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Nov. 16th, 2012 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lolabobsAs promised for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrs_sweetpeach This is the final scene so Will obviously include spoilers for the play.
To contextualise this:
Our Boys is set in a military hospital - some characters are there for minor ops - eg a circumcision, others are there recovering from horrible wounds. Joe (Laurence Fox' character) is ostensibly the least wounded of the crew, although he has been in hospital for over a year. He presents as a strong, supportive character for the ward, managing the problems of the others and a natural leader.
POM - is an officer who was placed in the ward, being the catalyst for conflict and distrust. Earlier in the play he had been accused of a destructive act of betrayal. In the scene prior to this scene, the truth had been revealed about his innocence and the real culprit. That scene ended with Joe taking a knife to the culprit and threatening to cut his toes off in punishment, but unable to go through with it, ending up weeping and "howling like a wounded animal"
This final scene takes place two weeks after this. POM has returned to the ward for follow up treatment, he meets with some of the other residents who are leaving and is then left alone.
(I'll type up from that point:)
POM sits on what was his old bed. he hears the ghosts and remembers all the things that happened to him in the bay. He sees Keith's walkman and goes over and sits on Keith's bed to examine it.
Joe enters in pyjamas,, carrying a washbag with a towel over his shoulders. He is a changed man, this is subtle but unmistakeable.
POM: Surprise! I said I'd come back. I just saw Ian, I think he was a bit surprised too. I didn't tell Hatchett-Face because I bought these. (he picks up the bag on the bed) Whiff of booze and it would have been a strip search! Keith told me not to come back unless I had a few tins. Where is he by the way? Have I missed him? I was going to come and visit. I've been convalescing.
Joe: Keith died on Friday afternoon. (He pauses) you just missed the funeral actually. (he pours a glass of water and drinks it)
POM: What?
Joe: They wouldn't let me go. the blood infection hasn't cleared up. they're doing more tests. They didn't have much luck with America.
POM: What happened? He was alright when I left.
Joe: Complications.
POM What do you mean complications?
JOE:There was a blood clot but they're not prepared to say what caused it.
POM: but they must know. Surely someone should have detected...
Joe:That's all they're prepared to say.
POM: Christ!
There is a pause. Joe puts his washbag and towel away and starts sorting and gluing photographs into a scrapbook
JOE: How's Sandhurst then?
POM: I didn't go.
JOE:I'm sorry.
POM: Don't be.
JOE: Given you the Spanish fiddler have they?
POM:The what?
Joe:The el-bow.
POM:No. they wanted me. It's me who's given them the el-bow. (pause) I just couldn't go through with it.
JOE: What are you doing here then?
POM: It's recurred. The Pilundial sinus. Parry was right all along. So they've got to operate again. ( (Beat) I think they're putting this one on the bill though.
JOE: What bill?
POM: I owe them nine thousand pounds. I've got to pay it all back you see. The scholarship. The bursary. All of it.
Joe: Jesus!
POM:And I haven't got a penny. My mother hit the roof. (He pauses) They're still trying to peel her off it actually. She can't help me, so I've worked out that if I can give them a fiver a week I should only be paying it back for the next thirty-four years.
They both raise a smile
I don't know what I'm going to do. "what to do with my life!" All that money; the Coldstream, you lot. I suppose I've been lucky in a way. I've been given a second chance. Thank you.
There is a pause. POM gets up and puts the plastic bag full of tins of beer in the bin by the entrance on Keith's side of the bay. He stands in the entrance
Hey, did you see that mad Scots Guard that's just come in?
JOE: No
POM: He's had to come in to have his tattoos removed - he's just shown them to me. When he goes to salute (He gestures with his hands he's got "Fuck off Sir!" written on one wrist and "Fuck off Sergeant Major!" written on the other! Why are you in pyjamas?
JOE: Oh, I'm part of the fucking fixtures me! I've seen them all come and go. Even fucking Rifleman comatozed Cribbens is getting the red card before me! It's a cushy number really. (He pauses) Mick looked in after his holiday. Very brown he was. He's met a girl and he's thinking about a transfer to the Red Caps. He said he's fed up of big guns. can you imagine Speedy as a copper? The terrible thing is you can.
