Happy 92nd Birthday, A TOAST DARLING, Jeremy!

A TOAST DARLING

A tribute in one act. I thought I’d have Sherlock Holmes do the honours. From my storybook, Sherlock Holmes FAR AND WIDE.

“I arranged to meet him at the Savoy for tea, but neither of us turned up.” – Jeremy Brett.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

SHERLOCK HOLMES. The Great Detective.

JEREMY BRETT. Shakespearian actor and portrayer of SHERLOCK HOLMES.

HERALD/EDWARD HARDWICKE/DOCTOR WATSON. Soldier, doctor, MR HOLMES’S biographer.

WOMAN IN BLUE TROUSERS

REPROBATE

PUB DWELLERS

PLACE

Prince Albert Pub in Battersea, London, UK.

TIME

Present day.

ACT I, SCENE I

SETTING

A traditionally comfortable Public House in residential South London. Smokers cordially gather at tables under a large, welcoming cafe awning. It is raining, of a variety that farmers crave, and Londoners barely acknowledge. Cabs splash through puddles as they approach the bridge.

AT RISE

SHERLOCK HOLMES, in black frockcoat and topper, is smoking at an outside table, carefully observing 21st Century Londoners.

HERALD

“Once upon a time in London, SHERLOCK HOLMES met with the actor, JEREMY BRETT. A bottle of champagne under his arm, he stepped out to the pavement for a smoke but found he left his cigarettes behind.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Rises and shakes JEREMY’S hand like a brother and offers his silver cigarette case.)

“Thank you for coming.”

“Help yourself. It has probably been a while.”

JEREMY

(Dressed in a navy blue jumper, white trousers and trainers, red socks. Lights cigarette, enjoys the taste.)

“It is the tobacco, which I find most irksome.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Smiles.)

“All right, you are entitled.”

JEREMY

“Ha! No deerstalker, no meerschaum pipe! I thought as much.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“It was that illustrator, Paget and that American, William Gillette. Even if one never read a word of Doyle’s stories, their images were so proliferated. But who would wear a hunting cap in the capital city of London?”

JEREMY

“Exactly! You really are paying attention.”

(Pops the cork, fills their glasses, hands one to SHERLOCK, and clinks the detective’s glass.)

“They can pull a fine pint here but know nothing of champagne. I thought, a toast, darling. To friendship!”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Raises his glass.)

“And genius! MR BRETT, I must commence these proceedings by thanking you for The Secret of Sherlock Holmes! At that time in your career, you could have initiated anything: played the lead in a Hollywood film, rested in the Bahamas, filmed your Tempest, founded your own theatre, school, or, like Rathbone, written your autobiography. Whatever your heart desired. Instead, for my keenest pleasure, you took it upon yourself to conceive, write, produce, and star in that gorgeous West End play. It was a supremely generous one-hundredth birthday tribute!”

HERALD

“The actor observed the man he once thought of as a black beetle, a damaged penguin. In his top hat and knee-length skirts, he made the outmoded frock-coat look good.”

JEREMY

“Of course, darling! Why not?”

“The timing was everything. My company was absolutely superb. Only TED HARDWICKE was a little hesitant. He needed a break and possibly thought I did, too. If we presented it in New York, we would have swept the Tonys that year.”

(He watches HOLMES as his attention shifts to the last table.)

“How are you, sir?”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Do you see that young WOMAN IN THE BLUE TROUSERS? She is in for a pernicious time, flirting with that REPROBATE.”

(He quickly rises to his feet.)

“Excuse me…”

JEREMY

(Grabs HOLMES’S arm.)

“MR HOLMES, please reel in your chivalrous desires. Here, that would lead to a brawl. I’ll back you up if you must. I’ve had my nose broken before.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“As have I.”

(They study each other’s faces for a moment. Then sit.)

“Even though some exercise would be welcome, I believe you are correct. The ability to observe as I do can sometimes foster unwarranted consequences.”

“I understand apologies are in order. I missed your previous invitation for tea at the Savoy.”

JEREMY

(Laughs.)

“Well, we both did.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Pats JEREMY’S back.)

