Mystery Play - A Seán Martin Film  
Shelby
Auctioneer?

 
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Lisa
Lola Bashua
as
Lisa
M
Y S T E R Y
P
L A Y

 
The Plot

 
Paranoia: "I don't know who they are, but they're out there, and they're trying to get me."

 
Pronoia: "I don't know who they are, but they're out there, and they're trying to help me."

 
Sadie and Jude arrive independently at a house in Hampstead, London, both to meet a man called Shelby, who has promised to help them. Sadie believes him to be a therapist, who can help her summon the courage to leave her abusive boyfriend, while Jude believes him to be a financial adviser who might just be able to lend him the money he so desperately owes his landlord. The truth gradually starts to emerge about the mysterious Mr Shelby, who is neither counsellor nor financial adviser, but something more... much more.

 
As they both wait in the seemingly deserted house, expecting Shelby to return at any moment, Sadie learns more about Jude, and how he came to be one of Mr Shelby's "clients". After loosing his job and his girlfriend, and being threatened by his landlord, Jude finds a card in a phonebox offering financial advice. He calls, and is led to Shelby, who offers him as much money as he needs if he returns the next day.

 
A mad-looking gardener, Tim, appears and tells Sadie and Jude that he believes there are angels at work on the streets of London.

 
But still there is no sign of Shelby. Then his assistant, Lisa, and colleague, Maier, arrive and ask Sadie and Jude if they will run an errand for them while they wait. Maier assures them that no harm will come to them, "Its not company policy", he tells them. "What is company policy?" they ask. "Unconditional love", he replies.

 
Sadie and Jude agree to the errand and are sent to an antique shop to collect a mysterious package which has recently arrived from Antwerp. On the way back Sadie tells Jude how she came to meet Shelby. After admitting that she can't go on, as things with her boyfriend, Danny, have become so bad, Sadie is offered the number of a therapist by a friend. The therapist is Shelby, who tells her that all will be well if she returns the following day. "Things are better taken care of", he tells her, "than you can possibly imagine".

 
When Sadie and Jude return Shelby is waiting for them. The package is revealed to be a lost Renaissance masterpiece by Hubert Van Eyck. But Shelby and Maier have not recovered the painting for financial gain, rather simply to treasure it and protect it from harm.

 
Sadie and Jude go for a walk in the garden while Shelby takes a call. By now they are bewildered and paranoid. Who is this man Shelby? He is definitely not a therapist nor is he a financial adviser. Tim tells them he believes Shelby to possess angelic powers. Sadie resolves to confront Shelby, but when they return to the house they run into Danny instead, and it is revealed that he is Jude's landlord. Danny owes money to a gangster, Van Vliet, who is pursuing him, and he begs Sadie to return to him and help him. She refuses and Danny pulls a gun on her. Shelby intervenes, and tells Danny there are two men waiting to see him. It is Van Vliet and his henchman, Max. They drag Danny away, but Shelby assures Sadie that they will do him no harm, they only want to frighten him. 

 
Feigning forgetfulness Shelby asks Sadie and Jude what he can do for them. Realising that the help they really needed - moral support, comfort - they had already given each other while waiting for Shelby, Sadie and Jude reply, "Nothing, everything's sorted". Sadie then asks Shelby who he is. He responds enigmatically, saying that he and his company are "the mortar of the world", holding it together as if it were simply a wall. He thanks them for retrieving the painting and leaves, claiming his presence is needed elsewhere.

 
Sadie and Jude leave, but realising he has forgotten his bag Jude returns to the house moments later. All traces of Shelby and his associates have gone. Instead Jude is confronted with an estate agent showing a client around the property, who asks Jude to leave. Sadie and Jude retire to the beer garden of a local pub. "Beautiful isn't it?" Sadie observes, enjoying the tranquillity. Jude nods in agreement. There is no more to say.

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Last Updated: 20/April/99