Nine Night E-Book

Natasha Gordon

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

Seitenzahl: 84

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Family, food, music and mourning. Gloria is gravely sick. When her time comes, the celebration begins; the traditional Jamaican Nine Night wake. But for Gloria's children and grandchildren, marking her death with a party that lasts over a week is a test. Nine nights of music, food, sharing stories – and an endless parade of mourners. Natasha Gordon's debut play Nine Night is a touching and very funny exploration of the rituals of family. It was premiered at the National Theatre, London, in April 2018, directed by Roy Alexander Weise. The production transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End in December 2018. Nine Night won Natasha Gordon the Most Promising Playwright Awards at the 2018 Evening Standard Theatre Awards and the 2018 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.

Leseprobe

Natasha Gordon

NINE NIGHT

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Characters

Nine Night

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Nine Night was first performed in the Dorfman auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 30 April 2018 (previews from 21 April). The cast was as follows:

ROBERT

Oliver Alvin-Wilson

LORRAINE

Franc Ashman

UNCLE VINCE

Ricky Fearon

TRUDY

Michelle Greenidge

SOPHIE

Hattie Ladbury

ANITA

Rebekah Murrell

AUNT MAGGIE

Cecilia Noble

Director

Roy Alexander Weise

Designer

Rajha Shakiry

Lighting Designer

Paule Constable

Sound Designer

George Dennis

Movement Director

Shelley Maxwell

Fight Director

Bret Yount

Company Voice Work

Rebecca Cuthbertson

Dialect Coach

Hazel Holder

Staff Director

Jade Lewis

Assistant to the Movement Director

Sarita Piotrowski

Acknowledgements

This play was born from the support network of an incredible group of women.Sisters, your belief in me has birthed a playwright.Amelia Adrian, Michele Austin, Rakie Ayola,Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Ashley Miller.Thanks forever.

Many thanks to:Rufus NorrisBen Power

To the cast and creative team at the NT

To Katie Haines

To Ruby Gordon

To my family

For your support and encouragement, special thanks to:Emily McLaughlinIndhu Rubasinghamand especially to Dominic Cooke for making this happen.I am eternally grateful.

Lastly, to Tom Anderson for absolutely everything.

N.G.

To Ella and Reuben

Characters

ANITA, Lorraine’s daughter, twenties

LORRAINE, Gloria’s daughter, mid-forties

MAGGIE, Gloria’s cousin, seventies

VINCE, Maggie’s husband, seventies

ROBERT, Gloria’s son, early forties

SOPHIE, Robert’s wife, mid-forties

TRUDY, Lorraine and Robert’s half-sister, early fifties

Note on Text

Where there is a / in the text, the next character starts speaking.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

Scene One

Lights up on: a roomy seventies-style kitchen. The furniture is old-fashioned. Deco is typical of an elder West Indian. There is elaborate wallpaper that has been up since the 1970s, lots of house plants, pictures and relics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the walls, shelves full of ornaments and crocheted placemats. Around the room there are several headshots of a boy and girl taken together at school, throughout the years.

There are three doors in this room: one upstage-right slightly off-centre, one upstage-left and one downstage-left. The upstage-left door leads to the front room, the upstage-right door leads to the hallway, front door and rest of the house. The downstage-left door is the back door, leading to the garden. There is a sink and some cupboards downstage-right. There is also a table and chairs and a sofa.

We open on ANITA at the kitchen sink making a pink powdered drink that looks a bit like milkshake. We watch her put three heaped teaspoons of powder into a mug.

ANITA. Shit! Was it three or four?

She pours water from the kettle into the mug. She lifts the mixture up with the spoon and allows it to fall back into the mug. She stirs it, then sniffs it.

Rank.

She is about to head up the stairs, through the door upstage-right, when she realises she has forgotten something. She goes back to the sink and starts rummaging through the drawers and cupboards.

She walks to the bottom of the stairs and shouts.

