Page 89 of Best Supporting Actor
The tweet read,“Bow Street’s Tag O’Rourke confirms Jay Warren will be treading the boards with him at the York Drama Festival this week.”
“Click the link,” Bea demanded excitedly, and when Jay did, he was taken to Austin’s ‘Little Bird’ column. It covered a few different stories, the last of which carried the usual sub-heading“A Little Bird Tells Me…”Underneath, it read:
“…Jay Warren, youngest son of Dame Cordelia Warren and star of TV angst-festLeeches, has apparently stunned friends and family with his decision to perform on stage for the first time in years. He’ll be starring in a brand-new play about the Great War poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.Let Us Go Backis written by Bea Lawson, daughter of renowned Shakespearian actor Timon Lawson, a good friend of Dame Cordelia.
"If you’re aLeechesfan, don’t hold your breath in hopes of scoring a ticket, though. The festival organisers predict a very quick sell-out, not least because opening night is Tuesday—yes,thisTuesday—and the play will only run for the two-week duration of the festival.
"You may be wondering why this is the first we’ve heard of Jay Warren’s involvement in the project. Alittle birdtells me that he’s keeping his involvement lowkey so as not to overshadow the stage debut of close friend Tag O’Rourke, an up-and-coming young talent who recently stole the show as Bishop in Peter Crowley’s new historical drama,Bow Street. Some believe it was O’Rourke who persuaded Warren to put aside his reservations about performing live—understandable given Warren’s owneventful debut stage appearance. Whoever is responsible, there’s no doubt that the York Drama Festival, a relatively new and modest event on the arts scene, will benefit hugely from securing such a big name. The only question now is whether Jay Warren can live up to the hype.”
“Isn’t it great?” Bea enthused as she retrieved her phone from Jay. “This is going to be so good for getting reviews! I bet we’ll sell out in the next day or two.” Jay tried to smile, but knew it was a poor effort at best. Not that Bea seemed to notice. Henry and Freddie had just walked back in, and she was already bouncing over to share the news with them.
Jay glanced at Tag, who was still staring at his phone screen, his thumb occasionally scrolling up. What was he reading? Had he clicked the link about Jay’seventful debut stage appearance? That would no doubt take him to Austin’s years-old review of Jay’s performance inThe Birthday Party, with its brutal headline:“When opportunity knocks… you flat on your back.”
The opening paragraph was still seared into Jay’s memory, word for word.
“You’d have to be heartless to take any pleasure in watching an actor fall apart on stage, but when the Mill Cross Theatre brought down the curtain, mid-scene, on a frozen Jay Warren on Friday evening, it felt like a mercy kill. Warren was entirely out of his depth, a fact that was painfully obvious from the masterful performance delivered by understudy Clement Harris after Warren’s catastrophic collapse. One has to wonder why Harris, a veteran of the stage, was understudying someone straight out of drama school, but then, Warrenisthe youngest son of Dame Cordelia …”
By now, Jay’s heart was pounding in his chest, as hard as if he were sprinting. His breath felt trapped and tight inside him, anxiety swirling, and suddenly all he could think about was the little white box of pills he’d collected that morning.
Before he could think it through, he was turning on his heel and heading backstage, where he’d left his bag.
“Jay?” Henry called out. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he answered, ignoring the question.
Once he was backstage, out of the others’ sight and hearing, he let go of his iron control on himself. His breath began coming out in swift, panicky pants as he sank down to his knees beside his bag and tore the zip open, rifling through it till he found the box. Fumbling it open, he yanked out the blister pack of pills. The instruction leaflet fell out at the same time, drifting to the ground, ignored.
“Jay?”
The unexpected voice—Tag’s voice—made him start guiltily.
“What have you got there?” Tag asked, lowering himself down to his haunches beside Jay. Jay didn’t speak, or hand over the pill pack, but it didn’t matter because Tag was lifting the leaflet, and when he opened it up and read the name, he clearly recognised it.
“I didn’t know you were taking these,” he said slowly.
“I’m not. I wasn’t—” Jay paused. “That is, I haven’t had any yet.” When Tag didn’t reply, he added, driven by honesty, “They’re for stage fright.” When Tag still didn’t say anything, just stared at him accusingly, he snapped, “Oh don’t look like that. Loads of actors use them to take the edge off.”
“Take theedgeoff?” Tag said slowly, disbelievingly. “I’d have thought you’d want your edge intact when you’re about to open a brand-new play. Jesus, Jay!”
Jay laughed, although he wasn’t in the least amused. “Is that a view you’ve formulated from your vast experience of stage-acting? Or perhaps your medical expertise?”
Tag pulled back, clearly offended. “Well, excuse me for worrying about you! I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Yeah, it really sounded likeIwas your priority,” Jay scoffed. “As I’ve said, I’m fine.” Getting to his feet, he shoved the pills back in his bag. “You don’t need to worry.”
Tag rose too, his chest heaving, nostrils flaring. “Oh,really?” he said with savage sarcasm. “Because from where I’m standing, I’ve got alotto worry about. Our dress rehearsal’s a fucking shit show, all you seem to care about is making sure your understudy’s ready, and now I find you popping pills that’ll turn you into a bloody zombie.” He threw his hands up in frustration. “Jay, this is my big break! If it’s a fuck-up—”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, this play isn’tallabout you.”
“Yeah, I know!” Tag retorted furiously. “It’s also Bea’s first full-length work. It’s a production that Henry and Freddie have put their hearts and souls into.Andit’s the fucking flagship event of this entire festival. It’s important to lots of people!”
“You think I don’t fuckingknowthat?” Jay yelled. “Why do you think I’m so bothered about Rafe? Why do you think I got these pills? I want this play to be a success!”
“Then get your head in the game,” Tag said in a low, driven tone. “Instead of looking for the easy way out, be fuckingpresent. You don’t need Rafe, and you don’t need those pills. You’ve already got everything you need right here.”
“You haven’t got a clue what I n—”
“What the hell’s going on back here?”