FRANK. Oh God.
As FRANK enters the garage we hear his neighbour, BARRY, leaving a message.
BARRY (on answerphone). Hello, Frank. Are you there?
FRANK chooses not to pick up the phone.
FRANK. Barry, I told you not to use the chat-show hotline.
BARRY. I know you told me not to ring on your chat-show hotline. Are you there? Iāve left some tunes on my Korg for the opening theme. Theyāre in the keyboard memory under āChat-room-Garage-Music 1590ās styleā; one, two, and three. This rainās pouring all over my conservatory. Thereās leaks everywhere. So Iāve got to get up to the drains and clear them out. Live up. Bazza. Hope the jokes work.
FRANK gathers his school papers into a pile and hurries to prepare himself and the garage, multitasking at great speed. Possible tasks include:
Audibly searching through the Korg keyboard for the opening theme music.
Hearing and rejecting BARRYās suggested music for the opening of his chat show.
Changing from his rain poncho and worn grey teaching suit into his host clothes; the blue Whoās There? T-shirt.
Selecting and arranging the books and notes for the show.
Practising parts of his opening gambit out loud, āStratfordians!ā, etc.
Clearing boxes from the guest seating, weekend gardening debris, and tools, off the visible set.
Setting up the Minerva Britannia curtain frame on the desk and other props. And then focusing the web cameras and lights.
Lowering the painted backdrop tied to a ceiling crossbar, behind his desk.
Finally putting on his Steve Allen-style, chat-show glasses, and sitting.
While FRANK desperately sets all this up, the chat-show phone rings again on his chat-show desk and he eventually, in great frustration, answers it. A fast T-Mobile salesman from Madras is on the line. We hear the conversation, as we have heard BARRYās message over the chat-showās phone speaker.
FRANK. Barry. That music is wrong. I said classic tunesā¦
SALESMAN. Is that Mrs Carlton?
FRANK. Oh. No, this is Frank Charlton and youāre through to Whoās There? The International Shakespeare Authorship show. Weāre not live on air, but whatās your question?
SALESMAN. Hello. Are you Mr Carlton?
FRANK. Charlton. Yes, Frank Charlton.
SALESMAN. All right, Frank. Are you having good weather there, Frank?
FRANK. No, itās dreadful, raining. Why, whatās the weather like where you are?
SALESMAN. Here, itās very hot and lovely, thank you very much, Frank.
FRANK. Hot and lovely. Where are you?
SALESMAN. Madras.
FRANK. Madras. What is this, some kind of sales pitch?
SALESMAN. No, Frank, this is a free package offer.
FRANK. How did you get this number?
SALESMAN. All right, Frank, you are on our list, Frank.
FRANK. Please donāt call me Frank. You donāt even know me.
SALESMAN. Yes, I do, Frank.
FRANK. What colour hair have I got?
SALESMAN. Dark hair.
FRANK. Youāre just guessing. This is the problem with the whole world. No one knows anyone else. We meet at the end of wires, and guess about each other.
SALESMAN. Frank. If you purchased a mobile phone, you would meet people without wires.
FRANK. I donāt want to buy a mobile phone. Donāt call me Frank. You know nothing about me. You just think you know me because of something someone else has written about me on some list, which you have taken for granted to be true. Youāre probably a Stratfordian.
SALESMAN. Whatās a Stratfordian?
FRANK. A Stratfordian? A Stratfordian is someone who believes that the actor from Stratford-upon-Avon wrote Loveās Labourās Lost, for example.
SALESMAN. Didnāt he?
FRANK. Exactly. Why do you think that? Because someone told you to think that. Did you ever question it? No. You just bought it hook, line and sinker. Have you ever wondered how the man from Stratford could possibly have written Loveās Labourās Lost?
SALESMAN. No. How could he have done it?
FRANK. With extreme difficulty, I would imagine, when he has only just arrived in London, from God knows where, so how could he have ever developed the vocabulary and wit and learning of a university-educated playwright? How could he have learnt such intimate details of the Royal Court of Navarre in France?
SALESMAN. I donāt know. I never thought about it, Frank. It sounds impossible.
FRANK. Well, there you are. You never thought about it.
SALESMAN. Yes, I see. Thatās amazing. Frank, youāve convinced me.
FRANK. Really?
SALESMAN. Yes. Frank. Loveās Labourās Lost is very like Friends, isnāt it?
FRANK. Friends?
SALESMAN. Yes. You know you can watch Friends on your T-Mobile network phone for only sixteen pounds ninety-nine pence a month.
FRANK hangs up. We hear the chimes of six oāclock.