The Iron Rainbow : Part Five : Conclusion

 

JONATHAN : Good. (addressing Lizard) Can you find the music, Lizard? The tape is called ‘Greek Love Story’. Before it starts to play turn the lights off.

(Lizard selects the tape from the collection and puts it on the cassette player)

JONATHAN : When the music starts imagine you are on the shore of a beautiful, sunny Greek island. Then let your mind create the experience. The mind is like a labyrinth; with psychotherapy you can unlock all kinds of doors and passageways, and yes, eventually find what you are looking for.

(The lights are dimmed. The music starts. Images are projected onto the window to accompany the dialogue)

JASON : I think it’s a dick-head that only imagines a holiday.

JONATHAN : I thought you agreed to try it. If you believe in the relaxing powers of the technique there is a chance that you will feel some benefit.

JASON : Okay.

JONATHAN : Good. Focus your mind; as we said before the music started it’s  you and Marti relaxing on a sunny shore in the Greek islands.

(Pause)

JASON : It’s embarrassing.

JONATHAN : Fry your willie on the beach.

JASON : Okay, I’m frying my willie naked on the beach.

MARTI : Don’t forget I’m there.

JASON : It makes no difference, does it? Unless you are taking us all in and have an interest.

MARTI : Funny. (Sarcastic tone)

JASON : Don’t worry, nobody will think badly of us.

MARTI : Nobody will think badly of us (exasperated). You’re writhing naked on the beach right next to me. Also when I’m on holiday I always get a surge of adrenalin on the beach.

JASON : You’re not relaxing.

MARTI : No, I can feel your body press against mine, that probably has something to do with it. You would think there was no room.

JASON : I’m drunk, that’s why. I have just had five cans of lager and I am feeling the pleasure of take-off. The warm sea is brushing our brown feet in a regular rhythm as it comes and goes with the waves.

MARTI : So, we are both sun-kissed and petted by the sea.

JASON : That’s more or less the picture.

MARTI : Mmm........... luxury.

JASON : I suppose it is................... millionaire pleasures doing sod all.

MARTI : Yeh, easing away the dull pain of too much reality.

(Greek music ends)

(Chesney Hawkes ‘Friends and Lovers’ music begins)

JASON : I can see two girls coming over here. They must be interested.

MARTI : Good, your imagination is improving.

(Pause)

JASON : Yeh, they are good looking, aren’t they?

MARTI : You are telling me they are. They’re great.

JASON : Do you think they are from England? If they aren’t we won’t be able to speak to them.

MARTI : I don’t think it matters, do you? You are getting carried away.

JASON : No, they are gorgeous that’s all.

MARTI : Is your body aching for them?

JASON : B***** off.

MARTI : I wouldn’t.

JASON : What can I say as an opener?

MARTI : Oh, I want you now.

JASON : Yes, their naked bodies are heaven.

MARTI : They are friends and lovers, that’s why.

JASON : Close your eyes.

(Pause)

JASON : Now, if they come here regularly we would be okay.

MARTI : Unfortunately I don’t think they will step out of the illusion.

JASON : No, it’s just wishful thinking.

MARTI : Yes, they are the fantasy dream girls.

JASON : That is fantasy island to me. It has got nothing to do with Ricardo Montalban and a squeaky-voiced dwarf.

MARTI : Mmm........... I felt that wave brush the shore.

JASON : It’s a pity they have to go.

MARTI : Goodbye girls, see you again.

(Music ends)

(Greek music of type played at start of visuals starts)

JASON : The beach is almost deserted, but I can see four figures walking this way.

MARTI : It’s you know who.

JASON : Oh yeh, Lee, Ken, Jon and Lizard have turned up.

MARTI : The fun’s over lads; you will have to make do with enjoying the climate.

JASON : (aside to Marti) Luckily they haven’t seen those girls. I can tell because they aren’t jealous of us.

MARTI : Yes, we are still all good friends.

JASON : I will remember this, like a one night stand during the day.

