The Blue Wind
A one act radio play
By Sandra Bunting
Intro:
"..song is existence. Easy for the god. But when do we exist? And when does he spend the earth and the stars on our being? When we love? That's what you think when you are young; not so, though your voice forces open your mouth, -learn to forget how you sang. That fades. Real singing is a different kind of breath. A nothing breath. A ripple in the god. A wind."
-Rilke on the creative process in Sonnet to Orpheus
'There is nothing to which we can attach ourselves, no matter how hard we try.
In time, things will change and the conditions that produced our current desires
will be gone. Why then cling to them now?'
-Master Hsing Yun
The play alternates between two setting: the New York apartment to represent, human existence, and the night club called the Blue Wind to represent the more magical, or Fairyland.
Through the play I want to examine our attachment to things that are passed down from us from our ancestor and the debts of our ancestors that we end up paying for.
I want to explore the place of fairies or the equivalent in life today.
I want to include a fight for the artistic and spiritual soul.
I want to look at the relation between madness and creativity.
I want to add a comment on the destruction of the environment.
I want to find out what the blue wind represents in our lives-opportunity or
destructive element.
Characters:
Gerry Cooper has not said a sensible word for a year. Stubborn, a highly skilled carpenter and a jazz musician. Sometimes he jumps up and plays the sax. The story is vaguely reminiscent of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who went into a depression and wouldn't get out of bed for years. Gerry loves music. The fairy realm corresponds to his state of mind: depression or madness. He may be paying for the sins of his ancestors.
Kate Cooper is a bit of a psychic and felt that something bad was going to happen the night Gerry got ill but stubborn Gerry did not listen to her. She blames herself for not being more forceful in keeping him at home that night. It has been a hard year. Gerry is catatonic and needs looking after. She had a child during the year and must somehow support the three of them. A fighter, she would do anything to get him back.
Dan Rider is Gerry's best friend and jamming partner. He also blames himself for what happened to Gerry. He knew of the old stories and knew of the danger but wasn't strong enough to stop Gerry from falling in the trap. He has feelings for Kate but would never do anything to jeopardise his friendship with Gerry. He would accept being just a friend to Kate. Through his research in Ireland his belief has strengthened and he has become more and more attracted to the fairy way of life.
Giorsal, the Fairy Queen: She is the same physical build as a human. She is cunning and tricky but fair in a way. She forgets nothing. To her a deal is a deal no matter that it was agreed on generations before. She is aware that her world is changing and that the dividing lines between humans and her race are becoming hazier.
Rosalee: She only makes baby noises. Kate and Gerry's baby born while Gerry is catatonic. Still a very wee baby in cot. Later she is one year old.
Announcer: He has a lovely speaking voice and does the welcoming and introducing at the Blue Wing Club. He is also used on the radio near the end to announce Gerry's death.
SCENE ONE:
FADE UP JAZZ MUSIC. FADE UNDER SOUND OF CROW CAWING. CUT MUSIC.
Kate: (TO BABY) I'm glad I'm staying inside tonight. It's a wild one. Just listen to that rain.
SOUND OF RAIN AND CRACK OF THUNDER
Kate: How can you sleep through all of that? That's not a normal torm. Come here to me. I'll rock you and tell you a story your great- great grandmother used to tell.
SOUND OF BABY NOISES AND KATE HUMS A BIT.
Kate: It was a night like tonight. There was a big storm. Mist was so thick that you couldn't see a foot infront of you.
SOUND OF SOFT SAXOPHONE PLAYING
Kate: Archie Tulloch was on his way to play the fiddle at a dance. But the fairy folk captured him. They led him into an underground chamber and held him for a whole year to play music to the Queen. Diddilyi, diddilyi. diddilyi.
His friend saw where he went and was going to rescue him. But he had to wait a year for the same night...A full moon. A ring around it. And the blue wind.
Barriers between the two worlds were broken then and Archie was able to escape. He took with him the magic of music. But once he released it, he only had a short time to live.
(SIGHS) Your father loved that story. He used to tell it to me over and over before we went to sleep. That was when he still talked.
But you don't have to worry about those things. No one's going to take you. Here, down you go. You're nice and safe here.
SOUND OF HARD KNOCKING
Kate: (FROM INSIDE THE DOOR) Who is it?
Dan: (FROM OUTSIDE THE DOOR) Kate, It's Dan.
SOUND Of DOOR OPENING SOUND OF A COLD WIND. WIND SOUND CONTINUES UNTIL DOOR IS CLOSED.
Kate: Dan. Let me look at you. I thought you'd disappeared.
Dan: I'm back.
Kate: Well, come in .Oh look at that. That's the same as when Gerry was taken. The blue wind. Quick, inside.
SOUND OF DOOR CLOSING
Kate: I never expected to see you again.
Dan: I'm back because of Gerry.
Kate: Take those wet things off. (She looks at him) You look thin.
Dan: How is he?
Kate: It's a year today, Dan. It's like an anniversary or a birthday. I feel I should be celebrating or something. He hasn't uttered a sensible word in a year.
Dan: Not a word?
Kate: Nothing.
Dan: You said sensible. Then he says something. What does he say?
Gerry: (FROM ANOTHER ROOM) Missing, Always missing.
Kate: You see.
Dan: What's he saying?
Kate: I don't know.
Dan: It must mean something. Has he been like this the whole time?
Kate: I knew something would happen that night. I should have done more to stop him from going out.
Dan: Sure, he's the most pig-headed man I know. Nothing you could have done would have kept him away from his music.
Kate: But in my head I saw his favourite chair - empty and deserted. And Dan (SIGH) I saw the blue wind that night. (SHE EMITS A SOB) And I let him go!
Dan: I don't know if what you have is a curse or a gift Kate. But you are too hard on yourself. (SOUND OF COT ROCKING) Who's this then? I remember Gerry telling me you were expecting.
Kate: That's our Rosalee.
Dan: She looks like Gerry's mother.
Kate: I don't know. Some say she looks like me.
Dan: Yes, I can see it. Around the eyes. Incredible!
Kate: No, that's the one thing that is normal.around here.
Dan: HE LAUGHS) So it is. It must be hard for you with Gerry's mind like that, though. Has he been able to work?
Kate: No, I've been working on my silk scarves. It doesn't bring a lot in but I can work at home and look after them both. Gerry gets a little on long term sick leave. We had a little saved too.
Dan: I should have been here. I could have helped out.
Kate: We've been ok so far.
Dan: What did the doctor say ?
Gerry: (SPEAKS IN A MONOTONOUS TONE, FROM OFFSTAGE)
Missing. There's always something missing.
Kate: (COMFORTING GERRY IN A LOUD VOICE TO ANOTHER ROOM) There, there, love. (TO DAN) See. He just stares out the window. The doctor says there is nothing physically wrong with him. He thinks he might have got a shock or something. Wants me to bring a psychiatrist in. I don't want him taken away from me.
Dan: There's not many a psychiatrist that would understand what's wrong with Gerry Cooper.
Kate: I'm afraid the psychiatrist is coming tomorrow to arrange for him to be committed. He has to snap out of it by then. If not, he'll be in other hands. We won't be able to help him. Dan. I'm glad you're here. When you went missing, I didn't know what to think.
Dan: I had to go. I couldn't help then. Now that it's a year later, it's another matter. We just may have our chance to save him.
Kate: Where have you been?
Gerry (PLAYS A LITTLE TUNE ON THE SAXWHICH THEN FADES)
Dan: I've been living on an island off the west coast of Ireland. Sometimes I'd take the boat across and climb the hills in Connemara. No one would have ever found me there. I needed time to think.
Kate: And what have you come up with?
Dan: It's a bit mad.
Kate: I'd do anything, You know that.
Dan: Well, let's have a look at him then.
(SOUNDS OF MOVING TOWARDS GERRY AT THE WINDOW. GERRY IS NOT COMMUNICATIVE.)
Kate: Gerry, I have a visitor for you. It's Dan, who has been missing all this time. He's going to help us. (TO DAN) I just keep talking to him. I don't know if he can even hear me but I feel if I stop trying to get through to him, he'll be lost forever. You try.
Dan: Hello Gerry.
( DAN LOOKS CLOSER AT GERRY WHO STARES IN FRONT OF HIM.)
Dan: Nothing. (TO KATE) Now, you're going to think that I'm crazy.
Kate: I'm listening.
Dan: I know what's wrong with him.
Gerry: Missing, something missing.
Dan: What's he saying?
Kate: He keeps mumbling that something's missing.
Dan: What is missing?
Kate: I don't know. His mind maybe. And sometimes he just blows this one note over and over and over again.
Dan: I'm sure then.
Kate: What Dan?
Dan: He's had an episode with the sí.
Kate: What's that?
Dan: He's been taken by the fairies.
Kate: Ahh! Don't joke Dan! Isn't he right there before you? You can touch his cheek and stroke his hair.
Dan: (REACHES OUT AND TOUCHES GERRY) I feel him. But I'm not taking about physically.
Kate: What do you mean ?
Dan: There are other forms of being taken.
Kate: You're being ridiculous.
Dan: I'm not joking. Didn't I hear the stories myself from Gerry's old great grandmother!
Kate: But they're just stories. That's all they were. You said it yourself.
Dan: Did you ever meet the old lady?
Kate: I met her once. She could hardly speak English. She lived in the past.
Dan: She spoke English all right. She just didn't want the old language to be forgotten. As for the past, maybe it was a better place to be.
Kate: You've got to be kidding, Dan. They were starving.
Dan: You're right. But still. They weren't afraid to use their imagination.
Kate: Exactly. Imagination. That's all it is.
Dan: I spent a year studying fairy lore.
Kate: You've lost your mind too.
Dan: No Kate. Listen. We're not talking about little shiny flittering things here. These beings look just like you or me.
Kate: It's the isolation. You were away too long Dan.
Dan: No, I'm telling you. They are an ancient people. Everyone I talked to had a strong respect for them. And fear. They're dangerous and tricky. That's why they've been able to survive so long.
Kate: Yeah, right. Bad fairies!
Dan: You above all people should believe.
Gerry: (PLAYS A LITTLE TUNE) Missing, always missing.
Kate: That is all the more reason for me to be sceptical.
Dan: You weren't there that night. You don't know what happened. There was this woman.
Kate: Go on.
Dan: It was a night like tonight. Remember ?
Kate: I do.
Dan: Well, we went down to the jazz club. Gerry really got going. He was playing like he never had before. (DAN TAKES UP GERRY'S HAND AND STROKES IT)
Kate: He was a great musician. It was a shame he couldn't make a living out of it.
Dan: That's the way with the good ones. He was meant for the stage.
(FADE LIGHTS AND LINK WITH JAZZ MUSIC)
SCENE TWO: ONE YEAR AGO
Male Announcer: (IN DEEP, SEXY, SMOOTH VOICE) Welcome to New York's Blue Wind Club. Welcome to the Blue Wind Club. For the best in jazz and blues (TRAILING OFF) the Blue Wind Club..Wind Club......
