The lighthouse keeper’s wife
by Charles J. Fourie
A play for Grade 10
Home Language
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Foreword
The lighthouse keeper’s wife consists of six acts. The play itself is preceded by an
introductory paragraph on key features of drama followed by notes on the
following:
•Character and characterisation
•Plot
•Structure
•Freytag’s Pyramid
•Setting
•Stage directions
•Dialect
•Theme
The next section contains biographical notes about the playwright, Charles J.
Fourie, an overview of the play and ideas to consider both before reading and
while reading.
A glossary is included at the end of the play, followed by questions on the play
and an essay question.
The obvious thing to do with this play is to read it as a text, just as you would if
it were a short story or a novel. But it holds other possibilities as well.
•It could be read aloud, with four learners taking the different roles while the rest
of the class follow along in their books as the audience,
•or the class could be divided into groups of four to do the play reading in
groups so that everyone gets a chance to read aloud.
•It could even be staged, with auditions to choose the best cast, who will learn
their parts by heart and perform for a wider audience than their classmates, with
costumes and props on a set, just as the playwright intended.
•The play could also be the source of other activities in the classroom such as
improvisation, role play and writing.
Drama offers the possibility of enjoyment along with a growth in empathy,
teamwork and language skills. We hope that this play will serve you in all those
ways.
Key features
Literature appears in different genres: prose (novels and short stories), poetry
and drama (plays). Drama differs from the other genres in that living actors in
costume tell the story by performing it on a stage for an audience.
For this reason the layout of a written play separates the words the actors speak
(the primary text) from the information they or their director might need. Below
the title you find the list of characters (the dramatis personae). Their names, in
bold and capital letters, followed by a colon, down the left-hand column,
indicate who speaks the words opposite.
The playwright hopes to make sure that performances agree with how he
pictures them, and so he or she will add guidelines, in italics, for the setting
•costumes
•lighting
•sound (music or noises)
and will include stage directions in italics, usually in brackets, that tell the actors
•when to appear on stage or leave (ENTER/EXIT)
•how they are feeling
•how to say their lines
•and, sometimes, where they should stand and who they are addressing.
Introduction to The lighthouse keeper’s wife
What is ‘drama’?
No matter how realistic all the components are that go into a particular play or
its performance, you know that it is not reality itself. What is expected of the
reader or the audience is the suspension of disbelief, which means a willingness
to overlook the limitations of the stage so that they do not interfere with the
experience that the playwright intends.
There is normally a producer and/or director who guides the actors, but it is up to
the actors to perform and take on the role of the character they portray. The notes
below tell you more about the actor’s craft.
This play is given to you to read, but it can also be performed.
The lighthouse keeper’s wife is prescribed for you to read, but your class can
also perform it.
Character and characterisation
Characters are the people portrayed in a play. Characterisation is the way
in which these people are portrayed.
A playwright cannot describe a character to the audience, he or she has to allow
the words and actions of the character, and how others behave towards or speak
about the character, to reveal what kind of person the character is. The
playwright can also describe the actions and costume of the character. All of
these are ways in which a character is characterised.
Different types of characters fulfil different roles in a play. Here are four
distinctions that are useful for understanding these roles:
•Major versus minor characters. A major character is central to the development
of the plot and to the resolution of conflict, a minor character less so.
•Round versus flat characters. Round characters are complex and usually
undergo development (see dynamic below). They are often conflicted. A flat
character usually has a single character or personality trait and is likely to be
static.
•Dynamic versus static characters. A dynamic character changes during the
course of the play, usually through facing a crisis or resolving a conflict. It is
often the case that a major character is both round and dynamic.
•Protagonist versus antagonist. The protagonist is the main character, invariably
faced with a conflict that he or she must resolve. The protagonist might not be
virtuous or admirable (Macbeth, for example) but if the play is to succeed, the
audience should nevertheless feel involved in his or her conflict and, if possible,
empathetic. The antagonist represents the opposite – the obstacle in the
protagonist’s way.
In this play, Stella Lamprecht is the major character; she gives the play its title
and it is her interactions with the other three characters that drive the plot. She
can thus be seen as the protagonist. She is sufficiently complex to be considered
a round character, and she is dynamic in that she changes – in fact she loses her
mind – when faced with her virtual imprisonment on the island and in her
marriage.
The three other characters all have big parts, but their personalities remain
unchanged throughout the play and they can therefore be seen as static and flat.
Each of them in his own way represents an obstacle in Stella’s way and can
therefore also be seen as antagonists.
Character can be revealed directly, for example by the playwright adding notes
to the list of characters or when one of the characters talks about another.
However, plays generally rely on revealing character indirectly through the
words and actions of the character, and how others behave towards or speak
about him or her.
Plot
Story vs plot
These terms are often used synonymously to refer to the chronological sequence
of events in the play. There is a difference, however. Plot refers to story, too, but
includes the idea of causality. It is concerned with how and why the events are
related to each other, and includes coincidence as well as cause and effect.
A writer might begin a play by telling the audience how it ends. In talking about
the plot you would mention this distortion of the chronology, but in re-telling the
story itself you would do so in strict chronological order.
Conflict
Conflict is at the heart of a story, driving the plot to its resolution. There may be
several points of conflict in a single story, each of them involving some
incompatibility between the drives or objectives of two or more characters or
forces. The outcome will be in doubt, and this creates tension and interest.
Structure
Gustav Freytag was a German novelist and playwright who in 1863 developed
what is known as Freytag’s pyramid. Although he based his analysis on ancient
Greek and Shakespearean drama, it is widely quoted nowadays even although it
is often impossible to apply it to modern drama. Students are nevertheless
expected to be familiar with its terms and to examine the degree to which it
applies to plays that they are studying.
Freytag’s pyramid
Freytag’s pyramid divides a drama into five parts, or acts: exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.
•The exposition introduces important background information to the audience;
for example, about the setting, or events preceding the main plot, or characters’
background stories.
•The rising action consists of the series of events that begin after the exposition
and build up to the climax.
•The climax is the turning point, which changes and decides the protagonist’s
fate, often requiring him or her to draw on hidden inner strengths or revealing
his or her hidden weaknesses.
•During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the
antagonist unravels in favour of one or the other of them. It may contain a
moment of suspense, with the final outcome of the conflict still in doubt.
•The dénouement follows the falling action and concludes the play. Conflicts are
resolved and there is a release of tension and anxiety. A comedy ends with the
protagonist better off than before, whereas in a tragedy the dénouement may well
be catastrophic, leaving the protagonist worse off than at the beginning of the
play. Although the six acts in The lighthouse keeper’s wife do not correspond
with the five acts of a classical play, the elements of Freytag’s Pyramid are
present. The first two acts are both the exposition, since their purpose is to
acquaint us with the four characters and their attitudes to each other.
The ‘rising acting’ begins in Act III with Barney’s destruction of Plaatjes’ boat,
and it rises further in Act IV where tensions mount during Barney’s visit to the
Lamprechts.
Lamprecht’s cutting out of Plaatjes’ tongue in Act V is the climax of the play. It
is the dreadful fulfilment of Lamprecht’s jealousy and the turning point in
Stella’s grip on sanity.
During the ‘falling action’ in Act VI we see how Stella has responded to Plaatjes’
inability to speak by using the very words he used earlier in the play. They are
united in being victims of captivity. Stella being fitted with a strait jacket is the
dénouement that concludes the play.
Setting
The setting of a play forms the backdrop for the action, telling the audience
where and when it takes place. The entire story might unfold in one place in one
play, whereas others may use several settings.
The setting may be more important in one play than in another, but it usually
reflects the social context of the play, determines the mood and is a basic
consideration in staging a play. The setting in The lighthouse keeper’s wife is
particularly significant since it is both an actual prison in Plaatjes’ case and a
metaphorical one in reflecting Stella’s captivity in her marriage.
Staging refers to almost everything you see in a performance and much of what
you hear. It includes props, costumes and scenery, light and sound, and even the
movements and grouping of the actors.
Stage directions
Playwrights differ in how much help and control they provide by way of stage
directions, which are usually embedded in the text. They are distinguished from
the dialogue in this anthology by being written in italic script and enclosed in
brackets. Their purpose is to guide actors in transforming written words into live
performance.
The lighthouse keeper’s wife includes detailed stage directions. Act I, for
example, includes almost as many words in brackets as are spoken by the actors.
Dialect
The way people speak reveals their social context. Words that are used only by a
particular social class or culture might be used to show where the play is set, but
might also tell you about the character. It might also influence your reaction to
the character, intentionally or not.
Barney and the Lamprechts use standard English, but Plaatjes mixes languages
and includes slang and ‘biblical’ phrases.
Theme(s)
The theme of a play is the point it is trying to make. It reflects the playwright’s
views, but instead of arguing them logically as in an essay, the play provides the
audience with an emotional experience that leads them to seeing the point. If the
subject of a play is what the play is about, the theme is the playwright’s point of
view on the subject.
What is the subject of The lighthouse keeper’s wife? The play is about a prisoner
on Robben Island who uses driftwood planks to build a succession of boats in
which to escape. As each boat is about ready to launch, a prison warder destroys
it and the prisoner has to start over. It is also about a jealous husband who has
taken the job of lighthouse keeper on the island in order to prevent his wife from
being unfaithful. Both become insane as a result.
The theme is more difficult to pin down, and you should make up your own
mind about the playwright’s point of view. One possibility is this: keeping
someone prisoner is as likely to cause lunacy in the one who does it as in the
prisoner.
The lighthouse keeper’s wife
A play in six acts
by Charles J. Fourie
About the author
Charles J. Fourie staged his first play as drama student at the Windybrow
Theatre in Johannesburg and went on to receive the Henk Wybenga bursary as
most promising student in 1985. Since, he has written more than 57 new plays
for the stage in both English and Afrikaans, several radio dramas and also
television series for SABC, M-Net and KykNET.
His plays and radio dramas have engaged mainly contemporary South African
socio-political themes with staged productions like Big Boys (UK), Vrygrond,
Crimebabies, Stander, Goddess of Song, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife,
Vrededorp, The Parrot Woman (UK), Ella’s Horses and more recently his latest
play Sacrifice which received a BBC Radio Drama commendation in 2013.
On the international stage his plays have been presented by the LA Ensemble (in
Los Angeles), the Warehouse Theatre (London) where it was a ‘Time-Out
Critics’ choice, the John Caird New Director’s festival at the Gatehouse Theatre
(London), and more recently The Parrot Woman was staged at both the
Finborough Theatre (London) and the Oxford Playhouse (Oxford).
He has also been actively involved with promoting plays by fellow South
African writers abroad and hosted ‘A Season in South Africa’ staged-readings at
The Old Vic theatre in collaboration with Sir Anthony Sher and Janet Suzman.
During 2006 he was editor for the British publication New South African Plays,
published in the UK by Aurora Metro Publishers.
His work has received numerous awards and nominations including the Amstel
playwright of the year award for 1988 and 1992, AA Life/Vita award for best
new South African play in 1989/90, the SACPAC award for best new play in
1994, Sanlam/RSG radio drama award, KKNK/Nagtegaal best new Afrikaans
play 2005, the Maskew Miller Longman literary award for youth drama in 2008,
and more recently he was nominated for no less than six theatre awards at the
KykNET Fiesta awards and also an ATKV Woordveertjie award for drama.
