The Dresser

0:00:38 > 0:00:41'German aircraft carried out a number of attacks

0:00:41 > 0:00:42'on Great Britain last night.

0:00:42 > 0:00:44'The raids, which lasted for several hours,

0:00:44 > 0:00:46'were scattered over many parts of the country.

0:00:46 > 0:00:49'And the enemy aircraft has been... AIR-RAID SIREN

0:00:49 > 0:00:51'..reported over towns on the south coast,

0:00:51 > 0:00:53'the west of England, the North Midlands and the north-west,

0:00:53 > 0:00:55'as well as over the London area.'

0:01:01 > 0:01:04He does nothing but cry. Are they keeping him in?

0:01:04 > 0:01:05They wouldn't let me stay.

0:01:05 > 0:01:07The doctor said I seemed to make matters worse.

0:01:07 > 0:01:10I should never have taken him to the hospital.

0:01:10 > 0:01:11I don't know what came over me.

0:01:11 > 0:01:14I should have brought him back here where he belongs.

0:01:14 > 0:01:16Why is his coat on the floor? And his hat?

0:01:16 > 0:01:17Drying out. They're wet through.

0:01:17 > 0:01:20Well, how did he come to be in such a state, Norman?

0:01:20 > 0:01:21When you telephoned, I thought

0:01:21 > 0:01:23at first that he'd been hurt in the air raid. Oh, no.

0:01:23 > 0:01:25Or had an accident. Oh, no, not an accident.

0:01:25 > 0:01:28No, I know because they said there was no sign of physical injury.

0:01:28 > 0:01:30Your Ladyship. He's in a state of collapse. Yes, I know.

0:01:30 > 0:01:32Well, how did he get like that?

0:01:32 > 0:01:35Your Ladyship... What happened to him? Sit down. Please, sit down.

0:01:35 > 0:01:36We must remain calm.

0:01:36 > 0:01:38The doctor said it must have been coming on for weeks.

0:01:38 > 0:01:41Oh, if not longer. Well, I didn't see him this morning.

0:01:41 > 0:01:43He left the digs before I woke. Where was he all day?

0:01:43 > 0:01:47Where did you find him? Well, what happened was this, Your Ladyship.

0:01:47 > 0:01:50After the last "all clear" sounded, I went into Market Square

0:01:50 > 0:01:53just as dusk was coming on.

0:01:53 > 0:01:56Peculiar light, ever so yellowish.

0:01:56 > 0:01:59I'd hoped to find a packet or two of Brown Polson's cornflour,

0:01:59 > 0:02:03since our supplies are rather low.

0:02:03 > 0:02:07So I was asking at this stall and that's when I heard his voice.

0:02:07 > 0:02:09Whose voice?

0:02:09 > 0:02:10Sir's, of course.

0:02:12 > 0:02:15He was taking off his overcoat - in this weather!

0:02:15 > 0:02:18"God help the man who stops me," he shouted, and then

0:02:18 > 0:02:23he threw the coat to the ground just like King Lear in the storm scene.

0:02:24 > 0:02:27Look at it. I don't know that I'll ever get it clean.

0:02:27 > 0:02:30And he was so proud of it, do you remember...?

0:02:30 > 0:02:32Oh, no, perhaps it was before your time.

0:02:32 > 0:02:34The first Canadian tour, Toronto.

0:02:38 > 0:02:41What happened after he took off his coat?

0:02:41 > 0:02:42Started on the hat!

0:02:43 > 0:02:47Dunn's, Piccadilly, only a year ago, down on the coat it went and

0:02:47 > 0:02:52he jumped on it, he stamped on his hat, viciously stamped on his hat.

0:02:52 > 0:02:53Well, you can see.

0:02:53 > 0:02:55Then he lifted his arms in the air like he does to convey

0:02:55 > 0:02:59sterility into Goneril's womb, "How much further do you want me to go?"

0:03:02 > 0:03:04His fingers were all of a fidget, undoing his jacket,

0:03:04 > 0:03:08loosening his collar and tie, tearing at the buttons of his shirt.

0:03:08 > 0:03:10Were there many people about?

0:03:10 > 0:03:14A small crowd. That's why I ran to him.

0:03:14 > 0:03:17I didn't want him to stand there looking ridiculous

0:03:17 > 0:03:19with people all around, sniggering.

0:03:19 > 0:03:21Did he see you? Did he know who you were?

0:03:21 > 0:03:23I didn't wait to find out.

0:03:24 > 0:03:26I just took his hand and I said,

0:03:26 > 0:03:29"Good evening, Sir, shouldn't we be getting to the theatre?"

0:03:29 > 0:03:33in my best nanny voice, the one I use when he's being wayward.

0:03:33 > 0:03:36He paid no attention. He was shivering.

0:03:36 > 0:03:38You shouldn't have let the public see him like that.

0:03:38 > 0:03:41It's easy to be wise after the event, if you don't mind

0:03:41 > 0:03:44my saying so, Your Ladyship, but I tried to spirit him away,

0:03:44 > 0:03:47not easy with a man of his proportions.

0:03:47 > 0:03:49Only, just then...

0:03:50 > 0:03:52..a woman approached,

0:03:52 > 0:03:55quite old, wearing bombazine under a tweed coat

0:03:55 > 0:03:57but perfectly respectable.

0:03:57 > 0:04:00She'd picked up his clothes and wanted to help him dress.

0:04:00 > 0:04:03And Sir said to the lady,

0:04:03 > 0:04:09"Thank you, my dear, but Norman usually helps me.

0:04:09 > 0:04:11"I'd be lost without Norman," and I thought,

0:04:11 > 0:04:13"Well, this is your cue, ducky,"

0:04:13 > 0:04:16so I said, "I'm Norman, I'm his dresser."

0:04:16 > 0:04:20And the woman, she had her hair in curlers, she took his hand,

0:04:20 > 0:04:21she kissed it, and she said,

0:04:21 > 0:04:24"You was lovely in The Corsican Brothers."

0:04:25 > 0:04:27He looked at her for a long time, then he smiled sweetly,

0:04:27 > 0:04:30you know the way he does when he's wanting to charm?

0:04:30 > 0:04:32"Thank you, my dear, but you must excuse me.

0:04:32 > 0:04:35"I have to make an exit," and he ran off.

0:04:35 > 0:04:37He said, "I have to make an exit"?

0:04:37 > 0:04:41Well, of course, I followed him, fearing the worst.

0:04:41 > 0:04:43I didn't know he could run so fast.

0:04:43 > 0:04:46I just followed this trail of discarded clothing, the jacket,

0:04:46 > 0:04:47the waistcoat, and I thought,

0:04:47 > 0:04:49"We can't have Sir doing a striptease round town."

0:04:49 > 0:04:53But then I found him. Leaning up against a lamppost.

0:04:53 > 0:04:55Weeping. Where?

0:04:57 > 0:04:59Outside the Kardomah.

0:04:59 > 0:05:01Without a word, hardly knowing what I was doing,

0:05:01 > 0:05:03I led him to the hospital.

0:05:04 > 0:05:07The sister didn't recognise him,

0:05:07 > 0:05:11although later she said she'd seen him last night as Othello.

0:05:11 > 0:05:16A doctor was summoned, short, bald, bespectacled,

0:05:16 > 0:05:20and I was excluded by the drawing of screens.

0:05:20 > 0:05:23And then you telephoned me. No, I waited.

0:05:23 > 0:05:26I lurked, as Edgar says, and I heard the doctor whisper,

0:05:26 > 0:05:30"This man is exhausted. This man is in a state of collapse."

0:05:30 > 0:05:33And that's how it happened.

0:05:33 > 0:05:35AIR-RAID SIREN

0:05:51 > 0:05:53He did nothing but cry.

0:05:53 > 0:05:54Yes, you said.

0:05:54 > 0:05:57I left him lying on top of the bed, still in his clothes, crying,

0:05:57 > 0:06:01no, weeping, as though he'd lost control, had no choice,

0:06:01 > 0:06:03wept and wept, floodgates.

0:06:03 > 0:06:04What are we to do?

0:06:04 > 0:06:07In an hour there will be an audience in this theatre

0:06:07 > 0:06:09hoping to see him as King Lear.

0:06:09 > 0:06:11What AM I to do?

0:06:11 > 0:06:13Well, don't upset yourself, for a start.

0:06:13 > 0:06:16Well, I've never had to make this sort of decision before.

0:06:17 > 0:06:19Any sort of decision before.

0:06:19 > 0:06:21As soon as I came out of the hospital I telephoned Madge

0:06:21 > 0:06:23and asked her to meet me here as soon as possible.

0:06:23 > 0:06:26She'll know what to do. Oh, yes, Madge'll know what to do.

0:06:26 > 0:06:28She won't upset herself, that's for certain.

0:06:28 > 0:06:30No, Madge will be ever so sensible.

0:06:30 > 0:06:32I suppose stage managers have to be.

0:06:33 > 0:06:35I had a friend once,

0:06:35 > 0:06:40had been a vicar before falling from the pulpit and landing on the stage.

0:06:40 > 0:06:43Ever so good as an ugly sister. To the manner born.

0:06:44 > 0:06:46His wife didn't upset easily.

0:06:48 > 0:06:51Just as well, I suppose, all things considered.

0:06:51 > 0:06:55Madge reminds me of her. Cold, businesslike, boring.

0:06:55 > 0:06:58The doctor took me into a little room littered with enamel dishes

0:06:58 > 0:07:01full of blood-stained bandages.

0:07:01 > 0:07:02The smell made me faint.

0:07:02 > 0:07:06He asked me about his behaviour in recent days.

0:07:06 > 0:07:08Had I noticed anything untoward?

0:07:08 > 0:07:11And what did you say? If you don't mind my asking.

0:07:13 > 0:07:14I lied.

0:07:16 > 0:07:18I said he'd been perfectly normal.

0:07:19 > 0:07:22I don't want to appear neglectful.

0:07:22 > 0:07:24I should have been more vigilant.

0:07:24 > 0:07:27Only last night I woke... FOOTSTEPS

0:07:27 > 0:07:28Is that Madge? No, it's Irene.

0:07:30 > 0:07:33You were saying? Last night you woke.

0:07:33 > 0:07:37He was looking at me. He was naked.

0:07:37 > 0:07:40It was bitter cold, he was shivering.

0:07:40 > 0:07:44He said, "Thank you for watching over me but don't worry.

0:07:44 > 0:07:46"Just go on looking after me.

0:07:46 > 0:07:49"I have the feeling I may do something violent."

0:07:50 > 0:07:51Talk about untoward.

0:07:51 > 0:07:53I'm glad you didn't tell the doctors that,

0:07:53 > 0:07:55they'd have locked him up for good.

0:07:55 > 0:07:58Last night, after Othello, he asked me,

0:07:58 > 0:08:00"What do we play tomorrow, Norman?"

0:08:00 > 0:08:01I told him King Lear and he said,

0:08:01 > 0:08:05"Then I shall wake with the storm clouds over my head."

0:08:05 > 0:08:06I should have made him rest.

0:08:06 > 0:08:11The doctor said he'd come to the end of his rope and found it frayed.

0:08:11 > 0:08:13So would anyone that had to put up with

0:08:13 > 0:08:15what he's had to put up with.

0:08:15 > 0:08:17You should've told the doctor about the troubles.

0:08:17 > 0:08:20No. Civilians never understand.

0:08:20 > 0:08:22I could kick myself for taking him to the hospital.

0:08:22 > 0:08:24It was the right thing to do.

0:08:24 > 0:08:27I hope so. Doctors.

0:08:28 > 0:08:32Can you imagine trying to explain to a doctor what Sir's been through?

0:08:32 > 0:08:35"Well, you see, doctor, he's been trying to recruit actors

0:08:35 > 0:08:39"for his Shakespeare company and all the able-bodied and best ones

0:08:39 > 0:08:42"are in uniform, and the theatres are bombed

0:08:42 > 0:08:44"as soon as you book them."

0:08:44 > 0:08:45Doctors.

0:08:45 > 0:08:47He'd have had his hypodermic rampant before you could say

0:08:47 > 0:08:48As You Like It.

0:08:50 > 0:08:52Madge is right.

0:08:52 > 0:08:55There is no alternative.

0:08:55 > 0:08:57We'll have to cancel.

0:08:57 > 0:09:00Oh, no, oh, Your Ladyship, no, cancellation's ever so drastic.

0:09:00 > 0:09:01He's ill.

0:09:01 > 0:09:04There's no crime in being ill, it's not high treason,

0:09:04 > 0:09:08it's not a capital offence, it's not desertion in the face of the enemy.

0:09:08 > 0:09:11He's not himself. He can't work. Will the world stop turning?

0:09:11 > 0:09:12Will the Nazis overrun England?

0:09:12 > 0:09:15One Lear more or less in the world won't make any difference.

0:09:15 > 0:09:17Sir always believes it will.

0:09:17 > 0:09:20Who really cares whether he acts or not?

0:09:24 > 0:09:27I never imagined it would end like this.

0:09:29 > 0:09:32I've always thought he was indestructible.

0:09:33 > 0:09:36All the years we've been together.

0:09:36 > 0:09:37Feels like a lifetime.

0:09:38 > 0:09:40Even longer, he and I.

0:09:43 > 0:09:46It'll be the first time we've ever cancelled.

0:09:46 > 0:09:48Look, I want to go to the hospital. No, Norman.

0:09:48 > 0:09:50I want to sit with him, be with him

0:09:50 > 0:09:51and try to give him some comfort.

0:09:51 > 0:09:55I can usually make him smile. Maybe when he sees me...

0:09:55 > 0:09:56They wouldn't even let me stay.

0:10:12 > 0:10:15I wish I could remember the name of the girl who got me into all this.

0:10:15 > 0:10:20Motherly type, she was, small parts, play as cast.

0:10:20 > 0:10:22I can see her face clearly.

0:10:22 > 0:10:24I can see her standing there, on platform two at Crewe,

0:10:24 > 0:10:28a Sunday, I was on platform four. "Norman," she called.