SOUND: A COLD WIND
Anncr: You have been listening to Gerry Cooper on sax.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Anncr: And Dan Ryder on piano.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Anncr Back to them now for a last one.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Gerry: Thanks very much everybody. We'd like to end up with a pensive number called Body and Soul.
MUSIC: 'BODY AND SOUL' 2 MINUTES (REFER TO CD NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART BY CHARLIE HAYDEN AND CHRIS ANDERSON
Gerry: That's it ladies and gentlemen.. Wait a minute. Who do we have here? A glamorous lady is coming up here. She is whispering something in my ear. (TO GIORSAL) What? Yes. Ok. (TO THE AUDIENCE) Ladies and gentlemen. We are going to have a last song. (TO GIORSAL) What's your name honey? What? Jershal ? (TO AUDIENCE) Ok. Let's have a big hand for Jershal with East of the Sun West of the Moon,
SOUND CLAPPING
EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON, 3 MINUTES (REFER TO THEGERRY MULLIGAN SAX VERSION OR FRANK SINATRA ONE, FIND ONE WITH FEMALE VOICE)
Gerry: That was beautiful. Goodnight everybody. A big hand for the mysterious lady.
SOUND CLAPPING (FADE)
Gerry: (TO GIORSAL) Seriously, that was a great song.
Giorsal: You weren't bad yourself. Why don't you come and join me at my table?
Gerry: OK. What are you having?
Giorsal: Champagne.
Gerry What? I didn't mean::
Giorsal: It's al-right, Gerry. I have a bottle on ice and two glasses at sitting over there.
Gerry: A real high flyer. You don't mind if I get myself a beer? That stuff gives me a headache.
SOUND A CHAIR BEING PULLED UP AND GERRY TAKING A SIP OF BEER.
Gerry: Ahh! That's what I call a drink. Cheers!
Giorsal: You were so good tonight. You must know I've been waiting a long time for you.
Gerry: I'm not that good. There are loads of other good musicians.
Giorsal: That's not why I was waiting for you.
Gerry: What do you mean? You must have made a mistake. I don't know you.
Giorsal: There is no mistake.
Gerry: My name is Gerry Cooper.
Giorsal: I know who you are. You are an O'Flaherty from Connemara.
Gerry: I had an ancestor of that name. But that was a long time ago.
Giorsal: Hmhh! Those things don't just vanish into thin air. Poof!
SOUND SNAP OF FINGERS IN THE AIR
Giorsal: They don't go away just because it was a long time ago.
Gerry: This is a new country.
Giorsal: Don't I know it! I want to go home.
Gerry: Why don't you?
Giorsal: I can't yet. I have to do something. Maybe later.
Gerry: You know I am only a little bit O'Flaherty. I have Scottish blood, Welsh blood, some Italian, a bit of English. I'm even part Jewish.
Giorsal: There's enough in you.
Gerry: It's not the same here. What do you want me for?
Giorsal: I had a pact with Tómas O'Flaherty.
Gerry: I still don't understand.
Giorsal: I may look young to you, Gerry. But I am very old, very old indeed.
Gerry: Yeah right. Half the guys in here would love to be in my place. Sitting here with you.
Giorsal: What I am saying is that I knew Tómas. It is years ago now. He wasn't a nice man. But he did care about music. We usually don't interfere with human things but it was a special time. Strangers were taking over the land. Tómas gave us the music to mind. We promised to keep the music until it could be appreciated again.
Gerry: And what's that got to do with me?
Giorsal: You're the first O'Flaherty to play music since then.
Gerry: But I don't even like that old stuff!
Giorsal: Music is music. What I have is that spark that makes all music magical.
Here, O'Flaherty, take this instrument and start playing. You'll feel the music right through you.
HE TAKES THE SAX AND STARTS TO PLAY WOMEN OF IRELAND ON SAX
-REFER TO THE BOB JAMES THREE CD FOR THE JAZZ VERSION. THE CHRISTIANS DID A VOCAL POP VERSION. SEAN O'RIADA DID THE TRADITIONAL VERSION.
SOUND: (GERRY STARTS LAUGHING AND TAPPING HIS FEET)
Gerry: That's amazing!
Giorsal: Play something else.
Gerry: Sorry. It's getting late. We should be heading for home. My wife will be worried. We just found out that we're expecting a baby. She didn't want me to come out in this storm.
Giorsal: It will just take a moment.
Gerry: No really.
Giorsal: Just put your hand on this crystal, Gerry and the music will be yours.
Gerry: I have to go.
Giorsal: It will only take a minute.
Gerry: Ok, If it won't be long.
Giorsal: Gerry, through you, I have given the O'Flaherty back the music.
Gerry: (Smiling) Yeah!
Giorsal: Since it was a formal agreement, please put your hand on the stone.
Gerry: I don't like the sound of that. Ah, what harm could it do?
SOUND: GERRY PUTS HIS HAND ON THE STONE)
Giorsal: Survivor of the O'Flaherty, did I not fulfil my promise to return the music to your people? (silence)
Giorsal: (urging him on) Gerry.
Gerry: What?
Giorsal: I'm talking to you. Answer me. Haven't I fulfilled my promise?
Gerry: You have.
Giorsal: And do you want anything else?
Gerry: No, I don't.
Giorsal: Then, I will keep you with me. We will play music together.
Gerry: What do you mean?
Giorsal: I mean that you will stay here with me.
Gerry: You mean you're going to keep me here against my will.
Giorsal: That's exactly what I'm doing.
Gerry: You can't do that.
Giorsal: It's done
Gerry: (ANXIOUS) No.
Giorsal: I do nothing that was not agreed upon. You said there was no other wish you wanted. No wish to leave. No wish to take your sax.
Gerry: I shouldn't have to say those things.
Giorsal: But you always have to say what you want. Otherwise, things can get twisted or misunderstood.
Gerry: My wife's waiting at home. She'll be worried.
Giorsal: Your wife, above all people, should know. If she believes her own intuition.
Giorsal: (IN A FORCEFUL VOICE) Take your instrument, Gerry.
SOUND: A COLD WIND
Gerry: No!
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.
GERRY GETS UP AND STARTS TO WALK AWAY. GIORSAL PASSES GERRY THE SAX AGAIN)
Giorsal: Play Gerry! You will soon forget all about home. We'll soon be far away from this world until we play here again next year.
Dan: (FROM OFFSTAGE AND GETTING LOUDER AS HE GETS CLOSER) Come on Gerry!
(GERRY JUST PLAYS THE SAX 'WOMEN OF IRELAND' AGAIN)
Dan: Gerry. We've got to get going. (TO GIORSAL) Wait a minute. I know what you are.
Giorsal: Then you should be bowing to me.
Dan: I bow to no one.
Giorsal: I know you too Dan. But leave him to me. It is what is best.
For the world.
Dan: For what world, your Majesty?
Giorsal: That's more like it. What is above, so is below. Our worlds are a reflection of each other.
Dan: Well then, Gerry and I will be going off to our world. Goodbye. C'mon Gerry.
Gerry: Dan. I'll play you a tune.
Dan: No, Gerry, we've got to get going home.
Gerry: But this is my home. I'm going to stay with.. (A PAUSE AS HE LOOKS AT GIORSAL) ah....whatshername.
Dan: What about Kate? She's expecting a baby.
Gerry: You look after her . I'm staying here to play music for a little while longer. I'll be home when I can.
Dan: You're making a huge mistake.
Giorsal: You've got to go, Dan. Bye.
SOUND: COLD WIND BLOWING
SCENE THREE:
30 SECOND-1MINUTES MUSIC LINK AGAIN POSSIBLY MILES DAVIS BLUE IN GREEN FROM THE KIND OF BLUE RECORDING)
Kate: You certainly tell a good story. I can hardly wait 'til the end.
Dan: Well, that's about it. I found myself outside the door of the Blue Wind Club and couldn't get in. I was thinking of going to the police, but what could I tell them? Then I found Gerry wandering around the streets like this.
Kate: Like what?
Dan: Like what he is now.
Kate: You mean catatonic.
Dan: I suppose.
Kate: Then what happened.
Dan: I saw that he got home all right. Then I took off. I was scared. I had to go away and make sense of it all. I had to understand.
Kate: I know Dan. You were always a good friend. To both of us. It's not your fault. (She pats his hand) But if you know something that will bring back my man, spit it out. By your story, bewitched he certainly is.
Dan: I'll tell you all I know. Then we'll have a fight on our hands. I have a plan. The stories the old lady told me, what I've found out in books and the tales of the island people will give us enough information. For a start anyway.
Kate: You are really convinced of this fairy stuff?
Dan: I know what I know. The important thing to remember is that we have only one night to save him.
Kate: I guess it's worth trying.
Dan: We must also always have a piece of iron with us.
Kate: Why's that?
Dan: They can't touch you when you have iron with you. It's
something like in those children's games when you have den. That's where it probably comes from.
Kate: It can't hurt. Can you pass me that paint brush? I want to finish this scarf before Rosalee wakes up.
Kate: Thanks.
Dan: That's lovely Kate. I love that shade of blue. You have a real talent.
Kate: Thanks. I enjoy it.
Dan: Back to what we're going to do. Here's what we'll do. Trick her at her own game!
Kate: How's that?
Kate: This is what I learned when I was on the island. There are 12 fairy winds. The one you saw, the blue one, comes once a year. It's a wind from the southwest. For us, it usually means a storm and it is a sign that winter is coming, to get ready to spend more time indoors. For them, it is a bridge between their world and ours.
Kate: That's why we had to wait a year before we could even try to rescue Gerry.
Dan: That's right. I'm sure it means more than that too. When I was over there, the locals were always talking about the night of the Big Wind. 1839, I think. It brought destruction and mayhem to our world but the people I was talking to think it was worse in the world of the fairies. Apparently, all but a few left the country at that time, never to return. They said it has something to do with the Blue Wind.
Kate: Are you saying that fairies are vulnerable at this time?
Dan: (PENSIVELY) It may be. It may be. It's a sad wind for them I think. We have to be prepared. But we may just have a chance. We have to convince ourselves that we are strong. Here's what we'll do.
(THEY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER AND START WHISPERING.) 30 SEC. TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC BRIDGE ST. GERMAINE FROM THE TOURIST RECORDING.
SCENE FOUR: (NIGHT CLUB SCENE AGAIN.)
SOUND: HANDS SLAPPING DOWN ON TABLE
Kate: I want him back. You've got your clutches into him now but I know that he doesn't want to be here. It's like he is under a spell.
All right, whoever you are, let's bargain.
Giorsal: That's more like it.
Kate: Let him go. You can take me.
Giorsal: That's no offer. You're almost one of us as it is.
Kate: Just because I see things sometimes. I am not one of you.
