MOJO
Mojo was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in Sloane Square, London, on 14 July 1995, with the following cast:
SILVER JOHNNY | Hans Matheson |
SWEETS | Matt Bardock |
POTTS | Andy Serkis |
BABY | Tom Hollander |
SKINNY | Aidan Gillen |
MICKEY | David Westhead |
| |
Director | Ian Rickson |
Designer | Ultz |
Lighting Designers | Ultz and Mark Ridler |
Sound Designer | Paul Arditti |
Composer | Stephen Warbeck |
The production transferred to the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in St Martinās Lane, London, on 10 October 1996, with the following cast:
SILVER JOHNNY | Daniel Newman |
SWEETS | Callum Dixon |
POTTS | Neil Stuke |
BABY | Paul Reynolds |
SKINNY | Darren Tighe |
MICKEY | Simon Kunz |
Characters
in order of appearance
SILVER JOHNNY, seventeen
SWEETS, early twenties
POTTS, early twenties
BABY, twenties
SKINNY, early twenties
MICKEY, thirties
Act One takes place upstairs at Ezraās Atlantic in Dean Street, Soho, July 1958.
Act Two takes place downstairs in the club and starts around 6 p.m. on the same day.
ACT ONE
Scene One
Upstairs at the Atlantic. SILVER JOHNNY stands alone. We hear the drums, the thudding bass, the screams from the club below. SILVER JOHNNY does steps by himself, tight, menacing, explosive, like a boxer in the seconds before a fight. A low distorted voice announces the act, the girls scream, but he keeps them waiting. The music rises, faster, louder. It reaches its height, SILVER JOHNNY stands at the top of the steel staircase. When the moment comes, he vaults into the stairwell and vanishes, enveloped by sound.
The drums pound on in the blackout. Suddenly they stop and the next second we are back upstairs at the Atlantic, after the show. SWEETS and POTTS are sitting at a table. There is a pot of tea on the table with three pretty cups, on a tray. The door to the back room is shut.
SWEETS. Is that brewed?
POTTS. Four minutes.
SWEETS. You want a pill?
POTTS. My piss is black.
SWEETS. Itās the white ones. Donāt eat no more of the white ones. (Pause.) So where is he sitting?
POTTS. Who?
SWEETS. Mr Ross.
POTTS. Heās on the couch.
SWEETS. Right.
POTTS. Mr Ross is on the couch.
SWEETS. Good. How is he?
POTTS. What?
SWEETS. Good mood, bad mood, quiet, jolly, upfront, offhand. Paint me a picture.
POTTS. Tan suit. No tie. Penny loafers. No tassle.
SWEETS. Uh-huh. Right. Does he look flush?
POTTS. Heās Mr Ross.
SWEETS. Absolutely.
POTTS. Heās a flush man.
SWEETS. Naturally.
POTTS. Ten-guinea Baltimore loafers. Suit sweat a year for you couldnāt buy. Shirt undone. Tanned like a darkie. Yes he looks flush.
SWEETS. Ten-guinea Baltimores? Fuck me briefly.
POTTS. Penny. No tassle.
SWEETS. Theyāre talking about it arenāt they... (Pause.) Okay. Okay. So whereās Ezra?
POTTS. Ezraās at the desk, but heās not in his chair. Heās round here to one side.
SWEETS. The Mr Ross side or the miles-away side?
POTTS. Round here to the side on the poochy stool.
SWEETS. Poochy stool. Good.
POTTS. Sit behind the desk itās like Iām the man. Like Iām trying to big you out. Sit round the side on the poochy stool, Hey Presto, weāre all a circle.
SWEETS. Okay. Okay. So whereās the kid?
POTTS. Couch.
SWEETS. Couch. Good.
POTTS. On the couch with Mr Ross.
SWEETS. Exactly. Let him see the merchandise.
They sit there, waiting for the tea to brew.
You know Beryl? She goes to me tonight, she goes, āWhen Silver Johnny sings the song my pussyhair stands up.ā
POTTS. Relax.
SWEETS. I know. I know. Her pussyhair.
POTTS. We just sit here.
SWEETS. I know. Her fucking minge. Her fur. It stands up.
POTTS. I see these girls. Itās voodoo. Shaking it like they hate it. Like they hate themselves for it.
SWEETS. In the alley. āGet it out,ā she says. āGet it out Iāll play a tune on it...ā
POTTS. One day heās asking his mum can he cross the road the next heās got grown women queueing up to suck his winkle.
SWEETS. Seventeen. Child.
POTTS. These girls. They shit when he sings.
SWEETS. Exactly. (Beat.) What?
POTTS. Mickey knows. They shit. He seen it.
SWEETS. They what?
POTTS. Itās a sex act. Itās sexual.
SWEETS. Hold it. Hold it. Stop. Wait. (Beat.) They shit?
POTTS. All over.
Beat.
SWEETS. What does that mean?
POTTS. Means they have no control in front of a shiny-suited child. Sad fucking world. The end. Iām going to use this as a rule for life: āAnything makes polite young ladies come their cocoa in public is worth taking a look at.ā
SWEETS. Good rule.
POTTS. Great rule.
SWEETS. Thereās got to be rules and thatās a rule.
POTTS. What time is it? Okay. Good. Sweets. Listen. (Beat.) When he announces it ā
SWEETS. Hey ā
POTTS. When Ezra ā
SWEETS. Hey. Hey ā
POTTS. If he takes you aside... (I know. I know. But listen) ā
SWEETS. Could be me could be you. Could be me could be you.
POTTS. Exactly. Iām planning. Iām... listen. He takes you aside tells you takes me aside, itās not important. For me thereās no difference.
SWEETS. Itās exactly the same thing. Me or you. Exactly.
POTTS. Exactly. Good. The important thing is whichever way it comes, when he announces it, when it happens, act āSurprised and Happyā.
SWEETS. Surprised and Good. Good.
POTTS. Happy and Good. Good. The end. Thatās four minutes. (Stands and picks up the tea tray.) What?
SWEETS. Absolutely. What? Nothing.
POTTS. Iāll be straight back.
SWEETS. Right. Good luck.
POTTS. Relax.
SWEETS. I am relaxed. Iām talking.
POTTS takes the tea into the back room. He closes the door. SWEETS lights a cigarette. POTTS ret...