The Complete Dramatic Works (53 page)
Read The Complete Dramatic Works Online
Authors: Samuel Beckett
Written in English some time before it was sent to New York, in 1969, in response
to Kenneth Tynan’s request for a contribution to his review
Oh!
Calcutta!
The original text first published in
Gambit,
vol. 4, no. 16 (1970). First produced at the Eden Theater, New York, on 16 June 1969.
First performed in Britain at the Close Theatre Club, Glasgow, in October 1969.
CURTAIN
1. Faint light on stage littered with miscellaneous rubbish. Hold about five seconds.
2. Faint brief cry and immediately inspiration and slow increase of light together
reaching maximum together in about ten seconds. Silence and hold about five seconds.
3. Expiration and slow decrease of light together reaching minimum together (light
as in 1) in about ten seconds and immediately cry as before. Silence and hold about
five seconds.
CURTAIN
No verticals, all scattered and lying.
Instant of recorded vagitus. Important that two cries be identical, switching on and
off strictly synchronized light and breath.
Amplified recording.
Not bright. If 0 = dark and 10 = bright, light should move from about 3 to 6 and back.
Written in English in spring 1972. First performed at the Forum Theater of the Lincoln
Center, New York, in September 1972. First published by Faber and Faber, London, in
1973. First performed in Britain at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 16 January
1973.
Note
Movement: this consists in simple sideways raising of arms from sides and their falling
back, in a gesture of helpless compassion. It lessens with each recurrence till scarcely
perceptible at third. There is just enough pause to contain it as
MOUTH
recovers from vehement refusal to relinquish third person.
Stage
in
darkness
but
for
MOUTH
,
upstage
audience
right,
about
8
feet
above
stage
level,
faintly
lit
from
close-up
and
below,
rest
of
face
in
shadow.
Invisible
microphone.
AUDITOR
,
downstage
audience
left,
tall
standing
figure,
sex
un
determinable,
enveloped
from
head
to
foot
in
loose
black
djellaba,
with
hood,
fully
faintly
lit,
standing
on
invisible
podium
about
4
feet
high
shown
by
attitude
alone
to
be
facing
diagonally
across
stage
intent
on
MOUTH
,
dead
still
throughout
but
for
four
brief
movements
where
indicated.
See
Note.
As
house
lights
down
MOUTH
’
s
voice
unintelligible
behind
cur
tain
.
House
lights
out.
Voice
continues
unintelligible
behind
curtain,
10
seconds.
With
rise
of
curtain
ad-libbing
from
text
as
required
leading
when
curtain
fully
up
and
attention
sufficient
into:
MOUTH:
…. out … into this world … this world … tiny little thing … before its time … in
a godfor– … what? .. girl?.. yes … tiny little girl … into this … out into this …
before her time … godforsaken hole called … called … no matter … parents unknown …
unheard of … he having vanished … thin air … no sooner buttoned up his breeches …
she similarly … eight months later … almost to the tick … so no love … spared that
… no love such as normally vented on the … speechless infant … in the home … no …
nor indeed for that matter any of any kind … no love of any kind … at any subsequent
stage … so typical affair … nothing of any note till coming up to sixty when– … what?..
seventy?.. good God!.. coming up to seventy … wandering in a field … looking aimlessly
for cowslips … to make a ball … a few steps then stop … stare into space … then on
… a few more … stop and stare again … so on … drifting around … when suddenly … gradually
… all went out … all that early April
morning
light … and she found herself in the– … what? .. who? .. no! .. she! .. [
Pause
and
movement
1.
]
… found herself in the dark … and if not exactly … insentient … insentient … for she
could still hear the buzzing …
so-called
… in the ears … and a ray of light came and went … came and went … such as the moon
might cast … drifting … in and out of cloud … but so dulled … feeling … feeling so
dulled … she did not know … what position she was in … imagine! .. what position she
was in! .. whether standing … or sitting … but the brain– … what? .. kneeling? ..
yes … whether standing … or sitting … or kneeling … but the brain– … what? .. lying?
.. yes … whether standing … or sitting … or kneeling … or lying … but the brain still
… still … in a way … for her first thought was … oh long after … sudden flash … brought
up as she had been to believe … with the other waifs … in a merciful … [
Brief
laugh.
]
…
God … [
Good
laugh.
]
…
first thought was … oh long after … sudden flash … she was being punished … for her
sins … a number of which then … further proof if proof were needed … flashed through
her mind … one after another … then dismissed as foolish … oh long after … this thought
dismissed … as she suddenly realized … gradually realized … she was not suffering
… imagine! .. not suffering! .. indeed could not remember … off-hand … when she had
suffered less … unless of course she was …
meant
to be suffering … ha! ..
thought
to be suffering … just as the odd time … in her life … when clearly intended to be
having pleasure … she was in fact … having none … not the slightest … in which case
of course … that notion of punishment … for some sin or other … or for the lot … or
no particular reason … for its own sake … thing she understood
perfectly
… that notion of punishment … which had first occurred to her … brought up as she
had been to believe … with the other waifs … in a merciful … [
Brief
laugh.
