‘SD: oan THE HOMECOMING a Harold Pinter GROVE PRESS, INC. NEW YORKCapright ©1052 1986 by H. Pinter La AIL Rights Reserve xy This play ty protec whole in part nay on under the enyrght hw the Usted Set of Amer be [vith Foie incuding che Doon of Cada, ad all oer une af the Copyright Union, and ie saeco opal All Tigh incoingprofeaona, amateur, motion pire radio le ‘bon, elton, pb reading aly method of ploogrphic ‘production, ae uray woewe All agai overnite {ear and mock perormanee be Unie Sats shoul be dh rowed to Snel TrelyIne, 25 Wet 45d Sree, New Yar, NCW. LQG Al thr nga should be adeesed «o ACTAC (Texte) and Cinema) Lad, 16 Cadogan Lane, London, SNetcengt itary of Congr Cano Card Nur: 6626734 “Twelth Printing Mangfatred nthe United Sato Aseria “Tne HOMECOMING was fist presented by the Royal Shake- peace Company atthe Aldwych Theatre on June 3, 1965, with ‘the fllowing cast: Maxaman of soem ‘Paul Rogers nny, a man in is any ria {an Holm SAM, a man of scty-three John Normington ‘ORY, a man in is mile races ‘Terence Righy “rEDDY, a man in his middle his = ‘Michal Bryant RUTH a woman inher early hires Vivien Merchant Directed by Peter Hall “The frst American production opened at ‘The Music Box on January 5, 1967. With the exception of the part of Teely, which was played by Michael Craig, che cast was as above.suman ‘An ald boasein North London. ‘Alarge room, extending the width of thestage. “The back wal, which contained the door, has been removed. ‘Aaguare arch shape semaine. Beyond it the hal, In the halla staircase ascending Ux, well in view, The front door Um, ‘A.coatstind, hooks, ete. Tn the room a window, R. Odd tables, chairs. ‘Two large ‘armchairs. A large toi, x. Against x. wall «large sideboard, ‘theuppe half of which contains a mirror, v.L.,emadigram, Act One Booning LANNY siting onthe sf with newspapers encin i and, He srs dark it. He makes ecsional marks onthe fuck pase ‘MAT comin from the drcton of the Rtn. He gosto sde- soared opr top dave range ni cls it “Hees an ld cardigan ond cay nd caries sch “esl dewnsage, sands lok abot the om. ‘max, Whathave you done withthe scissors? Paw [sid Ym loking forthe scisors, What ave you done with them? Powe Di you hear me? 1 want wo cut something out ofthe psper. inoer, Pan reading thepaper. MAX. Not that papee. T haven't even read that paper. Ten talling about last Sunday's paper. I was just having a look atitiathe kitchen. Passe ‘Do you hear what I'm saying? I'm talking to you! Where's hescisoss? LANNY (looking wp, qui). Why doa't you shut up, you daft rat? MAX feria and point at him. ‘MAX. Don't you tlk wo me ike tht. 'm warning you.TUE KoMECoMING Hesssnlrge armchair. ‘There's an advertisement inthe paper about fannel vest, ‘Curpice. Navy surpas. Tenuld do with afew of them. Paw, {think have fig. Give me fag. Pause, ‘Tjustasked you to give mes cgarete. Powe Look what Pim lumbered with, He takes acrampled cigar from is pocket. ‘Pm getting old, my word of honour, Holigha it ‘You think I wasn't atearaway? T could have taken cate of you twice over. 'm stil strong, You ask your Uncle Sam ‘what Iwas. Buta te same time I always bad a kind heart Alvays. Pause, used to Knock about with a man called MacSregoe. T called him Mac. You remember Mac? Eh? Powe, Hoh! We were two of the worst hated mea inthe West Endof London. Ite you, stil gt thescars. We'd walk into plac, the whole room’ stand up, they'd make way t et us pass, You never heard such silce, Mind you, he was a big man, he was over six foot tall His family were ll ‘MacGregors, they came all the way from Aberdcea, but he ‘asthe only one they called Mac, He was very fond of your mother, Mac was. Very fond. He always ada good word ore, Passe, [Mind you, she wasn't such a bad woman. Even though it ‘made me sick jst to lok at her roten stinking face, she ‘wasn't sucha bad bitch I gave her the best bleeding years ‘of my li anyway. i nsw. Plug it will you, you stupid sod, Tm trying to read thepaper. ‘Max. Listen! PH chop your spine of, you tlk to me like that! ‘You understand? Talking to yout lousy thy father like hat ‘uznwy. Youlknow what, you're getting demented. Pause, ‘What do you thik of Second Wind forthe thre-thirty? max. Where? Lenny. Sandown Park, ‘MAX. Don’tstandachance. Lanny. Sore hedoes. ‘Max. Nota chance. Lanny. Hes the winner. sane ike paper. ‘Max. He tls tome about horses. Pau, ‘used to live on the course. One of the loves of my life. ‘Epsom? T knew it ike the back of my hand. Iwas one ofthe ‘estnown faces down at the paddock. What a marvellous opencailife.HY talks tome about horses. You only ad their names inthe | papers. But Pve sroked their manes, Pve held them, U're ‘alied them down before a big race. Iwas the one they used to call for. Max, they'd say, there's 2 horse here, he's Aight strung, you'r the only man on the course who can cal him, Te was rue. Thad a... Y bad an instinctive understanding of animals. 1 should have been a trainer. ‘Many times Iwas offered the job ~ you know, a proper posts by the Duke of ... I forget his name’. . «one of the f Does. But I had family obligations, my family needed me at t a Pause, ‘The times Pve watched those animals thundering past the ‘post. What an experience, Mind you didn’t Tose, T made a {ew bob out of tend you know why? Because I always had. ‘thesmell ofa good hors. I could smell him, And not only ‘the colts but the flies. Hecause the flies are more highly strung than the cots they're more unreliable, did you Know. ‘that? No, what do you know? Nothing. But Iwas always able to tll god fly by one particular tick. look her fn the eye. You see? Td stnd in front of her and look her straight in the ej, it was a kind of hypnotism, and by the Took deep down in her eye Tcould tall whether she was a Stayer or not, Iewas 2 git had Powe, ‘And hetalks tome about horses, ‘umn Dad do you mind if Tchange the subject? Pouce 1 want to ask you something. That dinner we had before, ‘what was the name of it? What do you ell it? f Peau. ‘Why don’ you buy a dog? You're a dog cook. Honest. You ‘think you's ookiag for alot of dogs. “nx. Ifyou don't like it get out. Lenny. Tam going out Pm going out to buy myself proper sinner ‘Max, Well get out! What are you waiting for? LENNY looks at im, Lanny, What did you soy? ‘max. [said shove off out oft thats what Tsai, Lunn. You'l gobeforeme, Dad, i'you talk to mein that tone ‘of voice, max. Will I, you bitch? Max aris his stick, anny. Ob, Daddy, you'ze not going to we your stick on me, ‘ze you? Eh? Don't use your stick on me, Daddy. No, please Te wasn’ my fault twas one ofthe others. haven't ‘done anything wrong, Dad, honest. Don't clout me with that stick, Da. Silence. MAR st Facil. LENNY rade the paper ‘sant cams in he font door. He wars achaffears uniform. “Hl hangs shat om a Took Gi the Halland comes ino the ‘oom. He goes to chair, sti it and sighs. Hullo, Uncle Som. san, Halle LENNY, How are you, Uncle? saa Not bad. A bit tied. Linn. Tired? I bet you's tired. Where you been? SAM, De been to London Aigport. Lanny. Allthe way upto London Airpare? What, ight up the M4? SAM, Yes all the way up there.Bb {THE HOMECOMING tunnne, Teb, te, teh, Well think you're entitled tobe tied, ‘Uncle. san, Wel isthe drivers. Laxny, Ikoow. That's whet Tm taking about. I'm talking. about the divers. sam, Knocks you out, Bouts, Max, I'm here m0, you know, 4 san loos at him. ssid I'm here, too, Pm siting here. saat Tknow you're here. Paw, ‘aM, I took a Yankze out there today « LENNY. Oh, a Yankee, was it? ‘543, Yes I been with him all day. Picked him up atthe Savoy ‘at half past twelve, took him tothe Caprice for his Tunch. ‘After lunch I picked him up again, took him down tos howse in Eaton Square ~ he had to pay visit toa friend there ~ ‘and then round aboot teatime