The Complete Dramatic Works (46 page)

MUSIC:
Rap
of
baton
and
warmly
sentimental,
about
one
minute.

[
Pause.
]

CROAK:
The face.

WORDS:
[
Cold.
]
Seen from above in that radiance so cold and faint ….

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Warm
suggestion
from
above
for
above.

WORDS:
[
Disregarding,
cold.
]
Seen from above at such close quarters in that radiance so cold and faint with eyes
so dimmed by … what had passed, its quite … piercing beauty is a little ….

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Renews
timidly
previous
suggestion.

WORDS:
[
Interrupting,
violently.
]
Peace!

CROAK:
My comforts! Be friends!

[
Pause.
]

WORDS:
… blunted. Some moments later however, such are the powers of recuperation at this
age, the head is drawn back to a distance of two or three feet, the eyes widen to
a stare and begin to feast again. [
Pause.
]
What then is seen would have been better seen in the light of day, that is
incontestable
. But how often it has, in recent months, how often, at all hours, under all angles,
in cloud and shine, been seen I mean. And there is, is there not, in that clarity
of silver … that clarity of silver … is there not … my Lord …. [
Pause.
]
Now and then the rye, swayed by a light wind, casts and withdraws its shadow.

[
Pause.
]

CROAK:
Groans.

WORDS:
Leaving aside the features or lineaments proper,
matchless
severally and in their ordonnance–

CROAK:
Groans.

WORDS:
–flare of the black disordered hair as though spread wide on water, the brows knitted
in a groove suggesting pain but simply concentration more likely all things considered
on some consummate inner process, the eyes of course closed in keeping with this,
the lashes … [
Pause.
] … the nose … [
Pause.
] … nothing, a little pinched perhaps, the lips ….

CROAK:
[
Anguished.
]
Lily!

WORDS:
… tight, a gleam of tooth biting on the under, no coral, no swell, whereas normally
….

CROAK:
Groans.

WORDS:
… the whole so blanched and still that were it not for the great white rise and fall
of the breasts, spreading as they mount and then subsiding to their natural … aperture–

MUSIC:
Irrepressible
burst
of
spreading
and
subsiding
music
with
vain
protestations–‘Peace!’
‘No!’
‘Please!’
etc.–from
 
WORDS
.
Triumph
and
conclusion.

WORDS:
[
Gently
expostulatory.
]
My Lord! [
Pause.
Faint
thump
of
club.
]
I resume, so wan and still and so ravished away that it seems no more of the earth
than Mira in the Whale, at her tenth and greatest magnitude on this particular night
shining coldly down–as we say, looking up. [
Pause.
]
Some moments later however, such are the powers–

CROAK:
[
A
nguished.
]
No!

WORDS:
–the brows uncloud, the lips part and the eyes … [
Pause.
] … the brows uncloud, the nostrils dilate, the lips part and the eyes … [
Pause.
] … a little colour comes back into the cheeks and the eyes … [
Reverently.
] … open. [
Pause.
]
Then down a little way … [
Pause.
Change
to
poetic
tone.
Low.
]

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Discreet
suggestion
for
above.

WORDS:
[
Trying
to
sing
this.
]

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Discreet
suggestion
for
following.

WORDS:
[
Trying
to
sing
this.
]

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
More
confident
suggestion
for
following.

WORDS:
[
Trying
to
sing
this.
]

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Invites
with
opening,
pause,
invites
again
and
finally
accompanies
very
softly.

WORDS:
[
Trying
to
sing,
softly.
]

[
Pause.
Shocked.
]
My Lord! [
Sound
of
club
let
fall.
As
before.
]
My Lord! [
Shuffling slippers,
with
halts.
They
die
away.
Long
pause.
]
Bob. [
Pause.
]
Bob!

MUSIC:
Brief
rude
retort.

WORDS:
Music. [
Imploring.
]
Music!

