df03: Portrait of Death by Richard Layton
Scroll down for the synopsis and cast of charactersSummary Performance History
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Genre
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Script Notes
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Synopsis
Traditional artist Pierce Thompson shares a house and studio with modern artist Peter Lockley. Their agent, Alex Turner, is also Peter’s lover. Their differing styles of art are symptomatic of a general clash of personalities. Both scoff at each other’s works but Peter would secretly give anything to be able to produce a painting as good as Pierce’s. When Peter is offered a chance to display his work in a major gallery, he finds there is a catch: they want some of it to be paintings. Knowing that Pierce has a masterpiece, the Portrait of Death of the play’s title which he has always refused to sell until he finds a buyer he considers worthy of owning it, Peter plots to murder Pierce so he can pass the painting off as his own.Wayne is initially angry when he discovers that the painting is still unfinished but when he realises that Julie shot the wrong man, he resolves to force Pierce to finish the work so he can still resell it. Julie falls out with Wayne and he kills her.
Meanwhile, Pierce has been commissioned by Wayne Garratt to paint a portrait of his girlfriend, Lisa Horton. When Pierce and Lisa meet, it’s love at first sight and they agree to spin out the painting of the picture in order that they can see more of each other. However, Wayne has his own reasons for wanting Pierce dead: he can then, as the legal owner of Pierce’s last work, sell it for a tidy profit. To this end he puts the drug addicted Julie Wyatt, who depends on him for her supply, up to killing Pierce. Julie arrives at the house on a mission to ‘shoot the artist’ and mistakenly kills Peter, unwittingly saving Pierce from Peter’s murderous intentions.Wayne is initially angry when he discovers that the painting is still unfinished but when he realises that Julie shot the wrong man, he resolves to force Pierce to finish the work so he can still resell it. Julie falls out with Wayne and he kills her.
Pierce mistakenly gets the impression that Lisa was in on Wayne’s scheme all along, but this is untrue, Lisa being too scared of Wayne’s temper to resist the embrace which he catches them in. When the painting is finally completed, Wayne attempts to shoot Pierce but Pierce is saved by his mobile phone which is in his breast pocket. Pierce breaks the canvas over Wayne’s head and Lisa gets the gun. Pierce daubs green paint, the colour of jealousy on Wayne’s face.
The Cast List
- Pierce Thompson
- A traditional artist.
- Peter Lockley
- A modern artist.
- Alex Turner
- Pierce and Peter's agent.
- Wayne Garratt
- A client of Pierce's.
- Lisa Horton
- Wayne's girlfriend.
- Julie Wyatt
- Wayne's secret girlfriend.