POM: Well, I better get unpacked (He moves to the exit) I'm in the third side-room on the left. No Major's wives around then I take it?
Joe: No. No Major's wives.
POM: (noticing Keith's walkman) I don't suppose I could...
JOE: (after a pause) Go ahead. (He moves to POM, still holding a photo of himself)
POM picks up the walkman, looks at the tape inside and smiles.
JOE:Meatloaf?
POM (smiling again) Yeah. (he pauses) Hank Wangford!
Joe: Listen, something happened just after you left...well - look: I just want to say - I'm sorry.
POM: What for?
JOE That time with the beers - I know you didn't tell the Colonel.
POM: Did Keith know?
Joe: Yes.
POM: (getting the plastic bag out of the bin) Listen, Do you want one? (he offers Joe a beer)
Joe:( thinking for a while; then) Fuck it. Go on.
they open the beers. Joe sits in the bath chair.
POM: Lochaim.
JOE Cheers.
POM: (looking at the photograph in Joe's hands) Is that you?
JOE: Let's see. Yeah. Outside Horseguards. Buckingham Palace! The Americans used to love all that (as Ronald Reagan) "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
Joe goes over to his bed, gets a wallet of photos and goes back to POM. Because Joe has a beer in the other hand he puts the packet of photos on the floor and kneels down in front of them to find the one he wants to show POM
What do you reckon on these then? That's the before and that's the after. They've done some good stuff - I never did like my jawline. It's all new. The boss says there's more metal in me than the Man in the Iron Mask! And do you know where they got all the skin for my grafts? From my bum. So now I'm known as the man with two arseholes. Funny eh? And that's Chloe. She was stunning. Really beautiful. (He gets a photo album from the bedside cabinet and goes back to his position on the floor) I've got another one of her - here. I was closer to her than anyone. Except Gerry. I'd sleep with her sometimes, when she was ill. She liked to have me there. I'd nuzzle my head right into her neck and she'd plant a lollopy wet one on my ear. A real softy she was. Then I'd wake up with black all down the side of my head. We used to brush them up with parade gloss to bring up the shine.
POM: Really.
JOE:Oh yeah. Gerry was the same with Ulysses.
POM: Who's Gerry?
JOE: I didn't lose consciousness you see. Not until they out me under at the hospital and that's because I panicked. (he pauses) the boss made a special visit yesterday. Says he thinks I should see the psycho boys - "Fuck off sir" I said. He's good like that with me - now we know where we are, none of your snob stuff. I'm not fruit and nut - but he reckons this special counselling for bomb victims might help me get over my negative attitude problem. Forgive those cunts! A legitimate fucking target, riding a horse through the park in fancy dress! I've never been to Northern Ireland. (he pauses) It's like when you were a kid and your dad would sneak up behind you, sweeping you up in the air out of nowhere. I could see this car. It looked like it was coming towards me. I keep seeing that Mercedes logo like a target coming towards me. They reckoned the bonnet cushioned the impact of the blast. I finished up on the dashboard. (He sings the tune at the end of cartoon time) You know the only thing I could think of was the wolf in "Roadrunner". His outline on the ground after falling off the mountain. "That's all, folks!" (he pauses) I still don't know how I got over to Gerry. They can't work out how I could even move with a compound fracture. It doesn't fit into their rules. Mind you, I reckon if I'd seen the bone sticking out of knee that would have been it. He was a mess, but there wasn't any screaming. He was bent double over Ulysses. Neither of them were moving. Poor fucking animal had been severed in the middle by a car door. Gerry looked like a pin-cushion. six-inch nails sticking out everywhere. That was a nice surprise wasn't it? I didn't know they were nails, not until I heard the nurses in casualty. (He pauses) I pulled him clear. I was sure I was pulling him clear, but I looked down and his legs weren't there. That fucking car door! I held him so the nails wouldn't go deeper, but he started choking. I thought it was this nail in his cheek. I had to pull it out. I didn't know what to do. The blood was pouring out of him, oh Jesus! Suddenly the shuddering stopped and he went very still. He'd opened his eyes and he was grinning up at me. I swear, giving me that Gerry grin, and "Joe" he said "you're the ugliest angel I've ever seen. And then he died.
The lights fade very slowly to black out.