[
Pause.
]

MUSIC:
Rap
of
baton
and
statement
with
elements
already
used
or
wellhead
alone.

[
Pause.
]

WORDS:
Again. [
Pause.
Imploring.
]
Again!

MUSIC:
As
before
or
only
very
slightly
varied.

[
Pause.
]

WORDS:
Deep
sigh.

CURTAIN

Written in French in 1962, with music by Marcel Mihalovici. First published in
Dramatische
Dichtungen,
vol. 1 (1963). First published in English in
Evergreen
Review
(May/June 1963). First broadcast in French by the ORTF on 13 October 1963. First
broadcast in English on the BBC Third Programme on 6 October 1964.

OPENER:
[
Cold.
] It is the month of May … for me.

[
Pause.
]

Correct.

[
Pause.
]

I open.

VOICE:
[
Low,
panting.
]
–story … if you could finish it … you could rest … sleep … not before … oh I know
… the ones I’ve finished … thousands and one … all I ever did … in my life … with
my life … saying to myself … finish this one … it’s the right one … then rest … sleep
… no more stories … no more words … and finished it … and not the right one … couldn’t
rest … straight away another … to begin … to finish … saying to myself … finish this
one … then rest … this time … it’s the right one … this time … you have it … and finished
it … and not the right one … couldn’t rest … straight away another … but this one
… it’s different … I’ll finish it … I’ve got it … Woburn … I resume … a long life
… already … say what you like … a few misfortunes … that’s enough … five years later
… ten … I don’t know … Woburn … he’s changed … not enough … recognizable … in the
shed … yet another … waiting for night … night to fall … to go out … go on … elsewhere
… sleep elsewhere … it’s slow … he lifts his head … now and then … his eyes … to the
window … it’s darkening … earth darkening … it’s night … he gets up … knees first
… then up … on his feet … slips out … Woburn … same old coat … right the sea … left
the hills … he has the choice … he has only–

OPENER:
[
With
 
VOICE
.] And I close.

[
Silence.
]

I open the other.

MUSIC:

OPENER:
[
With
MUSIC
.] And I close.

[
Silence
.]

I open both.

OPENER:
[
With
VOICE
and
MUSIC
.] And I close.

[
Silence.
]

I start again.

VOICE:
–down … gentle slopes … boreen … giant aspens … wind in the boughs … faint sea …
Woburn … same old coat … he goes on … stops … not a soul … not yet … night too bright
… say what you like … he goes on … hugging the bank … same old stick … he goes down
… falls … on purpose or not … can’t see … he’s down … that’s what counts … face in
the mud … arms spread … that’s the idea … already … there already … no not yet … he
gets up … knees first … hands flat … in the mud … head sunk … then up … on his feet
… huge bulk … come on … he goes on … he goes down … come on … in his head … what’s
in his head … a hole … a shelter … a hollow … in the dunes … a cave … vague memory
… in his head … of a cave … he goes down … no more trees … no more bank … he’s changed
… not enough … night too bright … soon the dunes … no more cover … not a soul … not–

[
Silence.
]

MUSIC:

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
So, at Will.

They say, It’s in his head.

No. I open.

VOICE:
–falls … again … on purpose or not … can’t see … he’s down … that’s what matters
… face in the sand … arms spread … bare dunes … not a scrub … same old coat … night
too bright … say what you like … sea louder … thunder … manes of foam … Woburn … his
head … what’s in his head … peace … peace again … in his head … no further … no more
searching … sleep … no not yet … he gets up … knees first … hands flat … in the sand
… head sunk … then up … on his feet … huge bulk … same old broadbrim … jammed down
… come on … he goes on … ton weight … in the sand … knee-deep … he goes down … sea–

OPENER:
[With
VOICE
.] And I close.

[
Silence.
]

I open the other.

MUSIC:

OPENER:
[
With
 
MUSIC
] And I close.

[
Silence.
]

So, at will.

It’s my life, I live on that.

[
Pause.
]

Correct.