“I should have been more careful with you.”

“It would be exceptional to see your portrayal at 65, 75, 85…”

JEREMY

(Blanches at the thought of playing the same role for 30 years!)

“How did William Gillette do it? Forgive me, but Doyle is harder to play than any of Shakespeare’s characters.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Gillette did not subsume himself in the role as completely nor as recklessly as you did, MR BRETT. There was a lot of William Gillette in his interpretation. Have you seen what is out there now?”

(HOLMES slowly shakes his head.)

“Some of the new writers have it right and I am doing my best to inspire them. Yet too many prefer to project their fantasies onto me rather than concoct a good mystery. An affair with a 15-year-old girl? A sociopath! Me? Even WATSON would steer clear of such sensationalism. My life, my science, and my honour are dedicated to a merciful justice! How can one write one word without doing the research? It is appalling. Moriarty! The Ripper! They were sociopaths. One would have to be to carry out their evil deeds. I am a shining knight of truth and justice!”

“Not one of them understands my feelings for the woman. Least of all, WATSON!”

JEREMY

“Run, my dear, from anything that may not strengthen your precious, budding wings. Run like hell my dear, from anyone likely to put a sharp knife into the sacred, tender vision of your beautiful heart.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Smiles.)

“Ah, Hafiz’s poetry was very handy in ‘A Case of Identity.”

JEREMY

“That poor girl is probably still pining for her Hosmer Angel.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Laughing.)

“I will let you in on a secret. WATSON didn’t always write them up precisely as they transpired. I did inform her of the truth. She left home over it and set up a prosperous business in Leadenhall Street. WATSON makes good use of her typing service and we are regularly invited to tea. But the Doctor felt his version was more dramatic.”

(Shrugs. Lights a cigarette.)

“My boy, your spectacular performance changed everything, yet was unreachable for most. No one was as willing as you were to pour their life energy into the work. But we both know it was the way. No one revelled in smoking my pipe like you did. Some said your acting was so real it was unsettling.”

“Thank you for that, MR BRETT. You carved out my dangerous reality with your breath, your dancer’s movements, and your mighty battles to present WATSON’S stories word-for-word on film. I am grateful for every one of those fights. WATSON said it in The Valley of Fear, ‘Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognises genius.”

JEREMY

(Douses his cigarette.)

“If there’s one thing I learned by attempting to portray you for so long, it was that you were the genius, darling. Please call me JEREMY.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Who does or does not display genius. That is not our purview. We act. Not judge. I know, I have let a few malefactors go. But that is not justice, it is sentiment.”

“It was your imaginative leap that Doyle had given me a modicum of the softer feelings. You played upon them like my Stradivarius. There was genius in that. Especially in your unveiling of the blood moving beneath what Doyle thought was impenetrable granite. And your humour, thank you for that. MR HARDWICKE called it a whiff of Edwardian acting.”

JEREMY

(Smiles at the mention of his dear friend.)

“Bless your darling heart, MR HOLMES. I had my time, and it was a wild ride. At the start, I couldn’t fathom how to find your parameters––thankfully, I stopped running from the darkness around you and realised you also hated it.”

(Lights a cigarette as the rain begins in earnest. He gestures to HOLMES, and they move back from the puddles that threaten a soaking with each passing cab.)

“All my troubles with the character changed with the children who came to see The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. At the conclusion, still dressed as you, darling, I sat at the edge of the stage and conversed with the three, four, and five-year-olds in the audience. They gave me what no one else could. Their belief in you––and me as you. They knew well of the darkness of dreams. That you dedicated your life and mighty gifts to the extinction of that darkness. They knew you were succeeding.”

“To the children, we were heroes. They trusted me with their nightmares. It was through their eyes that I saw your sword of justice cut between darkness and light. I love people and saw how in your own way, you sir, did, too.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“JEREMY, I am sorry for the confusion, but it was your confusion. How can one consider that a mind like mine could be empty of emotion?”

