Janie will probably be playing you when I mount my play in London.
Are you putting me in a play?
Well, I'll have to get in a bit of research.
I'd be awfully grateful if you'd help me out.
You're not going to say anything personal, though, are you?
Well, of course we will, but it won't seem personal
because she'll have an English accent.
WOMAN: Baz, does your mother know you two are an item?
Not yet, but it's better for us, isn't it, to wait until... after.
After what?
Well, you know what I mean. My mother's got me on a short leash.
And I can't really afford to piss her off at the moment.
(LAUGHS) Why would she be pissed off? She likes me.
Yes, well, as a nurse, she does, but it's a different story
if she knows that you're possibly carrying the family line.
(PEOPLE HISS, CLEAR THROATS)
Well, you know, I mean, mothers.
WOMAN: Oh, Basil!
Excuse me.
I have to go to the toilet. Lavatory, dear.
Flora!
Oh, that was a fucking disaster. Why did I have to say that?
BASIL: Flora! MAN: Oh, go after her, dear heart!
I haven't the faintest idea where she lives.
(METAL CHINKS)
DOROTHY: Do you ever feel alone in the dark?
No. Not at all.
Your mother and I share the spirituality of the night.
You love her, don't you?
Yes. Otherwise, I couldn't do what I do.
Hm.
Love.
It's so vast.
It's difficult to imagine how one can achieve it.
(CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
Tea?
Thank you.
ELIZABETH: It was a charming idea to pay me a visit, Lal.
I haven't seen you since...
I wanted to thank you in person for my present.
Letters are unsatisfactory, don't you think?
Yeah, I thought a gemstone would suit you more than it does myself.
Do you still have your freckles?
They haven't turned cancerous, have they?
Oh! Not that I'm aware of.
Sugar? Uh, no, thank you.
Have you offered Mr Wyburd a chocolate biscuit?
My husband isn't here.
Yes, he is.
He's right here in my bedroom.
Oh.
Oh, he's slipped away.
We girls can talk about him now properly.
Milk? Uh, no... Yes, please. Thanks.
Does he treat you kindly, Lal?
Does he love you?
I believe so. Thank you.
He's my husband, and he's an honourable man.
Oh, yes.
Honourable, certainly.
And so hairless.
Why... why would you say that? He isn't bald, even now.
Cake? No, thank you.
I liked the feel of his skin.
His was the... softest and the whitest.
What?
What are you saying?
It was nothing, Lal. Just flesh on flesh.
It only counts when love is involved.
My husband understood that.
Do you think you shall enjoy Thorogood Village?
I believe your children are confident
they'll find suitable accommodation for you there.
Cherry Cheeseman's mother died there.
Yes.
I believe the children are waiting for another such vacancy.
You and Arnold can go there if you think it's so nice!
We couldn't afford it, Elizabeth.
I'd like you to leave.
I'm tired.
Though not as tired as my husband was.
I had to give him oxygen at the end. Do you remember?
I wasn't invited to your country home.
Goodbye, Mrs Hunter.
How was the visit? It was awful.
All the staff grilling me about the children's criminal intention
to put their mother away.
How the leak occurred, I can't imagine.
I told.
You?
I always looked up to Mrs Hunter
as somebody who was beautiful and sometimes brilliant,
but she's too selfish and too greedy.
Lal!
I suppose I didn't stop to think that I'd been told in confidence.
Didn't stop to think?
After all these years, not to be ethically conditioned?!
Do you realise the consequences of your actions?
Mrs Lippmann is rationing herself to one meal a day
and refusing to accept her salary.
Flora surprised me with her open condemnation of the children,
and Mary can't stop praying.
If the children applied for power of attorney at present, they would succeed.
An already perilously fragile house has turned lunatic!
(SOBS, SNIFFS)
(HONKS)
Is it the murderers come about their business already?
Just look 'em in the eye. They're not as special as they think they are.
It's so Mother to summons us here.
Ah, Mother.
Is a flair for theatrics genetic?
I wanted to be outdoors,
where one has a better chance of being struck by a thunderbolt.
Oh, now we're being morbid.
Mrs Hunter and, indeed, the entire household...
...know about your intentions regarding Thorogood Village.
It is entirely my fault, I'm afraid.
I let it slip.
Well, not to worry, Mother. They don't have any vacancies just yet.
Then I must make sure I die before they do.
We should make sure that my last memories are pleasant ones.
Basil, how shall you say goodbye?
Perhaps you should recite something for me.
Oh, I hate matinee performances. Oh, for heaven's sake, just do it.
"In such a night stood Dido with a willow in her hand,"
"upon the wild sea banks..."
