A birth
|
|
For the past two decades, Howard Barker has
been a radical and controversial influence in British theatre. The
author of more than 30 plays, he is considered widely to be one of the
most innovative dramatists of modern times. His plays range from
mythic landscapes of classical antiquity to the official and unofficial
histories of the great massacres of the 20th century. "I believe,"
he says, "in a society of increasingly limited options that a creative
mind owes it to his fellow human beings to stretch himself and them, to
give others the right to be amazed, the right even to be taken to the limits
of tolerance and to strain and test morality at its source."
The scene A Birth is excerpted from
his most recent work, The Ecstatic Bible, a 436 page epic in 30
"chapters". The six-hour epic premiered at the 2000 Adelaide Festival
in a unique co-production between Barker's own theatre company, The Wrestling
School, and Brink Productions. The play was directed by Adelaide
director Tim Maddock and Howard Barker, each directing different characters
in the text. The production was rehearsed in England and Australia.
THE MASSIVE DOOR OF A DILAPIDATED CHATEAU. GOLLANCZ LIES ON THE GROUND, KNEES DRAWN UP IN PAROXYSMS OF PAIN, YET SILENT... THE PRIEST HITS THE DOOR WITH A BRANCH. AFTER A RAIN OF BLOWS, HE LISTENS TO DISCOVER THE EFFECT OF HIS EFFORTS. HE IS INCREASINGLY EXASPERATED. PRIEST OPEN UP, I AM A PRIEST...! (HE HAMMERS AGAIN WITH THE BRANCH) Some years ago, it was sufficient to declare my vocation for all the doors of Christendom to fly back on their hinges... A PRIEST, I SAID...! (HE DRAWS BREATH) This is not, despite what is commonly believed, a result of the growing secularisation of society, no, rather it reflects the contemporary phenomenon of IMPERSONATION, people can no longer distinguish priests from murderers, I UNDERSTAND YOUR RELUCTANCE, I MYSELF HAVE HESITATED, YES...EVEN I...! (HE LISTENS AGAIN. THE WOMAN ROLLS OVER) This place is not deserted. Of this I am certain. For one thing it looks so utterly deserted, so unambiguously abandoned and unoccupied, it can only be the effect of considerable calculation by a rare and possibly distinguished mind, WE ARE NOT FOOLED...! (HE THRASHES THE DOOR AGAIN, TOSSES DOWN THE BRANCH AND TURNS TO GOLLANCZ) I blame you for this....We have wilfully refused God knows how many offers of spare rooms and mattresses...I never saw such an eruption of charity...but no, you are determined to deliver this - this - INFANT - on the ground, look, there's a patch of thistle - WHY NOT THERE, MADAM...? AND I KNOW NOTHING OF OBSTETRICS, I AM HORRIFIED. (SHE IGNORES HIM. SHE WRITHES SILENTLY...HE WATCHES HER) Very well. (PAUSE) If that is how. (PAUSE) So be it, I can also. (PAUSE) An identical complacency. (PAUSE) Yes. (HE SITS CROSS-LEGGED ON THE GROUND, A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM HER, AND STARES. BUT AS SHE TURNS IN HER PAIN, HIS FACE IS CREASED WITH HORROR. SHE EMITS NO CRY, BUT HIS VOICE CANNOT BE STIFLED. HE BELLOWS AT INTERVALS...THE CHATEAU DOOR CREAKS OPEN. A THIN FIGURE APPEARS IN THE GAP) DAVIS I bought this chateau in order not to encounter other people. All my encounters with others drew me inexorably to the conclusion I was made for solitude. I am not to have solitude, evidently... PRIEST We all live on the same planet, Monsieur... DAVIS Do we? PRIEST We breathe the same air... DAVIS Is that so? PRIEST We live and die identically - DAVIS I do not subscribe to any of these opinions - PRIEST Opinions? They are uncontested facts...! DAVIS I contest them all the same. (HE TURNS TO GO BACK INTO THE CHATEAU) PRIEST SHOW PITY FOR A SUFFERING FELLOW CREATURE, THEN. (DAVIS STOPS) Can you observe her pain without