Can’t find the straws.

Beat.

Mum?

Beat.

Shall I just bring a teaspoon?

From upstairs we hear –

LORRAINE (offstage). Have you looked in the drawers?

ANITA. Yes.

LORRAINE (offstage). Have you checked in the cupboards?

ANITA. Yes.

LORRAINE (offstage). They were there yesterday.

ANITA. I know. I put them there.

LORRAINE (offstage). So, just bring a spoon, Anita. A tablespoon. Teaspoons are fiddly.

The doorbell rings.

ANITA. Bloody hell.

Beat.

It rings again.

LORRAINE (offstage). Anita, the door?

ANITA. Yes, I know. I’m going – Answering doors, looking for straws – Anything else?

ANITA turns to go – MAGGIE and VINCE enter from upstage-right.

ANITA jumps.

Jesus Christ!

VINCE. De door left open.

ANITA. Was it?

MAGGIE. Yuh mad? Any and anybody could jus’ walk in.

ANITA. Tell me about it.

MAGGIE. Be careful, not carefree.

ANITA. The lock keeps sticking. Uncle Robert’s been promising to fix it. Does Mum know you’re coming?

MAGGIE. Me ring ha dis morning. Where yu grandmadda?

ANITA. She’s upstairs.

VINCE. It turn bad-bad?

ANITA.…Yes.

MAGGIE. But, is just the udda day me a sit down and a chat wid ha, good-good. It’s like she just give up after me leave.

ANITA. No, I don’t think so. / It’s just taken its toll.

MAGGIE. Lord have mercy. ( To VINCE.) Me tell yuh. She shoulda drink de bush tea whe me tell ha fi drink. You know how many people life dat ting save in Jamaica?

Beat.

ANITA. Shall I take your coats?

VINCE. Tank yuh, dawta.

VINCE takes off his coat and hands it to ANITA.

MAGGIE. Dees doctor inna dis country, don’t know dem head from dem foot! All now, dem a look right, dem a look left fi find cure for dis cancer business. If she, Gloria, was in Jamaica, dem woulda stop dis nonsense long time!

ANITA. Your coat, Auntie Maggie?

MAGGIE. No, tank you. It might be summer dem call dis, but I feeling de cold. Where yuh madda?

ANITA. Upstairs, with Grandma.

MAGGIE. Tell her fi come down.

VINCE and MAGGIE sit down.

ANITA walks to the bottom of the stairs and calls out.

ANITA. Uncle Vince and Auntie Maggie are here.

Beat.

She’ll be down in a minute.

MAGGIE eyes ANITA.

MAGGIE. Yuh know, back home in Jamaica, me have dis cousin. Rosemary. She big suh, like yuh grandmadda. Last year, she phone me. Bawling – di doctor seh she have diabetes and him ready fi chop off she foot. Now me tell ha, ‘Rosemary, save yuh eye water, nuh badda cry’, and I tell ha fi mek dat same bush tea whe me advise yuh grandmadda to tek. Rosemary boil up di leaf dem; chamomile, cerasee, duppy-gun and donkey-weed. As God is my witness, mek Him strike me down if one word I speak is a lie! You tell me where dat diabetes is now? Ehh?

Beat.

It gawn!

ANITA. Yeah. Or maybe they misdiagnosed it. Speaking of tea, would you like a drink?

VINCE. Yu have anyting harder dan tea?

ANITA. I’ll have a look. Auntie Maggie?

MAGGIE. Which kinda tea yuh ’ave?

ANITA. Dunno. Builder’s? Peppermint?

MAGGIE. Dat’s all?

ANITA. It’s not my kitchen, so –

MAGGIE. Just give me some wata – Not from de tap, if yuh please.

ANITA. I’ll see what I can find.

ANITA exits upstage-right, taking VINCE’s coat.

VINCE and MAGGIE sit in silence. MAGGIE sniffs the air.

MAGGIE. (whisper). You smell it, Vin?