MARTI : Mmm... the dream girls and the fantasy island.

(Pause)

JASON : Our mates here maybe have their own memories of that day.

MARTI : Yes, we don’t know what the four of them did.

JASON : At the end of the day we are back together on the shore and feel the first wave that covers our bodies completely. We have all been kissed by a dark-scented sea.

(Music ends – Lights come on again)

JONATHAN : I don’t expect you to tell me that you feel better but I know it’s done all of us good to give our minds that sort of fantasy break. I think our sensual imagination is achieving results.

LEE : Yes, although I was just sat here and did not say anything this time, I feel this kind of psychic astro-travelling has a value.

MARTI : It’s not astro-travelling. Fantasy girls have a value, yes, but nobody can be really content with something that does not exist. Are you suggesting we make do with these psychic travels?

JONATHAN : No, not if we could actually go somewhere exotic. But really you are missing the point. It’s an exercise in itself, to establish some sort of feeling between us.

LEE : Yes, I know now that feeling is what is beyond good and evil. Some people might even say that love is beyond good and evil. But in the end it is the serpent’s tooth which is the nexus of our Iron Rainbow.

MARTI : I will go along with that.

KENNETH : What about Julian’s ARC idea? Do you still think that is true and that it exists as a sort of eternal bridge?

LEE :  Let’s put it this way. I now feel it’s a lot more complicated. I think we are all aware of our situation: we have Accepted it, we are Resigned to it and, like most people who want to get by without making too many waves, particularly when we have been sea-sprayed already, we are all Complicit.

KENNETH : At least you are straight-talking.

LEE : Yes, the world is hard, and there is only one reality. You don’t have the choice of an enhancement. But you do have the chance to show devotion.

KENNETH : I feel I know a lot more about how people tick since I came here. It’s been like a sort of university of life: the two pairs of feet strategically placed on a T shirt idea taken to new levels of meaning.

(Enter Susan – She appears at the door downcast and serious. It becomes very quiet and attention is focussed on her. She is obviously about to break bad news)

SUSAN : (Looking sadly at Ken) I’m afraid the person involved in your case has just died, Kenneth. The police will want to interview you again. Don’t take it too badly but it does change the nature of your problem completely.

KENNETH : (Shattered and shocked by the news, he speaks almost inaudibly) Do you want me to come now?

SUSAN :  No, it will be an hour or two yet. Why don’t you spend some time working out what you are going to say to them.

KENNETH : Yeh (Pusillanimously)

(Kenneth moves to exit)

SUSAN : I’ll come and see you later.

(Kenneth exit)

LEE : Poor sod, he’ll be in for it.

JONATHAN : Mmm........ he never did have any luck. He has been pushed in the holly bush one last time. Do you remember he told us that he was the most popular candidate for getting shoved into it?

JASON : Yes, I remember that. Things haven’t changed for him.

JONATHAN : No, things are now as bad for him as they are for me.

LIZARD : Yes, he was just beginning to sort his life out too. You all took the piss out of him but I think it did him good really. It brought him out of his dream world, as you put it, Jason.

JASON : Leave me out of it. I think he is just a loser and now it’s obvious he’s a serious one.

LIZARD : We are all getting as depressed as he must be. Nothing has even been decided and we are presuming the worst.

SUSAN : Yes, there is always the possibility of justice, even mercy, so don’t give up, lads.

LIZARD : Please Susan, no more psycho-pep.

JONATHAN : Psycho-pep, psychotherapy, it does you about as much good as listening to my shitty poetry in the end. I only........................

(A scream of terror from backstage.......... It is Kenneth)

...............believe in disillusionment. (Barely voiced)

JASON : Oh no.

(Susan runs off set, to ascertain what is happening. Lizard, Jason follow)

JONATHAN : It sounds like it’s more than a cry for attention. I didn’t think he was that one. I hope he’s not dead.

LEE : Finding out that fella died has pushed him over the edge. Why didn’t somebody talk to him. He will have felt like a murderer.

