Once Before I Go

Phillip McMahon

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350280083
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

You can paint your placards 'til the cows come home, but until you have marched through this town in five inch heels and fishnets, you will never know what it is to truly be a faggot on the front line. Told against the backdrop of Dublin's burgeoning gay rights movement of the 1980s and 1990s and the contemporary LGBTQ+ community of today, Once Before I Go charts the close friendship of Lynn, Daithí, and the luminous Bernard, and sits on the exhilarating edge between comedy, tragedy and melodrama. Exploring the fragile yet resilient bonds of Irish queer lives across three decades in Dublin, London and Paris, the play steps between the early days of the AIDS crisis and today's LGBTQ+ community, living in an era of marriage equality, gender self-determination, and untransmittable HIV. At once political, joyous and heart-breaking, Once Before I Go honours the fabulous people we lost along the way, and celebrates those who fight on. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Dublin's Gate Theatre in October 2021.

Part One

London. 2019.

The living room-come-kitchen of Daithí’s (sixty) flat that takes up one floor of an Edwardian terraced house in Stamford Hill, London. The space is clean but sparse. The room feels like there used to be more stuff in it, but now the place is approaching empty. A couple of brown moving boxes sit in a corner and there are small piles of clothes and ‘things’ dotted about. Lynn (fifty-nine) stands holding a gift bag in one hand, containing cold white wine, and a tote bag in the other, its contents unknown for now. It’s her first time in this room. Jase (twenty-two) stands semi-naked. He is a trans man. Importantly for his story, he is on hormone therapy but has not had any surgery to date. His breasts are bound and he wears boxer shorts. He lives here.

Lynn and Jase scream at the unexpected sight of each other.

Jase Who the fuck are you, man?

Lynn Cover yourself. Please.

Jase I live here. This is my front room.

Lynn is clearly not a threat. She looks like someone’s mother. She stares at Jase, confused by his body. Jase, embarrassed by his binding now, pulls on a t-shirt.

Jase Stare all you want. I don’t apologise for my body.

Beat.

Lynn Would you mind putting some pants on? Please.

There’s a momentary stand-off. Jase leaves and returns immediately with pants on. He pulls a hoodie over his head.

Jase If you were a bloke, I’d have called the police already.

Lynn That is actually sexist.

He reaches for a phone.

Jase Have it your way.

Lynn Don’t call the police. I actually don’t mind sexism in certain circumstances. Holding doors and stuff like that – I’m fine with.

Jase Why are you still in my house?

Lynn Yes. Exactly. Well. I’m looking for someone. A friend. Daithí? I was given this address.

She checks a scrap of paper in her pocket.

Jase You got given bogey intel. It’s just me and Dave here.

Lynn Dave. Yes. Daithí – it’s the same name. My age? Sixty? Irish?

Jase Irish, yeah, I think so. ’Cos we’re going to Ireland soon, ain’t we?

Lynn (surprised) Really?

Jase But sixty? Nah. His profile on the apps definitely says forty-nine. Like, my grandad is sixty.

Lynn Is he here?

Jase He’s at a meetin’.

Lynn On a Saturday morning?

Jase If I was lyin’, yeah – it’d be up there with the most boring lies ever told.

Lynn Do you mind if I wait for him?

Jase You do you, bruv.

Jase moves some books from a chair.

Have a seat.

Lynn moves to the chair.

Jase I’ve got a bit on this morning so I can’t entertain you.

Lynn Sure.

Jase makes to leave.

Jase But if I did have time, you’d discover that I am very very charming.

He exits. He comes back straight away.

And I’m single, so if you know anyone around my age who isn’t intimidated by extremely good-looking people, hook me up.

Lynn Oh, I /

He leaves and comes straight back.

Jase I’ve got a lot of love to give and I just want the same in return, you know?

He exits, not waiting for a response. The hall door slams. It’s Daithí. He calls from the hall. Lynn stands alert when she hears his voice. Her body stiffens – she hasn’t heard his voice in over two decades.

Daithí (from off) Jase. Put the kettle on. I got bacon and egg rolls. Your Halal place wasn’t open – some thug put a brick through the window – so you can just pick the bacon off or bless it, or whatever you need to do.

(Entering.) Jase.

On seeing Lynn, Daithí drops what’s in his hands. Two bacon rolls spill onto the floor as does a strawberry milkshake, making an almighty pink mess. Lynn bursts into tears.

Daithí Fuck!

He goes to the floor to rescue what he can.

Lynn I would have called but I don’t have your number.

Daithí Pass me that cloth there.

She grabs a tea towel and hands it to him.

Daithí (cleaning the rug) This rug is Persian. It has survived wars and fires and floods.

Beat.

For fuck ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• The Once Before I Go Company
• The Gate Theatre Company
• Cast
• Contents
• Once Before I Go
• Dedication
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• eCopyright