[
Pause.
]

What do I open?

They say, He opens nothing, he has nothing to open, it’s in his head.

They don’t see me, they don’t see what I do, they don’t see what I have, and they
say, He opens nothing, he has nothing to open, it’s in his head.

I don’t protest any more, I don’t say any more, There is nothing in my head.

I don’t answer any more.

I open and close.

VOICE:
–lights … of the land … the island … the sky … he need only … lift his head … his
eyes … he’d see them … shine on him … but no … he–

[
Silence.
]

MUSIC:
[
Brief.
]

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
They say, That is not his life, he does not live on that. They don’t see me, they
don’t see what my life is, they don’t see what I live on, and they say, That is not
his life, he does not live on that.

[
Pause.
]

I have lived on it … till I’m old.

Old enough.

Listen.

VOICE:
[
Weakening.
] –this time … I’m there … Woburn … it’s him … I’ve seen him … I’ve got him … come
on … same old coat … he goes down … falls … falls again … on purpose or not … can’t
see … he’s down … that’s what counts … come on–

OPENER:
[
With
 
VOICE
.] Full strength.

VOICE:
–face … in the stones … no more sand … all stones … that’s the idea … we’re there
… this time … no not yet … he gets up … knees first … hands flat … in the stones …
head sunk … then up … on his feet … huge bulk … Woburn … faster … he goes on … he
goes down … he–

[
Silence.
]

MUSIC:
[
Weakening.
]

OPENER:
[
With
MUSIC
.] Full strength.

MUSIC:

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
That’s not all.

I open both.

Listen.

OPENER:
From one world to another, it’s as though they drew together. We have not much further
to go. Good.

OPENER:
Good.

[
Pause.
]

Yes, correct, the month of May.

You know, the reawakening.

[
Pause.
]

I open.

VOICE:
–no tiller … no thwarts … no oars … afloat … sucked out … then back … aground … drags
free … out … Woburn … he fills it … flat out … face in the bilge …
arms spread … same old coat … hands clutching … the gunnels … no … I don’t know …
I see him … he clings on … out to sea … heading nowhere … for the island … then no
more … else–

[
Silence.
]

MUSIC:

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
They said, It’s his own, it’s his voice, it’s in his head.

[
Pause.
]

VOICE:
–faster … out … driving out … rearing … plunging … heading nowhere … for the island
… then no more … elsewhere … anywhere … heading anywhere … lights–

[
Pause.
]

OPENER:
No resemblance.

I answered, And that …

MUSIC:
[
Brief.
]

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
… is that mine too?

But I don’t answer any more.

And they don’t say anything any more.

They have quit.

Good.

[
Pause.
]

Yes, correct, the month of May, the close of May.

The long days.

[
Pause.
]

I open.

[
Pause.
]

I’m afraid to open.

But I must open.

So I open.

VOICE:
–come on … Woburn … arms spread … same old coat … face in the bilge … he clings on
… island gone … far astern … heading out … open sea … land gone … his head … what’s
in his head … Woburn–

OPENER:
[
With
 
VOICE
.] Come on! Come on!

VOICE:
–at last … we’re there … no further … no more searching … in the dark … elsewhere
… always elsewhere
… we’re there … nearly … Woburn … hang on … don’t let go … lights gone … of the land
… all gone … nearly all … too far … too late … of the sky … those … if you like …
he need only … turn over … he’d see them … shine on him … but no … he clings on …
Woburn … he’s changed … nearly enough–

[
Silence.
]

MUSIC:

OPENER:
[
With
 
MUSIC
] God.

MUSIC:

[
Silence.
]

OPENER:
God God.

[
Pause.
]

There was a time I asked myself, What is it.

There were times I answered, It’s the outing.

Two outings.

Then the return.

Where?

To the village.

To the inn.

Two outings, then at last the return, to the village, to the inn, by the only road
that leads there.

An image, like any other.

But I don’t answer any more.

I open.