] … God … [
Good
laugh.
]
… first occurred to her … then dismissed … as foolish … was perhaps not so foolish
… after all … so on … all that … vain reasonings … till another thought … oh long
after … sudden flash … very
foolish really but– … what? .. the buzzing? .. yes … all the time the buzzing … so-called
… in the ears … though of course actually … not in the ears at all … in the skull
… dull roar in the skull … and all the time this ray or beam … like moonbeam … but
probably not … certainly not … always the same spot … now bright … now shrouded …
but always the same spot … as no moon could … no … no moon … just all part of the
same wish to … torment … though actually in point of fact … not in the least … not
a twinge … so far … ha! .. so far … this other thought then … oh long after … sudden
flash … very foolish really but so like her … in a way … that she might do well to
… groan … on and off … writhe she could not … as if in actual agony … but could not
… could not bring herself … some flaw in her make-up … incapable of deceit … or the
machine … more likely the machine … so disconnected … never got the message … or powerless
to respond … like numbed … couldn’t make the sound … not any sound … no sound of any
kind … no screaming for help for example … should she feel so inclined … scream …
[
Screams.
] … then listen … [
Silence.
] … scream again … [
Screams
again.
] …
then listen again … [
Silence.
] … no … spared that … all silent as the grave … no part– … what? .. the buzzing?
.. yes … all silent but for the buzzing … so-called … no part of her moving … that
she could feel … just the eyelids … presumably … on and off … shut out the light …
reflex they call it … no feeling of any kind … but the lids … even best of times …
who feels them? .. opening … shutting … all that moisture … but the brain still …
still sufficiently … oh very much so! .. at this stage … in control … under control
… to question even this … for on that April morning … so it reasoned … that April
morning … she fixing with her eye … a distant bell … as she hastened towards it …
fixing it with her eye … lest it elude her … had not all gone out … all that light
… of itself … without any … any … on her part … so on … so on it reasoned … vain questionings
… and all dead still … sweet silent as the grave … when suddenly … gradually … she
realiz– … what? .. the
buzzing? .. yes … all dead still but for the buzzing … when suddenly she realized
… words were– … what? .. who? .. no! .. she! .. [
Pause
and
movement
2
.] … realized … words were coming … imagine! .. words were coming … a voice she did
not recognize … at first … so long since it had sounded … then finally had to admit
… could be none other … than her own … certain vowel sounds … she had never heard
… elsewhere … so that people would stare … the rare occasions … once or twice a year
… always winter some strange reason … stare at her
uncomprehending
… and now this stream … steady stream … she who had never … on the contrary … practically
speechless … all her days … how she survived! .. even shopping … out shopping … busy
shopping centre … supermart … just hand in the list … with the bag … old black shopping
bag … then stand there waiting … any length of time … middle of the throng … motionless
… staring into space … mouth half open as usual … till it was back in her hand … the
bag back in her hand … then pay and go … not as much as good-bye … how she survived!
.. and now this stream … not catching the half of it … not the quarter … no idea …
what she was saying … imagine! .. no idea what she was saying! .. till she began trying
to … delude herself … it was not hers at all … not her voice at all … and no doubt
would have … vital she should … was on the point … after long efforts … when suddenly
she felt … gradually she felt … her lips moving … imagine! .. her lips moving! ..
as of course till then she had not … and not alone the lips … the cheeks … the jaws
… the whole face … all those– … what? .. the tongue? .. yes … the tongue in the mouth
… all those contortions without which … no speech possible … and yet in the ordinary
way … not felt at all … so intent one is … on what one is saying … the whole being
… hanging on its words … so that not only she had … had she … not only had she … to
give up … admit hers alone … her voice alone … but this other awful thought … oh long
after … sudden flash … even more awful if possible … that feeling was coming back
… imagine! .. feeling coming
back! .. starting at the top … then working down … the whole machine … but no … spared
that … the mouth alone … so far … ha! .. so far … then thinking … oh long after …
sudden flash … it can’t go on … all this … all that … steady stream … straining to
hear … make
something
of it … and her own thoughts … make something of them … all– … what? .. the buzzing?
.. yes … all the time the buzzing … so-called … all that together … imagine! .. whole
body like gone … just the mouth … lips … cheeks … jaws … never– … what? .. tongue?
