Miriam Margolyes: Dorcas

Ladies in Lavender

Dorcas

[Dorcas comes into Andrea's room, carrying a sack of potatoes and two buckets]
Dorcas: I got a job for you...
[They sit, peeling the potatoes]
Dorcas: [indicating the two buckets] You put the peel in here, and the spuds in here. You have done this before, haven't you?
[Andrea looks bored. He purposely throws a peel into the spud bucket]
Dorcas: No!
[She fishes the peel out]
Dorcas: You put the peel in *here* and the *spuds* in here!
Andrea Marowski: "Spuds"?
Dorcas: Yes. Proper name's "potato," but we calls them "spuds".
[She holds up the potato she's been peeling]
Dorcas: Potato. Potato!
Andrea Marowski: Ah, "ziemniak".
Dorcas: What?
Andrea Marowski: [forcefully] "Ziemniak"!
Dorcas: Right.
Andrea Marowski: [speaks in Polish, subtitled] You look like a potato.
Dorcas: What?
Andrea Marowski: [speaks in Polish, subtitled] Actually, you look like a sack of potatoes.
Dorcas: It's no good, I can't understand a word you's saying.
[He shows her his potato, into which he has cut two eyes and a mouth]
Dorcas: And don't get artistic, just *peel* the blooming thing.

[Dorcas stuffs a chicken while Janet listens to the radio in the next room and Andrea practices upstairs. Janet turns off the radio and comes into the kitchen]
Janet Widdington: Doesn't sound good. I can't listen anymore.
Dorcas: Don't know how you can stand it. Sounds like a strangled cat.
Janet Widdington: I meant the news!
Dorcas: Oh, right.
Janet Widdington: Do we have any parsnips?
Dorcas: Bit early for parsnips. Plenty of spuds, though.
Janet Widdington: Well, we shall have to have extra spuds. Potatoes.

[Ursula sits by Andrea's bed, watching him sleep. Dorcas bursts in]
Dorcas: Tea.
Ursula Widdington: Shhh!
Dorcas: [she glances at Andrea, then says just as loudly,] Do you want tea?
Ursula Widdington: [whispering] Shh! You'll wake him up! I think I'll wait until Janet gets up from her nap.
Dorcas: Well, she's up.
Ursula Widdington: [still whispering] Is she? She hasn't been long. All right, I'll be down directly.
[she turns back to Andrea]
Dorcas: He isn't gonna run off.
[Ursula shoots her a look. Dorcas slams the door as she leaves, waking Andrea]