Writers (9 page)

MUSIC

 

 

CAST OF
CHARACTERS

James Joyce
,
Irish writer, author of
Ulysses
and
Finnegans
Wake

S
amuel Beckett
,
Irish
writer,
author
of
the
plays
Waiting
for Godot
and
Krapp's
Last
Tape
,
among
many
others.
At
this
time
he is
Joyce's
secretary.

SETTING

The
study
in
the
Joyce
family
apartment,
Paris,
France,
1921
.
Joyce
and Beckett are seated across the room from one another in
armchairs.
Joyce
is
reading
a
book;
Beckett
sits
with
a
notebook
and pen, waiting.

 

 

THE
PLAY

For
ten minutes the only sound is
that of
JOYCE
murmuring occasionally
and turning the pages of his book.
Finally,
JOYCE
speaks.

JOYCE

Music!

BECKETT
writes the word in his notebook, after which both men are silent for an indeterminate time, until

END

 

About
Barry
Gifford

Barry Gifford's fiction, nonfiction and poetry have been published in twenty-eight languages. His novel
Night People
was awarded the Premio Brancati, established by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Moravia, in Italy, and he has been the recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. His books
Sailor's Holiday
and
The Phantom Father
were each named a Notable Book of the Year by the
New York Times
, and his book
Wyoming
was named a Novel of the Year by the
Los Angeles Times
. He has written librettos for operas by the composers Toru Takemitsu, Ichiro Nodaira, and Olga Neuwirth. Gifford's work has appeared in many publications, including
The New Yorker
,
Punch
,
Esquire
,
La Nouvelle Revue Française
,
El País
,
La Repubblica
,
Rolling Stone
,
Brick
,
Film Comment
,
El Universal
,
Projections
, and the
New York Times
. His film credits include
Wild at Heart
,
Perdita Durango
,
Lost Highway
,
City of Ghosts
,
Ball Lightning
,
American Falls
, and
The Phantom Father
. Barry Gifford's most recent books are
Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels
,
Sad Stories of the Death of Kings
,
Imagining Paradise: New & Selected Poems
,
The Roy Stories
, and
The Up-Down
. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information visit www.BarryGifford.com.