GERRY doesn’t know what to say, LJ moves on to the next one, GERRY follows her.
I was sitting beside her before it happened
GERRY: (Shocked.) Really?
LJ: She was staring at me…that look…that… ‘I don’t know where you’ve been don’t touch me’ look… (Beat.) …was on the tip of my tongue to ask her what she was looking at…tell her it was an invasion of my privacy to be staring at me like that (Beat.) Guess the tables are twisted
GERRY: Turned
LJ: Whatever…
GERRY: She looks a bit like my wife
LJ: Really?
GERRY: Yes
LJ: You better not tell her she looks like a dead girl
GERRY: Better not
LJ: (She looks at him.) I’m LJ
GERRY: Gerry (They shake hands.)
LJ: So what you think of the show?
GERRY: I think he’s very brave…
LJ: Yeah?
GERRY: It forces us to look at what happened with an assertive and compelling sense of mortality. By using the corpses as materials, he has transcended the traditional relationship between the living and the deceased. Don’t you think? (LJ doesn’t know what to say.) I actually think I might be a little bit jealous of him
LJ: Why?
GERRY: Lots of reasons…youth…originality
LJ: You’re not that old
GERRY: Things seem different when you’re young…you’re fearless…you think that if you fall you can always get back up again… I don’t know when or what exactly happens but that just goes…and the idea of falling is so bloody terrifying that you can’t bring yourself to try
LJ: Fucking hell
GERRY: Sorry
LJ: You’re not that fucking old
GERRY: Maybe I feel very old
LJ: You an artist?
GERRY: No…God no… I’m a psychiatrist
LJ: Really?
GERRY: Really
LJ: They told me I should talk to a shrink but I wasn’t having any of it. Wouldn’t know what to say
GERRY: Most people think that at first
LJ: And then?
GERRY: And then you can’t shut them up. (Beat.) But that’s an important part of it, just talking, part of how you help them. (Beat, quietly, almost to himself.) I’m actually being investigated right now so I might not be in a position to listen to anyone ever again
LJ: What for?
GERRY: Someone was in pain and I helped them
LJ: What’s wrong with that?
GERRY: (Beat.) I helped them to die
LJ: (Beat.) You killed someone?
GERRY: No, I helped them
LJ: What did you do? Shoot them?
GERRY: (Laughs quickly, stops when he realises she is serious.) No
LJ: How then?
GERRY: (Very serious.) Drugs. Just drugs.
LJ: Jesus. (Beat.) What was wrong with them?
GERRY: They were ill…not physically ill
LJ: What? They were mental?
GERRY: No, they just…were in pain…psychological pain
LJ: Jesus Christ, what you telling me for?
GERRY: I –
Enter DANIEL, wearing jeans and a casual t shirt, hasn’t even made an effort. Surprised to see GERRY.
DANIEL: There you are
LJ: What you mean ‘there I am’? I’ve been hovering around you all night, couldn’t get past all the fans
DANIEL: I… I didn’t see you
LJ: Well I’ve been talking to Gerry, he’s feeling…old, Gerry this is Danny
GERRY: (Goes to say they’ve met but DANIEL cuts him off.) Yes we’ve already –
DANIEL: (Holding out his hand to shake GERRY’s.) Gerry, hi, nice to meet you
GERRY: (Confused.) Yes nice to…well…well done…on the show
DANIEL: Yes…thanks… (Anxious to bring his attention back to LJ.) So what do you think? Do you like the photographs?
LJ: Like?
DANIEL: Well you know… I mean… I hope you weren’t…you weren’t offended were you?
LJ: ’Course not
DANIEL: I went around to all the families and explained what I wanted to do and why and got each one to tell me about them…who they were…what they did…their plans…future…so everyone would know…so they wouldn’t be just another statistic…not everyone agreed obviously…but the rest are all in the book? Did you see the book?
LJ: No. (Beat.) What happened to your paintings?
DANIEL: They didn’t…mean anything…didn’t say…weren’t accessible the way this is…everyone can see this… I can see this…you can
LJ: Not blind am I?