0:10:28 > 0:10:33We'd been together in Outward Bound, the number three tour,

0:10:33 > 0:10:38helped with the wardrobe I did, and understudied Scrubby, the steward.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41That's all aboard a ship, you know. It's a lovely first act.

0:10:41 > 0:10:43"We're all dead, aren't we?"

0:10:43 > 0:10:48And I say, "Yes, sir, we're all dead. Quite dead."

0:10:48 > 0:10:53And he says, "How long have you been...you been...? Oh, you know."

0:10:53 > 0:10:56"Me? Oh, I was lost young."

0:10:57 > 0:11:01And then he says, "Where...where are we sailing for?"

0:11:01 > 0:11:05And I say, "Heaven, sir. And hell, too.

0:11:06 > 0:11:08"It's the same place, you see."

0:11:11 > 0:11:13Lovely. Well,

0:11:13 > 0:11:17to cut a short story shorter, Sir wanted help in the wardrobe

0:11:17 > 0:11:20and someone to assist generally but, mainly, with the storm in Lear.

0:11:20 > 0:11:23I've told you this before, haven't I?

0:11:25 > 0:11:26Put me on the timpani, he did.

0:11:26 > 0:11:29And on the first night, after the storm, while he was waiting

0:11:29 > 0:11:34to go on for, "No, they cannot touch me for coining", he called me over.

0:11:34 > 0:11:36My knees were jelly.

0:11:36 > 0:11:39"Were you on the timpani tonight?"

0:11:41 > 0:11:44I said, "Yes, sir," fearing the worst. "Thank you," he said.

0:11:45 > 0:11:48"You are an artist."

0:11:50 > 0:11:52DISTANT FOOTSTEPS

0:11:54 > 0:11:56My father was exactly the same.

0:11:58 > 0:12:00Always exaggerated his illnesses.

0:12:02 > 0:12:06That's why I thought it was not very serious, I thought...

0:12:06 > 0:12:08FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

0:12:10 > 0:12:12Any further developments?

0:12:12 > 0:12:14We had better see the theatre manager.

0:12:14 > 0:12:16Perhaps you ought to come with me.

0:12:16 > 0:12:18Oh, no, Your Ladyship, please, let's take our time,

0:12:18 > 0:12:20let's not rush things. There's no alternative.

0:12:20 > 0:12:23Madge is right, we can't play King Lear without the King.

0:12:23 > 0:12:25We have to make a decision.

0:12:25 > 0:12:29Forgive me, Your Ladyship, it's not a decision you have to make,

0:12:29 > 0:12:31it's the right decision.

0:12:31 > 0:12:35I had a friend, in a very low state, he was, ever so fragile,

0:12:35 > 0:12:37a pain to be with.

0:12:37 > 0:12:39You weren't safe from him on top of a bus.

0:12:39 > 0:12:40If he happened to sit beside you,

0:12:40 > 0:12:44he'd tell you the ABC of unhappiness between request stops.

0:12:44 > 0:12:47Someone close to him, his mother, I believe,

0:12:47 > 0:12:48although it was never proved,

0:12:48 > 0:12:50understandably upset, made a decision.

0:12:50 > 0:12:54"A little rest", she said, "with others similarly off-centre,

0:12:54 > 0:12:59"in Colwyn Bay", never a good date, not in February,

0:12:59 > 0:13:03wrapped in a grey rug, gazing at a grey sea.

0:13:03 > 0:13:04Talk about bleak.

0:13:04 > 0:13:07Mother-dear made a decision but it was the wrong decision.

0:13:07 > 0:13:10And my friend never acted again. We have to face the facts.

0:13:10 > 0:13:13I've never done that in my life, Your Ladyship, and I don't see why I should start now.

0:13:13 > 0:13:15I just like things to be lovely.

0:13:15 > 0:13:17Yes, but things aren't lovely, Norman.

0:13:17 > 0:13:18They aren't if you face facts.

0:13:18 > 0:13:21Face the facts, it's facing the company I worry about.

0:13:21 > 0:13:23I'll be in Madge's office if I'm wanted.

0:13:23 > 0:13:26Don't decide yet, Your Ladyship, let me go to the hospital,

0:13:26 > 0:13:28let me see how he is, you never know.

0:13:28 > 0:13:33I do know. I realise now that I've witnessed a slow running down.

0:13:34 > 0:13:37I've heard the hiss of air escaping.

0:13:37 > 0:13:40FROM ANOTHER ROOM: Norman! Norman!

0:13:52 > 0:13:54Good evening, Sir.

0:13:55 > 0:13:59Good evening, Norman. Good evening, Pussy.

0:13:59 > 0:14:01Bonzo, why are you here?

0:14:01 > 0:14:04Well, my name is on the door. Did the doctors say you could leave?

0:14:04 > 0:14:05Doctors?

0:14:05 > 0:14:08Executioners.

0:14:08 > 0:14:10Do you know what he told me?

0:14:10 > 0:14:14A short, bald butcher. Il Duce in a white coat.

0:14:15 > 0:14:18When a doctor tells you you need rest, you can be certain

0:14:18 > 0:14:22he has not the slightest idea of what is wrong with you.

0:14:22 > 0:14:24I discharged myself.

0:14:24 > 0:14:27Telephone the hospital. Do not telephone the hospital!

0:14:27 > 0:14:29Norman, will you leave us, please?

0:14:29 > 0:14:32I'll see Madge and tell her there is an alternative.

0:14:37 > 0:14:38Shh-shh!

0:14:39 > 0:14:41You're fit for nothing.

0:14:42 > 0:14:44Please, Pussy, don't.

0:14:45 > 0:14:49Cancel the performance. Can't, mustn't, won't.

0:14:49 > 0:14:51Then take the consequences.

0:14:51 > 0:14:53When have I not?

0:14:53 > 0:14:55Where have you been all day?

0:14:55 > 0:14:57Don't tell me you found a brothel in this town.

0:15:01 > 0:15:03I can't remember all I've done.

0:15:03 > 0:15:06I know towards the evening I was being pursued

0:15:06 > 0:15:09but I couldn't see who the villains were.

0:15:09 > 0:15:13Then the air-raid warning went. I refused to take shelter.

0:15:13 > 0:15:18Wherever I went, I seemed to hear a woman crying.

0:15:20 > 0:15:21Then, suddenly,

0:15:21 > 0:15:24I had a clear image of my father

0:15:24 > 0:15:27on the beach near Lowestoft.

0:15:29 > 0:15:31"An actor?" he said, "Never."

0:15:32 > 0:15:34"You will be a boat builder like me."

0:15:37 > 0:15:40But I defied him and lost his love.

0:15:41 > 0:15:44Father preferred people to cower.

0:15:44 > 0:15:47But I had to chart my own course.

0:15:47 > 0:15:52I decide when I'm ready for the scrapyard. Not you. I.

0:15:52 > 0:15:54No-one else. I.

0:16:01 > 0:16:03The woman you heard crying was me.

0:16:06 > 0:16:09Norman! Sir. I want you by me, Norman.

0:16:09 > 0:16:11Yes, sir. Don't leave my side, Norman.

0:16:11 > 0:16:13No, sir. I shall need help, Norman. Yes, sir. Madge.

0:16:13 > 0:16:15You speak to him. He doesn't listen to a word I say.

0:16:15 > 0:16:17He's obviously incapable.

0:16:17 > 0:16:20You look exhausted. That's what I call tact.

0:16:20 > 0:16:22Are you sure you're able to go on tonight?

0:16:22 > 0:16:25How long have you been with me? Longer than anyone else.

0:16:25 > 0:16:28Have I ever missed a performance? No, but then you've never been ill.

0:16:28 > 0:16:30I only want what's best for you.

0:16:30 > 0:16:33What's best for Sir is that he's allowed to get ready.

0:16:33 > 0:16:34Ready, yes, I must get ready.

0:16:38 > 0:16:40HE WHIMPERS

0:16:40 > 0:16:42Ready for what?

0:16:42 > 0:16:46If you'll excuse me, Your Ladyship, shouldn't you be getting ready too?

0:16:46 > 0:16:50I can't bear to see him like that. Then best to leave us.

0:16:50 > 0:16:52I've had experience of these things.

0:16:54 > 0:16:56I know what has to be done.

0:16:57 > 0:16:59Imagine waking to that night after night.

0:17:04 > 0:17:06SHE CHUCKLES

0:17:22 > 0:17:25Right, shall we begin at the beginning? Good evening, Sir.

0:17:29 > 0:17:34"Good evening, Norman." And how are you this evening, Sir?

0:17:34 > 0:17:38"A little tearful, I'm afraid. And you, Norman?"

0:17:38 > 0:17:43Oh, I'm very well, thank you.

0:17:43 > 0:17:48I've had ever such a quiet day, just ironing your costumes,

0:17:48 > 0:17:53cleaning your wig and beard, washing your undies.

0:17:53 > 0:17:56And what have you been up to, Sir, if I may ask?

0:17:56 > 0:17:58"Oh, I've been jumping on my hat, Norman."

0:17:58 > 0:18:02Have you? Well, that's an odd thing to do. May one ask why?

0:18:02 > 0:18:04"Why what, Norman?"

0:18:04 > 0:18:07Why have we been jumping on our hat, Sir?

0:18:09 > 0:18:11SIR GRUMBLES

0:18:11 > 0:18:14Shall we play I-Spy?

0:18:14 > 0:18:18I spy with my little eye something beginning with...

0:18:18 > 0:18:19A.

0:18:21 > 0:18:23I know you won't guess, so I'll tell you.

0:18:23 > 0:18:25A is for actor.

0:18:26 > 0:18:30And actors have to work, and actors have to put on their make-up

0:18:30 > 0:18:35and change their frocks and then, of course, actors have to act.

0:18:35 > 0:18:40Good lord. Zounds, madam, where dost thou get this knowledge?

0:18:40 > 0:18:49From a baboon, sir, that wandered wild in Eden.

0:18:49 > 0:18:51Or words to that effect.

0:18:51 > 0:19:11There's less than an hour to go and you usually want more.

0:19:11 > 0:19:14Drink up. It's tea, not rat poison.

0:19:18 > 0:19:22There you go, that's better, isn't it? Isn't it?

0:19:26 > 0:19:30I saved some from the mayor's

0:19:30 > 0:19:32No?

0:19:32 > 0:19:36Would you like one, Norman? Ooh, I say.

0:19:36 > 0:19:38Thank you, I will.

0:19:43 > 0:19:52If you don't mind my saying so, Sir, there seems little point

0:19:52 > 0:19:55So, shall we make a start?

0:20:05 > 0:20:07Oh, I know how it feels.

0:20:09 > 0:20:12I had a friend,

0:20:12 > 0:20:15worse than you, he was,

0:20:15 > 0:20:18and all they ever wanted to do with him was put him away.

0:20:18 > 0:20:22And no-one should have to go through that.

0:20:22 > 0:20:24That's what my friend said.

0:20:24 > 0:20:27You know they'll send you to Colwyn Bay

0:20:27 > 0:20:30and you never do any business in Colwyn Bay.

0:20:36 > 0:20:39An offer of work.

0:20:39 > 0:20:43Can you understudy Scrubby? Outward Bound, start Monday.

0:20:44 > 0:20:48He discharged himself, just like you, my friend did, took the train

0:20:48 > 0:20:52up to London, found digs in Brixton and never looked back.

0:20:52 > 0:20:55What do you make of that? An offer of work.

0:20:55 > 0:20:57It meant that someone...

0:20:59 > 0:21:00..was thinking of him.

0:21:02 > 0:21:04It was ever such a comfort.

0:21:06 > 0:21:09And here's something to cheer you up.

0:21:09 > 0:21:10A full house tonight.

0:21:10 > 0:21:14People thinking of you, wanting to see you act.

0:21:14 > 0:21:18Really? A full house? Now, shall we make a start?

0:21:21 > 0:21:23What play is it tonight? King Lear, Sir.

0:21:23 > 0:21:24That's impossible.

0:21:24 > 0:21:27Oh, thank you. Oh, that's nice, isn't it(?!)

0:21:27 > 0:21:31People paying good money to see you and you say "impossible".

0:21:31 > 0:21:35Very nice indeed(!) I don't think. I don't want to be seen.

0:21:35 > 0:21:36Well, that's difficult

0:21:36 > 0:21:39when you're playing King Lear with the lighting you use.

0:21:39 > 0:21:41I don't want to see her ladyship.

0:21:41 > 0:21:44Oh, well, even more difficult when she's playing your daughter.

0:21:44 > 0:21:47You saw her a moment ago. You were alone together.

0:21:47 > 0:21:49Were we?

0:21:52 > 0:21:55What play is it tonight?

0:21:55 > 0:21:56King Lear, Sir.

0:21:58 > 0:22:00Madge was wrong.

0:22:00 > 0:22:01Yes, well, she often is.

0:22:01 > 0:22:03I have been ill before this.

0:22:03 > 0:22:05Did you ever see me in The Corsican Brothers?

0:22:05 > 0:22:07Ah, no. Alas, sir, before my time.

0:22:07 > 0:22:10I went on with double pneumonia then.

0:22:10 > 0:22:12Apt when you're playing the Corsican brothers.

0:22:12 > 0:22:15I'd rather have double pneumonia than this.

0:22:15 > 0:22:17Than what?

0:22:17 > 0:22:19What prevents me from packing up and going home?

0:22:19 > 0:22:22Why am I here when I should be asleep?

0:22:25 > 0:22:29Wasn't that a strange light in Market Square this evening?

0:22:31 > 0:22:34I don't remember being in Market Square.

0:22:34 > 0:22:38You've been missing whole days. What do you remember?

0:22:40 > 0:22:46Walking, walking, walking. If only I could find a good, catchy title.

0:22:46 > 0:22:49I think My Life a little plain, don't you?

0:22:49 > 0:22:52Still stuck, are we? No, no. I wrote a little today.

0:22:52 > 0:22:54Two or three sides of an exercise book.

0:22:54 > 0:22:56But I can't find a title. Oh, well, we'll think of something.

0:22:56 > 0:23:00See if it's still in my jacket. And my reading glasses.

