The Inheritance Read online

  MATTHEW LOPEZ

  The Inheritance

  inspired by the novel Howards End by

  E. M. FORSTER

  Contents

  Title Page

  World Premiere

  Characters

  The Inheritance

  Part One

  Prologue

  Act One

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Scene Five

  Act Two

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Act Three

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Scene Five

  Part Two

  Prologue

  Act One

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Scene Five

  Scene Six

  Act Two

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Scene Five

  Act Three

  Scene One

  Scene Two

  Scene Three

  Scene Four

  Scene Five

  Scene Six

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Copyright

  The Inheritance was originally commissioned by Hartford Stage (Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director). The world premiere was performed in London at the Young Vic, Part One on 2 March 2018, and Part Two on 9 March 2018. The cast, in alphabetical order, was as follows:

  Young Man 7 / Jasper Hugo Bolton

  Young Man 5 / Charles / Peter / Agent Robert Boulter

  Young Man 10 / Toby Darling Andrew Burnap

  Young Man 3 / Young Henry / Tucker Hubert Burton

  Henry Wilcox John Benjamin Hickey

  Morgan / Walter Paul Hilton

  Young Man 1 / Adam / Leo Samuel H. Levine

  Boy Sam Lockhart, Joshua De La Warr

  Young Man 6 / Tristan Syrus Lowe

  Young Man 2 / Jason 2 / Other Agent Michael MarcusMargaret Vanessa Redgrave

  Young Man 9 / Eric Glass Kyle Soller

  Young Man 4 / Young Walter / Clinic Worker Luke Thallon

  Young Man 8 / Jason 1 / Paul / Doorman Michael Walters

  Direction Stephen Daldry

  Design Bob Crowley

  Light Jon Clark

  Sound Paul Arditti and Chris Reid

  Music Paul Englishby

  UK Casting Julia Horan CDG

  US Casting Jordan Thaler CSA and Heidi Griffiths CSA

  Associate Director Justin Martin

  Dramaturg Elizabeth Williamson

  Dialect William Conacher

  Fights Terry King

  Assistant Director Sadie Spencer

  Executive Producer David Lan

  This production was supported by Nattering Way LLC and Sonia Friedman Productions.

  Andrew Burnap, John Benjamin Hickey and Samuel H. Levine appeared with the permission of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange programme between American Equity and UK Equity.

  Sadie Spencer was supported by the Jerwood Assistant Directors Programme at the Young Vic.

  Characters

  E. M. Forster (‘Morgan’)

  Eric Glass

  Toby Darling

  Walter Poole

  Adam McDowell

  Henry Wilcox

  Leo

  Margaret

  Young Man 1

  Young Man 2

  Young Man 3

  Young Man 4

  Young Man 5

  Young Man 6

  Young Man 7

  Young Man 8

  Young Man 9

  Young Man 10

  Tristan

  Jasper

  Jason 1

  Jason 2

  Charles Wilcox

  Paul Wilcox

  Tucker

  Toby’s Agent

  Clinic Worker

  Doorman

  Toby’s Other Agent

  THE INHERITANCE

  Part One

  Prologue

  A cozy room. A handful of Young Men sitting around writing. Some with pencils on paper, some on laptops, a few on typewriters. Off to the side, apart from the group, one lone young man sits. We shall call him Young Man 1.

  Young Man 1 He has a story to tell – it is banging around inside him, aching to come out. But how does he begin? He opens his favorite novel, hoping to find inspiration in its first familiar sentence. And in reading those words, he finds himself once again in the gentle, reassuring presence of their author.

  An older man enters. He is E. M. Forster. We, like all his intimates, shall call him Morgan.

  Morgan I hope I’m not disturbing you.

  Morgan How’s the work coming?

  They groan in frustration.

  Young Man 10 I think I’m a fucking genius.

  Morgan (to Young Man 1) Why aren’t you writing?

  Young Man 1 I don’t know how to start. I thought that maybe I’d read a little and see how others begin their stories.

  Morgan You have stumbled across the writer’s most valuable tool: procrastination.

  What is your story about?

  Young Man 1 Me. My friends. The men I’ve loved. And those I’ve lost.

  Morgan Goodness me. Friendship, love, and loss. Sounds like you’re off to a very good start.

  Young Man 1 But the thing is I’m not! My ideas refuse to become words.

  Morgan Yes, I understand. All your ideas are at the starting post, ready to run. And yet they all must pass through a keyhole in order to begin the race.

  Young Man 1 I picked up one of your books –

  Morgan Which one? Ah, Howards End.

  Young Man 1 ‘One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.’ God, what a great first sentence! So dashed off, as if to suggest it doesn’t really matter how you start.

  Morgan Perhaps it doesn’t.

  Young Man 1 I keep returning to this book again and again.

  Morgan Tell me: what is it about the novel that speaks to you? What do you find in its pages?

  Young Man 2 Guidance?

  Young Man 8 Compassion.

  Young Man 4 Wisdom.

