Yellow Moon: Secondary characters

Leila and Lee are the play's central protagonists.

The interactions and relationships between Leila and Lee and the other characters in the play are used to explore themes of love, violence, and fantasy vs reality.

The key secondary characters include:

• Frank
• Holly
• Billy

Frank is the gamekeeper at the Blackwaterside Estate where Lee and Leila escape to. It is at first suggested, and then made clear that he is Lee’s father.

Frank can be described as:

• secretive
• regretful
• caring
• flawed
• conflicted

Secretive

Frank hides much about his troubled past. When he first meets Lee, he lies and claims that Lee's dad is dead. He sees his life as a failure and does not tell Lee about the mistakes that he has made.

In Scene 17, Frank considers telling Lee about his past, and how one night, after drinking heavily and taking drugs, he lost control and killed his friend, Gibby. But he is unable to connect with Lee or understand how revealing his past could possibly help or comfort him.

Frank’s secrecy protects both himself and Lee, but it also complicates their relationship as Lee has constructed all these stories about his dad, 'Dan Macalinden,' that Frank cannot live up to.

Regretful

Frank is haunted by past mistakes, including accidentally killing his friend, Gibby, and failing as a father. He worries about losing Lee again.

His guilt and regret drive his final actions: he leaves notes to Lee, the police and his employer apologising and taking responsibility for the events, and takes his own life:

Everything that happened was a mistake. Everything that happened was my fault." (Scene 19)

Caring

Despite his flaws, Frank cares for Lee and Leila.

When he first meets the pair, they are lost in the cold. Frank Although his tone and emotion may not be clear, he acts quickly and practically to find them shelter and to warm them up. He cuts open the deer carcass and instructs them to put their hands in so that it will heat them quickly.

He tries to protect them by providing shelter and work.

He remembers with fondness a moment from Lee’s childhood, teaching him the 'Stag O Lee Blues': "I lifted you up on my shoulders and I imagines us in the future sitting on a rock in a red sunset looking out over a loch, sharing a beer and remembering that day on Falkland Hill" (Scene 17).

This shows a softer, loving side to Frank than he expresses externally to the audience but not to Lee.

Frank struggles to reveal his caring side but the three notes he leaves show that he thinks of others:

• He apologises to Mr de Vries.
• He tells the police that Lee is a "good boy" and takes the blame for all that has happened.
• He makes clear that Lee is unarmed, presumably to remove the chance of the police shooting him.
• He apologises to Lee.

Flawed

Frank drinks heavily and is not always capable of handling his responsibilities. He relies on Lee and Leila to complete his daily work as a gamekeeper. Like Lee he ran away from the crime he committed. He still can't face the consequences at the end of the play, including losing his son for a second time:

“I’m going to lose you, Lee."

"Again."

"And this time I’ll never get you back.” (Scene 17)

Conflicted

Frank struggles to communicate his feelings and handle Lee’s expectations. In Scene 9, when Frank tells Lee that, **"Dan Macalinden's dead," the narration hints at his mixed emotions:

There's sweat and snowmelt running down the keeper's face that makes it look like he's crying, but he isn't." (Scene 9)

Frank's complex feelings about Lee are clearest in Scene 17, when he struggles to take in Lee's confession, while considering his own past. He is frustrated by Lee’s romantic view of him:

"You’re talking about how you’ve kept that hat all through your life."

"I didn’t care.” (Scene 17)

But Frank too reveals that he has had sentimental ideas about his relationship with his son:

I imagined us in the future sitting on a rock in a red sunset looking over a loch, sharing a beer and remembering that day on Falkland Hill." (Scene 17)

The reality Frank finds himself in is far from this idealised dream of their shared experience. He has never learned to be a father, and so does not know what to say or how to act:

"What do you want me to say."

"C'mere, son."

"Let me give you a hug."

"Is that what you want?” (Scene 17)

He is torn between wanting to protect Lee and confront the reality of his own limitations. In the end his emotions and frustrations cause him to swear at his son and his words sound like a rejection.

