The Complete Dramatic Works (55 page)

C:
the Library that was another place another time that time you slipped in off the
street out of the cold and rain when no one was looking what was it then you were
never the same after never again after something to do with dust something the dust
said sitting at the big round table with a bevy of old ones poring on the page and
not a sound

B:
that time in the end when you tried and couldn’t by the window in the dark and the
owl flown to hoot at someone else or back with a shrew to its hollow tree and not
another sound hour after hour hour after hour not a sound when you tried and tried
and couldn’t any more no words left to keep it out so gave it up gave up there by
the window in the dark or moonlight gave up for good and let it in and nothing the
worse a great shroud billowing in all over you on top of you and little or nothing
the worse little or nothing

A:
back down to the wharf with the nightbag and the old green
greatcoat your father left you trailing the ground and the white hair pouring out
down from under the hat till that time came on down neither right nor left not a curse
for the old scenes the old names not a thought in your head only get back on board
and away to hell out of it and never come back or was that another time all that another
time was there ever any other time but that time away to hell out of it all and never
come back

C:
not a sound only the old breath and the leaves turning and then suddenly this dust
whole place suddenly full of dust when you opened your eyes from floor to ceiling
nothing only dust and not a sound only what was it it said come and gone was that
it something like that come and gone come and gone no one come and gone in no time
gone in no time

[
Silence
10
seconds.
Breath
audible.
After
3
seconds
eyes
open.
After
5
seconds
smile,
toothless
for
preference.
Hold
5
seconds
till
fade
out
and
curtain.
]

Written in English. Begun in March 1975 and substantially
completed
by November of that year. First published by Grove Press, New York, in 1976. First
performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 20 May 1976.

M:
Mother. [
Pause.
No
louder.
]
Mother.

[
Pause.
]

V:
Yes, May.

M:
Were you asleep?

V:
Deep asleep. [
Pause.
]
I heard you in my deep sleep. [
Pause.
] There is no sleep so deep I would not hear you there. [
Pause,
 
M
resumes
pacing.
Four
lengths.
After
first
length,
synchronous
with
steps.
] One two three four five six seven eight nine wheel one two three four five six seven
eight nine wheel. [
Free.
] Will you not try to snatch a little sleep?

[
M
halts
facing
front
at
R.
Pause.
]

M:
Would you like me to inject you again?

V:
Yes, but it is too soon.

[
Pause.
]

M:
Would you like me to change your position again?

V:
Yes, but it is too soon.

[
Pause.
]

M:
Straighten your pillows? [
Pause.
]
Change your drawsheet? [
Pause.
]
Pass you the bedpan? [
Pause.
]
The warming-pan? [
Pause.
]
Dress your sores? [
Pause.
]
Sponge you down? [
Pause.
]
Moisten your poor lips? [
Pause.
]
Pray with you? [
Pause.
]
For you? [
Pause.
]
Again.

[
Pause.
]

V:
Yes, but it is too soon.

[
Pause.
]

M:
What age am I now?

V:
And I? [
Pause.
No
louder.
]
And I?

M:
Ninety.

V:
So much?

M:
Eighty-nine, ninety.

V:
I had you late. [
Pause.
]
In life. [
Pause.
]
Forgive me again. [
Pause.
No
louder.
]
Forgive me again.

[
M
resumes
pacing.
After
one
length
halts
facing
front
at
L.
Pause.
]

M:
What age am I now?

V:
In your forties.

M:
So little?

V:
I’m afraid so. [
Pause.
 
M
resumes
pacing.
After
first
turn
at
L
] May. [
Pause.
No
louder.
]
May.

M:
[
Pacing.
]
Yes, Mother,

V:
Will you never have done? [
Pause.
]
Will you never have done … revolving it all?

M:
[
Halting.
]
It?

V:
It all. [
Pause.
]
In your poor mind. [
Pause.
]
It all. [
Pause.
] It all.

[
M
resumes
pacing.
Five
seconds.
Fade
out
on
strip.

All
in
darkness.
Steps
cease.

Pause.

Chime
a
little
fainter.
Pause
for
echoes.

Fade
up
to
a
little
less
on
strip.
Rest
in
darkness.

M
discovered facing front at R.

Pause.
]

V:
I walk here now. [
Pause.
]
Rather I come and stand. [
Pause.
] At nightfall. [
Pause.
]
She fancies she is alone. [
Pause.
]
See how still she stands, how stark, with her face to the wall. [
Pause.
]
How outwardly unmoved. [
Pause.
]
She has not been out since girlhood. [
Pause.
]
Not out since girlhood. [
Pause.
]
Where is she, it may be asked. [
Pause.
]
Why, in the old home, the same where she– [
Pause.
] The same where she began. [
Pause.
]
Where it began. [
Pause.
]
It all began. [
Pause.
]
But this, this, when did this begin? [
Pause.
] When other girls of her age were out at … lacrosse she was already here. [
Pause.
]
At this. [
Pause.
]
The floor here, now bare, once was– [
M
begins
pacing.
Steps
a
little
slower
.]
But let us watch her move, in silence, [
M
paces.
Towards
end
of
second
length.
]
Watch how feat she wheels. [
M
turns,
paces.
Synchronous
with
steps
third
length.
]
Seven, eight, nine, wheel. [
M
turns
at
L,
paces
one
more
length,
halts
facing
front
at
R.
]
I say the floor here, now bare, this strip of floor, once was carpeted, a deep pile.
Till one night, while still little more than a child, she called her mother and said,
Mother, this is not enough. The mother: Not enough? May–the child’s given name–May:
Not enough. The mother: What do you mean, May, not enough, what can you possibly mean,
May, not enough? May: I mean, Mother, that I must hear the feet, however faint they
fall. The mother: The motion alone is not enough? May: No, Mother, the motion alone
is not enough, I must hear the feet, however faint they fall. [
Pause.
 