  Young Man 5 I love its humanity.

  Young Man 7 Its honesty.

  Young Man 1 It comforts me.

  Young Man 10 Not for me. I mean, it’s a great book, don’t get me wrong. And the movie’s good. But, I mean, the world is so different now. I can’t identify with it at all.

  Young Man 9 It’s been a hundred years.

  Young Man 7 The world has changed so much.

  Young Man 3 Our lives are nothing like the people in your book.

  Morgan How can that be true? Hearts still love, don’t they? And break. Hope, fear, jealousy, desire. Your lives may be different. But the feelings are the same. The difference is merely setting, context, costumes. But those are just details.

  Young Man 1 All I have are the details.

  Morgan Why do you need to tell your story?

  Young Man 1 To understand it. To understand myself.

  Morgan That’s a story I’d like to hear.

  Young Man 1 Will you help me tell my story? Our story?

  Young Man 7 Who we are.

  Young Man 6 How we got here.

  Young Man 4 And what we mean to each other.

  The Lads encourage him.

  Morgan I would be delighted.

  So, to begin: who does your story start with?

  Young Man 1 Toby
.

  Morgan One may as well begin with Toby’s … what?

  Young Man 1 Voicemails.

  Morgan One may as well begin with Toby’s voicemails –

  Young Man 1 – to his boyfriend.

  Act One

  Summer 2015–Summer 2016

  SCENE ONE

  1. A Party at the Hamptons

  Young Man 10 becomes Toby Darling.

  Beep.

  Toby You are going to die when I tell you what you’re missing. Call me back.

  Beep. Toby’s a little drunk.

  Where are you? You can’t be asleep already. You are missing the most exquisite party, holy shit! Call me when you get this. God, I love the Hamptons!

  Beep. Toby’s drunker.

  Okay. So. First of all this house is gorgeous. It’s this sleek, modernist saltbox, all concrete and glass with a massive infinity pool that stretches out to the ocean. And all of it so tastefully decorated, you would die.

  Young Man 1 And its owner, Henry Wilcox?

  Toby Oh, Henry Wilcox! You were right: Henry Wilcox is really kinda dreamy. I want to be him when I grow up. He’s wearing the most magnificent suit, which was made by this Savile Row-trained tailor on the Upper West Side, kinda near us, actually. So when I asked him for the guy’s information, Henry says:

  Young Man 1 ‘Oh Toby, he’s way out of your price range.’

  Toby Which is such a dick thing to say and yet coming from the mouth of Henry Wilcox, I was simply dazzled.

  Oh! And we played football today. Tackle, not touch. Can you imagine me playing football? Well, I didn’t. But I could have if I wanted and that’s the point.

  Young Man 1 And Henry’s partner Walter?

  Toby Walter has this sort of, I don’t know, this ghost-like spirit about him. Like a sheer curtain in front of an open window. He’s like Valium. I love him.

  Holy shit, Meryl Streep is here! Eric, this party is ridiculous. Call me back!

  Beep. Toby’s drunker.

  Toby Walter just said I could stay the whole weekend! Pack a bag and get your ass on a train first thing tomorrow morning. You are going to love it here!

  Young Man 1 New York City is a Darwinian experiment. Every summer, waves of college graduates wash up on its shores to begin the struggle toward success and achievement.

  Young Man 5 They are young, ambitious, intelligent and driven –

  Young Man 8 Also helps if they’re attractive.

  Young Man 6 – each convinced they have the talents and abilities not just to survive in the city –

  Young Man 2 – but also to thrive.

  Young Man 1 Toby Darling and his partner Eric Glass were two such strivers.

  Morgan Let’s have a look at them.

  Right. So … neither were all that young anymore –

  Toby Hey!

  Morgan – nor particularly brilliant –

  Eric Wait a second.

  Morgan – or successful.

  Toby Oh come on!

  Morgan And yet, through no enterprise of their own, they were the inhabitants of an enormous three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a terrace that overlooked the park on the fifteenth floor of an elegant pre-war building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

  Young Man 9 becomes Eric Glass.

  Morgan Eric Glass was packing a bag just as Toby walked into the apartment –

  Young Man 1 Hungover and miserable.

  2. Eric and Toby’s Apartment

  Toby Hey.

  Eric Toby? I was just about to head to Penn Station.

  Toby Didn’t you get to my voicemail?

  Eric You left two dozen.

  Toby The one from early this morning.

  Eric No, I guess I / didn’t –

  Young Man 2 Hey, it’s me.

  Young Man 3 It’s early.

  Young Man 4 Like, maybe six?

  Young Man 5 Look, change of plans.

  Young Man 6 I’m taking the first train back.

  Young Man 7 And please delete all my messages from last night.

  Young Man 8 I wish I’d never come.

  Eric What happened?

  Toby I am so humiliated. I can never show my face there again. I’m going to end my days as a Walmart cashier –

  Young Man 1 – in Alabama.

  Eric Just tell me, babe.

  Toby I threw up.