0:23:00 > 0:23:02I thought I had written today.

0:23:02 > 0:23:04No, well, you'll not see much through those.

0:23:04 > 0:23:05Well, look for me.

0:23:07 > 0:23:09Is there anything?

0:23:09 > 0:23:13Evidently not. It cannot be Lear again.

0:23:13 > 0:23:15Shall we start our make-up?

0:23:17 > 0:23:19I'm getting out of here.

0:23:19 > 0:23:23I'm not staying in this place a moment longer.

0:23:23 > 0:23:28I am surrounded by vipers, betrayal on every side.

0:23:28 > 0:23:31I am being crushed, the lifeblood is draining out of me.

0:23:31 > 0:23:33The load is too much.

0:23:33 > 0:23:39Norman, Norman, if you have any regard for me, don't listen to him.

0:23:39 > 0:23:42Who? Who? More, more, more, I cannot give any more.

0:23:42 > 0:23:46I have nothing more to give. I want a tranquil senility.

0:23:46 > 0:23:47I'm an old man.

0:23:47 > 0:23:50I don't want to go on painting my face night after night

0:23:50 > 0:23:53after night, dressing up in clothes that are not my own,

0:23:53 > 0:23:55I'm not a child dressing up for charades.

0:23:56 > 0:24:01This is my work, this is my life's work, I'm an actor.

0:24:01 > 0:24:03Who cares if I go out there tonight

0:24:03 > 0:24:06or any other night and shorten my life?

0:24:06 > 0:24:07Shorten my life...

0:24:09 > 0:24:12I don't care if there's only three people out front,

0:24:12 > 0:24:14or if the audience laughs when they shouldn't, or don't

0:24:14 > 0:24:18when they should, one person, just one person will know and understand.

0:24:18 > 0:24:20And I act for him.

0:24:21 > 0:24:23I cannot move that which cannot be moved.

0:24:23 > 0:24:25What are we on about now?

0:24:25 > 0:24:27I'm filled inside with stone.

0:24:27 > 0:24:31Stone upon stone. I cannot lift myself.

0:24:31 > 0:24:36The weight is too much. Oh, I know futility when I see it.

0:24:36 > 0:24:41I dream at night of unseen hands driving wooden stakes into my feet.

0:24:41 > 0:24:45And the dream is long and graceless. I awake, sweat-drenched, poisoned.

0:24:45 > 0:24:50And the whole day long there is a burning heat inside of me,

0:24:50 > 0:24:54driving all else from my mind.

0:24:54 > 0:24:56HE GRUNTS

0:25:02 > 0:25:03What did I do today?

0:25:04 > 0:25:07You walked. You thought you wrote.

0:25:07 > 0:25:10You went into Market Square.

0:25:10 > 0:25:13And a woman kissed your hand

0:25:13 > 0:25:15and said you were lovely in The Corsican Brothers.

0:25:15 > 0:25:18How do you know all this? Has someone been talking?

0:25:19 > 0:25:22I don't wish to hurry you, Sir.

0:25:22 > 0:25:24No, I lie, I do.

0:25:24 > 0:25:27I hate the swines. Who?

0:25:27 > 0:25:30He's a hard task-master, he drives me too hard.

0:25:30 > 0:25:32I have too much to carry.

0:25:38 > 0:25:39(Yes?)

0:25:39 > 0:25:42I'd like to see him. (I'd rather you didn't.)

0:25:42 > 0:25:44It's my responsibility to take the curtain up tonight.

0:25:44 > 0:25:45There isn't much time.

0:25:45 > 0:25:47(Things have reached a delicate stage.)

0:25:47 > 0:25:49What's all the whispering? Nothing, nothing.

0:25:49 > 0:25:52Has he begun to make-up yet? Not yet. Do you realise how late it is?

0:25:52 > 0:25:54They'll be calling the half in a moment.

0:25:54 > 0:25:57I know how late it is. SIR HUMS A TUNE LOUDLY

0:25:57 > 0:25:59Then on your head be it.

0:26:01 > 0:26:03Oh, look! A dressing-gown!

0:26:04 > 0:26:07Shall we put it on and keep ourselves warm?

0:26:11 > 0:26:14What does it matter where you were or what you did today?

0:26:14 > 0:26:18You're here in the theatre, safe and sound, where you belong.

0:26:18 > 0:26:21Another full house. Lovely.

0:26:21 > 0:26:23Really? A full house?

0:26:23 > 0:26:25They'll be standing in the gods.

0:26:26 > 0:26:30Do you know they bombed The Grand Theatre, Plymouth?

0:26:30 > 0:26:32And much else of the city besides.

0:26:32 > 0:26:35I made my debut at The Grand Theatre, Plymouth.

0:26:35 > 0:26:37They weren't to know.

0:26:37 > 0:26:39I shouldn't have come out this autumn but I had no choice.

0:26:39 > 0:26:42He made me. Who?

0:26:42 > 0:26:44I should have rested.

0:26:44 > 0:26:47I had a friend that was ordered to rest.

0:26:47 > 0:26:49He obeyed and that was the end of him.

0:26:50 > 0:26:51He was ever so ill.

0:26:54 > 0:26:56Nearly became a Catholic.

0:26:56 > 0:26:59Right, now, would you like a little rub-down?

0:27:01 > 0:27:04I'm not surprised you're feeling dispirited.

0:27:07 > 0:27:08It's been ever such a hard time.

0:27:08 > 0:27:13No young men to play juveniles and the trouble with Mr Davenport-Scott.

0:27:14 > 0:27:16What news of Mr Davenport-Scott?

0:27:18 > 0:27:21The police have opposed bail. What?

0:27:21 > 0:27:26Well, he'd had his second warning. How then do we dispose our forces?

0:27:26 > 0:27:29Mr Thornton is standing by to play Fool.

0:27:29 > 0:27:33And who as Oswald? Mr Brown, I'm afraid.

0:27:33 > 0:27:37That leaves me a knight short for "reason not the need".

0:27:37 > 0:27:4198 short, actually, if you take the text as gospel.

0:27:41 > 0:27:43One more or less won't seem too upsetting.

0:27:43 > 0:27:45Herr Hitler has made it very difficult

0:27:45 > 0:27:50for Shakespearean companies. It'll be a chapter in the book, Sir.

0:27:50 > 0:27:54I hate to mention it but we're going to be short for the storm.

0:27:54 > 0:27:56We've no-one to operate the wind machine,

0:27:56 > 0:27:58not if Mr Thornton is to play Fool.

0:27:58 > 0:28:00Mr Thornton was ever so good on the wind machine.

0:28:00 > 0:28:03Madge knows the problem but she's very unsympathetic.

0:28:03 > 0:28:06You tell Madge from me I must have the storm at full strength.

0:28:06 > 0:28:09What about Oxenby? Not the most amenable of gentlemen.

0:28:09 > 0:28:11Send him to me at the half. I'll have a word with him.

0:28:11 > 0:28:14Better talk to Thornton, too.

0:28:14 > 0:28:15There you are, you see?

0:28:17 > 0:28:19That's more like it.

0:28:19 > 0:28:22You're where you belong, doing what you know best,

0:28:22 > 0:28:24and you're yourself again.

0:28:24 > 0:28:27Right, well, you start doing your make-up and I'll go

0:28:27 > 0:28:29and tell them to come and see you.

0:28:32 > 0:28:35I've cleaned the wig and beard.

0:28:35 > 0:28:36Shan't be a minute.

0:28:53 > 0:28:56Oh, no, Sir! Not Othello!

0:28:57 > 0:29:01The lines are fouled. Up on your short, down on your long.

0:29:01 > 0:29:02Is there a dead for it?

0:29:02 > 0:29:05Instruct the puppeteer to renew the strings.

0:29:05 > 0:29:06The stuffing is escaping at the seams,

0:29:06 > 0:29:10straw from a scarecrow lies scattered down, stage left.

0:29:10 > 0:29:13I would have given anything to see the play tonight.

0:29:13 > 0:29:18There's you all blacked up and Cordelia saying,

0:29:18 > 0:29:20"You beget me, bred me, loved me."

0:29:23 > 0:29:26Well, the time has come, if you don't mind my saying so,

0:29:26 > 0:29:30to stop waxing poetical and to wax a bit more practical.

0:29:30 > 0:29:33KNOCKING Who?

0:29:35 > 0:29:36Irene.

0:29:37 > 0:29:39I've come for the triple crown. Enter.

0:29:44 > 0:29:45Good evening, Sir.

0:29:45 > 0:29:48All well? Yes, thank you, Sir.

0:29:48 > 0:29:50You've come for the triple crown.

0:29:52 > 0:29:53Yes, Sir.

0:29:55 > 0:29:57Polish it well. I like it gleaming.

0:29:57 > 0:29:59Yes, Sir.

0:29:59 > 0:30:02And return it to me well before curtain up.

0:30:02 > 0:30:06I like to wear it by the quarter. Yes, Sir.

0:30:06 > 0:30:07And when I have used it on stage,

0:30:07 > 0:30:11see that it is returned to my room after the interval.

0:30:11 > 0:30:13She has done it before, Sir.

0:30:15 > 0:30:16I like to be certain.

0:30:19 > 0:30:20There it is, my child.

0:30:30 > 0:30:32Pretty young thing, aren't you?

0:30:34 > 0:30:35Thank you, Sir.

0:30:40 > 0:30:42Sir, it's time to age.

0:30:50 > 0:30:53They're all the same colour. Which stick do I use?

0:30:53 > 0:30:55I can't see the colours.

0:31:03 > 0:31:04What now? How is he?

0:31:06 > 0:31:08He'll be all right if he's left in peace.

0:31:08 > 0:31:11I want to see with my own eyes. No, no, he is not to be disturbed.

0:31:11 > 0:31:13And what about the understudies?

0:31:13 > 0:31:15He knows all about it, everything's in hand.

0:31:15 > 0:31:18You realise now there's going to be an audience out there.

0:31:18 > 0:31:21It'd be a bit silly going through all this if there wasn't.

0:31:21 > 0:31:23Will he be ready on time? Will he be well enough? Yes.

0:31:26 > 0:31:28Madge, can I just, erm...?

0:31:28 > 0:31:32Who was that? Just a minion minioning.

0:31:32 > 0:31:36Too many interruptions, my concentration.

0:31:36 > 0:31:39Norman. Yes, Sir?

0:31:39 > 0:31:41How does the play begin?

0:31:41 > 0:31:43Which play, Sir?

0:31:43 > 0:31:45Tonight's, tonight's, I cannot remember the first line.

0:31:45 > 0:31:48"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester."

0:31:48 > 0:31:51Yes, yes.

0:31:51 > 0:31:53What performance is this?

0:31:53 > 0:31:55Tonight will be your...

0:31:55 > 0:31:59227th performance of the part, Sir.

0:31:59 > 0:32:02227 Lears and I cannot remember the first line.

0:32:02 > 0:32:04Haven't we forgotten something else, Sir?

0:32:04 > 0:32:07If you don't mind my asking. We have to sink our cheeks.

0:32:19 > 0:32:21I shall look like this in my coffin.

0:32:21 > 0:32:24And a broad straight line of number 20 down the nose.

0:32:25 > 0:32:27'Give you strength, you say.'

0:32:30 > 0:32:31'Surgical spirit.'

0:32:31 > 0:32:33'I know how to stick on a beard.

0:32:33 > 0:32:35'I've been a depicter for 50 years.'

0:32:38 > 0:32:40'I shall need a rest after the storm scenes.'

0:32:40 > 0:32:43'There's no need to tell me. I know.'

0:32:47 > 0:32:50'And shall we take extra care with the wig join tonight?'

0:32:54 > 0:32:56'I shall give them a good one tonight.'

0:32:58 > 0:32:59Norman! Yes, Sir?

0:32:59 > 0:33:03What's the first line again? All this clitter-clatter-chitter-chatter...

0:33:03 > 0:33:05"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester."

0:33:05 > 0:33:08You've put it out of my mind. Keep silent when I'm dressing.

0:33:08 > 0:33:09I have work to do, hard bloody labour.

0:33:09 > 0:33:12Sir, Sir. I cannot remember the first line. 100,000 performances

0:33:12 > 0:33:14and I have to ask you for the first line.

0:33:14 > 0:33:16Yes, I'll take you through it. Take me through it?

0:33:16 > 0:33:19Nobody takes you through it, you're put through it,

0:33:19 > 0:33:21night after night after night. I haven't the strength.

0:33:21 > 0:33:23And you're a fine one.

0:33:23 > 0:33:27I must say, you of all people,

0:33:27 > 0:33:31you disappoint me, if you don't mind my saying so.

0:33:31 > 0:33:34You, who always say that self-pity is the most unattractive

0:33:34 > 0:33:35quality on stage or off.

0:33:35 > 0:33:38Who have you been working for all these years?

0:33:38 > 0:33:39The Ministry of Information?

0:33:39 > 0:33:42Struggle and survival, you say, that's all that matters.

0:33:42 > 0:33:46The whole world's struggling for bloody survival, so why can't you?

0:33:49 > 0:33:52My dear Norman, I seem to have upset you. I'm sorry.

0:33:52 > 0:33:55I understand. We cannot always be strong.

0:33:55 > 0:33:58There is danger in covering the cracks.

0:33:58 > 0:34:02Never mind about covering the cracks,

0:34:02 > 0:34:03what about covering the wig join?

0:34:03 > 0:34:07KNOCKING Half an hour, please, Sir. Already?

0:34:09 > 0:34:11You were in late this evening, Sir.

0:34:11 > 0:34:13She hasn't returned with the triple crown.

0:34:13 > 0:34:16I like it on my head by now.

0:34:16 > 0:34:17Look! What?

0:34:17 > 0:34:20My hands, they're shaking.

0:34:20 > 0:34:22Well, they'll be very effective in the part.

0:34:22 > 0:34:27Don't forget to make them up. I can't stop them. You do it.

0:34:27 > 0:34:29Oh, oh, look here.

0:34:29 > 0:34:31Look here, it must be infectious.

0:34:39 > 0:34:42I can face the division of my kingdom.