His plays have been published in the past by AD Donker, Tafelberg, Nasou Via
Afrika, Maskew Miller Longman, Aurora Metro Publishers (UK), and Protea
Boekehuis.
About the play
Robben Island
Robben Island is familiar to us as the prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of
his 27 years as a political prisoner. However, the South African government only
opened it as a prison in 1961. Before that it was used to isolate various people
considered undesirable by the powers in charge at the time. This included
‘political’ prisoners such as the Khoi Khoi in 1591 and Xhosa captives during
the Frontier Wars between 1779 and 1878. It was also used for tuberculosis
patients during the early 1800s and later that century for lepers and the mentally
ill. The island was a hospital for lepers and the mentally ill from 1846 to 1931.
The lighthouse itself was built in 1864. One of the characters, Barney, refers to
strongman Tromp van Diggelen who was born in 1885. This places the time of
the play as the early 1900s.
What makes it suitable as a prison is that, in addition to the man-made
fortifications on the island itself, it is surrounded by icy, shark-infested water,
and the Cape mainland is seven kilometres away.
Plaatjes, a character in the play, mentions Makana, a Xhosa warrior who led an
attack on the British garrison in Grahamstown in 1819. He later surrendered and
was imprisoned on Robben Island. He and 30 other prisoners escaped by
swimming to the mainland, and although several of them survived, Makana
drowned. He had promised his people that he would return to them, so they
delayed his funeral rites for 50 years in the hope that he would. Nelson Mandela
and several other recent prisoners called for Robben Island to be renamed
Makana Island in his honour.
Under the apartheid government, political prisoners were held on Robben Island
until 1991 and criminal prisoners until 1996. Since then it has been opened to
visitors, and in 1999 was declared a World Heritage Site. Former prisoners are
employed as tour guides.
The lighthouse
Jan van Riebeeck arranged for a bonfire to be kept alight on the top of Fire Hill,
the highest point on Robben Island, to warn ships of the shallow rocks
surrounding Robben Island. The current lighthouse was built on the same hill,
now called Minto Hill, in 1864 and converted to electricity in 1938. Where all
other lighthouses along the South African coast use revolving lights, the Robben
Island lighthouse uses a flashing light.
Despite the warning light, over the past three and a half centuries many ships
have struck the rocks surrounding the Island and nearby Whale Rock. The heavy
Atlantic Ocean surf has pounded them to pieces. It is planks from these
shipwrecks that Plaatjes collects on the rocky shore and uses to build his boats.
Pre-reading
•Despite the hazards, a few prisoners on Robben Island have attempted to escape
by swimming. Most of them drowned. If you had been a prisoner, would you
have tried to swim to freedom?
•Do we all have an equal desire for freedom, or does it differ among individuals
and between cultures?
During reading
•Plaatjes has been detained on the island as a lunatic. The other three characters
are considered to be sane and normal. Question this as you read. Note the words
and actions of Plaatjes that seem to be perfectly sane, and any words and actions
of all four characters that strike you as abnormal.
•As you read, try to predict what is going to happen next.
CHARACTERS
PLAATJES:
An inmate of the asylum on the island
STELLA LAMPRECHT:
The lighthouse keeper’s wife
ADRIAAN LAMPRECHT:
The lighthouse keeper
BARNEY:
An assistant at the asylum
Act I
It is late afternoon. The structure of a small boat, built from bits of shipwrecks,
rests downstage right in a rock cove. Stage left, and slightly raised, the kitchen
and dwelling of the lighthouse are suggested. The rest of the stage and surrounds
is covered with beach sand, suggesting the white-washed interior of an asylum
and the island environs. PLAATJES, an African man of indeterminate age,
crosses the stage with a sack of driftwood on his back. He is dressed in a
weathered suit. He is barefoot and has a set of chains around his ankles. He
heads for the rock cove, stage right. He walks awkwardly.
PLAATJES: God knows. No more up and down empty corridors. Cold stone
jugs. Mijn baas. Mijn baas. No more shiny floors. Stench. Death. Decay.
Molimo. All those memories are blowing away. (Comes to a halt and fingers the
air; lifts his eyes toward the sky; traces the flight of a seagull overhead with his
free hand. We hear more seagulls in the distance.) Measuring floors. Corridors.
Listening. Cries. Whispers. Fears. God knows you must think, Plaatjes. Be
brave. No more sleepless nights. Wash your hands. Scrub your feet. Check the
chains. Scratch. Scratch. Watch the rats. Lice. Lice everywhere. Think. You must
think, Plaatjes. No more slipping into madness. Now is our freedom. Freedom.
(Approaches the structure of the boat in the cove. The boat is in the final stages
of completion. He sets the sack of driftwood down. Then he walks around the
boat. His hands gently follow the curves of his handiwork.) Be a new man,
Plaatjes. Find a new master. No more mijn baas! (Breaks into laughter)
Freedom! Hey’ta, freedom! She calls us in the wind! She sings to us! Come, my
captain, come and lead us from this place of desolation! (Returns to the sack
containing the driftwood and carefully unpacks the contents, laying each plank
down separately) My Flora. My Perseverance. My Dageraad. Timor. Kingston.
Yes. Yes. Gondolier. Hey’ta, my brothers. All the wrecks of all the ships is but
days in our hands. (Holds a plank to his chest) Bless this lucky day, my Lord.
(More seagulls overhead) We’re getting out of this place. True as God is my
creator. Leaving sooner than later. Let there be no doubt in the minds of the
foolish and the faithless. (Gazes up again and addresses the seagulls) Let it be
known, my brothers. Rise of dawn, we are leaving this place of weeping forever!
Ndidlala! Ndidlala! (Fetches a saw and bag from inside the boat. The noise of
chattering seagulls continues overhead; gets a wooden hammer from the bag.)
Give me ears, my brothers, and Plaatjes will tell you of that far shore calling in
the wind. Oh, how her sweet feet dangle in the waters of the docks. Old clock
tower is ticking away. (Looks at the horizon offshore) Looky her! She is dressed
to the nines. Her hair blows fresh in the southeaster. Shoes shining like a late
afternoon. Molimo! Her lips are red like grapes. Her eyes are blue as the
morning skies! (Paces toward the edge of the cove) Watch how she pulls that
blanket from the mountain around her naked shoulders. All night she waits there.
She knows we’re coming home. The days and hours are breaking in the waves.
Waiting for the day when the waters are calm as a whisper. The tides will be in
our favour. Looky how she smiles, my brothers! (Transfixed) She knows her
captain is coming home. Tomorrow we’ll walk her gentle shores and she’ll
welcome us as an old lover does. A lover one has not smelled for a long time.
She’ll take us in her arms and embrace us with tenderness. Like it was in the
beginning. I can see it happening. Clearly before my empty eyes … (Embraces
himself. A seagull chatters far off. He swings around to face the bleak figure of
STELLA standing at the edge of the cove from where she has been watching him
for a while. She wears a dress and a black shawl covers her shoulders. They face
each other. A long silence follows.)
STELLA: Plaatjes? (PLAATJES moves back and hides behind the boat.) Don’t
stop. It’s beautiful. Please?
PLAATJES: Hamba!
STELLA: The way you described the mainland just now. It was beautiful.
(PLAATJES gets up from behind the boat and spits at her.) I won’t hurt you. My
husband is the lighthouse keeper. You must have seen him around here? He’s up
in the lighthouse right now. (PLAATJES gathers the planks and climbs into the
boat. STELLA approaches the boat curiously.) Is this your boat?
PLAATJES: Suka!
STELLA: You’re quite a craftsman. Were you a boat builder before?
(PLAATJES spits at her again.) Two months now we’ve been here on this …
island. I believe you’ve been here much longer. Can you remember how long?
(PLAATJES suddenly jumps at her and pushes her away from the boat. She falls.
He stands over her threateningly with the hammer.) Forgive me … (PLAATJES
returns to the boat. She gets up slowly.) I won’t do anything to your boat. I
promise. (Takes off her shoes and watches him work) You live in the Kraal with
the others? (PLAATJES does not respond. She turns to face the ocean.) We were
transferred here from Port Nolloth. Skeleton Coast. Desolate place. Before that
Adriaan managed the lighthouse in Mossel Bay. You ever been to Mossel Bay?
It’s a beautiful place. Water is nice and warm. (Measures the distance to the
mainland) Do you think one can swim to shore? Sharks will probably get you.
Water is freezing. They say those who tried drowned. One day someone will
make it. Swim right across on to shore. I used to go swimming in the ocean at
Mossel Bay every day. I miss it now. (Motions with her arms) Gave me an
immense sense of freedom to be out there in the ocean swimming and
swimming. Adriaan used to say I’m like a mermaid. (Drops her arms and turns
back to PLAATJES) You’re going to do it, aren’t you? Escape with your boat?
(PLAATJES does not respond.) I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be our secret if you
like? (PLAATJES looks up at her and then continues to work.) On my way here I
saw the leper women down at the rock pool. Do you think the water will heal
them? They were naked and praying for each other. Bath of Bethesda they call it.
Strange. Everything on this island seems a little unreal. The lepers. Lunatics.
Hospital. Even the church seems a little out of place. And you, you don’t seem
like you’re real. Like you’re a ghost. You ever get lonely out here? (PLAATJES
looks up and smiles at her.) I suppose you don’t. You’ve got the boat to keep you
busy. I mostly read when I’m bored, or cook for Adriaan. Can you read?
(Seagulls chatter overhead. She looks anxiously toward the lighthouse. She
adjusts her dress and puts her shoes on.) I must go. (Takes a vetkoek from her
pocket) It’s getting late. Lamprecht will wonder where I am. He’s like that,
always watching … worrying about me. Says he loves me that way. (Leaves the
vetkoek near the boat) I’ll be back. My name is Stella, Stella Lamprecht. (Walks
away, then stops and turns) Wife of the lighthouse keeper.
(Once STELLA is out of sight, PLAATJES climbs out of the boat and picks up
the vetkoek. He smells it and puts it in his pocket. The seagulls chatter overhead
again. He climbs back into the boat and faces the ocean. He motions as if rowing
with a set of oars.)
PLAATJES: Laugh! Laugh! Mock! Mock! Plaatjes knows what Plaatjes knows!
Plaatjes goes where Plaatjes goes! Let the waters rise! Let the stars fall! Let the
moon be swallowed! We’re leaving this filthy place! (Behind him, BARNEY
appears in his hospital uniform. He is carrying a restraint jacket. PLAATJES
continues, unaware of BARNEY’s presence.) Our lady is calling! The bands are
playing! Sweet maidens of Papendorp are lighting up their lamps! The streets of
Kanaladorp are filled with cheers and laughter! They’re dancing on the Parade!
Plaatjes is coming. Plaatjes is coming, my brothers!
BARNEY: Hey, old Plaatjes! It’s getting late! You going to miss your supper!
Who the hell you’re talking to? Hah? There’s nothing out there but water, you
old fool! (PLAATJES climbs obediently from the boat.) Come on. Come. It’s
time to get you back to the Kraal. What’s that lighthouse woman want? I saw her
talking to you. You know you’re not allowed to talk to strangers. You could be
sitting in the Kraal all day counting your toes like the rest of the lunatics.