I took him sight the way out to the Aizport. . anny. Had to catch a plane there did be? saa. Yes. Look what he gave me. He gave mea box of cigars. sant saber abo of cigars from his pocket. ‘Max, Come here, Les eve aJook at them. SAM shows MAX the cigars. Max tes on from the bos, ‘pinche and fi. ee a fir cigar. ‘sant, Want try one? «tothe Airport ax and sane light cigars Act on B ‘You know what he sid to me? He told me I was the best chauffeur he'd ever bad. The best one. Max. From what point of view ? san. ER? ‘Max. From what point of view? aN. From the point of view of his driving, Dad, and his general sense of courtesy T should say. MAX. Thought you were a good driver, did he, Sam? Wel, hae gave you a frst-las cigar. saa, Yes, he thought I was the best he'd ever had. They all say that, you know. They won't have anyone else, they only sk fore. They say P'm the best chaifeur in the firm. Lanny. I bot the other divers tend to get jealous, don’t they, ‘Uncle? ia hy do pt fo. Tayo Ios ax, Why? Pause, ‘sam Tjast told you. ‘Max. No, I just can't get it clear, Sam. Why do the other drivers ge jealous ? ‘san, Because (2) I'm the best dees, and because .. . (b) T don’ take liberties, Paw, 1 don’t press myself on people, you see. These big business- ‘men, men of afairs, they don't want the driver jamin all the time, they like tsitin the back, have abt of peace and quiet. After all, they're siting in a Humber Super Snipe, they can afford to rex. At the same time, though, this i what relly makes me special. . . Ido know ow to pass the time of day when required. Paue, For inseance, I old this man today Twas in the second world4 THE HOMECOMING swar, Not the frst. [old im T was to young forthe fst, ‘But I told hima T fought ia the second. Pause, So did he, it med out. ‘a LENNY stand, gosto the mirror and straighten iste LExwy. He was probebly a colonel, or something, inthe ‘American Air Force. sant. Ye. Enwivy, Probably a navigator, or something lke that in & “ying Fortress. Now he's mast likely a high exeetive ina ‘wotldide group of aeronautical engineers. sant. Yes. LLuxwy, Yes, Tknow he kind of man you're talking about. Lunn goet out, uring to his right SsaM, After all, 'm experienced I was driving a dust cart at ‘the age of nincteen, Then T was in long-distance haulage. Thad ten years as a tax-driver and P've had five as a private cchauieur, ‘Max, Tes funny you never got marred isn't? A man with all your gifts. Powe. Tt? A man lke you? ‘SAM There's stil time. ‘wae Ts there? Powe, ‘5AM. You'd be surprised, Max. What you been doing, banging away at your lady cus= tomers have you? sau. Not me. ‘Max. Ta the back of the Snipe? Been having afew crafty reef ‘ina layby, have you? act ONE 15 sant. Not me, ‘Max. On the back seat? What sbout the armrest, wast up oF own? ‘AM. T've never done that kind of thing in my ear. ‘Max. Above all that kind of thing, are you, Sim ? SAM. Too tru. ‘Max. Above having a good bang on the back seat, are you? SAM. Yes, eave that 0 others, ‘Max. You leave it to others? What others? You paralysed rat! SAM. I don't mess up my eae! Or my... my boss's cal ‘Like other people. ‘Max. Other people? What other people? Powe. ‘What other people? Ponce saa. Other people. Pouce. ‘Max. When you find the right gil, Sam, let your family know, don't forge, we'll give you a number one send-of, Tpromise you. You can bring her tolive here, she can kexp us all happy. ‘Weld tke icin turns to give her a walk round the park. sam. wouldnt bring her here. ‘Max, Sam, is your decision. You're welcome o bring your ‘bride here, ro the place where you live or on the other hand youean tea suite at the Dorchester. I's etiely upto you. san, Thavent gota bride. ‘Am stands goes tthe sideboard, takes am apple from the ots ito it. Gertng abit peckish. He looks ou of the window,16 ‘ru omucosine ‘Never get a bride like you ad, anyway. Nothing ike your ‘ride .. . going about these days. Like Jesie Pawe, ‘Afterall, escorted her once or twic dda’ 1? Drove her round once a twice in my cab. She was a charming woman. Pawe, ‘All the same, she was your wife. But sul... they were some ofthe most delightful evenings Pve ever nd. Used to just dive her about Ke was my pleasure, MAX (oily closing his eyes). Christ sam, T used to pull up at stall and buy her a cup of coffee. ‘She was avery nice companion to be with, ‘Silence {O8Y comes inthe front door. He walks nto the room, takes is jacket of throws ton a chair and stand. Silene. JE. Feo bit hungsy. SAM, Me, 10. 3 ‘max. Who do you think I am, your mother? Eh? Honest, "They walkin here every time ofthe day and nightlike bloody ‘animals. Go and find yourselfa mother. “LENNY walk nto the room, sande, s08Y, Ive bees tuning down a the gym. ‘Sant Ys, the boys been working all day and taining alight. ‘ax. What do you want, you bitch? You spend all the day ‘sting on your ase at Londen. Aiport, buy youre a jamrol. You expect me to st hee wating to sh into the Iutchen the moment yoa step inthe door? You've been living Sinythee ear why dont you learnt ook? sunt Tean cook ax, Wall, go and cook! ner ont ” Powe, ‘mwney. What the boys wants Da, your own spel brand ‘of coking, Dad. Thats what the bat ook frward to. The special understanding of food, you iow, that you've got. ua. Stop ealing me Dad. Just sop all tat ailing me Dad, do you understand? ann But 'm your son. Youusd to tuckme upia bed every night. He tucked you up, to, did't he, Joey? Powe, re used to ike tucking up his sons, LN tne nd got toward the front dor. sax, Lenny. DENY (turing) What? 4 ‘x, Tl give you a proper tuck up one ofthese nights son. ‘You mark my word. They lok at cach oer. aN pen the fron door and got ou. Silence JoBy. Pye been training with Bobby Dodd. Pawe, ‘And Thad a goo go athe bag as well. Powe. 1 wasnt bad trim. cnx, Boring’ a geatleman’s game. Powe. Yt al you what you've got todo. What you've got todo is you've goto lear how to defend yoursl and you've got ‘to lea how fo attack. Thit’s your only trouble asa boxer. ‘You don’t know how to defend yourself, and you don't now how to arta,8 THE HOMECOMING Paws, ‘Once you've mastered those arts you can go straight to the ‘op. Pause, sor, Tve gota preity good idea... . of how to do that. 1308 loks round for his act, pics it up, goss out ofthe oom and up theese, Pou. ‘Max. Sam . . . why don’ you go, too, eh? Why don't you just go upstairs? Leave me quiet. Leave me alone, sau T'vant to make something clear about Jessie, Max. 1 ‘want t. I do. When I took her out in the cab, round the town, Iwas taking care Cher, for you. I was looking after her for you, when you were busy, wasn't I? T'was showing her the West Ead, Pause ‘You woulda’t have tasted any of your other brothers. You wouldn't have tasted Mac, would you? But you trusted me. vant 1 remind you. Powe, (Od Mac did afew years ago, didn't he? Tnn'the dead ? Pause He was a lowy stinking rotten Joudmouth. A. bastard ‘uncouth sodding runt, Mind you, he was a good fiend of yours. Pouce x. Eh, Sam. SAM, What? ‘Max. Why do I kesp you here? You're just an old grub, act one 19 sau. Am? ax. You're a maggot. saa. Oh yes? 1uAx. As soon as you stop paying your way here, mean when you're to old to pay your vay, you know what Tim going to 402 I'm goag to give you the boot, san. You ats, eh? >Max. Sure, I mean, bring in the money and Tl put up with you. But when the frm gets rid of you~ you can fake of SAM. This is my house as well, you know. This was our smother’ house [MAX. One lot aftr the other, One ms aftr the other. Sail. Ou father’s house. ‘MAS. Look what I'm lambered with, One eat-ion bunch of ‘rap after another. Oe lw of stinking pus after anccher. Pause. (Our fither? I remember him, Don’t worry. You Id your sf He used to come over to me and look down at me. My ‘old man di, He'd bend right over me, then he'd pik me up. was only that big. Then he'd dandle me. Give me the bottle. Wipe me clean. Give me a smile. Pat me onthe bum. ass me around, pass me from hand to hand. Toss me up ‘in the air, Catch me coming down. T remember my father. atacxour. Nigh. ‘TaDDY and worst stand atte threskold ofthe room. They ae both well dered Hight sommer sues and light Te itcse are by thei ide. Thy lok at the room. TEDDY tes the hey in is handy sie. ‘ruppy. Well the key worked.Pause. ‘They haven't changed the lock, Pause, i sora, No one's ere, ‘TupbY (Looking up). "There aleep. Pause, ura. Can Ist down? ‘rEpp¥. Ofcourse, norm. Ym tired, Pause, ‘reppy. Then sit down, She doesnot move. ‘That's my father’s cas. uri. That one? ‘TEDDY (snifng) Yes, that’s it Shall T go up and see if my room's sill there? RurH. Te cant ave moved. TeDDY. No, I mean if my bod’ still here, ‘uTH., Someone might bein it. ‘repby. No. They've got ther own beds, Pause, ‘urit, Shoulds’t you wake someone wp? Tell them you're here? ‘apbY. Nota this time of night. 