“Certainly you were aware that in my trade there were times when acting skills proved necessary? I confess, that for me, this was one of its allures. But a stern face was more my emulation of Sir Henry Irving than WATSON’S misunderstanding of the Indigenous American Indian.”

“You, my boy, were too impressed by other portrayals. The usual choice was to play that imperious yet unemotional man. Which, as you know, was impossible to sustain and not how the stories were written––most of all, not me! Even Irving was criticised for his diction, mannerisms, and literary scholarship. Jeremy, you had one up on him there.”

“Doyle was also foiled by this. He never accepted that I was my own man. No, he battled for control of what he thought was his Frankenstein until the end of his days. And then his family took it on. ‘Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. Poppycock!’”

(Grinds out his fag.)

“Just what is it about genius that people fear? WATSON, too, sometimes went overboard in defining an aspect of my personality, but I surmise the total was hard to make comprehensible. Ha! Now, the latest bull is to psychoanalyse me and attach the day’s most popular diagnosis. It makes me want to wretch!”

(Lights another cigarette for JEREMY and one for himself. They create a fog under the awning.)

“But you got past that dear boy, you found me, you alone saw the dichotomy. You saw the mind and the man, as WATSON truly does.”

JEREMY

“You know, dear heart, I really am more of a WATSON.”

(Savours his champagne and refills their glasses.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Your ability at deflection is another likeness between us and combined with your sleight of hand requires intelligence to envision your footsteps walking on tiptoe and backwards in the dust. JEREMY, you are wiser than WATSON. And definitely more so than that American gunslinger for whom you portrayed WATSON.”

(Pats JEREMY on the back.)

 “And you could be my twin. You are as athletic. We come from the same country squire background. Share Huguenot ancestry, grew up as neighbours, are both youngest sons, and have an older brother with art in our blood. We have both enriched our lives by practising the gifts of the East. We chose our own professions and went at them with the same brilliant ferocity and became recognised masters. To be without work affects us equally, yes?”

JEREMY

(Nods his approval.)

“However, darling, I prefer champagne with friends to cocaine injections.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Nevertheless, you have said you don’t think like me, nor use my methods to solve problems, and no one is as sagacious as I am. But JEREMY, my boy, that was your means of keeping the public at bay. You were rather protective of your private life, an intelligent way to be in your profession. I watched your masterful interpretation of my world with exquisite joy. But my dear, JEREMY, dyslexia does not affect intelligence, and I wager yours is considerable.”

JEREMY

“My blushes, SHERLOCK. I will accept it from you. I had learned to present my humble side to survive in a world where a boy with some advantages is brutally cut down to size. Silly, really, since we are all the same size. There is no need.”

(Lights another cigarette.)

“A man with gentle sensibilities quickly learned to denigrate himself publicly. It is sad to be forced into playing this one-up, one-down role. I see so many children’s futures chipped away while their self-esteem bleeds out in the backyards and the schoolrooms.”

(JEREMY turns and faces SHERLOCK.)

“But your reaching hand to the children who never even had the luxury of school is famous. Why, one of your longest-running fan clubs is named after them.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Sighs.)

“JEREMY, my province is to plant seeds, not till or harvest. And I’m sorry, my boy, there were times during that forced Manchester solitude when I couldn’t believe your pleadings.”

(Nods apologetically.)

 “Not that they weren’t heartfelt, my dear boy.”

JEREMY

(Leaps onto a chair, as if it were a stage.)

“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention, a kingdom for a stage, princes to act, and monarchs to behold the swelling scene!”

“You couldn’t believe ME?”

(The smokers applaud. JEREMY half bows and jumps down.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Stands next to JEREMY.)

“Thank you, JEREMY. Eye to eye we are the same height, with dark colouring, and slight build. Yet, we both know there is whipcord beneath.”

(He waves them to their seats.)

“JEREMY, you worked without sleep or nourishing food. Yet, not like me. Therefore, it hurt you, in ways it rarely did me. For a meal or two on a case, I sharpened my faculties this way. I do know how ruinous such a way of living can be. But yours was continuous. And it destroyed your handsome body. Living that way could ruin anyone’s mind, JEREMY. There were times when you acted and thought like an angel. Yet the human form was not that strong.”