PLAATJES: Enkosi, mijn baas.
BARNEY: Ja, you better thank me. I’m the only friend you have in this place.
The Superintendent is quite ready to have you locked up in the darkest hole he
can find after the trouble you caused last week. Come here. (PLAATJES moves
towards him.) Hold it there! Hold it. Don’t come any closer. When last did you
have a bath, Plaatjes? Goodness, man, you smell like a sewage pit! (Holds the
restraint jacket up to PLAATJES) Get on your knees. (PLAATJES kneels.) Now
say it. Come on.
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: You don’t want freedom?
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: All cocky today, aren’t we? Talking to strangers? You think you can
fool me? I know you want this jacket. I can see it in your eyes. This jacket stops
your head from burning, doesn’t it?
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: Silences those voices in your head? Freedom … hey’ta freedom.
(Throws the restraint jacket at PLAATJES’ feet) Put the bloody thing on!
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: Put it on, man!
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: (Picks up the jacket again) What are you looking at me like that for?
Don’t look at me like that, you smelly old bastard! You know I don’t like it when
you stare at me like that!
PLAATJES: Plaatjes sees what Plaatjes sees.
BARNEY (forces PLAATJES into the jacket): Keep still, will you! (Slaps
PLAATJES against the head) That’s the new lighthouse keeper’s wife!
(Pulls PLAATJES up on to his feet) He nearly killed a man who just looked
at her! (Ties the restraint jacket) And now you talk to her? Hah! I must say
I don’t blame you. She’s a pretty one and I bet she’s lonely as hell out here.
Way she floats around the island all day. She needs a bit of love and care by
the looks of it … (PLAATJES points anxiously at the ocean.) What’s it with
you now? What do you see?
PLAATJES: Izulu elibi! Plaatjes sees it coming!
BARNEY: See what coming?
PLAATJES: Bad tides.
BARNEY: There’s no storm out there, man. Come on, let’s get you locked in or
else you’ll have to spend the night out here. And you don’t want the jackals to
come chew on your bones. (Suddenly grabs PLAATJES in a wrestling grip) Now
try and get out of this one! Hah! How does that feel? Come on. Try and break
free, man! It’s a Tromp van Diggelen grip!
(Behind them, LAMPRECHT the lighthouse keeper appears. He is a stark man
with a greying beard and he wears a thick jersey.)
LAMPRECHT: Good evening.
BARNEY: (Frightened, turns to see LAMPRECHT and quickly releases
PLAATJES who gasps for air as he falls to the ground) Mister Lamprecht! I
thought you were a ghost!
LAMPRECHT: Ghost?
BARNEY (gets up and goes towards LAMPRECHT): You don’t know?
This place is full of them. People say the ghosts of those Xhosa chiefs they
banished here years ago still roam all over. Ask old Plaatjes. He reckons he
can see them, says they speak to him …
LAMPRECHT: You see my wife?
BARNEY: Wife?
LAMPRECHT: Stella … she said she was going for a walk.
BARNEY: Not today, no. (Turns to PLAATJES) You see a woman walk around
here, Plaatjes?
(PLAATJES hides behind the boat.)
LAMPRECHT: What’s with him?
BARNEY: Lunatic. That’s his boat.
LAMPRECHT: Why is he not kept in the Kraal?
BARNEY: He’s been here so long makes no difference whether he’s kept in the
Kraal or works on his boat out here. Plaatjes, come here. (PLAATJES remains
hiding.) Little scared now. You think she’ll be all right … your wife?
LAMPRECHT: Does the Superintendent know about him and this boat?
BARNEY: Sure he knows. The boat keeps old Plaatjes occupied. Otherwise he’d
be running around the Kraal again telling everyone he’s a prophet. He was
caught on the mainland stealing vegetables. Told the magistrate he’s the saviour
… come to save his people. Since his wife died last year he’s really gone crazy.
LAMPRECHT (goes towards the boat): What does he want to do with the
boat?
BARNEY: Escape of course. But we make sure he doesn’t.
LAMPRECHT: Shame. How long has he been here?
BARNEY: Forever. I’ll tell your wife you’re looking for her … if I see her.
LAMPRECHT: You should come over to the lighthouse for a drink sometime.
BARNEY: You’re inviting me? (LAMPRECHT nods.) That’s really kind of you.
When?
LAMPRECHT: Sunday coming?
BARNEY: Sunday’s good by me.
LAMPRECHT: Sunday evening then. (Leaves them)
BARNEY: See what I told you! That man’s as jealous as a limpet to a rock.
(Drags PLAATJES from behind the boat) Come here! If he had to find out you
been making ways with his wife, he would’ve killed you right here. And then
what do I tell the Superintendent? Hah!
PLAATJES (breaks loose from BARNEY’s grip): Izulu elibi! I smell it! Bad
tides are coming!
BARNEY: Stop your gibberish! Come here, you old fool! (PLAATJES cowers.)
It’s time you face it. You stuck in this place for life. There’s no escaping for you
ever. You understand me? Say it! Yes, mijn baas!
PLAATJES: Yes … mijn baas!
BARNEY: Good. Now come … (Grabs PLAATJES by the collar) I kept some
nice chicken bones out for you from last night’s supper. And guess what? I’ve
gained another stone. Old Barney’s gained another stone and soon he’s going to
be as strong as an ox! I’ll become the next Tromp van Diggelen. My picture will
be in the newspapers. You watch and see. Old Barney’s going to be famous one
day! (Drags PLAATJES along. Seagulls chatter. As they leave, LAMPRECHT is
stage left, watching them. The stage darkens.)
Act II
A lamp on the table lights the kitchen area. LAMPRECHT is seated and busy
cutting tobacco with his knife. He coughs and then sips his coffee. Stella is
staring out the window.
LAMPRECHT: Cold air is not good for my lungs. Makes me weak in the legs. I
should order new vests from the depot tomorrow. All my vests got holes … and
new socks. I need new socks. It’ll be cold up there in the lighthouse this winter.
(Lights his pipe and then coughs again)
STELLA: You shouldn’t smoke.
LAMPRECHT: Ag what, there are so few pleasures left in the world. They all
kill in the end. Is there brandy? Might as well do the whole lot. Lord knows what
tomorrow brings. Feels like yesterday we were up in Port Nolloth and look
where we are today. (STELLA fetches the brandy.) Life changes course with the
blink of an eye, I tell you. One moment you’re drifting out in the calm, next
moment you hit a storm and life takes a twist. Just like that story about old
what’s his name?
STELLA: Prospero.
LAMPRECHT: Just like old Prospero. You still reading that? You can read me
some more if you like. I enjoyed it. All those people who get shipwrecked like
that. And then old Prospero teaches them all a lesson. Do you think he had a
lighthouse on his island?
STELLA: Who?
LAMPRECHT: Prospero, man.
STELLA: (Holds the brandy over LAMPRECHT’s coffee mug) How much?
LAMPRECHT: Two fingers. (STELLA adds two measures of brandy to his
coffee.) I walked over to the Kraal this afternoon. Spoke to the Superintendent.
He invited us for supper. Quite unexpectedly I might add. (Sips from the coffee
mug) Told him we not really the social type. I don’t think we should get too
familiar with this lot on the island. They all seem a little desperate for company.
(Sips again) Lord knows why it’s that way with people. In all my years on this
job, lighthouse after lighthouse, I’ve never been afraid to be by myself. (Sips)
Prefer it that way. People crowd your thoughts and feelings. Much better to
observe them from a distance. What you say, Stella? (STELLA nods and sits
next to the stove.) How was your walk this afternoon?
STELLA: Fine.
LAMPRECHT: Fine.
STELLA: Yes.
LAMPRECHT: Fine?
STELLA: Yes.
(Silence)
LAMPRECHT: So, what was so fine about it?
STELLA: I visited the leper bath.
LAMPRECHT: You better be careful of that place.
STELLA: Careful of what? The lepers can hardly walk.
LAMPRECHT: More than lepers on this island, Stella. It’s a mental institution as
well. Some of them are mad as bats. Saw one of them foam at the mouth the
other day. Not a pretty sight I’ll tell you. Screaming like a pig. Took three men to
hold him down. They beat him senseless in the end.
STELLA: I’m always careful, Adriaan.
LAMPRECHT: Now what’s that supposed to mean?
STELLA: Nothing.
LAMPRECHT: No, come on. What’re you trying to say?
STELLA: How many people live here?
LAMPRECHT: About a hundred or so?
STELLA: Precisely. And I’m a grown woman. My breasts are sagging. My
thighs are getting thick … so what must I be careful of? I hardly see anyone.
LAMPRECHT: What? You lost me there.
STELLA: Forget it. No use explaining to you.
LAMPRECHT: What’s your breasts got to do with it all?
STELLA: You always tell me to be careful when there’s no danger!
LAMPRECHT: Well, there’s no bloody reason to be crude about it!
STELLA: Crude’s not the word! More like desperate!
LAMPRECHT: Desperate? Who’s desperate now?
STELLA: You … and me.
LAMPRECHT: Me desperate? What makes you think I’m desperate? I’m not
desperate. Do I look desperate? Do you see desperate written on my face? I’ve
never been desperate. I’ve got a lighthouse to run. You can’t be desperate if you
run a lighthouse. Don’t tell me I’m desperate. I’m a lighthouse keeper! The word
desperate doesn’t feature. To hell with desperate!
STELLA: You done?
LAMPRECHT: Yes, but I’m not desperate. Do you know what desperate means?
Go look at that Superintendent’s face. You’ll see desperate. That’s a desperate
man who’s got a desperate job. I don’t look like that.
STELLA: All right!
LAMPRECHT: Just telling you. I’m not desperate.
STELLA: All right then. You’re not desperate!
LAMPRECHT: I might be eager, but not desperate.
(A long silence)
STELLA: I met the boatman today.
LAMPRECHT: What boatman?
STELLA: Plaatjes.
LAMPRECHT: Plaatjes?
STELLA: He works on his boat in a cove nearby.
(LAMPRECHT laughs.)
STELLA: What’s so funny?
LAMPRECHT: You, Stella.
STELLA: What’s so funny about me?
LAMPRECHT: The man’s completely insane if you hadn’t noticed.
STELLA: What do you think he plans to do with the boat?
LAMPRECHT: What do you think? Escape?
STELLA: He spoke poetry.
LAMPRECHT: Why can’t you be like other women and stay at home?
STELLA: Don’t tell me what to do.
LAMPRECHT: I’m just saying, if you care to listen.
STELLA: I’m tired of listening to you telling me what to do!
LAMPRECHT: Hold it now! Don’t go blowing your horns on me, miss!
STELLA: Then stop telling me what I’m allowed to do, damn it!
LAMPRECHT: Don’t swear like that. It’s unwomanly.
STELLA (slams her fist on the table): Damn it! Damn it!
LAMPRECHT (watches her in silence and sips his brandy): I hope you
didn’t tell him who you are. I don’t want that lunatic come here and make a
nuisance of himself. We don’t want trouble, Stella. We’re just getting back
on our feet.
