Page 9 - All That Fall

[...]
Mrs. Rooney: Poor woman. All alone in that ruinous old house. [...]. Is that you, Christy?
Christy: It is, Ma’am.
Mrs. Rooney: I thought the hinny was familiar. How is your poor wife?
Christy: No better, Ma’am.
Mrs. Rooney: Your daughter then?
Christy: No worse, Ma’am.
[Silence.]
Mrs. Rooney: Why do you halt? [Pause.] But why do I halt? [Silence.]
[...]
Excerpts from All That Fall
Play the sound bars on
[...] Mr. Rooney: Poor Maddy! [Pause. Children’s cries.] What was that?
[Pause for Mrs. Rooney to ascertain.] Mrs. Rooney: The Lynch twins jeering at us. [Cries].
Will they pelt us with mud today, do you suppose? [...] Mr. Rooney: Did you ever wish to kill a child? [Pause.] Nip some young doom in the bud. [Pause.] Many a time at night, in winter, on the black road home, I nearly attacked the
boy. [Pause.] Poor Jerry! [Pause.] What restrained me then? [Pause.] Not fear of man? [Pause.] Shall we go on backwards now a little?
[...]
Mrs. Rooney: Jerry! [Jerry halts.] Did you hear what the hitch was? [Pause.] Did you hear what kept the train so late?
Mr. Rooney: How would he have heard? Come on.
Mrs. Rooney: What was it, Jerry?
Jerry: It was a—
Mr. Rooney: Leave the boy alone, he knows nothing! Come on! Mrs. Rooney: What was it, Jerry?
Jerry: It was a little child, Ma’am.
[...]
Mrs. Rooney: What do you mean, it was a little child?
Jerry: It was a little child fell out of the carriage, Ma’am. [Pause.] On to the line, Ma’am. [Pause.] Under the wheels, Ma’am. [Silence. Jerry runs off. His steps die away. Tempest of wind and rain. It abates...]
Mrs. Rooney: Backwards? [...]
The performers falling (2020).