0:34:42 > 0:34:44I can cope with Fool.

0:34:44 > 0:34:47I can bear the reduction of my retinue.

0:34:47 > 0:34:50I can stomach the curses I have to utter.

0:34:51 > 0:34:54I can even face being whipped by the storm.

0:34:55 > 0:34:57But I dread the final entrance.

0:34:58 > 0:35:02To carry my Cordelia...

0:35:02 > 0:35:04dead, dead.

0:35:06 > 0:35:11To cry like the wind, howl, howl, howl.

0:35:12 > 0:35:14To lay her gently on the ground, to die.

0:35:19 > 0:35:21Have I the strength?

0:35:22 > 0:35:25If you haven't the strength, no-one has.

0:35:26 > 0:35:28You're a good friend, Norman.

0:35:31 > 0:35:33Thank you, Sir.

0:35:33 > 0:35:37You shall be rewarded. Pardon me while I get my violin.

0:35:37 > 0:35:39Do not mock me. I may not have long.

0:35:41 > 0:35:43My father used to say that. He lived till he was 93.

0:35:43 > 0:35:46He may still be alive, for all I know.

0:35:51 > 0:35:54Bonzo, how do you feel?

0:35:54 > 0:35:55A little more myself, Pussy.

0:35:55 > 0:36:00You see? Once he's assumed the disguise, he's a different man.

0:36:02 > 0:36:05"Egad, Madam, thou hast a porcupine wit."

0:36:08 > 0:36:10And are you sure you're able to go on?

0:36:10 > 0:36:13On and on and on.

0:36:16 > 0:36:18Pussy, I thought it was the black one tonight.

0:36:18 > 0:36:21My dear. Did I wake in the night, Pussy?

0:36:21 > 0:36:24Did I thank you for watching over me?

0:36:24 > 0:36:27Was there talk of violence?

0:36:27 > 0:36:29No, Bonzo, you dreamt it.

0:36:29 > 0:36:30I still have the feeling.

0:36:38 > 0:36:41Would you like me to fetch the cloak and tie it on as usual?

0:36:41 > 0:36:43Yes, as usual.

0:36:43 > 0:36:46Oh, erm, Mr Thornton and Mr Oxenby

0:36:46 > 0:36:47are waiting outside to see you.

0:36:47 > 0:36:49Would you like me to ask them to come in?

0:36:49 > 0:36:51I don't want to see Oxenby. He frightens me.

0:36:51 > 0:36:54Mind you, he was the best Iago I've ever had or seen

0:36:54 > 0:36:57and I include that 4'6" ponce Sir Arthur Palgrove.

0:36:57 > 0:36:59That's more like the Sir we know and love.

0:36:59 > 0:37:01He went on playing Hamlet till he was 68.

0:37:01 > 0:37:04There were more lines on his face than steps to the gallery.

0:37:04 > 0:37:08I saw his Lear. I was pleasantly disappointed. Sir Arthur Palgrove.

0:37:08 > 0:37:10Who advises His Majesty, answer me that?

0:37:10 > 0:37:12You're a miracle-worker, Norman. Thank you, Your Ladyship.

0:37:12 > 0:37:14(Here's a piece of chocolate for you.)

0:37:14 > 0:37:16(Oh, thank you, Your Ladyship.)

0:37:16 > 0:37:20It'll be all hands to the pump tonight, Norman.

0:37:20 > 0:37:23A small part of the service, Your Ladyship. Thank you.

0:37:28 > 0:37:30Don't suppose I didn't see that because I did.

0:37:32 > 0:37:37There are more children in this beloved land of ours scavenging

0:37:37 > 0:37:38the larders for something sweet,

0:37:38 > 0:37:40if only they came to me I could tell them of

0:37:40 > 0:37:45the one person in England who has an inexhaustible supply of chocolate.

0:37:45 > 0:37:48Because it is I who have to carry her dead as my Cordelia.

0:37:48 > 0:37:51It is I who have to lift her up in my arms.

0:37:51 > 0:37:54Thank Christ, I thought, for rationing

0:37:54 > 0:37:57but, no, she would find sugar in a sand dune.

0:37:57 > 0:37:58Shall I show the actors in, Sir?

0:37:58 > 0:38:02What? No, I don't want... Sir, you have to see the actors.

0:38:04 > 0:38:07Ah, Mr Thorton. Mr Thornton to see you, Sir.

0:38:10 > 0:38:12SIR GARGLES

0:38:12 > 0:38:15Geoffrey, does the costume fit?

0:38:17 > 0:38:20Mr Davenport-Scott was such a tall man.

0:38:20 > 0:38:22Mr Davenport-Scott was a worm. You look, er...

0:38:27 > 0:38:29Do you know the lines? Yes.

0:38:29 > 0:38:31Don't keep me waiting for them.

0:38:31 > 0:38:33Oh, no. Pace, pace, pace, pace, pace, pace.

0:38:33 > 0:38:36Yes. And keep out of my focus. Yes.

0:38:36 > 0:38:38The boom lights placed in the downstage wings

0:38:38 > 0:38:41are for me and me only. Yes, old man, I know.

0:38:41 > 0:38:43You must find what light you can. Right.

0:38:43 > 0:38:47Let me hear you sing. What?

0:38:47 > 0:38:49"For he that has the little tiny wit. Heigh-ho..."

0:38:51 > 0:38:53WHIMPERING: He...he...

0:38:53 > 0:38:56# He that has the little tiny wit... #

0:38:57 > 0:38:59HE WHIMPERS

0:38:59 > 0:39:02# He that has and a little tiny wit

0:39:02 > 0:39:06# With a heigh-ho, the wind and the rain

0:39:06 > 0:39:10# Must make content with fortunes fit

0:39:10 > 0:39:14# For the rain it raineth every day. #

0:39:15 > 0:39:19All right, speak it, don't sing it.

0:39:19 > 0:39:22And in the storm scene, if you are going to put your arms around

0:39:22 > 0:39:27my legs, as Mr Davenport-Scott did, then around my calves, not my thighs.

0:39:27 > 0:39:29He almost ruptured me twice.

0:39:29 > 0:39:31I'd rather I didn't, old man.

0:39:31 > 0:39:33Feel it, my boy, feel it, it is the only way.

0:39:33 > 0:39:36Whatever takes you. Right.

0:39:36 > 0:39:39But do not let it take you too much. Remain within the bounds.

0:39:39 > 0:39:43And, at all costs, remain still when I speak. Of course.

0:39:43 > 0:39:45Serve the playwright...

0:39:45 > 0:39:46and keep your teeth in.

0:39:47 > 0:39:49It's only when I'm nervous.

0:39:49 > 0:39:51You will be nervous, I guarantee it.

0:39:51 > 0:39:54There will be no extra payment for this performance.

0:39:54 > 0:39:58I believe your contract is play as cast. Yes.

0:39:59 > 0:40:03Good fortune attend your endeavours. Thank you, Sir.

0:40:05 > 0:40:07(God bless, Geoffrey.)

0:40:07 > 0:40:10(I'd rather face the Nazi hordes any day.)

0:40:14 > 0:40:17I hope Mr Churchill has better men in the cabinet.

0:40:17 > 0:40:19Mr Oxenby is waiting, Sir. Oxenby?

0:40:19 > 0:40:22What...what...? I don't know. What does Oxenby want?

0:40:22 > 0:40:23It's not what he wants,

0:40:23 > 0:40:26it's what we want - someone to operate the wind machine.

0:40:26 > 0:40:28I don't want to see Oxenby, I can't bear the man,

0:40:28 > 0:40:30it's stifling in here.

0:40:30 > 0:40:32We'll have no storm without him.

0:40:34 > 0:40:35Mr Oxenby to see you, Sir.

0:40:38 > 0:40:41You wanted to see me?

0:40:41 > 0:40:44I...I don't know, erm, why? Er, Norman?

0:40:44 > 0:40:47Sir was wondering if he could ask of you a favour.

0:40:49 > 0:40:50He can ask.

0:40:52 > 0:40:55You've not been with us very long

0:40:55 > 0:40:58but I'm sure you've seen enough to know that we're not

0:40:58 > 0:41:03so much a company as one great big happy family.

0:41:03 > 0:41:05And...

0:41:05 > 0:41:07we all muck in as required.

0:41:11 > 0:41:13As I'm sure you've heard,

0:41:13 > 0:41:17Mr Davenport-Scott will not be rejoining the company.

0:41:17 > 0:41:18Yes, I've heard.

0:41:18 > 0:41:21You share a dressing-room with one or two of them,

0:41:21 > 0:41:23you hear nothing else.

0:41:23 > 0:41:26It upsets the pansy fraternity

0:41:26 > 0:41:28when one of their number is caught.

0:41:31 > 0:41:33Because Mr Thornton is having to play Fool,

0:41:33 > 0:41:38and because our two elderly knights are setting the hovel behind

0:41:38 > 0:41:39the cloth during the storm scene,

0:41:39 > 0:41:42we've no-one to operate the wind machine.

0:41:46 > 0:41:49We'd ask Mr Brown but he's really rather too fragile.

0:41:54 > 0:41:57We were wondering if you'd turn the handle.

0:41:59 > 0:42:00In short, no.

0:42:02 > 0:42:03Anything else?

0:42:08 > 0:42:09Has he read my play yet?

0:42:13 > 0:42:15Perhaps the Russians have had a setback on the Eastern Front.

0:42:15 > 0:42:18Bolshevism will be the ruin of the theatre.

0:42:18 > 0:42:22What are we going to do? Fancy not wanting to muck in.

0:42:22 > 0:42:24He hates me. I can feel his hatred.

0:42:24 > 0:42:27All I stand for he despises.

0:42:27 > 0:42:30I wouldn't read his play, even if he were Commissar of Culture.

0:42:30 > 0:42:33I've read it. Is there a part for me? Yes.

0:42:33 > 0:42:34I know what Oxenby's up to.

0:42:34 > 0:42:36He's writing plays for critics, not people.

0:42:36 > 0:42:38Oughtn't we to be quiet for a bit, Sir?

0:42:38 > 0:42:40Where's the girl with the triple crown?

0:42:40 > 0:42:42Don't fuss. I'll go and find her.

0:43:01 > 0:43:03Oh, my dear.

0:43:03 > 0:43:05Norman's just gone to find you.

0:43:05 > 0:43:09Has he? I must have missed him.

0:43:09 > 0:43:11Remind me of your name, child.

0:43:11 > 0:43:13It's Irene, Sir.

0:43:13 > 0:43:15Irene. Charming.

0:43:17 > 0:43:19Were you at the Rada?

0:43:19 > 0:43:21No, sir. I went straight into Rep.

0:43:21 > 0:43:24Of course. I remember. Which Rep?

0:43:24 > 0:43:28Maidenhead. Maidenhead, yes.

0:43:29 > 0:43:31Next week in Eastbourne.

0:43:31 > 0:43:35KNOCKING I can't find her.

0:43:35 > 0:43:40Just admiring her bone structure. Run along, Irene. Run along.

0:43:40 > 0:43:42BELL RINGS

0:43:42 > 0:43:45A born actress. Can tell by the cheek bones.

0:43:45 > 0:43:48Put the crown on. It's almost the quarter.

0:43:48 > 0:43:51Shall I fetch her ladyship and ask her to tie on the cloak?

0:43:51 > 0:43:54How does the play begin? God help me, that child has

0:43:54 > 0:43:56driven it from my mind. KNOCKING

0:43:56 > 0:43:59Quarter of an hour, please, a few minutes late, I'm sorry,

0:43:59 > 0:44:01that girl Irene is going to be the death of me.

0:44:01 > 0:44:04The quarter, I can't, I'm not ready, tell them to go home,

0:44:04 > 0:44:08give them their money back. I hate the swines, I can't, I can't.

0:44:08 > 0:44:10What are you saying? Do you want the performance cancelled?

0:44:10 > 0:44:13No, he doesn't. How does it begin?

0:44:13 > 0:44:15For your own good. How does it begin?

0:44:15 > 0:44:18You'll never get through it. He will. How does it begin?!

0:44:18 > 0:44:21Get out, he'll be good and ready when the curtain goes up.

0:44:21 > 0:44:23We've run out of time.

0:44:24 > 0:44:28There's 20 minutes yet. We'll go up late, if necessary.

0:44:28 > 0:44:33Leave me in peace! I cannot remember the lines.

0:44:33 > 0:44:35Norman, Norman, how does it begin?

0:44:35 > 0:44:39"He hath been out nine years and away he shall again."

0:44:39 > 0:44:41HE MIMICS A TRUMPET "The King is coming."

0:44:43 > 0:44:46"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester."

0:44:47 > 0:44:50"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester."

0:44:50 > 0:44:51"I shall, my liege."

0:44:54 > 0:44:57Yes? "Meantime we shall express our darker..."

0:44:57 > 0:45:01"Meantime we shall express our darker purpose."

0:45:04 > 0:45:05"Give me the map."

0:45:05 > 0:45:09Don't tell me, don't tell me, I know it!

0:45:09 > 0:45:12I'll ask for it if I need it.

0:45:12 > 0:45:13I have played this part before, you know.

0:45:16 > 0:45:18"What do I fear?"

0:45:18 > 0:45:21Wrong. "Know we have divided in three."

0:45:21 > 0:45:23"Myself? There's none else by.

0:45:23 > 0:45:28"True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of a troubled brain."

0:45:28 > 0:45:29Wrong play, wrong play.

0:45:29 > 0:45:31"Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?"

0:45:31 > 0:45:33No, that's another wrong play.

0:45:33 > 0:45:37"Men should be what they seem. Macbeth shall sleep no more!

0:45:37 > 0:45:40Now look what you've gone and done. What?

0:45:40 > 0:45:42Go out, go out.

0:45:42 > 0:45:44You've quoted the Scottish play.

0:45:44 > 0:45:46Did I? Macb...? Did I?

0:45:46 > 0:45:48Oh, Christ. Out!

0:45:51 > 0:45:54Turn round three times.

0:45:54 > 0:45:56Two, three...

0:45:56 > 0:45:57Right, knock.