VINCE. Smell wha?

Beat.

MAGGIE. She travelling, alright.

ANITA returns without the coats carrying an open bottle of brandy and a small can of Coke.

ANITA. You’re in luck, Uncle Vince. I found some brandy.

VINCE. God bless yu.

ANITA. Can of Coke to go with it?

VINCE. Nah sah, dat’s a woman’s drink. I tek it as it comes.

ANITA pours brandy for VINCE then heads to the fridge to get water for MAGGIE.

MAGGIE. Nah badda start pon dat drink business and turn fool pon me yuh hear? Me nah carry yuh home tonight.

VINCE. Calm yuh nerves, woman.

ANITA. How did you get here?

VINCE. Yvette drop we off.

ANITA. Did she?

MAGGIE. In she new brand car.

ANITA. Nice.

MAGGIE. It is. Very, very nice indeed.

ANITA. She didn’t fancy popping in?

MAGGIE. Yuh know how she always busy. We lucky that she even in the country this week to give us a lift.

ANITA. The job’s working out, is it?

MAGGIE. She living de life, my dear. Last week she travel business class to New York. Next week she travelling premium class to – to… Whe she a go, Vince? India?

VINCE. Indonesia.

MAGGIE. Indonesia or whatever dem call it. She spreading she talent across de whole world.

ANITA gives them their drinks. VINCE take a sip of brandy.

ANITA. Yeah. I don’t know how she does it, balancing all those drinks and dinners midair. She always did love make-up, I suppose.

Beat.

MAGGIE watches ANITA.

MAGGIE. Yu turn Rasta now?

ANITA. Sorry?

MAGGIE. Yu new hair style.

ANITA. It’s an experiment actually.

MAGGIE. Experiment?

ANITA. Nathan and I are challenging the subtleties of discrimination – how long can we go without combing our hair before we feel –

MAGGIE. Headlice?

ANITA. Pressure to conform.

VINCE. Dat sound interesting.

ANITA. People are still trying to define us by our roots, Uncle V, literally. People wanna check out their politics before they’re checking my hair.

MAGGIE. How is Nathan? Him still not working?

ANITA. He’s finishing his PhD.

MAGGIE. Still?

VINCE. How de baby?

ANITA. Rosa? She’s fine, thank you.

MAGGIE. How old she is now?

ANITA. Nine months.

VINCE. She gettin’ big.

ANITA. Yeah, she’s growing fast.

MAGGIE. She a good baby?

ANITA. She’s a great baby.

MAGGIE. She sleep good?

ANITA. Yep.

MAGGIE. Right through the night?

ANITA. Yep.

MAGGIE. She like she food?

VINCE. Jesus Christ! Is why yu a interrogate de chile?

MAGGIE. Is not an interrogation fi ask a simple question –

ANITA. She’s mostly on breast milk / and –

MAGGIE. Breast milk?

ANITA. Yep.

MAGGIE. At nine months?

ANITA. The antibodies in –

MAGGIE. Poor ting must be longing fi a piece of chicken.

MAGGIE takes a glug of water and chokes.

ANITA. Are you alright? Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to say, it’s sparkling. I hate that, when things get up your nose. I better take Grandma’s drink up.

ANITA picks up the Complan that she left on the sink.

MAGGIE. A wha dat?

ANITA. It’s Complan.

MAGGIE. Come – wha?

ANITA. It’s a nutrient drink. She hasn’t eaten in two days, so –

MAGGIE. A di bush tea a whe she want.

ANITA. I’ll let Mum know you’re here.

ANITA exits, upstage-right.

MAGGIE (speaking quietly). I wonder if dem ring Trudy yet?

Beat.

I bet dem nuh ring ha.

Beat.

Remind me, fi ring ha dis evening.

Beat.

A nuh yuh me a talk to?

VINCE. Lard, Maggie. Lef people business alone nuh, man.

MAGGIE