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A Waste Of Space

    by Phil Mansell
Comedy Play Script: 'A Waste Of Space' by Phil Mansell

Synopsis

After years of putting up with her recently retired husband Graham cluttering up their home with junk from car boots and auctions, Ruth Gibson has a clear-out and adopts a minimalist approach to decorating her living room. She has followed the instructions in a book on feng shui borrowed from her gay neighbour Libby, a psychologist who thinks Ruth should follow her lead in adopting an alternative lifestyle.

As the two women talk in the new look living room, Graham returns from an auction carting several boxes of a job lot into the house. He is not keen on Libby, preferring neighbours that he exchanges only cursory greetings with, and sees the newcomer as having an unsettling influence on his wife. He is a man who prefers his own company, making things out of wood in his workshop. The relationship between the three is explored when Graham believes he has bought a rare and valuable Stradivarius guitar.

He is brought down to earth by Ruth about this and other things, including her unhappiness with their marriage and their childless state. When she tries to shock him by announcing that she is having an affair with Libby, Graham goes into the latest of his many mammoth sulks and locks himself in his workshop. As Ruth and Libby discuss a plan of action, he surprises them by emerging to take boxes of junk to the tip, as Ruth had previously suggested. He further wins Ruth over with an uncharacteristic outburst declaring his love for her. Believing he has turned over a new leaf, she is brought back to earth when he says he may be some time coming back from the tip as he has remembered a nearby car boot sale. Ruth, unable to find the serenity she seeks in her feng shui living room, looks for it in the wine bottle.

Duration
50 mins approx

Characters

(1m, 2f)
  • Ruth Gibson - 50s, house-proud
  • Libby Spencer - Ruth’s neighbour
  • Graham Gibson - Ruth’s husband
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