Giorsal: It still won't do. Anyway. You have a baby. You have to look after what's her name, Rosalee, isn't it? Maybe she'd like to come live with us.
Kate: Leave her out of this. Let's see. Gold? I've saved up some money. I know how you love your treasures.
Giorsal: Nice try. We like our treasure but it is only to attract human's attention. Unlike you people, we know it is all just an illusion.
Kate: (CLOSE UP TO GIORSAL CONFRONTING HER)
There must be something!
Giorsal: There is something. I'll play you for him.
Kate: You mean cards.
Giorsal: Something like that.
Kate: And if I win, you will give him back to me.
Giorsal: I will.
Kate: And if I lose?
Giorsal: He stays with me forever and I can go home.
Kate: Fine.
Giorsal: There's nothing I like better than a good game. You're on. Shake?
Kate: Shake. I'll be back tonight.
Giorsal: I am looking forward to it.
(DAN WALKS IN)
Giorsal: Well, if it isn't Dan Rider. Come on in.
Dan: Kate, you go on. I'll catch up to you in a bit.
Kate: OK. I'll be right outside. I need the air.
(KATE EXITS)
Dan: (TO GIORSAL) I want to talk to you.
Giorsal: What's the matter? You think Kate is getting cold feet?
Dan: Kate? Never. She's a strong woman.
Giorsal: Well?
Dan: It's me. I'm worried about her. She's normal. That's not to say
she isn't special. It's just I don't think the odds are fair.
Giorsal: Because I'm with the sí?
Dan: As a matter of fact, yes.
Giorsal: Everybody has the wrong idea about us. I am not going to shrink, sprout wings and fly away. I am not an angel that sits on top of a Christmas tree. I am not a witch stirring up potions. I am just like you.
Dan: If you were just like me, Gerry would still be at home?
Giorsal: We have our tricks. Our curses are real and so is fairy dust.
These were given to us by the earth. That is the advantage of being so old. You pick up a thing or two. But in a fair fight, the fighting's got to be fair.
Dan: That's good to know. .Just one more thing. Why didn't you take me? I don't have a family. I would be happy just to play music or write a few lines all day. Maybe you don't think I am good enough.
Giorsal: Is this a trick? Are you trying to get information to use against me?
Dan: Are you always on the defensive?
Giorsal: I have to be nowadays. It's become a habit.
Dan: Well then, did you not think I was good enough, or what?
Giorsal: Who's on the defensive now? That had nothing to do with it.
Dan: Then I'm not good-looking enough.
Giorsal: You look fine to me. But you know we are not attracted to humans like that. Our love is different.
Dan: Well, what was it then?
Giorsal: It's the simple fact that we made an agreement with Gerry's family. I gave him back the music.
Dan: (SIGHS) And if you kept the agreement, why are you keeping him?
Giorsal: He made it so easy to trick him. I couldn't help myself..
Dan: But why don't you let him go now? He's been with you for a year.
Giorsal: It's something to do with continuity. Because of who Gerry is. The link to finding a new home.
Dan: Here?
Giorsal: Yes, I'm getting used to it now.
Dan: But it's really not that nice here. There are bad smells, loud noises, traffic, too many buildings.
Giorsal: But there's an energy. All those people crowded together. Thinking. The buildings and machines are just an illusion anyway. I can see the energy underneath the land. It is just the same. It is still there you know. The trees and grass would soon grow back. If allowed. We just have to wait and in the meantime, adapt.
But I don't think you are interested in my problems. I think you are in love with Kate.
Dan: What of it?.
Giorsal: I told you before. I don't do love potions.
Dan: But sometimes you can see the future.
Giorsal: So can Kate.
Dan: Can I just ask you one thing ? If Kate loses and Gerry stays with you, do you think she can forget him?
Giorsal: You mean do you have a chance with Kate?
Dan: Yeah.
Giorsal: There'll only be one man for Kate.
Sorry Dan.
Dan: Then take me. Surely I can give you the continuity you need.
Give Gerry back. Let Kate win.
Giorsal: It will be a fair fight. That's all I have to say.
Dan: I'll be watching you
SOUND: (DAN WALKS OUT AND SLAMS THE DOOR)
Giorsal: (TO HERSELF)
I like it here. I like the music. There's something sad about it. Yet it makes you want to move. It goes through your body and makes you dance.
The full moon comes out tonight. We will have our big dance once again this year. November and the blue wind. This time we'll have the new music. The sax... Jazz...
(PENSIVELY) I like the people here. They are not afraid of their own shadows. They are not afraid of me.
I need Gerry. I have to keep the music. I can't let them know what's at stake. Our very existence depends on it. I didn't come here to keep up my end of the promise. It was much more than that.
We had a beautiful home. There was this hawthorn tree that had been there since time began. It was the door to our underground chambers and the meeting place of our people from four counties. Then our tree was cut down. And we were left without a home.
Some humans tried to help. There were protests against it. Some of the old ones tried to protect us. There are some young ones now too. But in the end, human's old weakness, greed, got the better of them.
People left our homes alone for years. They were afraid of us. Now they don't even believe we exist. It doesn't matter how much bad luck we pile on them. They'll always find a logical explanation for it. We can't get away with anything.
I don't mind change. I have always liked people. The fact that these ones are craftier all the better. I like a challenge. It makes the trick all the better.
I have to keep that man....and the music..... or I might as well be human.
MUSIC BRIDGE SPIRIT OF THE WATER FROM RAINDANCE CD BY DAN AND GORDON GIBSON)
SCENE FIVE: (BACK IN THE FLAT. GERRY'S BY THE WINDOW. DAN AND KATE COME IN)
Kate: What have I done?
Dan: Only what you had to do.
Kate: We are stark-raving mad. Do you know what we are up against?
Dan: There's no other way.
Kate: I just don't know if I can pull it off.
Dan: You have a pure heart Kate and you love him.
Kate: None of us is that pure.
Dan: There's just one thing. We haven't considered that he might not want to come back. ( DAN LOOKS SHYLY BUT EXPECTANTLY AT KATE)
Kate: But that wouldn't be the real him. We have to put all those thoughts behind us. What I have to know now is whether you will help me with Gerry. I need all the help I can get.
Dan: I have already placed a piece of iron in his pocket. Giorsal won't be able to touch him physically. All we have to do is get him out of that place and his mind should come back.
Kate: What am I going to do with Rosalee while I'm in the café? I'd better take her to my mother's. If anything happens to me, it's better she stay there. I mean it's not like Gerry could look after her. He doesn't even know she exists.
(IN THE LIVING ROOM. KATE IS PAINTING HER SCARVES THAT ARE HANGING.)
Kate: I'll just finish a few of these scarves before I go down to Club Blue Wind. It will help me focus.
Kate monologue:
From when I was very small, I knew things. Sometimes I could see things or tell what was going to happen. I didn't understand why my friends couldn't. I soon learned that this gift, as my mother called it, made me different to other girls. Some started saying, "Kate's off with the fairies". It was they way they said it that bothered me. I always tried to fit in.
So then I hid my gift. Even tried to deny I had it to myself.
Then I became the type of person people came to for advice. They just latched on to me like a suction cup.
Gerry was different. He knew about me, accepted it and didn't ask for any favours. It was natural to him. His great-grandmother had it too. She lived with them before she died. We used to joke when we were going out with each other. Gerry said I reminded him of his Granna. That 's what he called her. Then he would laugh and say, 'Granna's ninety-six."
I would poke him in the side but really, it made me feel more comfortable about the way I am. "Just like Granna"
I liked Gerry Cooper because he was so normal. I mean that in the best ways. That doesn't mean he was without his talent. He had such lovely hands. He could make anything out of wood. And he was great at the music. He just didn't make a big deal about how good he was at those things. They were just things he did. And it's Gerry, not me, they wanted all they time. I have to get him back.
(30 SECOND TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC LINK -JJ CAYLE AFTER MIDNIGHT FROM THE NATURALLY RECORDING)
SCENE SIX: (CLUB GIORSAL AND GERRY ARE WAITING IN THE CAFÉ. KATE ENTERS. SHE HAS A BRACELET OF IRON AROUND HER WRIST. SHE STARTS DOING GENTLE WARM-UP EXERCISES)
Giorsal: So Kate, we are going to do battle.
Kate: I'm ready.
Giorsal: I choose.
Kate: Yes, but you promised to be fair.
Giorsal: Oh, I'll be fair al-right. We'll do the combat by recognition.
Kate: You can tell me how to play in a minute. I want to get things straight before we start.
Giorsal: What do you want to know?
Kate: The terms. If I win, you release Gerry. No tricks.
Giorsal: No tricks. He will be free to leave. The only catch is that if he wants to take the music with him, his life will be shortened.
Kate: Why's that?
Giorsal: That's just how it is. It's not one of my terms.
Kate: What exactly are your terms then?
Giorsal: If you win, Gerry is free. If I win, he stays with me for good.
Kate: Fine. Now what's this game about?
Giorsal: Every year on this night we have a dance just before midnight. Several people will be joining us on the dance floor before the procession under the rainbow rings around the moon.
Your job is to recognize Gerry from the back before he leaves in the procession. He may appear to be changed but if your love is true, you should be able to recognize him. The first person you touch, you have to keep.
Kate: And what do you do?
Giorsal: I try to prevent you from seeing him.
Kate: But you have all the advantages.
Giorsal: In this game I don't. Anyway I see your iron bracelet. You know I can't touch you with that. I'm sure you have something tricky up your sleeve too. So don't talk to me about disadvantage. Come on let's get ready. It's almost time.
SOUND: CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT.
Giorsal: Our guests have arrived.
Kate: But it's hard to see their faces. They keep criss-crossing the stone circle. Where am I?
Giorsal: It is our place for celebrations.
Kate: Al-right. Don't distract me.
SOUND: CROW CAWING
Kate: (TO SELF) Calm down. It's only an old bird.
(TO GIORSAL) Stop it. What are you doing with those long pieces of material? I can't see.
Giorsal: I'm dancing.
(KATE THINKS SHE SEES GERRY ACROSS THE CIRCLE)
Kate: (To Self) That's him! I see him! No! That's not him! Imagine stuck your whole life with someone you didn't want. Living with a stranger!
I suppose it's not so unusual. Many couples go through it. Drift apart but don't have the nerve or energy to leave. It's not like that with me andGerry. We are happy with each other.
(TO GIORSAL) You have made your point. You are a great dancer. But go way now Giorsal. I have a job to do. (LOUDLY) Gerry!
Kate: (TO GERRY) Wait. (SHE TOUCHES MAN'S SHOULDER) Gerry, it's Kate. I want you back.
(GERRY TURNS AROUND).
Gerry: (SURPRISED) Kate?
Giorsal: No. He's coming with me!
Awww! (IN PAIN) How did he get iron on him?
Gerry: Kate, you're crying. What's the matter?
Kate: (SOBBING) Absolutely nothing. I'm so happy.