  Eric Oh. That’s not so bad. On the train?

  Toby At the party.

  Eric Oh. Well … like … on the lawn / or –?

  Toby On their sofa.

  Eric Oh.

  Toby And their dog.

  Which was sitting in Meryl Streep’s lap.

  Eric Oh Toby …

  Toby I am beyond mortified. My career has ended before it’s begun.

  Eric Your career is not over.

  Toby Eric, Alec Baldwin and Mariska Hargitay watched me projectile vomit over THE MOST TRANSCENDENT AND CELEBRATED ACTOR OF ALL TIME!

  Eric Toby …

  Toby You’ve seen Sophie’s Choice! Do you know how many emails are likely being fired off between New York and Los Angeles this very minute? The blacklist resurrected, party of one. I am so humiliated.

  Eric Okay. Do you think you may be overstating your stature just a / tiny bit?

  Toby Hardly the point of my story, Eric.

  Eric So what happened then?

  Toby Everyone fled the room like I had Ebola. Meryl Streep just sat there, covered in vomit. The dog, it … Oh God, the dog started …

  Eric Just tell me –

  Toby It started licking it off her face.

  Are you laughing?

  Eric Not at you.

  Toby Thank God for Walter, who acted as if this sort of thing happens all the time in East Hampton. He helped the most nominated actor in Oscar history up and out of the room. Then he brought me a ginger ale and helped me up to my room. But not before Elton John tried to twelve-step me. I woke up around five and Ubered over to the train station before the sun came up.

  Eric You left without saying goodbye?

  Toby Well, I wasn’t going to stick around for breakfast!

  Eric grabs his phone.

  What are you doing?

  Eric I’m calling / them.

  Toby No, please!

  Eric We can’t just say nothing.

  Toby Yes, we can! I promise they’ll forget all about us by next week.

  Eric I don’t want them to forget about us. I like Henry and Walter.

  Toby Well, I promise you they don’t like us anymore. Just please let it be.

  Eric puts his phone away.

  God, I’m such a mess.

  Eric You’ve puked all over this city and lived to show your face again.

  Toby But never in the Hamptons. Everyone at that party was so cool and unaffected, like they belonged there.

  Eric They did belong there. Maybe someday we’ll have money and we’ll belong there, too. Or maybe that’s just not us.

  Toby It has to be us. You didn’t see that house, Eric.

  (Then, truly bummed.) Aw. You didn’t see that house. I’m sorry I ruined our beach vacation.

  Eric It was a plan for all of a minute. I barely had time to cancel anything. In fact, I was planning to noodle around the Whitney with Tristan. Maybe go to Film Forum. You wanna come?

  Toby I’m so hungover, babe. I just wanna fall asleep and wake up in my forties.

  Eric Oh, Toby.

  Go to sleep. I’ll be home to make you dinner.

  Toby Call me before you head to the movies. I might just rally.

  Morgan What does Eric do now?

  Young Man 1 I think he calls Walter anyway.

  Morgan And who is Walter?

  Young Man 1 You are.

  Morgan becomes Walter Poole.

  Walter Hello?

  Eric Hi, Walter? It’s Eric Glass.

  Walter Well, hello Eric Glass. I wondered if I might hear from you today.

  Eric Yeah. So listen, about last night, Toby
feels just awful.

  Walter Judging from the number of martinis Toby had, I’m not surprised.

  Eric Listen, are you sure there isn’t there something we can do? I can send a check / or maybe call a –

  Walter What you can do is to put it out of your mind.

  Eric Well … I’ll try.

  Walter Now if you’ll excuse me, the steam cleaners have just arrived. Totally unrelated to the events of last night I assure you. So nice to hear from you, Eric.

  Walter hangs up, becomes Morgan again.

  Morgan Eric Glass opened his home regularly to his friends. He cooked elaborate dinners for great numbers of the fascinating people he collected over the years, listening to their stories, rarely offering his own in return.

  Young Man 1 And so it was, on Friday, October 9, 2015 that Eric Glass opened his home to his friends to celebrate his thirty-third birthday. He served dinner, poured wine, and played for them a piece of music that had recently captured his ear.

  End of Scene One.

  SCENE TWO

  October 9, 2015. Eric’s thirty-third birthday.

  1. Eric and Toby’s Apartment

  Eric and Toby with a group of four other young men. Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major plays.

  Eric Toby and I heard a group from Juilliard playing this piece today at the Strand.

  Tristan Who’s it by?

  Eric Ravel.

  Jason 2 I don’t really know Ravel. What’s he done?

  Jason 1 What do you mean, ‘done’, babe?

  Eric ‘Bolero’.

  Jason 2 Which one’s that?

  Eric has to start dah-dah-dahing ‘Bolero’.

  Jason 2 Oh right! Torvill and Dean. And he wrote this?

  Eric Yes.

  Tristan It’s so captivating.

  Eric Isn’t it?

  Jason 2 I think I once heard this in a movie.

  Jasper Yeah, me too. Atonement, maybe?