It was stunning.
mrs_sweetpeach This is the final scene so Will obviously include spoilers for the play.To contextualise this:
Our Boys is set in a military hospital - some characters are there for minor ops - eg a circumcision, others are there recovering from horrible wounds. Joe (Laurence Fox' character) is ostensibly the least wounded of the crew, although he has been in hospital for over a year. He presents as a strong, supportive character for the ward, managing the problems of the others and a natural leader.
POM - is an officer who was placed in the ward, being the catalyst for conflict and distrust. Earlier in the play he had been accused of a destructive act of betrayal. In the scene prior to this scene, the truth had been revealed about his innocence and the real culprit. That scene ended with Joe taking a knife to the culprit and threatening to cut his toes off in punishment, but unable to go through with it, ending up weeping and "howling like a wounded animal"
This final scene takes place two weeks after this. POM has returned to the ward for follow up treatment, he meets with some of the other residents who are leaving and is then left alone.
(I'll type up from that point:)
POM sits on what was his old bed. he hears the ghosts and remembers all the things that happened to him in the bay. He sees Keith's walkman and goes over and sits on Keith's bed to examine it.
Joe enters in pyjamas,, carrying a washbag with a towel over his shoulders. He is a changed man, this is subtle but unmistakeable.
POM: Surprise! I said I'd come back. I just saw Ian, I think he was a bit surprised too. I didn't tell Hatchett-Face because I bought these. (he picks up the bag on the bed) Whiff of booze and it would have been a strip search! Keith told me not to come back unless I had a few tins. Where is he by the way? Have I missed him? I was going to come and visit. I've been convalescing.
Joe: Keith died on Friday afternoon. (He pauses) you just missed the funeral actually. (he pours a glass of water and drinks it)
POM: What?
Joe: They wouldn't let me go. the blood infection hasn't cleared up. they're doing more tests. They didn't have much luck with America.
POM: What happened? He was alright when I left.
Joe: Complications.
POM What do you mean complications?
JOE:There was a blood clot but they're not prepared to say what caused it.
POM: but they must know. Surely someone should have detected...
Joe:That's all they're prepared to say.
POM: Christ!
There is a pause. Joe puts his washbag and towel away and starts sorting and gluing photographs into a scrapbook
JOE: How's Sandhurst then?
POM: I didn't go.
JOE:I'm sorry.
POM: Don't be.
JOE: Given you the Spanish fiddler have they?
POM:The what?
Joe:The el-bow.
POM:No. they wanted me. It's me who's given them the el-bow. (pause) I just couldn't go through with it.
JOE: What are you doing here then?
POM: It's recurred. The Pilundial sinus. Parry was right all along. So they've got to operate again. ( (Beat) I think they're putting this one on the bill though.
JOE: What bill?
POM: I owe them nine thousand pounds. I've got to pay it all back you see. The scholarship. The bursary. All of it.
Joe: Jesus!
POM:And I haven't got a penny. My mother hit the roof. (He pauses) They're still trying to peel her off it actually. She can't help me, so I've worked out that if I can give them a fiver a week I should only be paying it back for the next thirty-four years.
They both raise a smile
I don't know what I'm going to do. "what to do with my life!" All that money; the Coldstream, you lot. I suppose I've been lucky in a way. I've been given a second chance. Thank you.
There is a pause. POM gets up and puts the plastic bag full of tins of beer in the bin by the entrance on Keith's side of the bay. He stands in the entrance
Hey, did you see that mad Scots Guard that's just come in?
JOE: No
POM: He's had to come in to have his tattoos removed - he's just shown them to me. When he goes to salute (He gestures with his hands he's got "Fuck off Sir!" written on one wrist and "Fuck off Sergeant Major!" written on the other! Why are you in pyjamas?
JOE: Oh, I'm part of the fucking fixtures me! I've seen them all come and go. Even fucking Rifleman comatozed Cribbens is getting the red card before me! It's a cushy number really. (He pauses) Mick looked in after his holiday. Very brown he was. He's met a girl and he's thinking about a transfer to the Red Caps. He said he's fed up of big guns. can you imagine Speedy as a copper? The terrible thing is you can.
POM: Well, I better get unpacked (He moves to the exit) I'm in the third side-room on the left. No Major's wives around then I take it?
Joe: No. No Major's wives.
