Norris The Pain and the Itch

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-78001-337-4
Verlag: Nick Hern Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 128 Seiten

Reihe: NHB Modern Plays

A hilarious social satire about liberal hypocrisy from an American writer whose work has been staged by the world famous Steppenwolf Theatre. A cosy family Thanksgiving dinner for six. But someone - or something - is leaving bite marks in the avocados. Clay and Kelly's daughter Kayla has an itch and Carol can't remember who played Gandhi. Bruce Norris's play The Pain and the Itch holds up a mirror to those who want it all: moral superiority and a widescreen TV. It was first staged by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in June 2005. The play received its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons in September 2006, and was first performed in the UK at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in June 2007.

Bruce Norris is an American actor and playwright associated with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago. His plays include: Downstate (Steppenwolf, 2018; National Theatre, 2019); The Low Road (Royal Court Theatre, 2013); Clybourne Park (New York, 2010; Royal Court Theatre, 2010); The Pain and the Itch (Steppenwolf, 2005; Royal Court Theatre, 2007) and Purple Heart (Steppenwolf, 2002). His play Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Norris, Bruce

Leseproben

ACT ONE

Afternoon. Snow falls outside. KELLY and CLAY sit side by side on the sofa. CLAY holds the BABY. They both stare at MR HADID, who holds his face in his hands and sobs quietly. This goes on for some time. Finally:

MR HADID. I am sorry.

CLAY (rapidly). No.

KELLY (the same). Don’t.

CLAY. It’s okay.

KELLY. It is so okay.

CLAY. More than okay. You should feel absolutely –

KELLY. However you need to . . . however the feelings have to . . . I mean, it’s loss, for God’s sake.

CLAY. And that loss, the grief that arises from loss . . . it would be unnatural to try to suppress –

KELLY. You can’t.

CLAY. You can’t do that.

KELLY. It’s harmful to do that.

CLAY. It is. No. What you’re doing. It’s the right thing, and an emotion, I mean, this is something we’ve been working on. The importance of honouring emotions in the moment that . . . (To KELLY.) What?

KELLY is trying to stop him.

What? I’m agreeing with you.

She mouths some words to CLAY.

(Quietly, to MR HADID.) I thought we were in agreement.

MR HADID wipes his eyes.

MR HADID. I am better now.

CLAY. But what we wanted to say was –

Then the BABY starts crying. Loudly.

Uh-oh. Hey now. Hey, mister.

KELLY. I’ll do it.

CLAY. Hey, Mister Angry Face.

KELLY. Clay.

CLAY. I got him.

KELLY. Let me do it.

CLAY. Whatsamatter, Groucho? Hey, Groucho Marx.

KELLY. Clay.

CLAY (laughing). Ohh, he’s mad, isn’t he? Look at that face! Grrrrrr!

KELLY. Would you let me do it?

CLAY. Heyyy. Shhh.

KELLY. Please just give him to me.

CLAY (handing BABY over to KELLY). He’s stopping. He’s stopping.

KELLY. Well, don’t bounce him.

MR HADID. Now I make him cry.

KELLY. No, no, no. Not you.

CLAY. I was only shushing him.

KELLY. We didn’t mean you.

CLAY. No, he just gets a little hyper if he doesn’t sleep through the night, but you should go ahead and . . . (To the BABY.) Huh? Feeling better now, huh? Yeah. (To KELLY.) I wasn’t bouncing.

KELLY. Jiggling, anyway.

During this, KAYLA has come downstairs, unnoticed. She picks up the TV remote and presses a button. The TV screen is filled with cartoons of clowns and loud children’s music fills the room. The BABY cries more loudly.

CLAY (loud, to KAYLA). Sweetie?

KELLY. Honey?

CLAY. Kayla?

KELLY. Not now, sweetie.

CLAY. Later, okay?

KELLY. We can watch that later, is that okay?

CLAY. After the grown-ups are done.

KAYLA switches off the set, extracts the tape and calmly leaves the room.

KELLY (to KAYLA, as she leaves). Thank you, sweetie.

CLAY (the same). That’s very nice of you. Very polite.

KELLY (the same). You’re very thoughtful.

CLAY. Very considerate.

She is gone. The BABY has stopped.

MR HADID. You were going to say?

KELLY. Yes.

CLAY. Yes. So. Okay. So the situation was: the day before. We’re having breakfast.

KELLY. I had just started going back to the office again.

CLAY. It’s the Tuesday before the holiday, and he (Re. the BABY.) had just been born and she’s on her way into the office in the morning and I’m making breakfast, I’m making eggs for Kayla.

KELLY. And Kayla goes, Mommy look.

CLAY. Shrieks, and says it.

KELLY. And I look, and there in her hand, right out of the bowl on the table –

CLAY. Kitchen table.

KELLY. This bowl has avocados in it and one of these avocados has been, what? Has been –

CLAY. – let’s just say gnawed.

KELLY. Gnawed on.

CLAY. Extensively gnawed upon.