1's to0 late, Passe Shall I go up? ‘He gos into the ll looks up the stars, comes bac, Why don’ you sit down? Tae Ae ah SOY ee ee act OnE Pause, just go up « «havea look, ‘He goes up the stairs, stealthy. UH stands, the slowly walks acrosthe room, 1s sill there, My room. Empty. The bed's there. What are you doing? ‘Ske looks at im, Blankets, no sheets. Yl find some sheets. T could hear snores. Really. They've all sill here, T think They're all snoring up there. Are you cold? ure. No. ‘TEDDY. I'l make something to dink if you like, Something uTiE. No, I don't want anything. ‘rappy walks about. ‘rapy. What do you think ofthe room? Big, isn't it? T's @ ‘big house. I mean, i's a fine room, don’t you think? Actually there was a wall, across there . . . with a door. ‘We knocked it down . . . years ago . . . tomake an open living area. The structure wasn't affected, you see. (My ‘mother was dead, orn sits ‘Tired? urn. Just lite, ‘reppy, We om go to bed if you lke, No poiat in waking “anyone up now. Just goto bed. See them all n the morning ++ $ee my father in the morning. . Pauwe, ut. Do you want to stay? ;i 2 ‘un someone mpy. Sty? Pause, ‘We've come to stay. Were bound to stay . days, AUTH Think . . . the children... might be missing us. ‘appx. Don't be sly. UTM, They might. ‘TEDDY. Look, we'll be back in afew days, won't we? | Healhs about the room. [Nothing's changed, Stil the same, | Powe «for a fen ‘| Sil, hel get surprise inthe moming, won't he? The old ‘man T think you'l like him very much, Honestly. He's a ‘well e's old ofcourse, Getting on. i Pout. Twas born here, do you realize that? ura. Uinow. i Pause, ‘Teppy. Why don't you go to bed? Tl find some sheet. 1 fel... wide awake, isn't it odd? T think PU stay up for abit. Are you tired? i, | nurs, No. | ‘Tap. Go to bed, Pl show you the room. sxurH. No, I don't want to, ‘Teppy. You'll be perfecy all right up there without me, Really you will. mean, I won't belong. Look, ts ust up there. Tes the first door oa the landing. The bathrooms right eet door. You . . . need some rest, you know, Powe, AGT ONE 2 {jose want «walk about for a fow minutes Do you sind? uri, Of ure T don Tub. Well... Shall show you the room? uit. No, Yi happy atthe moment. ‘ranb¥. You dont have ogo tobe Tm not saying you bare wo. Tea, yu can stay vp with me Psiups 1 make a ‘up of tea something. The oly things we don’ want make too much nis, we don't want to wake anyone Hp ori, Ym not making ny noise, apy, Thnow yore nt He goes ther (Gant) Lao, is light ely. Tm here. 1 mean Ym with you There's no nes to be nervous. Are you servos? nuTH No. TeDpy. Theres no ned tobe. Powe. ‘They're very warm people realy. Very warm. They're my family. They're not ogres. Pause, ‘Wel, perhaps we should go to bed, Afterall, we have 10 bbe up early, tee Dad. Wouldat be quite right ifhe found us in bed, I think, (ie chucNler) Have to be up before si, ‘come down, sy hull. Pause. ‘RUTH Tthink 1 have a breath of ac. srupby. Air? Pause, What do you mean ? kere gone4 ‘Tit Homucoine ‘uppr, At this time of night? But we've .. . only just got hete. We've got to go t0 bed, ‘RUTH. Tjust fel ike some si, ‘eDpy. But I'm going to bed. ura, That's allright. ‘TaDvy. But what am I going to do? Pause, ‘The last thing T want isa breath of at, Why do you want ¢ breath of ai? sure. Tjust do, ‘Tapby. Butit's late, ‘aT. I won't go fir. PU come back, Pause, reppy. Pil wie yp for you. on Why? i ‘eppy. I'm not going be witout yo. RUTH, Can T have the ey? L Hl gives it 0 har, 1 ‘Why don't you goto bed? “He puts his arms on her shoulder and iis her, They look a each ther, rif. She wile won't be long. ‘She goes ou of the front door. “TEDDY goes 10 the windows peers ou after hes half tm from the windony stands suddenly ches Hs cls,” [LENNY wal into the room from Ui. le stands, Fe wears pajamas and resting gown. He watcher TEDDY, TEDDY rns ad ses in, Silence act on ‘ruppy. Hullo, Lenny, tanory, Hullo, Teddy. Pause, -ruppy. 1 did't bear you come down the stars. anny. Tait Paws. sleep down here now. Next doo. I've got a kindof study, ‘workroom cum bedroom next door now, you se. sruppy. Oh, Did 1... wake you up? ‘LENNY. No. [just had an carly night tonight. You know how itis, Cant sleep. Keep waking up. Pause ‘upp. How are you? A Lanny, Well, just leping a bitsestlessy, chats al. Tonight, anyway. sreppY. Had dreams? men. No, I woulda’ say I was dreaming. I's not exactly dream. It's just tht something keeps waking me up. Some kind of tick, ‘repy. Atick? © nanny, Yes. ‘reppy. Well what sit? LENNY. I don't know, Pause, ‘rep. Have you go clock a your room? LENNY. Yes. repp¥. Wel, maybe i's the clock, Lanny. Yeo, could be, E suppose. Powe ‘Well iit’ the clack Pa better do something abou it, Seifle i in some way, or something.Tite somnconme Pause ‘ruppy. Tye. . «just come back for a few days, Innivy. Ob yes? Have you? Pawe, ‘TEDpY. How's the old man? nowy, He's inthe pink, Pawe, ‘Tepby. I've been keeping well LENRY. Ob, have you? Powe, Saying the night then, are you? ‘TEDDY. Yes. Lan. Well, you cam sleep in your old room, ‘tappy. Yes, Pve been up. ‘LENNY. Yes, you can sleep there, Lanny gan, Of wel, reppy. I'm going to bed. mwwy, Are you? ‘Tepby. Yes, Yl get some seep, LENNY. Yes, 'm going to bed, too, ‘TEDDY picks up the caver, Tl give you a hand. ‘TaDpy, No, they're not hea, “tepDy gos ino the hall with the caer, LLENWY turns ow the light the room. The ight inthe hall remains on, nny follow inc the Ball. tmwny. Nothing you want? ‘venpy. Mmmm? Lexy, Nothing you might want, for the night? Glass of water, anything like that? ‘repr. Any sheets anywhere? hina, In the sideboard in your room. ‘TEDDY. Ob good. LENNY. Frlends of mine occasionally stay there, you know, in your room, when they're passing through this part ofthe ‘would, suns turns out the hal lig and trom the first Lending Tie ‘TEDDY bapins 10 al up the stir, -rappy. Well, I'l se you at breakfist, then, ony. Yes, that’s it Tet, TEDDY goes upstairs, nny goes off ‘Silene. ‘Th landing lg goes ou. ‘Slight nigh ight i the hall and room. [LENNY comes back ino the room, goes tothe mindow and looks out. * “He lesoe the window an turns oma lamp, Hes holding a small clock. He sits laces the clock in front of him, Fights acgarette and UH camer in the front door. ‘She stands sll. UENO ens is heady silt. She walks oly int the room. nny, Good evening, ura, Moming, I think, ‘Lenny. You're tight there, Pase, ‘My name's Lenny. Whats yours?8 Tun HoMaconING urn, Ruth, ‘Se sis, puts fe coat calla around her, Lenny, Cold? Ruta. No, ‘Lenw. Is been & wonderfil summer, hasa’t it? Remake ‘able, Powe, ‘Would you ike something? Refreshment of some kind? An pert anything like