the slightest
DAVIS Yes, there are... (HE STARTS TO LEAVE AGAIN) PRIEST I think I would be within my rights to - DAVIS (STOPPING AGAIN) What rights? PRIEST Within my rights to - DAVIS What rights are these? PRIEST TO SEIZE BY FORCE WHAT YOU REFUSE TO OFFER. (PAUSE) Let us in... (HE PICKS UP THE BRANCH, HOLDS IT WITH A DEGREE OF MENACE) DAVIS I see you are determined to impose upon me your own interpretation of the world. And I never asked you here. PRIEST TOO BAD WE ARRIVED. DAVIS Yes. That is precisely the attitude I expected to confront on opening the door. PRIEST TOO BAD AGAIN. (PAUSE, THEN DAVIS SEIZES THE PRIEST IN A CRUEL HEADLOCK. THE BRANCH FALLS TO THE GROUND...) AND NOW YOU INTEND TO KILL ME, I SUPPOSE...? DAVIS Yes. PRIEST Because we disturbed your silence, that's sufficient reason, is it? DAVIS Exactly so. PRIEST What melancholy there must be in solitude such as yours... DAVIS Yes...but the fact of its melancholy does not entitle you to violate it. (HE APPEARS TO BE ABOUT TO SUFFOCATE THE PRIEST, BUT STOPS...) How hot your body is... (HE PLACES A HAND ON THE PRIEST'S FOREHEAD) Have you a fever? (HE RUNS A HAND SWIFTLY OVER THE PRIEST'S BODY) I have encountered such high temperatures only in circumstances of disease... (HE IS THOUGHTFUL) Quite possibly you have communicated to me a lethal infection, I must wash... (HE THRUSTS THE PRIEST TO THE GROUND, AND HOLDING A HAND OUTSTRETCHED, IS ABOUT TO GO INTO THE CHATEAU WHEN GOLLANCZ EMITS HER FIRST AGONSIED CRY. HE STOPS, AS IF THE CRY HAD TETHERED HIM. THE PRIEST CLIMBS TO HIS FEET, AND STAGGERING, RUSHES INTO THE CHATEAU) PRIEST I CLAIM YOUR HOUSE! IN THE NAME OF LOVE I TRESPASS! (DAVIS IGNORES HIM. FORGETTING HIS OUTSTRETCHED HAND, HE IS DRAWN TO GOLLANCZ, AND KNEELS BESIDE HER, LOWERING HIS HEAD TO THE GROUND. IN A STATE OF PROFOUND SYMPATHY, HE WATCHES OVER HER. AT LAST, THE PRIEST APPEARS IN THE DOORWAY, A BOTTLE IN ONE HAND, A SHEET LIMPLY HANGING FROM THE OTHER...) You're a thoughtful man...give me one good reason therefore...why because I happened to be born...involuntarily and unwillingly SPEWED ONTO THIS ARID AND ABSURD AND ENDLESSLY REVOLVING PLANET...I should be under any obligation...to others equally...I AM NOT DRUNK...condemned to this pathetic passage HAVE GALLEY SLAVES A THING IN COMMON BUT THEIR SLAVERY? (HE TAKES A PULL AT THE BOTTLE) It is the lash and only the lash that persuades them to row in unison...Are we supposed to love the lash, therefore? (A CRY FROM GOLLANCZ) The galley goes in one direction. So what? (AND AGAIN) Would it be worse if the galley made no progress at all, but the chaotic clashing of the oars produced nothing but immobility? (AND AGAIN) I don't think so... (HE DRAGS THE SHEET TOWARDS GOLLANCZ, WHO WRITHES UNDER DAVIS'S FASCINATED GAZE. SUDDENLY HE STOPS, RAISING AN ACCUSING FINGER TO DAVIS) I know why you keep that door shut. Solitude my arse IT REEKS OF FERMENTATION...! DAVIS She's dying... PRIEST Dying? DAVIS Dying and I love her. (PAUSE. THE PRIEST SWAYS
A LITTLE. GOLLANCZ BELLOWS. THE PRIEST SHAKES HIS HEAD)
(HE RAISES A FINGER. HE TRIES TO ARTICULATE...) Dying - BECAUSE - you love her... (HE PULLS THE SHEET AROUND HIMSELF) The implacable malevolence of things ensured no sooner did you conceive a passion for this woman than her condition instantly deterioriated ARE YOU AN OBSTETRICIAN I'M NOT DAVIS Yes... PRIEST There you are, you know these things...obviously if you are prepared to state so categorically her lifeis at an end, who am I to demur, I merely mention this is her fifth confinement, the first on open ground, admittedly, but (GOLLANCZ BELLOWS) WHAT
(GOLLANCZ BELLOWS AGAIN) It looks ashamed... (THE PRIEST MOVES AWAY) I resign her to you...
