Charged E-Book

Chloë Moss

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Serie: NHB Modern Plays
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 177

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Six plays by some of the most exciting and distinctive female voices in British theatre, exploring the heartbreaking truth about the lives of women in the criminal justice system. The plays were commissioned and premiered by Clean Break, a theatre and education company working with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. Included in this volume: Fatal Light by Chloë Moss, about a young mother's inability to cope with separation from her daughter. Taken by Winsome Pinnock, about a mother confronted by the child she had to give up. Dream Pill by Rebecca Prichard, about two children forced into prostitution. Doris Day by E V Crowe, about two police officers and their different expectations of the job. Dancing Bears by Sam Holcroft, about the twisted loyalties and violence in teenage gangs. That Almost Unnameable Lust by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, about a writer holding workshops with older women in a prison. The plays were first performed at Soho Theatre, London, in November 2010.

Leseprobe

CHARGED

Six short plays

EV Crowe

Sam Holcroft

Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Chloë Moss

Winsome Pinnock

Rebecca Prichard

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Original Production

Dream PillRebecca Prichard

Fatal LightChloë Moss

TakenWinsome Pinnock

Dancing BearsSam Holcroft

That Almost Unnameable LustRebecca Lenkiewicz

Doris DayEV Crowe

About the Authors

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

The six plays in Charged were produced by Clean Break and first performed in two cycles of three plays each at Soho Theatre, London, on 10 November 2010. The cast was as follows:

Dream Pill

BOLA

Danielle Vitalis

TUNDE

Samantha Pearl

Director

Tessa Walker

Fatal Light

AINE

Isabelle Mason

JAY

Rebecca Scroggs

KERRY

Ony Uhiara

MAGGIE

Ashley McGuire

POLICEWOMAN

Emma Noakes

Director

Lucy Morrison

Taken

DELLA

Beatie Edney

NANA NOLA

Janet Henfrey

NOLA

Rebecca Oldfield

Director

Caroline Steinbeis

Dancing Bears

AARON

Emmanuella Cole

ANGRY/BABYMOTHER

Danielle Vitalis

DEAN/RAZOR KAY

Ony Uhiara

RETARD/CHARITY

Samantha Pearl

Director

Tessa Walker

That Almost Unnameable Lust

KATHERINE

Janet Henfrey

LIZ

Beatie Edney

WRITER

Rebecca Oldfield

Director

Caroline Steinbeis

Doris Day

ANNA

Rebecca Scroggs

DAISY

Emma Noakes

Director

Lucy Morrison

Designer

Soutra Gilmour

Lighting Designer

Johanna Town

Sound Designer

Emma Laxton

DREAM PILL

Rebecca Prichard

Characters

TUNDE

BOLA

Setting

A basement.

TUNDE is silently weeping into an old cushion shared between two mats. BOLA is concerned and looks between TUNDE and the audience, caught between a feeling of exposure and the possibility of help.

BOLA

I don’t know why she’s crying

She just has days like this (

Shrugs

.) she’s just having a bad day

(

To the audience

.) Why are you here?

BOLA

moves her mat a little farther from

TUNDE.

Tunde, I’m putting my mat over here

Tunde, I’m going to put my mat here but you can still touch it

You want me to comb your hair?

Why are you crying?

There’s a room she doesn’t like. Someone called her a bad name de.

BOLA

sees an empty chair in the audience

.

Are we allowed to sit here?

Tunde.

Tunde.

We can sit with them.

TUNDE doesn’t move, and BOLA is unsure.

BOLA comes forward but then retreats a little to wait for TUNDE.

Yeah. Those mats are hard

(To TUNDE.) Do you want to come and sit?

TUNDE

is curious but does not move, she remains watching

BOLA

however

.

You didn’t do nothing to them. Sometimes the men that come are angry but you didn’t do nothing to them

Want me to paint your eyes?

(

To the audience

.) You can ask her a question She might come over here

BOLA

approaches the audience

, TUNDE

follows a little distance behind

.

I’m nine she’s ten

Do you know what her whole name is? It’s Yetunde. If you call her Tunde she says she doesn’t mind but really she does

TUNDE

shrugs

.

She’s quiet. I’m loud

TUNDE

(

Quietly

.) I’m loud too

BOLA

I look after her sometimes

They look at one another, smile a bit

.

But it depends. Sometimes she looks after me.

TUNDE

Yeah

BOLA

sees someone in the audience who has long hair

.

