Andrew Lloyd Webber — Perspective

[MARIAN] Is she not the way that I described her? We’re as unalike as black and white [LAURA] Still, we are inseparable [MARIAN] Joined as day to night Very clearly of a different feather We’re an odd but merry pair of birds She’d say I’m verbose and garrulous [LAURA] But in fewer words [MARIAN] (laughs) Laura! (Hartright laughs) [LAURA] I fear your journey here was tedious? [HARTRIGHT] My journey was filled with drama! First I met the local Signal Man... a strange and unearthly man. He told me he’d had a vision that I would come here - and that I would bring tragedy in my wake [LAURA] Heavens! [HARTRIGHT] Indeed! But he said: "You will mark my words... When a year to this day The dead lie on the tracks! The dead lie on the tracks!" [MARIAN] How strange! [HARTRIGHT] What happened next Was stranger still A woman, breathless and afraid Appeared out of the night Completely dressed in white She had a secret she would tell Of one who had mistreated her Her face and frightened gaze My mind cannot erase But then she ran from view (to Laura) She looked so much like you [LAURA] Perhaps you saw a ghost? [HARTRIGHT] Ghost or not... she haunts me still She looked so much like you... [MARIAN] We must clear up this mystery! [HARTRIGHT] But first, ladies - we must take advantage of this wonderful light! (He moves off and the women follow, collecting their hats and sketch books) SCENE: "Drawing Lessons" (A beautiful summer’s day for their first drawing lesson. They are outside in the formal gardens of Limmeridge House with a couple of servants, all three before their easels. Laura puts on a hat and Shawl. They stand before their easels drawing. We hear both what they express openly and their inner thoughts) [MARIAN] Nothing's duller Than my watercolouring I've next to no technique at all [LAURA] My pen and ink are passable [MARIAN] My pen and ink appall All my sketching soon will have you retching I’m a notch below a chimpanzee [LAURA] But we're highly trainable! [MARIAN] We shall wait and see [HARTRIGHT] You can capture shade and light Best of all, perspective [MARIAN] All I ever do is trite [HARTRIGHT] Beauty is subjective You’ll develop your own style [MARIAN] He has such a winning smile [HARTRIGHT] You will know when it feels right [LAURA] I could trust him at first sight... (It is now a few weeks later. We are in mid-summer) [HARTRIGHT] Be observant! Be a humble servant Solely dedicated to your art! [LAURA] I can hardly concentrate... [MARIAN] What a shaky start (She tears up the paper) [HARTRIGHT] Don't conceal The thing you think and feel Get your emotion flowing through your brush! [MARIAN] If I follow your advice You would surely blush [LAURA] If I practice what you preach I'd be more effective [HARTRIGHT] She's so clearly out of reach Seen from my perspective [MARIAN] He’s a breath of summer air [HARTRIGHT] See the sunlight in her hair [LAURA] I must disregard his charms [LAURA AND MARIAN] And his manly rugged arms (The maids lay out a picnic lunch. The three eat. There is the sense that we are drifting through a long hot summer of drawing lessons) [MARIAN] Give me people! Not a tree or steeple Not a slice of apple and a knife Still, life’s not as interesting As a slice of life [HARTRIGHT] You’re improving! This is very moving That’s a cocker spaniel, clear and true [MARIAN] Thank you for the compliment I was sketching you [ALL THREE] What’s the reason I am here? What is my objective? What a stirring atmosphere But where is my perspective? Can you get a dizzy thrill While the world is standing still? Yet the summer’s drifting by While these golden moments fly SCENE: "Late Summer" (We are now in wilder countryside. It is hot. Collars are undone, shawls are abandoned. Hartright starts to sketch Laura)