Vietnam and didn't come back ...
HELEN: Hello, little boy.
MARY: ...and the ones that did come back are all screwed up.
LINDA: I bet they are!
MARY: I looked for Steve Bilinski.
LINDA: Who's he?
MARY: Oh - this guy I used to know. Pete knew him too. Six years ago he was a brilliant scientist and a great musician.
HELEN: It's amazing how quiet he is.
LINDA: So, what's he doing now?
MARY: I finally found him in hospital in San José.
SUE: He's not always like this.
MARY: Just sitting there. I don't think he even knew his own name. I don't know – bad acid or just too much. I came out of that place and got right on a plane back here.
SUE: But it's a bit like that here, looking for people from the old days. Some of them have gone, some have changed. It's sometimes hard to believe that we actually lived through those times. The people. The parties. The things that were happening in the world. All that stuff with the Bomb - half thinking we were all going to die in a nuclear war; half thinking we'd be young forever.
LINDA: Yeah. It's as if it was all a dream - but at the same time ... sometimes I get the feeling that it was only a few weeks ago that we had THAT party (laughs) - remember those Australians? But it's what - seven years? (A baby starts crying and LINDA runs to pick her up). Where does the time go?
(Curtain)
(Music: "Living in the past", Jethro Tull)
ACT I
The stage is dark. Music starts ("Those were the Days", Mary Hopkin) and the lights come up. After about twenty seconds SALLY JOHNSON enters the lounge wrapped in a towel, with another round her hair. She finds and puts on a record ("Suzanne", Leonard Cohen) listens for about ten seconds then goes to her bedroom, where she dries her hair.
KATHY O'CONNELL and LINDA BARNARD, followed by MARY PACE and SUE WHITE, appear on the street, carrying shopping. Two separate conversations are in progress. It is Tuesday October 22nd, 1968.
SUE: (To MARY, as the music fades to a background level) ... and I told him I was busy this weekend, but he keeps on phoning me at work.
KATHY: (To LINDA while searching handbag for door keys) What do you think then?
MARY: You've just got to come right out and tell him to get lost, Sue.
LINDA: About what?
SUE: Oh, I don't think I could do that.
KATHY: About Pete. (She finds a key and opens the front door) About Pete moving in downstairs.
SUE: I wouldn't want to hurt him. I mean, he's a really nice person - just not my type.
(All enter the house, cross to the kitchen and start unpacking)
MARY: You'll have to tell him sometime ...
LINDA: I don't know, Kathy.
MARY: ... and the longer you wait, the harder it'll be.
LINDA: We get along pretty well at the moment.
SUE: I suppose you're right.
LINDA: It wouldn't be the same with a man here.
MARY: Man! What man?
LINDA: We're just talking about Kathy's friend Pete.
MARY: Oh, yeah.
LINDA: Anybody want some coffee? (putting kettle on)
MARY: Well, I think it'd be cool to have a guy around the place. You know - fixing stuff ... Coffee sounds good to me, Linda.
LINDA: But he'd see us without any make-up on. And we'd have to be properly dressed all the time - Sally's the only one with a dressing gown. Kathy?
KATHY: I'll have tea, please.
SUE: Oh, I don't think that would be a problem. We'd soon get used to each other. Like in a commune, you know. You don't worry too much about what clothes you're wearing. Tea for me, too.
LINDA: You mean he might start wandering around in his Y-fronts?
MARY: Mmmm!
LINDA: Hey! We're out of coffee. Did anybody remember to pick up a new jar?
SUE: Or naked!
MARY: Wow!
KATHY: I don't think he'd do that. There's coffee in this bag somewhere.
MARY: Shame!
LINDA: But will he be able to handle living with all us desirable females? Maybe he'll try to sneak into our rooms at night or something.
KATHY: No, he'll be all right. He's really easy-going - and he'll be working all the time anyway, on his PhD. Here it is! (pulls a jar of coffee from her shopping bag and gives it to Linda)
LINDA: Great - thanks.
MARY: PhD! Is he, like, one of those weirdo scientist types with thick glasses and a funny voice?
KATHY: No. I mean, he's a bit unusual, but he's all right.
SUE: (pulling a record from her shopping bag) Oh, look - anybody know if Sally's in?
MARY: Unusual?
LINDA: Yes, she was going to wash her hair before Geoff came to pick her up.
KATHY: Well - just a bit different.
SUE: Geoff! Is she still seeing him?
MARY: Yeah - wouldn't you? He's real good-looking, and pretty smart. The kind of guy who'll be making big bucks one day.
LINDA: Yes, he's got plenty of money already - not like some of the men I get stuck with.
MARY: And have you seen his car?
KATHY: It's a Jaguar or something, isn't it?
MARY: It sure is! Hey, Kathy, has Pete got a car?
KATHY: I don't think so. He used to have a motorbike.
MARY: Oh, yeah - I remember you talking about it. A Triumph Bonneville wasn't it? Must have been a lot of fun. I guess you can do more in a Jaguar, though. Come on, Sue - you'd like to get your hands on Geoff just as much as I would.
LINDA: Yes, come on, Sue - admit it.
SUE: No. I don't like him. His eyes always look really cold.
LINDA: I like his eyes. Nice and blue, like Paul Newman's. I think Sue just gets upset because he makes fun of hippies all the time.
SUE: No it's not that. I just .... have a bad feeling about him. And he's upsetting Sally - she's not been herself since they met.
MARY: Do you think so, Sue?
LINDA: No - she's just permanently shattered from going out with Geoff. She usually doesn't get home until about three in the morning. Sometimes not at all.
SUE: I don't know. Anyway, I've got that new Beatles record she wanted.
MARY: Hey, great - can we play it?
SUE: Hang on, I'll ask her (goes into hall and shouts up stairs) SALLY! SALLY - ARE YOU THERE?
SALLY: (off) What is it? Geoff isn't here already, is he? I didn't hear the doorbell. Did he sneak in when you all came in from the shops? Tell him I'll be as quick as I can, Sue, OK?
SUE: It's all right Sally, he's not here yet. I just wanted to tell you I've got that record you wanted.
LINDA: Ask her if she wants a drink.
SALLY: Great! Thanks Sue. Can you put it on for me? Seven-and-six was it, or did you get a discount? I'll give you the money on Friday, OK - only I've just got enough to last me to then.
SUE: OK. Oh, and Linda's got the kettle on - do you want a cup of coffee?
SALLY: No thanks. I've been drinking coffee all day.
(SUE crosses to the record player and puts on "Hey Jude" by the Beatles. This fades after about twenty seconds, during which SALLY comes down and listens. The others finish their unpacking and also go to the lounge to listen)
SALLY: Great isn't it? Well, I'd better finish getting ready - Geoff will be here soon. What do you think of this dress - do you think he'll like it?
MARY: It looks great, Sally. He'll love it.
SUE: It's fantastic.
KATHY: Really suits you.
LINDA: Yes, it must have been really expensive. Well, I'm supposed to be meeting Gavin in an hour - I'd better get moving too.
KATHY: But what about Pete?
MARY: Well - how do you mean, he's "different"?