Speaking in Tongues E-Book

Andrew Bovell

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A powerful study of infidelity and interwoven lives, filmed as the award-winning Lantana. A woman disappears. Four marriages become entangled in a web of love, deceit, sex and death. Who will survive? Nine parallel lives – interlocked by four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious stiletto – are woven through a fragmented series of confessionals and interrogations that gradually reveal a darker side of human nature. Andrew Bovell's play Speaking in Tongues was first performed in August 1996 in a production by Griffin Theatre Company at The Stables, Sydney, Australia. It was later adapted by Bovell into the screenplay for the feature film Lantana (2001). The play was first performed in the UK at Hampstead Theatre, London, in June 2000, and was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in September 2009.

Leseprobe

Andrew Bovell

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

NICK HERN BOOKSLondonwww.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Original Production

Characters

Speaking in Tongues

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Introduction

Speaking in Tonguesis about the right and wrong of emotional conduct. It’s about contracts being broken between intimates while deep bonds are forged between strangers. It maps an emotional landscape typified by a sense of disconnection and a shifting moral code. It’s about people yearning for meaning and grabbing on to small moments of hope and humour to combat an increasing sense of alienation. The play is written in two halves. Each half has a particular tone. It has been written for four actors but there are nine characters. It’s in three parts. Each part is an exploration of the relationships between four people. But they are not mutually exclusive. The connections between the characters exist across the parts as well as within them. Characters reappear, others disappear. Stories told in one part take on significance in another part. It’s driven by a sense of mystery. The answers are there but they are elusive. The plot doesn’t always move forward. It leaps sideways and backwards. It travels back to moments already seen but reveals them from a different angle. I’m conscious of the play being structurally difficult. It doesn’t follow the normal rules of playwriting. I’m worried that the audience will experience a degree of frustration with it. But I have faith that audiences are seeking different narrative shapes and new modes of dramatic exchange. The least I hope for is that they leave the theatre as haunted by these people as I am and perhaps asking the same questions they do. How do I conduct myself in this world? How do I survive it?

I’d like to thank $5 Theatre Company, Chameleon Theatre Company, La Mama, Deidre Rubenstein, Playbox, and Performing Lines, and particularly Ros Horin and the Griffin Theatre Company. All have contributed to the development of this play.

Andrew Bovell June 1998

Speaking in Tongues was first produced by Griffin Theatre Company at The Stables, Sydney, on 6 August 1996, with the following cast:

JANE / VALERIE

Elaine Hudson

SONJA / SARAH

Glenda Linscott

PETE / NEIL / JOHN

Geoff Morrell

LEON / NICK

Marshall Napier

Director

Ros Horin

Designer

Liane Wilcher

Composer  

Sarah de Jong

The play received its British premiere at Hampstead Theatre, London, on 8 June 2000, with the following cast:

JANE / VALERIE

Juliet Prew

SONJA / SARAH

Katharine Rogers

PETE / NEIL / JOHN

Nigel Le Vaillant

LEON / NICK

Jonathan Guy Lewis

Director

Mark Clements

Designer

Niki Turner

Speaking in Tongues was revived at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, on 28 September 2009 (previews from 18 September), with the following cast:

SONJA / VALERIE

Lucy Cohu

JANE / SARAH

Kerry Fox

PETE / NEIL / JOHN

Ian Hart

LEON / NICK

John Simm

Director

Toby Frow

Designer

Ben Stones

Lighting Designer

Johanna Town

Sound Designer and Composer

Richard Hammarton

Video and Projection Designer

Lorna Heavey

Choreographer

Scarlett Mackmin

Producers

Andrew Bendel and Jessica de Rothschild

Characters

Part OneLEON, Sonja’s husbandSONJA, Leon’s wifeJANE, Pete’s wife, Nick’s neighbourPETE, Jane’s husband, Nick’s neighbour

Part TwoVALERIE, John’s wife, Sarah’s therapistSARAH, Valerie’s client, Neil’s ex-girlfriendNICK, Jane’s and Pete’s neighbourNEIL, Sarah’s ex-boyfriend

Part ThreeJOHN, Valerie’s husbandLEONSARAHVALERIE

Each part has been written for four actors: two men and two women.

Note on the Text

Whenever a forward slash( / )symbol appears within the dialogues, it is to indicate that the remainder of the speech is spoken simultaneously with the speech following.

PART ONE

MeetPETEandJANEandLEONandSONJA.PETEis married toJANE.SONJAis married toLEON.PETEmeetsSONJAin a bar and they go back to a cheap hotel room.LEONmeetsJANEin a bar and they go back to a cheap hotel room. A double infidelity. ExceptPETEandSONJAdon’t go through with it. WhileLEONandJANEdo.SONJAleavesLEON.PETEleavesJANE.PETEmeetsLEONin a bar. They talk.JANEmeetsSONJAin a bar. They talk. WhenPETEgoes back home,JANEtells him a story about a neighbour who throws a woman’s shoe into a vacant block. WhenSONJAgoes back home,LEONtells her a story about a man who wears brown brogues.

* * *

Two bars. The city.

Music rises…   a little sexy. Latin. Two couples are dancing.PETEandSONJAare in one bar.LEONandJANEare in the other. The dancing is close…   and it’s good, more than a simple shuffle. The dancing is identical. Both couples are like mirrors of the other. The lights fade on the couples dancing.

Two rooms. Cheap. Spartan. Faded.

SONJAandJANEenter. They look around the room.PETEandLEONfollow. They look around the room. Each couple holds a stillness for a moment.

PETE/LEON. It’s not much.

SONJA. It’s what / I expected.

JANE. I expected – I don’t know what I expected. It makes me feel / cheap.

SONJA. Cheap. Sordid.

PETE/LEON. Do you want to leave?

SONJA/JANE. No.

SONJA. I like it. / Do you?

JANE. Do you?

LEON. We could go somewhere else.

PETE. I’m not sure.

JANE. We’re here now.

PETE. I’m sorry.

SONJA. Why?

PETE. It’s just that / I haven’t done this sort of thing before.

LEON. I haven’t done this sort of thing before.

SONJA/JANE. Nor have I.

LEONlooks atJANE.PETElooks atSONJA. They both look away.LEONandPETEeach touch their heart.

LEON. I’ve got this pain in / my chest.

PETE. My chest is pounding.

SONJA/JANE. Are you all right?

PETE/LEON. Yes.

SONJA/JANE. Are you sure?

PETE. I said / I’m all right.

LEON. I’m all right.

PETE. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.

JANE. You’re not having / a heart attack?

SONJA. A heart attack is something I couldn’t cope with / right now.

LEON. Right now I could do with / a drink.

PETE. A drink would go down well.

JANE. Do / you want to go back?

SONJA. You want to go / back?

LEON. Back to the bar?

PETE. No.

JANE. Yes.

LEON. No.

PETE. We’re here now.

JANE. Good.

PETE. What would you do?

JANE. Because nor do I.

PETE. If I was having a heart attack?

SONJA. What?

LEON. Good.

PETE. If I was having a heart attack, what would you do?

SONJA. I’d get help.

PETE. It’s just that / we hardly know each other.

JANE. We hardly know each other.

SONJA. I’d help a stranger.

PETE. Yes. But it would mean being found out. There would be an ambulance, perhaps police. I’m not sure, but you would have to explain.

SONJA. But if it was a matter of life and death.

JANE. I feel a little awkward.