Giorsal: Very well. Kate you've won.
Kate: (SMILING) I know.
Giorsal: But I'm not so sure you'll be so happy in the end. Remember the curse. If he lets the music out, his life will be short.
(DAN ENTERS)
Kate: I can live with that for the moment. Oh hi Dan.
Dan: Hi Kate. And Gerry. Great to see you both together again.
Dan: (TO GIORSAL) Thanks. That was good of you.
Giorsal: It was a fair fight.
Dan: (WINKING) I believe you. By the way, any chance you could teach me a few tricks.
Giorsal: What do you mean?
Dan: I thought I might hang around, if that's ok with you.
Giorsal: I told you before that I don't love in that way.
Dan: Easy there. That's not what I want either. I thought that maybe we could play a few tunes together, write a few lines, maybe I could learn a few spells...
Giorsal: Are you trying to become one of us Dan Rider?
Dan: I could think of worse things.
Giorsal: (LAUGHING) You forget. We choose you. You don't choose us.
Dan: Then choose me. I know all the old stories. I've been back to the old land and love it. I don't belong here. Come on. I'm not a half-bad musician. I'll play to you on the long winter nights.
Giorsal: All right, Dan. Since you know so much about us and may have your uses, we'll give it a try. It is not what we usually do.
Dan: Things change.
Giorsal: That they do.
(30 SECOND TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC LINK CHARLIE PARKER, MY OLD FLAME, CHARLIE PARKER COLLECTION)
SCENE SEVEN:
(THE APARTMENT. KATE AND GERRY ENTER AND SIT DOWN IN LIVING ROOM. GERRY HAS MIND BACK BUT DOESN'T REMEMBER MUCH. KATE LOOKS AFTER HIM.)
Kate: Do you want to lie down?
Gerry: I'm fine. Just a little confused.
Kate: That's understandable.
Gerry: I was playing at the club when this girl started to sing. Then I don't remember a thing. What happened? I black out or something?
Kate: Yeah something like that.
Gerry: And how'd you get there? Dan call ya?
Kate: He did.
Gerry: Dan stayed on at the club. Who was that woman?
Kate: (CHANGING THE SUBJECT SLIGHTLY) I wish I'd heard her sing.
Gerry: Yes, she sang like an angel.
Kate: I bet.
Gerry: Who is she anyway?
Kate: Let's just say she blew in with the wind.
Gerry: I hope Dan talks her into playing with us again.
Kate: I don't think that will happen.
Gerry: You're right. She's probably been snapped up by someone else. Ah well, it's certainly good to be home. Come here (HE HUGS KATE)
Look there's my old sax.
(GERRY SEES THE SAX IN THE CORNER, PICKS IT US AND STARTS TO PLAY IT. POSSIBLE SONG LIKE GATO BARBIERI'S STRAIGHT INTO THE SUNRISE 2-3 MINUTES)
Kate: I forgot you had that old thing.
Gerry: I have never felt it play so well. (HAPPY) I can even play songs I don't know. It's fantastic.
Kate: Be careful!
Gerry: Kate, it's magical.
Kate: That's what I am worried about.
Gerry: This is what I've always wanted to do with music.
Kate: Why don't you leave it Gerry? You've been off work for a year. It's time you were easing back into it. We need the money.
Gerry: But I don't understand how clear everything is. I understand what this music is about. I can't leave this, Kate. This is too big. The world has to hear about this.(HE RUSHES OUT)
Kate: (TO HERSELF) Gerry no! At what price? You will die young if the music is released. Is there no way to stop him? Maybe it's just a myth.
(MUSIC LINK 30 SECS. -1 MINUTE GATO BARBIERI RECORDED) FADE LIGHTS TO SHOW TIME CHANGE.
Kate: I'm glad at least you could stay for the birthday party.
Gerry: Wouldn't miss it for the world! My little Rosalee one today! Hey Kate, leave that bag there.
Kate: Do you have to go again? Why don't you stay with us?
Gerry: I'd love to Kate. But I have this tour. It would be a mess if I cancelled.
Kate: But you're never home.
Gerry: It's been a mad year al-right. Playing somewhere different every night.
Kate: I was thinking that we could settle down again. You couldn't be any more successful. We don't need any more money. And I get so lonely waiting here.
Gerry: I'll be home to stay soon. But first there's been an offer of a tour of Europe and maybe Japan.
Kate: I hope you haven't accepted. You can't go on like this. The constant moving, the late nights, the drink.
Gerry: I'm as fit as a fiddle. (HE LAUGHS)::.. or a sax.
Kate: No one is that strong.
Gerry: Listen! I've looked forward to being with you and Rosalee for a long time. But you know that this is something I really have to do. I've just got to play.
Kate: I do know that. But remember you were away for a whole year before, in your head that is. I was so glad to have you back. (PLEADING) I thought we'd have time together.
Gerry: And so we will. Just a little longer.
Kate: It's not only me. I'm thinking of Rosalee. She needs both her parents. She needs you. You've hardly spent any time with her.
Gerry: I will. I promise. I'm delighted to be a father. She's lovely child. Just like my grand-mother. A little of you around the eyes.
Kate: But do you know what it is to be a father? A child brings a big change to people's lives. You can't travel like this anymore.
Gerry: I understand Kate. Once I do this tour, there will be other people to take over.
Kate: Promise me you'll look after yourself. I need you.
Gerry: Anything, for you.
Kate: Then stay!
Gerry: I can't.
(KATE EXITS, SLAMMING INSIDE DOOR- GERRY STAYS FOR MONOLOGUE)
GERRY MONOLOGUE:
The past doesn't disappear into thin air. All through my life there were times I felt bad and didn't know why. I felt guilty for things I wasn't responsible for. Things that should have stayed in the past. Things I didn't know about but still felt the traces. Like smoke from an airplane across the sky.
Those ancestors didn't have much to pass on. But what they had, they held on to so tight. Like a death-grip. Then you're left protecting this thing, this idea, this property with your life. And you don't know why.
Snip. I don't want my child to be burdened with these strings to the past. Chop. I don't want it to feel bad for no reason. Cut. How can I feel the strength of roots without feeling all the pain of the past?
I thought I saw Katie's blue wind for a minute. A new start. And a light. Ah the warmth. (reaches up arms and stretches) Wait for me! Wait for me!
(HE PICKS UP THE SUITCASE AND WALKS OUT THE OUTSIDE DOOR)
SCENE EIGHT:
(IN THE NEW YORK APARTMENT. THE CHILD HAS FALLEN ASLEEP ON THE SOFA.
Kate: (To Herself) Ah, I want to put my feet up. I've had it.
SOUND: (TELEPHONE RINGS)
Kate: (TO HERSELF) Stop. I'll unplug it. . (SHE UNPLUGS THE PHONE)
There. I don't want it to wake you up Rosalee. I should carry you to bed but you look so peaceful there on the sofa. I'll leave you for a minute.
That's what I'd like. Peace and quiet.
(SPEAKING TO ROSALEE ASLEEP ON THE SOFA) It won't be long now before Daddy's home again with us. Sleep now, sleep. When you wake, you will curl your little fingers around mine. I'll play tickles and peek-a-boo.
(SHE TURNS ON THE RADIO. THERE IS JAZZ MUSIC T. MONK. I-2 MINUTES)
Kate: Listen, that's jazz. That's what your daddy plays. He's brought music around the world and soon he's coming back to us. I bet he'll play something just for you.
Kate: I'll plug in the phone later tonight because he said he'd call to see how we are doing. And to say when he's coming home.
Then he won't go away again. He'll stay with us. The three of us tied together in a little bundle.
(THE SONG FINISHES ON RADIO AND ANNOUNCER SPEAKS)
V/O: The great sax musician Gerry Cooper died earlier tonight. He collapsed on stage during a concert in Tokyo, apparently due to a heart attack.
Kate: (In Anguish) No!
V/O: Cooper's music and style had a magical quality that took jazz by storm. He was at the end of a two-year long tour and was due to fly home to New York later this week. He will be greatly missed.
Kate: (CRYING) Ah Gerry. It can't be true. Someone would have told me first. Oh, the telephone. I must plug it in. Why do they make the holes so small? There. (SHE PLUGS IN TELEPHONE, IT RINGS)
Kate: Hello. Yes, this is Kate Cooper.
(SHE LISTENS)
Kate: Bad news? I heard something on the radio. I hope it isn't true. It is? Oh no.
SOUND :SHE LETS THE RECEIVER DANGLE AND DROP.
V/O: In tribute, this is Gerry Cooper recorded live in Paris.
(BRING UP MUSIC, GATO BARBIERI 'ADENTRA')
Kate: He'll be coming home now. But in a box. We knew there was a chance he'd die young if he continued with that music. It was part of the agreement. It was the chance we took. I knew it at the back of my mind but part of me had forgotten it. Perhaps I should have left him as he was. Not have fought for him. But no. That was no way to live. He wasn't himself. That wasn't Gerry. He and the music belonged to the world.
SOUND: COLD BLUE WIND
SCENE NINE:
MUSIC UP. NIGHT CLUB SET UP AGAIN.
Announcer: Welcome to the 'Blue Wind Club' , (MORE SOFTLY) 'the Blue Wind Club' (EVEN MORE SOFTLY) 'The Blue::..'
KATE WALKS IN AND SEES GIORSAL.
Kate: (ANGRILY) I should have known. The same night his mind went, the same night I get him back and the same night he dies. The night of the bloody blue wind. I hope you're happy now. He was coming back to me. (EMOTIONAL) And now he's gone. I'm left to bring up a daughter alone.
Giorsal: I'm sorry Kate. I really am.
Kate: He's not really with you, is he? I mean maybe he's not really dead.
Giorsal: I don't have power over life or death. But I do know that Gerry Cooper will live on in many ways.. His music. In your heart and through his little one.
Kate: You'll not take Rosalee away? I couldn't take another loss.
Giorsal: Rosalee was born lucky.
Kate: Thank God. How are you doing Dan?
Dan: Real well. I'm happy, Kate. In fact I'm so happy that they've put me away in the hospital at Bellevue a couple of times, (HE LOOKS AT GIORSAL) Ballinasloe to you. (AND BACK TO KATE) But they didn't keep me too long. Her majesty helped me get out.
Giorsal: Just practising my tricks. I have been teaching Dan too.
Dan: And we've been playing together a lot. I've been doing a little writing too.
Kate: So I've heard. But don't you have to stay in her world all the time?
Dan: The divisions between both worlds are thinner now. Thanks to Gerry.
.
Giorsal: Don't stand there too long Dan. The energy disappears.
Gerry taught us that too. He released the energy. The music. Life.
SOUND: A COLD WIND.
