scenes from the site of the former Gas Works on Whitworth Street West.
Scene 1
P and S are standing under an archway which is blocked at the back by a black brick wall. The archway is one of many making a bridge over the city centre on which trains pass overhead. The wall reaches to just over head height. The street is above them behind a low barrier and you can see people walking by. Behind them is carpark.
P is wearing a rubber mask and has a cigar in his mouth. S has half a clarinet in his mouth.
They make an exhaling sound together and stop.
S squats down and fiddles about on the floor. P joins him and picks up a fork which he scrapes on the black brick wall as S plays the clarinet.
P stops and tries to light his cigar with the fork. He can’t see properly because of the mask. S blows a note from the clarinet in his face.
A sleight of hand. The fork is now a lighter. P offers it to S. S stops playing the clarinet and tries to light the cigar.
Sound of flint sparking repeatedly.
S raises collar of jacket to shield the lighter from the wind. S gives the lighter back and starts playing the clarinet again. P offers him the lighter. S stops and tries to light it again. P shouts. S starts playing the clarinet. P tries to light the cigar. S pulls out a straw and plays this making a kazoo sound. The cigar is now lit and the two face each other each with an appendage, straw and cigar in their mouths. P smokes furiously at S while S blows the kazoo straw at P.
S picks up the clarinet again raises it to a 45 degree angle and blows a note. P pulls it out of his mouth.
S pulls out the straw again and starts to blow at a 45 degree angle. P pulls it out his mouth.
S pulls out a Chinese mini clapper drum and starts to play it. P pulls it out his hands and runs down some steps leading away from the arch.
He stops. S runs up behind him brandishing a record and tries break over his head but P runs away as S brings it down. S chases P into the distance along the length of the bridge. P turns the corner at the end. S doesn’t see this and hides behind the last corner with the record raised thinking P will double back.
P makes a honking sound as he appears on the street level above and the two run parallel back to the original archway. P climbs down and S shatters the record over his head.
Scene 2
Access to the arch is blocked off by black fencing about 10 feet tall. There are slats so you can look through. On the fence is a sign that says “CCTV in operation” Looking through the fence you can see the arch with steps and the black brick wall. There are wooden pallets, plastic wrapping, green and blue bins filled with rubbish, a cone, one of those metal security barriers and one of those orange barriers they use in roadworks piled up in the archway. Looking down the length of the bridge you can see a newly concreted yard with someone’s moped at the end where another security fence stands. To the left is a 4 storey grey glass and concrete structure. A taller building lies just beyond a similar structure which is red.
Access from the other side is also blocked off with a metal fence about 10 feet tall which has the motif “1stst” cut out of the metal at regular intervals. Looking in you can see the archways and a newly concreted yard as on the other side. There is some cardboard packaging leaning against the side of the nearest arch.
David Birchall 