Secrets

The Incubator Journal #10
September 2016

SCENE:

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Music: ‘Secrets’ by Anthony Toner.

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Lights up on ANGELA and PATRICK, standing. Both are dressed in black.

They regard the audience, for a time.

ANGELA:      It was so cold up on the hill. A bitter wind. But the sun was shining, all the same. Patrick held my hand all through the prayers. His hand was so warm. It was comforting.

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I watched the priest. The steam coming from his breath as he spoke. I barely listened to the words.

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As they lowered her into the grave I looked away.

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From where we stood I could see the rooftops of the estate where I’ve lived most of my life. Where mum lived all of hers.

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Patrick squeezed my hand.

PATRICK:     It was fucking Baltic. I wished I’d brought a warmer coat. I didn’t know the weather would be this… different. London’s warmer in the spring. Ireland’s bloody cold. Grey.

Fucking miserable.

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I’d never been to a Catholic funeral before. The service was depressing. I sat in the church feeling out of place.

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All those white faces.

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Angela asked me if I would help carry the coffin. ‘Would you take a turn?’ she said. This woman who I’d never even met.

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This woman my dad…

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His dirty little…

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The coffin was so light. Like it had feathers in it instead of a body.

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It was even colder up at the cemetery. The wind. Jesus! I wanted to stick my hands in my pockets but Angela held on to me and wouldn’t let go.

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Tears streaming down her face.

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She looks a bit like him. Around the eyes, mostly.

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My father.

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Our father…

Running time: @ 15 minutes.

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Secrets was part of Arrivals 2 from Terra Nova Productions, which ran at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, and toured throughout NI in 2015

Secrets was directed by Andrea Montgomery & starred Melissa Dean & Robert Bertrand, with a score by Anthony Toner.

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