When Lee runs off, Frank is left crying, aware that he has lost his son again. But in his final note he reaches out to his son and apologises to his son:

I'm sorry." (Scene 19)

It is up to the audience to decide just what or how much he is apologising for.

Billy is the boyfriend of Lee’s mum. He is a "Furniture salesman. Hearts fan and amateur boxer". He is defined in terms of football and boxing, which can be seen to suggest that he fits with traditional ideas of male interests. Boxing also suggests potential violence.

Billy does make some effort to support Lee, at least in public. He attends school parents' evening and "agrees to discuss with Lee issues of sexuality and proper respect for women." In private, he is verbally and physically aggressive towards Lee, calling him, "a catastrophe" and "a disgrace.": Despite this, he does intend to support Lee, if only because of his relationship with Lee's mum, Jenni:

She is in there - my angel - in that room weeping because of you. Because she is worried about you, so despite my better instincts, I HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE AN INTEREST." (Scene 1)

We are told that Billy met Jenni while he's on a "stag do" in the pub she works in. Introducing the symbol of the stag in connection with Billy links him, Frank and Lee. The stag is an image of traditional masculinity and aggression. It suggests potential conflict between the male characters. The audience are told at the end of Scene 3 that Billy will be murdered, before the night plays out through Scenes 4 and 5, when Lee stabs Billy to death after an aggressive confrontation.

He is presented as:

• aggressive: Billy shouts at and pushes Lee, telling him to “get up and fight” (Scene 5).

• controlling: He attempts to assert dominance over Lee, calling him “worthless” and "a disgrace."

• intimidating: His physical presence and threats escalate tensions. He mocks Lee's hat in scene one ("Take that stupid hat off") and then when he grabs it in scene five, and won't give it back, Lee reacts by stabbing him fatally.

Billy’s aggression pushes Lee to act impulsively, shaping the events that drive the plot forward.

Holly Malone is a celebrity figure. Her interactions with Leila reveal both young women’s insecurities and their struggle with identity. Holly’s character helps Leila to realise that celebrity culture and “perfect” lives are illusions.

Although Leila longs to have a life like Holly's, when they first meet it is Holly who tries to share Leila's experience, joining her for a swim. Holly's expectation and the reality are clearly different:

“It looked so nice I wanted to come and join you.”

“I can hardly – I can hardly stand it.” (Scene 14)

Key traits:

Insecure

Despite her fame and glamour, Holly expresses envy and self-doubt, wishing she could be like Leila:

"You're very pretty.”

"You're so normal.”

"I wish I was normal." (Scene 14)

Like Leila, Holly feels detached from reality. The numbness caused by swimming in the cold water suggests Holly feels as detached from reality as Leila:

“I can’t feel my feet.”

“I can’t feel my fingers.”

“I can’t feel anything.” (Scene 14)

It is clear that Holly feels judged by others.

“I wish they liked me.” (Scene 14)

Celebrity has made her more isolated, and she would gladly swap places with Leila to have a different life:

“I wish I was you.”

“I wish you were me.” (Scene 14)

Fantasy-driven

Holly seems caught up in her world of celebrity. She compares real life to fantasy, describing herself and Leila in terms of constructed television shows:

"Isn't this weird?"

"Us being in this room together?"

"Like two strangers in a reality show."

"If this was a reality show,"

"You would be my friend" (Scene 14)

The frames dangerous situations such as the car chase as if were a game:

This is like a challenge in a reality show." (Scene 18)

Just like the newspaper headlines, Holly speaks in cliches, reducing Leila and Lee's relationship to a basic storyline:

"I'm like you."

"I love the bad boys." (Scene 18)

Vulnerable

Holly’s self-harm shows her hidden emotional pain, connecting her to Leila. Leila's internal monologue describes both her own scars and Holly's as "tribal markings" (scenes 13 and 14)

During the car chase, Holly casually expresses the extent of her vulnerability, showing how little value she attaches to her own life:

I don't care if I die." (Scene 18)

Holly’s character highlights the contrast between appearance and reality and reinforces the themes of identity, self-worth and the pressure of external expectations.

Information and support

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by the issues in this article, the following page contains a list of organisations and information for young people that may be helpful: Information and Support: Bitesize