Thank you, Basil. Perhaps you would be more suited to something lighter.
You have a lovely singing voice.
Perhaps you should try something musical.
Kiss me goodbye, would you, before I go.
Don't be silly, darling. You'll make a much grander exit than this.
Would you be happier if I came home and looked after you?
Low again on funds, are we?
Have we been called here for a public execution?
Shall we, um, feed the swans?
I don't want you at home any more. Mary and Flora shall care for me.
I told Mary she could stay in your room.
Oh... How could you give away my room?
You're willing to throw me out of mine! It's alright, Dorothy.
Mary can... stay in my room.
She's a nurse.
I wanted to be a nurse once and you said, "Don't be ridiculous."
I was left in no doubt
that nothing short of great social success would satisfy you.
Fly away, pigeon. Just say your farewell and go.
You too, Edvard.
Edvard?
You know I can't help getting my names mixed up. I meant Basil.
No, you didn't. You know exactly what you say. To bring up Edvard now!
Oh, your unforgiving nature exhausts me!
Go.
Go visit your father in Cudgerie.
Father's passed away, dearie. Then you must visit his grave.
Otherwise he'll be very hurt.
And please don't come back before the storm is over.
Neither of you possess the qualities to survive it.
I'm not going anywhere.
You can't order me into the country as if I was still a child.
Wyburd will organise everything.
You've always done this... pick a fight and then dismiss me.
Dorothy. What?
Come on.
Where's that kiss?
Come on, Dorothy.
Can't you see our mother's completely...
...gaga?
Could this pilgrimage to the warm, shallow seas of childhood
unlock the key to my second act,
a return to a time when one still had a father
and a mother's fractured prism of a mind
had not yet fallen into the hands of mischievous elves?
(SIGHS) Why is the country so bloody far from the city?
You don't believe that she would deny us financially at the very end, do you?
(BELL RINGS)
Look, Dottie! Pies!
(LAUGHS)
You're not going to eat it? Of course!
Two, four, six, eight. Bog in, don't wait.
Oh!
Not even in the wildest moments of sentimental excess would I eat a pie.
Mmm! Oh.
Oh, you're nauseating.
This is heavenly. Really?
Mmm.
Oh!
Oh, it's absolutely revolting.
(CHUCKLES)
Oh.
Mmm.
We're not supposed to eat in Mummy's car.
I know. (LAUGHS)
Dorothy!
Mrs Hunter. It's Mary.
I don't want any Marys.
I want to go swimming with Dorothy and Edvard.
EDVARD: You have trouble?
This damned heat makes my fingers swell.
Here.
Let me.
Thank you, Edvard.
Mary?
It is Mary.
Isn't it?
I hope you don't mind.
I organised a placement for you, for after I'm gone.
In a good family.
Thank you,
for thinking of me.
Dear.
You know that nice medicine you give me to help me?
Do you mind leaving the bottle on...
...the bedside table so I could help myself?
That would be...
...entirely unethical.
I should have known.
You never blot your copybook for God.
(VEHICLE DRIVES STEADILY)
Oh. This is just what I dreaded - arriving at mealtimes.
It's bad form.
Oh! We should have brought a gift. Oh!
Roses.
What are their names again? Um... the Macrorys.
Macrorys. Macrorys.
Anne and... Rory. (LAUGHS)
(CHILDREN CHATTER)
Hello!
Uh! CHILDREN: Hello!
G'day. How are you? (WHISTLES)
Oi! Don't make a nuisance of yourselves.
ANNE: Hello.
Hello.
Come on, Dot.
Rory, mate. Basil.
Hello, Princess. Oh, Dorothy, please.
Wow, a princess. Um, I thought...
Oh, lovely! Thank you so much.
Oh, that's lovely.
Um, it won't be what you remembered. Will it, Rory?
ANNE: Um, we've put you in the master suite, Princess.
We've tried to make it comfortable for you.
Befitting.
Sir Basil. Reckon you can doss down here?
Why ever not?
ANNE: Leave you to it, then. Thank you.
Mother's room.
(CLOCK TICKS)
(SIZZLING)
Anne insisted we use your mother's china tonight.
ANNE: Yeah, we're not in the dining room, though.
With the kids, we can't keep up your parents' standards.
Never mind. They won't notice now. Oh, my father does.
He's worried standards will fall with a stockman in the family.
(SCREAMS)
Don't move. Come here. Come on. It's alright. It's alright.
There's a dustpan over there, sir.
(GIRL SOBS) (HUMS) Come here. Come here.
Oh! Hey, leave the lady alone.
BOY: Stay for dinner. Hello.
ANNE: Be careful. There's... there's glass over there.
