In the phone call I would have Billy pausing a lot, making it sound like Rita would be interrupting him. Also I would have him say the line “Of course it’s all right...” with a very soft and gentle tone, trying to calm her down, and convince her that nothing has happened to her precious ring.
On top of that this is the first case that you see Billy lying, in this particular scene I have chosen. The ring is certainly not at the jewellers, it is sitting on Barbara’s finger.
During the phone call I would have Billy walking back and fourth about four steps at a time. This should represent that a lot is going on in his head and that he is nervous. I would have him waving his left hand around, as if he is making everything up on the spot, his right hand would be holding the phone. Billy would mainly be looking to the floor, and at his shoes, to suggest he’s ashamed of something, of course Rita does not know that. When he is not looking at the floor, he would be looking around to check that no one is listening.
In this scene I would have Billy wearing a shirt un-tucked with a tie loosened a tiny bit. His trousers would be worn slightly baggier than he would wear them during the day. And he would have his sleeves rolled up. I would give him this scruffy look to suggest that he is concerned about something and that he is built up with stress. His posture would be leaning forward, not standing up straight, really just adding to the scruffy look I would give him.
Once he had hung up the phone, the actions he does whilst the others are talking are quite important. I would have him doing one of two things;
Either he would be off the set completely, but ready to walk back in to phone Arthur. Or more likely, I would have a stall set up next to the table which the phone was resting on. On the table there would be a pad and paper, obviously the phone, and probably lots of paper work scattered along the table. Whilst the others are talking, Billy would be sitting down, checking his watch, looking around and out the window, and just putting his hands over his face in shame, thinking about what he had done. He would be very nervous. You may see his leg shaking very slightly. He may be biting his lip whilst having his eyes wide open looking around thinking hard about another way to get him out of the trouble he’s in.
On the line “You’ll wait till bloody doomsday if you wait for that sack less article. He’s not had a shave yet.” Said by Geoffrey, I would have Billy get off the stool, and get up. He would grab the phone and dial a number in a hurry. Whilst it is ringing I would have him mouthing the words “come on,” over and over until someone picks up. One leg would be shaking and he might have both hands on the phone.
Finally someone picks up. He is quiet, almost whispering. He again is nervous and looks around to check no one is listening. He quickly mumbles “Arthur?...” He just checks it is Arthur he is talking to. Then when he is assured it is he speeds up and quickly asks Arthur for a favour. This time Billy is in control, unlike before where Rita was. He asks Arthur to prevent Rita from going round to his house and finding out about Barbara. Where he says “Stop Rita coming round here,” I would have him clearly say each word and say it slowly with a slight pause between each word.
This is to make sure Arthur gets the point; this also tells the audience how important this is to Billy. After that he says “Well, go round to their house!” I would have Billy’s voice going a bit higher and louder at that point, as if telling Arthur how obvious it was. Also Billy has realised that he had got a bit louder and people might here him so he quickly starts to whisper again, and puts his other hand back on the phone covering the mouth piece slightly. This time the phone call contains no lies, so he wouldn’t be walking around so much, he would stand pretty much still, and on top of that, he doesn’t look to the floor quite so much. He is looking around, and up a lot more.
On the line “look, you’ve got to do something for me,” I would have Billy loosen his tie from a tiny bit undone, to really loose, maybe even undone completely and just hanging off of his neck and shoulders. When he undoes his tie, he would struggle a bit. He would only have one hand to do it with so he would loosen it a bit then go back and do a bit more until it was almost off.
On the line “I told you they were just aspirins,” Billy’s vocal tone would change from a needing, but powerful voice to a annoyed, loosing patience type of voice, he doesn’t want Arthur changing the subject and wasting time, he just wants to do what ever it takes to stop Rita reaching his house. This time when he slams down the receiver, it is not like the first time. First time round he puts it down in anger because Rita will not listen to him and hung up on him, this time it is to stop Arthur “yattering,” and to show Arthur that it is important and he has no time to talk about it. All in all it’s to prove a point. He slams down the receiver a
lot harder this time, almost so loud that the people in the other room could here it.
When Barbara says the line “Billy had been saying you’d not been well,” I would have Billy walking over to the door and standing outside it for a few seconds. He would be smartening up, making himself seem calm and acceptable for Barbara (to impress her,) and Geoffrey (in fear). Once he had tucked his shirt in etc, he would quietly open the door hoping that no one would notice his entrance.
When Billy had entered the room, he is worried that people would start to tell him off, which in fact did happen. Geoffrey couldn’t help but have a go at him. Geoffrey asks him quick questions, hardly giving Billy a chance to get a word in. Billy answers, again looking at the floor, he is worried. He answers quite confidently, but doesn’t feel like talking, so he starts to back off to the sofa to watch some television. Geoffrey is not finished, so as Billy is backing off, Geoffrey moves forwards, Billy cannot get away. Not long after Billy walks so far back he knocks into the sofa and stumbles. This represents the power Geoffrey has over Billy.
