My First Draft

Goodnight, Sweetheart- Monologue 1^st Draft

Previously in the play, we have followed the life of Private Freddie Peterson, a young man who was called up to war when he was 22yrs old. We have met his parents, Edith and William, and his two younger twin sisters, Rita and Penny. At the end of Act One, Freddie found out that his wife, Lucy, is pregnant. The start of Act Two was a monologue by Freddie, reading a letter from his wife. From this letter, we discover that Freddie has been in the trenches for months and his wife has given birth to a son, she called him Charlie.

(Set in the trenches of the front line in France during WW1. The stage is set up to look like the cross-section of a trench with the centre of the stage being open as the trench. Stage left and stage right are higher platforms and they form the walls of the trench and no-man’s land. All over the raised ‘no-man’s land’ are large wooden crosses/stars that are wrapped with barbed wire and there are holes and shallows etc. The back of the stage is higher and built up with debris; like pieces of wood, dead trees and mud piles. The back wall of the stage is a projected backdrop that can change. At the beginning of the monologue, it is black to signify the night sky. In the trench, there is an exit leading off the back for the actors to enter and exit through. Lanterns hang from the walls of the trench on stage right, the side that the actors enter and exit from. There are ladders leading up the left side walls and men are clutching rings. There are lots of men all cramped together with the main character at the front with the other principle roles. Sergeant Nichols is barking orders, and the men are making anxious noises. They are preparing to go over the top. The stage lights are a dim yellow, exaggerating the light from the candles/lanterns. As Sergeant Nichols blows the whistle, all the lights dim until the only light is coming from the on-stage lanterns etc. This leaves no-man’s land in darkness. Every action slows down, the men start to slowly climb the ladders but Freddie stands still, facing the trench wall.)

Pause

Freddie: (breathing heavily) Everything seems to slow down. I know that can’t possibly be true but that’s how it feels. I can feel the air stirring around me as the others brush past and climb the ladder in front of me. The air feels cold; it makes the hairs on my arms rise, gives me the shivers. Or maybe it’s just that someone has stepped on my grave. That’s what Pa used to say. Pa (sigh)...he would think me a coward. (Pause) I’m stuck here; I can’t move, I can’t climb the ladder, I can’t fight. I try to swallow back my pitiful tears but the grains of mud in my mouth scratch the back of my throat and leave it raw.  My eyes are burning, my ears are ringing and my hands are shaking. And I still...can’t...move. Over my head the cries of the others, the braver men, echo. They travel down the trenches, carrying the pain their owners felt. Those cries linger and they’re shrieking in my ears. COWARD!

(Another man is still in the trench and he inches towards Freddie. He opens his mouth to yell.)

Freddie: (still facing the trench wall, yelling) OI! GET UP THERE YOU COWARD! GET UP THERE AND FIGHT!

(The man edges closer towards Freddie and lifts his rifle.)

Freddie: (meekly) He’s yelling at me. He’s calling me a coward. He says that I have to go up there or he’ll shoot me himself, Sergeant’s orders.

(The man cocks his rifle and aims at the back of Freddie’s head. He is about to fire the shot when another man emerges from the darkness and starts to descend the ladder. The soldier who was about to shoot Freddie swings around and shoot the other man instead. With the loud bang, Freddie’s head snaps towards the man and he begins to scramble up the ladder.)

Freddie: (muttering) He shot him, he just turned around and shot him. One of our own, he shot one our own, he shot him. I can hear him, he’s whimpering, he’s moaning; (crying) “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. God have mercy on him, God have mercy on me for my wickedness.” (muttering again) I’ve gotta get my head straight, gotta start thinking right.

(Freddie continues to mutter nonsensically. Everything is oddly still but the sounds of battle can be heard in the back ground. The stage is covered in the bodies of the men who went over the top. They lie scattered over each other and slumped on the wooden crosses. There is a slight yellow/red light fading in and the backdrop shows the sunrise. The positioning of the lights creates shadows and visibility is still quite low. A platform slides silently from the set and covers the trench and the lights in the trench go out. Bright flashes light the stage at intervals.)

Freddie: (muttering to himself) Gotta keep going, gotta think straight. (The lights flash) AH! It’s ok Freddie, it’s all right. Just a bomb, nowhere near you chap, just keep going, gotta keep going. Just ignore it, Freddie, just ignore it. You gotta keep going mate, you just gotta. No going back now Freddie, there’s no going back now.