(HE WANDERS INTO THE CHATEAU) GOLLANCZ He'll kill himself... DAVIS Yes... (SHE GASPS IN PAIN) GOLLANCZ And you're a liar... DAVIS Yes... GOLLANCZ I'm not dying DAVIS You're not dying, no. (SHE GASPS) I never observed a more normal delivery. (A SHOT FROM INSIDE THE CHATEAU...ECHOING...) I merely thought...had you been dying...a certain beauty would attach to it...an infant brought to me, as it were, on the wind... (A SECOND SHOT, ECHOING) Immaculate... and without origins... (SHE GASPS) Once I had conceived this thought, I could not prevent myself expressing it...it is my single weakness, and the consequence of solitude, where no act is criticised, nor applauded either, obviously... (A THIRD SHOT. GOLLANCZ EMITS AN APPALLING CRY. DAVIS WATCHES, IN A POSTURE OF PROFOUND CONTEMPLATION) I have loved many women, but none like you. Not that this fact deserves your consideration under present circumstances, I merely announce it - (ANOTHER SHOT ECHOES. GOLLANCZ GROANS) I merely articulate what cannot be - (AND ANOTHER SHOT. DAVIS APPEARS DISTRACTED FOR THE FIRST TIME) This man's desire to die is no less shrouded in ambiguity than this infant's desire to live... (HE SHOUTS TO THE CHATEAU) YOU PUT THE BARREL IN YOUR MOUTH...! (A SPASM FROM GOLLANCZ. SHE MAKES A CRY OF RELIEF, AS THE CHILD IS DELIVERED. DAVIS PONDERS HIS OUTBURST) I erred there.
(THE PRIEST APPEARS AT THE DOOR. PAUSE) As yet... (THE INFANT CRIES) Imperfect... PRIEST Four times I missed. DAVIS Four, was it...? PRIEST Four times, and each time the bullet was deflected. DAVIS Deflected? PRIEST By the hand of God. It seemed futile to continue. DAVIS Yes... (PAUSE. HE SHRUGS) Or no...
PRIEST To have persisted would have been churlish. DAVIS Possibly. PRIEST OBVIOUSLY IT WOULD OBVIOUSLY
(HE GOES DIRECTLY TO GOLLANCZ) He said you would die...! But all things point to our continued intimacy...! Give me the child, now... (SHE SHIELDS THE INFANT FROM THE PRIEST) GOLLANCZ Let him wash it. PRIEST I am perfectly happy for him to wash it but can he be trusted? (PAUSE) Such is his attitude to life I think in washing it he might contrive to drown it. Not out of malevolence perhaps, but... (HE SHRUGS) Should it slip in the basin...can we be certain he would discover the will to extract it? DAVIS It's true. Let the priest wash the baby. GOLLANCZ No.