STELLA: He described the mainland as a woman. Her lips red like grapes.
LAMPRECHT: What can you expect? He’s insane. Of course he’ll talk
nonsense.
STELLA: I left him some vetkoek and promised to visit him again.
LAMPRECHT: Vetkoek and poetry? How bloody romantic! Barney will laugh
when he hears about this. Talking of which, I invited him over on Sunday.
STELLA: Who’s Barney?
LAMPRECHT: One of the attendants at the Kraal. Good chap. A little awkward
though. He was wrestling this boatman of yours. Looks like he could do with
some company. So I invited him.
STELLA: I thought you don’t care for other people’s loneliness.
LAMPRECHT: Who said anything about Barney being lonely?
STELLA: Why was he brought here?
LAMPRECHT: Barney?
STELLA: No, man. Plaatjes … the boat builder.
LAMPRECHT: They caught him stealing vegetables on the mainland.
STELLA: And that makes him a lunatic?
LAMPRECHT: No, but guess why he stole it? To feed the poor. In court he told
the magistrate he’s a prophet. Come to save the people from their misery. I mean,
if that’s not insane? Once they posted him here to the island, he ran around
telling everyone the Almighty has sent him here. And then he really lost it when
his wife died.
STELLA: He had a wife?
LAMPRECHT: Everyone’s got a wife, Stella.
STELLA: How did she die?
LAMPRECHT: Don’t know.
STELLA: How terrible. They destroy a man’s life for stealing vegetables.
LAMPRECHT: Barney told me he’s harmless though. That’s why they allow
him to build the boat. Keep him occupied. I mean there’s no way he’ll escape …
not in that boat.
STELLA: I want to help him.
LAMPRECHT: Help him with what?
STELLA: His pain. The man’s obviously not mad. He’s suffering. He wants to
go back to his wife … to the mainland. He probably believes his wife is still
alive.
LAMPRECHT: He’s not your concern, Stella. There’s a doctor at the Kraal who
works with these lunatics. You and I are here to man the lighthouse. Let us keep
to ourselves.
STELLA: They don’t seem to be doing much for him.
LAMPRECHT: It’s nature, Stella! Nature has her own way to deal with these
freaks. Leave the man to his own devices. You just want to cause trouble. (Gets
up) I must get to the lighthouse.
STELLA: Adriaan? (LAMPRECHT puts his jacket on.) Are you happy?
LAMPRECHT: Happy? About what?
STELLA: About us … coming here to this island?
LAMPRECHT: Where else could we go? You don’t want to go back?
STELLA: We can’t go back, can we?
LAMPRECHT: That bastard touched you! He laid his hands all over you!
STELLA: What about Hendricks in Mossel Bay? Did you have to beat him to
death because he brought me flowers? Did he try it with me? No!
LAMPRECHT: First it’s flowers and then … you’re a married woman! If we
hadn’t left Mossel Bay, he would’ve tried his luck with you! They always do! I
see these bastards coming and you leading them on! (STELLA cowers. He holds
himself back.) Now you be careful. You keep your eyes open. (Turns to leave)
There’s a fog moving in. You better close the windows. (Exits)
STELLA (pained): Your soup … (Takes the soup off the stove. Then she
takes a cake tin from the shelf above the stove and returns to the table. She
takes out a stack of letters, a writing pad and an ink pen. She starts to write
thoughtfully. The bellow of a fog-horn is heard in the distance. Down stage
in the dark, BARNEY approaches the cove. He stops and takes a sip from
the wine bottle he is carrying. Then he demolishes the structure of the boat.
STELLA gets up when she hears the noise. She takes the lamp and goes
outside. BARNEY completes the destruction of the boat and leaves in the
dark.) Adriaan … Adriaan, is that you?
LAMPRECHT (reappears in the kitchen): Stella … Stella? (Sees the letters
on the table. Picks up the letter that STELLA had been writing and tries to
read it. Then hears her calling to him outside.)
STELLA: … Adriaan? (LAMPRECHT quickly puts the letter down. He takes
the soup from the stove and exits. STELLA returns to the kitchen. She sits down
and continues to write. The foghorn bellows in the distance. The stage darkens.)
Act III
It is early morning. PLAATJES wears the restraint jacket and stands looking
desolate at the sight of his demolished boat. STELLA watches as BARNEY unties
the jacket.
BARNEY: Morning to you, Missus Lamprecht. Lovely day, isn’t it. Fog’s
cleared up nicely. I hear your husband was up all night in the lighthouse.
(Releases PLAATJES, who kneels and gathers the scattered planks around his
boat. BARNEY turns to STELLA.) He must’ve had a busy night. I hear he’s
never lost a ship to the rocks yet. Must take some doing. Running that
lighthouse. (Comes closer to her) Keeping her alight all night.
STELLA: How many boats has he built?
BARNEY: I don’t know … I stopped counting.
STELLA: It’s cruel. Does he know who destroys it?
BARNEY: Even if he did, he doesn’t mind. What else would he be doing with
his time out here? He’ll fix it up … by next month he’s ready to escape again.
Hey, old Plaatjes? What does the captain say?
STELLA: It’s sickening.
BARNEY: Ag, he’s used to it. Don’t you worry. Your husband invited me over
on Sunday. Should I bring anything? I still have a little wine left. It’s not too
fancy but it tastes all right. Does he drink wine? (STELLA does not respond and
watches PLAATJES.) You’re looking pretty today, Missus Lamprecht. (Circles
around her) Not often we see such beauty on the island.
STELLA: Leave us.
BARNEY: I was just going. (Breathes into her neck) There was a commotion
with the leper women yesterday. They say some woman came and spoke to
them. Asked them how they get treated. You must know they don’t appreciate
what we do for them. (Turns to walk) I’ll see you Sunday, Missus Lamprecht.
And don’t worry about old Plaatjes. He’ll fix that boat in no time. It’s all a game
to him. (Leaves chuckling to himself)
PLAATJES: If today’s not the day, then tomorrow be the day! Let there be no
doubt in the minds of the foolish! They must know it was said: ‘Believe and
hope shall be your strength!’ Yes, ye of little faith! Do not despair! Tomorrow is
but a few pieces of wood between this place and freedom away! (Gathers the rest
of the planks into a heap) Flora. Perseverance. My Gondolier …
STELLA: Who’s Flora, Plaatjes?
PLAATJES: Suka! (Spits at her)
STELLA: I want to help you.
PLAATJES: Plaatjes needs no one’s help.
STELLA: I think you do. Your wife is dead, you know that?
PLAATJES: Hayi! Voetsek! Go away, woman! Suka! I see many come here
bright with hopes and dreams. Leave. Leave before it’s too late. Walk. Don’t
look back! Hamba!
STELLA: Are you sure? Is that what you want me to do? (They face each other.)
Was Flora your wife?
PLAATJES: Wife? (Smiles at STELLA) You come to feed on your own sadness
here, lady. Leave me alone. I’m a busy man. I got a boat to build. Places to go.
My people are waiting.
STELLA: It’s them. They’re the ones who destroy your boat every time.
PLAATJES: Hayi. What do you want with me lady?
STELLA: I’m the lighthouse keeper’s wife.
PLAATJES: Lighthouse? (Makes the sound of a fog-horn) I see that one. He
walks alone. He watches. He waits.
STELLA: He’s my husband … Adriaan.
PLAATJES: Some they drown in the sea; others they drown in love. (Returns to
his boat. STELLA sits at the edge of the cove. There is a long silence as she
watches PLAATJES at work. He looks up at her several times to see if she’s still
there.)
STELLA: I once put a letter in a bottle and threw it in the ocean. It came back
again. Washed on to the rocks and broke. Your boat reminds me of that bottle,
you know. (PLAATJES approaches her.) I’m not leaving.
PLAATJES: Come, look over there. (Points to the ocean) What you see, lady?
STELLA: Water.
PLAATJES: Further out.
STELLA: More water.
PLAATJES: Make your eyes small. Ngentla!
STELLA: It’s a shipwreck! I’ve not noticed it before!
PLAATJES: That one, she is my Flora. She got herself lost in the fog one night
long time ago. She was carrying spices from the east. Smell this.
STELLA: Smells like … cinnamon?
PLAATJES (fetches another plank): This one, she’s my Perseverance. Saw
her come the night before Christmas last year from a far place. Where they
say a new world is born. She lost her tail in the wind and the storm
swallowed her. Now she’s mine. I go where she cannot go anymore.
STELLA: Your boat is built from all the wrecks?
PLAATJES: Wrecks to you; freedom to me. Boat to you; hope to me.
STELLA: Why do you want to go back to the mainland, Plaatjes?
PLAATJES: I must take the message from the spirits of the great ones.
STELLA: Spirits? What spirits?
PLAATJES: Everywhere. Ngentla! Look and you see. (Fingers the air) Makana
… Gcaleka … Sandile. Spirits of the great chiefs who want to go back to their
wives and their children. Plaatjes must take the message to the people … they
must not lose hope. The great Molimo has spoken. Kukazakulu … the spirits
will return. The Lord’s people will be set free. Hey’ta freedom! (Dances in a
circle) Hey’ta freedom! Hey’ta freedom!
STELLA: Where are these spirits?
PLAATJES (points at the seagulls overhead): Ingaba-ngaba.
STELLA: Ngaba?
PLAATJES: We sing the same song of freedom! (Cries like a seagull)
STELLA: The seagulls are the spirits?
PLAATJES: Singing in the wind!
STELLA: What do they say?
PLAATJES (fetches a shell from the boat and holds it to his ear. Then he
dances in a circle again. In the distance there is the sound of the soft beating
of African drums under the breaking of waves.): No more. No more voices
of despair. Lost sound. Seven seals. Seven angels. Seven trumpets. Four
riders will come. White horse and his rider take the land from the people.
Red horse steals the peace from the people. Black horse kills the cattle of the
people. Pale horse stops the breaking of the waves. Persecution. Sun burns
black. Moon rises in the blood of the people. Seven seals. Seven angels.
Seven trumpets. (Takes a worn Bible from his pocket, tears a page from it
and chews it; offers her a page) Eat, lady. Eat and walk with the spirits of
the great ones. Eat the message of Molimo and let the words of the great
chiefs become flesh.
STELLA: But they’re all dead. They can’t possibly return.
PLAATJES: They will … that is the message I must take to my people. (Gives
her the shell and returns to work on the boat)
STELLA (chews the torn page from the Bible): It tastes like paper.
PLAATJES: Paper to you; food to me.
STELLA (holds the shell to her ear): I can hear the ocean … can I keep
this?
PLAATJES: It will protect you from the bad tides.
STELLA (unwraps several vetkoek and holds them out to him. He takes the
vetkoek and hides them in his pockets.): You should hide the boat. They’ll
destroy it again.
PLAATJES: They can’t kill my hope.
STELLA: I wish you were right. (Sits on a rock near his boat) I don’t think
you’re really mad.
PLAATJES: Madness, she’s like the sea. She drowns you if you let her.
STELLA: You can call me Stella if you want.
PLAATJES: Stella …
STELLA: Tell me again about the mainland.
PLAATJES: Hey’ta … she’s a beauty that one. She sleeps with one eye open.
