One Last Waltz E-Book

Luke Adamson

• Herausgeber: Renard Press
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 55

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Alice is becoming more and more forgetful. Her daughter Mandy is always on hand to help out, but is starting to feel the strain. One day a long-forgotten photograph stirs a memory and lures Alice back to the Crown Hotel in Blackpool, where she hopes for the chance to dance in the tower ballroom one last time. But when mother and daughter reach Blackpool, nothing is quite how Alice remembers, and she finds herself getting lost in the past. One Last Waltz is a beautifully written portrayal of a family coming to terms with complications caused by Alzheimer's disease. By turns sparkling with wit and heart-wrenching in its honesty, it's filled with vital and compassionate insight into the sufferings accompanying a disease that has blighted the landscape for so many.

Leseprobe

one last waltz

luke adamson

renard press

One Last Waltz:first produced by Black Coffee Theatrefor a UK tour in 2015, directed by Luke Adamson and Maria Crocker.MANDY played by Susan Mitchell,Alice played by Annie Sawle and Georgetteplayed byAndrina Carroll.

second production at The Greenwich Theatrein 2018, directed by Luke Adamson.MANDY played by Julie Binysh,Alice played by Amanda Reed and Georgetteplayed byJulia Faulkner.

Renard Press Ltd

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London EC1V 2NX

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020 8050 2928

www.renardpress.com

One Last Waltz first published by Renard Press Ltd in 2023

Text © Luke Adamson, 2023

Cover design by Will Dady

Luke Adamson asserts his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, used to train artificial intelligence systems or models, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior permission of the publisher.

EU Authorised Representative: Easy Access System Europe – Mustamäe tee 50, 10621 Tallinn, Estonia, [email protected].

Renard Press is proud to be a climate positive publisher, meaning we take more carbon out of the air than we put in. For more information see renardpress.com/eco

Permission for producing this play may be applied for via the publisher, using the contact details above, or by emailing [email protected].

contents

One Last Waltz

Notes

Characters

part one

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

part two

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

part three

Scene 1

Scene 2

one last waltz

this play is dedicated to the memory of ernest and frances wood.

notes

The play was written to be performed straight through with no interval, but one may be inserted if the director wishes.

The play is split into three parts, with each part focusing on the story of one character slightly more than the others, which mirrors the 3⁄4 time signature of a waltz. The choice of incidental music throughout is left to the director/sound designer, but it should all be in a 3⁄4 time signature. The original production used songs by Norah Jones, Damien Rice and Engelbert Humperdinck, as well as ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ by Elvis Presley before Part ii, Scene 2.

The set can be designed as the designer and director want; in the original production it was constructed entirely out of cardboard boxes, and other bits of furniture, such as the reception desk, were built out of the boxes, with small costume changes happening onstage, with the costumes coming out of the boxes.

characters

mandy (50s): A single mother and doting daughter;looks in need of a rest.

alice (70s): Mandy’s mother; witty and caring but stubborn; starting to have problems with her memory.

georgette (50s): An eccentric hotelier and a bit of a busybody.

PART ONE

MANDY

scene 1

A room filled with boxes and moving cases that have never been unpacked. A waltz plays in the background. alice enters. She moves to the nearest box and opens it, pulling out various items. Not finding what she was looking for, she moves on to the next box, pulling out more heirlooms and memories. Still not finding what she is looking for, she moves over to another box and pulls out more junk, followed by an old pair of dance shoes. She blows the dust off the shoes and looks at them more closely. Smiling, she takes her slippers off and pulls the dance shoes on, and begins to waltz in time with the music – gently at first, but eventually getting into it, until she is waltzing with flare and elegance. After a time she begins to tire, and, wheezing, she sits herself down and makes to take the shoes off. As she’s doing so mandy enters.

mandy: Mum?

alice: I’m here. Just having a sit down.

mandy: Did you find them?

alice: Did I what?

mandy: Did you find them?

alice (thinks; then, after a pause): I found the shoes.

mandy: What?

alice: I found the shoes.

mandy: What shoes?

alice (pointing): The shoes. The dance shoes. (Pause.) They were in that box.

mandy: Mum…

alice: Yes?

mandy: What did you come in here for?

alice (pause): Erm… I came… for the shoes?

mandy: No, not for the shoes.

alice: No, not the shoes. The erm… The… I came in here to look for the… erm…

mandy: The photographs.

alice: Yes.

mandy: Remember?

alice: Yes. Yes, the photographs.

mandy: Have you found them?

alice: I don’t think so.

mandy: You don’t think so?

alice: No.

mandy: Well, either you have or you haven’t.

alice: I haven’t.

mandy: OK – where have you looked?

alice: In those boxes.

mandy: Right. Well, you look in those ones, and I’ll look in these, OK?

alice: Yes.

mandy: And we’re looking for…?

alice: Photographs.

mandy: Photographs. Good.

(They set about looking in boxes, pulling out old heirlooms. It is clear the boxes have sat unpacked for some time.)

alice (after a pause): What photographs?

mandy: The photo album with the old holiday pictures. Remember?

alice: Oh yes.

mandy: Why haven’t you unpacked these before?

alice: I never felt the need.

mandy: You’ve been here years!

alice: Yes, but it’s things I don’t want on display.

mandy: Well, you could unpack them at least?

alice: There’s no point. You’ll only have to repack them when I die.

mandy: Oh, stop being so maudlin!

alice: Well, it’s true. Everybody I know is dying. Gracie Foster died last week. And she’s younger than me.

mandy: She had a terminal illness.

alice: How do you know I haven’t got one?

mandy: Stop it, Mum.

alice: Well, it’s true! I’m old. That’s as good as any illness.

mandy: Let’s find these photos.

(There is silence as they look.)

alice: I could drop down tomorrow. Keel over in Morrison’s.

mandy: You won’t keel over in Morrison’s.

alice: How do you know?

mandy: Tomorrow’s Tuesday. We go shopping on Thursday.

alice: Is it? I thought today was Wednesday.

mandy: No, it’s Monday, Mum.

alice: Oh. But I put the bins out.

mandy: I know – I brought them in again.

alice: Oh.

(They continue looking. mandy finds an old black-and-white picture in a frame.)

mandy: Oh, Mum – look at this! It’s you and Dad.

alice: Let’s see!

mandy: When was this?

alice: Well, that’s the tower in the background…

mandy: Eiffel?

alice: Blackpool. We first went on holiday there in 1958.

mandy