that? ura. No, thinks, ‘enn. I'm glad you said tha. We haven't gota drink inthe ‘house. Mind you, ' soon get some in, i we had a pasty cr fomething like thet, Some kind of celebration » «you snow. Paws, ‘You must be connected with my brother in some way, The ‘one who's been abroad, aura. Pm his wife, LENNY. Eh listen, I wonder if you can advise me. Pve been ‘having «bit oa rough time with tie cock, The teks been keeping me up. The trouble is I'm not all tat convinced it was the clock, Tmean there ae lots of things which tick ia the night, don't you find that? All sorts of objects, which, in the day, you wouldn't call anything else but common- place. They give you no trouble. But inthe night any given fone ofa numberof them i liable to startling on a bit of 4 tick, Wheress you look at these objets in the day and. ‘theyre just commonplace. Theyre as quiet ae mice during the daytime, So... all hing being equal .. «this ques ton of me saying it was the clock that woke me up, well, ‘that could very easily prove something of fale hypothesis, act ONE » ‘He goes tothe sdchoard, pours from aj int the glas 10 UTR. Here you are. T bet you could do with this. worst. What i it? Lanny, Water ‘Sho tahes it, sip, places the glass on a small table by her chai. LENNY swatches her, {n't it famny? Ive got my pyjamas on and you're fly cessed? “Ho goes tothe sideboard and pours enotor gas of waver. ‘Mind if have one? Yes, i's funny seeing my old brother gain afterall hese years. IP's just the sort of tonic my Dad needs, you know. Hell be chuffed to his bollocks in the morning, when he ses his eldest son, I was suprised myselE ‘when Tsaw Teddy, you know. Old Ted. I thooght he was ia America, uri, We've on a visit to Europe. ‘Lenny. What, both of you? aura. Yer. [LENW. What, you sort of ive within over there, do you? avri, We're maried, LENNY, On a visit to Burope, eh? Seen much oft? uri. We've just come from Tay. LENNY. Ob, jou went 1 Italy frst, did you? And then he “brought you over here ro meet the family, di he? Well, the old zal be pleased to sce you, I can tell yo. 0TH, Good. LENNY, What did you sy? RUTH, Good. Pause. LERNY. Where'd you goto in Kaly? OE RTE ee TREN I Tee re28 Tin HostuconIxe ur. Ruth, ‘She sits, puts Be coat colar around her, Ht any, Cold? | | uti. No, i LENNY, T's been 2 wondecful summer, sn’ it? Rematke able, Pouce ‘Would you ik something? Refreshment of some kind? An spect anything ike that? ura. No, thanks. ‘LENNY. I'm gad you sid that. We havent got drink in the Jhouse. Mind you, I'd soon get some in, we had a pact ce Something lke that, Some kind of celebration .. «you Jaow. Paws, ‘You must be connected with my brother in some way. The ‘one who's been abroad, suru. I'm his wie LENNY. Eh listen, I wonder if you can advise me, Dve bees having abit ofa rough time with this cock. The tek’ beer ‘Keeping me up. The trouble is Pz not all that convinced it was the clock. T mean there ae lots of things which tick in ‘the nigh, don’t you find that? All sorts of objects, which, in the day, you wouldnt call anything else but common- place. They give you no trouble. But inthe night any given ove ofa numberof them is liable to stat eting out bit of 4 tick. Wheress you look at these objects in the day and theyre just commonplace. Theyre ae quiet as mice during ‘the daytime. So... . all things being equal... this ques. tion of me saying it was the clock that woke me up, Wel, ‘that could very easily prove something of false hypothesis, Act one 2 “He goes oth sideboard pours from ug ito a las takes the glas to RUTH. Here you ate. I bet you could do with narit, What i ie? exny. Water, ‘She sakes it sips, places the glass om a smal able by fer hai. LENNY eater Ber. Isn't it fanny? T've got my pyjamas on and you're fally dressed? He goes tothe sideboard and pours another gs of water. ‘Mind if T have one ? Yes, its funny seeing my old brother ‘gain aftr all hese years. I's just the ser of tonic my Dad ‘needs, you know. He'l be chufed to his bollocks ia. the ‘morning, when he ses his eldest son, I was surprised myself ‘when T saw Teddy, you know. Old Ted. I thought he was in Ametia, UTIL, We're on a vist to Europe, ‘Lenny, What, both of you? avru. Yes. ‘Lenny, What, you sort of live with him over there, do you? nurH. We'e maried. LENNY. On a visit to Burope, ch? Seen much oft? uri. We've just come ftom Tay. LENNY. Ob, jou went to Ttly first, did you? And then be “brought you aver hereto meet the family, did he? Well, the ld maa’ be pleased to see you, I can fel you, Ruri, Good. Lenny. What did you sy? urn. Good. Posse. smn, Where'd you go tin Taly? RE eNO R Sone eeereaps had ft ha Fa ben orn he fat pe eee ie ee eae Sie ceer a ee Soave Seeing tenes ana eas Jost ticle, nora. Why? ‘He loks dow at her. Lewny, PU tellyou why. Slight pawe, One night, not to long ago, ane night daw by the docks, ‘was standing alone under atch, watching all the mex jibbing the boom, out in the harbour, end playing about With the yardarm, wien a certain lady came up to te end ‘made me a certin proposal. This lady had been scarching for me fr days, She'd lost tack of my whereabouts. Howe corer, the fact was she eventually caught up with me, ané When she caught up with me she made me this cera proposal. Well this proposal wasn’t entirely out of ordct ‘nd normally I would have subscribed tit T mean T would ‘ve subscribed to it in the normal course of events, Tbe ‘only trouble was she was fulling apart with the pox. So 1 ‘tured i down. Wel this lody was very insistent and started ‘aking liberties with me down under this arch, Hbece act one. 3 which by any criterion Icouda’t be expected to tolerate, the facts being what they were, 99 T clamped her one. Ie was fon my mind atthe time w do avay with her, you know, to ‘ul her, and the fact i, that as kings go, it would have ‘been a simple matter, nothing tit. Her chauffeur, who bad located me for her, b’d popped round the corner to have 2 drink, which just eft cis lady and myself, you see, alone, standing underneath this arch, watching ail the steamers ‘taming up, no one about, ll quiet on the Western Front, fand there she was up agtinst thie wall - well, just siding down the wal, following the blow I'd given her, Well, 0 sum up, everything was in my favour, for ailing. Doa't ‘worry about the chauffear. The chauifeur would never have spoken, He was an old frend ofthe family. But .. . inthe fend thought . . . Assh, why gotoallthe bother .. . you ‘now, getting rid ofthe corpse and all that, geting youself fo ste of tension. So I just gave her another belt inthe nose and a couple of turns ofthe boot and sort of left i at that aur, How did you know she was diseased? awwy, How did T know? Pause, {decided she was Silene, ‘You and my brother are newly-weds, are You? aur, We've been married six yeas. Lay. He's always been my favourite brother, old Teddy. ‘Do you know that? And my goodness we are proud of him hore, I can tell you. Doctnr of Philosophy and all that . leaves quite an impression. OF course, he’s a very sensitive ‘man, is't he? Ted, Very. P've often wished I was as seasi- tive ashe i uri. Have you?unr. Oh yes. Oh yes, very much 20. I mean, [mn not ‘saying Pm not sensitiv. Tam, I could jut bea bit moe , that all RUTH, Could you? ‘Lawn. Yes, just abit more to that’s all. Pause, ‘mean, !am yery sensitive to atmosphere, but Itend to get desensitized, if you know what I mean when people make ‘unreasonable demands on me. For instance, lit Chrietmas T decided to do a bit of snow-clearing for the Borough ‘Council, because we had a heavy spow over here that year {in Europe. I dia’t have to do thie snow-clearing = T men ‘wast financially embarrassed in any way ~itjust appealed to me, it appealed to something inside me, What