Rockabye and Other Short Pieces

Rockaby and Other Short Pieces

Works by Samuel Beckett published by Grove Press

Cascando

Collected Poems in English and French

Collected Shorter Plays

Disjecta

Endgame
and
Act Without Words

Ends and Odds

First Love and Other Stories

Happy Days

How It Is

I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

Krapp's Last Tape

The Lost Ones

Mercier and Camier

Molloy

More Pricks Than Kicks

Murphy

Nohow On (Company, III Seen III Said, Worstward Ho)

Ohio Impromptu, Catastrophe, What Where

Rockaby and Other Short Pieces

Stories and Texts for Nothing

Three Novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable)

Waiting for Godot

Watt

Happy Days: Samuel Beckett's Production Notebooks,
edited by James Knowlson

Samuel Beckett: The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989
,
edited and with an introduction and notes by
S. E. Gontarski

The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Endgame,
edited by S. E. Gontarski

The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett:
Krapp's Last Tape,
edited by James Knowlson

The Theatrical Notebooks of Samuel Beckett: Waiting for
Godot,
edited by Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson

Books on Samuel Beckett published by Grove Press

On Beckett: Essays and Criticism,
by S. E. Gontarski

Conversations on Beckett,
edited by Mel Gussow

BY
Samuel Beckett

This collection copyright © 1981 by Grove Press, Inc.

Rockaby
copyright © 1981 by Samuel Beckett

Ohio Impromptu
copyright © 1981 by Samuel Beckett

All Strange Away
copyright © 1976 by Samuel Beckett

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

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CAUTION: These pieces are fully protected, in whole, in part, or in any form under the copyright laws of the United States of America, the British Empire, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union, and are subject to royalty. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, radio, television, recitation, and public readings are strictly reserved. For amateur and stock rights, apply to Samuel French, 45 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10010. For professional rights, apply to Barney Rosset, Rosset & Company, 61 Fourth Avenue, New York, NY 10003. All other inquiries should be addressed to the Permission Department, Grove Press.

A Piece of Monologue
first published in
The Kenyon Review,
New Series, Vol. I, Number 3, Summer 1979. Copyright © 1979 by Kenyon College.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 80-8916
eBook ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-9833-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Evergreen Edition 1981

Rockaby

Ohio Impromptu

All Strange Away

A Piece of Monologue

Rockaby
was first performed at the Center for Theatre Research in Buffalo, in association with the State University of New York at Buffalo, on April 8,1981. It was directed by Alan Schneider and produced by Daniel Labeille.

Woman and Voice . . . . . . Billie Whitelaw

W =
Woman in chair.

V =
Her recorded voice.

Fade up on
W
in rocking chair facing front downstage slightly off centre audience left. Long pause.
W: More.

Pause. Rock and voice together.

V: till in the end
the day came
in the end came
close of a long day
when she said
to herself
whom else
time she stopped
time she stopped
going to and fro
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for another
another like herself
another creature like herself
a little like
going to and fro
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for another
till in the end
close of a long day
to herself
whom else
time she stopped
time she stopped
going to and fro
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for another
another living soul
one other living soul
going to and fro
all eyes like herself
all sides
high and low
for another
another like herself
a little like
going to and fro
till in the end
close of a long day
to herself
whom else
time she stopped
going to and fro
time she stopped
time she stopped

Together: echo of “time she stopped,” coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

Long pause.

W: More.

Pause. Rock and voice together.

V: so in the end
close of a long day
went back in
in the end went back in
saying to herself
whom else
time she stopped
time she stopped
going to and fro
time she went and sat
at her window
quiet at her window
facing other windows
so in the end
close of a long day
in the end went and sat
went back in and sat
at her window
let up the blind and sat
quiet at her window
only window
facing other windows
other only windows
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for another
at her window
another like herself
a little like
another living soul
one other living soul
at her window
gone in like herself
gone back in
in the end
close of a long day
saying to herself
whom else
time she stopped
time she stopped
going to and fro
time she went and sat
at her window
quiet at her window
only window
facing other windows
other only windows
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for another
another like herself
a little like
another living soul
one other living soul

Together: echo of “living soul,” coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

Long pause.