DANIEL: (Beat.) You don’t think…you don’t think it’s just dead bodies do you? (Beat.) Do you?
LJ: What?
DANIEL: Just dead bodies?
LJ: (Beat.) Nah…
DANNY: What do you think of it?
LJ: (DANIEL is still looking at her, she searches for something to say.) By using the corpses as materials, you have…transcended the traditional relationship between the living and the deceased.
GERRY looks over at her, she avoids his stare.
DANNY: (Impressed by her response.) Yeah…yes…exactly…that’s it exactly…that’s exactly what I was trying to do
STEPH: Well…
DANNY: You’re amazing
STEPH: Fuck off
DANNY: I mean it…you are…you’re an amazing person. You keep surprising me…
Enter STEPH in a pretty dress, drunk carrying a glass of wine.
STEPH: Danny, they’re waiting, they think you should make a speech or something. Everyone thinks you’re just…brilliant… (Delighted.) I’ve had my picture taken twice by two different newspapers just because I’m your sister
LJ: (Wheeling herself out.) Where’d you get that wine?
STEPH: I’ll show you
LJ: Was it free?
They exit leaving DANIEL alone with GERRY who is standing in front of the picture of a young dead woman.
DANIEL: (Beat.) What are you doing here?
GERRY: I was… I was at a funeral actually and I thought… I mean I’d read about it…in the paper…and I thought… I thought I’d come and have a look for myself. (Beat.) I thought it sounded interesting
DANIEL: You don’t like it, you hate it
GERRY: I don’t hate it, why would you think I hated it?
DANIEL: I don’t know
GERRY: Why did you pretend you didn’t know me?
DANIEL: I asked you for help and you didn’t help me
GERRY: Why are you so angry with me?
DANIEL: Because you abandoned me
GERRY: That’s not true, I simply wasn’t in a position to help you at the time. You see my wife had just died and there were things I had to take care of.
DANIEL: Your wife?
GERRY: She had been ill for quite some time. It was not a shock. (Beat.) But I thought of you and I read about this and I wanted to come. I wanted to see you.
DANIEL: Why?
GERRY: Honestly I’m not entirely sure. (Beat.) How have you been?
DANIEL: Terrible, different degrees of terrible. You?
GERRY: Similar. Where did all this come from?
DANIEL: I couldn’t paint, nothing was coming to me, and then I saw someone and I spoke to her and then it happened.
GERRY: Someone gave you the idea?
DANIEL: Sort of, not exactly (Beat, he speaks quickly.) She is the mother of one of the victims, I saw her in the park
GERRY: And you spoke to her?
DANIEL: Not at first but after a while…yes…we spoke about what had happened…about her daughter…about her life and what she was going to become and how she was afraid she was going to forget her. She has a beautiful voice, it’s calming, soothing, it seemed familiar to me…and I realised I couldn’t take my eyes off her…not because she was beautiful… I mean she is…but she was just so…wholesome. But then she got up to leave…and I panicked… I o
ffered to buy her a cup of coffee but she just looked at me kind of sadly and said she was old enough to be my mother…and I said I knew that (Beat.) and then there wasn’t anything left to say. (Beat.) So I followed her home. She didn’t see me and as soon as she went in I left. But the minute she went out of sight it was…just…devastating… (He looks at GERRY.) I came home and I lay there thinking about what it meant that I was the only one to be unhurt and what I was going to do and this came to me. (Beat.) What do you think it means?
GERRY: What?
DANIEL: All of it, any of it, why was it me?
GERRY: Because it had to be someone
DANIEL: But it wasn’t just someone…it was me
GERRY: You are just someone
DANIEL: Not to me I’m not
GERRY: (Beat.) You’re feeling lost
DANIEL: Yes
GERRY: Alone
DANIEL: Yes
GERRY: (Going with it.) Like its pouring rain and everyone else has an umbrella
DANIEL: (Unsure.) Y…yes
GERRY: (Holds out his arms.) Come here
DANIEL: Why?
GERRY: (Coming to suddenly, puts his arms down.) I thought… I just thought that maybe…that maybe I could…
DANIEL: Help me?