0:46:00 > 0:46:02Swear.

0:46:02 > 0:46:04Pisspots. KNOCKING

0:46:07 > 0:46:08BELL RINGS

0:46:12 > 0:46:15"And my poor fool is hang'd."

0:46:20 > 0:46:22You'll be all right.

0:46:27 > 0:46:29FROM ANOTHER ROOM: Do we have a full house?

0:46:36 > 0:46:38Struggle, Bonzo.

0:46:39 > 0:46:41Survival, Pussy.

0:46:41 > 0:46:43FROM OUTSIDE: Beginners, please, Act I.

0:46:43 > 0:46:45Beginners, please, Sir. Thank you.

0:46:47 > 0:46:51Let us descend and survey the scene of battle.

0:46:51 > 0:46:53AIR-RAID SIREN

0:46:58 > 0:47:01The night I played my first Lear there was a thunderstorm.

0:47:01 > 0:47:03A real thunderstorm. But now they send bombs.

0:47:03 > 0:47:05How much more have I to endure?

0:47:05 > 0:47:07We are to speak Shakespeare tonight

0:47:07 > 0:47:10and they will go to any lengths to prevent me.

0:47:10 > 0:47:13I shouldn't take it too personally, Sir.

0:47:13 > 0:47:15LAUGHTER

0:47:15 > 0:47:18Bomb, bomb, bomb us into submission if you dare!

0:47:18 > 0:47:22But each word I speak will be a shield against your savagery,

0:47:22 > 0:47:25each line I utter a protection against your terror.

0:47:25 > 0:47:27I don't think they can hear you, Sir.

0:47:27 > 0:47:30Swines! Barbarians!

0:47:30 > 0:47:32BOMB HITS CLOSE BY

0:47:32 > 0:47:34HE GROANS

0:47:34 > 0:47:36Oh, no. Oh, Sir.

0:47:38 > 0:47:40Just as we were winning.

0:47:40 > 0:47:44Perhaps it's timely. He can't go on. Look at him. Fetch Madge.

0:47:44 > 0:47:46Norman! Sir.

0:47:46 > 0:47:48Get me down to the stage. Yes.

0:47:48 > 0:47:53By Christ, no squadron of Fascist Bolsheviks will stop me now.

0:47:56 > 0:47:57Do as I say!

0:48:07 > 0:48:10BOMBS DROP IN THE DISTANCE

0:48:13 > 0:48:16How is he? Who'll make the announcement?

0:48:16 > 0:48:18Mr Davenport-Scott, of course.

0:48:18 > 0:48:20No! Oh, dear! You, then, Norman.

0:48:20 > 0:48:23Me, Sir? Do not argue, I've given my orders,

0:48:23 > 0:48:24I have enough to contend with.

0:48:24 > 0:48:26Sir, I'm not equipped. Do it!

0:48:27 > 0:48:29Come on.

0:48:31 > 0:48:33Take the apron off, for goodness' sake.

0:48:34 > 0:48:38PLANE FLIES OVERHEAD BOMB CRASHES

0:48:50 > 0:48:52Ladies and gentlemen...

0:48:52 > 0:48:57Ladies and gentlemen, the warning has just gone.

0:48:57 > 0:49:00An air-raid is in progress.

0:49:00 > 0:49:03We shall proceed with the performance.

0:49:03 > 0:49:05MUTTERING

0:49:06 > 0:49:09Will those... Will those who wish to live...

0:49:09 > 0:49:11CHUCKLES

0:49:12 > 0:49:16Will anyone who wishes to leave do so as quietly as possible?

0:49:16 > 0:49:18Thank you.

0:49:20 > 0:49:22APPLAUSE

0:49:23 > 0:49:25Stand by.

0:49:29 > 0:49:30Stand by on tabs.

0:49:34 > 0:49:36(Stand by on stage.)

0:49:36 > 0:49:38Go LX. Go flies. Curtain going up.

0:49:41 > 0:49:44I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall.

0:49:44 > 0:49:47It did always seem so to us.

0:49:47 > 0:49:49Geoffrey, was I all right?

0:49:49 > 0:49:50Yes, yes, old man, damn good.

0:49:54 > 0:49:55Your Ladyship, was I all right?

0:49:55 > 0:49:57Better than Mr Davenport-Scott.

0:49:57 > 0:50:00Really? Do you mean that?

0:50:00 > 0:50:02I was ever so nervous.

0:50:02 > 0:50:04Do you think anyone noticed the slip?

0:50:04 > 0:50:06"Will those who wish to live..."

0:50:06 > 0:50:09Ooh, I could have kicked myself.

0:50:10 > 0:50:12I was really all right? You were fine.

0:50:16 > 0:50:17Did he say anything? No.

0:50:19 > 0:50:20Cueing grams.

0:50:21 > 0:50:23My services to Your Lordship.

0:50:25 > 0:50:27Stand by, please. All right, Sir.

0:50:27 > 0:50:29Cueing timpani, Sir.

0:50:33 > 0:50:36The King is coming. APPLAUSE

0:50:53 > 0:50:55Sir? What?

0:50:55 > 0:50:57Her Ladyship's entered.

0:50:57 > 0:51:00Oh, quite a nice round, so it's your turn now.

0:51:00 > 0:51:02You see? What did I say?

0:51:02 > 0:51:04Please, Sir, the entrance. You're on.

0:51:05 > 0:51:08Please, Sir, it's your entrance.

0:51:08 > 0:51:09Methought I saw him.

0:51:10 > 0:51:13His procession formed,

0:51:13 > 0:51:16100 knights his escort...

0:51:16 > 0:51:18Mr Oxenby's having to extemporize.

0:51:18 > 0:51:21"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy".

0:51:21 > 0:51:26The King, my father, was, methought, behind me.

0:51:26 > 0:51:30From our camp we marched, a goodly distance,

0:51:30 > 0:51:33I ahead, as is our custom.

0:51:33 > 0:51:35Sir, the natives are getting restless.

0:51:35 > 0:51:37Sound the fanfare again.

0:51:38 > 0:51:39DISTANT EXPLOSION

0:51:39 > 0:51:42Ah! Methinks I see the King.

0:51:42 > 0:51:45IMPACT OVERHEAD AUDIENCE GASPS

0:51:48 > 0:51:50No, I was mistook.

0:51:51 > 0:51:56My Lord, with thy consent, I shall to his majestic side,

0:51:56 > 0:52:00there to discover his royal progress.

0:52:02 > 0:52:04Is he coming or isn't he? Yes!

0:52:04 > 0:52:06I'm cueing the King's fanfare again.

0:52:08 > 0:52:11"Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester."

0:52:11 > 0:52:13FANFARE Cue the knights, cue the knights.

0:52:13 > 0:52:15Oh! Go on, go on.

0:52:15 > 0:52:17Enter, for God's sake.

0:52:25 > 0:52:29APPLAUSE

0:52:29 > 0:52:31Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.

0:52:31 > 0:52:33I shall, my liege.

0:52:33 > 0:52:36Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there.

0:52:36 > 0:52:40Know that we have divided in three our kingdom, and 'tis our fast

0:52:40 > 0:52:43intent to shake all cares and business from our age, conferring

0:52:43 > 0:52:50them on younger selves, while we, unburdened

0:52:52 > 0:52:55Thou art a lady, if only to go warm were gorgeous.

0:52:55 > 0:52:59Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,

0:52:59 > 0:53:01which scarcely keeps thee warm.

0:53:03 > 0:53:05But for true need,

0:53:05 > 0:53:09you heavens, give me that patience,

0:53:09 > 0:53:11patience I need.

0:53:14 > 0:53:18You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,

0:53:18 > 0:53:21as full of grief as age, wretched in both.

0:53:23 > 0:53:36If it be you that stirs these daughters' hearts

0:53:36 > 0:53:41And let not women's weapons, water-drops, stain my man's cheeks!

0:53:41 > 0:53:47No, you unnatural hags, I will have such revenges on you both.

0:53:47 > 0:54:11That all the world shall - I will do such things -

0:54:11 > 0:54:17break into 100,000 flaws or ere I'll weep.

0:54:19 > 0:54:22O, fool! I shall go mad.

0:54:22 > 0:54:25THUNDER SHEET BOOMS

0:54:25 > 0:54:27I know you. Where's the king?

0:54:27 > 0:54:29Stay out of my focus, Geoffrey.

0:54:29 > 0:54:31Contending with the fretful elements.

0:54:31 > 0:54:34Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea or swell the curled waters

0:54:34 > 0:54:36'bove the main, That things might change or cease.

0:54:36 > 0:54:39Geoffrey, wait. Don't get in the light. Don't hold up, no pauses.

0:54:39 > 0:54:48Just keep the pace going. Pace, pace, pace, pace, pace.

0:54:48 > 0:54:51A fie on this storm! Stand by.

0:54:51 > 0:54:59I shall go seek the King.

0:54:59 > 0:55:25Rage, blow, you cataracts and hurricanoes, strike.

0:55:25 > 0:55:26Come on, come on!

0:55:26 > 0:55:29Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters.

0:55:29 > 0:55:34So old and white as this. O, ho, 'tis foul!

0:55:35 > 0:55:39Where was the storm? Where was the storm?

0:55:39 > 0:55:42I ask for cataracts and hurricanoes and I am given

0:55:42 > 0:55:44nothing but trickles and whistles.

0:55:44 > 0:55:47I demand oak-cleaving thunderbolts and you answer with farting flies.

0:55:51 > 0:55:54THUNDER SHEET BOOMS

0:55:57 > 0:56:01Norman, Norman, you have thwarted me.

0:56:01 > 0:56:06I was there, within sight, I had only to be spurred upwards

0:56:06 > 0:56:11and the glory was mine for the plucking and there was naught,

0:56:11 > 0:56:14zero, silence, a breeze, oh, a breeze!

0:56:14 > 0:56:16A shower, a collision of cotton-wool,

0:56:16 > 0:56:21a flapping of butterfly wings. I want a tempest not a drizzle.

0:56:21 > 0:56:23Something will have to be done.

0:56:23 > 0:56:26I demand to know what happened tonight to the storm!

0:56:29 > 0:56:31I'm pleased you're pleased.

0:56:32 > 0:56:36I've never known you not complain when you've really been at it

0:56:36 > 0:56:41and, tonight, one could safely say, without fear of contradiction,

0:56:41 > 0:56:42you were at it.

0:56:44 > 0:56:45Go on, rest now.

0:56:48 > 0:56:51You've the interval and all of Gloucester's blinding before,

0:56:51 > 0:56:54"No, they cannot touch me for coining."

0:57:00 > 0:57:02Try to sleep.

0:57:02 > 0:57:05You've been through it.

0:57:05 > 0:57:08Or been put through it,

0:57:08 > 0:57:10whichever you prefer.

0:57:10 > 0:57:15And you need quiet, as the deaf-mute said to the piano tuner.

0:57:20 > 0:57:26Mighty, Her Ladyship thought you were tonight, she did,

0:57:26 > 0:57:28that was the word she used.

0:57:32 > 0:57:33"Mighty."

0:57:39 > 0:57:44Of course, I cannot comment on the storm scene but I did hear,

0:57:44 > 0:57:46"O Reason not the need".

0:57:46 > 0:57:48Tremble-making.

0:57:48 > 0:57:52Never seen you so full of the real thing,

0:57:52 > 0:57:55if you don't mind my saying so, Sir.

0:57:55 > 0:57:56And here's a funny thing.

0:57:56 > 0:57:59In the storm scene, while we were beating ourselves delirious

0:57:59 > 0:58:02and I was having to jump between thunder sheet

0:58:02 > 0:58:04and timpani,

0:58:04 > 0:58:08like a juggler with rubber balls and Indian clubs,

0:58:08 > 0:58:12Mr Oxenby came to our aid, uninvited.

0:58:12 > 0:58:15Not a word said, just gave assistance

0:58:15 > 0:58:17when assistance was needed.

0:58:17 > 0:58:20Afterwards, just before the interval, I thanked him.

0:58:20 > 0:58:23"Get stuffed," he said, which wasn't nice.

0:58:23 > 0:58:27And then he added, scornfully, "I don't know why I helped."

0:58:27 > 0:58:29And I said, "Because we are a band of brothers,

0:58:29 > 0:58:31"and you're one of us in spite of yourself."

0:58:34 > 0:58:36I did, that's what I said.

0:58:36 > 0:58:40He hobbled away, his head down

0:58:40 > 0:58:42and if he was given to muttering,

0:58:42 > 0:58:44he'd have muttered.

0:58:44 > 0:58:46Darkly.

0:58:46 > 0:58:47Are you asleep, Sir?

0:58:50 > 0:58:53To be driven thus.

0:58:53 > 0:58:54I hate the swines.

0:58:54 > 0:58:58Who? Who is it that you hate?

0:58:58 > 0:58:59The critics?

0:58:59 > 0:59:02The critics? Hate the critics?

0:59:02 > 0:59:04I have nothing but compassion for them.

0:59:04 > 0:59:07How can one hate the crippled, the mentally deficient and the dead?

0:59:07 > 0:59:11Bastards. Who then? Who then what?

0:59:11 > 0:59:13Who then is it that you hate?

0:59:13 > 0:59:16Let me rest, Norman, you must stop questioning me, let me rest.

0:59:16 > 0:59:20But don't leave me till I'm asleep. Don't leave me alone.

0:59:20 > 0:59:23I am a spent force. My days are numbered.

0:59:42 > 0:59:45Is he asleep? I think so, yes.

0:59:45 > 0:59:46I'll sit with him.

0:59:48 > 0:59:51Well, don't wake him, Your Ladyship. He's ever so tired.

0:59:58 > 1:00:00METAL CLANGS

1:00:00 > 1:00:01Is it my cue?

1:00:01 > 1:00:03No, it's still the interval.

1:00:05 > 1:00:07I have things to say.

1:00:08 > 1:00:11Norman tells me you thought I was mighty tonight.

1:00:11 > 1:00:14I never said anything of the kind. He makes these things up.

1:00:14 > 1:00:16What have you to say?

1:00:16 > 1:00:18What I always have to say.