Her mouth is filled with stars. Her face is bright like the early morning spring.
Her breath smells like sweet potatoes. When she smiles, the sun goes down over
her head.
(LAMPRECHT appears. He stops and watches them.)
STELLA: More!
PLAATJES (slowly dances around her): Ukutya kweendlebe. Her voice is
food to my ears. My head lies in her breast like a bird in its nest. She washes
my hands and my feet with her tides. Her belly is full of seasons, year after
year. At night all the men come out and dance with her. The children play in
her streets. (Takes STELLA’s hand and they dance) They sing her praises.
They dance to her rhythms. When she laughs, her breasts swell with
pleasure. When she cries, the trees lose their leaves in her honour …
(Suddenly struck by a piece of kelp)
LAMPRECHT: You crazy bastard! Get away from her! (Charges PLAATJES)
STELLA: Stop it! Stop it!
(PLAATJES hides behind the boat.)
LAMPRECHT: I told you not to come here! (Drags her by the arm but she
resists)
STELLA: We were just dancing!
LAMPRECHT: Dancing? Just dancing with this lunatic? (Chases PLAATJES
from behind the boat) You danced with my wife, you bastard!
STELLA: Stop it, Adriaan! He’s innocent!
LAMPRECHT: Come on, let’s go!
STELLA: No! You go! Go to your damn lighthouse!
LAMPRECHT: What’s this, Stella? What the hell is going on with you? The
man’s a bloody lunatic! Look at him! I told you I don’t want trouble again!
STELLA: You’re the trouble, Adriaan! You’re the damned trouble! (Pushes
LAMPRECHT aside and leaves)
LAMPRECHT (turns and faces PLAATJES who now stands ready with the
hammer in his hand. Charges PLAATJES again, who in turn swiftly moves
sideways causing LAMPRECHT to charge into the hull of the boat.
PLAATJES grabs him from behind in a similar wrestling grip to
BARNEY’s and forces LAMPRECHT to the ground. He releases
LAMPRECHT and moves away. LAMPRECHT gasps for breath.): So,
you’re not so crazy after all, are you?
PLAATJES: Izulu elibi … hamba! Voetsek! Go!
LAMPRECHT: You’re going to regret this, you bastard. You stay away from my
wife! You hear me! I catch you near her again and I kill you! (Follows STELLA)
(PLAATJES takes a vetkoek from his pocket and throws pieces from it to the
seagulls that gather with a great noise. He swirls around laughing and dancing as
the seagulls scream louder and louder with the same beating of African drums
underneath. A slow musical waltz builds in the background. The stage darkens.)
Act IV
The light comes up on the kitchen area. LAMPRECHT is dancing by himself with
a broomstick.
LAMPRECHT: I’m having a great time here, Stella! I’m dancing a little waltz. I
haven’t lost my steps. Come on, Stella! Come dance with me, man! Where’s the
brandy! Stella? (Searches the shelf above the stove; finds the brandy; then sees
the cake tin containing the letters; puts the tin down on the table and opens it.
Takes out the letter STELLA wrote earlier)
STELLA (offstage): You find the brandy?
LAMPRECHT (puts the letter in his pocket and puts the cake tin back on
the shelf. He pours himself a drink and has a sip. He picks up the broom
and continues to dance.): Remember how we used to go dancing in Mossel
Bay on the Point? Those summer evenings and that dress Aunt Libby gave
you. Oom Frank on the piano. Man, could he play? Those fat little fingers of
his worked the keys. At twelve the sky would burst with fireworks … and
we all danced … danced till we dropped. (BARNEY appears behind him in
the doorway, dressed in a tight-fitting suit with a half-bottle of wine and
flowers in his hand. LAMPRECHT stops dancing when he sees BARNEY.)
Barney? I didn’t see you there.
BARNEY: Door was open.
LAMPRECHT (puts the broom down): Come in, man.
BARNEY: I’m not disturbing?
LAMPRECHT: Of course not. Come in!
BARNEY (enters): I’m not too early, am I?
LAMPRECHT: What you so dressed up for?
BARNEY: I brought some wine.
LAMPRECHT: I don’t drink wine. Stella drinks wine. (Sees the flowers) And
the flowers?
BARNEY: They’re for Missus Lamprecht.
LAMPRECHT: That’s awfully considerate of you, Barney. (Throws the flowers
on the table) You drink brandy?
BARNEY: Sometimes.
LAMPRECHT (pours BARNEY a drink): To ships in the night.
BARNEY: To ships.
(They drink.)
LAMPRECHT: And to lighthouses that shine bright.
BARNEY: To lighthouses.
LAMPRECHT (sits at the table): Ja, so?
BARNEY (smiles but he’s uncomfortable): Nice kitchen.
LAMPRECHT: How was your day at the kraal?
BARNEY: The usual routine … keep them in line.
LAMPRECHT: Must be difficult to work with these lunatics.
BARNEY: We manage as best as we can. Some days it gets rough. (Silence, then
they drink) You know what? We found one of them dead the other morning.
Found him under his bed. He swallowed some poison and choked on his own
vomit. I see strange things up there at the Kraal, I’ll tell you. Strange bloody
things. It’s like another world in there.
LAMPRECHT: Stella should hear this. She believes she can help them.
BARNEY: They’re beyond anyone’s help. I work with them all day and the
things I’ve seen. Sometimes I think they’re not human, you know … like they
descend from another species.
LAMPRECHT: Really? Stella says we all descend from the apes. She read it to
me in one of her books. Some guy called Darwin. Not your average wife, Stella.
BARNEY: Me, descend from an ape? I don’t like the idea.
LAMPRECHT: You know the story about Prospero?
BARNEY: Who?
LAMPRECHT: Never mind. (Fills BARNEY’s glass) You want to sit?
BARNEY: Thanks.
LAMPRECHT: You eaten? Stella made vetkoek.
BARNEY: No thanks. I already had my supper.
LAMPRECHT: I believe you’re from Kimberley then?
BARNEY: Yes, my father was the district bailiff in Kimberley. My one brother is
with waterworks in Johannesburg. And my sister was with the postal services,
but she left. Got married to a farmer. She’s pregnant now. I’m with health
services, of course.
LAMPRECHT: Public services run in the family then?
BARNEY: What my mother always says.
LAMPRECHT: You got a girl?
BARNEY: No. (They drink in silence.) I was in love once. With my niece. She
married someone else.
LAMPRECHT: I’m sorry to hear that. (STELLA enters with the shell
PLAATJES gave her.) There you are! I was wondering what kept you.
STELLA: I was fixing your socks and vests.
LAMPRECHT: Thank you.
BARNEY (gets up): Good evening, Missus Lamprecht.
LAMPRECHT: Barney brought you some flowers. (STELLA nods and sits next
to the stove.) You want some wine? Barney brought you some wine. (BARNEY
pours her a glass of wine.) He was just telling me about his family.
BARNEY (offers her the wine, which she declines): We’re all from
Kimberley. Public services.
LAMPRECHT: You sure you don’t want vetkoek?
BARNEY: I ate, thanks.
LAMPRECHT: Some more brandy?
BARNEY: A little, thanks.
LAMPRECHT: You dance, Barney?
BARNEY: A little.
LAMPRECHT: Stella and I used to dance. Hey, Stella? Danced till we couldn’t
any more. Mossel Bay in the old days, when we just got married. I was thinking
I’d take her to the mainland sometime for a good old opskop.
(STELLA now has the shell cupped to her ear.)
BARNEY (gets up): I better get going then.
LAMPRECHT: You just got here. Have another brandy. (Fills BARNEY’s glass
again) You can’t leave now.
BARNEY (sits): If you insist. (Takes a newspaper clipping from his pocket)
Have a look at this.
LAMPRECHT (studies the clipping): Who’s that?
BARNEY: That is Tromp van Diggelen. He’s a strongman. I’ve signed up for his
strongman course. It’s a wrestling course to build your body. I’m going to look
like him when I’m done.
LAMPRECHT: Tromp van Diggelen? Never heard of him.
BARNEY: He eats a dozen eggs for breakfast and two chickens for lunch. And
for supper he has a whole leg of lamb every day. That’s not counting four loaves
of bread and eight litres of milk a day … and loads of garlic. The man swears by
garlic. Look at him. Look how big he is. (Turns to STELLA) They say he can lift
a horse off the ground, Missus Lamprecht.
STELLA: Really? Fascinating.
LAMPRECHT: You also eat lots of garlic, Barney?
BARNEY: Much as I can. It’s strong stuff but good for the blood.
LAMPRECHT: Where do you get all this food?
BARNEY: I’ve set up a chicken pen on the grounds at the Kraal and I’ve got my
own cow for milk. Now I just have to wait for Tromp’s course to arrive in the
post. Cost me four pounds. Once I finish the course, I’m leaving this place. I’ll
become a professional wrestler. They say there’s big money in wrestling in the
Americas.
LAMPRECHT: America? That’s to hell and gone.
BARNEY: Can’t stay on the island forever. The world is changing out there.
They say there’s another war coming. There’s already talk of moving all of us to
the mainland. You want to believe this place is free from what happens on the
mainland, but it isn’t. Sooner or later it affects us. I’m planning ahead you know.
LAMPRECHT: Things change all the time, don’t they?
BARNEY: Yes, that’s why I’m changing my name to something more
flamboyant when I get to America: Breaker Barney or Barney Breaker. (Turns to
STELLA) Which one do you prefer, Missus Lamprecht?
STELLA: Breaker Barney.
BARNEY: Breaker Barney! (Falls to the floor and mimes a wrestling position)
Breaker Barney’s got Tromp van Diggelen pinned to the mat! (Rolls over on to
his back) Two! Three! Breaker Barney! (Stays lying down) I like it!
LAMPRECHT: You get a lot of post, Barney?
BARNEY: No. Do you get a lot of post?
LAMPRECHT: No.
BARNEY: My mother writes me every now and then, mostly about the family.
Last month she wrote me about the rain. They got some rain. (Sits up) Strange
thing about it they prayed for rain for months and then when they stopped
praying, it rained. And then it wouldn’t stop raining. Everything got washed
away. (Gets up from the floor) God moves in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?
STELLA: I’m going to bed. Good night, Barney.
BARNEY: Good night, Missus Lamprecht.
(LAMPRECHT follows her to the door. Then he returns and sits down again. He
fills his glass with brandy.)
What’s with the shell she’s holding to her head?
LAMPRECHT: That’s what I want to talk to you about. (Fetches his pipe)
Stella’s got it into her mind she can help that lunatic.
BARNEY: Old Plaatjes? What’s she want to help him with?
LAMPRECHT (lights his pipe): I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
BARNEY: He’s harmless, I told her.
LAMPRECHT: I caught him dancing with her.
BARNEY: Dancing? Really?
LAMPRECHT: If I were you, I’d keep him locked up.
BARNEY: He’s not going anywhere. Except if he tries to swim and that he
won’t do. He hates the water. Have to force him to take a bath.
LAMPRECHT: He shouldn’t be walking around the island like that though.
BARNEY: Dancing you say?
LAMPRECHT: Spoke poetry to her as well.
BARNEY: Poetry?
LAMPRECHT: I don’t want trouble.
BARNEY: I’m sorry, I didn’t know.