MUSIC UP- GATO BARBIERI AND MYSTICA. -2 TO 3 MINUTES- FADE MUSIC
THE END/ FIN
A one act radio play
By Sandra Bunting
Intro:
"..song is existence. Easy for the god. But when do we exist? And when does he spend the earth and the stars on our being? When we love? That's what you think when you are young; not so, though your voice forces open your mouth, -learn to forget how you sang. That fades. Real singing is a different kind of breath. A nothing breath. A ripple in the god. A wind."
-Rilke on the creative process in Sonnet to Orpheus
'There is nothing to which we can attach ourselves, no matter how hard we try.
In time, things will change and the conditions that produced our current desires
will be gone. Why then cling to them now?'
-Master Hsing Yun
The play alternates between two setting: the New York apartment to represent, human existence, and the night club called the Blue Wind to represent the more magical, or Fairyland.
Through the play I want to examine our attachment to things that are passed down from us from our ancestor and the debts of our ancestors that we end up paying for.
I want to explore the place of fairies or the equivalent in life today.
I want to include a fight for the artistic and spiritual soul.
I want to look at the relation between madness and creativity.
I want to add a comment on the destruction of the environment.
I want to find out what the blue wind represents in our lives-opportunity or
destructive element.
Characters:
Gerry Cooper has not said a sensible word for a year. Stubborn, a highly skilled carpenter and a jazz musician. Sometimes he jumps up and plays the sax. The story is vaguely reminiscent of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who went into a depression and wouldn't get out of bed for years. Gerry loves music. The fairy realm corresponds to his state of mind: depression or madness. He may be paying for the sins of his ancestors.
Kate Cooper is a bit of a psychic and felt that something bad was going to happen the night Gerry got ill but stubborn Gerry did not listen to her. She blames herself for not being more forceful in keeping him at home that night. It has been a hard year. Gerry is catatonic and needs looking after. She had a child during the year and must somehow support the three of them. A fighter, she would do anything to get him back.
Dan Rider is Gerry's best friend and jamming partner. He also blames himself for what happened to Gerry. He knew of the old stories and knew of the danger but wasn't strong enough to stop Gerry from falling in the trap. He has feelings for Kate but would never do anything to jeopardise his friendship with Gerry. He would accept being just a friend to Kate. Through his research in Ireland his belief has strengthened and he has become more and more attracted to the fairy way of life.
Giorsal, the Fairy Queen: She is the same physical build as a human. She is cunning and tricky but fair in a way. She forgets nothing. To her a deal is a deal no matter that it was agreed on generations before. She is aware that her world is changing and that the dividing lines between humans and her race are becoming hazier.
Rosalee: She only makes baby noises. Kate and Gerry's baby born while Gerry is catatonic. Still a very wee baby in cot. Later she is one year old.
Announcer: He has a lovely speaking voice and does the welcoming and introducing at the Blue Wing Club. He is also used on the radio near the end to announce Gerry's death.
SCENE ONE:
FADE UP JAZZ MUSIC. FADE UNDER SOUND OF CROW CAWING. CUT MUSIC.
Kate: (TO BABY) I'm glad I'm staying inside tonight. It's a wild one. Just listen to that rain.
SOUND OF RAIN AND CRACK OF THUNDER
Kate: How can you sleep through all of that? That's not a normal torm. Come here to me. I'll rock you and tell you a story your great- great grandmother used to tell.
SOUND OF BABY NOISES AND KATE HUMS A BIT.
Kate: It was a night like tonight. There was a big storm. Mist was so thick that you couldn't see a foot infront of you.
SOUND OF SOFT SAXOPHONE PLAYING
Kate: Archie Tulloch was on his way to play the fiddle at a dance. But the fairy folk captured him. They led him into an underground chamber and held him for a whole year to play music to the Queen. Diddilyi, diddilyi. diddilyi.
His friend saw where he went and was going to rescue him. But he had to wait a year for the same night...A full moon. A ring around it. And the blue wind.
Barriers between the two worlds were broken then and Archie was able to escape. He took with him the magic of music. But once he released it, he only had a short time to live.
(SIGHS) Your father loved that story. He used to tell it to me over and over before we went to sleep. That was when he still talked.
But you don't have to worry about those things. No one's going to take you. Here, down you go. You're nice and safe here.
SOUND OF HARD KNOCKING
Kate: (FROM INSIDE THE DOOR) Who is it?
Dan: (FROM OUTSIDE THE DOOR) Kate, It's Dan.
SOUND Of DOOR OPENING SOUND OF A COLD WIND. WIND SOUND CONTINUES UNTIL DOOR IS CLOSED.
Kate: Dan. Let me look at you. I thought you'd disappeared.
Dan: I'm back.
Kate: Well, come in .Oh look at that. That's the same as when Gerry was taken. The blue wind. Quick, inside.
SOUND OF DOOR CLOSING
Kate: I never expected to see you again.
Dan: I'm back because of Gerry.
Kate: Take those wet things off. (She looks at him) You look thin.
Dan: How is he?
Kate: It's a year today, Dan. It's like an anniversary or a birthday. I feel I should be celebrating or something. He hasn't uttered a sensible word in a year.
Dan: Not a word?
Kate: Nothing.
Dan: You said sensible. Then he says something. What does he say?
Gerry: (FROM ANOTHER ROOM) Missing, Always missing.
Kate: You see.
Dan: What's he saying?
Kate: I don't know.
Dan: It must mean something. Has he been like this the whole time?
Kate: I knew something would happen that night. I should have done more to stop him from going out.
Dan: Sure, he's the most pig-headed man I know. Nothing you could have done would have kept him away from his music.
Kate: But in my head I saw his favourite chair - empty and deserted. And Dan (SIGH) I saw the blue wind that night. (SHE EMITS A SOB) And I let him go!
Dan: I don't know if what you have is a curse or a gift Kate. But you are too hard on yourself. (SOUND OF COT ROCKING) Who's this then? I remember Gerry telling me you were expecting.
Kate: That's our Rosalee.
Dan: She looks like Gerry's mother.
Kate: I don't know. Some say she looks like me.
Dan: Yes, I can see it. Around the eyes. Incredible!
Kate: No, that's the one thing that is normal.around here.
Dan: HE LAUGHS) So it is. It must be hard for you with Gerry's mind like that, though. Has he been able to work?
Kate: No, I've been working on my silk scarves. It doesn't bring a lot in but I can work at home and look after them both. Gerry gets a little on long term sick leave. We had a little saved too.
Dan: I should have been here. I could have helped out.
Kate: We've been ok so far.
Dan: What did the doctor say ?
Gerry: (SPEAKS IN A MONOTONOUS TONE, FROM OFFSTAGE)
Missing. There's always something missing.
Kate: (COMFORTING GERRY IN A LOUD VOICE TO ANOTHER ROOM) There, there, love. (TO DAN) See. He just stares out the window. The doctor says there is nothing physically wrong with him. He thinks he might have got a shock or something. Wants me to bring a psychiatrist in. I don't want him taken away from me.
Dan: There's not many a psychiatrist that would understand what's wrong with Gerry Cooper.
Kate: I'm afraid the psychiatrist is coming tomorrow to arrange for him to be committed. He has to snap out of it by then. If not, he'll be in other hands. We won't be able to help him. Dan. I'm glad you're here. When you went missing, I didn't know what to think.
Dan: I had to go. I couldn't help then. Now that it's a year later, it's another matter. We just may have our chance to save him.
Kate: Where have you been?
Gerry (PLAYS A LITTLE TUNE ON THE SAXWHICH THEN FADES)
Dan: I've been living on an island off the west coast of Ireland. Sometimes I'd take the boat across and climb the hills in Connemara. No one would have ever found me there. I needed time to think.
Kate: And what have you come up with?
Dan: It's a bit mad.
Kate: I'd do anything, You know that.
Dan: Well, let's have a look at him then.
(SOUNDS OF MOVING TOWARDS GERRY AT THE WINDOW. GERRY IS NOT COMMUNICATIVE.)
Kate: Gerry, I have a visitor for you. It's Dan, who has been missing all this time. He's going to help us. (TO DAN) I just keep talking to him. I don't know if he can even hear me but I feel if I stop trying to get through to him, he'll be lost forever. You try.
Dan: Hello Gerry.
( DAN LOOKS CLOSER AT GERRY WHO STARES IN FRONT OF HIM.)
Dan: Nothing. (TO KATE) Now, you're going to think that I'm crazy.
Kate: I'm listening.
Dan: I know what's wrong with him.
Gerry: Missing, something missing.
Dan: What's he saying?
Kate: He keeps mumbling that something's missing.
Dan: What is missing?
Kate: I don't know. His mind maybe. And sometimes he just blows this one note over and over and over again.
Dan: I'm sure then.
Kate: What Dan?
Dan: He's had an episode with the sí.
Kate: What's that?
Dan: He's been taken by the fairies.
Kate: Ahh! Don't joke Dan! Isn't he right there before you? You can touch his cheek and stroke his hair.
Dan: (REACHES OUT AND TOUCHES GERRY) I feel him. But I'm not taking about physically.
Kate: What do you mean ?
Dan: There are other forms of being taken.
Kate: You're being ridiculous.
Dan: I'm not joking. Didn't I hear the stories myself from Gerry's old great grandmother!
Kate: But they're just stories. That's all they were. You said it yourself.
Dan: Did you ever meet the old lady?
Kate: I met her once. She could hardly speak English. She lived in the past.
Dan: She spoke English all right. She just didn't want the old language to be forgotten. As for the past, maybe it was a better place to be.
Kate: You've got to be kidding, Dan. They were starving.
Dan: You're right. But still. They weren't afraid to use their imagination.
Kate: Exactly. Imagination. That's all it is.
Dan: I spent a year studying fairy lore.
Kate: You've lost your mind too.
Dan: No Kate. Listen. We're not talking about little shiny flittering things here. These beings look just like you or me.
Kate: It's the isolation. You were away too long Dan.
Dan: No, I'm telling you. They are an ancient people. Everyone I talked to had a strong respect for them. And fear. They're dangerous and tricky. That's why they've been able to survive so long.
Kate: Yeah, right. Bad fairies!
Dan: You above all people should believe.
Gerry: (PLAYS A LITTLE TUNE) Missing, always missing.
Kate: That is all the more reason for me to be sceptical.
Dan: You weren't there that night. You don't know what happened. There was this woman.
Kate: Go on.
Dan: It was a night like tonight. Remember ?
Kate: I do.
Dan: Well, we went down to the jazz club. Gerry really got going. He was playing like he never had before. (DAN TAKES UP GERRY'S HAND AND STROKES IT)
Kate: He was a great musician. It was a shame he couldn't make a living out of it.
Dan: That's the way with the good ones. He was meant for the stage.
(FADE LIGHTS AND LINK WITH JAZZ MUSIC)
SCENE TWO: ONE YEAR AGO
Male Announcer: (IN DEEP, SEXY, SMOOTH VOICE) Welcome to New York's Blue Wind Club. Welcome to the Blue Wind Club. For the best in jazz and blues (TRAILING OFF) the Blue Wind Club..Wind Club......