1:00:18 > 1:00:19You know my answer.

1:00:23 > 1:00:24You've worked hard.

1:00:24 > 1:00:26You've saved.

1:00:26 > 1:00:28Enough's enough.

1:00:28 > 1:00:30Tonight, in your curtain speech,

1:00:30 > 1:00:32make the announcement.

1:00:32 > 1:00:33I can't.

1:00:33 > 1:00:35You won't. I have no choice.

1:00:35 > 1:00:37You'll die.

1:00:37 > 1:00:39Or end up a vegetable!

1:00:39 > 1:00:41Well, that's your affair.

1:00:41 > 1:00:43But you're not going to drag me with you.

1:00:43 > 1:00:45I am helpless, Pussy. I do what I'm told.

1:00:45 > 1:00:49I cower, I'm frightened of being whipped, I am driven.

1:00:49 > 1:00:51Driven? No. Cruel? Yes,

1:00:51 > 1:00:53Obstinate? Yes. Ruthless? Yes.

1:00:53 > 1:00:56Don't! For an actor, you have a woeful lack of insight.

1:00:56 > 1:00:58Use your great imagination,

1:00:58 > 1:01:00use your inspired gifts,

1:01:00 > 1:01:02try to imagine what I feel,

1:01:02 > 1:01:04what I'm forced to go through.

1:01:04 > 1:01:07I do! But I need you beside me,

1:01:07 > 1:01:09familiar, real!

1:01:09 > 1:01:12I am beside you, darning tights. Very familiar, quite real.

1:01:12 > 1:01:15All I ask, Bonzo, is that we stop.

1:01:15 > 1:01:18Now, tonight, the end of the week - but no more.

1:01:18 > 1:01:20I can't take any more.

1:01:20 > 1:01:21It's not possible. It is possible.

1:01:21 > 1:01:23No. You deceive no-one but yourself.

1:01:23 > 1:01:27If that were true, why then am I here, with bombs falling, risking life and limb? Why?

1:01:27 > 1:01:30Not by choice. I have a duty. I have to keep the faith.

1:01:30 > 1:01:32Oh, balls!

1:01:32 > 1:01:33What?

1:01:33 > 1:01:36You do nothing without self-interest.

1:01:36 > 1:01:38And you drag everyone with you.

1:01:38 > 1:01:40Me - chained, not even by law.

1:01:40 > 1:01:43Oh, would marriage have made that much difference to you?

1:01:43 > 1:01:45You misunderstand, deliberately.

1:01:45 > 1:01:47I should have made her divorce me, yeah!

1:01:47 > 1:01:50You didn't get a divorce because you wanted a knighthood.

1:01:50 > 1:01:53That's not true. True? You know where your priorities lie.

1:01:53 > 1:01:57Whatever you do is to your advantage and to no-one else's.

1:01:57 > 1:01:58Talk about being driven.

1:01:58 > 1:02:02You make yourself sound like a disinterested stagehand.

1:02:02 > 1:02:04You do nothing without self-interest.

1:02:04 > 1:02:06You. Self. Alone.

1:02:06 > 1:02:10Pussy, please, I'm sinking. Do not push me further into the mud.

1:02:10 > 1:02:12Sir. Her Ladyship. Fantasies.

1:02:12 > 1:02:15For God's sake, you're a third-rate actor-manager

1:02:15 > 1:02:17on a tatty tour of the provinces,

1:02:17 > 1:02:19not some Colossus bestriding the narrow world.

1:02:19 > 1:02:22Sir, Her Ladyship(!) Look at me - darning tights.

1:02:22 > 1:02:23Look at you.

1:02:23 > 1:02:26Lear's hovel is luxury compared to this.

1:02:26 > 1:02:29I'm not well, I have half of Lear's life ahead of me,

1:02:29 > 1:02:30I have to carry you in my arms,

1:02:30 > 1:02:34I have "Howl, howl, howl!" yet to speak!

1:02:34 > 1:02:37"Sir", "Her Ladyship" - We're a laughing-stock!

1:02:37 > 1:02:39You'd never get a knighthood

1:02:39 > 1:02:41because the King doesn't possess a double-edged sword.

1:02:48 > 1:02:52Do you remember, years ago, an actress, one of our Gonerils?

1:02:52 > 1:02:57She was a tall, dark, handsome girl with a Grecian nose.

1:02:59 > 1:03:01Flora Bacon.

1:03:01 > 1:03:03Was it? Yes, perhaps it was.

1:03:04 > 1:03:05Flora.

1:03:07 > 1:03:10Do you remember the night I was rather hard on Norman

1:03:10 > 1:03:12because he'd got my tights inside out

1:03:12 > 1:03:14during the quick change in The Wandering Jew?

1:03:14 > 1:03:16Or was it The Sign Of The Cross?

1:03:18 > 1:03:19Whichever.

1:03:20 > 1:03:21She turned on me.

1:03:23 > 1:03:25"He may be your servant," she said, "but he is a human being."

1:03:25 > 1:03:28Then, to Norman, she said, "Why don't you leave him?

1:03:28 > 1:03:31"Why do you put up with it?" And Norman said, "Don't fuss. He only gives as good as he gets.

1:03:31 > 1:03:33"He has to take it out on someone," he said.

1:03:33 > 1:03:36And he was right. Because Flora Bacon didn't understand.

1:03:38 > 1:03:40Slave driver she called me.

1:03:42 > 1:03:44Why ever did I employ her?

1:03:44 > 1:03:47Her mother was Lady Bacon. She invested ?200 in the company.

1:03:53 > 1:03:57I thought tonight I caught sight of him, or saw myself as he sees me.

1:03:57 > 1:03:59Speaking, "Reason not the need."

1:04:00 > 1:04:03"Go on, you bastard," I seemed to be saying or hearing.

1:04:03 > 1:04:07"Go on, you've more to give. Don't hold back. More, more, more!"

1:04:07 > 1:04:09And I was watching Lear.

1:04:09 > 1:04:10Yes!

1:04:10 > 1:04:12Each word he spoke was fresh invented.

1:04:14 > 1:04:16I had no knowledge of what came next, what fate awaited him.

1:04:16 > 1:04:20The agony was in the moment of acting created.

1:04:21 > 1:04:23Ha!

1:04:24 > 1:04:26And I saw an old man.

1:04:30 > 1:04:32And the old man...

1:04:33 > 1:04:35..was me.

1:04:38 > 1:04:40Don't leave me.

1:04:42 > 1:04:43I'll rest easy if you stay.

1:04:45 > 1:04:47But don't ask of me the impossible.

1:04:51 > 1:04:52Otherwise...

1:04:58 > 1:05:01..without you, in darkness,

1:05:01 > 1:05:03I will see a locked door,

1:05:03 > 1:05:05a sign, "Closed", in the window,

1:05:05 > 1:05:07"Closed - gone away".

1:05:10 > 1:05:12And a drawn blind.

1:05:13 > 1:05:16I'll stay till Norman returns.

1:05:16 > 1:05:17HE LAUGHS

1:05:18 > 1:05:20I meant longer.

1:05:20 > 1:05:22Please.

1:05:25 > 1:05:27Oh, please, Pussy.

1:05:27 > 1:05:29HE GASPS

1:05:30 > 1:05:32Reassure me.

1:05:32 > 1:05:34I'm sick.

1:05:34 > 1:05:36Sick.

1:05:37 > 1:05:39Yes, so am I.

1:05:41 > 1:05:43Sick.

1:05:43 > 1:05:47I'm sick of cold railway trains,

1:05:47 > 1:05:49cold waiting rooms,

1:05:49 > 1:05:51cold Sundays on Crewe,

1:05:51 > 1:05:53and eating cold food late at night.

1:05:54 > 1:05:56I'm sick of packing and unpacking

1:05:56 > 1:05:58and of darning tights.

1:05:58 > 1:06:02I'm sick of the smell of rotting costumes and naphthalene.

1:06:02 > 1:06:03And most of all,

1:06:03 > 1:06:06I'm sick of reading week after week

1:06:06 > 1:06:10that I'm barely adequate, too old,

1:06:10 > 1:06:12the best of a bad supporting cast.

1:06:13 > 1:06:16Unequal to you, unworthy of your gifts.

1:06:19 > 1:06:21And I'm sick of having to put on a brave face.

1:06:33 > 1:06:36I should have left you in Baltimore on the last American tour.

1:06:37 > 1:06:40I should have accepted Mr Feldman's offer

1:06:40 > 1:06:42and taken the 20th Century west.

1:06:43 > 1:06:46Feldman thought I wouldn't photograph well.

1:06:46 > 1:06:48Swine.

1:06:48 > 1:06:50I hate the cinema.

1:06:50 > 1:06:51I believe in living things.

1:06:52 > 1:06:55How quickly one's looks go.

1:06:55 > 1:06:58They haven't built a camera large enough to record me.

1:06:58 > 1:07:00I wouldn't have minded a modest success.

1:07:00 > 1:07:03Why they knighted that dwarf Arthur Palgrove I shall never know.

1:07:03 > 1:07:06"Arise, Sir Arthur," said the King. "But, Sir, I wasn't kneeling."

1:07:06 > 1:07:10Not once in his whole career did he put a toe outside London.

1:07:11 > 1:07:13I liked America.

1:07:13 > 1:07:14I hated the swines.

1:07:14 > 1:07:17KNOCK AT DOOR 'Act Two beginners, please!'

1:07:19 > 1:07:21I must rest now, Pussy. I want peace.

1:07:21 > 1:07:24All you want is to have your cake and to eat it.

1:07:24 > 1:07:28I've never seen any point in having cake unless one is going to eat it.

1:07:28 > 1:07:29Ha-ha(!) Ha-ha ha-ha(!)

1:07:29 > 1:07:31Everything jolly?

1:07:31 > 1:07:33Don't you know what knocking is?

1:07:33 > 1:07:35Oh, please, Sir - not in front of Her Ladyship.

1:07:35 > 1:07:37Well, I've been mingling.

1:07:37 > 1:07:39You should hear what they think out there -

1:07:39 > 1:07:42I have never known an interval like it.

1:07:42 > 1:07:44Michelangelo, William Blake -

1:07:44 > 1:07:46God knows who else you reminded them of.

1:07:46 > 1:07:48One poor boy...

1:07:49 > 1:07:52..an airman, head bandaged,

1:07:52 > 1:07:54was weeping in the stalls bar,

1:07:54 > 1:07:56comforted by an older man -

1:07:56 > 1:08:00once blonde, now grey, parchment skin and dainty hands -

1:08:00 > 1:08:04who went on saying, "There, there, Evelyn, it's only a play."

1:08:04 > 1:08:06Which didn't seem to me any comfort at all

1:08:06 > 1:08:08because, if it hadn't been a play,

1:08:08 > 1:08:10then "There-there-Evelyn" wouldn't be so upset.

1:08:12 > 1:08:14Michelangelo, did they?

1:08:14 > 1:08:15And Blake.

1:08:15 > 1:08:16I'm going to my room.

1:08:16 > 1:08:18Please stay.

1:08:18 > 1:08:20You must rest, Bonzo - mustn't he Norman?

1:08:20 > 1:08:22Yes, he must.

1:08:22 > 1:08:23Pussy...

1:08:33 > 1:08:35Be gentle with Her Ladyship.

1:08:35 > 1:08:37I'm always gentle with Her Ladyship.

1:08:37 > 1:08:38Especially gentle.

1:08:39 > 1:08:40Why?

1:08:42 > 1:08:43Time of life.

1:08:44 > 1:08:46Ohh!

1:08:46 > 1:08:49You mean flushes and dizzy spells?

1:08:49 > 1:08:53She's become very preoccupied with herself.

1:08:53 > 1:08:56Sounds like a bad attack of change.

1:08:56 > 1:08:58Be gentle. I don't want her hurt.

1:08:58 > 1:09:01BELL RINGS

1:09:01 > 1:09:03Ai-ai!

1:09:06 > 1:09:07Sleep now.

1:09:09 > 1:09:11Is there anything else you want?

1:09:11 > 1:09:13Oblivion.

1:09:13 > 1:09:15That'll come sooner or later.

1:09:15 > 1:09:16And I hope later.

1:09:17 > 1:09:19I shall wake you in plenty of time

1:09:19 > 1:09:22so you can enter fantastically dressed in wild flowers.

1:09:25 > 1:09:27Sleep tight, don't let the bugs bite.

1:09:51 > 1:09:53Fetch Madge!

1:10:06 > 1:10:08KNOCK ON DOOR

1:10:14 > 1:10:15Yes?

1:10:16 > 1:10:18It's going well, I think.

1:10:19 > 1:10:21Except for your first entrance.

1:10:36 > 1:10:37Come here.

1:10:39 > 1:10:40Hold my hand.

1:10:42 > 1:10:44Please.

1:10:49 > 1:10:51It's like ice.

1:10:51 > 1:10:53Cold with fear.

1:10:53 > 1:10:55What are you frightened of?

1:10:56 > 1:10:58Of what is to come.

1:10:59 > 1:11:01You know who you're talking to, do you?

1:11:01 > 1:11:02It's me, not someone to impress.

1:11:02 > 1:11:05I'm speaking from my heart.

1:11:05 > 1:11:08I have never before felt so lonely.

1:11:08 > 1:11:11Please, I have a show to run... Listen to me.

1:11:12 > 1:11:14I am frightened of what is to come.

1:11:16 > 1:11:20And I meant it, because, for the first time in my life,

1:11:20 > 1:11:22the future is hidden from me.

1:11:22 > 1:11:23I see no friends.

1:11:23 > 1:11:25I am not warmed by fellowship.

1:11:27 > 1:11:29I know only...

1:11:29 > 1:11:31awful solitude.

1:11:32 > 1:11:34An occupational hazard.

1:11:34 > 1:11:36You wanted to see me, about what?

1:11:37 > 1:11:41I look on you as my one true friend.

1:11:41 > 1:11:43I have to go back to the corner.

1:11:43 > 1:11:44Have you been happy?

1:11:47 > 1:11:48Has it been worth it?

