This is a test
- 84 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Holes (NHB Modern Plays)
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
Three conference organisers and a teenage girl are the sole survivors of a fatal plane crash on a remote tropical island.
This hilarious comedy by the writer of Fresh Meat and Plebs premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013.
Frequently asked questions
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoās features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youāll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weāve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes, you can access Holes (NHB Modern Plays) by Tom Basden in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
One
Pale sunlight. A beach. The sound of birds and waves. GUS sits wearing a distressed suit, his arm in a sling made from his tie. On the other side of the stage sits ERIN, curled up into a ball, staring out to sea. MARIE lies on the sand next to GUS, asleep, also in officey clothes ā filthy and tattered. Another manās suit jacket lies on the sand next to GUS.
IAN appears at the back of the stage in his shirt and trousers. He has a holdall and a green-plastic case, which he throws down. He has an air of deadly seriousness.
IAN. Is everyone alright?
GUS. Oh, fuck off, Ian.
IAN. Pardon me?
GUS (gesturing offstage). Theyāre all dead!
IAN. Yeah, I didnāt mean them ā
GUS. Of course theyāre not bloody alright!
IAN. I wasnāt asking the dead. Clearly. I meant us lot.
GUS. Well, donāt say āeveryoneā then. There are only three of us.
IAN. Alright, chill ā
GUS. Youāre not in charge.
IAN. I didnāt say I was in charge ā
GUS. Youāre trying to make out like youāre looking after us or something ā
IAN. Iā¦ What am I meant to say then?
GUS. Asking if everyoneās alright is what, you know, the main character in a film would do.
IAN. What do you want me to say then?
GUS. Nothing. Donāt say anything.
IAN. Literally just asking a question. Anyway, there are four of us, soā¦
IAN gestures to ERIN on the other side of the stage.
You alright there? Mate?
Nothing from ERIN. IAN looks back at GUS.
Got anything out of her?
GUS shakes his head. Beat.
And Marieās not woken up yet?
GUS. Yeah sheās been awake for several hours now.
IAN. Okay. Terrific. Sarcasm. Thatās really useful. In a crisis.
IAN crouches down next to MARIE.
GUS. What are you doing?
IAN. We should wake her up.
GUS. Why?
IAN. She might be in shock.
GUS. Then what?
IAN. Marie?
GUS. Leave her.
IAN. She wonāt sleep later on.
GUS. Does that matter?
IAN. Iāll put her in the recovery position.
GUS. No, donāt move her. That might make her worse.
IAN. The recovery position might make her worse? Iāve heard it all now.
IAN goes to touch her.
GUS. Ian! Just fucking leave her.
IAN. Okay, look, I realise that this situation isnātā¦ ideal, Gus, but even so, youāre being extremely irritable and irritating to everything I say. And do. I know youāre shaken up andā¦ so on, but ā
GUS. Iāve broken my bloody arm.
IAN. And Iāve cricked my neck! Badly. But forgetting numero uno for a second, weāve all, weāre all hurting, you knowā¦ (Gestures to ERIN.) She may very well beā¦ no offence, mate, brain-damaged soā¦ the important thing is that we donāt take it out on each other. We keep it civilised.
Psssh. IAN opens a tiny can of Sprite from his pocket. He holds it out for GUS. Beat.
Mini-Sprite. From the plane. Obv.
GUS takes it.
GUS. Thanks.
IAN. Pleasure.
IAN roots through the holdall.
Got some other stuff as well. Mini-Cokes, mini-pretzels, mini-nuts, or, well, normal-sized nuts but the bags are mini. Massive Toblerones. A torch. Found a torch. For night-time. Or for shining at ships. Morse-coding with them, you knowā¦
GUS. Okay. Good.
IAN takes out a plastic bucket and spade.
IAN. Umā¦ bucket and spadeā¦
GUS. What?
IAN. From one of the kidsās hand luggages.
GUS. Youāre going to make sandcastles are you?
IAN. No Iām ā
GUS. What are you doing with a bucket and spade?
IAN. Iām going to dig a mass grave. For the dead so, you knowā¦ Got a problem with that? (Beat.) And Iām going to dig a well as well. For fresh water.
GUS (about the Sprite). This is fine.
IAN. We need a better solution than Sprite. We need to make a plan.
GUS. No we donāt.
IAN. In case weāre not found for some time ā
GUS. Theyāll find us. Theyāll realise weāve gone down and sort it out.
IAN. Well, who knows?
GUS. I know. I bloody know. Davidson needs us. Heāll sort this out.
MARIE wakes up with a start. She sit bolt upright.
MARIE. Ugh!
IAN. Marie. Are you alright?
MARIE. Oh my God, I canāt feel my arm.
IAN. Oh shit, really?
GUS. You were lying on it.
IAN. Yes, you were fainting on it.
She shakes it. Wincing. A lot of pain apparently. GUS watches her dispassionately.
What is it?
MARIE. Pins and needles. Ah God. Thatās horrible.
GUS. Iāve broken my arm.
MARIE. Mm. Ahhhā¦ (Flexes her fingers.) Itās coming back now.
IAN. Are you alright otherwise, Marie?
MARIE. Iām all sandy. Where are we?
IAN. Some kind of island or archipelago.
MARIE. Wellā¦ why?
GUS. The plane crashed.
IAN. We crash-landed.
MARIE. What?
IAN. I firemanās-lifted you from the smoking wreckage.
GUS. As I say, Iāve broken my arm, so I couldnāt.
IAN. Gus broke his arm because his tray table was down ā
GUS. Fell down.
MARIE. Umā¦ are you serious?
IAN. About which bit?
MARIE. The plane crashed?
IAN. Yes, it did.
MARIE is stunned. She looks round and sees ERIN.
MARIE. Ooh. Is she with us?
GUS. What? Yeah, of course, she doesnāt live here.
MARIE. I donāt remember her from the plane ā
IAN. I do. She was near us at the back. Probably hence why she survived.
MARIE. Who is she?
IAN. Donāt know. Sheās not speaking. She may well be simple or foreign. Or both. Or shy.
MARIE (to ERIN. Loud). Parlez-vous Anglais?
IAN. No need for the vous form there, Marie, youāre much older than her. (To ERIN.) Hallo. Essen sie Deutsch? FrƤulein?(To the ...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Author Thanks
- Epigraph
- Original Production
- Characters
- Holes
- About the Author
- Copyright and Performing Rights Information