LAMPRECHT: So, can you do it? Keep him locked up?
BARNEY: Won’t be easy.
LAMPRECHT: You’re in charge of him, aren’t you?
BARNEY: I guess I am.
LAMPRECHT: Well then, can you do it?
BARNEY: I can make him disappear if you like.
LAMPRECHT: How would you do that?
BARNEY: Ag, people drown. People disappear. This island has its secrets.
LAMPRECHT: Just keep him out of sight for a while. Till it all blows over.
BARNEY: I’ll see what I can do. (They drink in silence.) Must be lonely?
LAMPRECHT: What?
BARNEY: Being a lighthouse keeper.
LAMPRECHT: You don’t choose it. It chooses you.
BARNEY: What do you do up there by yourself?
LAMPRECHT: I think. Wait. Keep it burning. Someone must do it. (Takes the
letter from his pocket) Read this. I’m not much of a reader.
BARNEY (studies the letter): Whose letter is it?
LAMPRECHT: Don’t know.
BARNEY: Fancy handwriting.
LAMPRECHT: Read it.
BARNEY: All?
LAMPRECHT: Yes.
BARNEY: I’m not much of a reader myself.
LAMPRECHT (anxiously): But you can read, can’t you?
BARNEY: Of course, I got my grades.
LAMPRECHT: Then read it, damn it!
BARNEY (clears his throat): It’s addressed to … my love.
LAMPRECHT: Read it.
BARNEY: My love, I met another of the poor souls on this desolate island.
(Looks up) There’s no date on the letter.
LAMPRECHT: Carry on.
BARNEY: Not a leper this time … but one of the black lunatics as they refer to
them. His name is Plaatjes. Why, I’m not sure … (Stops) This letter is about old
Plaatjes.
LAMPRECHT: Read.
BARNEY: I do not believe my meeting him was just chance. He spoke such
beautiful words. His voice filled me with sadness and his yearning to escape
touched me deeply. I miss you in the same way, my love. I miss your warmth.
My body aches … (Stops) It gets quite personal now. (LAMPRECHT grabs the
letter from him.) Whose letter is it?
LAMPRECHT: I don’t know, but I’ll find out.
BARNEY: It’s a love letter for sure. I’ve never had a letter like that.
LAMPRECHT (folds the letter and sticks it in his pocket): How much do
you weigh, Barney?
BARNEY: Don’t know.
LAMPRECHT: Put your arm up. (Grabs hold of Barney’s hand) Push. Come on!
Push, man! (BARNEY attempts to push, but LAMPRECHT forces his arm on to
the table and grabs BARNEY by the neck.) Don’t look at my wife the way you
do. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you! (Releases his grip on BARNEY)
BARNEY (shocked): I didn’t mean to intrude! If I had come at the wrong
time, you should’ve said so! You invited me over! I was just being friendly.
(Long silence, then. LAMPRECHT takes out his knife and cuts tobacco with it.
BARNEY sips his brandy, uneasy with the presence of the knife.)
LAMPRECHT (pained): Forgive me … I love her … I love her more than
anything and it breaks my heart every time I see her just talk to another
man. What would you do?
BARNEY: I never had a girl. I guess love is a difficult business. (Takes a coin
from his pocket) Hey, look at this. (Flips the coin at LAMPRECHT who studies
it) Guess who makes them? Old Plaatjes. He collects pieces of iron from the
driftwood and hammers them into these coins. Look at the image on it. It’s of
himself. Each coin tells a story about his life on the island. That’s why his name
is Plaatjes. (Takes the coin back from LAMPRECHT and does a disappearing
trick with the coin) Open your hand. (The coin is revealed in LAMPRECHT’s
hand.) How’s that? (Laughs) Why don’t you meet me down in the cove later?
LAMPRECHT: What do you have in mind? I don’t want to upset Stella.
BARNEY: Just meet me by the boat … we’ll scare him a little. He can’t go
around dancing with other men’s wives … especially not yours … nip it in the
bud now, stop it before it gets out of hand you know. (Lifts his glass to
LAMPRECHT) To ships in the night and lighthouses that shine bright.
(LAMPRECHT lifts his glass to BARNEY’s. There is the sound of a strong
North Westerly wind blowing across the island as another cold front approaches.
The stage darkens.)
Act V
BARNEY appears in the dark still dressed in his suit, carrying a lamp and a
bottle of brandy. He drags PLAATJES toward the boat in the cove. PLAATJES
is tied in the restraint jacket.
BARNEY (sings): My bonny lays over the ocean, my bonny lays over the sea
… my bonny lays over the ocean, my bonny lays over the sea … oh bring
back … oh bring back … oh bring back my bonny to me … to me. (Puts the
lamp down on the boat) Tonight is your lucky night, old Plaatjes … Your
boat is ready to take to the sea. The sweet maidens of Kanaladorp are
calling. Hey? Can you hear them? Listen … the band is playing. Freedom,
oh freedom … oh bring back my freedom to me … to me! (Kneels next to
PLAATJES) It’s not like I didn’t warn you. The wrath of God comes down
on those of his prophets who sin. But no, we think we know better. We think
we’re one up on old Barney. (Grabs PLAATJES by the head) Drink.
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY: Drink!
PLAATJES: Hayi.
BARNEY (forces PLAATJES to drink): You think I’m stupid! Hell, man,
I’ve always been on your side. Allowed you to build this damn boat despite
all the complaints. I kept your hopes alive. But then you go and abuse it.
You get clever on me.
PLAATJES (frightened): Enkosi, mijn baas.
BARNEY: Now you’re sorry? It’s too damn late! I stuck my bloody neck out
and then you go screw things up by talking poetry to her. Dancing with her!
(Slaps PLAATJES on the head) Poetry! And bloody dancing!
PLAATJES (cowers fearfully): No more up and down empty corridors.
Cold stone jugs. No more shiny floors. Stench. Death. Decay. Molimo! All
those memories are blowing away.
BARNEY: Shut up!
PLAATJES: Measuring. Measuring floors. Corridors. Listening. Listening.
Cries. Whispers. Fears. Unknown. Wash your hands. Scrub your feet. Clean.
Clean. Check the chains. Scratch. Scratch.
BARNEY: Shut the hell up!
PLAATJES: No more slipping into madness. Now is our freedom. Freedom! Be
a new man, Plaatjes. Find a new master. No more mijn baas!
BARNEY: Shut up! (Tries to silence PLAATJES but falls over him)
PLAATJES: Hey’ta, freedom.
BARNEY: Be quiet, man … (Remains lying next to PLAATJES) This hellhole
has made us all the same damn creatures. We all carry the same disease. I didn’t
know it. Not until I got here. But, I saw it the day I set foot on this island. You
know what I saw?
PLAATJES: Yes, mijn baas.
(LAMPRECHT appears behind them. He stops and listens to their conversation
from the dark.)
BARNEY: I saw fear … not the kind of fear one has for another man or the fear
of death. No, fear of something inside of me … a horror that couldn’t wait to
come forth … the stupid old Barney let it out and it slowly drowned him. I’m a
drowned man, Plaatjes … we’re all drowned men. (Holds back his tears and sips
brandy) What was it like to hold his wife in your arms?
PLAATJES: Like holding a bird in its nest.
BARNEY: If he heard you now, he’d probably kill you. I loved someone myself
once. My niece. Funny, he asked me about that tonight. Like he knew. Like he
recognised the horror of love too. I loved her more than … how would you say
it, Plaatjes?
PLAATJES: More than the sun loves the early dawn.
BARNEY: More than the sun loves the early dawn.
PLAATJES: More than the moon loves the evening star.
BARNEY: The moon loves the evening star. (Cries)
PLAATJES: What was her name?
BARNEY: I can’t remember her name. I can only remember her face. Her smile.
Her laughter. She used to laugh at me … she said I was funny. I make her laugh.
PLAATJES: Was she pretty?
BARNEY: Prettier than …
PLAATJES: The first blossoms of spring.
BARNEY: You sure have a way with words, old Plaatjes. I’m beginning to
understand why he’s all worked up about you speaking poetry to his missus.
PLAATJES: What happened to her?
BARNEY: She married someone else. (Sees LAMPRECHT in the dark and
jumps up) Mister Lamprecht … you scared the hell out of me!
LAMPRECHT: You’re drunk!
BARNEY: A little. (LAMPRECHT takes the brandy from BARNEY.) Here he
is. He’s all yours. Don’t hurt him too much. I don’t want the Superintendent to
know I brought him out here. (LAMPRECHT approaches PLAATJES. He grabs
the lamp and holds it to PLAATJES’ face. BARNEY watches.) Tell him what it
was like to hold his wife in your arms, Plaatjes.
PLAATJES: Like holding a bird in its nest.
BARNEY: You hear that … like a bird in its nest!
More … tell him more, Plaatjes!
PLAATJES: Looky her! She is dressed to the nines. Her hair blows fresh in the
southeaster. Shoes shining like a late afternoon. Her lips are red like grapes. Her
eyes are blue as the morning skies. Watch how she pulls that blanket from the
mountain around her naked shoulders. All night she waits there. She knows
we’re coming. She knows her captain is coming home. Tomorrow we’ll walk her
gentle shores and she’ll welcome us as an old lover does. A lover one has not
smelled for a long time. She’ll take us in her arms and embrace us with
tenderness. Like it was in the beginning. Oh Lordy, I can see it happening.
Clearly before my empty eyes …
(LAMPRECHT suddenly leaps on to PLAATJES, grabbing him by the head and
forcing his mouth open. He cuts his tongue out with his knife. Blood covers
them both. PLAATJES gasps for breath.)
BARNEY (shocked): What the hell, man! What have you done? You cut his
tongue out! (Kneels next to PLAATJES) What am I going to tell the
Superintendent?
(LAMPRECHT walks away. BARNEY sits with PLAATJES bleeding all over
him. PLAATJES is still gasping for breath. The noise of wind increases. The
stage darkens.)
Act VI
The wind howls as a storm approaches the island. STELLA is anxiously working
on PLAATJES’ boat, hammering a plank into position. LAMPRECHT stands
close by watching her.
LAMPRECHT: This is madness, Stella. What the hell do you think you’re
doing? I told you I don’t want trouble. Everyone on the island is laughing at us.
Poor lighthouse keeper’s wife has gone and lost her mind. Look at you. Where
do you think you’re going with that boat anyway? The thing’s not even
seaworthy. (STELLA throws a plank at him. He backs away.) It’s getting dark,
Stella, and there’s a storm heading this way. Come home, please. I need to get
back to the lighthouse. There’s a fleet of ships out in the bay.
STELLA: Go! Go to your lighthouse! Go save the ships, you coward!
LAMPRECHT: Now listen to me, Stella.
STELLA: Suka! Hamba!
LAMPRECHT: Don’t swear.
STELLA: Suka!
LAMPRECHT: Will you just listen to me!
STELLA: What! Speak!
LAMPRECHT: We’ve been here before. We can work it out. It’s an unfortunate
thing that’s happened, but we can work it out. You know that.
STELLA: Unfortunate? (Laughs) The day I fell in love with you was
unfortunate! (Threatens him with a plank) Leave me alone, you bastard! Suka!
