Barker, Plays Eight
Page 29
WINDUS: All right / all right /
PORTSLADE: Someone help Jane /
BASIN: You /
WINDUS: (To ONSEE, who is stricken.) Steady / steady darling /
BASIN: You help Jane /
MOMPER: Steady / steady /
BASIN: If you think Jane needs help /
(The car horn.)
PORTSLADE: Not nice / Maurice /
BASIN: I’M DOING SOMETHING /
PORTSLADE: Not a nice attitude /
(The collapse of ONSEE absorbs the entire strength of
THE MORTALLY ILL, who topple one way, then the
other. They groan, the pets squeal. The car horn
sounds again.)
ARCHITECT: (To OSTEND.) GO TO THE CAR /
(THE MORTALLY ILL variously support ONSEE and
stagger her away, leaving only BASIN as witness.)
WHY DON’T YOU GO TO THE CAR? /
63
OSTEND gazes on her daughter, half-resistant, half-conciliatory. With decision, she turns and goes as instructed. BASIN, shocked by her resolution, limps after her.
BASIN: She doesn’t have to / she doesn’t have to go /
(He stops. He stares. He turns back, frowning with
incomprehension. His hands move strangely, then
seem to petrify.)
64
ARCHITECT: Oh /
(She laughs, briefly.)
Oh /
(She seems suddenly profoundly unhappy.)
With the woman called my mother / it is impossible to know what’s pain / and what’s /
(She sobs.)
Imitation /
(She breathes deeply.)
It’s ambiguous / I know / I know the ambiguity of sacrifice / NO ONE MORE SO / now / climb the ladder /
(BASIN looks appalled.)
Climb / I said /
(He hesitates.)
This grotesque parody of passion / perch and tell / how misted are the windows / and so on /
(BASIN is agonized.)
Listen / if you fell and broke your neck /
BASIN: It wouldn’t matter /
ARCHITECT: Would it? /
BASIN: It wouldn’t / no /
(He shakes his head.)
ARCHITECT: You are stricken / and incurable /
BASIN: I DON’T LIKE HEIGHTS /
ARCHITECT: PLEASE / PLEASE /
BASIN: (Who would like to satisfy her.) I’m so / I’m so /
(Neither BASIN nor ARCHITECT have observed DOOBEE’s entrance. He goes to BASIN and taking him kindly by the shoulders, manoeuvres him away from the foot of the ladder. BASIN is profoundly relieved. DOOBEE proceeds to climb the rungs, and arriving at the window, to observe the car. BASIN makes his escape.)
65
DOOBEE: Condensation /
ARCHITECT: (Gratified.) Always /
DOOBEE: Condensation / yes / and yet /
ARCHITECT: (More so.) AND YET /
DOOBEE: These so-dim /
ARCHITECT: SO-DIM / YES /
DOOBEE: So-dim figures /
ARCHITECT: As if drowning /
DOOBEE: Drowning the only comparison / yes /
(DOOBEE stares. ARCHITECT waits. DOOBEE
imagines.)
Her knees / on the tide of their /
(He fails to discover the word.)
Her knees / drift / wide open / and she is fluid /
ARCHITECT: Wet to his one palm / wet to his one wrist / Loose-lipped /
DOOBEE: Her mouth /
ARCHITECT: Like something ripped /
DOOBEE: Terrible mouth / her whole head tipped /
ARCHITECT: Back /
DOOBEE: Her hat / her veil /
ARCHITECT: Slipped /
DOOBEE: Squirming hips /
ARCHITECT: And spreading / this spreading /
DOOBEE: Immensity /
ARCHITECT: And him /
DOOBEE: And him /
ARCHITECT: His one eye racing /
DOOBEE: Mad eye /
ARCHITECT: Mad-eyed as a tortured horse /
DOOBEE: From breast to belly /
ARCHITECT: Arse to thigh /
DOOBEE: His three fingers /
ARCHITECT: Pitiless /
DOOBEE: As if /
ARCHITECT: Pitiless three fingers /
DOOBEE: As if he clung / then slid / from knowing to unknowing /
ARCHITECT: Her body in decay / and him a dwarf /
DOOBEE: The condensation /
ARCHITECT: A sordid parody of love /
DOOBEE: The condensation /
ARCHITECT: Her glove /
DOOBEE: Makes it hard to say /
ARCHITECT: Her pants /
DOOBEE: What’s happening /
ARCHITECT: Her handkerchief /
(DOOBEE looks down to ARCHITECT. She simply
gazes out of her paralysis. He descends a rung but
she senses this and reprimands him.)
