TWO STEP
Two Step premiered at the Almeida Theatre as part of the PUSH 04 festival in London on 30 August 2004. It was directed by Josette Bushell-Mingo with the following cast: Dona Croll (Mona), Rikki McLeod (AJ), Derek Griffiths (Lenny), Remi Wilson.
Rhashan Stone’s Two Step is a haunting play about resentment and revenge, as a recovering alcoholic is forced to face the repercussions of his actions. Now, on the eighth step of a twelve-stage Alcohol Anonymous programme, Lenny is instructed to seek forgiveness from family and friends impacted by his alcohol-induced behaviour. A visit to his ex-girlfriend’s (MONA) flat unravels dark forgotten memories. But it appears that Lenny has forgotten to ask for forgiveness from someone closer to home, his son.
About the Playwright
American-born British actor, playwright and screenwriter Rhashan Stone was born in Elizabeth New Jersey in 1969. Stone began his career as an actor training at Mountview Theatre School in London before starring in some of the most popular British comedies and musicals including Desmonds (Channel 4), Mutual Friends (BBC) and stage musical Five Guys Named Moe by Clarke Peters, Sweeney Todd and Simply Heavenly by Langston Hughes. He was encouraged to write for the stage by Josette Bushell-Mingo, Artistic Director of PUSH, a black theatre company in the UK and also the director of Simply Heavenly. Bushell-Mingo asked Rhashan Stone to write the adaptation of the Odyssey for Push 01 entitled Pantheon of the Gods before commissioning his play Two Step. Since then, Rhashan has consistently worked as both an actor and writer for theatre and television. In 2012, Rhashan Stone won the Creative Diversity Network Award for ‘Best Breakthrough Writer’ for his first comedy drama City Hall, written for the Sky Playhouse Presents Season.
Summary (Extract)
After thirty years, MONA is confronted by a new and reformed ex-boyfriend, Lenny, who appears at her home in Battersea. Lenny’s life has changed dramatically; he is now a recovering alcoholic, living in Islington with his white wife and dual-heritage son and has dreams of becoming a successful author. The sight of Lenny fills Mona with utter resentment. Her life has not changed. She still lives in the same house, haunted by a painful memory. Lenny wants forgiveness. But Mona wants revenge.
I hated that manager. What was her name?
…
You should. Miriam. All teeth and parma violets. I just kept my head down and did my work. Tried to keep the shop looking nice. I used to go through a can of furniture polish every day because it was the only thing that would mask that smell of death. Then here how this woman comes in dressed very nicely don’t you know. Fox or something around she neck biting him own backside. She walking like she have a boiled sweet stuck up her poom-poom. Ever so slowly she walking. And she going along the shelves like she Lady Muck. It might smell of death but at least I knew it was clean. And I know how to clean good and not pay somebody else to do it. Not like in Islington. Anyhow, there I am at the cash register and she walks up to the desk with her books, ready to pay. She looks around like there’s been some kind of mistake. Then, in a voice that was so cut it could strip paint she says ‘Excuse me. Do you speak English?’
…
‘Yes, and I can read and write as well. Can I help you?’ She never bat an eyelid. She just carry on like she sometin’. Well let me tell you, I’m sometin’ too, Lenny. I’m somebody too! And don’t you forget it!
Pause.
I shoulda lick her in her head. They might have fired me but it would have been worth it. I had nothing to lose, it’s not as if I was ever going to get promoted. I suppose you could say my face didn’t fit. Good enough to clean and serve, but not good enough for management. Not good enough to tell other people what to do. ‘Can you speak English?’ Yes. And I can skin a goat and cook a stew. I can mend a dress and I can dig a ditch. What can you do? I know what I know, and what I know is that they are not gonna publish a book by some two bit redskin drunk that nobody has ever heard of before. It’s a business.