Sadie
For Elijah
Characters
Sadie, fifties
Red, Sadieās uncle, sixties
Clark, Sadieās ex-husband, forties
Joao, Sadieās boyfriend, twenties
Mairead, Sadieās therapist, fifties
Scene One
Sadie stands alone on stage.
Sadie Where to begin . . .
We could start with my uncle, I suppose.
Red appears.
Red Hello!
Sadie Oh, youāre here?
Red Iām here!
Sadie His name was Red.
Red Not my real name.
Sadie Why did they call you Red?
Red I was a communist. A big union man. Forever fighting on behalf of the little fella.
Sadie I donāt know why I remember you like this. This isnāt how you really were.
Red What do you mean?
Sadie You were never this avuncular.
Red Am I not normally avuncular? I feel very avuncular.
Sadie But youāre not here.
Red Iām not what?
Sadie Well, youāre not really here now. Youāre in my imagination.
Red How do you mean?
Sadie You exist only in my imagination. Youāre not real.
Red Iām not real?
Sadie No. Youāre dead. You died about thirty years ago.
Red Fuck off.
Sadie Itās true.
Red What year is this?
Sadie 2020.
Red 2020?!
Sadie Thatās what I said.
Red But thatās the future!
Sadie Itās the present now.
Red Whatās it like in 2020? Is there robots?
Sadie No. Well, actually there are robots. But theyāre not very advanced. Everythingās done on computers now. Computers have taken over our lives. And mobile phones. Thatās probably the thing youād notice first if you were really here. Everybody looking at their tiny wee phones.
Red Aye I could see that coming. With the āyuppiesā and that.
Sadie Youād hate it.
Red So what else is new?
Sadie What else can I tell you . . .
Red I take it Ireland is finally united?
Sadie No way. And it never will be. But thereās peace.
Red Thereās peace?
Sadie Thatās right.
Red The boys put down their guns, did they?
Sadie They did.
Red And your lot too?
Sadie Indeed.
Red And what of that terrible man Paisley?
Sadie Heās dead now.
Red Good! I mean not good. You should never wish a man dead but . . . no fuck it, Iām glad heās dead. I hated that aulā bastard
Sadie Before that he was first minister.
Red What does that mean?
Sadie He was, the . . . āprime ministerā. Of Northern Ireland.
Red I donāt believe you.
Sadie He was.
Red But how could the good Catholic people of this country sleep in peace with that monster at the helm? Who could hope to keep such a tyrant in check?
Sadie Martin McGuinness.
Red Sorry, what?
Sadie Martin McGuinness was joint first minister alongside him.
Red What the hell are you talking about?
Sadie They sat in government together sharing power. And they became best of pals. People called them the Chuckle Brothers because they laughed at each otherās jokes so much.
Red This sounds made up.
Sadie I swear on your grave.
Red Well, I take back everything I said about him. If he was pals with Martin he couldnāt have been all bad.
But does this mean Ireland is still under the brutal yoke of John Bull?
Sadie Still part of the UK, yes.
Red The Brits are still there?
Sadie The army is gone. Thereās a devolved assembly where we all share power. At least, thatās the theory.
Red How can that keep both sides happy?
Sadie Nationalists think i...