I antic ‘pated with a good deal of pleasure was the brisk cold bite {nthe arin the erly morning. And Tas right. I had to get ‘my snomboots on and I had to stand on corner at about fire-thirty in the moraing, to wait for the lorry to pick me ‘up, to take me tothe allotted area, Bloody freezing, Wel, ‘the lonry came, T jumped on the tailboerd, headlights on, lipped, and off we went. Got there, shovels up, fags on, ‘and off we went, deep into dhe December snow, hits before cockerow. Well that mornin, hile I was ving my mig- ‘morning cup of tea in a neighbouring cafe, the shovel standing by my chair, an old lady approached me and asked sme if T would give her a hand with her iron mangle. Hex ‘brother-in-law, she said, had lft it for her, bat he'd left t jn the wrong room, he'd left it in the front room. Well, ‘uaturally, she wanted i in the back room. It was a present he'd given her, you see, a mangle, to fon out the washing. ‘Bat hed eft tin the wrong room, he'd left it in the front oom, well that was asily place to leave iit coulda stay there: So I took tne off to give her a band, She only lived ‘up the oad. Wel, the only trouble wae when T gt there I act ont 3 one et Caetano Tia ee aes See a Peraetere gre So ee ees Sonne Sara ee oe see ee eee or ee seuecee ue ear eer eee pe eet a Sreece ea pe! Becca ee ee mo natey fo need sa oe a aed Eee ees See a ae eee aE pam ce om eee ca eee ane eure Ee rn ae oon eS LaNWY, Don't cll me that, please. aura. Why not? LLaNWy, Thats the name my mother gave me. Pots,4 THE HOMECOMING act one 35 Jost ge mese sas, ‘UTM Oby Twas thiary. Ruri. No, Paws, ‘She smiles at him, pus the lac dos, gos into the hall and sp hea nny, PU ake i, then “He follows into tha Ball and shots up the stairs. RUTH. Ifyou tke the glass... Pl tke you, LENY, What was that supposed 19 be? Some kind of pro- Pause, posal? LENNY. How about me taking the glass without you taking Silence. ‘me? He comes bach into the room, goes ois um glass, drains it, RUTH, Why don’t I just take you? A door slams upstairs, : The landing ight gos on " — ax cms deem thea, amas end cap He comes wr, Yue jing Beene nh nde Paw, A, What’ going on here? You dusk? You're ia love, anyway, with another men, You've had « He nares ot urn. sect lion wih anther man, Hs fail decane Thea you come hee withoura word ef weming eden ‘What are you shouting about? You gone mad? snake tole LOY pos nara of wae, ‘She pick up the glas and Bits i towards him RUTH Havea sip, Goon, Have asp fom my gl, Heist Prancing about in the middle ofthe night shouting your ‘head off, What re you, a raving lunatic? enn. I was thinking aloud. ‘Max. Is Joey down here? You been shouting at Joey? trwy, Dido't you hear what I said, Dad? I seid T was Sit on my lap. Take a long coo sp ‘Ske pats her ap, Powe. ‘She stands, moves to im withthe las, Patyour head back and open your mouth, ENN. Take that glass away from me, posal? She laughs sory, drains the las, UTIL Lie onthe floor. Go oa. Tl pout it down your throat. HENNY, What ae you doing, making me some Lind of pros thinking aloud, ‘Max. You were thinking so loud you got me out of be. Lamy. Look, why don't you just .«. pop off eh? ‘MAX. Pop off? He wakes me up in the middle ofthe night, T think we got burglars here, chink he's go a knife stuck in him, Tcome down here, he tells me to pop off ENN se doen, He was ulking to someone. Who could he have been talking 10? They're all asleep, He was having @ conversation with36 Tnx womsconsne someone. He mo tl me wo twas. He prcads be ws thinking soo, Wha ae you ding hiding someon ae? ‘noma despang. Get ot fit ae ean, nl = MAK. want a explniton, yoo undead? T asked ‘who you got hiding here. a Pane ‘oy, 1 loa wha, Dad inc ori the sd fora kof a « «chat lau you a gueston It x questae Tye been imeining 9 atk you fs some tinea igh = youl «the ight you got me att vith Mam, what was eke? Eh? Whee Tas art» ant jn you eye. What was ike? What yas he bachgrout At? mean, I want koow te rea es ehow ny Back, uma fr tn i fat tht ou had me Aindall he dime, or itt tht Iw the at ‘had in mind? ona Posse Tm only asking tis ina spice of inquiry, you understand tha, don’t you? I’m curious. And there's lots of people of ‘ayy age share that curiosity, you know that, Dad? They ‘often ruminate, sometimes singly, sometimes in groups, bout the true fics of thet particular night—the night they ‘were made in the image of those two people at it. IPs a ‘question long overdue, ftom my point of view, but es we ‘happen to be passing the time of day here tonight I thought Td pop it to you, Pause. Max. You'll drown in your om blood. LENNY. Ifyou prefer to answer the question in writing Fve ‘ot no objection, Max stands, Meteo eh each Act ONE 37 Lahould have asked my dear mother. Why dide' T ak my dear mother? Now it’s to late. She's passed over to the other side ax spits a hi LEN looks down at the carpe [Now look what you've done. YU have to Hoover that i the ‘morning, you know. ax ts ad walks up the stairs. an til Morsing. OH i rot ofthe miro. Hedin ome sow nkring- tp exercises. He stops combs his hat, carey. He then hadowbores, Baw satcing himself in the mirror. MA come in from UL a Both ax and JOR are dread. Ax watches JOBY in silence, 3O8Y stops shadombasing, ics up a newspaper and Sine, ax, Tate this room, Poe 1 the hte I ke, 18 nie in thers. t's oe. Paws, ‘Bot I em say in there. You know why? Because he's always washing up in there, sraping the plates, driving re out ofthe kitchen, that's why. 08. Why don’t you bring your tea in here? ‘ax. T don't want to bring my tea in here. I hate it here. T ‘waat to drink my tea in there,38 THE HoMEconING ‘Ho goes into the hall and looks towards the Bitch. What's he doing in there? He rourns What's the time? sony. Half pat si, MAX. Half past sc, Pau, Fm gig tose ume of otal hi afternoon, You wat Paws, Tm talking to you, Jocr. Ym unig thi flernoon I'm doing sx rounds wit MAX. That's not til five olock. You've got time t9 ace a fame of fb before ve olck Je the fst gue of Jo8Y. No, I'm not going, ‘Max. Why not? Paws, ‘MAX goes ino the Hall. ‘Sum! Come here! AX comes back into the room, SAM enters tha loth, sam. What? MAX. What are you doing in there? ‘SAM. Washing up, Max. What ele? SAN, Getting rid of your lavings, ‘Max. Potting them in the bin, eh? act ox ” vax, What pont you trying to prove? say. No point. ‘Max. Ob yes, You are, You resent making my breakfast, that’s ‘what i i, fmt it? ‘That's why you bang round the Kitchen ike that, eeraping the feyng-pan, scraping all te leavings into the bin, raping all the plates, srapingall the tea out of the teapot... tha?s why you do tat, every single stinking ‘morning. know. Listen, Sam. I want o say something to ‘you. From my heart. He moves cour. want you to gett ofthese feelings of resentment you've {got towards me, I wish T could understand them. Honesty, have T ever given you cause? Never. When Dad died he said to me, Max, look after your brothers. That's exactly ‘what he said to me. sam. How could he say that when he was dead? ‘ax. What? SAM, Hlow could he speak he was dead? Pause, MAX. Before he died, Som. Jost before. They were his lst ‘words, His Ist sted words, Sammy. A split second after : the suid those words . . . he was a dead man, You think i ‘Tim joking? You think when my father spoke ~ on his ddeah-bed ~ I woolda't obey his words to the lat leter? ‘You hear that, Joey? Hell stop at nothing. He's even pre~ pared toepit on the memory of our Dad. What kind of « ‘Son were you, you wet wick? You spent half your tie doing ‘crossword pozzles! We took you into the butcher's shop, you coulda’ even sweep the dust off the flor. We took ‘MacGregor into the shop, he oovld run the place by the end of a week, Well I'l tell you one thing. I respected