31 Plays in 31 Days, #23 - "What a Man Can't Help"

In trying to come up with what to post today, it struck me that despite going on and on, often in the text of the Hawking plays, about how important Nathaniel's relationship with the Colonel was to him, I'd never actually written any interaction between them. The closest I've ever come was a quick mention in what is thus far the only prose to exist of the main Hawking storyline— a short story I drafted about Nathaniel's falling for Clara during the time she was seeing Justin.

While version one of that piece is complete, I never finished editing that story, since other projects became more pressing. But it was an interesting experiment in telling other pieces of the story which will never be able to feature in the full-length plays. Not to mention a chance for me to practice my rather atrophied prose muscles, which are probably good for me to keep in practice, even though drama is my focus. I plan on sharing that story when it's finished, but it still needs a pretty serious editing pass before I do that.

I bring that up because I thought that brief moment mentioned in that story between Nathaniel and the Colonel might make a good focus for today's scene. Imagining exactly what their interactions were like is really useful to understanding how Nathaniel has the rosy impression of his uncle that he does, and giving context to how he remembers him.

On top of that, I like the small ways it's revealing of the Colonel. It's easy to see how Nathaniel doesn't realize what his uncle is communicating to him— as a self-centered kid in pain, he's not in a good place to be perceptive —but the Colonel offers a sympathy to his nephew's plight that speaks to what Reginald himself feels about what he's gone through.

Also, it's fun to imagine what a lovesick, nineteen-year-old Nathaniel was like. 😁

( Day #23 - What a Man Can't Help )