STAY / STAY /
(He resumes his observation.)
The soiled stuff of her fornication / like leaves / like litter / I SAID STAY /
DOOBEE: I am staying /
ARCHITECT: The door will open /
DOOBEE: Obviously /
ARCHITECT: Obviously /
(She is suddenly seized by an anxiety.)
HOW WILL SHE LEAVE THE CAR / DOOBEE? / BEFORE OR AFTER HIM? /
DOOBEE: (Turning his gaze to ARCHITECT.) After /
ARCHITECT: After? / after is her way / is it? /
DOOBEE: She makes up /
ARCHITECT: She makes up /
DOOBEE: In the mirror / she makes up her face /
ARCHITECT: Which mirror? /
DOOBEE: The driving mirror /
ARCHITECT: The driving mirror / isn’t it too far away? /
DOOBEE: She leans / it strains her skirt / ‘LET ME WATCH YOU / PLEASE’ / I say /
ARCHITECT: You want to watch? /
DOOBEE: I want to watch / but she refuses / I climb out / there’s a delay / and then /
ARCHITECT: How long? / How long is this delay? /
DOOBEE: Long / a long delay / and then she /
(He is nostalgic.)
As if / who’d know she / her hair / her veil / who’d know she / immaculate / no hint of / in her face / or in her clothes / no hint of /
(He pulls a face of loss.)
And leaves the door for me to close /
(DOOBEE is turned on the ladder to look at
ARCHITECT. ARCHITECT’s prostrate position
denies her a view of him. Consequently neither
detects the entrance of CHILDLIKE who itself whilst
seeing ARCHITECT on the electric bed, does not perceive
a figure at the top of the ladder. For a moment all
are still.)
66
CHILDLIKE: (A cry of faith.) OFF-WHITE UPHOLSTERY /
(It is thoughtful.)
Faint traces of / the so-faint traces / sponged but not expunged / by Mr Doobee /
(It laughs.)
OFF-WHITE NO WONDER / I SAID YOUR SMEAR / I SAID YOUR SMEAR / THE OFF-WHITE MORE OFF HERE / THAN HERE /
(It laughs. It frowns. It closes its eye. It bites its lip.)
An enjoyable conversation / during which /
(He shakes his head.)
It became clear to me / that whilst to say the door fell open is / strictly speaking / contradictory / our understanding of this immaculate / and profoundly
(CHILDLIKE strains for the word.)
SACRED /
(Its fist tightens.)
Sacred / moment in your history / is not advanced one iota /
(It shakes its head like an animal.)
And always I suspected this /
(It smiles, a pitiful smile.)
WITH REVELATION / ARGUMENT’S A CUL-DE-SAC /
(It flagellates itself with its single arm.)
GOODBYE TO WHY / GOODBYE TO WHY /
(Its ecstasy subsides.)
&nbs
p; She had to show / your mother / it was not possible she could not show / and you / who stood there / impossible you could not know /
(He is melancholy.)
And knowing / throw yourself three storeys / Miss /
67
ARCHITECT seems to meditate on CHILDLIKe’s exposition.
ARCHITECT: Abortion / you stink of her /
(CHILDLIKE is motionless.)
Hermaphrodite /
CHILDLIKE: We had a lengthy conservation /
ARCHITECT: You stink /
(ARCHITECT is inundated by tears. DOOBEE rapidly
descends the ladder. CHILDLIKE, for the first time aware
of DOOBEE’s presence, turns and seizes him as he makes
to comfort ARCHITECT. CHILDLIKE’s strength shocks
DOOBEE who struggles but is constrained.)