KELLY. Right down to the pit, has been consumed. Something, some sort of –

CLAY. Non-human.

KELLY. Unless you know some human that bites into an avocado like it was an apple, all right? So, yes, some non-human creature has entered our house and is now feasting on our avocados.

CLAY. And of course the mind devises these scenarios.

KELLY. But the bottom line is: one, what sort of toothed creature are we dealing with; two, what is the point of entry; and three, where exactly is it now?

MR HADID. Do you have a pet?

Pause.

KELLY (an uncomfortable subject). Uhhh . . . no.

CLAY. No.

KELLY. No.

CLAY. No, we . . .

KELLY. No, although Kayla loves hamsters, about which I have said absolutely not.

CLAY. What with the allergies.

KELLY. No. Clay used to have a cat. But there’s toxoplasmosis.

CLAY. From the litter box.

KELLY. First trimester, harms the foetus.

CLAY. Potentially.

KELLY. Can harm.

CLAY. It’s not a certainty, but –

KELLY. It’s a risk.

CLAY. A low risk.

KELLY. Not a risk I personally would want to take.

CLAY. Not that I’m questioning the decision because ultimately it is a life we’re talking about and you have to ask yourself, do I give priority to a cat’s life? Or to . . . to . . . to . . . ?

KELLY. To a human life.

CLAY. Right. Right. Right. So. Right. So, we made the decision. I made the decision.

KELLY. You can say we.

CLAY. To have him killed.

KELLY (to MR HADID). Some people might say put to sleep.

CLAY (laughs). Well, I mean, he’s not exactly sleeping, is he? He’s dead, right? Chester is dead now and and and –

KELLY. Clay.

CLAY. And we did it. Or rather, the vet, at our request.

KELLY (to MR HADID). He was euthanised.

CLAY. So, no. We don’t have pets.

KELLY. But if you see this on your kitchen table. Your child sees it. Touches it. And admittedly, I am someone who tends to, on occasion –

CLAY. Overreact.

KELLY silently stares straight ahead.

Well, honey, I mean . . . (Laughs.) I mean, at least fixate.

KELLY (to MR HADID). We’re being so rude. Can I get you something?

MR HADID. I am fine.

KELLY. We have seltzer. Or iced tea.

CLAY (to KELLY). Or those green tea things in the bottles.

KELLY. Or caffeine-free Diet Coke. Or with.

CLAY (to KELLY). Or bottled water. Or tap water.

MR HADID. I am fine.

Uncomfortable pause.

CLAY. It just means a lot to us that you would –

MR HADID (interrupting). Unless you have some apple juice?

KELLY. Oh! Uhhh . . . ?

CLAY. Do we?

KELLY. No. Just. Well.

CLAY. Not the good kind.

KELLY. We have, what is it, like Mott’s?

MR HADID. It is apple juice?

KELLY. Yeah.

MR HADID. I will have that, thank you.

KELLY and CLAY both stand. KELLY exits, taking the BABY. CLAY sits.

CLAY (for lack of anything better to say). I used to have a beard. Years ago. Seriously. My dad had a moustache. But on me, with the shape of my face, I always thought the full beard. Kelly, though, she . . . didn’t so much care for it. But I could grow another. One of these days.

Pause.

It’s just, we want you to get an accurate picture of who we are. Which is so hard because you’re tempted to fall back on clichés. Which is frustrating if you want someone to understand the things that motivate you. Or all of us. As a people. (He laughs.) Well. There you go. Sounds clichéd. No, what I mean is . . . That this society, our society, as a whole . . . (Flailing.) Okay. Once again. What does that mean? Society as a whole? I don’t even know what that means. I can only talk about us. The things that motivate us, because –

MR HADID (raises his hand). Excuse me? I cannot stay terribly long.

CLAY. But . . . the others are going to be here.

MR HADID. I have a little time.

CLAY. Especially Mom.

MR HADID. I have some time.

CLAY. And . . . didn’t you want the juice?

MR HADID. Perhaps you could finish the story of the avocados.

CLAY. Exactly. Yes. So: that was Tuesday. Wednesday, I call the exterminator. And then, of course, it was Thursday, which was the holiday.

Lights change. Snow stops. Evening. It is now Thanksgiving. Tasteful home-entertainment music begins to play. KAYLA, now wearing a party dress, runs through the room, shrieking. She is being chased by KALINA. CASH enters from the kitchen.

CASH. Why do you rule out a squirrel?

CLAY. No. They came. They looked everywhere. They said it’s not.

CASH. The squirrel is a foraging animal.

CLAY. They said this is something that has an appetite for fruit. Which to them did not suggest a squirrel.

CASH. Fruit?

CLAY. Yes.

CASH. Avocado’s a vegetable.

CLAY. The fruit of the avocado tree.

CASH. Tree?

CLAY. Yes.

CASH. Think it’s a bush.

CLAY. And even if it was a squirrel –

CASH. Could’ve been nuts in the...