POM: (noticing Keith's walkman) I don't suppose I could...
JOE: (after a pause) Go ahead. (He moves to POM, still holding a photo of himself)
POM picks up the walkman, looks at the tape inside and smiles.
JOE:Meatloaf?
POM (smiling again) Yeah. (he pauses) Hank Wangford!
Joe: Listen, something happened just after you left...well - look: I just want to say - I'm sorry.
POM: What for?
JOE That time with the beers - I know you didn't tell the Colonel.
POM: Did Keith know?
Joe: Yes.
POM: (getting the plastic bag out of the bin) Listen, Do you want one? (he offers Joe a beer)
Joe:( thinking for a while; then) Fuck it. Go on.
they open the beers. Joe sits in the bath chair.
POM: Lochaim.
JOE Cheers.
POM: (looking at the photograph in Joe's hands) Is that you?
JOE: Let's see. Yeah. Outside Horseguards. Buckingham Palace! The Americans used to love all that (as Ronald Reagan) "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
Joe goes over to his bed, gets a wallet of photos and goes back to POM. Because Joe has a beer in the other hand he puts the packet of photos on the floor and kneels down in front of them to find the one he wants to show POM
What do you reckon on these then? That's the before and that's the after. They've done some good stuff - I never did like my jawline. It's all new. The boss says there's more metal in me than the Man in the Iron Mask! And do you know where they got all the skin for my grafts? From my bum. So now I'm known as the man with two arseholes. Funny eh? And that's Chloe. She was stunning. Really beautiful. (He gets a photo album from the bedside cabinet and goes back to his position on the floor) I've got another one of her - here. I was closer to her than anyone. Except Gerry. I'd sleep with her sometimes, when she was ill. She liked to have me there. I'd nuzzle my head right into her neck and she'd plant a lollopy wet one on my ear. A real softy she was. Then I'd wake up with black all down the side of my head. We used to brush them up with parade gloss to bring up the shine.
POM: Really.
JOE:Oh yeah. Gerry was the same with Ulysses.
POM: Who's Gerry?
JOE: I didn't lose consciousness you see. Not until they out me under at the hospital and that's because I panicked. (he pauses) the boss made a special visit yesterday. Says he thinks I should see the psycho boys - "Fuck off sir" I said. He's good like that with me - now we know where we are, none of your snob stuff. I'm not fruit and nut - but he reckons this special counselling for bomb victims might help me get over my negative attitude problem. Forgive those cunts! A legitimate fucking target, riding a horse through the park in fancy dress! I've never been to Northern Ireland. (he pauses) It's like when you were a kid and your dad would sneak up behind you, sweeping you up in the air out of nowhere. I could see this car. It looked like it was coming towards me. I keep seeing that Mercedes logo like a target coming towards me. They reckoned the bonnet cushioned the impact of the blast. I finished up on the dashboard. (He sings the tune at the end of cartoon time) You know the only thing I could think of was the wolf in "Roadrunner". His outline on the ground after falling off the mountain. "That's all, folks!" (he pauses) I still don't know how I got over to Gerry. They can't work out how I could even move with a compound fracture. It doesn't fit into their rules. Mind you, I reckon if I'd seen the bone sticking out of knee that would have been it. He was a mess, but there wasn't any screaming. He was bent double over Ulysses. Neither of them were moving. Poor fucking animal had been severed in the middle by a car door. Gerry looked like a pin-cushion. six-inch nails sticking out everywhere. That was a nice surprise wasn't it? I didn't know they were nails, not until I heard the nurses in casualty. (He pauses) I pulled him clear. I was sure I was pulling him clear, but I looked down and his legs weren't there. That fucking car door! I held him so the nails wouldn't go deeper, but he started choking. I thought it was this nail in his cheek. I had to pull it out. I didn't know what to do. The blood was pouring out of him, oh Jesus! Suddenly the shuddering stopped and he went very still. He'd opened his eyes and he was grinning up at me. I swear, giving me that Gerry grin, and "Joe" he said "you're the ugliest angel I've ever seen. And then he died.
The lights fade very slowly to black out.
It was stunning.
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no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-17 11:37 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for typing it up for me.
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Date: 2012-11-17 11:46 pm (UTC)I'm trying to talk myself out of going again.