GERRY: (Hard suddenly.) And what about me? What do I get out of it?
DANIEL: What do you want to get out of it?
GERRY: (Looks at him.) I don’t know. (Beat.) You know I can’t even help myself at the moment, can’t even, keep things…straight…think straight…
DANIEL: But you could try couldn’t you? You came here for some reason and you could just try, what is there to lose in that? Please (GERRY stares at him, DANIEL takes his hand, GERRY stares at it.) Please
STEPH enters, she looks at them curiously.
STEPH: Danny, they want you, everybody wants you
DANIEL: Please (Drops his hand, the crowd continue to chant, DANIEL walks off.)
STEPH: I’ve had my picture taken twice tonight
GERRY: How wonderful
STEPH: Isn’t it?
STEPH leaves. GERRY stares at the picture. Offstage the chanting gets louder and louder ‘Danny, Danny, Danny, Danny’. Blackout.
SCENE EIGHT
GERRY’s office. GERRY is sitting at his desk looking at LJ who is seated across from him. They sit in silence for a moment. GERRY is holding the binoculars. He is awkward.
LJ: (Beat.) You’re probably wondering –
GERRY: Yes
LJ: I didn’t finish
GERRY: Sorry
LJ: You’re probably wondering why I’m here
GERRY: Oh no… I mean…you’re… I’m glad…it’s good…you’re here… I’m glad…
LJ: You are?
GERRY: It’s fine either way…you are here…you’re not here…it’s fine…
LJ: You ever clean up?
GERRY: Infrequently
LJ: Should get yourself a cleaner, those eastern Europeans work for next to nothing, clean your entire place for a tenner an hour.
GERRY: I’ll keep that in mind
LJ: What are those for? (The binoculars.)
GERRY: Oh…nothing
LJ: What you have them for then?
GERRY: I (Beat.) I (Beat.) I like to watch things
LJ: Oh right…get your kicks from watching the neighbours?
GERRY: No (Beat.) I watch…the sky
LJ: Birds?
GERRY: No
LJ: Clouds?
GERRY: No
LJ: What then?
GERRY: (Beat, LJ stares at him.) Towers. A couple of weeks ago… I was standing at the window…just standing looking out at the water and I saw towers hanging in the air
LJ: In the air?
GERRY: Huge long…like skyscrapers…and they were…glinting in the sunlight…no…not glinting…shimmering…for…for seconds…they were…extraordinary…they were the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen…and then…nothing…
LJ: Nothing?
GERRY: They disappeared
LJ: Were you drinking?
GERRY: No… I don’t drink
LJ: I don’t trust people who don’t drink, they’re too smug about it
GERRY: I’m not smug about it (Beat.) You’re the first person I’ve told about this
LJ: Why do you keep telling me things?
GERRY: I don’t really know
LJ: Is it because I make you nervous? (GERRY doesn’t answer.) I find I’m making a lot of people nervous…and they talk…babble…say things they don’t mean to…like people feel guilty…just by me being there…makes them feel like they should do something…because to be like this is just about the worst thing they can imagine and no one likes seeing the worst thing they can imagine…they’d rather put it away…in a box…
GERRY: I’ve seen worse things
LJ: Like what?
GERRY: You don’t want to know
LJ: (Harsh.) Yes I fucking do (Beat, softer.) I want to know what’s worse
GERRY: (Beat.) When I was a student…there was a baby born…a little girl…she was so small…tiny…and she seemed perfect at first…but her face…her features hadn’t developed…there was nothing there… (Beat.) a defect…she couldn’t breathe…didn’t live for very long…we were brought in to observe and her parents were…distraught…that was…that was probably…probably had the worst effect on me personally…
LJ: (Beat.) No face? (GERRY nods, LJ looks away.) I wanted to see where he went to, didn’t know it was to see you…obviously
GERRY: You followed him?
LJ: What you think you can’t follow someone if you’re in a wheelchair? You think taxi drivers don’t follow whatever they’re asked to follow?
GERRY: That’s not what I said
LJ: What’s wrong with Danny?
