Brunger Four Play

new Auflage
ISBN: 978-1-78850-920-6
Verlag: Nick Hern Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 112 Seiten

Reihe: NHB Modern Plays

'There must be a part of you that's curious, right? About what it would be like?' Rafe and Pete have the kind of relationship people envy. Seven years strong, perfectly in sync... except for one little thing. Neither of them has ever been with anyone else. So, when they hatch a plan to scratch their proverbial itch, who better than mutual friend Michael? After all, Michael does this... right? And his partner Andy knows... right? What begins as an intellectual experiment in sexual exploration quickly escalates into a chaotic web of emotional vulnerability, betrayal and unanticipated desire. Jake Brunger's Four Play is a provocative stage comedy which interrogates the unspoken rules of modern relationships and the fragile balance between intimacy and freedom. It was first presented at The Old Vic, London in 2015, and was subsequently produced at Theatre503 the following year. This revised version of the play was published alongside the play's 2025 revival at King's Head Theatre, London, directed by Jack Sain and starring Daniel Bravo, Lewis Cornay, Jo Foster and Zheng Xi Yong.

Jake Brunger is a playwright, lyricist, and screenwriter from Nottingham now living in London. His plays include Four Play (Old Vic, London, 2015; Theatre503, London, 2016; revised version, King's Head Theatre, London, 2025). He is the co-writer of two West End musicals: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (Leicester Curve, Menier Chocolate Factory, Ambassadors Theatre; nominated for the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical) and The Great British Bake Off (Cheltenham Everyman, Noël Coward Theatre; nominated for four Whatsonstage Awards). Other stage musicals include Treasure Island (Bristol Old Vic, 2025), Jet Set Go, Red Riding Hood, Prodigy and Chicken Little. He wrote the feature film Love Sarah starring Celia Imrie and Bill Paterson, and was on the writing team for Tinsel Town starring Kiefer Sutherland and Rebel Wilson.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brunger, Jake

Leseproben

One

RAFE PETE MICHAEL

RAFE So the thing is.

Okay.

What the thing is.

Is that.

We’ve been together a long time.

Right?

Like, seven years?

(well, seven-and-a-half if we’re actually being specific…)

We met at university.

(End of our first year.)

And we sort of got together in secret at first.

(Neither of us were actually out at the time.) But our relationship blossomed and now…

Here we are.

Seven years later.

(Well, seven-and-a-half if we’re being…

specific…)

And we have good jobs…

Yes.

Quite a nice flat.

(rented, sure, but… one thing at a time…)

And Pete’s earning money now.

(I am as well…)

(not quite as much but…)

We’re doing alright.

Is what I’m trying to say.

[—]

But the thing is.

You see.

What the thing is.

Is that.

[—]

Pete is.

(And I…)

We are the only… person.

(man/boy (whatever))

That the other one has… with.

[—]

And

(As I’m sure you know…)

That’s unusual in our world.

I mean, in world that’s unusual; to be so blissfully happy in such a long-term relationship.

But particularly in world, you know.

It’s strange.

[—]

So what it is…

Michael.

We have a sort of conundrum:

We love each other. (Very much.)

And we have… good sex.

(We think)

But it’s the only sex we’ve ever had.

I mean, we’ve never even kissed another guy.

Never even brushed

(Well maybe brushed…)

against someone.

Like, even in a club.

Cos we don’t go to clubs.

Why would we?

It’s not like we’re looking to pick someone up and isn’t that what clubs are, a pick-up place?

[—]

I mean we’ve talked about our options:

– A break. (we don’t want that)

– An escort. (no way)

(… paying someone for their body?

I mean no shade to them, if that’s what they want to do –

‘Sex work work’ etcetera etcetera –

But , for ? Hmm…)

– Picking up a guy in a club (an option, yes, but you just don’t where that person’s – )

(disease-wise, right?)

– Or someone off Grindr.

It’s always a risk –

(I mean did you see what happened to that guy in Birmingham recently)

(entrapment, you know)

(and no one wants to get knived, do they?)

