ACT ONE. Eastlink Bridge. Afternoon. Mother and Boy.
Boy: I can’t see it.
Mother: You can.
Boy: Where’s the bridge?
Mother: Just look at it.
Boy: That boat there?
Mother: No, the other boat.
Boy: Are we on the bridge?
Mother: No. This is the Eastlink.
Boy: I can’t see the bridge.
Mother: That’s it, in front of us.
Boy: Where?
Mother: There.
Boy: Why’s it not coming faster?
Mother: Just look at it.
Boy: How did they stick the bridge on?
Mother: Nuts and bolts.
Boy: I want to go.
[They Go]
Act Two. The tug has begun its approach. Two men. Shay Tarpey and Liam Hendley. From Dublin.
Shay: Just came to see it going through.
Liam: That’s all.
Shay: Give us a bit of a lift. With all the doom. The doom and gloom.
Onlooker: If it gets through.
Shay: Don’t say that. Nah, it’s fantastic. Good to see improvements down here in the docklands. The bridges and that.
Liam: Hope the rain holds off.
Act Three. Two journalists. Sodden notebooks. Little going.
J1: Are you sure it was here?
J2: That’s what they said.
J1: Where?
J2: Here.
J1: How will we know?
J2: 120 metres long, 48 metres high. A giant white harp, sideways.
J1: Two o’clock?
J2: They’ve been wrong before.
J1: (forlorn) What’s the delay?
J2: High winds. Low tide.
J1: And if not today?
J2: Tomorrow.
J1: Will there be much in it?
J2: Much in it?
J1: The Beckett. When it comes.
Act Four. Two tourists. The bridge inches closer, ropes taut, creaking and crunching. Crowds now line the quayside. Overhead, a helicopter.
Tourist One: We are just walking this way. We are from Denmark.
Tourist Two: We didn’t know this. What is happening?
From the crowd: We’re waitin’. For the bridge.
Tourist One: The bridge?
From the crowd: The bridge.
Tourist One: We thought there was an accident or something. The police came.
Tourist Two: And the ambulance.
Tourist One: We’ll wait to see.
[They wait]
Act Five. An hour has passed, and now the bridge passes gracefully through the Eastlink. Phones aloft! Camera shutters. Otherwise silence. Shay and Liam. Again.
Shay: Absolutely fantastic. Something to be proud of.
Liam: It’s good to be able to say you were here, in fairness.
Shay: Well? We head?
Liam: Let’s head.