my ‘father aot only asa man but as @ number one butcher! And1 prove it [followed bien into the sh carcass at his knee, T tae oe Yon : Eimer ; . cb Tne mating op? Lok A. So ty of te eg fine After all, we are brothers. < ‘Mat Do you as he ah ee oa a Take ‘reppy. Hallo Pawse, ‘What’ for breakfest? Siloncs TEDDY cule, ‘Hub, We oversept, ‘wax tara to sa, ax, Did you know he was here S13 No, a MAX turns 10 J08Y. MAX. Did you know he was here? asked you if you knew he was here. your. No. ‘Max. Then who knew? awe, Who knew? Paw, dide’eknow. ‘upp. I was going to come down, Dad, I was going 1 « bebere,whea youcamedown. Pawe, “How are you? Powe, Uh... «looks... Ukeyoutomeet « . qx. How long you ben inthis house ? ‘appv. Allnight. ‘MAX. Allnight? Pmalaughing-stock, How did you getin? suppy.Thadmykey. ‘Max bile and Tough. Max. Who's this? ‘Teppy. was just going to introduce you. ‘Max, Whoasked yout bring tarts in here? sepby. Tarts? ‘qax, Whoasked youto bring dry tarts into this house? ‘reppy. Listen, don'tbesily— Max, You been heresll night? ‘TeDpY. Yes, wearrived from Venioo— ‘Max We've bad a smelly serobber in my house all night. ‘We'vehad stinking por-rdden slut in my hovseall night.THE HoMEconte ‘TEDDY. Stop it! What areyou talking about? ‘MAX, T haven't seen the bitch fr sit years, he comes home Pithout a word, he brings a filthy scrubber off the sues, ser one 2 Jon ands pres ois stomach inks den the fe of Sc marin Acshacksupinay howe Tava endrnDDY orl appv. Shes my wife! Were asad! OHY soy nde ei lve our. Het from 20TH lobomderua. ‘a ebache ad. : ‘ax. Dve never had a whore under this rot before Eee Maxey, ery soy ge sft be your matter de. My word of hone rey oR moet. Have you ever tad a whore here? Has Lenay cer had 2 Thay ook at eachother hor here? They come back fom Amncce thes hese Sos. Slopbucket with them. They bing the Bedpan cians [MAX moves past 031, walls towards RUTH. He geures (fo repp2.) Tate tht disease away fot ne Gey ch Mase 7 vay from me, Max. Miss, ‘TEDDY. She'smy wife MAX (@}08Y). Chack them out, coe ee Pause, suru. Yer? Heateoks eter. ‘A Doctor of Philsopiy Sam, you wan m meets Doctor of Phlsaphy?(Tojorv) Told duck them oes sas. Yoram? ft: ‘Max, How many you got? What's the matter? You deaf? aa J0B¥, You'rean old man, (ToreDby.) He's anol man, Heturns tote Lin mals into the om, ina dresing-goum, ax. Allyours,Ted? ”° He stops. They all look round. aan MAX rs Bach, his yORY in the tomach wth all it igh, JORY contort, staggers across the stage, MAX, with ihe exertion ofthe bow, begins to collapse. His hes uch : i fas, ch? Like ‘Teddy, why don't we have a nie cuddle and ks, the old days? Whatabout nice cuddle snd kiss eh? ‘rappy, Comeon, then. Hechachashissick Pause, Ax move forward to help him, cuddle wit MAX hts him aros the head with hs stick, sau sts, head ‘Max. You want to kiss your old father? Want a cuddle with inhands, : your old father?TEDDY. Comeon, then, TEDDY moves step toward him, Come on, Paw, ‘Max, You sll love your old Dadgeh? Th face eachother, ‘Tepbr. Comeon, Dad. I'm ready forthe cuddle, MAX begin: tciuchls gurgling, He srt the family and adress the, ‘MAX, He sil oves his father! Curzain MAX, TEDDY, LENWY and San are abou che stage, lighting igors JOEY comes from Ut. aith a eofee tray, followed by sorie. He puts the tay dw. RUTH hands effet al the men She sitet her cup. ax miles a her, RUTH, That wasa very good lunch, ‘ax. 'm gd you liked i. (Toth tke) Did you hear that? (To nora.) Well, 1 put my beset and soul int it can tell os. (He sip.) And thisisa lovely cup of coffee. aur. I'm glad, Pass ‘ax. Pre gotthe feeling you're a first-rate cook, uri, Pmotbed. ax, No, ve got the fecling you're a number one cook, Asa I right, Teddy? ‘TED. Yes she's very good cook, Pause, ‘Max. Wells. aTong time since the whole family was together, ‘ch? Ifonly your mother was alive. Eb, what do you say, ‘Sam? What would Jessie say ifshe was alive? Sitting here ‘with her three sons. Three fine grown-up lads. And a lovely daughterindaw. The only shame is het grand- children aren't here. She'd have petted them and cooed over ‘them, wouldn't she Sam? She'd have fussed over them and played with them, told them stories, ticled them - Tel you she'd have been hysterical. (To RUTH.) Mind you, she ‘aught those boys everything they know. She taught themra ‘THE omEcomaN all the morality they know. Pm telling you. Every single bit ‘of the moral code they ive by was taught vo them by their ‘mother, And she had a heart go witht. What a heart. Eb, Sam? Listen, wha’ the use of beating round the bush? ‘That womaa was the backbone to this family. Cmean, I was bbasy working twenty-four hours a day in the shop, T was going all over the country to find meat, I was making my ‘way in the world, but [lea woman at home witha wil of iron, heartof gid anda mind. Right, Sam ? Pause. Whata mind, Pause, ‘Mind you, I was a generous man to her. I never left her short of a few bob. I remember one year I entered into negotiations with a top-class group of Butcher with conti- ental connections. I was gong into association with them. remember the night came home, I kept quiet. First ofall gave Lenny a bath then Teddy « bah, then Joey a bath. ‘What fun we used to have in the bath, eh, boys? Thea I came downstairs and T made Jessie put her feet up on @ poufle whar happened to that pou, I havea’e sea i for ‘years ~ she puter fect up om the pole and Isai to ery Jesse, I shink ou sip s going to come home, m going to ‘reatyou to acouple of tems, Pm gong to buy you adress in pale corded blue silly heavily encrusted in pearls, and for ‘casual wear, a pait of pantaloons in ike fomered taffeta. ‘Thea T gave her a dop of cherry brandy. I remember the ‘boys came down, in their pyjamas, all thir hair shining, thet faces pin it was before they stared shaving, and they elt dowa at our fect, Jessie's and mine. Tell you, like Christmas. Pause, ‘20TH. What happened tothe group of butchers? act two a ‘Max. The group? They turned out to be a bunch of criminals likeeveryoneekse. Pause, Thisisaloosy cigar. He seabeit out, Hern tosan ‘What ime you going to work? SAM, Soon. ax. You've got job on this afternoon, haven't you? sam. Yes, iow. ‘max, What do you mean, you kaow ? You'll be late, You'l ose ‘your job? What are you tying to do, humiliate me ? 4a, Don't worry about me. ‘MAX. Ie zikes the bile come up i my mouth. The bile - you understand ? (To RUTH.) I worked asa butcher all my life, ‘using the chopper and the slab, the slab, you know what I ‘meat, the chopper and the slab! To Keep my family in oxuy. Two families! My mother was bedridden, my brothers were all valid. I had to earn the money forthe leading psychiatrists, Thad to read books! Th to stay the disease, s0 that I could cope with an emergency at every stage. A crippled family, thre bastard sons, aslutbtch of & ‘wife - don’ talk to me about the pain of childbirth - T suffered the pain, I've stl go the pangs ~ when I give alte cough my back collapses ~ and here Ive got a lazy idle ‘bugger ofa brother won't even get to wotk on time. The ‘best chaufeur in the word. All his Ke he's satin the front seat giving lovely hand signals. You call that work? This ‘man doesn't now hs gearbox from his arse! sam. You go and ask my customers! 