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
(DOOR OPENS) (STOPS PLAYING)
BASIL: That's you with no hair.
It is not.
I think that's you. No, it's not.
That's me, about nine.
BASIL: My theatrical clippings.
There's Daddy.
Dad kept all my theatre notices.
Let's see the cuttings of me.
Oh. My wedding. You were quite... quite pretty, really.
These are all his books. I remember this one.
He used to read it to me.
DOROTHY: That was his favourite.
BASIL: It's my last letter to him.
It's mine too.
Oh, this is half in French.
Oh, God.
I wrote goodbye to my father in French.
I can't really look at that one.
(CLEARS THROAT)
"My dear old Dad,"
"You're the last man I'd like to think a victim of this most horrible illness."
"I'm even more depressed"
"for being unable to concentrate all my thoughts on you,"
"as we are in the throes of rehearsal."
Read the postscript.
"PS. Nobody can realise the strain of taking on such a role as Macbeth."
Not the best thing to have said in the circumstances.
Oh, Lotte, get up.
The cleaner will attend to that. Mrs Kirsch has resigned.
And so has the chauffeur since madame took the car.
Will you stop it? Your feet are swelling up.
If you can't dance for Mrs Hunter, you'll be really stuffed.
Then my usefulness will have no use.
What is burning?
Oh, no!
My strudel!
LOTTE: All burnt!
It is because I am giving thought to the terrible mess you have us all in.
Well, you needn't worry about it.
It's all over with Basil.
Turns out
we don't speak the same language.
But you think that there is a child?
I'm regular as clockwork, and I'm four days late.
Oh, Flora-Dora.
I am knowing something what might help you.
They begin with a hot bath and brandy.
You're not laying a finger on me, Lotte.
You remember me, don't you?
Arnold.
Oh, yes.
I sent for you.
Because...
You wish to make some adjustments to your final wishes?
Yes.
I wish to leave the bulk of my estate to my husband.
Mrs Hunter, your husband is no longer with us.
Just because Alfred lives in the country
doesn't mean that my marriage isn't the most important thing in the world to me.
Perhaps your husband does not need the money now and...
...might prefer that you consider someone else.
Alright, then, if my husband's going to be like that.
I'll leave it to the German dancer.
She's like this nearly all the time now.
I think...
...you're gonna have to decide what she'd want if she was still all there.
FLORA: Do you want her kids coming back here
and saying that she's incompetent?
They will. (POURS LIQUID) They'll put her in that home.
My Wyburd's got some nice cool water for you, love.
Thank you.
Well. Shall we begin, then?
I wish to leave the bulk of my estate
to you, Mr Wyburd.
You have served me with such loyalty and discretion.
I've done so little for you in return.
I'll sign, then.
And then I want to go to sleep.
Hurry up. Help me sign.
No, Flora. Could you please leave us? This must be my responsibility alone.
Help me.
Don't go.
You see, I... I'm a little afraid, you know.
I don't remember things much any more.
I only seem to remember things from way back, when...
Life is unforgettable moments...
...with dull routine in between.
Without those moments...
...what do we have left to remember?
(BIRDSONG) (ROOSTER CROWS)
Running away from home... sir?
You want to be dropped here? Thank you.
I used to come here looking for yabbies.
Not enough water to drown yourself in here.
I'll pick you up soon.
I'm in no hurry.
Jeez, you people have got it made.
(LAUGHS)
"Mmm". "Muh", "muh", "muh", "muh".
You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
I will have such revenges on you both that all the world...
I will do such things!
What they are yet, I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth!
But this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws or ere I'll weep.
Oh, fool, I shall go mad!
Oh, shit! Shit!
Shit!
OW!
Dad said you'd do something stupid. ANNE: Mogs!
Like paddling.
I was always a clumsy blighter.
Fell out of a tree as a kid, as I recall. Broke your arm.
Your mother never taught you two how to look after yourselves.
Here, do you think you can manage this?
Yes.
Never had much time for her.
Well, you're the only man I've ever heard say that.
But I came round to her in the end. Ah! They all do.
I still remember Dad carrying me home.
DOCTOR: He was a good man, your dad.
When he got really crook, he wanted to finish it off here in his own home.
Yeah, your mother looked after him round the clock. She did everything.
She gave him his final shot.
Because your dad knew your mother had the guts
to do what needed to be done without flinching.
He was in such pain, you know. She couldn't stand to see him in such pain.
I loved your mother.
(GASPS)
You shouldn't even be standing on these, let alone dancing.
But I must dance for her. She has asked for me.
You won't be telling her about my feet, will you?
Why not?
She does not care for weakness in others.
