Catastrophe Practice (12 page)

1
Quoted in Philip Thody,
Sartre
(London: Studio Vista, 1971), 41.

2
Edmund Husserl,
The Crisis in European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology,
trans. David Carr (Evanston: Northwestern Univ. Press, 1970), 164.

3
Jacques Monod,
Chance and Necessity,
trans. Austryn Wainhouse (London: Collins, 1972), 156.

4
Ibid., 159, 160.

5
Ibid., 152, 153.

6
Karl R. Popper,
Objective Knowledge
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), 37, 20, 36, 70.

7
Ibid., 84.

8
Gregory Bateson,
Steps towards an Ecology of Mind
(London: Intertext, 1972), 118, 119, 277.

9
J. Z. Young,
A Model of the Brain
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964), 164.

10
Ibid, 196.

11
Ibid, 287.

12
Susanne Langer,
Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling,
2 vols. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1967), 1:xviii.

13
Ibid, 150.

14
Popper, 46.

OLDER HOSTESS who played JUDITH

YOUNGER HOSTESS (SOPHIE) who played JENNY

Before the lights in the auditorium are out, the CURTAIN collapses. It lies at the front of the stage
.

The stage is in darkness. Then neon lights flicker and settle into a glow
.

The SCENE is a refreshment room — as if at an old country house, or at a small local airport
.

On the right are a plate-glass window and a glass door. On the left is a stone gothic doorway
.

There is a bar along the back To the right of the bar is a machine which could be a coffee machine or a juke box. To the left of the bar is a hatch to a food lift
.

There are two stools in front of the bar. Centre, are two tables with four chairs round each
.

Harry is standing by the window, right, looking out. The glass is opaque, or as if there were a mist beyond the window. Harry is a man in his forties. He wears an old overcoat
.

The Barman, a man in his sixties, is crouching behind a table, left, with his hands over his ears. He straightens, dusts himself, looks at Harry. Then he looks up at the flies
.

The characters alternate between acting realistically and theatrically; sometimes they seem to be not acting at all. Always it is as if they are trying to convey some message which can be conveyed in no better way
.

He puts a hand to his head: then answers himself—

No.

He faces the audience. He acts —

— Is this a dagger? —

He answers himself —

No.

He gets into the position of someone preparing to play a golf shot, to the right. He speaks as if giving a military order —

— Over the hill, two hundred yards —

He acts as if beginning to play the golf shot
.

Then he stops and looks at Harry: he calls —

— Open —

He stands with his hands on his hips. He mouths, almost inaudibly —

— Fire?

Harry turns and looks at him
.

The Barman looks up to the flies. Then he begins to back away as if something were falling towards him from the sky. He ducks behind the table, left, with his hands over his ears again
.

Harry watches him
.

After a time the Barman stands up and dusts himself. He takes up an attitude of boxing
.

There's a weathership out in the Atlantic.

It's surrounded by vastly superior enemy forces —

He mimes boxing
.

Then he stops. He looks at Harry
.

After a time he puts a hand to his mouth and shouts —

Mind that donkey!

The Barman stares at him
.

Then he moves round the stage
.

He straightens the curtain at the front of the stage so that it is in a line along the footlights
.

I had a small business once. I used to go out mornings and evenings. And I always knew where I was. Now they're getting into government. And I'm most of the time in my room —

He stops and looks over the footlights
.

What do you think this is, a Sunday School?

He puts his hands on his heart
.

Come along then. Coop! Coop!

After a time he holds his hands out in front of him as if they contained a bird. Then he opens his hands and shakes them. He looks to the back of the auditorium as if the bird has flown away there
.

He turns from the audience and goes behind the bar and puts glasses and bottles from the shelves on to the counter
.

Harry comes to the bar and sits on a stool. After a time he says as if it were the name of a game —

The Barman seems to follow his lead —

The Barman places the bottles around on the counter as if he were arranging pieces for a game
.

Harry watches him. Then he murmurs —

Harry and the Barman look at the pieces on the counter. It is as if they are uncertain of the nature of the game
.

Harry seems to quote —

After a time Harry bangs on the counter and yells —

The Barman takes a glass and fills it
.

Harry looks round the room. He says tentatively —

The Barman pushes the full glass towards him. Harry says more confidently —

Broken needles everywhere! Shit —

Harry seems to quote —

Harry pores over the counter
.

After a time the Barman goes to the machine at the end of the bar, right, and pulls a lever
.

The machine emits a puff of steam
.

The Barman carries two mugs from the machine and sets them down in front of Harry. Harry watches them. Then he murmurs —

He looks to the back of the auditorium
.

Harry does not look up
.

The Barman moves off round the stage again
.

You know what this place once was? A bloody great house with lawns and gardens. A polo ground. A moat —

He wipes his hands on his body as if disgusted
.

Harry turns away, as if he were bored with the rules of the game
.

They wait. It is as if the Barman is not quite sure if the game is over
.

The Barman seems to quote —

Harry picks up a mug and drinks
.

After a time the Barman comes to the front of the stage. He acts —

He stares out above the audience
.

Harry speaks with his back to the Barman and the audience
.

The Barman interrupts —

Harry seems to try to go on with his story —

The Barman interrupts —

They wait
.

After a time the Barman goes to Harry and swats him on the shoulder as if there were an insect there. Then he mimes picking off the insect and dropping it on to the ground
.

The glass door opens, right, and a girl comes in. She is dressed in the uniform of an air hostess. She carries a folder with papers. She comes to the centre of the stage and stands there looking through her papers
.

The Barman watches Harry
.

Harry has turned to the Hostess
.

After a time he says as if he is trying not to act —

Harry puts his hands to his head. He gets up and walks round the stage as if in despair. After a time he calls —

The Hostess acts as if she is near to tears
.

Harry comes and takes her papers out of her hand and leafs through them
.