(is it knived or knifed…?)

(knifed, yes.)

[—]

So instead we arrived at something slightly…

Different.

We went through our mutuals –

People that we like.

And we came across…

You.

We clicked on.

You.

[—]

Because what we’re looking for is someone

who…

We’re not close to.

(Not like, enemies or anything.)

But someone that… neither of us knows better.

Someone we both like obviously…

– Facially.

– Personality.

But who isn’t going to cause problems.

Bump into us in Sainsbury’s or…

Give us gonorrhoea.

Pete and I arrived on you as the solution to our problem.

Someone we can…

‘Enjoy the company of.’

But one time only.

Literally only once.

Simply to solve our ‘conundrum’.

[—]

So…

What do you think?

[—]

What

Do

You

Think?

MICHAEL [—]

I.

[—]

Well…

[—]

RAFE You can…

Take your time.

MICHAEL [—]

I have.

[—]

A partner.

RAFE Yes.

MICHAEL Andy.

RAFE Right.

MICHAEL And.

RAFE We know that.

Obviously.

(we probably should have said)

That’s why we chose you.

MICHAEL For Andy?

RAFE Yes.

Because what Andy to this scenario is make it safe.

I mean you’re already happy…

Yay!

You’ll go back to Andy; we to each other and what we’ll have in all this…

Touch wood…

(well sorry, not… ‘touch wood’… I mean…)

Is satisfying that question.

[—]

What it would be like.

MICHAEL Okay…

RAFE Okay as in you’ll…

Do it?

MICHAEL No just, okay as in… I register what you’re saying.

RAFE Oh.

Sure.

MICHAEL So what you’re looking for…

Practically speaking?

Is like…

RAFE A liaison.

MICHAEL Right.

RAFE A one-time thing.

MICHAEL Forgetting about Andy and just…

RAFE Helping.

MICHAEL You.

RAFE Helping us.

MICHAEL With your.

RAFE Problem.

MICHAEL Conundrum.

RAFE That neither of us have ever even…

MICHAEL Brushed.

RAFE Another guy. Yeah.

MICHAEL O. Kay.

RAFE Okay as in… []?

MICHAEL So it would just be us three?

And we’d just like… have some fun?

RAFE Erm.

Well.

We were thinking…

MICHAEL Right.

RAFE What we were actually thinking.

MICHAEL Mm-hmm…

RAFE We’re looking for someone who can satisfy.

Both of our urges.

[—]

Indi

[—]

So there’s no.

I don’t know.

‘Messy issues.’

Who looked at who.

Who got more attention.

All the things you read about, right?

‘Pros and cons’…

[—]

This proposal.

(We feel.)

Is a way round that.

MICHAEL Okay.

RAFE O. Kay.

So.

Michael.

Just as a []…

What are you []?

Your initial… []?

MICHAEL Well.

I’m honoured.

Obviously.

That you feel we have a level of friendship that it wouldn’t cause any awkward scenes in Asda.

RAFE [—]

Sainsbury’s.

MICHAEL Yeah.

And even though this is quite a… big thing…

That you’re suggesting.

This… scenario?

RAFE Scenario… yes…

MICHAEL I mean…

In theory…

I’m… []

Would I have to do it one after the other?

Because I’m not sure how that would work.

(Anatomically, right…)

RAFE Oh no.

MICHAEL No?

RAFE Whatever you like.

One one night…

One the next.

Over a weekend.

A week apart.

We haven’t really given this much thought.

MICHAEL No…

RAFE Not really, no.

MICHAEL And after it’s happened.

This evening or whatever.

It’s.

Just a once thing, right?

RAFE Once. Yes.

again.

Just to see what it’s like.

MICHAEL Okay.

(I mean okay as in I get it.)

One time only.

One at a time.

One night after the other.

RAFE If that’s what you’d […]

Yeah.

MICHAEL And.

Andy?

RAFE...