Assignment 3:Drama

Untitled by Alan Brereton

 Background- Characters Tony is 22, he’s Irish, well educated and is openly gay. He’s also tall, well-built, good looking and he insists on wearing the most outrageous clothes. His hobbies include socialising, working out and fishing.He works voluntarily(for the moment) as a fishing instructor  teaching the underprivileged – young and old – the art of fishing in an inner city community centre. Dave is 19, he’s also  Irish and is not well educated. He is small in stature and is not well built. He’s a low maintenance guy, no frills. He prefers to dress casually. He’s not uptight about his appearance; in fact he’s not good looking and is generally repulsive to people. He likes watching TV, going to the pub and fishing of course.He is unemployed since his recent  failed attempt at the leaving cert and shows no desire to look for a job. He’s a bum! Setting The scene is set in a large community hall; Tony (22) is standing at the back of the hall next to his PowerPoint production: Fishing- Week 7. He is wearing a salmon coloured tee-shirt and an outrageous pair of ripped jeans.Only two people (Dave and Timmy) have turned up for this lecture representing a 2000% decline in the popularity of the course since its induction.Dave is a regular attendee to the lectures, and is sitting at the front of the class as usual. He is very enthusiastic about the course and isn’t shy about asking questions. Assignment 3  Dave: Ah… Mr Tony, Sir?  Tony: Yes David?  Dave: You know the saying: ‘There’s plenty more fish left in the sea’?  Tony: Yes?  Dave: Well I went fishing in the sea the other day and all I caught was a cold!  Tony   [looking bemused] Dave, that saying doesn’t literally refer to fish you know; it’s             an old allegory, referring to… [pause] well you don’t have to know. Anyhew,             you know this isn’t the best season to fish at sea. Most fish have emigrated,                   they’re gone off to a warmer climate for the winter. You’re best off waiting til             spring to go fishing again in the sea.                Dave: Really, is that so?   Tony: Yes, It’s so…so   Dave: Well I can’t really wait til Spring.   Tony: You’re going to have to wait. You know patience is something you will have to             learn. It’s an essential quality to have in the fishing practice.     Dave: [getting angry] I don’t need to learn to have patience. I’m usually a very patient person!    Tony: Patience isn’t sitting on your backside all day waiting for something good to             come on TV.   Dave: Well I’m better off sitting on my hole because I’m getting paid for it. I don’t              have to do anything if I don’t want to do it.  Tony: What are you doing here then? What are you hoping to gain from this experience?   Dave: [hesitates] Um, I don’t know… I like fishing and I think I’m good at it. It’s pretty                     much the only thing I’m interested in at the moment. It gets me out of the house          aswel I suppose, which pleases the mammy.   Tony: Good, well if it’s your only interest then perhaps you will take more of an interest            in what I’m trying to teach you. I don’t provide this service for nothing you know.   Dave: You mean it’s not free?   Tony: No, it’s free. What I mean is that I don’t want to be wasting my time. I want to           help people like you and old Timmy over there to fulfil their potential. In that,          I mean helping them to become as good as they can at fishing and thus feel good           about themselves as a result. I’ll be satisfied if I achieve that.  Dave: Do you think I have potential then?     Tony: Well, you’ve more potential than Timmy anyway, he’s going blind and he’s             already deaf as a doornail!   Timmy: Wha?   Tony: No, seriously though, I think your potential is limitless. You could be a fishing          superstar!   Dave: Wow!, just like ‘the salmon of knowledge’!   Tony: …Yes   Dave: You know nobody has ever said anything good like that about me before. My             parents have never encouraged me to do anything, to be anything. My dad always            said that I’d amount to nothing, and so far, I guess, he’s being proved right.    Tony: You shouldn’t listen to your dad. Listen to me, I want to help you.    Dave: My dad says not to listen to you. He says: ‘what does a poof know about fishing?’           ‘ye people, all ye do is talk about fashion and hairdressing!’          Tony: Well that’s unfortunate, the way he thinks. I’ve heard it all before though. People           are often willing to criticise others for what they are without having a notion of           what they’re about. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean that I’m destined to be a          hairdresser! I’m passionate about fishing. I have been ever since I  watched          ‘Free Willy’ as a child   Dave: Ya, me too!    Tony: Well I guess we’ve more in common than we thought!   The End