Summary
Mickey and Eddie briefly stop at Mrs. Johnstone's house. They tell her they are seeing Doctor Zhivago at the movies but she tells them she knows they are going to see something inappropriate. She teases them and tells them to leave. Then, Mrs. Lyons appears at the door. She and Mrs. Johnstone talk. She asks how long Mrs. Johnstone has been living in the country and if she plans to follow them everywhere. Mrs. Johnstone says they've been living there a few years and that the move was coincidental. Mrs. Lyons becomes increasingly enraged and paranoid. While Mrs. Johnstone's back is turned, Mrs. Lyons lunges at her with a knife. Mrs. Johnstone easily fends her off and kicks her out of her house. Local children sing a short song about Mrs. Lyons being "mad."
Mickey and Eddie run into Linda after their movie. They talk briefly and kid around. A policeman comes over, scolds them, and asks for their names. They distract him and run off. The narrator says that things continued happily between the three of them for a time. The trio appears in a short montage of cheerful scenes. The narrator adds that unfortunately this time drew to a close, as years passed and they became adults and were no longer children or teenagers.
On the night before Eddie heads to university, he talks with Linda. She says she loves Mickey but he won't ask her out. Eddie says that if he were Mickey he would have asked her a long time ago. Linda says she knows that he would have because he is "soft." Eddie sings "I'm Not Saying A Word," describing his passionate feelings for Linda that he refuses to act on. He sings about all the ways he would shower Linda with gifts and affection. Mickey appears and finally asks Linda out. She happily says yes and they head off. They invite Eddie to join them but he politely declines, saying he has to pack for school.
In the following scene, Mickey talks to Mrs. Johnstone. He tells her that Linda is pregnant. She says she knows that they are a good couple but expresses concern about his not having lived much of a life yet. He tells her not to worry and heads off. Mr. Lyons sings "Miss Jones," as he instructs her to write memos informing workers that they have been laid off.
Eddie returns home from school, excited to see Mickey and Linda. He tries to encourage them to go to a dance, but Mickey says he is too tired from work and doesn't have the money. Mickey says he is no longer a kid. Both boys realize their relationship has changed and part on uncertain terms. Eddie runs into Linda, who tells him that she and Eddie got married and have a baby on the way.
Shortly after, Sammy encourages Mickey to take part in a robbery. After losing his factory job, Mickey has limited options and reluctantly agrees. The robbery is botched and Sammy ends up killing someone. Mickey is sentenced to several years in prison as an accessory to murder. In prison, Mickey suffers a breakdown and is prescribed antidepressants. He gets out early on good behavior but is addicted to antidepressants. Linda is despondent, as she feels she cannot help him. She reaches out to Eddie, now a local politician, and he helps them find housing and work. Linda and Eddie become increasingly close. The narrator sings the song "Light Romance" about their relationship. They briefly kiss and hold hands.
Mrs. Lyons, hoping to instigate a conflict, points out the relationship to Mickey. Mickey grabs his gun and rushes to the town hall. The narrator sings "Madman," saying "There's a man gone mad in town tonight, / He's gonna shoot somebody down." Mrs. Johnstone finds Linda and tells her what is going on. Together they rush over to the town hall. Mickey runs into the chamber and points his gun at Eddie. He accuses Eddie of sleeping with Linda and possibly fathering their child. The police take aim at Mickey and tell him to lower his gun. Eddie says nothing occurred between Linda and himself.
Mrs. Johnstone rushes forward and tells him not to shoot, as Eddie is his twin brother who she gave up for adoption. This sends Mickey into a rage, saying he wishes he had had Eddie's life. He throws his hands up and the gun fires, killing Eddie. The police instantly shoot and kill Mickey. The narrator appears and asks if it really was fate that killed the boys or the divide in their social class. Mrs. Johnstone sings a reprise of "Tell Me It's Not True."
Analysis
The distortion-heavy guitar and heavy drum beats underscore the frightening atmosphere in the song "Madman." As Mickey rushes to the town hall with the intent to shoot Eddie, the narrator steps forward to sing with fast but dramatic intonation. This song is the culmination of the dread inspired by "Shoes on the Table," as the narrator says "Now you know the devil's got your number / He's runnin' right beside you, / He's screamin' deep inside you, / and someone said he's calling your number up today." The frantic pace of the song mirrors the intensity of the drama of this moment, as Mickey runs to find Eddie and Linda and his mother chase after him. Fate has finally caught up with the two brothers and the audience is already aware of how this will end. The scoring once again manages to not only capture but elevate the mood of the scene, raising it to dramatic heights.
Love is also a key theme in the play's conclusion, as Mickey is driven to terrible violence by jealousy. Eddie has had feelings for Linda before she and Mickey get together, but keeps them bottled up, as shown in "I'm Not Saying A Word." Later, after Mickey is released from prison, Eddie and Linda reconnect, as she attempts to put her life back together. They become closer and seem to fall into some kind of relationship, depicted in the tender ballad, "Light Romance." The degree to which they are involved is never quite explained, though they are seen sharing a kiss. This brief relationship ultimately brings about the deaths of both Eddie and Mickey, as Mrs. Lyons cruelly tells Mickey about it in an effort to goad him into violence. The musical shows the destructive potential of love as well as the danger in waiting until it is too late to act on it. If Eddie had chosen to reveal his feelings to Linda sooner, a great deal of bloodshed might have been safely averted.
Trauma is also an important theme in the musical’s final section. Mickey gets caught up in a robbery with his brother, Sammy, which goes sideways. Sammy ends up killing someone and being charged with murder. Mickey is also charged as an accessory. The incident and his brutal prison sentence cause Mickey to suffer a mental breakdown and become hooked on antidepressants. When he returns home he is unable to quit his medication and is often angry and erratic. The impact of the robbery ends up being irreversible. This section explores how the lingering aftermath of trauma completely destroys Mickey's ability to function, ruining his life irreparably.
Family is another central theme at the play's end as it shows the final severing of familial bonds. Mrs. Lyons cruelly instigates Mickey's killing of Eddie in an act of revenge against Mrs. Johnstone. Now fully consumed by her paranoia and rage, she has no concern about Eddie's wellbeing and only wants to stoke Mickey's anger. Mrs. Johnstone attempts to stop the killing by telling Mickey the truth about them being twins but this only makes him angrier. He says he wishes he had been given away and had a better, kinder upbringing. In the final moments of his life, he feels an acute sense of betrayal for being dealt such a terrible hand in life. Both mothers, though not equivalently, fail to give their children what they need and have to witness the tragedy that was predicated on the boys' circumstances of birth.
The narrator ends the play by saying he is unsure if it was class or fate that killed the brothers. In some ways, their closeness did them in, as their entanglement and shared love for Linda inspired their jealousy. At the same time, Eddie's limited options and increasingly difficult life also drove him to commit violence, as he felt he had little else to hold on to. Additionally, Mrs. Lyons played an active role in causing Eddie's death. Mrs. Johnstone sings the final song, once again asking for the events of the musical to be nothing more than a fantasy: " Tell me it's not true / Say you didn't mean it. / Say it's just pretend / Say it's just the end / Of an old movie from long ago / From an old movie with Marilyn Monroe." She laments the tragedy of their deaths and is ultimately unconcerned with its cause. She wishes for it to be just some forgettable movie melodrama, but is forced to live with the weight of her decision to separate them, as the prophecy did ultimately come true and they did cause each other's deaths by meeting.