.. yes … lips … cheeks … jaws … tongue … never still a second … mouth on fire … stream
of words … in her ear … practically in her ear … not catching the half … not the quarter
… no idea what she’s saying … imagine! .. no idea what she’s saying! … and can’t stop
… no stopping it … she who but a moment before … but a moment! .. could not make a
sound … no sound of any kind … now can’t stop … imagine! .. can’t stop the stream
… and the whole brain begging … something begging in the brain … begging the mouth
to stop … pause a moment … if only for a moment … and no response … as if it hadn’t
heard … or couldn’t … couldn’t pause a second … like maddened … all that together
… straining to hear … piece it together … and the brain … raving away on its own …
trying to make sense of it … or make it stop … or in the past … dragging up the past
… flashes from all over … walks mostly … walking all her days … day after day … a
few steps then stop … stare into space … then on … a few more … stop and stare again
… so on … drifting around … day after day … or that time she cried … the one time
she could remember … since she was a baby … must have cried as a baby … perhaps not
… not essential to life … just the birth cry to get her going … breathing … then no
more till this … old hag already … sitting staring at her hand … where was it? ..
Croker’s Acres … one evening on the way home … home! .. a little mound in Croker’s
Acres … dusk … sitting staring at her hand … there in her lap … palm upward … suddenly
saw it wet … the palm … tears presumably… hers presumably … no one else for miles
…
no sound … just the tears … sat and watched them dry … all over in a second … or grabbing
at straw … the brain … flickering away on its own … quick grab and on … nothing there
… on to the next … bad as the voice … worse … as little sense … all that together
… can’t– … what? .. the buzzing? .. yes … all the time the buzzing … dull roar like
falls … and the beam … flickering on and off … starting to move around … like moonbeam
but not … all part of the same … keep an eye on that too … corner of the eye … all
that together … can’t go on … God is love … she’ll be purged … back in the field …
morning sun … April … sink face down in the grass … nothing but the larks … so on
… grabbing at the straw … straining to hear … the odd word … make some sense of it
… whole body like gone … just the mouth … like maddened … and can’t stop … no stopping
it … something she– … something she had to– … what? .. who? .. no! .. she! .. [
Pause
and
movement 3
.] … something she had to– … what? .. the buzzing? .. yes … all the time the buzzing
… dull roar … in the skull … and the beam … ferreting around … painless … so far …
ha! .. so far … then thinking … oh long after … sudden flash … perhaps something she
had to … had to … tell … could that be it? .. something she had to … tell … tiny little
thing … before its time … godforsaken hole … no love … spared that … speechless all
her days … practically speechless … how she survived! .. that time in court … what
had she to say for herself … guilty or not guilty … stand up woman … speak up woman
… stood there staring into space … mouth half open as usual … waiting to be led away
… glad of the hand on her arm … now this …
something
she had to tell … could that be it? .. something that would tell … how it was … how
she– … what? .. had been? .. yes … something that would tell how it had been … how
she had lived … lived on and on … guilty or not … on and on … to be sixty … something
she– … what? .. seventy? .. good God! .. on and on to be seventy …
something
she didn’t know herself … wouldn’t know if she heard … then forgiven … God is love
… tender mercies
… new every morning … back in the field … April morning … face in the grass … nothing
but the larks … pick it up there … get on with it from there … another few– … what?
.. not that? .. nothing to do with that? .. nothing she could tell? .. all right …
nothing she could tell … try something else … think of something else … oh long after
… sudden flash … not that either … all right … something else again … so on … hit
on it in the end … think everything keep on long enough … then forgiven … back in
the– … what? .. not that either? .. nothing to do with that either? .. nothing she
could think? .. all right … nothing she could tell … nothing she could think … nothing
she– … what? .. who? .. no! .. she! .. [
Pause
and
movement
4
.] … tiny little thing … out before its time … godforsaken hole … no love … spared
that … speechless all her days … practically speechless … even to herself … never
out loud … but not completely … sometimes sudden urge … once or twice a year … always
winter some strange reason … the long evenings … hours of darkness … sudden urge to
… tell … then rush out stop the first she saw … nearest lavatory … start pouring it
out … steady stream … mad stuff … half the vowels wrong … no one could follow … till
she saw the stare she was getting … then die of shame … crawl back in … once or twice
a year … always winter some strange reason … long hours of darkness … now this … this
… quicker and quicker … the words … the brain … flickering away like mad … quick grab
and on … nothing there … on somewhere else … try somewhere else … all the time something
begging … something in her begging … begging it all to stop … unanswered … prayer
unanswered … or unheard … too faint … so on … keep on … trying … not knowing what
… what she was trying … what to try … whole body like gone … just the mouth … like
maddened … so on … keep– … what? .. the buzzing? .. yes … all the time the buzzing
… dull roar like falls … in the skull … and the beam … poking around … painless …
so far … ha! .. so far … all that … keep on … not knowing what … what she was– … what?
.. who? .. no! .. she! ..
SHE
! .. [