31 Plays in 31 Days, #22 - "Giving Away"
Aug. 22nd, 2017 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11I've been picking at this piece for a long time. I think I could possibly extend it into a full ten-minute play with some expanding and polishing, but I pushed myself to finish it just to have something to post today. It's from after Mary and Mrs. Hawking have their break, and Mary agrees to marry Arthur and go to America with him. This is from just before their wedding, a moment between Mary and Nathaniel, who is giving her away.
It's mostly fluff, about the bond between the two characters. Developing their friendship is important to me while keeping it platonic, and I like how a piece like this pays that off in a powerful way. Also, it's an exercise in dealing with one of the largest potential pitfalls of the whole series, how often everyone ends up talking about Mrs. Hawking. Here, it is DELIBERATELY AVOIDED by the characters' intention. But, because of the recent blowup she's a conspicuous and painful absence— she refuses to attend Mary's wedding —there are some slight allusions that I hope acknowledge the reality of the situation without centering her.
Last year's Day #25 - Wedding Toast would occur just after this.
Day #22 - "Giving Away"
By Phoebe Roberts
MARY STONE, late twenties, a society avenger, on her wedding day
NATHANIEL HAWKING, early thirties, her friend and colleague
London, England, 1888
~~~
(MARY waits in the hall in her wedding gown holding a bouquet. Enter NATHANIEL in morning dress.)
NATHANIEL: Well, my dear. Look at you.
MARY: Hello, Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL: I see things have come together nicely here.
MARY: It was all Clara’s doing. Thank heaven, I’m rubbish at this sort of things.
NATHANIEL: You shall be in proper company then.
MARY: Oh, dear. How did you all manage?
NATHANIEL: Well, he hasn’t bolted, so you needn’t worry there. But you’d think that cravat was a hangman’s noose, the way he tried to avoid it.
MARY: Oh, my.
NATHANIEL: All’s well that ends well. I turned him out.
MARY: You’ve turned all this out, you and Clara. You really needn’t have gone to such trouble.
NATHANIEL: Of course we did. Besides how much you mean to us, all this, well… it’s my send off. I wanted you to have a good one. To know how much you’ll be missed.
MARY: Thank you so much for that.
NATHANIEL: You will be, you know. More than any of us can say. Even though you deserve all that and more.
(He pauses with emotion.)
NATHANIEL: I’m sorry. We should all just be happy, shouldn’t we?
MARY: Please, Nathaniel, not today. We said we weren’t going to—
NATHANIEL: No, not that. It’s that… you’re leaving. Sailing off across an ocean. It’s just all of a sudden struck me. What will I do?
MARY: Oh, Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL: I’m afraid I’m done for. We’ve become quite a team, and now what? Who will deliver that strong right cross when the ruffians close in? Without you at my back, I’ll have a trouncing within the week.
MARY: You handle yourself well enough these days.
NATHANIEL: Well, then… what about the rest of it? Who’s going to bake those lovely little buns with the water icing? Who else will remember to have the wassail for the carolers at Christmastime? And… who will I talk to after a mission, about what we’ve done, and how it’s all gone? What will I do?
MARY: I’ll write. I’ll write every week, and you’ll write me back. You’ll tell me everything, won’t you?
NATHANIEL: Even an ocean away, you won’t be able to shut me up. I’ll drown you in foolscap.
(Pause. NATHANIEL smiles as he takes her hand.)
NATHANIEL: I really am so happy for you. What a grand adventure this will be!
MARY: I shall see America! Heavens, I never thought I would. Have you ever been there?
NATHANIEL: I never have. But I hear New York is one of the greatest cities in the world. You shall take it by storm, I’m sure.
MARY: Do you think it’s true they douse everything they eat in red sauce?
NATHANIEL: (Laughing) I’ve no idea. But that’s part of the fun of a foreign land, isn’t it? You’re brave in everything else— why not in cuisine?
MARY: I think… the change will be good.
NATHANIEL: Indeed. But… you will miss me, won’t you?
MARY: My dear Nathaniel. I will miss you every moment.
NATHANIEL: Will you really?
MARY: Everything we’ve been through these last eight years… the cases, and the danger, all the struggle, and everything we’ve learned… we were there together, through all of it. Working together and fighting together and putting our heads together when things got hard. No one else knows what it was like.
NATHANIEL: No one?
MARY: Not as we had it. No one, except we two.
NATHANIEL: There’s nobody I’d rather have served with, Mary. Nobody.
MARY: Nor I. And blast it, I like you! I like the way you fuss over your suits, and grumble over the cricket scores. And how you make fun of yourself. And how you never give up. On anyone or anything, ever.
NATHANIEL: You… you don’t fault me for it? Even when… perhaps I should?
MARY: It’s the best thing about you.
(NATHANIEL covers his mouth as tears well in his eyes.)
MARY: Oh, you said you wouldn’t cry.
NATHANIEL: I say a bloody lot of things.
(They embrace.)
MARY: You are the dearest friend I’ve ever had. And if I travel the world and see all there is to see, nothing shall ever change the years we’ve spent together.
NATHANIEL: And here I thought you didn’t want me to cry. Oh, it’s a wedding, for God’s sake. Why shouldn’t I? I did at mine.
MARY: And that’s another thing I am going to miss.
(The wedding march begins, and they part.)
NATHANIEL: I do believe that’s our cue. It’s time.
(MARY smoothies her dress and touches her hair.)
MARY: Shall I do all right, then?
NATHANIEL: You always have. May I kiss the bride?
MARY: Please.
(NATHANIEL kisses her, then offers his arm. MARY takes it.)