BOLA

(To a woman in the audience.) You got long hair.

(To TUNDE.) She got long hair

(To the woman.) Can I touch your hair?

She reaches out almost to touch it then withdraws

.

Why do you have long hair? Does it hurt? I know someone that had long hair but she cut it off because people were always pulling it. Has anyone ever pulled your hair?

She got long hair

TUNDE

is amazed

BOLA

almost touched someone in the audience and has not been told off

.

She approaches. She holds a necklace in her hand that’s broken. She shows it to the audience

.

(As if the audience member broke it.)You broke it.

You’ll pay!

Not really!

They laugh a little and

TUNDE

places the broken necklace in a hiding place

.

(

To audience member

.) I have a big belly

She mimes a protruding belly

.

It’s got no hairs though

BOLA

and

TUNDE

approach the audience again

.

Are you spirits?

TUNDE

We’re not spirits

BOLA

We’re real

She’s ten. I’m nine

TUNDE

No, I’m nine too

BOLA

When will you be ten?

TUNDE

shrugs

.

TUNDE

Soon.

BOLA

What will you get?

TUNDE

Sparkly clothes

BOLA

I’m going to get clothes.

BOLA

nods as if to say ‘Good?’

TUNDE

Yeah, it’s good

BOLA

Yeah.

BOLA

crouches down to inspect the audience’s shoes

. TUNDE

copies her but is not quite as bold

.

(

To the audience

.) I like your shoes. They’re nice. I like what you’re wearing. It’s nice.

TUNDE

Are you going to work here?

BOLA

…if you are going to work you should probably change your clothes

TUNDE

Yeah.

BOLA

Get set

TUNDE

Baff up bit

BOLA

You will like working here

TUNDE

We like it, is alright

BOLA

Iss easy. Is better than washin’ feets

TUNDE

Is better than that.

BOLA

You can relax here

TUNDE

You can unwind

All day long

BOLA

Unless it’s night-time

TUNDE

You can see films and

BOLA

You can see yourself in a film, like dream

TUNDE

Or play games

BOLA

And if you are sad you can hear music

BOLA

turns on a small transistor radio, a favourite song of theirs is playing, and they call out the name of the singer:

BOTH

Beyoncé!

BOLA

is about to raise the volume on the radio. A reverberating sound as Dawud throws a box down the stairs offstage. Both

TUNDE

and

BOLA

freeze and startle but then pretend not to

. TUNDE

turns the music down

. TUNDE

and

BOLA

go and peer up the stairs

.

BOLA

You’ll bring him down

TUNDE

No he’s going back up

BOLA

He will come down again

Pause

. BOLA

eyes

TUNDE

slightly authoritatively

.

You got to drink more water

TUNDE

sips from a litre bottle of water in the corner

.

She forgets

Another sound of Dawud shifting and moving things around

.

(

To audience

.) Das okay

TUNDE

Das jus Dedeh

BOLA

He is bossman

TUNDE

He nice but

BOLA

He shouts all the time.

TUNDE

He shout so he forgot how to speak

They wait for the audience’s reaction

.

BOLA

He brings us gifts. You will like him

TUNDE

Yeah sometimes he will bring you gifts

BOLA

Sometimes we sleep with Dedeh

…sometimes he just sleeps with me

TUNDE

And me as well

BOLA

But he never touches us

He just takes his watch off

TUNDE

Yeah, and in the mornings he coughs

BOLA

He lets us watch de screen

TUNDE

He can let you sit with men

BOLA

He will let you sit with men

TUNDE

(

Miming someone weighted down

.) Some are heavy

BOLA

They get eyes that are open but never look at nobody

TUNDE

People are sad because their clothes are too heavy for them. When they take them off they go ‘phpphoo’. Their skin is cold and white with blue bits

BOLA

Their eyes are like this

Demonstrates shifty eyes gliding over surroundings without landing on anything

.

TUNDE

Yeah, they got eyes like this

She demonstrates small distant eyes with her fingers

.

They begin to imitate how the English accent is different from their own accents

.

BOLA

They say ‘down’

TUNDE

‘Round’

BOLA

‘Brown’

TUNDE

‘Sit down’

BOLA

‘Come round’

TUNDE

‘Your skin is brown’

BOLA

Their blood is white and sticky

I can tell you how to make them go quick. Just go ‘yeah-yeah-yeah’ like that

Or you can make a pose

TUNDE

(

Something that indicates anal

.) Boom boom

BOLA

(

Something that indicates frontal

.) Bang bang

TUNDE

(

Something that indicates oral

.) Yum yum

They make various poses during the above and laugh at one another

.