“Like MR HARDWICKE, I was there with you to the end. I revelled in your Shakespearian voice and brilliant actor’s choices, how you translated my movements into graceful acrobatics. I climbed up that fireplace, threw down onto so many floors with you, leapt over that settee like an Olympic medallist, and beat Lestrade again and again. My eyebrow rose with yours. I raced up all those stairs and across those green lawns with you. I basked in Irene’s beauty and her exceptional voice, and wore her token always. Triumphantly returned from three years of travel as the explorer, Sigerson, from places no Englishman could go. I watched as your perfect and subtle comedic senses broadened my horizons!”

JEREMY

(Nonchalantly lights a cigarette.)

“That’s lovely, darling. Thank you, SHERLOCK. I’m touched. I never knew you could be so forthcoming.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(With a twinkle in his eye.)

“JEREMY, like the prayer you carried in your pocket. For those ten years, they were my footprints in the sand. All the work you brought to it, the devotion and joy and clarity you contributed. Your acting style––it is not only that I inspired you––you truly became me and, what is more, for those ten years, I was you!”

“Your meditative listening, your hatred of class distinctions, and your friendship with that fixed point in a changing age, so like mine. Then you moved into realms no one had before. Your fearless portrayal of the pleasure I derived from cocaine, and most daring of all, how it sickened me and my final renouncement. You saw me as I am, JEREMY, a unique, intelligent, and sensitive gentleman. A genius––not a freak! Not some costume, speaking perfect Victorian English. A name ripped out of the pages of a book! Though you didn’t plan it this way, you used the last years of your life to study me and grant me life. Your generosity was legendary, but none could imagine the power of this ‘souvenir of gratitude’ to me, my friend. When viewers watch these films, they don’t only see JEREMY BRETT. They see me! Thank you.”

(SHERLOCK doffs his topper, bows theatrically to JEREMY.)

JEREMY

(Blushes and brings him back to the table. Toasts.)

“SHERLOCK HOLMES, may you always dwell in infinite possibility.”

“Of course, darling, you are deliciously incorrigible. I confess I did enjoy your touch of the dramatic, not suffering fools, sending people off, turning my back on the PM, not bowing to the King, not said ‘sorry’ or ‘goodnight’ or ‘thank you’, and expressing your outrageous and very pointed anger!”

(Puts out his cigarette.)

“It is true, as you say, give me work, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. There is so much to share, to teach, and to be taught. We humans are so flawed and yet so beautiful, and both realisations are necessary.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(HOLMES listens intently with eyes closed.)

JEREMY

“I learned to separate from the dark times in my life and the darkness I thought I saw in you. You will always speak to me through Doyle’s words.”

(Lights another cigarette, and enjoys its flavour.)

“But if I may ask, MR HOLMES, are you angelic?”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Laughs. With one quick swing of his walking stick, he pushes on the bulging awning, releasing a splash of rainwater over JEREMY, the cafe tables, and the smokers.)

REPROBATE and SMOKING PATRONS

“Hey, mate!”

(REPROBATE rises menacingly to his feet. GIRL IN BLUE TROUSERS takes his arm and persuades him to sit.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Laughs.)

“A fine baptismal, don’t you think? Surely JEREMY, you know, I am a Muse. More cunning than angels and not any more holy than you are. Nor do we live or die. There’s a lot of freedom in that. But you, I think, have more than a touch of the angelic in you.”

(Lights a cigarette.)

JEREMY

“How does one become a Muse? Have you always been such?”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“I can’t enlighten you on that point. I just am.”

 (Smokes.)

“Conan Doyle was a visionary with the ability to reach beyond the realms of his earthly existence. The game was splendid at first.”

JEREMY

“It took me quite a while to give in to your prodding. I was afraid of where you’d lead me, and what happened to other actors who took you on. How I would ultimately fare next to them. None of this detained me. To me, fear is the bugle that begins the race. But darling, you are formidable.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Bah! Blame is just a waste of life, JEREMY. I too run at that self-same horn. You speak of a character beloved by the world.”

