The Share Club

By Roger Hall

Eight people form a neighbourhood share club hoping to make instant money. Meetings are held turn about in their homes, and tempers flare and patience wears thin as the market fluctuates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Victoria University Press
• Release date: May 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780864737779

Roger Hall

Roger Hall, a free-lance writer, editor, and novelist, lives in Delaware.

Book preview

THE SHARE CLUB

Roger Hall

Victoria University Press

Contents

Title Page

First Performance

Characters

The Play

The Share Club

Scene One

Scene TWO

Scene Three

Scene Four

By the Same Author

Copyright

First Performance

THE SHARE CLUB was first presented by The Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, on 29 June 1987, when the cast was as follows: 

Z

ENA

Theresa Healey

V

ICTOR

Brian McNeill

M

AUREEN

Fleur Tudor

W

ARREN

Timothy Bartlett

C

HARLES

John Mann

A

GNES

Elizabeth Moody

M

ILES

Danny Mulheron

G

ARTH

Barry Dorking

Directed and designed by Campbell Thomas

Technical Director: Bruce Appleton

Stage Manager: Genni Bell

Characters

Z

ENA

: Married to Miles. Thirties.

V

ICTOR

: Mid thirties to fifty.

M

AUREEN

: Late twenties to thirties.

W

ARREN

: Husband of Maureen. Taxi driver.

C

HARIES

: Forty to sixty. Bachelor. University Lecturer in Economics.

A

GNES

: Teacher of Junior classes — on verge of retirement. Single.

M

ILES

: Thirties. Up and coming executive of finance company.

G

ARTH

: Forty to fifty. Works in a bank. Treasurer of the Share Club.

The Play

The action of the play covers the final four monthly meetings of a Share Club. The year is 1986.

For productions, names can be localised. Programmes should include the following: ‘The Share Club was first presented by The Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, on 29 June 1987’.

The Share Club

Scene One

---

Sitting room of M

ILES

and ZENA’S house. Seats arranged for a meeting. Bottles of wine opened on a table.

Z

ENA

is showing V

ICTOR

into the room.

Z

ENA

: Make yourself at home. Indicating the wine: Drinks.

V

ICTOR

: Am I the first?

Z

ENA

: The others won’t be long. Miles rang from the airport. He’s on his way. About to leave: I won’t be long.

V

ICTOR

: Don’t rush off, Zena.

Z

ENA

: I’m half way through a story with the boys. But she stays.

V

ICTOR

: How are they?

Z

ENA

: Tiring. They’re fine. I can’t wait to get a job, though.

V

ICTOR

: Come and be my nurse. Denise is leaving soon.

Z

ENA

: Victor, I’d hate it. I don’t know how you can bear it, fixing up people’s rotten gums all the time.

V

ICTOR

: It has its rewards. I tell my patients to lie back and think of England; and then I lean forward and think of Tahiti.

Z

ENA

: Miles won’t hear of it anyway.

V

ICTOR

: That’s not necessarily a good enough reason. Pause. This must seem all very small fry to him.

Z

ENA

: And for you.

V

ICTOR

: I look on it purely as social.

Z

ENA

: Miles likes to get information from whatever source he can. He just loves the financial world.

V

ICTOR

, looking at a chair: This is nice.

Z

ENA

: Yes.

V

ICTOR

: You should let me restore it some time. It’s a hobby.

Z

ENA

: I know.

V

ICTOR:

Miles leads you a dull life, doesn’t he.

Z

ENA

: Well …

V

ICTOR

: He doesn’t appreciate you properly. I can tell. He’s a fool, that’s all I can say.

Slight pause. Door bell rings.

Ring me if ever you want anything restored.

Z

ENA

goes. V

ICTOR

pours himself a drink. Z

ENA

returns a moment later with M

AUREEN

and W

ARREN

.

Z

ENA:

Help yourself. Won’t be long. How do you get a four-year-old to sleep?

M

AUREEN

: Lashings of drugs. For the mother.

Z

ENA

goes out.

Hallo Victor.

V

ICTOR

: What are you doing here, Maureen? You never come.

M

AUREEN

: Warren’s mother’s staying with us.

W

ARREN

: Don’t often get a free baby sitter.

M

AUREEN

: Warren signed me up but I don’t think he ever wanted me to come to a meeting. I gather I pay over my twenty dollars a month like everyone else.

V

ICTOR

: And the $200 initial deposit.

M

AUREEN

: You didn’t tell me we were into high finance, Warren. Pretending to be impressed: Two hundred dollars!

V

ICTOR

: That gave us two thousand to start with. Ten members in the club — that gives us another $200 each month added to the kitty. This is our ninth meeting, so we’ve put in $3,800. What are you drinking, Warren?

W

ARREN

: I’ll have a beer.

M

AUREEN

: And what are our shares worth?

V

ICTOR:

Garth will tell us that. At the end of the year, we wind up unless there is a majority vote to continue. But we’re doing all right.

M

AUREEN:

Warren doesn’t even show me the minutes.

V

ICTOR

: I wouldn’t complain. They’re deadly dull.

W

ARREN

: Maureen doesn’t know anything about shares.

V

ICTOR

: You’ll be in good company here.

M

AUREEN

: I brought the paper.

V

ICTOR

: And rightly so. How’s the transport industry, Warren?

W

ARREN

: Lay off, Victor.

V

ICTOR

: Any celebrities as passengers this week?

W

ARREN

: No.

V

ICTOR:

Fancy having Ron Brierley in your cab and not asking him for any tips.

W

ARREN

: He was reading. He read the whole trip. It was years ago. I’ve told you that a hundred times.

M

AUREEN

: Ask him how the renovations are going.

V