BOLA

You don’t have to touch them you can jus’ dance for them

TUNDE

Yeah you can dance like this

They switch on the radio again. They dance around, pulling moves

.

BOLA

Bang bang

TUNDE

Boom boom

BOLA

Yum yum

TUNDE

We move for you

BOLA

We get Bakassi

TUNDE

We get move

More sounds offstage of loading and unloading gear

. BOLA

and

TUNDE

turn the music down to listen, reminded of their ‘work’

.

BOLA

You must change

BOLA

pulls out a glittery dress for

TUNDE.

Dedeh brought dis for you…

TUNDE

Or you can wear’t?

BOLA

He will get mad.

TUNDE

shrugs

.

He says you are lazy. (

To the audience

.) He says she is lazy.

TUNDE

(

Shrugs

.) I am lazy.

Pause

. TUNDE

approaches the audience

.

Sometimes Dedeh threatens to beat us

BOLA

But it doesn’t hurt when he beats us

TUNDE

Yeah we just say it doesn’t really hurt

BOLA

Because he’s a bit gay

TUNDE

Yeah he’s gay

They glance at each other and wonder if the audience will let them get away with saying this, they laugh a bit

.

BOLA

He says that one day he’ll set fire to this room But he won’t

TUNDE

Will he?

BOLA

He can’t set fire to room because all our stuff’s here

BOLA

runs to their ‘hiding place’ in the room and draws out a necklace and amulet

.

TUNDE

Important sturvs

Dis tings we found here

BOLA

Dis a necklace dat protect you against demon

TUNDE

Is necklace we get for protection

BOLA

Dis one – (

The necklace

.) my antie gave me

TUNDE

She gave ha with a wish

BOLA

Das blessing

She say

Ki Olorun Ki Ofu Li

BOTH

Emmi Gigun [

‘May God bless you with a long life’

]

TUNDE

Do you know what it means?

BOLA

Is blessing

TUNDE

Antie.

BOLA

Dis a shoe we found

TUNDE

also wants the audience’s attention so shows something she has found

.

TUNDE

Dis a link for button… (

She holds the cufflink to her ear as an earring

.)

BOLA

She don’t know my antie but she misses her as well. Because I told her about my antie. You miss her too isn’t it?

TUNDE

Yeah

BOLA

But she don’t know ha

She have no antie, is not ha real antie

TUNDE

But she like antie

She smell of paffin

BOLA

Paraffin for lamp

They breathe in, enjoying imagining the smell

.

TUNDE

And cooking

BOLA

She get smooth back from all de children she carry. Dey smooth a special place for me to sit, vey comfortable. When she sleep she talk for ha, but is my antie

TUNDE

Do you know that it is dangerous to talk in your sleep?

Cos if you talk in your sleep, spirits can enter de

BOLA

Dedeh talks in his sleep – is dangerous

TUNDE

He doesn’t know it’s dangerous

BOLA

Yeah. Sometimes he talks in his sleep, he goes like this

Mmmngh

TUNDE

Nnngh Mama

BOLA

I’m not bad Mama

They laugh a bit

.

TUNDE

It’s because he has problem – e nor kolo [

crazy

]

BOLA

It’s because he’s sad inside.

TUNDE

Dis a shoe we found here. After we was sleeping

BOLA

It wasn’t de before

TUNDE

Is a shoe we found

They hold and inspect the man’s shoe, and offer it to the audience to inspect

.

BOLA

And dis a cigarette… butt… a cigarette butt

TUNDE

Dey was not de when we was sleeping. It is ghosts… dey enta

BOLA

Is because – she talks in ha sleep so demon – dey enta here

TUNDE

They make smoke

BOLA

points to an air vent

.

BOLA

They come through there

TUNDE

points to the stairs

.

TUNDE

Dey leave de. Dey are from de sound in dis pipe. They make sound from de throat

BOLA

Dey come through here – (

Indicates vent again

.) They travel de – (

Indicates pipe

.) they leave de – (

Indicates exit

.)

TUNDE

Das why we get protection. Das why we use dis

TUNDE

holds the amulet

.