SOUND: A COLD WIND
Anncr: You have been listening to Gerry Cooper on sax.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Anncr: And Dan Ryder on piano.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Anncr Back to them now for a last one.
SOUND: CLAPPING
Gerry: Thanks very much everybody. We'd like to end up with a pensive number called Body and Soul.
MUSIC: 'BODY AND SOUL' 2 MINUTES (REFER TO CD NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART BY CHARLIE HAYDEN AND CHRIS ANDERSON
Gerry: That's it ladies and gentlemen.. Wait a minute. Who do we have here? A glamorous lady is coming up here. She is whispering something in my ear. (TO GIORSAL) What? Yes. Ok. (TO THE AUDIENCE) Ladies and gentlemen. We are going to have a last song. (TO GIORSAL) What's your name honey? What? Jershal ? (TO AUDIENCE) Ok. Let's have a big hand for Jershal with East of the Sun West of the Moon,
SOUND CLAPPING
EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON, 3 MINUTES (REFER TO THEGERRY MULLIGAN SAX VERSION OR FRANK SINATRA ONE, FIND ONE WITH FEMALE VOICE)
Gerry: That was beautiful. Goodnight everybody. A big hand for the mysterious lady.
SOUND CLAPPING (FADE)
Gerry: (TO GIORSAL) Seriously, that was a great song.
Giorsal: You weren't bad yourself. Why don't you come and join me at my table?
Gerry: OK. What are you having?
Giorsal: Champagne.
Gerry What? I didn't mean::
Giorsal: It's al-right, Gerry. I have a bottle on ice and two glasses at sitting over there.
Gerry: A real high flyer. You don't mind if I get myself a beer? That stuff gives me a headache.
SOUND A CHAIR BEING PULLED UP AND GERRY TAKING A SIP OF BEER.
Gerry: Ahh! That's what I call a drink. Cheers!
Giorsal: You were so good tonight. You must know I've been waiting a long time for you.
Gerry: I'm not that good. There are loads of other good musicians.
Giorsal: That's not why I was waiting for you.
Gerry: What do you mean? You must have made a mistake. I don't know you.
Giorsal: There is no mistake.
Gerry: My name is Gerry Cooper.
Giorsal: I know who you are. You are an O'Flaherty from Connemara.
Gerry: I had an ancestor of that name. But that was a long time ago.
Giorsal: Hmhh! Those things don't just vanish into thin air. Poof!
SOUND SNAP OF FINGERS IN THE AIR
Giorsal: They don't go away just because it was a long time ago.
Gerry: This is a new country.
Giorsal: Don't I know it! I want to go home.
Gerry: Why don't you?
Giorsal: I can't yet. I have to do something. Maybe later.
Gerry: You know I am only a little bit O'Flaherty. I have Scottish blood, Welsh blood, some Italian, a bit of English. I'm even part Jewish.
Giorsal: There's enough in you.
Gerry: It's not the same here. What do you want me for?
Giorsal: I had a pact with Tómas O'Flaherty.
Gerry: I still don't understand.
Giorsal: I may look young to you, Gerry. But I am very old, very old indeed.
Gerry: Yeah right. Half the guys in here would love to be in my place. Sitting here with you.
Giorsal: What I am saying is that I knew Tómas. It is years ago now. He wasn't a nice man. But he did care about music. We usually don't interfere with human things but it was a special time. Strangers were taking over the land. Tómas gave us the music to mind. We promised to keep the music until it could be appreciated again.
Gerry: And what's that got to do with me?
Giorsal: You're the first O'Flaherty to play music since then.
Gerry: But I don't even like that old stuff!
Giorsal: Music is music. What I have is that spark that makes all music magical.
Here, O'Flaherty, take this instrument and start playing. You'll feel the music right through you.
HE TAKES THE SAX AND STARTS TO PLAY WOMEN OF IRELAND ON SAX
-REFER TO THE BOB JAMES THREE CD FOR THE JAZZ VERSION. THE CHRISTIANS DID A VOCAL POP VERSION. SEAN O'RIADA DID THE TRADITIONAL VERSION.
SOUND: (GERRY STARTS LAUGHING AND TAPPING HIS FEET)
Gerry: That's amazing!
Giorsal: Play something else.
Gerry: Sorry. It's getting late. We should be heading for home. My wife will be worried. We just found out that we're expecting a baby. She didn't want me to come out in this storm.
Giorsal: It will just take a moment.
Gerry: No really.
Giorsal: Just put your hand on this crystal, Gerry and the music will be yours.
Gerry: I have to go.
Giorsal: It will only take a minute.
Gerry: Ok, If it won't be long.
Giorsal: Gerry, through you, I have given the O'Flaherty back the music.
Gerry: (Smiling) Yeah!
Giorsal: Since it was a formal agreement, please put your hand on the stone.
Gerry: I don't like the sound of that. Ah, what harm could it do?
SOUND: GERRY PUTS HIS HAND ON THE STONE)
Giorsal: Survivor of the O'Flaherty, did I not fulfil my promise to return the music to your people? (silence)
Giorsal: (urging him on) Gerry.
Gerry: What?
Giorsal: I'm talking to you. Answer me. Haven't I fulfilled my promise?
Gerry: You have.
Giorsal: And do you want anything else?
Gerry: No, I don't.
Giorsal: Then, I will keep you with me. We will play music together.
Gerry: What do you mean?
Giorsal: I mean that you will stay here with me.
Gerry: You mean you're going to keep me here against my will.
Giorsal: That's exactly what I'm doing.
Gerry: You can't do that.
Giorsal: It's done
Gerry: (ANXIOUS) No.
Giorsal: I do nothing that was not agreed upon. You said there was no other wish you wanted. No wish to leave. No wish to take your sax.
Gerry: I shouldn't have to say those things.
Giorsal: But you always have to say what you want. Otherwise, things can get twisted or misunderstood.
Gerry: My wife's waiting at home. She'll be worried.
Giorsal: Your wife, above all people, should know. If she believes her own intuition.
Giorsal: (IN A FORCEFUL VOICE) Take your instrument, Gerry.
SOUND: A COLD WIND
Gerry: No!
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS.
GERRY GETS UP AND STARTS TO WALK AWAY. GIORSAL PASSES GERRY THE SAX AGAIN)
Giorsal: Play Gerry! You will soon forget all about home. We'll soon be far away from this world until we play here again next year.
Dan: (FROM OFFSTAGE AND GETTING LOUDER AS HE GETS CLOSER) Come on Gerry!
(GERRY JUST PLAYS THE SAX 'WOMEN OF IRELAND' AGAIN)
Dan: Gerry. We've got to get going. (TO GIORSAL) Wait a minute. I know what you are.
Giorsal: Then you should be bowing to me.
Dan: I bow to no one.
Giorsal: I know you too Dan. But leave him to me. It is what is best.
For the world.
Dan: For what world, your Majesty?
Giorsal: That's more like it. What is above, so is below. Our worlds are a reflection of each other.
Dan: Well then, Gerry and I will be going off to our world. Goodbye. C'mon Gerry.
Gerry: Dan. I'll play you a tune.
Dan: No, Gerry, we've got to get going home.
Gerry: But this is my home. I'm going to stay with.. (A PAUSE AS HE LOOKS AT GIORSAL) ah....whatshername.
Dan: What about Kate? She's expecting a baby.
Gerry: You look after her . I'm staying here to play music for a little while longer. I'll be home when I can.
Dan: You're making a huge mistake.
Giorsal: You've got to go, Dan. Bye.
SOUND: COLD WIND BLOWING
SCENE THREE:
30 SECOND-1MINUTES MUSIC LINK AGAIN POSSIBLY MILES DAVIS BLUE IN GREEN FROM THE KIND OF BLUE RECORDING)
Kate: You certainly tell a good story. I can hardly wait 'til the end.
Dan: Well, that's about it. I found myself outside the door of the Blue Wind Club and couldn't get in. I was thinking of going to the police, but what could I tell them? Then I found Gerry wandering around the streets like this.
Kate: Like what?
Dan: Like what he is now.
Kate: You mean catatonic.
Dan: I suppose.
Kate: Then what happened.
Dan: I saw that he got home all right. Then I took off. I was scared. I had to go away and make sense of it all. I had to understand.
Kate: I know Dan. You were always a good friend. To both of us. It's not your fault. (She pats his hand) But if you know something that will bring back my man, spit it out. By your story, bewitched he certainly is.
Dan: I'll tell you all I know. Then we'll have a fight on our hands. I have a plan. The stories the old lady told me, what I've found out in books and the tales of the island people will give us enough information. For a start anyway.
Kate: You are really convinced of this fairy stuff?
Dan: I know what I know. The important thing to remember is that we have only one night to save him.
Kate: I guess it's worth trying.
Dan: We must also always have a piece of iron with us.
Kate: Why's that?
Dan: They can't touch you when you have iron with you. It's
something like in those children's games when you have den. That's where it probably comes from.
Kate: It can't hurt. Can you pass me that paint brush? I want to finish this scarf before Rosalee wakes up.
Kate: Thanks.
Dan: That's lovely Kate. I love that shade of blue. You have a real talent.
Kate: Thanks. I enjoy it.
Dan: Back to what we're going to do. Here's what we'll do. Trick her at her own game!
Kate: How's that?
Kate: This is what I learned when I was on the island. There are 12 fairy winds. The one you saw, the blue one, comes once a year. It's a wind from the southwest. For us, it usually means a storm and it is a sign that winter is coming, to get ready to spend more time indoors. For them, it is a bridge between their world and ours.
Kate: That's why we had to wait a year before we could even try to rescue Gerry.
Dan: That's right. I'm sure it means more than that too. When I was over there, the locals were always talking about the night of the Big Wind. 1839, I think. It brought destruction and mayhem to our world but the people I was talking to think it was worse in the world of the fairies. Apparently, all but a few left the country at that time, never to return. They said it has something to do with the Blue Wind.
Kate: Are you saying that fairies are vulnerable at this time?
Dan: (PENSIVELY) It may be. It may be. It's a sad wind for them I think. We have to be prepared. But we may just have a chance. We have to convince ourselves that we are strong. Here's what we'll do.
(THEY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER AND START WHISPERING.) 30 SEC. TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC BRIDGE ST. GERMAINE FROM THE TOURIST RECORDING.
SCENE FOUR: (NIGHT CLUB SCENE AGAIN.)
SOUND: HANDS SLAPPING DOWN ON TABLE
Kate: I want him back. You've got your clutches into him now but I know that he doesn't want to be here. It's like he is under a spell.
All right, whoever you are, let's bargain.
Giorsal: That's more like it.
Kate: Let him go. You can take me.
Giorsal: That's no offer. You're almost one of us as it is.
Kate: Just because I see things sometimes. I am not one of you.
