Catastrophe Practice (8 page)

They wait
.

They wait
.

They wait
.

Judith puts her head on Ackerman's shoulder. Then the lights on the stage go out
.

There run on from the wings, left, Ariel pursued by the Footman and the Maid. They catch him; they scuffle; they seem to be trying to prevent him reaching the crack in the rocks
.

Ackerman moves along the balustrade and begins to dismantle a section, right of centre. Judith goes to help him
.

Jenny moves across the front of the stage to the proscenium arch, left, and leans with her back against it
.

Jason turns to the front of the stage where the wire goes over. He looks down
.

Helena remains by the wings, back left
.

Ackerman and Judith arrange the bits of the dismantled balustrade to make it seem as if someone had fallen over
.

Then the lights come on
.

Everyone becomes still
.

Ariel, centre, is held by the arms by the Footman and the Maid. He watches Jason
.

After a time, the Footman and the Maid let Ariel go. They turn and watch the audience
.

Jason takes hold of the wire that goes over the footlights
.

Jenny, by the proscenium arch, left, watches Jason
.

Ackerman and Judith continue to arrange the bits of the balustrade as if someone had fallen over
.

Ariel goes and crouches by the crack in the rocks
.

Ackerman and Judith go to the loggia, right, and look up
.

Helena has not moved
.

The lights go out
.

Jenny goes and sits on the garden chair
.

Ackerman and Judith reach up and begin to dismantle the huge toy-like blocks of which the loggia is made
.

The Footman and Maid come to the footlights, right and left, and look out over the audience. The Maid puts a hand in her pocket as if she holds a gun there
.

Ackerman and Judith carry blocks from the loggia and place them round the garden chair like prehistoric stones
.

Jason crouches by the footlights, holding the wire, and turns with his back to the audience. Ariel and Helena have not moved
.

The lights come on
.

Everyone is still
.

After a time Helena joins Ackerman and Judith by the loggia. They continue to dismantle the huge toy-like blocks of the loggia. They place them round Jenny in the chair
.

Ariel is squatting by the crack in the rocks facing Jason. He has his hand on the wire
.

Jason is holding the wire with his back to the audience as if he is about to lower himself over a cliff. He turns and looks down over the footlights
.

The lights go out
.

Ackerman and Judith and Helena continue arranging the blocks of the loggia around Jenny. The Footman and Maid, at the footlights, stare out over the audience. They both have their hands in their pockets as if they might be security men, or terrorists
.

Jason lowers himself over the footlights. He looks, down
.

When he is in the auditorium, Jason coils the wire at the front of the stage
.

The lights come on
.

Ariel is crouching by the crack in the rocks. He looks up at the flies
.

The Footman and the Maid, right and left, watch the audience
.

Judith and Ackerman and Helena, having arranged the blocks of the loggia like primitive stones around Jenny in the garden chair, stand back as if to admire their work
.

Helena goes to Jenny and stands with her hand on the back of her chair
.

Judith and Ackerman go and stand by the broken balustrade
.

Jason begins to walk off at the front of the auditorium, left
.

Ariel is facing the audience
.

He waits
.

Now!

The Curtain begins to come down
.

There are three loud bangs, from the flies, as in the first act
.

The Footman and the Maid duck
.

The Curtain stops
.

Jason, at the front left of the auditorium, stops
.

He looks at the stage
.

Ariel looks at the audience
.

The Footman and the Maid look up at the flies
.

Ackerman looks over the broken bit of the balustrade at the back
.

Judith watches Helena and Jenny
.

Jason murmurs —

He looks at the audience
.

Just time for a cup of tea?

The Footman and the Maid have straightened. They take their hands out of their pockets and raise them: they have no guns
.

Helena and Jenny are posed within the circle of stones
.

Ariel, by the crack in the rocks, takes his hand from the wire
.

The Curtain continues to come down
.

The Footman and the Maid seem uncertain; then they move off into the wings, right and left. Jason walks out through an exit at the back of the auditorium, left
.

The Curtain stops a few inches above the ground
.

Ariel can be seen, on his hands and knees, to have one hand on the wire: he is peering underneath the Curtain into the auditorium
.

Then the lights in the auditorium come on. The lights on the stage go out
.

The CURTAIN remains a few inches above the stage
.

The lights on the stage come on while the Curtain is still a few inches above the stage
.

The CURTAIN rises
.

SCENE: the same. A cold grey light The backdrop is unlit, so the material it is made of is showing. The broken pieces of the balustrade are arranged as at the end of the last act The wire still trails from the crack in the rocks ever the footlights and into the auditorium. The dismantled blocks of the loggia are in their semi-circle like prehistoric stones
.

Jenny is lying in the garden chair within the circle of stones. She is in her underclothes. Her eyes are closed. She seems to have taken over the role of Judith in the last act
.

Helena is standing by the broken balustrade, looking over. She wears an old overcoat and trousers and carries a travelling bag on a strap over her shoulder
.

Judith is seated on one of the blocks, left. She is in her underclothes, and has on her lap a pair of jeans which she seems to be altering or mending. She speaks as she sews
.

She bites her thread off: holds the jeans up to the light
.

— he put them in the fridge
.

She puts the jeans down: tries to re-thread her needle
.

He called it proterogyny — of the female sexual organs.

She manages to thread the needle
.

If you don't eat it up for dinner —

She sews
.

— bombs: seeds: apples —

She holds the jeans up again. She puts the needle in her mouth
.

— you'll get them back for tea.

She puts down the jeans. She puts the needle away. She rummages in a travelling bag that is beside her on the ground
.

How many did he have with him, do you know? I think it was a number. Or was he on his own? I think it was a number. There are enough in the streets, God knows. In the valleys. Leaping up the fences. Breaking down the waterfalls. On to the dry land.

She has taken from her travelling bag an automatic pistol, which she holds on her lap and dismantles
.

What were they doing in a place like this? I think they were imprisoned. Or were they protected? I think they were imprisoned. You were in that chair. Then I was in that chair —

She uses Jenny's old T-shirt, taken from the bag, to clean the pistol
.

Put enough of us together —

She holds the pistol up towards the wings, right, and looks through the barrel
.

— in a telephone box —

She squeezes the trigger
.

— Help! He pushed me! —

She lowers the pistol
.

It's an overcrowded profession.

She reassembles the pistol and puts it back in her bag. Then she stands and struggles to put on the jeans, which are Jenny's, and thus too small for her.
wouldn't it be for the best if —

She faces the audience
.

— With your hands, your hair —

She manages to get on the jeans
.

— you think you're so morally superior —

She raises the T-shirt; she struggles to pull it over her head: for a moment it is as if she were being tortured
.

— Oh no I didn't —

— Oh yes you did —

Helena leaves the balustrade and comes towards her. She speaks in a masculine voice
.

Judith manages to pull the T-shirt down over her face. She says with relief —

Helena looks to the wings, left. Then she moves round the stage
.

She stops by Jenny and looks down at her
.

— The people on the roads. With their little tails going —

She looks at the audience
.

— The queens of Egypt, on their beds.

She goes to the balustrade at the back and looks over
.

What did they give her, do you know?

Helena turns to the ruins of the loggia, right. She acts —

Judith acts as if following Helena's lead —

Helena comes to the footlights and looks at the audience. She speaks in her ordinary voice
.

She comes and looks on the floor by Jenny
.

Judith seems to quote —

Helena moves off round the stage. Then she faces the ruins of the loggia again and acts —

— I was in the back of the van —

Then Helena goes and looks over the balustrade
.

She says in her ordinary voice —