(PAUSE. THE PRIEST LOOKS AT DAVIS) PRIEST Never mind the washing let it be a little so what if it's aren't we all a little this obsessive washing one would think a mother's blood was if anybody needs washing it's me... (HE SHRUGS. DAVIS GOES TO GOLLANCZ AND LIFTS THE CHILD. HE WALKS TOWARDS THE HOUSE) NOW WAIT A MINUTE (DAVIS IGNORES HIM) Please explain why if there is an
explanation why you choose to deliberately choose as if your ordeal was
not sufficient
GOLLANCZ (SITTING UPRIGHT, WITH SOME DIFFICULTY) Me? It's you who keeps attempting suicide... PRIEST Yes...! Because I have imagination...! (HE GOES TO HER) What made you like this? GOLLANCZ Help me up... PRIEST You cannot possibly stand you have just given birth. GOLLANCZ Hand... PRIEST (PETULANTLY) No! GOLLANCZ All right, keep your hand to yourself. (SHE STRUGGLES. HE WATCHES) PRIEST Who do you think you are...! You give birth, you hand the baby to a murderer, and now you - (HE GLOATS AS SHE STRUGGLES) YOU SEE YOU CANNOT GET UP YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO PREGNANT WOMEN MUST RECLINE (WITH A FINAL EFFORT, GOLLANCZ REGAINS HER FEET. SHE SWAYS A LITTLE...) You are...it is quite obvious to me...you are...I have been so reluctant to announce it...but... (HE TURNS AWAY, BITTERLY) I think you are evil... (SHE WALK A FEW STEPS, STOPS) And being evil I must abandon you. Please say you understand. (SHE CROUCHES AGAIN, CRIES ONCE, RISES. HE AVERTS HIS GAZE) Really, this absolute and unprotesting acquiescence...how else should it be interpreted but - GOLLANCZ I'm on my way, now. PRIEST (VIOLENTLY) ON YOUR WAY WHERE. (SHE STOPS) You wind my pity round the drum of your indifference so tightly I can hear it scream... GOLLANCZ I never asked for pity PRIEST No, but some of us feel it, and they are cruelly exploited by the rest... (SHE LOOKS AT HIM, SMILES) GOLLANCZ I feel strong. And the day is cool... (SHE STARTS OFF) PRIEST EVIL WOMAN WHERE'S YOUR CHILD...? GOLLANCZ You have it. PRIEST (SARCASTICALLY) Oh, yes, dispense with the living and helpless product of your fornications, thrust your uncherished infant in the arms of others, abrogate and disavow - GOLLANCZ Why are you a priest? (PAUSE. HE LOOKS HELPLESSLY AT HER) PRIEST I don't know...
GOLLANCZ The lunatics...they loved you... PRIEST Yes... (HE SHRUGS) But I did not love them... (SHE LOOKS, MOVES AWAY) Mrs Gollancz... (SHE STOPS) I think desire is the most painful thing in the world... GOLLANCZ Yes, why shouldn't it be, when it is also the most beautiful? (HE LOOKS AT HER, WAVERING. SUDDENLY, AS IF IN ACCUSATION, HE JABS A FINGER TOWARD HER) PRIEST You see, you have an opinion...! (HE JEERS) You are not bestial...! (SHE SHRUGS) You are not anodyne...!