Giorsal: It still won't do. Anyway. You have a baby. You have to look after what's her name, Rosalee, isn't it? Maybe she'd like to come live with us.
Kate: Leave her out of this. Let's see. Gold? I've saved up some money. I know how you love your treasures.
Giorsal: Nice try. We like our treasure but it is only to attract human's attention. Unlike you people, we know it is all just an illusion.
Kate: (CLOSE UP TO GIORSAL CONFRONTING HER)
There must be something!
Giorsal: There is something. I'll play you for him.
Kate: You mean cards.
Giorsal: Something like that.
Kate: And if I win, you will give him back to me.
Giorsal: I will.
Kate: And if I lose?
Giorsal: He stays with me forever and I can go home.
Kate: Fine.
Giorsal: There's nothing I like better than a good game. You're on. Shake?
Kate: Shake. I'll be back tonight.
Giorsal: I am looking forward to it.
(DAN WALKS IN)
Giorsal: Well, if it isn't Dan Rider. Come on in.
Dan: Kate, you go on. I'll catch up to you in a bit.
Kate: OK. I'll be right outside. I need the air.
(KATE EXITS)
Dan: (TO GIORSAL) I want to talk to you.
Giorsal: What's the matter? You think Kate is getting cold feet?
Dan: Kate? Never. She's a strong woman.
Giorsal: Well?
Dan: It's me. I'm worried about her. She's normal. That's not to say
she isn't special. It's just I don't think the odds are fair.
Giorsal: Because I'm with the sí?
Dan: As a matter of fact, yes.
Giorsal: Everybody has the wrong idea about us. I am not going to shrink, sprout wings and fly away. I am not an angel that sits on top of a Christmas tree. I am not a witch stirring up potions. I am just like you.
Dan: If you were just like me, Gerry would still be at home?
Giorsal: We have our tricks. Our curses are real and so is fairy dust.
These were given to us by the earth. That is the advantage of being so old. You pick up a thing or two. But in a fair fight, the fighting's got to be fair.
Dan: That's good to know. .Just one more thing. Why didn't you take me? I don't have a family. I would be happy just to play music or write a few lines all day. Maybe you don't think I am good enough.
Giorsal: Is this a trick? Are you trying to get information to use against me?
Dan: Are you always on the defensive?
Giorsal: I have to be nowadays. It's become a habit.
Dan: Well then, did you not think I was good enough, or what?
Giorsal: Who's on the defensive now? That had nothing to do with it.
Dan: Then I'm not good-looking enough.
Giorsal: You look fine to me. But you know we are not attracted to humans like that. Our love is different.
Dan: Well, what was it then?
Giorsal: It's the simple fact that we made an agreement with Gerry's family. I gave him back the music.
Dan: (SIGHS) And if you kept the agreement, why are you keeping him?
Giorsal: He made it so easy to trick him. I couldn't help myself..
Dan: But why don't you let him go now? He's been with you for a year.
Giorsal: It's something to do with continuity. Because of who Gerry is. The link to finding a new home.
Dan: Here?
Giorsal: Yes, I'm getting used to it now.
Dan: But it's really not that nice here. There are bad smells, loud noises, traffic, too many buildings.
Giorsal: But there's an energy. All those people crowded together. Thinking. The buildings and machines are just an illusion anyway. I can see the energy underneath the land. It is just the same. It is still there you know. The trees and grass would soon grow back. If allowed. We just have to wait and in the meantime, adapt.
But I don't think you are interested in my problems. I think you are in love with Kate.
Dan: What of it?.
Giorsal: I told you before. I don't do love potions.
Dan: But sometimes you can see the future.
Giorsal: So can Kate.
Dan: Can I just ask you one thing ? If Kate loses and Gerry stays with you, do you think she can forget him?
Giorsal: You mean do you have a chance with Kate?
Dan: Yeah.
Giorsal: There'll only be one man for Kate.
Sorry Dan.
Dan: Then take me. Surely I can give you the continuity you need.
Give Gerry back. Let Kate win.
Giorsal: It will be a fair fight. That's all I have to say.
Dan: I'll be watching you
SOUND: (DAN WALKS OUT AND SLAMS THE DOOR)
Giorsal: (TO HERSELF)
I like it here. I like the music. There's something sad about it. Yet it makes you want to move. It goes through your body and makes you dance.
The full moon comes out tonight. We will have our big dance once again this year. November and the blue wind. This time we'll have the new music. The sax... Jazz...
(PENSIVELY) I like the people here. They are not afraid of their own shadows. They are not afraid of me.
I need Gerry. I have to keep the music. I can't let them know what's at stake. Our very existence depends on it. I didn't come here to keep up my end of the promise. It was much more than that.
We had a beautiful home. There was this hawthorn tree that had been there since time began. It was the door to our underground chambers and the meeting place of our people from four counties. Then our tree was cut down. And we were left without a home.
Some humans tried to help. There were protests against it. Some of the old ones tried to protect us. There are some young ones now too. But in the end, human's old weakness, greed, got the better of them.
People left our homes alone for years. They were afraid of us. Now they don't even believe we exist. It doesn't matter how much bad luck we pile on them. They'll always find a logical explanation for it. We can't get away with anything.
I don't mind change. I have always liked people. The fact that these ones are craftier all the better. I like a challenge. It makes the trick all the better.
I have to keep that man....and the music..... or I might as well be human.
MUSIC BRIDGE SPIRIT OF THE WATER FROM RAINDANCE CD BY DAN AND GORDON GIBSON)
SCENE FIVE: (BACK IN THE FLAT. GERRY'S BY THE WINDOW. DAN AND KATE COME IN)
Kate: What have I done?
Dan: Only what you had to do.
Kate: We are stark-raving mad. Do you know what we are up against?
Dan: There's no other way.
Kate: I just don't know if I can pull it off.
Dan: You have a pure heart Kate and you love him.
Kate: None of us is that pure.
Dan: There's just one thing. We haven't considered that he might not want to come back. ( DAN LOOKS SHYLY BUT EXPECTANTLY AT KATE)
Kate: But that wouldn't be the real him. We have to put all those thoughts behind us. What I have to know now is whether you will help me with Gerry. I need all the help I can get.
Dan: I have already placed a piece of iron in his pocket. Giorsal won't be able to touch him physically. All we have to do is get him out of that place and his mind should come back.
Kate: What am I going to do with Rosalee while I'm in the café? I'd better take her to my mother's. If anything happens to me, it's better she stay there. I mean it's not like Gerry could look after her. He doesn't even know she exists.
(IN THE LIVING ROOM. KATE IS PAINTING HER SCARVES THAT ARE HANGING.)
Kate: I'll just finish a few of these scarves before I go down to Club Blue Wind. It will help me focus.
Kate monologue:
From when I was very small, I knew things. Sometimes I could see things or tell what was going to happen. I didn't understand why my friends couldn't. I soon learned that this gift, as my mother called it, made me different to other girls. Some started saying, "Kate's off with the fairies". It was they way they said it that bothered me. I always tried to fit in.
So then I hid my gift. Even tried to deny I had it to myself.
Then I became the type of person people came to for advice. They just latched on to me like a suction cup.
Gerry was different. He knew about me, accepted it and didn't ask for any favours. It was natural to him. His great-grandmother had it too. She lived with them before she died. We used to joke when we were going out with each other. Gerry said I reminded him of his Granna. That 's what he called her. Then he would laugh and say, 'Granna's ninety-six."
I would poke him in the side but really, it made me feel more comfortable about the way I am. "Just like Granna"
I liked Gerry Cooper because he was so normal. I mean that in the best ways. That doesn't mean he was without his talent. He had such lovely hands. He could make anything out of wood. And he was great at the music. He just didn't make a big deal about how good he was at those things. They were just things he did. And it's Gerry, not me, they wanted all they time. I have to get him back.
(30 SECOND TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC LINK -JJ CAYLE AFTER MIDNIGHT FROM THE NATURALLY RECORDING)
SCENE SIX: (CLUB GIORSAL AND GERRY ARE WAITING IN THE CAFÉ. KATE ENTERS. SHE HAS A BRACELET OF IRON AROUND HER WRIST. SHE STARTS DOING GENTLE WARM-UP EXERCISES)
Giorsal: So Kate, we are going to do battle.
Kate: I'm ready.
Giorsal: I choose.
Kate: Yes, but you promised to be fair.
Giorsal: Oh, I'll be fair al-right. We'll do the combat by recognition.
Kate: You can tell me how to play in a minute. I want to get things straight before we start.
Giorsal: What do you want to know?
Kate: The terms. If I win, you release Gerry. No tricks.
Giorsal: No tricks. He will be free to leave. The only catch is that if he wants to take the music with him, his life will be shortened.
Kate: Why's that?
Giorsal: That's just how it is. It's not one of my terms.
Kate: What exactly are your terms then?
Giorsal: If you win, Gerry is free. If I win, he stays with me for good.
Kate: Fine. Now what's this game about?
Giorsal: Every year on this night we have a dance just before midnight. Several people will be joining us on the dance floor before the procession under the rainbow rings around the moon.
Your job is to recognize Gerry from the back before he leaves in the procession. He may appear to be changed but if your love is true, you should be able to recognize him. The first person you touch, you have to keep.
Kate: And what do you do?
Giorsal: I try to prevent you from seeing him.
Kate: But you have all the advantages.
Giorsal: In this game I don't. Anyway I see your iron bracelet. You know I can't touch you with that. I'm sure you have something tricky up your sleeve too. So don't talk to me about disadvantage. Come on let's get ready. It's almost time.
SOUND: CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT.
Giorsal: Our guests have arrived.
Kate: But it's hard to see their faces. They keep criss-crossing the stone circle. Where am I?
Giorsal: It is our place for celebrations.
Kate: Al-right. Don't distract me.
SOUND: CROW CAWING
Kate: (TO SELF) Calm down. It's only an old bird.
(TO GIORSAL) Stop it. What are you doing with those long pieces of material? I can't see.
Giorsal: I'm dancing.
(KATE THINKS SHE SEES GERRY ACROSS THE CIRCLE)
Kate: (To Self) That's him! I see him! No! That's not him! Imagine stuck your whole life with someone you didn't want. Living with a stranger!
I suppose it's not so unusual. Many couples go through it. Drift apart but don't have the nerve or energy to leave. It's not like that with me andGerry. We are happy with each other.
(TO GIORSAL) You have made your point. You are a great dancer. But go way now Giorsal. I have a job to do. (LOUDLY) Gerry!
Kate: (TO GERRY) Wait. (SHE TOUCHES MAN'S SHOULDER) Gerry, it's Kate. I want you back.
(GERRY TURNS AROUND).
Gerry: (SURPRISED) Kate?
Giorsal: No. He's coming with me!
Awww! (IN PAIN) How did he get iron on him?
Gerry: Kate, you're crying. What's the matter?
Kate: (SOBBING) Absolutely nothing. I'm so happy.