1:11:50 > 1:11:52No, I've not been happy.

1:11:54 > 1:11:56Yes, it's been worth it.

1:11:56 > 1:11:58Madge, dear...

1:12:00 > 1:12:03In my will, I've left you all my press-cutting books.

1:12:05 > 1:12:08I don't want to hear what you've left me in your will.

1:12:08 > 1:12:11Cuttings and notices that span a lifetime, an entire career.

1:12:13 > 1:12:15I've kept them religiously.

1:12:15 > 1:12:17Good and bad notices alike.

1:12:18 > 1:12:20Not all that many bad.

1:12:23 > 1:12:26Talk of me sometimes. Speak well of me.

1:12:28 > 1:12:30Actors live on only in the memory of others.

1:12:30 > 1:12:31Speak well of me.

1:12:33 > 1:12:35This is a ridiculous conversation.

1:12:36 > 1:12:38You're in the middle of a performance of Lear,

1:12:38 > 1:12:41playing rather less mechanically than you have of late,

1:12:41 > 1:12:44and you talk as if you're organising your own memorial service.

1:12:44 > 1:12:47The most wonderful thing in life is to be remembered.

1:12:48 > 1:12:49Speak well of me.

1:12:51 > 1:12:52You'll be believed.

1:12:52 > 1:12:54You'll be remembered.

1:12:54 > 1:12:56Madge, dear...

1:12:56 > 1:12:58I have something for you.

1:13:00 > 1:13:02I want you to have this ring.

1:13:03 > 1:13:06If possessions can be dear, this ring is the dearest thing I own.

1:13:08 > 1:13:11Edmund Kean wore this ring

1:13:11 > 1:13:17in a play whose title is an apt inscription for what I feel -

1:13:17 > 1:13:20A New Way To Pay Old Debts.

1:13:20 > 1:13:23When you talk of it,

1:13:23 > 1:13:25say Edmund Kean and I wore it.

1:13:27 > 1:13:31I once had it in mind to give it to you...

1:13:31 > 1:13:33years ago.

1:13:34 > 1:13:37But you were younger then,

1:13:37 > 1:13:39and I thought you would misunderstand.

1:13:42 > 1:13:43Yes.

1:13:45 > 1:13:48A ring from a man to a woman is easily misunderstood.

1:13:51 > 1:13:54I know I'm thought insensitive,

1:13:54 > 1:13:56but I'm not blind.

1:13:56 > 1:13:58No. I've always known you were aware

1:13:58 > 1:14:00of what the spinster in the corner felt.

1:14:02 > 1:14:05You were right not to give me the ring years ago.

1:14:05 > 1:14:06I lived in hope then.

1:14:09 > 1:14:12At least I've seen you every day, made myself useful to you.

1:14:17 > 1:14:19I settled for what I could get.

1:14:22 > 1:14:24You are the only one who truly loves me.

1:14:46 > 1:14:48Beginners for act two.

1:14:58 > 1:15:00KNOCK AT DOOR Who?

1:15:01 > 1:15:06Irene. I'm returning the triple crown, Sir.

1:15:06 > 1:15:07Come.

1:15:07 > 1:15:10BELL RINGS

1:15:14 > 1:15:16Put it down.

1:15:31 > 1:15:35Sir, will it disturb you if I say something?

1:15:35 > 1:15:37Depends what it is.

1:15:38 > 1:15:41I just wanted to thank you.

1:15:41 > 1:15:44For what? The performance this evening.

1:15:44 > 1:15:48It's not over yet. I felt honoured to be on the stage.

1:15:48 > 1:15:51Open that drawer, you will find a photograph of me.

1:16:16 > 1:16:18I love coming into this room.

1:16:19 > 1:16:21I can feel the power.

1:16:21 > 1:16:22And the mystery.

1:16:24 > 1:16:27In days gone by, this would have been a place

1:16:27 > 1:16:29where the High Priests robed.

1:16:29 > 1:16:30A kindred spirit.

1:16:33 > 1:16:34Lock the door.

1:16:54 > 1:16:55Come nearer.

1:16:56 > 1:16:58It's Irene.

1:17:00 > 1:17:01Irene.

1:17:07 > 1:17:09You want to act?

1:17:09 > 1:17:11Yes. Passionately?

1:17:11 > 1:17:14Yes. With every fibre of your being?

1:17:14 > 1:17:15Yes.

1:17:15 > 1:17:17To the exclusion of all else?

1:17:17 > 1:17:19Yes.

1:17:19 > 1:17:25You must be prepared to sacrifice what most people call...

1:17:25 > 1:17:27life.

1:17:27 > 1:17:29I am.

1:17:29 > 1:17:32Your birth sign? Scorpio.

1:17:35 > 1:17:37Good.

1:17:37 > 1:17:43Ambition, secretiveness, loyalty, capable of great jealously.

1:17:44 > 1:17:47Essential qualities in the theatre.

1:17:48 > 1:17:50Have you good legs?

1:17:53 > 1:17:55Come closer.

1:18:00 > 1:18:02Let me see.

1:18:07 > 1:18:09Higher.

1:18:12 > 1:18:18TOO good. All the best actresses have legs like tree trunks.

1:18:25 > 1:18:28There's not much of you, is there?

1:18:29 > 1:18:31Such small bones.

1:18:37 > 1:18:39Are you getting enough to eat?

1:18:41 > 1:18:44SHE GASPS

1:18:44 > 1:18:49So young...

1:18:49 > 1:18:51HE GROWLS, SHE SCREAMS

1:18:52 > 1:18:54That's more like it!

1:18:57 > 1:19:01Too late, too late.

1:19:04 > 1:19:08Well, now, my dainty duck, my dearie-o. Let go of me!

1:19:08 > 1:19:12What was all that about? He seems better.

1:19:12 > 1:19:14Better than what or whom, as the case may be?

1:19:14 > 1:19:18I didn't think he'd get through the performance tonight.

1:19:18 > 1:19:20He's NOT through it yet. I'm waiting.

1:19:20 > 1:19:23For what? A graphic description of events. Out with it,

1:19:23 > 1:19:24or I shall slap your face - hard.

1:19:24 > 1:19:26I thought we were friends!

1:19:26 > 1:19:28I thought we were too.

1:19:28 > 1:19:29Irene...

1:19:31 > 1:19:33I shall long remember welcoming you into the company,

1:19:33 > 1:19:36in the prop room of the Palace Theatre, Newark-on-Trent.

1:19:36 > 1:19:39You were locked in the arms of the Prince of Morocco,

1:19:39 > 1:19:41a married man, and ever such a comic sight

1:19:41 > 1:19:44with his tights round his ankles and you smeared black.

1:19:44 > 1:19:47And I said, "Don't worry, mum's the word,

1:19:47 > 1:19:49"but don't let it happen again."

1:19:49 > 1:19:50Sorry, what am I supposed to have done?

1:19:50 > 1:19:52Well, you tell me. About what?

1:19:52 > 1:19:55About Sir. You know who Sir is, Irene.

1:19:55 > 1:19:58I'm late. I have to help Her Ladyship with her armour.

1:19:58 > 1:20:00Her Ladyship's armour will keep.

1:20:00 > 1:20:02Perhaps you didn't understand the question.

1:20:02 > 1:20:04What did Sir do?

1:20:04 > 1:20:05I'm not telling you.

1:20:05 > 1:20:07Then I'll mark you for life, ducky.

1:20:07 > 1:20:11You! You strike me and I'll tell Sir - I will, I will.

1:20:11 > 1:20:13I'll tell Sir, I'll tell Sir.

1:20:13 > 1:20:15Tell Sir? On me? I quake in my boots.

1:20:15 > 1:20:18I shan't be able to eat my tea. Oh, tell Sir!

1:20:18 > 1:20:21Never mind "tell Sir". I'll tell YOU.

1:20:21 > 1:20:25He did something, something unseen and furtive,

1:20:25 > 1:20:27something that gave him pleasure.

1:20:29 > 1:20:31He lifted me up in his arms.

1:20:31 > 1:20:32Lifted you up?

1:20:32 > 1:20:34And I understood, I understood what he meant.

1:20:34 > 1:20:38"So young, so young," he said, and lifted me up.

1:20:38 > 1:20:42"That's more like it," he cried, and I knew, cradled in his arms,

1:20:42 > 1:20:45that it was youth and newness he was after...

1:20:45 > 1:20:51It's not youth or talent or star quality he's after, ducky,

1:20:51 > 1:20:53but a moderate eater.

1:20:53 > 1:20:54DOOR OPENS

1:20:54 > 1:20:58Oh, there you are. You're late with my armour.

1:20:58 > 1:21:01Off you go, dear. You'll have to find another canoe to paddle.

1:21:07 > 1:21:11Ours, I'm afraid...has holes.

1:21:13 > 1:21:16SWORDS CLASH, MEN GRUNT

1:21:22 > 1:21:24HE YELLS

1:21:24 > 1:21:31Be brief in it, to the castle; For my writ is on the life of Lear

1:21:31 > 1:21:35and on Cordelia. Nay, send in time.

1:21:36 > 1:21:38Haste thee for thy life.

1:21:38 > 1:21:41You're on. I wish you wouldn't do that. You remind me of a labourer.

1:21:41 > 1:21:46..some good I mean to do, despite of mine own nature.

1:21:46 > 1:21:48Ugh, God Almighty!

1:21:48 > 1:21:50Cue LX.

1:21:52 > 1:21:56TIMPANI PLAYS

1:21:56 > 1:21:59APPLAUSE

1:21:59 > 1:22:02Howl, howl, howl, howl!

1:22:02 > 1:22:08O, you are men of stones. Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them

1:22:08 > 1:22:11so that heaven's vault should crack.

1:22:13 > 1:22:15She's gone for ever!

1:22:15 > 1:22:21I know when one is dead, and when one lives. She's dead as earth.

1:22:21 > 1:22:24Lend me a looking-glass;

1:22:24 > 1:22:30If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, why, then she lives.

1:22:33 > 1:22:36This feather stirs; she lives!

1:22:36 > 1:22:39If it be so, it is a chance which does redeem all sorrows

1:22:39 > 1:22:41that ever I have felt.

1:22:41 > 1:22:44Is this the promised end?

1:22:44 > 1:22:46Or image of that horror?

1:22:46 > 1:22:53And my poor fool is hang'd. No, no, no life!

1:22:54 > 1:22:58Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

1:22:58 > 1:22:59And thou no breath at all?

1:23:01 > 1:23:04Thou'lt come no more,

1:23:04 > 1:23:12Never, never, never, never, never!

1:23:17 > 1:23:20Pray you, undo this button.

1:23:25 > 1:23:30Thank you, sir. Do you see this?

1:23:31 > 1:23:36Look on her, her lips,

1:23:36 > 1:23:41Look there, look there.

1:23:43 > 1:23:45HE GASPS

1:23:45 > 1:23:48Look up, my lord.

1:23:48 > 1:23:52Stand by, curtain down. O, let him pass. He hates him

1:23:52 > 1:23:54that would upon the rack of this tough world

1:23:54 > 1:23:56stretch him out longer. He's gone.

1:23:58 > 1:24:03The weight of this sad time we must obey. Speak what we feel,

1:24:03 > 1:24:05not what we ought to say.

1:24:07 > 1:24:11The oldest hath borne most, we that are young

1:24:11 > 1:24:17shall never see so much, nor live so long.

1:24:19 > 1:24:21Go flies.

1:24:21 > 1:24:24APPLAUSE

1:24:29 > 1:24:33We've done it, Will, we've done it!

1:24:35 > 1:24:37Stand by for your curtain calls.

1:24:39 > 1:24:41Curtain going up.

1:25:14 > 1:25:17What play tomorrow? Richard III.

1:25:18 > 1:25:23Slavery, bloody slavery. Norman, Norman.

1:25:23 > 1:25:25Sir.

1:25:25 > 1:25:27What will happen to you?

1:25:27 > 1:25:29Can you be a little more explicit?

1:25:30 > 1:25:33What will happen to you if I cannot continue?

1:25:33 > 1:25:36Oh, stop it. Nothing ever happens to me.

1:25:36 > 1:25:39I lead a life entirely without incident.

1:25:41 > 1:25:44But if I should be unable to continue...

1:25:44 > 1:25:47Well, there's no chance of that so I'm not bothering to answer.

1:25:47 > 1:25:49I worry about you, my boy. Don't.

1:25:49 > 1:25:52KNOCK AT DOOR Who?

1:25:52 > 1:25:54Geoffrey. Come. (Oh god.)

1:25:59 > 1:26:01Just popped in to say goodnight, old man.

1:26:01 > 1:26:05Goodnight, Geoffrey. Very fine in the storm scene.

1:26:05 > 1:26:08I felt your love, and that's what matters.

1:26:08 > 1:26:11Oh, thank you.

1:26:11 > 1:26:14Fool is by far the most important part I've ever played

1:26:14 > 1:26:17in Shakespeare. I hope you feel I didn't let you down.

1:26:17 > 1:26:21Offer Geoffrey a small glass of beer, Norman.

1:26:21 > 1:26:22Thank you.

1:26:25 > 1:26:28Well, such an odd feeling tonight, old man.

1:26:28 > 1:26:36Rather exciting to reach my age to prove to others that one can act.

1:26:36 > 1:26:39That's the wonderful thing about this life of ours.

1:26:39 > 1:26:42It's never too late. Surprising things happen.

1:26:46 > 1:26:48But there are disadvantages.

1:26:48 > 1:26:50One gets the taste for more.

1:26:51 > 1:26:53Cheers. May good health attend you.

1:26:55 > 1:26:57Bottoms up, Geoffrey.

1:27:02 > 1:27:07May I ask you a question, old man? Ask.

1:27:07 > 1:27:11Fool is a curious role. You give your all for almost

1:27:11 > 1:27:16an hour-and-a-half, then vanish into thin air for the rest of the play.

1:27:16 > 1:27:21The next you hear of me is you saying that I'm hanged.

1:27:21 > 1:27:27But why? By whom? It seems awfully unfair.