CHILDLIKE: The sacrifice cannot be compensated /
(DOOBEE lurches and sprawls.)
Mr Doobee /
(DOOBEE climbs to his feet and makes to go to
ARCHITECT again. Again CHILDLIKE frustrates
him.)
BEAUTIFULLY JOYLESS / MR DOOBEE /
(CHILDLIKE suddenly abandons his struggle.)
IS THE SACRIFICE /
(DOOBEE’s nightmare of loss, rage and moral
indignation compels him to rain kicks on the now
unresisting dwarf, whose body flaps like a doll. The
stronger attraction of ARCHITECT’s misery draws
him to the mobile bed.)
DOOBEE: Darling /
(He seems helpless, gazing on her, his hands
suspended.)
Darling /
(CHILDLIKE lifts itself, then collapses.)
Darling /
68
Obedient to an impulse he barely understands, DOOBEE pulls the covering from the mobile bed, exposing the nakedness of ARCHITECT. He gazes on her, then as if by some tacit accord, sweeps her up into his arms. ARCHITECT’s expression is one of appalled anticipation.
69
DOOBEE goes to carry ARCHITECT into the house, but the sound of OSTEND’s footsteps spoils his resolution. He stops. His body is an arch of tension.
OSTEND: Fling her / Doobee / fling her on the railings / it’s what she wants /
(DOOBEE turns to face OSTEND, and in doing so,
turns ARCHITECT’s regard also. In conformity with
DOOBEE’s description, OSTEND is newly-made up.
Her gaze falls on the lifeless body of CHILDLIKE. As
if to reinforce a contrived objectivity, she draws on
a glove.)
DOOBEE: (As if thwarted.) How swiftly you have dressed /
OSTEND: I was never undressed /
DOOBEE: (Brutally.) ALL RIGHT / HOW SWIFTLY YOU HAVE REARRANGED YOUR CLOTHES /
OSTEND: They never were disturbed /
(She lifts her eyes to the lovers.)
What happened thirty years ago is only fit for parody / so /
(She returns her gaze to CHILDLIKE.)
We had a conversation /
(And back to DOOBEE.)
And if / as a consequence / I’m too swift to leave the car / you’re too slow to reach the third floor / Doobee / let alone to throw my daughter out / one apotheosis / only one / I know / oh /
(She pulls her mouth tight.)
I KNOW /
(DOOBEE feels the rebuke. His eyes falter. OSTEND
agonizes.)
The door /
(She wills herself on.)
The door which /
(She discovers the only phrase.)
HAD TO BE OPENED /
(She shakes her head slowly.)
By the same law / needed to be closed / I could not close it / snow notwithstanding / draught on my naked legs / no strength / no will / so / he leant across me / I smelled his hair / it clicked / it did not close / no / that isn’t shut / darling / not shut / he muttered some oath / not about the door / he didn’t curse the door / he praised my thigh / darling / I was /
(She suffers.)
Oh / what was I? / he stretched / he strained / he hauled it back again / across me like an unslung Christ / it clicked / it shut / the second time / shut now / the door / dead now / the man / and then / her cry / her cry /
(OSTEND shakes her head in a slow, tortured
manner.)
As if closing the door God closed my eye /
(She loses her physical integrity.)
If I apologize I’ll die /
(Her shoulders are decayed.)
I apologize /
70
DOOBEE, with ARCHITECT in his arms, suffers the wound of OSTEND’s capitulation. A killed animal drops from high and smacks the floor. DOOBEE’s horrified gaze lifts to the heart of the house. A second animal plunges. OSTEND turns to DOOBEE, as if oblivious of what now becomes a rain of pets.
OSTEND: I’ll drive /
(She extends a hand as if for the keys of the car.)
I can’t drive /
(A bird cage descends, bounces, rolls away.)
I’ll drive /
(Rabbits, dogs, cascade, as ostend’s hand remains
outstretched.)
*