W: More.

Pause. Rock and voice together.

V: till in the end
the day came
in the end came
close of a long day
sitting at her window
quiet at her window
only window
facing other windows
other only windows
all blinds down
never one up
hers alone up
till the day came
in the end came
close of a long day
sitting at her window
quiet at her window
all eyes
all sides
high and low
for a blind up
one blind up
no more
never mind a face
behind the pane
famished eyes
like hers
to see
be seen
no
a blind up
like hers
a little like
one blind up no more
another creature there
somewhere there
behind the pane
another living soul
one other living soul
till the day came
in the end came
close of a long day
when she said
to herself
whom else
time she stopped
time she stopped
sitting at her window
quiet at her window
only window
facing other windows
other only windows
all eyes
all sides
high and low
time she stopped
time she stopped

Together: echo of “time she stopped,” coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

Long pause.

W: More.

Pause. Rock and voice together.

V: so in the end
close of a long day
went down
in the end went down
down the steep stair
let down the blind and down
right down
into the old rocker
mother rocker
where mother sat
all the years
all in black
best black
sat and rocked
rocked
till her end came
in the end came
off her head they said
gone off her head
but harmless
no harm in her
dead one day
no
night
dead one night
in the rocker
in her best black
head fallen
and the rocker rocking
rocking away
so in the end
close of a long day
went down
in the end went down
down the steep stair
let down the blind and down
right down
into the old rocker
those arms at last
and rocked
rocked
with closed eyes
closing eyes
she so long all eyes
famished eyes
all sides
high and low
to and fro
at her window
to see
be seen
till in the end
close of a long day
to herself
whom else
time she stopped
let down the blind and stopped
time she went down
down the steep stair
time she went right down
was her own other
own other living soul
so in the end
close of a long day
went down
down the steep stair
let down the blind and down
right down
into the old rocker
and rocked
rocked
saying to herself
no
done with that
the rocker
those arms at last
saying to the rocker
rock her off
stop her eyes
fuck life
stop her eyes
rock her off
rock her off

Together: echo of “rock her off,” coming to rest of rock, slow fade out.

Light

Subdued on chair. Rest of stage dark. Subdued spot on face constant throughout, unaffected by successive fades. Either wide enough to include narrow limits of rock or concentrated on face when still or at mid-rock. Then throughout speech face slightly swaying in and out of light.

Opening fade-up: first spot on face alone. Long pause. Then light on chair. Final fade-out: first chair. Long pause with spot on face alone. Head slowly sinks, comes to rest. Fade out spot.

W

Prematurely old. Unkempt grey hair. Huge eyes in white expressionless face. White hands holding ends of armrests.

Eyes

Now closed, now open in unblinking
gaze.
About equal proportions section 1, increasingly closed 2 and
3
, closed for good halfway through 4.

Costume

Black lacy high-necked evening gown. Long sleeves. Jet sequins to glitter when rocking. Incongruous frivolous headdress set askew with extravagant trimmings to catch light when rocking.

Attitude

Completely still till fade-out of chair. Then in light of spot head slowly inclined.

Chair

Pale wood highly polished to gleam when rocking. Footrest. Vertical back. Rounded inward curving arms to suggest embrace.

Rock

Slight. Slow. Controlled mechanically without assistance from W.

Voice

Lines in italics spoken by W with V a little softer each time. W's “More” a little softer each time. Towards end of section 4, say from “saying to herself” on, voice gradually softer.

Ohio Impromptu
was first performed in the Drake Union, Stadium 2 Theater, in association with Ohio State University, on May 9, 1981. It was directed by Alan Schneider.

L =
Listener.

R =
Reader.

As alike in appearance as possible.

Light on table midstage. Rest of stage in darkness.

Plain white deal table, say 8' x
4'.

Two plain armless white deal chairs.

L
seated at table facing front towards end of long side audience right. Bowed head propped on right hand. Face hidden. Left hand on table. Long black coat. Long white hair.

R
seated at table in profile centre of short side audience right. Bowed head propped on right hand. Left hand on table. Book on table before him open at last pages. Long black coat. Long white hair.