Brother, son, alone

Description

BROTHER, SON, ALONE is a 15 minute drama based on the story of Rebecca, Issac, Jacob and Esau found in Genesis. That's a story about how love tore apart a family and so is this.

EDDIE is a heroin addict who is close to his father, ISSAC, but has never got on with his mother RACHEL or brother JAKE. Issac is the only one that still believes in Eddie and he's dying of cancer. Eddie, seeing how ill his father is, vows to get clean before Issac dies. He joins a rehab class and there meets MARY, who also wants to help him. Rachel doesn't believe Eddie will ever get clean though. She convinces Jake to use their power of attorney over Issac to change his Will and cut Eddie out. Issac dies, and Jake tells an already heartbroken Eddie that he's been cut out of the Will. Eddie was hoping to use the money to move to a new flat, away from his drug friends. Eddie feels deserted by his remaining family and goes back to the drugs. He's about to shoot up in the graveyard near Issac's grave, when Mary turns up.

Biblical Connection

Genesis 25:19-36, the story of Issac, Rebecca, Jacob and Esau. I was drawn to this because it's seems to me to be about a once happy family torn apart by love itself. Rebecca and Issac were deeply in love with one and other, but now she loves Jacob, the perfect son, and Issac loves the rebel, Esau. Esau for me was the most interesting character and the one I felt most sympathetic to - he's the hardest done by, as he not only had to grow up without the love of a mother but also loses his inheritance to Jacob. This, to me, seemed so relevant to modern day family strife, and the damage that can be done to children if the parents favour one over the other. Maybe Esau was the way he was because Rebecca loved Jacob more, and Esau was just keen to get her attention.