This passage from My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley takes place during Act Two, when the four characters come together to clear Doris’s house in Cheadle Hulme. Sharp emotions of grief and regret combine with long-established patterns of relationship to create a scene in which strong feelings simmer beneath every word spoken. ROSIE (enters with a flashlight, swings it round. Pause): Grandad? You in here? (Silence, listens.) Well if you are listening, I want to tell you that it was pretty stupid, what you did — I mean, leaving the house and stuff to Jackie. Mom and Gran were... Show more This passage from My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley takes place during Act Two, when the four characters come together to clear Doris’s house in Cheadle Hulme. Sharp emotions of grief and regret combine with long-established patterns of relationship to create a scene in which strong feelings simmer beneath every word spoken. ROSIE (enters with a flashlight, swings it round. Pause): Grandad? You in here? (Silence, listens.) Well if you are listening, I want to tell you that it was pretty stupid, what you did — I mean, leaving the house and stuff to Jackie. Mom and Gran were mega hurt, you know that? (Pause.) Grandad . . . ? I’d like to know, did you do it because you like Jackie best . . . or because you’re jealous? (Silence. Listens. A rustle. Rosie jumps, swings her flashlight round.) Mice. (Pause.) I’m not scared of you, Grandad, it’s the others who are. You didn’t get me. (Switches off the flashlight and goes out to garden through French windows, shutting them behind her. Enter Jackie carrying boxes and binliners. She puts these down and exits. Margaret enters with a bag and rubber gloves, guiding Doris. DORIS: Two months ago Saturday Jack died, and the house hasn’t been aired since. MARGARET: Well we can soon put that right, Mother. DORIS: I doubt it. Lights on suddenly and bright. Doris startled. JACKIE (re-enters): I turned the power on, and the water. DORIS: Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. MARGARET: Mother we have to see to clear up. JACKIE: You don’t have to worry about bills now, Granny, I’ve worked it all out. (To Margaret.) I’ve backed the van up the drive so we can load things straight in. DORIS: My lily of the valley! JACKIE: I couldn’t see. There’s snow over everything. DORIS: It was terrible on the expressway driving up. JACKIE: Have you had a good time in London? DORIS: . . . Terrible . . . (Still referring to the journey.) MARGARET: Yes well we’re here now, Mother. Have some tea, I’ve brought a flask. (Gets out the thermos and pours a cup). DORIS: I’m quite all right. You have some. MARGARET: I want to get on. JACKIE: Sit down while the house warms up. DORIS: I don’t want to be a nuisance to anyone. MARGARET (wavers, cup in hand): Jackie? JACKIE: Got sugar in it? MARGARET: Yes. JACKIE: You know I don’t. MARGARET: You’ve got no sense of compromise, have you? ROSIE knocks on the French windows with a white rose. MARGARET: Look at Rosie. DORIS: She’ll catch her death. MARGARET: She never does. (Lets Rosie in.) ROSIE: Look what I found! DORIS: Is it wax? MARGARET: A Christmas rose. DORIS: It’s dead. JACKIE: It’s not, it’s frozen. ROSIE: That’s dead. JACKIE: We could unfreeze it. ROSIE: Even you can’t organize roses to come alive. DORIS (going to French windows): They should all have been pruned by now . . . all blown down by the storms. ROSIE: C’mon, we can’t prune them now. DORIS: I don’t want whoever buys this house to think Jack and I didn’t know about roses. JACKIE: We can pay to have the garden done, before we sell. DORIS (stiff): All that money, and Jack would never spend a penny of it. ROSIE: Mum, can Jackie and I make a snowman? MARGARET: Rosie we’ve only got today and tomorrow to get this house sorted out. I don’t suppose Jackie wants us in her flat any longer than that. JACKIE: Mummy, you can stay as long as you like, you know that! MARGARET: You said you’ve even been using your bedroom to store paintings. JACKIE: That was before the exhibition. Anyway Rosie’s room is always ready. - Charlotte Keatley, My Mother Said I Never Should Show less
This passage from My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley takes place during Act Two, when the four characters come together to clear Doris’s house in Cheadle Hulme. Sharp emotions of grief and regret combine with long-established patterns of relationship to create a scene in which strong feelings simmer beneath every word spoken.
ROSIE (enters with a flashlight, swings it round. Pause): Grandad? You in here? (Silence, listens.) Well if you are listening, I want to tell you that it was pretty stupid, what you did — I mean, leaving the house and stuff to Jackie. Mom and Gran were mega hurt, you know that? (Pause.) Grandad . . . ? I’d like to know, did you do it because you like Jackie best . . . or because you’re jealous? (Silence. Listens. A rustle. Rosie jumps, swings her flashlight round.) Mice. (Pause.) I’m not scared of you, Grandad, it’s the others who are. You didn’t get me. (Switches off the flashlight and goes out to garden through French windows, shutting them behind her. Enter Jackie carrying boxes and binliners. She puts these down and exits. Margaret enters with a bag and rubber gloves, guiding Doris. DORIS: Two months ago Saturday Jack died, and the house hasn’t been aired since. MARGARET: Well we can soon put that right, Mother. DORIS: I doubt it. Lights on suddenly and bright. Doris startled. JACKIE (re-enters): I turned the power on, and the water. DORIS: Oh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. MARGARET: Mother we have to see to clear up. JACKIE: You don’t have to worry about bills now, Granny, I’ve worked it all out. (To Margaret.) I’ve backed the van up the drive so we can load things straight in. DORIS: My lily of the valley! JACKIE: I couldn’t see. There’s snow over everything. DORIS: It was terrible on the expressway driving up. JACKIE: Have you had a good time in London? DORIS: . . . Terrible . . . (Still referring to the journey.) MARGARET: Yes well we’re here now, Mother. Have some tea, I’ve brought a flask. (Gets out the thermos and pours a cup). DORIS: I’m quite all right. You have some. MARGARET: I want to get on. JACKIE: Sit down while the house warms up. DORIS: I don’t want to be a nuisance to anyone. MARGARET (wavers, cup in hand): Jackie? JACKIE: Got sugar in it? MARGARET: Yes. JACKIE: You know I don’t. MARGARET: You’ve got no sense of compromise, have you? ROSIE knocks on the French windows with a white rose. MARGARET: Look at Rosie. DORIS: She’ll catch her death. MARGARET: She never does. (Lets Rosie in.) ROSIE: Look what I found! DORIS: Is it wax? MARGARET: A Christmas rose. DORIS: It’s dead. JACKIE: It’s not, it’s frozen. ROSIE: That’s dead. JACKIE: We could unfreeze it. ROSIE: Even you can’t organize roses to come alive. DORIS (going to French windows): They should all have been pruned by now . . . all blown down by the storms. ROSIE: C’mon, we can’t prune them now. DORIS: I don’t want whoever buys this house to think Jack and I didn’t know about roses. JACKIE: We can pay to have the garden done, before we sell. DORIS (stiff): All that money, and Jack would never spend a penny of it. ROSIE: Mum, can Jackie and I make a snowman? MARGARET: Rosie we’ve only got today and tomorrow to get this house sorted out. I don’t suppose Jackie wants us in her flat any longer than that. JACKIE: Mummy, you can stay as long as you like, you know that! MARGARET: You said you’ve even been using your bedroom to store paintings. JACKIE: That was before the exhibition. Anyway Rosie’s room is always ready. - Charlotte Keatley, My Mother Said I Never Should
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