MARY: Once more into the breach?
NATHANIEL: Tallyho.
MARY: Thank you for this.
NATHANIEL: As you said. There’s no one I’d rather go into battle with at my side.
(They proceed into the church.)
It's mostly fluff, about the bond between the two characters. Developing their friendship is important to me while keeping it platonic, and I like how a piece like this pays that off in a powerful way. Also, it's an exercise in dealing with one of the largest potential pitfalls of the whole series, how often everyone ends up talking about Mrs. Hawking. Here, it is DELIBERATELY AVOIDED by the characters' intention. But, because of the recent blowup she's a conspicuous and painful absence— she refuses to attend Mary's wedding —there are some slight allusions that I hope acknowledge the reality of the situation without centering her.
Last year's Day #25 - Wedding Toast would occur just after this.
Day #22 - "Giving Away"
By Phoebe Roberts
MARY STONE, late twenties, a society avenger, on her wedding day
NATHANIEL HAWKING, early thirties, her friend and colleague
London, England, 1888
~~~
(MARY waits in the hall in her wedding gown holding a bouquet. Enter NATHANIEL in morning dress.)
NATHANIEL: Well, my dear. Look at you.
MARY: Hello, Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL: I see things have come together nicely here.
MARY: It was all Clara’s doing. Thank heaven, I’m rubbish at this sort of things.
NATHANIEL: You shall be in proper company then.
MARY: Oh, dear. How did you all manage?
NATHANIEL: Well, he hasn’t bolted, so you needn’t worry there. But you’d think that cravat was a hangman’s noose, the way he tried to avoid it.
MARY: Oh, my.
NATHANIEL: All’s well that ends well. I turned him out.
MARY: You’ve turned all this out, you and Clara. You really needn’t have gone to such trouble.
NATHANIEL: Of course we did. Besides how much you mean to us, all this, well… it’s my send off. I wanted you to have a good one. To know how much you’ll be missed.
MARY: Thank you so much for that.
NATHANIEL: You will be, you know. More than any of us can say. Even though you deserve all that and more.
(He pauses with emotion.)
NATHANIEL: I’m sorry. We should all just be happy, shouldn’t we?
MARY: Please, Nathaniel, not today. We said we weren’t going to—
NATHANIEL: No, not that. It’s that… you’re leaving. Sailing off across an ocean. It’s just all of a sudden struck me. What will I do?
MARY: Oh, Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL: I’m afraid I’m done for. We’ve become quite a team, and now what? Who will deliver that strong right cross when the ruffians close in? Without you at my back, I’ll have a trouncing within the week.
MARY: You handle yourself well enough these days.
NATHANIEL: Well, then… what about the rest of it? Who’s going to bake those lovely little buns with the water icing? Who else will remember to have the wassail for the carolers at Christmastime? And… who will I talk to after a mission, about what we’ve done, and how it’s all gone? What will I do?
MARY: I’ll write. I’ll write every week, and you’ll write me back. You’ll tell me everything, won’t you?
NATHANIEL: Even an ocean away, you won’t be able to shut me up. I’ll drown you in foolscap.
(Pause. NATHANIEL smiles as he takes her hand.)
NATHANIEL: I really am so happy for you. What a grand adventure this will be!
MARY: I shall see America! Heavens, I never thought I would. Have you ever been there?
NATHANIEL: I never have. But I hear New York is one of the greatest cities in the world. You shall take it by storm, I’m sure.
MARY: Do you think it’s true they douse everything they eat in red sauce?
NATHANIEL: (Laughing) I’ve no idea. But that’s part of the fun of a foreign land, isn’t it? You’re brave in everything else— why not in cuisine?
MARY: I think… the change will be good.
NATHANIEL: Indeed. But… you will miss me, won’t you?
MARY: My dear Nathaniel. I will miss you every moment.
NATHANIEL: Will you really?
MARY: Everything we’ve been through these last eight years… the cases, and the danger, all the struggle, and everything we’ve learned… we were there together, through all of it. Working together and fighting together and putting our heads together when things got hard. No one else knows what it was like.
NATHANIEL: No one?
MARY: Not as we had it. No one, except we two.
NATHANIEL: There’s nobody I’d rather have served with, Mary. Nobody.
MARY: Nor I. And blast it, I like you! I like the way you fuss over your suits, and grumble over the cricket scores. And how you make fun of yourself. And how you never give up. On anyone or anything, ever.
NATHANIEL: You… you don’t fault me for it? Even when… perhaps I should?
MARY: It’s the best thing about you.
(NATHANIEL covers his mouth as tears well in his eyes.)
MARY: Oh, you said you wouldn’t cry.
NATHANIEL: I say a bloody lot of things.
(They embrace.)
MARY: You are the dearest friend I’ve ever had. And if I travel the world and see all there is to see, nothing shall ever change the years we’ve spent together.
NATHANIEL: And here I thought you didn’t want me to cry. Oh, it’s a wedding, for God’s sake. Why shouldn’t I? I did at mine.
MARY: And that’s another thing I am going to miss.
(The wedding march begins, and they part.)
NATHANIEL: I do believe that’s our cue. It’s time.
(MARY smoothies her dress and touches her hair.)
MARY: Shall I do all right, then?
NATHANIEL: You always have. May I kiss the bride?
MARY: Please.
(NATHANIEL kisses her, then offers his arm. MARY takes it.)
MARY: Once more into the breach?
NATHANIEL: Tallyho.
MARY: Thank you for this.
NATHANIEL: As you said. There’s no one I’d rather go into battle with at my side.
(They proceed into the church.)
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