The Initiate E-Book

Alexandra Wood

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

Seitenzahl: 66

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A thrilling tale of altruism, greed, and the search for a way to belong. When a British couple are seized by Somali pirates, an East London taxi driver decides to rescue them. Meeting disbelief with determination, he dismisses the fears of his wife and flies out to negotiate their release. Speeding from the banks of the Thames to the now unfamiliar world of his homeland, he confronts the family he left behind and the bravado of the defiant men he once called brothers. Alexandra Wood's play The Initiate premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a production by Paines Plough, where it won a Fringe First Award, before touring.

Leseprobe

Alexandra Wood

THE INITIATE

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Original Production

Thanks

Dedication

Characters and Note on Text

The Initiate

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

The Initiate was first performed on 2 August 2014 in the Paines Plough Roundabout at Summerhall, Edinburgh, as part of the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

MANAndrew FrenchYOUNGER MANAbdul SalisWOMANSiân Reese-WilliamsDirectionGeorge PerrinDesignLucy OsborneLighting DesignEmma ChapmanSound DesignTom GibbonsMovement DirectorKate SagovskyAssociate DirectorSean LinnenAssociate Sound DesignDom KennedyAssistant Movement DirectorJennifer JacksonDialect CoachesHelen Ashton, Richard RyderProducerHanna StreeterTouring Production ManagerRachel ShippProduction ManagerBernd FaulerCompany Stage ManagerHarriet StewartAssistant ProducerFrancesca Moody

Thanks

I’d like to thank Sebastian Born, Purni Morell and the rest of the NT Studio team for giving me the time and space to write this play; Jon Pashley, Andrew French, Ashley Zhangazha and Aïcha Kossoko who allowed me to hear it for the first time; George and James at Paines Plough for giving it a home; Lisa, my agent; the Roundabout actors and production team for their enthusiasm and commitment to the piece.

A.W.

For Kat Wilkins

Characters

MAN

YOUNGER MAN

WOMAN

Note on Text

A forward slash in the text (/) indicates a point of interruption.

A lack of a full stop at the end of a line indicates that the speaker cannot or does not want to finish.

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

Scene One

YOUNGER MAN. How long have you been doing this?

MAN. Long enough.

YOUNGER MAN. Maybe you’ve been doing it too long, is that the problem?

MAN. It’s the quickest route.

YOUNGER MAN. It just isn’t.

MAN. Have you tried it?

YOUNGER MAN. I don’t need to.

MAN. Maybe you should try it first. It doesn’t take as long as you might think.

YOUNGER MAN. I don’t have to debate this with you. Sat nav tells me how long things take, and sat nav tells me you’re wrong.

MAN. In terms of distance

YOUNGER MAN. It takes longer, that’s the point.

MAN. As the crow flies

YOUNGER MAN. Is the crow carrying the passengers from A to B?

MAN. Crows have the highest IQs of all birds.

YOUNGER MAN. So do you think a crow would take the scenic route?

MAN. He does take the scenic route, he flies above it all.

YOUNGER MAN. But given that we can’t fly

MAN. We fly all over the world all the time.

YOUNGER MAN. In your car, in your car you can’t fly, so what would your friend the crow do in that situation? I’ll tell you what he’d do, he’d do the best he could. Which is not to drive through the centre of the city, with all the lights and the traffic and the cameras.

MAN. It depends.

YOUNGER MAN. No, it doesn’t depend. He’d do the smart thing. He’d use the ring roads and the motorways and he’d get back to his nest quicker.

MAN. The crow is an innovator. He’d experiment.

YOUNGER MAN. Forget the crow.

MAN. You ask a customer. You ask them if they enjoy the trip, they’ll tell you.

YOUNGER MAN. That’s the problem.

MAN. What problem?

YOUNGER MAN. What the customer wants is to get to his destination.

MAN. They get off the plane, they want to see the sights.

YOUNGER MAN. That’s not your job.

MAN. Does that mean I can’t show them a few sights?

