“Well at least you got that bit right, more or less,” Lionel said in the darkness. Working light up,” he yelped.
Mum had re-clipped the bras, the cast gathered on stage, and we stood there waiting for Lionel’s further comments.
He seemed to have aged about out twenty years since the start of the rehearsal, and he had a look of desperation on his face.
“Well, my treasures,” he said, in a desolate tone of voice, “it seems we have a first class potential bloody disaster on our hands. The seduction scene is the whole point of the play and if you screw that up – and you are screwing it up – we might just as well not bother. Now the rest of you can go, but you, David, stay behind and I’ll try and teach how a seduction scene should be played.”
Mum cut in quickly, “It’s all right Lionel I’ll rehearse with David at home I think I know how to get the scene to work.”
I’m not sure if at that point mum did know how to make it work, but she knew Lionel’s sexual preference, and if he had his way, teaching me how to play a seduction scene would it probably turn into the real thing.
“Oh, but Kathy treasured one…” Lionel started to say, but mum wasn’t having it. “I’ll show David,” she said firmly, and it’s hard to argue with mum when she gets firm.
“All right…all right,” Lionel said, disappointment sounding in his voice, “It’s the weekend, so for God’s sake all of you, have those lines down for the Monday rehearsal – and Tina (stage manager) for God’s sake make sure of that blackout. The vicar is coming one night and we don’t want to provide him with sermon ammunition for the next six months about the decline in moral standards.”
With that we were dismissed.
Riding the Nightmares
As we drove home mum said, “We’ll work on that seduction scene tomorrow and see if we can’t get you over your bashfulness, after all darling, it’s only make-believe.”
She was right of course, and after all, smelly Mrs. Casey had wanted the role of Lady Primrose and I couldn’t imagine anything worse than getting into a clinch and kissing her.
I have to admit though, that Mrs. Casey came closer to my image of Primrose; you know, quite hippy and busty although her legs probably weren’t good enough for her to have been a chorus girl. Mum’s legs on the other hand would have made superb chorus line material.
I think the tension of trying to make love with mum on stage had tired me out because when I got into bed, it was “Blackout.”
In the past when I was appearing in plays I’d often had nightmares. These usually involved appearing on stage not knowing my lines, with my flies undone or with my trousers missing.
The dreams I experienced in this play had me stark naked on stage, or alternatively mother naked, and as a result of her nudity I had an erection that the audience could not fail to see.
I had been offered and accepted the role of Garth before I knew that mother was to play Primrose. Had I known about mother playing that role I would have refused Garth and taken the role of Ted the butcher’s boy who was in love with Myrtle, Lady Primrose’s personal maid.