LAMPRECHT: We can move somewhere else.
STELLA: You go! Go find yourself another lighthouse. Get yourself another
wife for all I care. I’m finished with you, Adriaan Lamprecht! (Resumes work
on the boat, accidentally hitting her thumb with the hammer in the process)
Damn! (Sucks her thumb) Look what you made me do!
LAMPRECHT: You’re going to hurt yourself. Come home now. Come, Stella!
STELLA: Leave me, Lamprecht! Leave me alone! I’m finishing this boat!
LAMPRECHT: So, you finish it, and then what? You want to go out in this
storm? You’ll drown before you even get beyond the waves, woman! Where’s
that boat going to get you?
STELLA: It’s not about the boat! It’s about me! About freedom!
LAMPRECHT: Freedom from what?
STELLA: From you!
LAMPRECHT: You’ve got all the freedom you need, Stella.
(A burst of thunder in the distance)
STELLA: Laugh! Laugh! Mock! Mock! Stella knows what Stella knows!
LAMPRECHT (looks up at the darkening sky overhead): I don’t think you
know what you’re doing.
STELLA: I don’t care what you think! (Throws a plank at him)
LAMPRECHT: Look, I’ll speak to them. I’ll ask the Superintendent to release
Plaatjes. They’ll bring him back here and he can finish his boat.
STELLA: You bastard! You asked them to lock him up! Didn’t you?
LAMPRECHT: I had nothing to do with it. I swear.
STELLA: Liar! I know you! Coward!
LAMPRECHT: All right, I’m sorry! But you left me no choice. I was scared
you’d get hurt. So I asked Barney to keep him locked up for a while. But they’ll
set him free when this is over. They will if I ask them. I promise.
STELLA: He doesn’t need you to set him free! He is free! Ingaba-ngaba!
LAMPRECHT: You’re behaving like that lunatic, Stella!
STELLA: I’d rather be like him than you lot who stick people into asylums.
Treat them like animals. Have those poor women at the baths told you how they
get raped in there? Open your eyes, Adriaan … look beyond your jealousy for a
change! (Resumes hammering)
LAMPRECHT: I’ll listen to you. I swear. I’ll listen.
STELLA: Why bother now? It’s too late.
LAMPRECHT: It’s never too late.
STELLA (gets up): Look out over there. (Points towards the ocean) What
do you see, Adriaan?
LAMPRECHT: Water.
STELLA: Look closer.
LAMPRECHT: I see an old shipwreck.
STELLA: Why did you not save it?
LAMPRECHT: That ship was wrecked before my time. You know I haven’t had
a wreck on my coast yet. Not in all my years as a lighthouse keeper.
STELLA: Are you sure about that?
LAMPRECHT: Yes.
STELLA: Look at me. What do you see?
LAMPRECHT: My wife.
STELLA: Look closer, man … what do you see? What do you see?
LAMPRECHT: What do you want me to see? You’re beautiful, Stella. You’re
the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on and you know how much I
love you.
STELLA: You liar! You see them! You see those other men, don’t you?
LAMPRECHT: Don’t do this to me, Stella.
STELLA: From Mossel Bay to Port Nolloth, it’s all you’ve ever seen. Other men
chasing after your poor defenceless little wife! Poor little lighthouse keeper’s
wife who needs to be careful, who needs to keep her eyes open! Well, I won’t do
that that anymore! I won’t live out your fears for you anymore!
LAMPRECHT: You put your arms around him and he laughed at me in my face!
STELLA: Like I’m laughing at you now? Am I laughing, Adriaan?
LAMPRECHT: I love you, Stella.
STELLA: Say it again.
LAMPRECHT: I love you.
STELLA: Put some feeling into it, man!
LAMPRECHT: Damn you! Damn you, woman!
STELLA: See, you can’t do it. You’ve destroyed every bit of feeling you ever
had for me with your stupid fears. And now you want to hide me on this island
from the rest of the world like Prospero.
LAMPRECHT: I’m not Prospero.
STELLA: No, you’re worse than him, Adriaan. You’re a scared little man hiding
in his lighthouse watching the world pass him by. I used to feel sorry for you, but
not anymore. I’m leaving as soon as I get this boat finished.
LAMPRECHT: Where will you go, Stella?
STELLA: As far away from you as possible.
LAMPRECHT: I don’t just sit up there in that lighthouse and do nothing. I think.
I think about you all the time, about how we were happy once. Come on, Stella,
help me! Help me remember how we used to go and dance. We were happy then.
You loved me. Remember the day we met? You stood out there in the rain with
your bags and then that carriage came past and you were covered in mud and we
laughed. I took you to my place and had you cleaned up … have you forgotten
that too, Stella? Have you forgotten where you came from? How I saved you
from the streets? It’s not a sin to love too much, Stella? Is it?
STELLA: No, it’s not … but you’re blinded by your jealousy, Adriaan.
(BARNEY arrives with the restraint jacket.)
BARNEY: I brought the jacket just in case. Is she all right?
STELLA: Think, Stella … you must think.
BARNEY (gives the restraint jacket to LAMPRECHT, takes a bottle of
chloroform from his pocket and dabs his handkerchief with a dose from the
bottle): A small dose of this and she’ll drop like a horse.
STELLA: You must be brave, Stella.
LAMPRECHT: Stella, we want to take you to the infirmary.
BARNEY: She doesn’t seem to hear you.
(Thunder bursts again in the distance.)
STELLA: God knows, no more. No more running away. No more empty
promises. Cold embraces. No more waiting. Watching my dreams and hopes
blow away. I must save myself …
LAMPRECHT: We can try again, Stella. The doctor just wants to see you.
STELLA: Our lady’s calling. Her hair blows fresh in the southeaster. Her sweet
feet dangle in the waters of the docks. Old clock tower is ticking away. (Laughs
as if she is insane. BARNEY goes behind her while LAMPRECHT approaches
her from the front.) You must think, Stella. Be brave. No more sleepless nights.
No more loneliness. No, Stella. It’s freedom, hey’ta … freedom.
BARNEY: We better get her to the infirmary. The weather is turning bad.
LAMPRECHT: Wait a moment. (Takes the letter from his pocket) Who is this
letter for, Stella? I must know. Have you been writing to him in Port Nolloth?
Have you been writing him love letters all this time?
STELLA (laughs at him): You still don’t see it, you poor man.
LAMPRECHT: Who are the damn letters for, Stella? Who?
STELLA: My body aches for your touch, my love, your kisses in my neck, and
your hands on my breasts. For now we are separated from each other like this
island from the mainland and it will remain so until one day you too find your
boat and return to me. (Cries) They’re your letters, you fool. They were all
written for you!
(BARNEY sees this as an opportunity to grab her from behind and covers her
face with the chloroform handkerchief. STELLA struggles to get out of his grip,
but he holds her down until she passes out. LAMPRECHT remains fixed with
the letter in his hand. BARNEY takes the restraint jacket from him and ties
STELLA into it. In the background we hear the horn of a ship blow as the stage
darkens under the storm. The beat of African drums can be heard under the
howling wind mixing with the sound of the ship as it runs ashore. LAMPRECHT
remains helpless, and as the fog begins to envelop him, he lets out a cry of
despair. The stage darkens.)
The end
Acknowledgement
Published with permission from the playwright and Pearson Education.
Glossary of literary terms
act – a main division of a play. Classical drama usually has five acts
antagonist – character/event/power opposing the protagonist
characterisation – the way a character is portrayed
characters – the individuals (personae) who are portrayed in the play
climax – turning point of the action
dénouement – ending, unravelling of events
exposition – the beginning, which sets out background information
falling action – action following from the climax to the end
plot – the development of events in the story
protagonist – main character
scene – smaller division of a play, usually part of an act
setting – where the act/scene takes place
stage directions – words in italics, usually in brackets, which tell the actor
what to do
story – the chronological order in which events develop
theme – the main idea, subject matter
Annotations (Explanation of words)
hamba: go away
lunatic: someone who is mentally ill
Prospero: character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest who is stranded on an
island
References
Collins English Dictionary. 1994. Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
Freytag, Gustav, 1816-1895, devised his widely used Pyramid in 1863.
Questions
Post-reading
Act I
1.Most of what Plaatjes says in his first 25 lines is addressed to himself in the
here and now. Are there any exceptions, where he is in role as himself in a
different situation or as someone else?
2.The second part of his first speech contains an extended metaphor. Explain
what Plaatjes is likening to what.
3.How do you explain Plaatjes’ rudeness in shouting ‘hamba!’ and ‘suka!’ when
Stella first approaches him, and his spitting at her and pushing her over?
4.Why does Stella tell Plaatjes about herself in her speech to him?
5.What dramatic purpose does it serve?
6.Plaatjes ignores the first three questions Stella asks, but smiles when she asks,
‘Do you ever get lonely here?’ How do you explain that?
7.When Plaatjes says ‘Bad tides’, Barney thinks he is predicting a storm. In the
light of what happens later in the play, what can we understand it to refer to?
8.Lamprecht asks Barney if he has seen his wife. Why does Barney lie and
pretend that he hasn’t seen her?
Act II
9.Is there anything odd about Stella’s question: ‘Who?’ If so, what does it imply?
10.Study the interaction between Lamprecht and Stella until he exits and then
describe the attitudes and feelings each of them has towards the other.
Act III
11.Describe the thoughts and feelings of the three people regarding the
demolished boat.
12.Plaatjes once again spits at Stella and shouts at her to go. Is this prompted by
ill-will? Give a reason for your answer.
13.Is Plaatjes insane? Use evidence from Act III to argue both sides of the
question.
Act IV
14.What do the dancing and the references to it tell us about the relationship
between Lamprecht and Stella (and Stella and Plaatjes)?
15.What grounds does Barney give Lamprecht in Act IV for jealousy?
16.What do we learn about Barney in Act IV?
17.What do we learn about Lamprecht in Act IV?
18.What do we learn about Stella in Act IV?
Act V
19.What signs does Plaatjes show in Act V of insanity on the one hand and
sanity on the other?
20.Why do we feel that the punishment (cutting out Plaatjes’ tongue) was too
severe for any offence he has committed?
21.Why do you think Lamprecht inflicted this punishment on Plaatjes?
Act VI
22.How does Stella’s ‘madness’ resemble Plaatjes’ madness earlier in the play?
23.What aspects of the personalities or behaviour of Barney and Lamprecht
could be viewed as abnormal?
24.Do you believe Stella when she calls out to Lamprecht, ‘They’re your letters,
you fool! They were all written for you!’?
Essay question
1.“It would make better sense if Barney and Lamprechts were put into
straitjackets instead of Plaatjes and Stella.” Discuss.
2.Stella is the main character in The lighthouse keeper’s wife, but she is
mentioned in terms of who she belongs to, not as a person in her own right. This
points to one of the main themes of the play: a woman’s fight for recognition and
independence. Discuss.
Answers
Act I
1.Yes.
(i)When he says ‘Mijn baas. Mijn baas’ he is mimicking himself being
subservient to some white man.
(ii)‘Wash your hands. Scrub your feet’ are words directed at him by someone in
the asylum, possibly Barney.
