No no, c’mon.

He hustles her down to sit at the table.

We’ll make a list. Set it out—

He fetches paper and pencil from a nearby drawer, making a busy distraction of it.

—way that you and Nancy planned it—

OLIVE: [as he joins her at the table] Sure that’s what you want, though?

ROO: Told you. Now then—Friday night, when we get our discharge—

OLIVE settles down to happy organisation with ROO.

Somewhere apart from these two, NANCY has taken a bottle and glass from the cupboard and is pouring herself a whisky, BARNEY watching her with a malicious enjoyment.

—party here at home, the four of us. Start off first with that—

The lights go out on a sense of busy planning for the gala season of parties.

END OF ACT ONE

Act Two

ACT TWO

SCENE ONE

Time: evening, Friday week.

A large homemade decorated banner stretches across the hallway arch. It features the colours and insignia of the Second Twenty-Fourth Battalion. EMMA, dressed for the street, is sorting out a pile of music at the piano. OLIVE and BUBBA can be heard singing in lusty union (wartime lyrics) as they approach from the kitchen.

BOTH: ‘She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes,

She’ll be comin’ round the mountain—’

They enter, bearing a snowy, well-ironed tablecloth between them, which they bring forward to spread over the table. OLIVE is dressed for the party, but wearing an apron.

They continue to sing as OLIVE collects glasses from the sideboard and sets them out equally around the table. BUBBA follows her to pick up four small Australian flags and place them, one in each glass, as a decoration. This done, they start to return to the kitchen, passing NANCY as she comes into the room with a handful of ashtrays. NANCY, too, is dressed for the party and wearing an apron. EMMA has paused in her music-sorting to watch the party preparations with some reserve. The singing continues offstage as NANCY places the ashtrays, looking around for a likely position for the last of them. In doing so she registers EMMA’s disenchantment.

NANCY: You really going out?

EMMA: A few of us from the Community Singin’. Like to get together for an evening’s harmonisin’. Nothin’ like this, of course.

EMMA packs selected songs into a music case. NANCY tactfully places the last of the ashtrays without further inquiry and returns to the kitchen. She has barely gone when BUBBA re-enters, still accompanying the unseen OLIVE in song, and bearing an elaborately branched ornament. She is on her way to the table, as an alerted EMMA becomes aware of what she is carrying.

Where did you get that? That’s my good epergne.

BUBBA: Thought it might look nice—centre of the table.

EMMA: A night like this? Not on your life.