M
resumes
pacing.
With
pacing.
]
Does she still sleep, it may be asked? Yes, some nights she does, in snatches, bows
her poor head against the wall and snatches a little sleep. [
Pause.
]
Still speak? Yes, some nights she does, when she fancies none can hear. [
Pause.
]
Tells how it was. [
Pause.
]
Tries to tell how it was. [
Pause.
] It all. [
Pause.
]
It all. [
M
continues
pacing.
Five
seconds.
Fade
out
on
strip
.

All in darkness, Steps cease.

Pause.

Chime a little fainter still. Pause for echoes.

Fade up to a little less still on strip. Rest in darkness.

M
discovered facing front at R.

Pause.
]

M:
Sequel. [
Pause.
Begins
pacing.
Steps
a
little
slower
still.
After
two
lengths
halts
facing
front
at
R.
Pause.
]
Sequel. A little later, when she was quite forgotten, she began to–[
Pause.
] A little later, when as though she had never been, it never been, she began to walk.
[
Pause.
]
At nightfall. [
Pause.
] Slip out at nightfall and into the little church by the north door, always locked
at that hour, and walk, up and down, up and down, His poor arm. [
Pause.
]
Some nights she would halt, as one frozen by some shudder of the mind, and stand
stark still till she could move again. But many also were the nights when she paced
without pause, up and down, up and down, before vanishing the way she came. [
Pause.
] No sound. [
Pause.
] None at least to be heard. [
Pause
.]
The
semblance
. [
Pause.
Resumes
pacing.
After
two
lengths
halts
facing
front
at
R.
Pause
.]
The semblance. Faint, though by no means invisible, in a certain light. [
Pause.
]
Given the right light. [
Pause.
]
Grey rather than white, a pale shade of grey. [
Pause.
]
Tattered. [
Pause
.]
A tangle of tatters. [
Pause.
]
Watch it pass–[
Pause.
]–watch her pass before the candelabrum, how its flames, their light … like moon through
passing rack. [
Pause.
]
Soon then after she was gone, as though never there, began to walk, up and down,
up and down, that poor arm. [
Pause.
]
At nightfall. [
Pause.
] That is to say, at certain seasons of the year, during Vespers. [
Pause.
]
Necessarily. [
Pause.
Resumes
pacing.
After
one
length
halts
facing
front
at
L.
Pause.
]
Old Mrs Winter, whom the reader will remember, old Mrs Winter, one late autumn Sunday
evening, on sitting down to supper with her daughter after worship, after a few
half-hearted
mouthfuls laid down her knife and fork and bowed her head. What is it, Mother, said
the daughter, a most strange girl, though scarcely a girl any more … [
Brokenly.
]
…
dreadfully un– … [
Pause.
Normal
voice.
] What is it, Mother, are you not feeling yourself? [
Pause.
] Mrs W. did not at once reply. But finally, raising her head
and fixing Amy–the daughter’s given name, as the reader will remember–raising her
head and fixing Amy full in the eye she said–[
Pause.
]–she murmured, fixing Amy full in the eye she murmured, Amy did you observe anything
… strange at Evensong? Amy: No, Mother, I did not. Mrs W: Perhaps it was just my fancy.
Amy: Just what exactly, Mother, did you perhaps fancy it was? [
Pause.
]
Just what exactly, Mother, did you perhaps fancy this … strange thing was you observed?
[
Pause.
]
Mrs W: You yourself observed nothing … strange? Amy: No, Mother, I myself did not,
to put it mildly. Mrs W: What do you mean, Amy, to put it mildly, what can you possibly
mean, Amy, to put it mildly? Amy: I mean, Mother, that to say I observed nothing …
strange is indeed to put it mildly. For I observed nothing of any kind, strange or
otherwise. I saw nothing, heard nothing, of any kind. I was not there. Mrs W: Not
there? Amy: Not there. Mrs W: But I heard you respond. [
Pause.
]
I heard you say Amen. [
Pause.
] How could you have responded if you were not there? [
Pause.
]
How could you possibly have said Amen if, as you claim, you were not there? [
Pause.
]
The love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all, now, and for
evermore. Amen. [
Pause.
]
I heard you distinctly. [
Pause.
Resumes
pacing.
After
three
steps
halts
without
facing
front.
Long
pause.
Resumes
pacing,
halts
facing
front at
R.
Long
pause.
]
Amy. [
Pause.
No
louder
.]
Amy. [
Pause.
]
Yes, Mother, [
Pause.
]
Will you never have done? [
Pause.
]
Will you never have done … revolving it all? [
Pause.
]
It? [
Pause.
]
It all. [
Pause.
]
In your poor mind. [
Pause.
]
It all. [
Pause.
]
It all.

[
Pause.
Fade
out
on
strip.
All
in
darkness.

Pause.

Chime
even
a
little
fainter
still.
Pause
for
echoes.

Fade
up
to
even
a
little
less
still
on
strip.

No
trace
of 
MAY
.

Hold
ten
seconds.

Fade
out
.]

CURTAIN