“First––I am alive!”

“Second––The world watched you become me for ten exquisite years, on stage, and through all forty-one films. As you did in The Hound, you used your fear, loneliness, and grief to portray me as a man of compassion.”

(Lights a cigarette.)

“Yet at the end, when illness cut you down, you made the most courageous choices an actor could make––to show them all, as expressed by me, the crumbling edifice, and then to ‘die’ on screen. Every actor says they want that, but you shared it with us as your parting gift! Your portrayal was so real it was as unsettling as life. Not as Doyle envisioned, the ageing beekeeping recluse pottering his last years away in the Sussex Downs. As if I would discard my life in London as easily as this cigarette. You put my demise centre stage at No. 221B Baker Street! I am immensely grateful for that, JEREMY.”

JEREMY

“I was sure you would understand. In those films, I had the most perfect chance to show your genuine friendship with WATSON, and my best friend, Ted, made that easy. When I saw your possibilities, my palette expanded. I freely used your humour, and how you really loved and needed fallible ole darling, WATSON. I wanted to show that close relationship which is so missed by men today. The camaraderie of boys on an adventure, that’s sadly castaway for the responsibilities of manhood. The excitement of the hunt and the joy of solving the puzzle, even though it inevitably led to frustration, before beginning once again.”

(His fingers hold a cigarette pointing at HOLMES.)

“Your loneliness and your need to be alone, your ability to see everything before anyone else.”

(Looks to the last table and back to SHERLOCK.)

 “Your intense love of and pursuit of true justice, no matter the cost to yourself. Your sense of fairness, and your deeply human capacity to forgive. Your ability to enlighten those around you, and even though you do not suffer fools, you took pity on some of them. I used all of it. I buttoned it on with your waistcoat.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Speaks through a thoughtful exhale of cigarette smoke.)

“It fit you exceedingly well. I think it is important at this point to establish just how a Muse works.”

(Looks across to Battersea Park in an unfocused way and then to JEREMY.)

“When your first marvellous WATSON, David Burke, left after the ‘Final Problem’ film, it so happened that his wife, Anna Calder-Marshall, was working on a radio play of Titus Andronicus with EDWARD HARDWICKE. In her kindness, she searched for some way to help you with your predicament.”

“So, I mentioned to her lovely and open mind (actors are so sensitive to the Muse) that EDWARD HARDWICKE and DOCTOR WATSON shared the same birthdate. She, of course, graciously carried it through.”

JEREMY

“A thousand blessings for that. It was the greatest act of compassion!”

(Pulls HOLMES to his feet, and hugs him in an all-encompassing way. HOLMES reciprocates in kind.)

REPROBATE

(Yells.)

“Hey, keep it to yourselves, mates! This is the Prince Albert, not the King’s Arms!”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Laughs at the REPROBATE.)

“Your conversation is most entertaining. Pray, take your seat and try not to confound it with your head!”

(HOLMES watches the REPROBATE sit back down. Then gestures JEREMY and himself into their chairs.)

JEREMY

(Laughs and continues past the interruption.)

“David and my odd couple pairing had constructed a solid foundation during the one and a half years and thirteen films we played HOLMES and WATSON. Together we had built the edifice that was soon to be Granada’s number one series. I know I was extremely lucky to have two such exceptional actors by my side.”

“My dear TED, was a best friend to me. You know, he grew up in Hollywood. Nigel Bruce was playing WATSON when TED was a boy, and he befriended HARDWICKE. During our days at Granada, Bruce’s portrayal was criticised. We all agreed that WATSON should be the soldier, the doctor, the friend––not the buffoon. TED, dear heart, defended Bruce against the throng and helped us to see how important comedy was during wartime. TED was a true gentleman and a great, great friend.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Well, let’s not quibble about WATSON.”

(Smiles.)

“You are a supremely talented, kind-hearted, and brave soul, JEREMY. It is a courageous way to live in this world. An English gentleman at a time when almost no one is, both you and MR HARDWICKE set the bar high in that regard. Thank you for that. Do you yet see how like me you are?”

