SCENE ONE

 

A small country shop on the island of Inishmaan circa 1934. Door in right wall. Counter along back, behind which hang shelves of canned goods, mostly peas. An old dusty cloth sack hangs to the right of these, and to the left a doorway leads off to an unseen back room. A mirror hangs on the left wall and a table and chair are situated a few yards away from it. As the play begins, Eileen Osbourne, late sixties, is placing some more cans onto the shelves. Her sister Kate enters from the back room.

 

 

KATE: Is Billy not yet home?

EILEEN: Not yet is Billy home.

KATE: I do worry awful about Billy when he’s late returning home.

EILEEN: I banged me arm on a can of peas worrying about Cripple Billy.

KATE: Was it your bad arm?

EILEEN: No, it was me other arm.

KATE: It would have been worse if you’d banged your bad arm.

EILEEN: It would have been worse, although it still hun.

KATE: Now you have two bad arms.

EILEEN: Well, I have one bad arm and one arm with a knock.

KA…