2.The mainland is likened to a lover. The sandy shore is her feet dangling in the
water; rocks in sunshine might be her shoes; the clouds on Table Mountain are
her hair and also a blanket around her shoulders; the grapes that grow in the
Cape are her red lips; the blue sky in the morning is her eyes.
3.He has been forbidden to speak to anyone on the island while he is out
building his boat. We hear this from Barney. He is afraid Stella is going to get
him into trouble.
4.To reassure him that she has no official position on the island and is not a
threat.
5.It gives the audience information about her and her relationship with
Lamprecht.
6.Perhaps he feels that she has at last understood him. The earlier questions were
impersonal.
7.The misfortune coming his way and the trouble Stella will bring him –
Lamprecht will cut off his tongue.
8.Barney is probably aware of how jealous Lamprecht is, so he is afraid
Lamprecht will suspect him of flirting with his (Lamprecht’s) wife if he admits
that he has seen her.
Act II
9.Yes – it is obvious from the context that Lamprecht must be referring to
Prospero, and Stella herself introduced his name into the conversation
immediately before Lamprecht spoke about him, so it is odd that she has to ask.
It implies that Stella is paying very little attention to what Lamprecht is saying.
10.Lamprecht expects Stella to agree with his opinions, for example, about not
socialising with neighbours (‘What you say, Stella?’ ). He is protective and
controlling (for example, warning her against going near the lepers or the insane,
and demanding ‘why can’t you be like other women and stay at home?’). He
reacts defensively to any suspicion of opposition or independence of opinion
(‘Now what’s that supposed to mean?’); he is prudish (or maybe nervous of what
she may be thinking) when she refers to her breasts (‘Well, there’s no bloody
reason to be crude about it.’) and says ‘damn’ and takes great offence when she
describes both of them as ‘desperate’. He is jealous and distrustful (‘… he would
have tried his luck with you. They always do! I see these bastards coming and
you leading them on.’)
Stella is uninterested in his views (‘Stella nods’; and she appears not to be
paying attention when he is speaking about Prospero). She defies his instructions
to be careful about who she sees on the island and shows a lack of respect for
him. (‘Forget it. No use explaining to you.’) Under provocation she becomes
rebellious (‘Don’t tell me what to do’) and angry and defiant (‘[slams her fist on
the table] Damn it! Damn it!’ ).
Act III
11.Plaatjes: he looks devastated but he isn’t defeated; he will begin again. He
doesn’t give up thoughts of freedom.
Barney: he is indifferent to Plaatjes’ feelings; believes Plaatjes has nothing better
to do than continuously rebuild his boat.
Stella: she sympathises with Plaatjes and feels sorry for him. Perhaps she
identifies with the need to escape.
12.No. He means she should leave the island altogether for her own good.
13.He’s not insane:
•His advice is based on his observations and makes sense; he is also able to see
the matter from her point of view.
•He is able to point out a shipwreck and to name the ship.
•He dodges Lamprecht and after subduing him lets him go. This persuades
Lamprecht that he is not mad after all.
•His knowledge of the book of Revelations is accurate.
He is insane:
•He persists in rebuilding the boat despite knowing that Barney will simply
break it up each time.
•He sees spirits.
•He believes that the story of Revelations in the Bible is true.
Act IV
14.Stella dances with Plaatjes, but when Lamprecht calls to her to join him in
dancing she does not arrive and he has to continue to dance with a broomstick
instead. The implication is that their relationship has lost the joy and intimacy
that it had earlier on. Lamprecht is jealous that Stella danced with Plaatjes and is
probably reminding her that they used to dance together, but when Lamprecht
recalls the way they used to dance in Mossel Bay early in their marriage, Stella
puts a large shell to her ear. This aligns her instead with Plaatijes, who gave her
the shell.
15.Barney brings wine for both of them and he brings flowers for Stella alone.
He offers her wine and makes several attempts to include her in the
conversation.
16.Barney:
•He views the asylum inmates as sub-human.
•He is unaware that it is incestuous to have a relationship with your niece.
•He is willing to ‘make Plaatjes disappear’ – i.e. to murder him.
•He aspires to be a wrestler like his hero, Tromp van Diggelen.
17.Lamprecht
•He is distrustful of other men near his wife.
•He doesn’t respect Stella’s privacy; he steals the letter she has been writing and
gives it to Barney to read to him. He is illiterate.
•He longs for signs of affection from Stella and doesn’t realise how his
behaviour towards her alienates her.
18.Stella is cold and unfriendly towards her husband and their visitor, not even
thanking Barney for the flowers. She answers Barney’s direct questions but does
not otherwise participate in the conversation; instead she cups the shell to her ear
and leaves early to go to bed. We see the beginning signs of madness here.
Act V
19.•Insanity: the memories that frighten him; the list of unrelated words he
babbles.
•Sanity: he replies sensibly and even poetically to Barney’s questions, and asks
sensible questions in return.
20.•Plaatjes did not have any designs on Stella; she was the initiator of their
(innocuous) relationship, not the other way round.
•Plaatjes was describing Cape Town in his speech starting ‘Looky her!’;
Lamprecht was mistaken in thinking he was talking about Stella.
21.Lamprecht was jealous of the attention Stella was giving Plaatjes because he
could ‘speak poetry’. Without his tongue he would no longer be able to.
Lamprecht appears to be illiterate (can’t read Stella’s letters) and so would not
know any poetry.
Act VI
22.•She too is attempting to knock together a futile boat in which to escape.
•She uses the same rude words in trying to chase Lamprecht away – suka;
hamba.
•After a sane conversation with Lamprecht she talks to herself in the same way
that Plaatjes used to do and speaks about freedom and about the cloud on Table
Mountain, just as he did.
23.Lamprecht’s jealousy regarding Stella is groundless and extreme, and it leads
him to cut out Plaatjes’ tongue, which is the act of a lunatic.
Barney‘s lack of sympathy and understanding for Plaatjes is abnormal. This is
reinforced by his nonchalant willingness to do away with Plaatjes altogether. His
obsession with body-building and wrestling also seem abnormal and his dream
concerning them ridiculous and unattainable.
24.Yes, but she is writing to the man she first fell in love with. [The way things
are now his insane jealousy has isolated her because he chooses places where he
hopes there are no other men. He watches her every move, she has no freedom,
so goes mad at the end for a reason – it’s not the island, it’s him and what he’s
done to her that drive her insane. She associates with Plaatjes because of what
she has become: a prisoner of her husband where Plaatjes is a prisoner of the
State and the Island. The boat building, for her, represents freedom from
Lamprecht. She has no life, friends, anything. He doesn’t love her, he thinks he
owns her. She seems to be more educated than he is.]
Answer to essay
1.This is an argumentative essay, and you could take up one of three positions:
(a)You agree entirely; Barney and Lamprecht are insane, not Plaatjes and Stella.
(b)You disagree entirely; Barney and Lamprecht are sane whereas Plaatjes and
Stella have lost their minds.
(c)You agree that Barney and Lamprecht are not altogether sane, but neither are
Plaatjes and Stella.
Let’s accept option (c) as the title of your essay (omitting ‘You agree with’). The
introduction should summarise your argument and indicate the sequence of
paragraphs in the body of the essay:
“All four of the characters in The lighthouse keeper’s wife behave normally at
times during the play but abnormally at others. Barney seems normal most of the
time, but his treatment of Plaatjes shows the destabilising effect of having total
power over prisoners. Lamprecht has become delusional through years of
baseless jealousy about his wife. Plaatjes has either been made insane by
imprisonment or else feigns it very well, for his behaviour at most times is
surprisingly sane. Stella manages to hold on to her sanity despite feeling
oppressed by her isolation on the island and in her marriage, but when she
finally capitulates, her ‘mad scene’ differs from Plaatjes’ only in that it is
genuine.”
Your reader now expects the following four body paragraphs, and in this order:
(i)Barney’s treatment of Plaatjes; you would include a comment on his obsession
with Tromp van Diggelen, which implies that he is delusional about his ability as
a professional wrestler.
(ii)Lamprecht’s jealousy – its history before he took up the post at Robben
Island, his attitude to Barney and to Plaatjes, his relationship with Stella, all
culminating in his cutting off of Plaatjes’ tongue.
(iii)Plaatjes’ ability to switch between apparent lunacy and complete sanity, with
examples.
(iv)Stella’s frustrations, reflected in how she behaves towards the three other
characters, and finally the destabilising effect of her husband’s cruelty to
Plaatjes.
In your conclusion you could reflect on the limitations of conventional ideas of
normal and abnormal behaviour.
2.This essay asks you to discuss the play as an example of a woman’s fight for
recognition and independence.
The introduction should indicate the play’s theme and what you intend saying
about it.
Your body should contain paragraphs that develop and prove your argument with
these main ideas:
(i)Stella is seen by her husband as a possession he is required to jealousy guard.
He isolates her on Robben Island warning her against becoming friendly with
anyone on it. He goes looking for her; he shows his jealousy of Barney.
(ii)He shows displeasure at every independent thing she does: her walks, her
talks with Plaatjes and her desire to help him, her reading. She has to keep her
own writing hidden for fear of him.
(iii)Lamprecht’s conversations with Stella show his disrespect and almost
contempt for her and her ideas. You can give examples.
(iv)Stella’s attempts to intervene with the way the leper women are treated and
used are mentioned by Barney in a threatening way. He doesn’t mention her
name, but we understand she is being told not to interfere.
(v)When Stella realises the hopelessness of her situation, she lapses into
madness and starts building a boat of her own to escape with. This can be seen
as a sign of her desperation and the boat as what her lack of freedom has brought
her to. There is no possible reality to building a seaworthy boat from scrap
material and braving the sea with it.
Your conclusion could refer to what the lack of recognition and freedom has
resulted in for Stella, how her descent into madness is understandable given how
trapped she was as the lighthouse keeper’s wife.
The lighthouse keeper’s wife – a play for Grade 10 Home Language
The play is set on Robben Island in about 1900, when it was inhabited by lepers,
inmates of a mental asylum, and a lighthouse keeper and his lonely wife. These
are historical facts. Even Plaatjes, whose desperate attempts to get back to the
mainland include building boat after boat from the wrecks of ships, actually
existed. He never managed to escape and died in the asylum in 1901.
For Stella, the wife in question, the island is a prison, and her jealous husband
her jailer. Her descent into madness seems inevitable, given the conditions under
which she is forced to live. Both Stella and Plaatjes are prisoners, longing for a
freedom that never comes. “Freedom! Hey’ta, Freedom! She calls us in the
wind! She sings to us! Come my captain, come and lead us from this place of
desolation!” he calls out. The play explores the effects of loneliness on these
three main characters.
To assist Home Language learners in Grade 10 and their teachers the following
are included:
•A discussion of the key features of drama
•An introduction to the play
•A note on the author
•Notes and activities according developed according to the Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement
•Answers to all questions
•Annotations explaining difficult words
•A glossary of literary terms
First published in 2015 by Best Books
an imprint of NB Publishers a division of Media24 Boeke (Pty) Ltd.
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P O Box 879, Cape Town 8000
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Also available in print:
First edition in 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77589-830-6
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ISBN: 978-1-77589-966-2 (epub)
Mobi edition:
First edition in 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77589-996-9 (mobi)