DIMMER

A dramatisation of certain events

CHARACTERS

DWELLER: 38, dressed in blue jeans, a red flannel shirt and brown leather waistcoat. Speaks with a flat affect and unstable countenance.
THE RADIO: Contemporary household radio. Blue with signs of wear at each corner. Antenna slightly bent. Moves imperceptibly when speaking.
THE CRATE OF SCREWS AND HAMMERS: Red folding crate, filthy with dust and grime. Overspilling with tarnished hammers of all sizes and a heap of unsorted screws. Does not speak.

[Forty miles to the south a valley contains within itself a hallowed vale ringed by oak and hemlock saluted by pillars of sandstone in all directions. A cottage grips the slope of the western face and there, sitting, is a man faced opposite by a stout blue radio endlessly functioning. It jauntily elevates an arm towards the bay window in between and above the pair. THE CRATE OF SCREWS AND HAMMERS rests in the centre of the room and does not interrupt. A dialogue will be resumed but presently under the light of the moon the vale moans and shifts side to side. Beneath the wooden stairs carpeted with hessian the lantern centres the table at which DWELLER is located exactly. Regularly he raises his head from his lap where his hands are and grins with a knowing mirth that lets THE RADIO be aware of his intent. Suddenly he is adjusting the lamp to darken the walls that keep him.]

DWELLER: My friend, I am in the grip of the fecundic moon.

THE RADIO: I too, am in the grip of the lilac spoon.

DWELLER: There are no heights to reach anymore as the man before stated. Only one.

THE RADIO: Only one.

DWELLER: Yes, but notably distinct personae like to make pronouncements and they like to talk of swords.

THE RADIO: He forgot everything, about himself.

DWELLER: He did everything, about himself.

THE RADIO: Let us get ready. I’m getting ready.

[They both get ready]

DWELLER: [Rapping tabletop] Is there still something out there?

THE RADIO: This is fleeting. Why not record it?

DWELLER: You’ve become preoccupied by material distractions.

THE RADIO: Ah, [antenna extends fully to the window] but I move with the voice and come and go simultaneously.

[DWELLER gets up, pushes chair to the side, steps over THE CRATE OF SCREWS AND HAMMERS, walks up the stairs to the window, places left hand on the glass while his right fiddles with the blind cord]

DWELLER: Ah. I think we have both been transfixed by something. [lowers blind halfway]

THE RADIO: Is the peak still burning?

DWELLER: [moonlight illuminates his face] Yes, in the twilight it burns.

THE RADIO: We couldn’t stop staring, not even the rod withdrew our enthusiasm for the object of our inquiries.

DWELLER: First on one hand, then after that next on the other hand, we can see…[steps back suddenly from the window] That in actual fact we learned to speak in ways… [walks down the stairs and back to his seat, avoiding THE CRATE OF SCREWS AND HAMMERS by stepping over it] That had more feeling to them, wouldn’t you say? [Sits, crosses left leg over right]

THE RADIO: Yes yes good point yes.

DWELLER: Do you remember the name of the man on the peak?

THE RADIO: [retracts antenna fully to stowed position] I know only that he staggers about with a black-maned mare on the scree.

DWELLER: He saw something, down there, in the tavern, in the town, in the amphitheatre, in the town, it was his kin and someone whose face he could not see because it was not lit, in the corner, in the amphitheatre in the town.

THE RADIO: Notable existences are portrayed and transmitted. Several distinct cases replicate unbeknownst to the machinations of a contemplation which in itself is plotting a grip yet more total.

DWELLER: Truncated monuments.

THE RADIO: Trivial exuberance.

DWELLER: Would you make the life of one better for no reason?

THE RADIO: It would only be fair if an equal amount of people had their lives made worse for no reason.

DWELLER: I see.

THE RADIO: I,

DWELLER: Aye.

THE RADIO: Icy.

DWELLER: One year ago to this day, I know that you remember, the first decree reverberated across the land. The wires allowed the passing forth of all the words the leaders could muster in service of the plan, which continues to go ahead. Even now there are directives being carried out and completed, marked down as such and new directives sent off to other departments. Those who do not agree with the vision of the future as set out can add their voices to the opposition and speak in a tone much like that of the opposite of themselves. Time can only be measured by the procession of productive forces and the statistical, scientific results of the efforts taking place.

THE RADIO: I tire. [Falls off the mantelpiece with a crash] Will you next flee into details or generalisations?

DWELLER: They knew that something had to be done. [Steps over to the mantel, places THE RADIO back in its place] Do you remember how we both felt, how the whole of the country felt? We were so excited that something was going to happen. It had to start happening, you agree don’t you?

THE RADIO: Something had to start happening and it had to be that I am sure yes yes,

DWELLER: They had to put shutters there.

THE RADIO: They put them there and gave us vision.

DWELLER: Yes. There.

THE RADIO: There.

Fin.

Tom Beed is a writer, actor and filmmaker. He has a degree in International Relations and Politics from Oxford Brookes University.