Giorsal: Very well. Kate you've won.
Kate: (SMILING) I know.
Giorsal: But I'm not so sure you'll be so happy in the end. Remember the curse. If he lets the music out, his life will be short.
(DAN ENTERS)
Kate: I can live with that for the moment. Oh hi Dan.
Dan: Hi Kate. And Gerry. Great to see you both together again.
Dan: (TO GIORSAL) Thanks. That was good of you.
Giorsal: It was a fair fight.
Dan: (WINKING) I believe you. By the way, any chance you could teach me a few tricks.
Giorsal: What do you mean?
Dan: I thought I might hang around, if that's ok with you.
Giorsal: I told you before that I don't love in that way.
Dan: Easy there. That's not what I want either. I thought that maybe we could play a few tunes together, write a few lines, maybe I could learn a few spells...
Giorsal: Are you trying to become one of us Dan Rider?
Dan: I could think of worse things.
Giorsal: (LAUGHING) You forget. We choose you. You don't choose us.
Dan: Then choose me. I know all the old stories. I've been back to the old land and love it. I don't belong here. Come on. I'm not a half-bad musician. I'll play to you on the long winter nights.
Giorsal: All right, Dan. Since you know so much about us and may have your uses, we'll give it a try. It is not what we usually do.
Dan: Things change.
Giorsal: That they do.
(30 SECOND TO 1 MINUTE MUSIC LINK CHARLIE PARKER, MY OLD FLAME, CHARLIE PARKER COLLECTION)
SCENE SEVEN:
(THE APARTMENT. KATE AND GERRY ENTER AND SIT DOWN IN LIVING ROOM. GERRY HAS MIND BACK BUT DOESN'T REMEMBER MUCH. KATE LOOKS AFTER HIM.)
Kate: Do you want to lie down?
Gerry: I'm fine. Just a little confused.
Kate: That's understandable.
Gerry: I was playing at the club when this girl started to sing. Then I don't remember a thing. What happened? I black out or something?
Kate: Yeah something like that.
Gerry: And how'd you get there? Dan call ya?
Kate: He did.
Gerry: Dan stayed on at the club. Who was that woman?
Kate: (CHANGING THE SUBJECT SLIGHTLY) I wish I'd heard her sing.
Gerry: Yes, she sang like an angel.
Kate: I bet.
Gerry: Who is she anyway?
Kate: Let's just say she blew in with the wind.
Gerry: I hope Dan talks her into playing with us again.
Kate: I don't think that will happen.
Gerry: You're right. She's probably been snapped up by someone else. Ah well, it's certainly good to be home. Come here (HE HUGS KATE)
Look there's my old sax.
(GERRY SEES THE SAX IN THE CORNER, PICKS IT US AND STARTS TO PLAY IT. POSSIBLE SONG LIKE GATO BARBIERI'S STRAIGHT INTO THE SUNRISE 2-3 MINUTES)
Kate: I forgot you had that old thing.
Gerry: I have never felt it play so well. (HAPPY) I can even play songs I don't know. It's fantastic.
Kate: Be careful!
Gerry: Kate, it's magical.
Kate: That's what I am worried about.
Gerry: This is what I've always wanted to do with music.
Kate: Why don't you leave it Gerry? You've been off work for a year. It's time you were easing back into it. We need the money.
Gerry: But I don't understand how clear everything is. I understand what this music is about. I can't leave this, Kate. This is too big. The world has to hear about this.(HE RUSHES OUT)
Kate: (TO HERSELF) Gerry no! At what price? You will die young if the music is released. Is there no way to stop him? Maybe it's just a myth.
(MUSIC LINK 30 SECS. -1 MINUTE GATO BARBIERI RECORDED) FADE LIGHTS TO SHOW TIME CHANGE.
Kate: I'm glad at least you could stay for the birthday party.
Gerry: Wouldn't miss it for the world! My little Rosalee one today! Hey Kate, leave that bag there.
Kate: Do you have to go again? Why don't you stay with us?
Gerry: I'd love to Kate. But I have this tour. It would be a mess if I cancelled.
Kate: But you're never home.
Gerry: It's been a mad year al-right. Playing somewhere different every night.
Kate: I was thinking that we could settle down again. You couldn't be any more successful. We don't need any more money. And I get so lonely waiting here.
Gerry: I'll be home to stay soon. But first there's been an offer of a tour of Europe and maybe Japan.
Kate: I hope you haven't accepted. You can't go on like this. The constant moving, the late nights, the drink.
Gerry: I'm as fit as a fiddle. (HE LAUGHS)::.. or a sax.
Kate: No one is that strong.
Gerry: Listen! I've looked forward to being with you and Rosalee for a long time. But you know that this is something I really have to do. I've just got to play.
Kate: I do know that. But remember you were away for a whole year before, in your head that is. I was so glad to have you back. (PLEADING) I thought we'd have time together.
Gerry: And so we will. Just a little longer.
Kate: It's not only me. I'm thinking of Rosalee. She needs both her parents. She needs you. You've hardly spent any time with her.
Gerry: I will. I promise. I'm delighted to be a father. She's lovely child. Just like my grand-mother. A little of you around the eyes.
Kate: But do you know what it is to be a father? A child brings a big change to people's lives. You can't travel like this anymore.
Gerry: I understand Kate. Once I do this tour, there will be other people to take over.
Kate: Promise me you'll look after yourself. I need you.
Gerry: Anything, for you.
Kate: Then stay!
Gerry: I can't.
(KATE EXITS, SLAMMING INSIDE DOOR- GERRY STAYS FOR MONOLOGUE)
GERRY MONOLOGUE:
The past doesn't disappear into thin air. All through my life there were times I felt bad and didn't know why. I felt guilty for things I wasn't responsible for. Things that should have stayed in the past. Things I didn't know about but still felt the traces. Like smoke from an airplane across the sky.
Those ancestors didn't have much to pass on. But what they had, they held on to so tight. Like a death-grip. Then you're left protecting this thing, this idea, this property with your life. And you don't know why.
Snip. I don't want my child to be burdened with these strings to the past. Chop. I don't want it to feel bad for no reason. Cut. How can I feel the strength of roots without feeling all the pain of the past?
I thought I saw Katie's blue wind for a minute. A new start. And a light. Ah the warmth. (reaches up arms and stretches) Wait for me! Wait for me!
(HE PICKS UP THE SUITCASE AND WALKS OUT THE OUTSIDE DOOR)
SCENE EIGHT:
(IN THE NEW YORK APARTMENT. THE CHILD HAS FALLEN ASLEEP ON THE SOFA.
Kate: (To Herself) Ah, I want to put my feet up. I've had it.
SOUND: (TELEPHONE RINGS)
Kate: (TO HERSELF) Stop. I'll unplug it. . (SHE UNPLUGS THE PHONE)
There. I don't want it to wake you up Rosalee. I should carry you to bed but you look so peaceful there on the sofa. I'll leave you for a minute.
That's what I'd like. Peace and quiet.
(SPEAKING TO ROSALEE ASLEEP ON THE SOFA) It won't be long now before Daddy's home again with us. Sleep now, sleep. When you wake, you will curl your little fingers around mine. I'll play tickles and peek-a-boo.
(SHE TURNS ON THE RADIO. THERE IS JAZZ MUSIC T. MONK. I-2 MINUTES)
Kate: Listen, that's jazz. That's what your daddy plays. He's brought music around the world and soon he's coming back to us. I bet he'll play something just for you.
Kate: I'll plug in the phone later tonight because he said he'd call to see how we are doing. And to say when he's coming home.
Then he won't go away again. He'll stay with us. The three of us tied together in a little bundle.
(THE SONG FINISHES ON RADIO AND ANNOUNCER SPEAKS)
V/O: The great sax musician Gerry Cooper died earlier tonight. He collapsed on stage during a concert in Tokyo, apparently due to a heart attack.
Kate: (In Anguish) No!
V/O: Cooper's music and style had a magical quality that took jazz by storm. He was at the end of a two-year long tour and was due to fly home to New York later this week. He will be greatly missed.
Kate: (CRYING) Ah Gerry. It can't be true. Someone would have told me first. Oh, the telephone. I must plug it in. Why do they make the holes so small? There. (SHE PLUGS IN TELEPHONE, IT RINGS)
Kate: Hello. Yes, this is Kate Cooper.
(SHE LISTENS)
Kate: Bad news? I heard something on the radio. I hope it isn't true. It is? Oh no.
SOUND :SHE LETS THE RECEIVER DANGLE AND DROP.
V/O: In tribute, this is Gerry Cooper recorded live in Paris.
(BRING UP MUSIC, GATO BARBIERI 'ADENTRA')
Kate: He'll be coming home now. But in a box. We knew there was a chance he'd die young if he continued with that music. It was part of the agreement. It was the chance we took. I knew it at the back of my mind but part of me had forgotten it. Perhaps I should have left him as he was. Not have fought for him. But no. That was no way to live. He wasn't himself. That wasn't Gerry. He and the music belonged to the world.
SOUND: COLD BLUE WIND
SCENE NINE:
MUSIC UP. NIGHT CLUB SET UP AGAIN.
Announcer: Welcome to the 'Blue Wind Club' , (MORE SOFTLY) 'the Blue Wind Club' (EVEN MORE SOFTLY) 'The Blue::..'
KATE WALKS IN AND SEES GIORSAL.
Kate: (ANGRILY) I should have known. The same night his mind went, the same night I get him back and the same night he dies. The night of the bloody blue wind. I hope you're happy now. He was coming back to me. (EMOTIONAL) And now he's gone. I'm left to bring up a daughter alone.
Giorsal: I'm sorry Kate. I really am.
Kate: He's not really with you, is he? I mean maybe he's not really dead.
Giorsal: I don't have power over life or death. But I do know that Gerry Cooper will live on in many ways.. His music. In your heart and through his little one.
Kate: You'll not take Rosalee away? I couldn't take another loss.
Giorsal: Rosalee was born lucky.
Kate: Thank God. How are you doing Dan?
Dan: Real well. I'm happy, Kate. In fact I'm so happy that they've put me away in the hospital at Bellevue a couple of times, (HE LOOKS AT GIORSAL) Ballinasloe to you. (AND BACK TO KATE) But they didn't keep me too long. Her majesty helped me get out.
Giorsal: Just practising my tricks. I have been teaching Dan too.
Dan: And we've been playing together a lot. I've been doing a little writing too.
Kate: So I've heard. But don't you have to stay in her world all the time?
Dan: The divisions between both worlds are thinner now. Thanks to Gerry.
.
Giorsal: Don't stand there too long Dan. The energy disappears.
Gerry taught us that too. He released the energy. The music. Life.
SOUND: A COLD WIND.
MUSIC UP- GATO BARBIERI AND MYSTICA. -2 TO 3 MINUTES- FADE MUSIC
THE END/ FIN
posted by sandbunting @ 5:58 AM
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