(HE CARESSES HIMSELF, ECSTATICALLY. HIS GAZE FALLS ON DAVIS, COMING THROUGH THE DOOR, EMPTY-HANDED. THE PRIEST COLLAPSES TO THE GROUND, SITTINGCROSS-LEGGED, SMOTHERING HIS FACE IN HIS HANDS. GOLLANCZ ALSO CATCHES SIGHT OF DAVIS, WHO LEANS AGAINST THE DOOR, HIS HANDS IN HIS POCKETS...) GOLLANCZ You loved me lying down. Which is an odd perspective and creates illusions. Do you still love me, now I'm upright? (HE LOOKS) I'm forty. (HE LOOKS) And have looked better but a man of your complexity is not deflected by - (THE PRIEST MOANS AUDIBLY) decline or the effects of labour I daresay the contrary is (AND MOANS AGAIN) your eyes tell me - (AND SHAKES HIS HEAD) more likely the case... (PAUSE) DAVIS The child met with an accident... as the priest predicted... GOLLANCZ Yes... DAVIS I was not the father, or I might have been more assiduous... GOLLANCZ Obviously... DAVIS Paternity... (HE SHRUGS) GOLLANCZ Makes all the difference... (HE LOOKS SEARCHINGLY INTO HER FACE. SHE TURNS TO GO) DAVIS Of course it isn't dead, what kind of woman are you...? (THE PRIEST LOOKS UP) PRIEST That's what I say! DAVIS Not one flicker of remorse did your eyes register... PRIEST She has none... DAVIS No solitary cloud of pity passed across your gaze... PRIEST Pity? The word is not in her vocabulary... DAVIS I must marry her. You do it. You are the priest. PRIEST What? DAVIS The ceremony. You know the words. PRIEST I know the words but - DAVIS Now. I'll swear to anything - PRIEST I think you - DAVIS AND I AM SOLITARY...! (HE LAUGHS) I
PRIEST What do you know about marriage...! (DAVIS LOOKS AT HIM) It is a holy estate -
DAVIS Yes - do it - now - I'll kneel if necessary - PRIEST No - DAVIS She acquiesces - PRIEST Of course she does, what does she not acquiesce in? DAVIS She yields - PRIEST SHE YIELDS TO EVERYTHING. (PAUSE) Anyway I have... I am not without my own... (PAUSE) I intend to marry her myself - (DAVIS SNORTS) AND WHY NOT SHE ACQUIESCES, DOESN'T SHE? (PAUSE) On principle...? (DAVIS OBSERVES HIM WITH CONTEMPT. PAUSE. IN DESPERATION, THE PRIEST TURNS TO GOLLANCZ) Is that what you want? (SHE SHRUGS) You see...! Is that pathetic gesture a proper basis for a life? No, we must be on our way. I'll get the child- (HE TURNS TO THE HOUSE) GOLLANCZ Leave it. (THE PRIEST STOPS) PRIEST Leave it...? GOLLANCZ The chateau's big...who knows where he has concealed it? You could spend hours combing the corridors... (THE PRIEST STARES AT HER...) And it’ll find us in the end...when it can move...when it can think...it'll discover us... (PAUSE. DAVIS GOES SLOWLY TO THE DOOR. HE HEAVES IT CLOSED BEHIND HIM...) How infinitely - proper - this man is...how perfectly refined his sensibilities...he adores me...and he will never see me again... PRIEST No... well, he has his distillery...no doubt much pain can be drowned in a distillery...WHAT SEX WAS IT? (SHE LOOKS AT HIM, PUZZLED) The child - what - GOLLANCZ I never noticed... (SHE STARTS TO GO) PRIEST I must say to you - (SHE STOPS) I must announce - beseiged as I am - eroded as I am by love and the servitude that must attach to it - I intend to make the necessary effort to hold to my beliefs... GOLLANCZ Come on, the sun is setting - PRIEST PLEASE -
GOLLANCZ Really, I - PRIEST Not deliberately, I know, after all, you do not care sufficiently to make my destruction even a minor element of your plan, but - GOLLANCZ I have no plan, but - PRIEST You have no plan, but - GOLLANCZ (LEAVING) The sun's sinking... PRIEST But all the same, I -
(SHE HAS GONE OFF) On my -
(HE STOPS. A WIND BLOWS.
HE SEIZES THE BRANCH THAT STILL LIES ON THE GROUND AND BEATS THE DOOR SEVERAL
TIMES BEFORE ABANDONING IT. HE FOLLOWS IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS
GOLLANCZ. AFTER SOME TIME, THE DOOR OPENS AGAIN. A GIRL STANDS
THERE.)
|
Copyright remains with contributors. All rights are reserved.
Back to Contents