'm the only one they ever askfor. Ax, Whatdo the other drivers do, sleep all day?a ‘Ti HOMECOMING sam T can only drive one car. They can’t all have me atthe ‘Max. Anyone could have you atthe same time. You'd bend cover for half dollar on Blacans Brie. san, Mel ‘MAX. Fortwoboband.tofee ple. ‘san. He's insulting me He's insulting his brother, Pm driving aman w Hampton Cour a four forty-five. ‘ax. Do you want to know who could drive? MacGregor! ‘MacGregor wasa driver. ‘san. Don't you believe. Max points hisstickat sam. ‘ax. He did't even fight in the war. This man didn't even fightin the bloody wat! sam. did! ‘Max. Who did you il? Silene. San gets up, gos fo RUTH, shakes her hand and goes ou of ‘fron door Well, hw you been keeping, son? sappy. Pvebeen keeping very well,Dad, Max. 1snice wo have you with us, son. TEDDY. Isnice tobe back, Dad. Paws. ‘MAx. You should have told me you were marred, Teddy. Pa ‘have sent you a present. Where was the wedding, in America? Teppy. No. Here. The day before weleft Max. Did youhave aig function? ‘reppr. No, there wasno one there. ‘ax. You're mad. I'd have given you a white wedding. Weld act two ” have had the cream of the ream here. I'd have been only to glad wo bear the expense, my word ofhonour. Pause, ‘reppr. You were busy atthe time, J dida't want to bother you. ‘Max, But you're my own flesh and blood. You're my fst born. TT have dropped everything. Sam would have driven you to the reception in te Snipe, Lenny would have been your ‘best man, and thon we'd haw all sen you off on the boat. sean, you don't think I disapprove of mazrage, do you? Don't be dat. (To nurn.) Tve been begging my two youngsters fo years to find nice feminine gal with proper Credentials ~ it mas life worth living. (To TEDDY.) Any ‘may, what’ thediference, you didi, you made a wonder. choice, you've got @ wonderful family, « marvellous carer 0 why doo’ welet bygones be bygones? Powe, ‘You Know what P'm saying? I want you both to know that yyouhavemy blessing. sreppy. Thankyou, ‘Max, Don'tmention it. How many other houses inthe district ‘nave gota Doctor of Philosophy siting down drinking a cup cofentiee? Paw, ‘oT, I'm sure Teddy’ very happy « ‘leased with me Paws, think he wondered whether you would be pleased with me, Max, Butyou're acharming woman, Pause, toknor that you'reurn. Tas ax, What? Powe, ‘What shesay? Thay alllok at her. nora, Twas. diferent .. ‘ist, ‘Teppy. No you weren't. You werethesame, orm. Twasn't, Max. Who cares? Listen, live inthe present, what are you worrying about? I mean, don't forget the cath’s about five thousand million yeas old, at last. Who can afford t> live in the past? Powe, TeppY. She's a gret help tome over there. She's a wonderfl Pee even ee Jots of fiends. 16a great lf atthe Universcy iow i avery god lik. We've gota lvl fae + We've got all... we've got everything we want. Ies ‘very stimulating eavizoament. Pause, [My department. . «is highly succesful. Powe, We've got three boys, you know, ‘MAX. All boys? Ian’ tha funny, ch? You've got thee, I've got thre, You've got three nephews, Joey. Jory! You'e an ‘uncle do you hear? You could teach them how to box. Paws, when T met Teddy. Tore ar re ae te ne cases ae Pmin demolition in the daytime. sony. Yes. Thope to be fulltime, when I get more bouts, MAX (lo LENWY), He speaks so easily to his sister-in-law, do ‘you notice? Thats because she's an intelligent and shm- ‘pubetiewoman. Heleanstoher. ‘Bh, tell mes do you think the children are missing their ‘mother? ‘Ske ook at him, -DDY. OF course they are. They love her. Well be seeing ‘hem son, Pause, pn (TEDDY) Your cigs gone out, ‘TEDDY. Ob, yes LENBY. Went light? appx. No.No.» Pau, Sohas yours, LENNY. Ob, yes. Paw, Eb, Teddy, you haven't told us much about your Doctorship ‘of Philosophy. What do you teach? ‘reppy. Philosopty. ‘Lewy. Wel, I want to ask you something. Do you detect a ‘zrsin logical incoherence in the central afimmations of (Christian theism ? ‘Tapp. That question does’ fll within my province.‘nan. Well look at it this way... you don't mind my sekingyou some questions, do you? ‘tappy. Ifthey're within my province. ‘Lan. Well look ati this way. How can the unknown merit reverence? In other words, how can you revere that of ‘which you're ignorant? At the same time, it would be ridiculous to propore that what we now metite reverence, ‘What we know merits any one of numberof things, but it stands to reason reverence isn't one of them. In other words, part from the known and the unknown, what elte ether? Pouce. ‘reppy.I'meffaid P'm the wrong person to ak, LLENWY. But you're a philosopher. Come on, be frank, What do youn ofall his business ofbeing and not-being? ‘reppy. What do you make of? nowy. Well for instance, take 2 table, Philsophiclly speaking. Whatisic? suppy. Atable. anny. Ab, You mean i's nothing ese but rable. Well some people would envy your certainty, wouldn'e they, Joey? or instance, I've got a couple of fiends of mine, we often sit round the Ritz Bar having a few liqueurs, nd they're always saying things like that, you know, things lke: Take a table take it All right, Tsay, tae it, take a table, but once you've taken it, what you going to do with ic? Once you've ‘gothold oft, where you going ro takcit? Max, You'd probably elit envy, You wouldn't get much frit, 308. Chop it up for firewood. any books at hin and laugh, ‘uri, Don't be too sure though. You've forgotten something. Look at me, 1... . move my leg. That's alli is. But 1 wear... underwear... which moves with me». it «+ captures you attention. Peshaps you misinterpret. The ‘ction ir simple. Tes a leg... moving. My lips move. Why don’t you restrict... your observations wo that? chaps the fact that they move is more significant . ‘than the words which come through them. You must bear that .« «possibilty. . . nmin. ‘Silos. ‘rappystends. was born quite near here. Powe, ‘Then .. .sixyeats ago, wentto America, Pou {ee all rock, And sand Iestetches « . «0 ir ‘where youlook. And there's lots of insects there, Pause, ‘And there's lots finsoct there, Silence ‘Shei i. Max stands. ax. Wall, Joey. nn (standing). Fllcome with you. JORY site long arnurH. time to go tothe gym. Time for your workout, max, Joe. 08 stands, The re go ot ‘rappvsitsby gor, holds her hand. ‘She sie atin.s ‘THE HOMECOMING ‘TEDDY. Tthink well go back. Mmann? Pau. ‘Shull we go home? urn. Why? ‘TaDDY. Well, we were only here for afew daye, were't we? ‘Wenmightas well... cutitshort, think. 20TH. Why? Don’t you likeithere? ‘TEDDY. Of course I do. But Pike o go beck and see the Doys now. Pause uri, Don'tyoulike your fully? ‘rapp¥. Which family? sxura. Yourfanily here, ‘TEDDY. Ofcourse like them. What are you talking about? Put. ‘ure. You don't like them as muchas you thought you did? TaDDY. Of course T do, Of course I... ike them, I don't ‘now whet you're talking about. Paws. Listen, You know what time ofthe day i is there now, do you? RUTH, What? ‘Teppy. It'smoming, It's about eleven o'clock. ora. Isit? ‘TupbY. Yes, they're about six hours behind us... E mean - «- behind the time here. The boys'l be a the pol ‘ow... swimming. Think of. Moring ove there, San, Well goanyway,mmnn? ts sclean ther, uit Clean. upp. Ye ur Ts dirty here? ‘reppy.Noofcoursenot-Butit's cleaner there, Pause, Look, Ijust brought you back to meet the family, dda’ 1? ‘You've met them, we can go. Te fall semester will be starting soon. aur, You finde dnt hore? ‘TeppY. Idida'say lfoundit dirty here. Pause. ido say that. Pawe. ‘Look. Tl go and pack. You rest for a while. Wil you? ‘They woo't be back for at least an hous. You can slep. Rest. Please She ook at him. ‘You can help me with my lectures when we get back. Pd love that. ed be so gratefal fori, really. We can bathe tll ‘October. You know that. Here, there's nowhere to bathe, ‘xcept the swimming bath down the road. You know what i ike? 1s ke a urinal A ity urinal Pause ‘You liked Venice, didn't you? Tt was lovey, wasn't it? You Inada good week Ymean . . . I took you there. Ican speak Trliaa, nuit, But i'd been a nurse inthe Italian campaign T would have been there before. Pause. ‘teppy. Youjusteest. TU goand pack, ‘nappy goe out and up the sais,‘Shecloss her eye. “LENNY appear from. “He sal ino th room ad ite nar