Ha antie get one too. She hold it for protection

BOLA

Is blessed – De priest bless it. She gave us dis

Have you ever been to winch? She like madam. You go pay dem for protection before you go on journey, is like blessing. Dey protect you from demon and hex.

My antie take me to protect me on long journey, she pay dem

TUNDE

First you mus be in a darken room

BOLA

No no no wait – first you must – de madam,

she must see you for daylight – she look at you, look you up and down.

TUNDE

Oh yeah

BOLA

Your antie take you

BOLA

positions

TUNDE.

Tan de, tan de [

stand there

]

BOLA

pretends to be the madame

. TUNDE

pretends to be

BOLA. BOLA

leans back, arms folded, and regards

TUNDE

as if she were a bad smell, and occasionally pokes and prods her

.

Hmmmmmmmm – (

She clicks her tongue or some other mannerism, skeptically

.) No bad. No bad. Tun [

turn

]. Tun. Comot for hia. Mm. Show me you teeth. Mm

TUNDE

smiles wanly to show her teeth

.

TUNDE

Ha breath tink. De woman get dead animal fe mout’

BOLA

(As Madame.) Na bad. She strong. Nothing do her, she not bad at all.

TUNDE

Ha teeth – ’e be like say God put dem for mouth wid bat – dey confuse.

BOLA

(

As Madame

.) Tun. Dis ha nylon na be silk, her diesel na be four-star unleaded, but she dey kampke, na endurance go test ha when she go UK’s.

If she stay here ’e no go betta for her – she juss dey here laik dele [

being idle

], myself I got green cad, visa, papas, passport, immigration – na wahala [

trouble

] – Lady, I have bin dey myself – shine your eye – (

She shows off or rattles jewellery

.) Pepper don rested and crested wid me [

I’ve made a lot of money

], seen, I get pound I get dollar, I get euro, I get lira, do you know Folake’s child, dat speak five langwish, she speak am all, she get euro like turn water fe tap

Mek you kuku tink on it. I get so much money, smell me – (

She sniffs her armpit or hand

.) I stink of it. We arrange all fe you – no wahala, no long ting [

no problem

], you nor lift hair –but I – you must – abeg mek you add extra – I say make you add extra, na so so wahala for carry pickin, de trouble wey my eye see nor be small. I mus’ settle priest, police, custom, soljah, dem nor chop [

consume or eat

] dollar small-small

TUNDE

De madame – she sell heap and powder

BOLA

Dagbo visa [

fake visa

]

TUNDE

Barks and herbs

BOLA

SIM card

TUNDE

Medicine for constipation

BOLA

Battery and freshna

TUNDE

Paper for Yankee and Jand

BOLA

If you fit fe journey den de madam go take you to priest

TUNDE

Dis how priest protect you from demon

BOLA

She tek you – dem put you in darken room

TUNDE

You mus’ wash

You have fe drink whisky

TUNDE

pretends to take a clipping of

BOLA

’s hair

.

Dem take clipping of your hair

BOLA

Dey draw circle round you

She mimes drawing a circle

.

Dey take your cloth

TUNDE

No no no – you must undress. Dey take your panties

BOLA

Dey put it for jar. Dey cut you here and here

TUNDE

Dey go put am for shrine

BOLA

No dey float jar for water, because your journey you go fly ova water

TUNDE

And you must swear –

BOLA

Swear

TUNDE

You pay back de contrac’

BOLA

Ev’ry dollar, cos if you ansa boss –

TUNDE

If you nor wuk hard

BOLA

If you nor earn Oga [

boss

] money

TUNDE

If you speak out

BOLA

If you run away

TUNDE

If you ansa

BOLA

Dey go chase you down

They go up close to the audience, warning them directly

.

TUNDE

Demon can enta your mind

BOLA

Dey can enta your dream

TUNDE

Dey can punish you

BOLA

Dey can steal you thought and mek you mad

TUNDE

Dey can dry up you thot

BOLA

Kill you, wake you, kill you ’gain

TUNDE

Give you disease

BOLA

AIDS

TUNDE

Dey can kill you mama

BOLA

Leave her bodi wey by roadside

TUNDE

Dat she torn apart by dog

BOLA

Yeah – zombie can enta your dream. Tunde has seen zombie

when she sleep with Dedeh

She see inside ha own dream

For film

Tell dem

She hear sound

TUNDE

No…

De is – you can jus’ see dey fingers, dey touch you. When you are sleeping. When you take pill. Dey get fingers dat are white like bones. De flesh rot way. Dey touch you hair wey you left am for priest. You can hear dey breath, is heavy. Cuz dey are dead.