(Lights a cigarette.)

JEREMY

“Yes, it took me some time to uncover. But I always celebrate life, like to play, and tell jokes, even though I sometimes forget the punchline. TED thought that endearing. One thing I happily uncovered in my research was that you also had a sense of humour and seriously enjoy playing tricks. I have and am a good friend, was married to the most marvellous, gutsy, intelligent, beautiful, and giving woman on the planet. I have the most brilliant children. They are my legacy. Even after all these years, I still have avid fans.”

(Lights a cigarette.)

“Of course, darling, no one can match you for that.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“JEREMY, did you read, A Study in Scarlet? Keeping potential lovers at arm’s length was an absolute imperative. My new profession was exhilarating, the possibilities, and the connections building from the study I had taken on. My own little practice was showing promise. With application my powers increased, my intuition quickened, and I was unmistakably certain this was my correct path. Each day brought new discoveries and excitement. No time for the entanglements of my peers. I was a student of the world and couldn’t get enough. Does this not sound like your time at the National Theatre?”

JEREMY

“Jonathan Swift said, ‘The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman.’ I added ‘Doctor Theatre’ to the mix. He got me through the exhaustion of those absolutely marvellous days.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

“Yes, well, we were both younger men.”

(Glances to the last table. Holds out his hand, they shake.)

“JEREMY, if you need me, I will not be difficult to find. A parting toast: ‘Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.’”

WOMAN IN BLUE TROUSERS

(The WOMAN IN BLUE TROUSERS jumps up and punches the REPROBATE with a hard left to the chin and leaves.)

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Wearing a cat that ate the canary smile.)

“Women are never to be entirely trusted.”

JEREMY

(Smiles, they shake hands.)

“Farewell, dear heart, thank you for answering my invitation and for your kind words. Let’s keep the joke going that neither showed up.”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Touches his topper, steps into a black carriage which appears out of nowhere, climbs in, and sits next to WATSON.)

WATSON

“Where to, HOLMES?”

SHERLOCK HOLMES

(Knocks on the roof of the hansom.)

“Baker Street, Cabbie, as fast as you can!”

HERALD

“The horses fly across the river. The jingle of their harness and the rhythm of their hooves echo in the streets. Up through Chelsea and the West End, to disappear where Regent’s Park touches Baker Street.”

CHANGE OF SCENE

ACT I, SCENE 2

PLACE: Wyndham’s Theatre, London. The Secret of Sherlock Holmes play starring JEREMY BRETT and EDWARD HARDWICKE.

TIME: 1989.

JEREMY BRETT

(Costumed like SHERLOCK HOLMES, in black frock-coat and topper. JEREMY bows from the stage. Then encourages the children to join him.)

HERALD

(Dressed like EDWARD HARDWICKE’S WATSON in tweeds and brown Bowler hat. WATSON doffs his bowler to the audience, then reads.)

“The children rushed down the aisles, clambered into the front rows. They brought their drawings and their books. JEREMY sat cross-legged at the apron edge of the stage. For a golden hour, JEREMY BRETT listened to their stories of how SHERLOCK HOLMES, like a knight of old, slew the dragons that visited them in nightmares. The actor then addressed their questions as faithfully as would HOLMES.”

CURTAIN

Gretchen Altabef is an award-winning author of sensational new Sherlock Holmes mysteries written from a woman’s perspective. THESE SCATTERED HOUSES brings Holmes to New York during his ‘great hiatus’. REMARKABLE POWER OF STIMULUS follows in London. During the investigation of a gruesome murder, Sherlock seizes a second chance with THE woman, and they marry in anarchist-ridden Paris. The series continues with FIVE MILES OF COUNTRY. Holmes is called in by Thomas Edison to solve a murder in his unique film studio. While Mrs Irene Adler-Holmes triumphs on Broadway despite the antics of a theater ghost. THE KEYS OF DEATH is a genesis story of 221B Baker Street and its inhabitants, as told by Mrs Hudson. Sherlock Holmes FAR & WIDE mystifies with nine stories and one play, including the award-winning “Sir Arthur And The Time Machine”.