her. ‘She opens her yes. Siler. sawn, Wellthe evenings are dravingia, ur. Yes, it's geting dark. Pause, LENNY, Wintel soon be upon us. ‘Time to renew one's ‘wardrobe, Pau, ur, That's a good thing todo, ny. What? Paw, ura Talmays . Powe, Do youlike clothes? LENNY. Oh, yes. Very fond of clathes. Pause, nora.T’mfoad . .. Pawe, ‘What do you think of my shoes? aww. They'se very nie, ‘ux. No, Tean'tget the ones I want ove there, ann. Can't getthem over there, ch? ura,No .. « youdon'tget them there, Paws scr wo 7 Iwasa mode before went avey. LENNY. Hats? Pause ‘Thought git atonce, Weesaw iin a las ext, in shop. ‘Toll you what t had. It had a bunch of daffodils on i ted ‘with a black satin bow, and then it was covered with locke of black veiling. A coche. Pm telling you. She was smadeforit. ura, No. . . Iwas a model for the body. A photographic mode for the body. sniy. Indoor work? ‘RUTH, That was before Thad Pause, ‘No,notawaysindoors, Pass, ‘Once or twice we went to place in the country, by train, ‘Oh, six or seven times. We used to pass a... large ‘white water tower. This place . .. thi house |. . was very big... «the tees «there was alaks, you sce. ‘we used fo change and walk down towards thelake . .. we ‘went down a path . . on stones... there were.» on this path, Oh, jst... wait. yes... when Wwe changed in the house we had a drink. There was a cold Dates. ally children, Pause, Sometimes we stayed in the house but . . . most often -- wewalked down tothelake .. and didourmodelling there. Pause, Jost before we went to America I went down ther, I walked‘from the station to the gate and then I walked up the drive. ‘There were lights on . . . I stood in the drive . .. the Ihouse was very light. ‘EDDY comes down the sars withthe cases. He puts them dam ook at LENNY. “rappY. What ave you been saying to her? Hegcestonvr. “Here's your cot. Lawn gee 1 the radiogram and putt on a record of slow jase. Routh, Come.on. Putiton. ‘Law (io RUTH), Whatabout one dance before you go? ‘eppy. We're going. Lewy, Justone. rreppy. No, We're going. ‘unNNy, Just one dance, with her brother-in-law, before she goes. : Lanny bond tor, Madam? urmstands, They dance, slay ‘TEDDY stand wih RUTH'S cat, ‘MaxandyonY come inthe front door ard nt the oom. They sand. Lanny RinesmuTm, They stand, Rising, ‘OEY. Christ she's wide open, Dad, look at that Paw She's atart Pau, (Old Lenny’s gotatartin here. ORY goes to them. He takes nutH'S arm. He smiles at ‘LENO, He sits ih RUTH on the sofa, ambraces and hises der, Helooks up aturnn. Juscupmy street. ‘He leans her bach wil she Hes Bneath him, He Wiz er. Helooksup at r200¥ and MAX. Tes better than a rubdown, tis, LENNY sis onthe arm of the ofa He caress RUTH'S hair ‘asjorvembrassher. Max comes forward loks at the cass. ‘uaz. You going, Teddy ? Aeeady? Pause ‘Well, when you coming over again, ch? Look, net time you come over, don't forget to lt us know beforehand whether you're married or not. I'l always be glad to meet the wife. Honest, 'mteling you, J08Y Hiss heavily on BOTH. They are almost sil. LENNY caress hr hair ‘Listen, you think I don't know why you didat tll me you ‘weremarted? know why. You were ashamed, You thought Pd be annoyed because you marred a weman beneath you. ‘You should have known me better. I'm broadmninded, Tm sbroadminded man, He peers to se RUTH'S face under JOEY, turns back 10 ‘Mind you, she’s a lovely gir. A beautiful woman, AndBerg cerry cr en nr ane ne ey Ree oe aT 6 Tits HOMECOMING mother too. A mother of thre You've made a appy woman out of her. Its something to be proud of. T mean, ‘we're talking about a woman of quality. We're talking about ‘woman of fecling JOBY and nua roll off the sofa onto the floor. JORY clase fer. LENNY moves to stand absce them. He Teoks doa on them, He touches ROT gol wth is foot. RUTH suddenly pues ORY ancy. ‘Sho stands up. SOBY ges to his fer starsat her, ‘RUTH. Pad lke something to et. (To LEY.) I'd like a drink. ‘Did you get any drink? tama, We've got drink, aura. I like one, pease, nn, What drink? RUTH. Whisky. tan. Pve gorit. Powe. oH, Well, ger it. Lun goer tothe seboard, takes out bole and glass. JOB moves towards her. Put the record of, Ho looks at her, turns, puts the recor of [want something to ext. Paws. JOBY. [can’t cok. (Pointing to MAX.) He's the cock. sunny brings he a glass of iy, LLENWY, Soda on the side? suri, What's this glass? I can't drink out of this. Haven't you got a tumbler? ayy. Yes. suri, Well pat it ina tumbler. He tes the glass Bach, pours ehisky ito rambler, brings ito hor, LENNY, On the rocks? Oras it comes ? BRUTE, Rocks? What do you know about rocks? LENNY. We've got rocks. But they're frozen siffin the fidge. sori drinks. LENNY looks round at the ones. inks all round? He goes tothe sieboard and pour drinks, JO8Y moves closer fo RUTH. J0BY. What food do you want? {RUTH walkr round the room. uri (o TEDDY). Have your family read your critical works? ‘Max. That's one thing 've never done, Pe never read one of his critical works. sappy. You wouldn't understand them. LENNY fands drinks all round, Joxy, What sort of food do you want? I'm not the cook anyway. ann. Soda, Ted? Or ast comes? Teppr. You woulda't understand my works. You woulds't have the faintest dea of what they were about. You woulda't appreciate the points of reference. You're way behind. Al fof you. There's no point in my sending you my works. ‘You'd be lost. I's nothing to do with the question oF ate ageoce. Ts a way of being able to look atthe world. Ie's a ‘question of how far you can operate on things and net in things, I mean it’s a question of your capacity to ally the i recat| \ i i ! | ; = @ THE OMReoMING ‘two, to relate the two to balance the two. To se, to be able to see! Pm the one who can see. That's why Tcan write iy ritica works, Might do you good . . havea look at them +» sechow certain peoplecan view . «things .. how certain people can maintain... indelletual equilibrium, Tntllectal equiibriam, You're just object, You just ‘move about. Tcan observe it. T can see whet you do. Tes the some a5 T do. But you're lot in i, You won't get me being... T won't be lost in it, Beoning, TEDDY siting his coat, the cases by hi. SAM, Pout shit, Do you remember MacGregor, Teddy? ‘repny. Mac? sam. Yes. ‘upd. Ofcourse T do, ‘sant, What did you thak of him ? Did you take to him? appr. Yes liked him. Why? Pou. saat, You know, you were always my favourite, ofthe leds ‘Always. Paws. ‘When you wrote to me from America T was very touched, you know. I mean you'd written to your father a fe times but you'd never written to me. But then, when I got that Jeuer from you . . . wel Twas very touched. I never told dh, I never told him Pd ard from you. Pause, (Whispering) Tey, shal Til you something? You were always your mother’s fvourite. She told me, 1s true. You were always the . .- you were always the main object of hae love. Pause, ‘Why don’ you stay fora couple more wesks, ch? We could shave a few laughs. [LEN wy camer inthe front door ond into the room. LENNY, Stil here, Ted? You'l be late for your fist seminar. “He goes tthe sideboard, opens ig peers imi tothe right nd the ft stand Where's my cheesezell? Pau. ‘Somcone’s taken my cheese-rll left it there. (To Sam) ‘You been thieving? appy. I tock your cheese-ol, Lenny. Silence ‘SAM Tooke at them, picks up his hat and goes xt of the front door. Silence Law. You took my cheeseoll? reppy. Yes. LANNY, Timide that oll myself eutitand put the butter on. Tice apiece of chese and put iin erwesn.¥ pu ton, ‘plate and I pur iti the sideboard. I di all that before 1 ‘went out, Now I come back and you've eaten it. sappy. Wall, what are you going todo about it? taxa. Pm witing for you to apologize. ‘TuDpy. But I took it deliberately, Leany.