1:27:27 > 1:27:32My theory is that, in William's day, Fool and Cordelia were played

1:27:32 > 1:27:38by one and the same person. A very good double, Fool and Cordelia.

1:27:38 > 1:27:43Saved an extra salary, of course. Well, things haven't changed.

1:27:43 > 1:27:47As long as you feel I didn't let you down.

1:27:47 > 1:27:49In no particular.

1:27:49 > 1:27:53Just one last thing, I won't keep you, I know you're very tired.

1:27:53 > 1:27:57But when you interviewed me, I said that I didn't want too much.

1:27:57 > 1:27:59Small parts, I said.

1:28:01 > 1:28:07It may not be thought admirable, but I have never put a jot at risk.

1:28:07 > 1:28:10Never wanted to scale the heights.

1:28:11 > 1:28:16Played goodish parts, tours, of course, never London.

1:28:16 > 1:28:20I don't complain. Touring's a good life.

1:28:20 > 1:28:24Enjoyed my cricket in summer, hockey in the winter...

1:28:24 > 1:28:31lovely women, long walks, a weekly change of scene,

1:28:31 > 1:28:35the English countryside in all weathers.

1:28:35 > 1:28:36What could be nicer?

1:28:39 > 1:28:41But never risked a jot.

1:28:43 > 1:28:46No, I've been lucky. Mustn't complain.

1:28:48 > 1:28:50I expect I can get through to the end of the chapter.

1:28:50 > 1:28:52I've a little put by.

1:28:52 > 1:28:55And my wife brings in a bit from her singing lessons.

1:28:57 > 1:29:01I've no right to expect work, not at my age.

1:29:03 > 1:29:08War's brought surprising employment. All the youngsters at the front.

1:29:09 > 1:29:12My grandson, not a pro...

1:29:15 > 1:29:16..taken prisoner at Tripoli.

1:29:25 > 1:29:28Sorry to be so long-winded.

1:29:28 > 1:29:32But the point is, if at any time circumstances arise,

1:29:32 > 1:29:36I should like to be considered for better parts.

1:29:36 > 1:29:39And I shouldn't want an increase in salary.

1:29:42 > 1:29:45I shall keep you in the forefront of my mind.

1:29:45 > 1:29:48Thank you, old man.

1:29:48 > 1:29:52Well... Goodnight.

1:29:54 > 1:29:56Thank you for the drink.

1:30:00 > 1:30:02I can manage. Night, Norman.

1:30:09 > 1:30:10Fine fellow.

1:30:12 > 1:30:14Fine fellow.

1:30:19 > 1:30:23Shall we remove your make-up, Sir?

1:30:23 > 1:30:26I hope Will's pleased tonight.

1:30:26 > 1:30:28I had a friend...

1:30:28 > 1:30:30Not now, Norman.

1:30:30 > 1:30:33I had a friend who had ever such a sweet singing voice,

1:30:33 > 1:30:38but he lost it in Colwyn Bay after a bad attack of sea mist.

1:30:38 > 1:30:43But it came back to him again, in the end, and do you know why?

1:30:43 > 1:30:48Because he said to himself they also sing who only stand and serve.

1:30:48 > 1:30:50Or words to that effect.

1:30:50 > 1:30:52Are you pissed, Norman?

1:30:52 > 1:30:53Me, Sir? Pissed, Sir?

1:30:53 > 1:30:56Sir Percy, how you do tousle me.

1:30:58 > 1:31:00Let me smell your breath.

1:31:03 > 1:31:06There. Told you. Sweet as Winston Churchill.

1:31:06 > 1:31:07I can't have you pissed.

1:31:07 > 1:31:09DOOR OPENS

1:31:09 > 1:31:11You not dressed yet?

1:31:13 > 1:31:15I'm a little slow tonight, Pussy.

1:31:15 > 1:31:17I'm not waiting.

1:31:17 > 1:31:20I'll go back to the digs, and see if I can get a fire lit.

1:31:20 > 1:31:22I won't be long.

1:31:22 > 1:31:27Goodnight, Norman. ..I'm not sure whether I should thank you or not.

1:31:27 > 1:31:29Not. I can't bear to be thanked.

1:31:29 > 1:31:31Goodnight.

1:31:39 > 1:31:41She's a good woman.

1:31:43 > 1:31:45Good woman.

1:31:47 > 1:31:48BANGING ON DOOR

1:31:51 > 1:31:54Who? Mr Oxenby.

1:31:59 > 1:32:01HE SOBS

1:32:03 > 1:32:07What do you want? My manuscript. He won't read it, I know that.

1:32:07 > 1:32:10Keep your voice down! He's not gone yet. Just wait there.

1:32:10 > 1:32:12He's a little slow tonight.

1:32:12 > 1:32:15All that struggling and surviving has tired him, no doubt.

1:32:15 > 1:32:16Please, Mr Oxenby.

1:32:16 > 1:32:20Outmoded hypocrite. Tell him from me, I look forward

1:32:20 > 1:32:23to a new order. I want a company without tyrants.

1:32:23 > 1:32:25Who'd be in charge?

1:32:25 > 1:32:26I would.

1:32:26 > 1:32:30You'll be lovely with a bit success, Mr Oxenby.

1:32:30 > 1:32:33Your nose is browner than usual tonight, Norman.

1:32:36 > 1:32:38Goodnight, Sir.

1:32:38 > 1:32:41If you hurry, you'll catch Mr Oxenby.

1:32:46 > 1:32:48HE GROANS

1:32:55 > 1:32:56Sir? AGH!

1:32:56 > 1:33:02Oh, good God! I am tired. Terribly tired. The room is spinning.

1:33:02 > 1:33:04I must lie down.

1:33:04 > 1:33:08See if you can get me a taxi in this godforsaken place.

1:33:09 > 1:33:11All in good time.

1:33:11 > 1:33:16Oh, don't cry. Now, don't cry.

1:33:16 > 1:33:19There's nothing left.

1:33:19 > 1:33:21Stop that at once.

1:33:24 > 1:33:25I had a friend...

1:33:25 > 1:33:28Oh, for Christ's sake, I'm sick of your friends!

1:33:28 > 1:33:32The motley crew they are. Pathetic, lonely, despairing...

1:33:32 > 1:33:33That's nice, isn't it(?)

1:33:33 > 1:33:37I beg your pardon. Uncalled for.

1:33:37 > 1:33:40Think of me as your friend.

1:33:40 > 1:33:42Never despairing.

1:33:42 > 1:33:44Have apologised.

1:33:44 > 1:33:46Never, never despairing.

1:33:49 > 1:33:54Well, perhaps sometimes. At night.

1:33:55 > 1:33:58Or at Christmas, when you can't get a job in a panto.

1:33:58 > 1:34:01But never once inside the building. Never.

1:34:10 > 1:34:13Pathetic maybe, but not ungrateful.

1:34:13 > 1:34:17Too mindful of one's luck, as the saying goes.

1:34:17 > 1:34:23No duke is more privileged. Here's beauty, here's spring and summer.

1:34:25 > 1:34:30Here pain is bearable. And never lonely. Not here.

1:34:32 > 1:34:38For he that sheds his blood today with me. Soft, no doubt.

1:34:40 > 1:34:44Sensitive - that's my nature. Easily hurt, but that's a virtue.

1:34:46 > 1:34:49And I'm not here for any reasons of my own either.

1:34:49 > 1:34:51No-one could accuse me of base motives.

1:34:51 > 1:34:55I have got what I want and I don't need anyone to know it.

1:35:01 > 1:35:05Inadequate, yes. But never, never despairing.

1:35:07 > 1:35:09I've begun My Life.

1:35:12 > 1:35:14Fetch it. The book.

1:35:16 > 1:35:17I made a start...

1:35:27 > 1:35:30You didn't get very far...

1:35:30 > 1:35:31What did I write?

1:35:31 > 1:35:33"My Life. Dedication.

1:35:36 > 1:35:40"This book is dedicated to my beloved Pussy,

1:35:40 > 1:35:42"who has been my splendid spur.

1:35:44 > 1:35:47"To the spirit of all actors because of their faith

1:35:47 > 1:35:50"and endurance which never fails them.

1:35:50 > 1:35:53"To those who do the work of the theatre yet have

1:35:53 > 1:35:55"but small share in the glory.

1:35:55 > 1:36:01"The carpenters, electricians, scene-shifters, property men.

1:36:01 > 1:36:04"To the audiences, who have laughed with us, have wept with us

1:36:04 > 1:36:07"and whose hearts have united with ours

1:36:07 > 1:36:09"in sympathy and understanding."

1:36:09 > 1:36:11"But finally..."

1:36:11 > 1:36:14ah, Sir,

1:36:14 > 1:36:17"to the memory of William Shakespeare...

1:36:18 > 1:36:21"..in whose glorious service we all labour."

1:36:25 > 1:36:27My Life will have to do.

1:36:35 > 1:36:39Wait a moment, wait a moment...

1:36:41 > 1:36:44"The carpenters, electricians, scene-shifters..."

1:36:46 > 1:36:47Sir?

1:36:48 > 1:36:49Sir...

1:36:54 > 1:36:55Sir?

1:37:02 > 1:37:03Sir...

1:37:07 > 1:37:09We're not dead, are we?

1:37:10 > 1:37:12That's your cue. You know the line.

1:37:14 > 1:37:16"You lie! Jack Clinton..."

1:37:16 > 1:37:18"lives!"

1:37:21 > 1:37:23Talk about untoward.

1:37:27 > 1:37:31Ooh... You're right. The room is spinning.

1:37:33 > 1:37:34Your Ladyship!

1:37:39 > 1:37:41MADGE!

1:37:45 > 1:37:47Anybody!

1:37:47 > 1:37:50FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

1:38:26 > 1:38:30Wasn't much of a death scene.

1:38:30 > 1:38:31Unremarkable.

1:38:34 > 1:38:37And ever so short. For him.

1:38:37 > 1:38:39Where's Her Ladyship?

1:38:41 > 1:38:45They all left before he did. Couldn't wait.

1:38:45 > 1:38:46I'll telephone her.

1:38:48 > 1:38:49And I'll get a doctor.

1:38:49 > 1:38:51Too late for a doctor, ducky.

1:38:51 > 1:38:53What's going to happen to me?

1:38:55 > 1:38:57Close the door. Wait outside.

1:38:57 > 1:38:59I don't want to wait outside.

1:38:59 > 1:39:03I NEVER wait outside. I want to be with HIM.

1:39:03 > 1:39:05I know my place, ducky.

1:39:08 > 1:39:09Try and sober up.

1:39:10 > 1:39:12Ambulance, please.

1:39:16 > 1:39:21"Carpenters, electricians, property men"? You cruel bastard.

1:39:21 > 1:39:23You might have remembered.

1:39:23 > 1:39:26Yes, Your Ladyship, it's Madge.

1:39:26 > 1:39:30I was wondering if you could come to the theatre.

1:39:41 > 1:39:43MADGE HANGS UP PHONE

1:39:47 > 1:39:49FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

1:39:54 > 1:39:56Her Ladyship's coming at once. She took it very calmly.

1:39:56 > 1:40:00She asked for him to be covered in his Lear cloak.

1:40:00 > 1:40:02Covered in his Lear cloak?

1:40:02 > 1:40:04Ooh! Fetch the photographers, ducky.

1:40:04 > 1:40:06Covered in his Lear cloak?

1:40:06 > 1:40:09This isn't the Death of Nelson, you know.

1:40:09 > 1:40:10Where is it?

1:40:49 > 1:40:52There's no mention of stage managers either.

1:40:54 > 1:40:56Come out of here.

1:40:57 > 1:40:59Are we going to get paid?

1:40:59 > 1:41:04I mean, is there money in the till after deductions for income tax?

1:41:04 > 1:41:06We've got to be paid for the full week, you know.

1:41:06 > 1:41:10Just because a man dies on Thursday doesn't mean to say

1:41:10 > 1:41:11we get paid pro rata.

1:41:11 > 1:41:13Come away.

1:41:13 > 1:41:14Where will I go?

1:41:14 > 1:41:20Where? I'm nowhere...out of my element.

1:41:21 > 1:41:25I don't want to end up running a boarding house in Colwyn Bay.

1:41:28 > 1:41:29What am I going to do?

1:41:31 > 1:41:32You can speak well of him.

1:41:32 > 1:41:34Speak well of THAT old sod?

1:41:34 > 1:41:38I wouldn't give him a good character, not in a court of law.

1:41:38 > 1:41:40The ungrateful bastard.

1:41:40 > 1:41:42Get out. Get out!

1:41:42 > 1:41:43I don't want you in here.

1:41:43 > 1:41:46Holy, holy, holy, is it? This isn't a shrine!

1:41:46 > 1:41:48No pissing on the altar.

1:41:48 > 1:41:49Stop it.

1:41:59 > 1:42:01Speak well of him? I know what YOU'D say.

1:42:01 > 1:42:03I know all about YOU, ducky.

1:42:05 > 1:42:07I have eyes in my head.

1:42:07 > 1:42:09We all have our little sorrows.

1:42:09 > 1:42:16I know what you'd say - stiff upper, faithful, loyal, loving.

1:42:16 > 1:42:18Well, I have only one thing to say about him

1:42:18 > 1:42:23and I wouldn't say it in front of you, or Her Ladyship, or anyone.

1:42:23 > 1:42:27Lips tight shut. I wouldn't give you the pleasure. Or him.

1:42:27 > 1:42:28Especially not him.

1:42:28 > 1:42:32If I said what I have to say, he'd find a way to take it out on me.

1:42:32 > 1:42:34No-one will ever know.

1:42:36 > 1:42:39We all have our little sorrows, ducky...

1:42:39 > 1:42:40You're not the only one.

1:42:40 > 1:42:45The littler you are, the larger your sorrows.

1:42:48 > 1:42:50You think you loved him?

1:42:52 > 1:42:53What about me?

1:43:09 > 1:43:13Oh, this is no place for death.

1:43:15 > 1:43:16I had a friend...

1:44:32 > 1:44:34You've been together eight months.

1:44:34 > 1:44:36I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

1:44:36 > 1:44:37I love you.