JONATHAN : No, I think he just could not face a possible jail sentence for manslaughter.

LEE : There’s no prizes for putting the boot in now.

JONATHAN : Sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I just feel he’s given up. I’m facing a possible manslaughter charge and have put up with it. I would have talked to him about the issues, in fact I still will, if he’s okay.

LEE : It sounded bad to me. Does he have a knife?

JONATHAN : Not that I know of. I can’t imagine him stabbing himself.

LEE : Well, he’s done something serious.

MARTI : You two sound like two old women. You make me sick.

LEE : There isn’t anything we can do for him.

MARTI : No, there isn’t. All I know is that you are not very bothered or you would not say anything. If he is dead there will be a bitter feeling here for a long time. That will shut you up.

LEE : Nobody wanted this to happen, and yes, we’ll feel the effects of this for a long time to come.

(Noises offstage – People moving around)

What’s Jason doing........ He must realise we want to know how Kenneth is.

JONATHAN : This is him now.

(Enter Jason stony faced, taciturn and unresponsive he stands at the door devastated)

JASON : He’s killed himself.

(Silence – Pause)

JONATHAN : How did he do it?

JASON : He linked up the lamp flex to the wash basin and switched on.

JONATHAN : So, he is burnt.

JASON : Yes.

(Enter Lizard)

LIZARD : It’s a terrible sight back there, a real mess.

LEE : He must have had a brainstorm. Even if it proved to be a manslaughter verdict and he was given a sentence for it he wasn’t really guilty; they would have taken that into account. A person dying after an incident doesn’t necessarily mean it is manslaughter anyway. He didn’t give himself a chance.

JASON : He wasn’t selfish enough, that’s why. You know he never put any of our principles into practise. That’s why he’s dead.

LIZARD : Don’t be so f***** cynical. He’s dead because we live in a bastard society and he was unlucky.

JASON : Okay I’m sorry. None of us are afraid of death, are we? (Mocking, disbelieving tone)

LIZARD : No, none of us. I don’t think he was a coward but I didn’t think he would give up that easily. He used to say he never knew what he was getting when he got drugs here. The wrong sort of medication can unbalance the mind just as much as stabilize it.

JONATHAN : I didn’t know he was taking anything.

LIZARD : Yes, he was on tranquilizers. He was unstable. They obviously weren’t enough.

JONATHAN : He doesn’t need tranquilizers now (Slight pause) If there is anything other than this world he will know now.

LIZARD : You get all the hell you need on earth. I can’t believe there’s anything better or anything worse either.

JONATHAN : No, I can’t. What you see is all there is. I wish he was still here. Why don’t you two sit down? I think I want tranquilizers.

MARTI : (In a sarcastic tone) Why not go into a psychotherapy session?

JONATHAN : Somebody has died.

MARTI : Cracking up won’t bring him back. There is nothing anybody can do now, but the way society is run today he is probably better off.

LEE : Yes, at least it’s all over for him now. He was never happy. He once asked me if Julian’s ARC was like a rainbow and all I did was give him a load of rubbish about the serpent entwining itself around the ARC no matter what you called it. I should have tried to bring out the colours in that rainbow, because the ARC can be seen in that way and then maybe this would never have happened. Now I am left wondering if the dome of life’s temple has been shattered or its clear glass merely stained vermilion with blood. And as for the ARC paradigm, what did we really see here, an understanfing of its pattern in each of our lives, or only a reflection of it in the mirror of the world?

(As the final musical item is played a flashback sequence of scenes from the drama can be projected onto the window at the back of the set.)

(Before the flashbacks  - Lights dim – music starts. Mole and Norman appear in one doorway, Susan and Len appear in another. Then the flashbacks start)

(The snake which is painted on the back of the set becomes luminescent with rainbow hues, so a large rainbow arches through it at the end of the sequence)

(The rest of the cast members who are grouped together show some physical conjunction)

(End the Music)

CURTAIN