Two Plays for Tuppence

About the Book

Two plays for Tuppence consists of two plays written specifically for television. Both plays have an Irish setting and an Irish ambiance. The first play, “A Most Civil Servant,” deals with the manner in which its central character, Mr. Carmody stumbles into a position in the Civil Service in Dublin Castle. It is 1922. The War of Independence has ended and the Irish government is taking over from the British. During this transition period there is a good deal of confusion over the allocation of offices, which Mr. Carmody exploits to his advantage. The play was inspired by the short story “They Also Serve” by Mervyn Wall, first published in Harper’s (1940) and included by Benedict Kiely in The Penguin Book of Irish Short Stories (1981). However, the play is not an adaptation of Wall’s story. It covers a much broader canvas and deals with events which are not in Wall’s famous short story, including a visit to Paris where Mr. Carmody and his mate Frank meet James Joyce. After many strange episodes in various parts of Dublin, the play reaches a dramatic climax in the final scene. The second play, “Hobson’s Choice,” tells the curious tale of Clive Alexander Goode, a Dublin academic, who has endured twenty-five years of living hell with his wife, Beth. He plans and executes the perfect murder, believing that he is morally justified in ridding society of the evil one. Subsequently, he is charged with the unlawful killing of his wife and is committed to the Dundrum Mental Asylum, where he seeks enlightenment. The play illustrates how we fabricate our own morality and how we deal with our own demons—the conflicts within ourselves. Clive professes a blind belief in the magical powers of the Sidhe, whom he first encountered when he was growing up in Sligo on the south side of Knocknarea. Like W. B. Yeats, he believes in the mystic world. There are twelve scenes that represent episodes in Clive’s troubled mind. We meet Clive in conversation with various people. The evil one, Clive’s malevolent wife, appears only at the beginning of the play, but she is the catalyst around whom the play revolves. The play straddles two worlds—the real and the unreal, the mundane and the mystical.

About the Author

James Mannes Bourke comes from Dublin. He is a retired university lecturer who specialised in language education (TESL). He has published many academic papers and monographs on various aspects of language education. Since taking retirement in 2008, he has turned to creative writing and published a novel, Under the Alien Sky, and a collection of short stories, Footprints in the Mind. More recently, he has written a second novel, Confessions of an Alien, and two plays for television, called Two Plays for Tuppence. He has a special interest in the short story, and his topics range from life in Ireland to Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. He is currently working on a collection of Oriental stories. He seems to have the rare ability to capture in words the colourful way of life of people in remote places and their age-old culture. Dr. Bourke has more than a passing interest in language and language education. He spent over thirty years training future teachers of English as a second language. He is working on an English grammar textbook for ESL students and a primer for teachers of English called Language Awareness for Language Teachers. He still does some consultancy work as an English-language (ESL) specialist. Academic qualifications: diploma in education, 1960; BA, University College Cork, 1968; MA in applied linguistics, University of Essex, 1978; and PhD in linguistic problem-solving, Trinity College, Dublin, 1992. More information about the author can be found in his website, www.jamesmannesbourke.com.