YOUNGER MAN. Yes, that’s exactly what it means, now we’re getting somewhere.

MAN. Every motorway is the same. Every ring road the same. Every city has them.

YOUNGER MAN. And why does every city have them?

MAN. Because everyone wants to get everywhere yesterday.

YOUNGER MAN. Because ring roads get you there faster.

MAN. Why drive round and round when you can drive along the Thames? When you can drive past the Houses of Parliament? Number 10. Buckingham Palace.

YOUNGER MAN. Go sightseeing on your own time.

MAN. People don’t come here to sit on the North Circular.

YOUNGER MAN. People come here for all sorts of reasons.

MAN. Who wants to sit on the North Circular?

YOUNGER MAN. No one, but it happens to be part of your job so

MAN. It’s my job to drive people from where they are, to where they want to be. I do my job.

YOUNGER MAN. We’ve lost clients.

MAN. Times are tough.

YOUNGER MAN. Because of you.

MAN. Me?

YOUNGER MAN. Clients ask for other drivers.

MAN. Who?

Pause.

YOUNGER MAN. Look, you’re a nice guy. But people don’t want a tour of the city, especially when they live in it.

MAN. You can never know a city like this completely. There’s always something new to discover.

YOUNGER MAN. When they get in from a stressful business trip they just want to get home or back to the office, they don’t want some bloke chatting at them, telling them every fact about everything they pass.

MAN. People enjoy it.

YOUNGER MAN. And they don’t want to hear about crows.

MAN. I think Sir David Attenborough would disagree.

YOUNGER MAN. Sir David Attenborough isn’t a minicab driver.

Pause.

I can’t afford to have drivers I can’t send on certain jobs.

MAN. Who are these people? Let me talk to them.

YOUNGER MAN. They’ve heard enough. Too much, that’s the problem.

MAN. Okay, so I’ll shut up.

YOUNGER MAN. And drive the fastest route?

MAN. If we’re not going to talk, then we have to have something to look at.

I’ve been here ten years. This was never a problem before.

YOUNGER MAN. Because you used to do what you were told.

MAN. How do you know?

YOUNGER MAN. When I started here, they said yeah he’s a good guy. He’s professional. You don’t have to worry about him.

MAN. You don’t.

In ten years, I’ve only had one accident, and that wasn’t my fault. Look at the records.

YOUNGER MAN. It’s not your driving I’m worried about.

MAN. Who complained?

YOUNGER MAN. That doesn’t matter.

MAN. I’m never late for a client.

YOUNGER MAN. And how do you make sure of that?

MAN. I leave on time.

YOUNGER MAN. And? Do you take the meandering route along the river to the airport?

MAN. No, I take the North Circular.

YOUNGER MAN. So you admit it’s quicker?

MAN. Of course it’s quicker.

YOUNGER MAN. So why are we even having this conversation?

MAN. This is a beautiful city. This is my city. My beautiful city.

YOUNGER MAN. So join the tourist board, join the Big Bus Company, but you can’t do this job any more.

Pause.

If you refuse to take the fast routes and cut out all the chat, I can’t afford to keep you on.

MAN. You know I have a family.

YOUNGER MAN. Look maybe when things pick up again I’ll give you a call, but for now, I just can’t afford to

MAN. Bob’s only been in the job a couple of months.

He doesn’t have a family.

YOUNGER MAN. He has a wife.

MAN. He doesn’t have children.

YOUNGER MAN. Bob drives on whatever road gets him there quickest. No one’s complained about Bob.

MAN. That’s all they have to complain about? Their driver tries to give them too much information about the city they’re in. About where they are.

YOUNGER MAN. Some people don’t mind that kind of thing, but others just want to be quiet and if you keep talking at them they feel trapped.

MAN. Trapped?

YOUNGER MAN. I can give you a good reference.

MAN. People feel trapped in my car?

YOUNGER MAN. One woman felt slightly uneasy, shall we say.

MAN. Why?

YOUNGER MAN. She got a fright when you went a route she didn’t expect.