And we must be making her still care for us.
Please, Flora-Dora.
Please.
You will stay with me, won't you? As long as I don't have to watch.
It's not the likes of you I must amuse.
Princess de Lascabanes!
I was looking for Anne.
She's asleep. Oh.
Whereas I like to prowl around the house all night.
Oh. Just a... tiny bit.
Oh. Sorry.
Where's old Basil, then?
Oh. He's asleep, probably. (CHUCKLES)
You got to admire him,
out there, shouting his flaming poetry at the breeze.
Now, he can get away with it. Don't you reckon?
I have no idea. I hardly know my brother.
Hm.
Yes, so, um...
I...we, Basil and myself, we feel like we're imposing.
So, um...
We'd just like to offer you some sort of recompense.
I've never thought of friendship as something you have to pay for, Dorothy.
Not like love.
No.
Well, of course. Um...
I... I think I expressed myself crudely.
So... goodnight.
Hm.
(GROANS)
Lust is always difficult to understand.
And too often, it doesn't end well.
(KNOCKING) BASIL: Dottie?
(SOBS) Dottie? Are you alright?
What's worrying you, darling?
Shh, shh, shh.
I have to leave this place.
This place churns up difficult memories.
(SOBS)
A barren childhood.
A barren life.
Is it better to lock loveless misery in a box,
buried deep in a bedroom closet with all the other remnants of childhood?
That's better.
Or is it braver to take it out and examine it in the more forgiving light?
Where are you going?
We're waiting on you for lunch. I'm flying back to the mainland.
For heaven's sake, Dorothy!
What is wrong with you, darling, that you must carry on so?
I don't want to talk about it.
You're at a difficult age for a woman, that's all.
No, Mother. That's not it.
It's the relentless, utterly predictable nature of your ferocious assaults!
Well, you could have had it, but you... didn't seem to want it.
At least give me a hug...
Do not touch me with your greasy hands!
Oh...
Something is wrong?
Help yourself to something to eat, Edvard,
and then I think it's best you leave.
In you go, nice and warm.
What have we got if we haven't got each other?
(HELICOPTER WHIRRS)
BASIL: Do you realise, Dorothy...
...they probably conceived us in this bed.
Mummy's two great disappointments.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(VASE SHATTERS)
When you have love to give, it's not wanted.
When it finally is wanted...
...it's too late.
Dorothy!
Edvard!
No-one will ever know us like we do.
Edvard!
Ah!
(WATER SPLASH ES)
(HOOVES POUND) (HORSES NEIGH)
(SINGS IN GERMAN)
(GROANS)
FLORA: Careful, Lotte.
Stop it...
Stop it, Lotte! You'll hurt yourself.
Stop, now!
Lotte!
FLORA: My God!
(GROANS)
(BANGING AND SHATTERING)
(LOTTE SOBS)
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
Who are you? Were you hit by... (SPEAKS GERMAN)
A German? Is she German?
She is, but this is Mrs Lippmann, love. You remember Lotte.
Oh, why is she wearing my dress?
MARY: Shh! I don't like her.
Let go!
She's showing too much of herself. Tell her to go away.
Come on, you mad bitch.
Come on. Send her away.
Couple of mad bitches.
(WATER DRIPS)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(SNIFFS)
OK. Cue the music for act three.
(PLAYS RAN DOM ARPEGGIO)
BASIL: Oh, sorry, fell over.
Oops.
The stage is bathed in twilight.
Now, don't forget, Willie, you're going to be the princess.
Charlie, you're going to be the knight.
You're going to hold hands with the poor old woman who's lying sick in bed.
First, Mogs, you enter stage right and you give her the medicine.
No. I'm not going to be the nurse. I'm going to be the princess.
Oh, but the nurse is very pretty, and the knight adores the nurse.
I don't care. She's not a princess.
The princess must be the one that enters stage right.
If she wants to play the fucking princess...
Oh, alright. You can be the princess.
(LAUGHS)
BASIL: Enter the princess stage right.
Wait for the music.
The princess valiantly returns home
while the knight is probably hiding in the woods.
(MUTTERS)
No-one touched me when I was a child,
in case I got dirty, Flora.
DOROTHY: It's not Flora, Mother.
It's me, Dorothy.
No, it isn't.
Don't you know me anymore?
Course I do.
You're the day nurse.
Oh, jasmine.
I like... to smell nice after I've had sex.
Have you just had sex, have you?
Haven't you?
I like... a little slut in a woman.
You have some slut in you, Flora.
So do I.
You and I...
...need to taste everything.
Everything Dorothy puts in her mouth
turns into a sour lemon.
Yes.
