genius
and so turned me
into a little corner of his greatness. No!
I shall be valued for me
and for what I knew I could do upon this stage!
And for what I, Lizzie Barry... how I...
I took the heat of my own soul and moulded it
and turned it into a wondrous thing
and so triumphed.
If I can help you to that triumph,
I'm not so devoted to the trumpeting of
my own works that I would wish to take credit.
So you say now.
But in the ale house, when the play is done,
and the talk is of my Cleopatra,
will you not glide towards your cronies
with a "I taught her that piece of business"
or "She could not be heard in the gallery
until I instructed her in a trick or two"?
Madam I offer my services
If you see no advantage in them,
they can as easy be withdrawn.
You could buy my slit for a pound a night, sir.
I would not mind that.
But I think you would not have it so.
What I think you want is power over me,
which I do bridle at.
For it is only I who can do what you say I can do.
If you wish to play a part in this
I would strongly know why
Ask yourself what you want from the theatre.
I want the passionate love of my audience
I want when I make a sweep of my arm
to carry their hearts away.
And for when I die, for them
to sigh for never seeing me again.
Till the next afternoon.
There is your answer.
I want to be one of that multitude.
I wish to be moved.
I cannot feel in life.
I must have others do it
for me here in the theatre.
You are spoken of as a man
with a stomach for life.
I am the cynic of our golden age.
This bounteous dish,
which our great Charles and our great God
have, more or less in equal measure, placed
before us, sets my teeth permanently on edge.
Life has no purpose.
It is everywhere undone by arbitrariness.
I do this and it matters not a jot
if I do the opposite.
But in a playhouse,
every action, good or bad,
has its consequences.
Drop a handkerchief
and it will return to smother you.
The theatre is my drug.
And my illness is so far advanced
that my physic must be of the highest quality.
Oh, my lord,
on those conditions,
I endeavour to do what you want.
What I want is that we meet again tomorrow
to consider Ophelia.
Ophelia?
Mr Betterton will revive Hamlet next month
and you will play Ophelia.
Ophelia then if you wish.
But let us not neglect
the lesson in Mr Etherege's speech.
And what is that?
That women
should ever view men with suspicion.
I shall be happy to return and address our work
with that instruction
written on the inside of my skull.
- Do me now.
How?
Mouth.
Trembling,
confused,
despairing, limber,
dry,
A wishing, weak,
unmoving lump I lie.
This...
.. dart of love,
whose piercing point, oft tried,
With virgin blood 10,000 maids have dyed,
Now languid lies in this unhappy hour.
Shrunk up...
.. and sapless,
like a withered flower.
I have a feeling this is going nowhere
I have that feeling, too.
I've met this woman.
Lizzie Barry
That new actress?
- She ain't no looker
- There is spirit in her.
When a gent sees the spirit
and not the eyes or the tits,
then a gent is in trouble
Would you call me a cynic, Jane?
I'd call you a man who pretends
to like life more than he does.
Is that a cynic?
I'm just a moll-sack I don't do questions
If I am a cynic,
how have I fallen in love with a plain woman,
whom I do not know?
You saw her on stage.
All the colours and them poems they say.
Gives them a glow
- You've seen her out of the theatre?
- No.
Well, then it's not her. It's the theatre.
That or
Or what?
They say men fall three times.
First is calf love.
Second is the one you marry.
And third?
Third
Third is your deathbed bride.
You sniff her, you sniff your own shroud.
Ah.
How you have cheered me.
Go home and sleep.
- I don't want to sleep.
- Then go home and think.
- I don't ever want to think again.
- John.