Gray Simon Gray: Plays 4

Common Pursuit; Holy Terror; After Pilkington; Old Flames; They Never Slept
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ISBN: 978-0-571-30761-6
Verlag: Faber & Faber
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 560 Seiten

'Sharp, funny and clever . . . What a pleasure to re-encounter a play that combines unabashed intelligence and zinging wit with a rare generosity of spirit.' Daily Telegraph on The Common Pursuit 'Gray's stature as one of the handful of great tragi-comic English dramatists of the second half of the twentieth century would appear now to be undisputed.' Howard Jacobson, Critical Quarterly Hidden Laughter 'A sad divine comedy, superbly written. Gray nurses his characters and cares for them, but he never pampers them, or pities them, or presumes to use them as his spokesman. In this respect, he has become an English Chekhov... At the same time, Gray dispenses some of the incandescent malice and moral savagery of Coward at his acid best... But, of course, comparisons can only help you get your bearings. Gray is entirely his own man in this painful, querulous, warm, hard and mature play.' Sunday Times

Simon Gray was born in 1936. He began his writing career with Colmain (1963), the first of five novels, all published by Faber. He is the author of many plays for TV and radio, also films, including the 1987 adaptation of J L Carr's A Month in the Country, and TV films including Running Late, After Pilkington (winner of the Prix Italia) and Emmy Award-winning Unnatural Pursuits. He wrote more than thirty stage plays amongst them Butley and Otherwise Engaged (which both received Evening Standard Awards for Best Play), Close ofPlay, The Rear Column, Quartermaine's Terms, The Common Pursuit, Hidden Laughter, The Late Middle Classes (winner of the Barclay's Best Play Award), Japes, The Old Masters (his ninth play to be directed by Harold Pinter) and Little Nell, which premiered at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2007, directed by Peter Hall. Little Nell was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006, and Missing Dates in 2008. In 1991 he was made BAFTA Writer of the Year. His acclaimed works of non-fiction are: An Unnatural Pursuit, How's That for Telling 'Em, Fat Lady?, Fat Chance, Enter a Fox,The Smoking Diaries, The Year of the Jouncer, The Last Cigarette and Coda. He was appointed CBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours for his services to Drama and Literature. Simon Gray died in August 2008.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gray, Simon

Leseproben

Act One

SCENE ONE

.

Creation.

Louise What an awful smell – as if it’s rotting.

Harry Yes, well it is, I think. The walls upstairs – (.) And the bloody floorboards!

Louise () I suppose this was the kitchen.

Harry Or the bathroom. We haven’t seen a bathroom yet. Or even a lavatory –

Louise We haven’t seen a kitchen either.

Harry Darling, there’s no point. Let’s go on to the next. It’s in Lower Mudge. (.) About a five-mile drive – and there are two more after that. We want to see them before the light goes –

.

Louise Oh, darling! Oh, Harry darling! Look at it – look at the roses. All of it!

Harry Yes – it’s – it’s beautiful, isn’t it? (.) Nearly as beautiful as you.

Louise Oh, it’s much more beautiful. And almost as lovingly looked after!

Harry Yes, that’s strange – the estate agents said it belongs to some old woman that’s had to be put into a home. Yes, I made a note – (.) Ivy Cottage, Great Yarcombe. Owner gaga.

Louise We could fix the house, couldn’t we?

Harry It would cost a bit.

Louise More than we can afford, you mean?

Harry Well, with luck. And faith – and a decent mortgage. We could probably swing it.

Louise Oh, I have all the faith in the world, my darling. In you. And we’ll have luck. We’ll luck. Touch wood. (.)

Harry Then that only leaves the mortgage. (.) And Daddy might help with that. And the deposit. And if anything goes wrong we can always sell. House prices are bound to go up and up in this little corner of Devon.

Louise Oh, Harry, isn’t it extraordinary? We trudge through that filthy little cottage, hating it. Then step into the garden and we’re claimed. It’s – it’s as if it had been waiting for us, keeping itself trim and beautiful and serene until the moment that you and I find it and fall head over heels, hopelessly in love with it. That’s why it’s glowing – glowing away at us.

Harry Saying ‘buy me, buy me, buy me’.

Louise Because it wants to go to the right couple. Who’ll look after it. And love it for itself. I could start down here, you know.

Harry Start? Start what, Lou?

Louise My life. My writing life.

Harry Ah. It’s come back again, has it? The old urge?

Louise It’s never left. I only stopped because the children were so young. I wasn’t ready to – to settle down. (.) But now, here, in all this I know that I am. Ready. Oh, darling, don’t look so – so troubled. That very first piece I showed you. The autobiographical piece. You said I had talent. That was your professional opinion.

Harry Well, you had. And . I’m sure. But it cost you an awful lot, remember? Sleepless nights, headaches – it’s so lonely, a writer’s life – you found that. Cutting yourself off, then facing rejection – and it’s harder than ever, these days. The market’s so odd –

Louise I know, darling. And I know you understand about writers better than anybody in the whole world, probably. I won’t be lonely down here. Not with you, the children. Just us. What could be less lonely? (.) I have to do it, darling. I have to , at least.

Harry Then if you have to, you will. I know that look only too well.

Louise My look? What does it look like?

Harry The look of someone who’s determined to have a go at being a writer. And there it is. On the face of my beloved, God help me! (.)

Louise If I’m no good you’ll tell me, and I’ll stop, I promise. If you’ll promise to tell me.

Harry I promise I shall never tell you anything but the truth.

Louise And you’ll be patient? Until I’ve done something I’m ready to risk with you?

Harry Very patient, darling. I’m famous for my patience with writers.

Louise And with wives.

Harry As long as the wife is mine.

Louise Oh, Harry darling. Thank you. And for this. (.) And thank you, garden, for being here this afternoon –

Harry Lou, my love. They may not accept our offer. (.) Yes, they will. I’ll make them one they can’t refuse.

Louise (, ) Now make me one I can’t refuse.

Harry (, ) What?

.

Louise Remember?

Harry Ah, Daddy. Everything all right?

Ben Yes, yes, perfectly all right. Fine. Fine.

Louise And Nigel and Natalie –?

Ben Perfectly safe, Lou, perfectly safe. Don’t worry. Good God, look at that old monster! (.) What’s the point of it?

Harry Oh, don’t worry about him, Daddy. I’ll have him up in no time.

Ben What? What do you mean? You don’t mean – you don’t mean you’re going to buy this dump! Do you know what I saw inside? A rat! Great brute of a rat! Just trudged past me, didn’t even bother to hide! And the smells! The smells everywhere! And there’s damp rot, dry rot, holes in the roof, holes in the floors –! Harry, you can’t buy it! Lou, you mustn’t let him!

Louise () Ben, Ben, look at this – (.) This is what we want, this is what we’re buying!

Ben () What? I don’t see anything – just a garden. Oh, to build on, I see! Well, now that’s a different matter! If you can get planning permission –

Harry () No, no, Daddy, it’s the garden we want. Just as it is.

Louise It would be sacrilege to build on it. Don’t you love it, Ben? How can you not?

Ben () It is rather lovely. Now you mention it. Yes. Very lovely. Very. And it does have something about it, doesn’t it? Extra. Something extra. (.) And those – what are they? (.) Hollyhocks, aren’t they? Yes, I do believe they’re – they’re hollyhocks.

Louise Oh, Ben.

Harry Daddy.

.

Ben Sorry....