GERRY: I can’t discuss him with you
LJ: But I’m worried about him. Does he talk about me? (Beat, GERRY doesn’t respond.) What? You can’t tell me that much? Whether he talks about me or not?
GERRY: It’s confidential
LJ: You’re not planning on…on…doing anything to him are you?
GERRY: How do you mean?
LJ: What you told me in the gallery, about what you did, you’re not going to do that…to Danny?
GERRY: No, God no, no…no…
LJ: Good, because there’s nothing wrong with him, he’ll be fine
GERRY: I know that
LJ: What about the person you…killed?
GERRY: What about them?
LJ: How did you know that they wouldn’t be fine?
GERRY: It was my professional diagnosis.
LJ: What does that mean?
GERRY: It means I knew. I just knew. (Beat.) Four out of ten psychiatrists believe that doctors should be legally able to help terminally ill patients commit suicide
LJ: Were they terminally ill?
GERRY: No but… (Beat.) but it’s not so horrible to imagine, when you’re in that much pain…
LJ: How much pain?
GERRY: An unbearable amount.
LJ: (Beat.) Can I ask you something? (GERRY nods.) Do you think I’m pretty?
GERRY: Yes
LJ: Have you ever had sex with a cripple?
GERRY: I don’t think that word is –
LJ: Have you?
GERRY: No
LJ: (Beat.) You ever have anyone like me? In here?
GERRY: Like you?
LJ: Yeah
GERRY: How like you?
LJ: Like me, been in an accident, left like this, in pain, tired, didn’t want to go on? (Beat.) Like me
GERRY: (Beat.) Sure
LJ: And did you help them? (GERRY doesn’t do anything, beat.) Did you?
GERRY: (Beat.) I tried to.
LJ: You know he’s only coming to you because of his father
GERRY: What about his father?
LJ: Didn’t he tell you? He killed himself when Danny was eight. I bet that’s the only reason he comes to
see you, because he misses his dad
GERRY: That’s between me and Danny
LJ: Does he know? About you killing people?
GERRY: I don’t kill people I –
LJ: Whatever, does he know?
GERRY: (Beat.) No
LJ: What do you think he would say if he found out?
GERRY: I don’t know
LJ: Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong with him and that way I won’t have to tell him your little secret
GERRY: You know I can’t do that
LJ: What’s stopping you?
GERRY: You think you’re angry with me but you’re not, you’re angry with your situation and you’re angry with Danny but you are not angry with me. (Beat.) Look if you’ve come here looking for help then
LJ: You think I want your help? Me? Me? There’s nothing wrong with me
GERRY: Good
LJ: I’m fine, I’m absolutely A OK in the head department alright?
GERRY: (Beat.) Alright
They sit. Lights down.
SCENE NINE
DANIEL’s apartment. STEPH is tidying up, humming etc. KARL is watching the TV.
KARL: Stop
STEPH: Stop what?
KARL: Singing
STEPH: I wasn’t
KARL: You were
STEPH: I wasn’t
KARL: Am I going nuts then am I? Just heard you singing some fucking Britney song didn’t I?
STEPH: No you didn’t… (Beat.) Maybe I was humming, when I’m happy I hum…like now… I’m happy (He’s not listening to her, she stands in front of him.) I thought you liked my voice
KARL: I can’t see the box
STEPH: Don’t you like it anymore?
KARL: Told you I like it, just…watching the box…too many noises at once…makes me all…sea sick you know?
STEPH looks confused but nods anyway.
STEPH: (Beat, trying to be up beat.) Wow… I can’t believe you got me an audition…me…wow…you’re brilliant
KARL looks at her, now he’s interested.
KARL: I told you I’d look after it
STEPH: (Beat.) No one ever looks after me (Beat.) What about you? Anyone look after you?
KARL: Don’t need anyone do I?
STEPH: (Affectionate teasing.) Bet when you were little though…you needed someone…bet you got teased and all…’cos of your specs
KARL: No
STEPH: Bet they called you specky four eyes and goggle head and all
The Dark Things Page 4