Dorothy's a prissy dame.
She nearly died of shame when you mentioned the word "penis" out loud.
It's not even a dirty word.
"Penis" is a lovely word.
Sounds lovelier than it looks.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Is it night or day?
Just gone dark now.
Just a little lipstick, then, for dinner.
Oh, right.
I think I need the seat.
Oh, I'll fetch the pan. No.
I want to use the commode.
Shall I get the night nurse?
No.
You do it.
DOROTHY: OK, here we go.
Careful, careful.
You're clumsy, pigeon.
Mum?
I haven't seen my children since I was a girl.
Here.
Oh. (BELL RINGS)
Here's your little bell.
Got your balance, have you?
Balance is always a matter of chance.
But yes.
I believe I'm steady.
(SEAGULLS CRY)
Have you finished, Mother?
Mummy?
(THUDDING)
DOROTHY: Sister DeSantis!
DOROTHY: Mary!
MARY: Mrs Hunter?
Mrs Hunter?
She's gone.
Could you help me get her back to her bed?
Yes, of course.
(BELL JANGLES)
Her legs, madame.
Oh, my God.
(DOOR OPENS)
Did I hear the phone before? Was that...?
Yep.
It's over.
Do you mind if I...?
Go on, dear. Clean yourself up and get over there.
She would have died peacefully, I suppose, in her sleep.
That's how it takes old people.
MOGS: Aren't you going to cry, sir?
I hope Mother was not afraid at the last.
Shall I pack your suitcase for you, Basil?
Oh, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay on here for a few days.
After all, Mother isn't there any more, is she?
If that's OK with you, Rory.
I'll move you into the princess's room. It's more... fitting.
No, please. I'm... I'm quite comfortable in the children's room.
(SOMEONE CLEARS THROAT)
It's been a long night, and I thought you might need a little sustenance.
I'll just fetch Mrs Lippmann.
Please sit down.
After you, madame.
Thank you, Mr Wyburd.
Would you like to say grace, madame?
Perhaps you would like to do so, Mary.
Bless us, O Lord, in this time of sadness.
We are mindful of your mercy, in this life and the next,
while being grateful for the gifts that we are about to receive.
Amen. Amen.
Thank you. Start.
Lotte?
Lot?
Lotte?
(KNOCKS)
Lot?
(GAS PS)
Oh, God, Lotte!
(SOBS) No, Lotte! Lotte, no!
No, no, no, no, no, no!
Oh, Lotte.
(FLORA WEEPS IN DISTANCE)
Put some more sausages on, eh?
Yeah.
I trust you'll find Mrs Hunter's will quite straightforward.
Apart from a few bequests,
it's an equal division of her fortune between yourselves.
And the bequests?
15,000 each to the nurses, the Macrorys
and her housekeeper, Mrs Lippmann, which will remain in the estate.
Yes, well.
Most sad.
Did Mother make no allowance for you, Arnold?
No, no. Don't expect it crossed her mind.
Now, finally, the question of her belongings.
Is there anything that you would like to keep?
Oh, well. Perhaps if there's any jewellery left over.
I wouldn't mind my father's books. Oh, and my mother's make-up.
(LAUGHS)
Shall we, then, dispose of everything else by auction?
By all means.
I think we can see that one through to the end, can't we, Dottie,
before we slink away?
Let's not misjudge one incident that occurred
when we were both under great stress
for an ongoing alliance.
(DOROTHY SIGHS) Well, thank you for everything.
Do give my regards to Lal. I shall.
Oh, well! Give my regards to Air France, is it?
Goodbye, darling. Be lucky.
Au revoir.
Princess.
Au revoir.
Are we alright, sir?
I don't know, old mate. Are we?
I hope you won't think me impertinent, but...
...would you like me to continue to conduct your family's business,
on behalf of your sister and yourself?
I didn't say goodbye to her, Arnold.
I think in the end, somewhere in the recesses of my mother's mind,
she understood that Dorothy is courageous...
...and I'm not.
You'll say goodbye to your mother in your own way, I'm sure, sir.
BASIL: I see her always hesitating deliberately at the top of the stairs,
in her inexhaustible wardrobe, preferably white,
then descending, holding back her full radiance,
until at precisely the fourth stair
the light breaks from inside all around her.
Mother's belief that she was entitled to die whenever she damn well pleased
never faltered.
Those that choose to remain do so because we relish
the joys and the torments, the terrors and exhilarations of living.
Ah. Dommage.
BASIL: It might be less painful in the end if we never allowed ourselves to forget
that our clumsy flesh,
in which we throb and flicker,
is only a disguise
until we are unburdened by death...
...which is our natural conclusion.