BOLA

She say you can be wake, dey can wake you but you still sleeping. You cannot move. Only you eye.

Tunde can make herself die and come back to life like spirit

TUNDE

shakes her head as if to say not really, but this is partly out of embarrassment

.

Like abiku

TUNDE

No is you

No you do that

BOLA

She can put spells on people. (

To

TUNDE.) Isn’t it?

TUNDE

is unsure whether to accept this

.

You know this sound – (She puts her ear to a pipe or imitates its sound.) That’s where she goes (To TUNDE.)… you said

(To audience.) And she goes where the dreams in the dream pills are born

(Beat.) One time, one time

she had a faint into a trance

TUNDE

Yeah – I fell to the ground –

BOLA

Show them

Her eyes go went all inside – (Demonstrates.) You just saw the whites of her eyes.

TUNDE

feels proud of her new status as a spirit, but also exposed

.

Show them what you did with your eyes

TUNDE

briefly imitates herself before a trance

.

What do you see?

TUNDE

Nothing. Just faces

BOLA

But sometimes they hold onto her, and they talk to her

What do they say?

TUNDE

They say this world is not real

They say the people of this world don’t really want us here

And we going home

BOLA

Will you go back?

BOLA waits expectantly for a reply. Again TUNDE is unsure how far to enter this idea.

Sometimes she just falls into a trance, but she can’t just choose, can you?

TUNDE

simply stares back at

BOLA.

She can’t fall into trance whenever she wants because the spirits decide when to call her, and she has to be careful because they might not let her back so…

As

BOLA

speaks

TUNDE

allows her eyes to retreat, showing just the whites of her eyes, and she falls to the floor behind

BOLA. BOLA

is shocked and goes to inspect her. She looks at her flickering eyes and puts her hand near

TUNDE

’s nose to feel for any breath

.

Tunde? Tunde?

Just as she is about to listen to

TUNDE

’s heart

TUNDE

jumps up with a roar and

BOLA

rolls away and they collapse laughing

.

TUNDE

Ra!

BOLA

Ah!

They play-fight a little, then become serious again

.

TUNDE

Dem touch you, pick you as you sleep, move you

BOLA

You nor know

TUNDE

Dey leave mark on you body

BOLA

You nor wan sleep. You ketch fear

Dis why you get special pill

TUNDE

Dream pills

BOLA

Is a special pill for protection – Dedeh give it

TUNDE

Is a pill which catch demon inside

It make you faint

It go like this

Demon move

They look like dis

She imitates something which could either be a spiritual state or, equally, a sexual one

.

De eyes go like dis

(She imitates an ecstatic fluttering of eyelids.) for film

BOLA

Yeah – dey flutter and dey roll

TUNDE

Dedeh can capture dem inside screen

BOLA

And we get mark

See?

TUNDE

Yeah – when you wake you have mark

They show the audience marks on their arms

.

BOLA

Here and here

TUNDE

and here

They show the audience other marks they have found on their bodies – on their hands, backs or legs. These could be friction burns, bite marks, bruises or other strange marks

.

Dis were not here before

BOLA

Dey are real, because if you go to their place, when you sleeping, they can mark you

TUNDE

Is it?

They wait for a response

.

BOLA

They nor know

Dedeh says you wake up in a place, diff’rent place, wid diff’rent room and it is still real. Is dat true? Are we still real?

TUNDE

Are you?

BOLA

and

TUNDE

receive no reassurance from the audience. They transfer their fears onto the pipes and vents in the room

.

BOLA

Zombie enta de

TUNDE

Dey leave de

BOLA

Dey are in pipes

TUNDE

Dey hold meetings

BOLA

Dey talk

TUNDE

Dey chant

BOLA

It is in de throat

Dats why we wan leave dis room

TUNDE

Das why

BOLA

Dedeh says one day he will fly us home

TUNDE

We tell him we nor like dis room

BOLA

We tell him we wan fly home

TUNDE

He say he will fly us home

BOLA

Do you know when you take off in a plane pessin look smaller dan you hand

TUNDE

Dedeh says we go fly from here

BOLA

De first time she saw screen was when she fly. She thot it was a dream coming from de back of a person’s head, because de TV was in the seat. Ca she a bush person

TUNDE

No you are

BOLA