(Freddie travels over the stage, jumping and shying at every sound. His muttering gets faster and louder until he trips over something and lands face to face with another soldier.)

Freddie: (shoving himself away from the body) Sarge! It’s Sarge! No... Sarge can’t be dead, he said himself, he’s been here too long to die now. No Sarge... stop it, stop looking at me. He’s just staring at me, his eyes are blank and lifeless but they’re staring at me. (Yelling) STOP STARING AT ME!

(Freddie scrambles back to his feet and runs, tripping over things as he does. He makes his way across the stage and scrambles back across again over the debris at the back of the stage. There is no light and all that can be heard is the sounds of Freddie’s heavy breathing and the blasts of bombs that are steadily growing louder. There is a bright flash of light and a loud explosion as he throws himself off the debris and onto the floor. He lands in a slight hole (like a shell hole) in the back left of the stage. He curls up in a ball and moans, clutching his head and chest and curling in on himself. Freddie is now covered in blood and it trickles down his face as he sits up among the debris, looking out at the audience. His breathing is laboured and the lights keep flashing, but the only sound is a slight ringing that is barely noticeable.)

Freddie: (squinting out into the audience) Ma? Is that you? I can see you Ma! I always knew you were right here with me! Who’s that behind you, Ma? (shaking his head) No... No, Lucy! It’s too dangerous for you here, you have to go home! (Gasp, whispering) Is that... Charlie? (A bloody grin on his face) My baby boy, my son... Ma, take them home! I need them safe, please! (Freddie’s head swings to the right of the audience.) Pa!? Please, Pa, take them home! All of you go back to England, please! Rita, Penny, you tell them. Tell them to go home!

(Freddie stops panicking and his face relaxes. He gazes pleadingly out at the audience and slowly starts to shuffle/crawl toward the front centre of the stage. The sounds of the bombs and guns increase as he gets closer and closer to the front.)

Freddie: They’re talking to me; they’re telling me stories about home, about good old Blightly and the village. Rita and Penny are talking about the time we tried to catch fish with our bare hands in the brook out behind the old wood. (He holds his hands out in front of him and looks at them in wonder) I can still feel the way the fish slid through my fingers, my clumsy hands no match for their slimy scales. (He tilts his face up) I can still feel the sun beating down on the back of my neck and Rita; you were complaining that you were too hot. You were so hot Rita that I had to throw you in the brook, d’you remember that? (He chuckles sadly) I do, that was the day we met Lucy. You heard us shrieking and came to see what all the fuss was about. That was always one of my favourite things about you Lu; you always had a sense of adventure. You were so curious about everything; we made a good team, eh? I always got us into trouble and you always got us out of it! Do you remember our wedding? Of course you do, how could I be so silly? (He smiles at his memory) You were so beautiful that day. When the church doors opened and you stepped in on your father’s arm, the light surrounded you like a halo. You were an angel, Lu, I married an angel.

(Freddie crawls forward as if in a trance and as he reaches the front of the stage, the lights flash brighter and more frequently and the noise gets louder and louder. Freddie looks around him desperately.)

Freddie: (Panicking) NO! I want more time, I need more time! I’m not ready to die yet, I want to go home, I want to see Lucy, and I want to meet Charlie. I want to play with my sisters at the brook and help Pa in the shop. I want to hold Ma and tell her that this isn't the end. I will see you again; I promise I will see you again.

(The noise grows louder and louder and the flashes are brighter and faster, like strobe lighting. Freddie scrambles to his feet and tries to run, but trips over everything. We hear the shouts of other men, Freddie's friends, yelling lines from previously in the play that describe their perception of what you feel the moments before you die.)

Freddie: (yelling) I love you Lucy! Tell our son about me! Don’t let him forget me! Pa, I’m scared, help me to be brave, please help me to be brave! Don’t leave me here on my own Ma! I NEED you, please don’t leave me here Ma! NO!

(With a final bright flash of light, and a roar from Freddie, the stage is black and silent. The lights come up in a dim red wash, showing that the stage is littered with bodies. They are piled on top of one another and they are draped over the wooden crosses covered with barbed wire. The men cover every space of the stage, with Freddie lying among them. The lights go down.)

Speech Count: 780       Stage Direction and Info Count: 1078