Zeller The Mother and The Father

Main
ISBN: 978-0-571-32726-3
Verlag: Faber & Faber
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 96 Seiten

The Mother Anne loved the time in her life when she prepared breakfast each morning for her two young children. Years later, spending hours alone, Anne convinces herself that her husband is having an affair. If only her son were to break-up with his girlfriend. He would return home and come down for breakfast. She would put on her new red dress and they would go out. The Mother, in this English translation by Christopher Hampton, was commissioned by the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath, and premiered in May 2015. Florian Zeller's The Mother was awarded the Moliere Award for Best Play 2011. The Father 'A wonderfully peculiar, quietly stunning depiction of dementia... A controlled, unforgettable portrait of losing your memory.' Times 'A vivid, lucent translation by Christopher Hampton.' Observer 'One of the most acute, absorbing and distressing portraits of dementia I've ever seen.' Daily Telegraph 'A play that constantly confounds expectations and works almost like a thriller, with a sinister Pinteresque edge.' Guardian The Father, in this English translation by Christopher Hampton, was commissioned by the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath and premiered in October 2014. The production transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London, in May 2015. Florian Zeller's The Father was awarded the Moliere Award for Best Play 2014.

Florian Zeller is a French novelist and playwright. He won the prestigious Prix Interallié in 2004 for his third novel, Fascination of Evil. His plays include L'Autre, Le Manège, Si tu mourais, nominated for a Globe de Cristal, Elle t'attend and La Vérité. La Mère (The Mother, Molière Award for Best Play in 2011) and Le Père (The Father, Molière Award for Best Play in 2014, starring Robert Hirsch and Isabelle Gelinas (Molière Awards for Best Actor and Actress, Prix du Brigadier in 2015). Une Heure de tranquillité (A Bit of Peace and Quiet), opened with Fabrice Luchini, and has since been adapted for the screen, directed by Patrice Leconte. Le Mensonge (The Lie) was staged in 2015 starring Pierre Arditi and Evelyne Bouix and L'Envers du décor opened in January 2016 at the Théâtre de Paris starring Daniel Auteuil.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zeller, Florian

Weitere Mitwirkende

Hampton, Christopher

Leseproben

SCENE ONE
The Mother and the Father. A soundscape underlining a growing tension and creating a strange atmosphere. Mother Ah, there you are. Father Yes. Mother You’re a bit late. Father A bit, yes. All right? Mother Yes, yes. Pause. She resumes, not accusingly. Where were you? Father Mm? Mother This afternoon. Father What did you say? Mother Where were you? Father Why? Mother Just wondered. That’s all. Pause. Father What about you? Good day? Mother Why are you asking me that? When you know the answer. Father Wanted to know. Mother You’re interested? Father Yes. Mother You know perfectly well my day was shitty. Father (astonished by her answer) What’s the matter with you? Anne … Mother Nothing. I’m just wondering why you bother to pretend. Father Me? Pretend what? Mother To be interested. Father But I’m not pretending at all, Anne. What are you talking about? I am interested. Very interested. Mother Well, it’s not very interesting. I stayed in, did nothing. Waited. Pause. The start of a palpable unease. Your seminar, is it tomorrow? Father Yes. Mother You’re leaving tomorrow? Father Yes. In the morning. Mother Good. Are you happy? Father It’s only a seminar. Pause. You seem upset. Mother No, it’s just … Nicolas. Father What? Mother He still hasn’t phoned. Father Why should he have phoned? Mother Because I’m his mother. I left him a message, but he hasn’t called back. As usual. I don’t understand why he never tells me what’s happening in his life. Why he never comes by to see me. Never. He behaves as if I didn’t exist. Father He’s busy. Mother Doing what? Father Mm? I don’t know. Living. She shrugs her shoulders. Pause. Mother So? Father What? Mother Where were you? Father What do you mean, where was I? Mother This afternoon. Father In the office, darling. Why? Pause. He looks at her, vaguely anxious. What’s the matter with you? Mother I called the office just now. Father My office? Mother Yes. Just now. Pause. I wanted to talk to you. Father Oh, yes? Mother And they told me you weren’t there. Father When? Mother This afternoon. They told me you weren’t there. Father I was in a meeting. Mother Oh, so that’s it … Father Yes. Mother Ah, right. Father Yes. Didn’t my secretary tell you? Pause. No answer. Mother (blandly and lightly, as if she’s posing the question for the first time) Everything all right? Father Fine … Mother (still unemphatic) Where were you this afternoon? Father Mm? I told you, I was in the office. Mother You were in a meeting? Father Yes. Mother You were preparing tomorrow’s seminar? Father No, no connection. Mother (suspiciously) Really? (Pause.) Is it tomorrow, your seminar? Father You’re worrying me, Anne. Mother I am? Father Yes. You’re weird … You are, I promise you, you’re weird this evening. Mother I’m not … not at all. What makes you say that? I spend my days on my own bored sick, while you’re banging little bitches in hotel rooms, so obviously … Father (as if he hadn’t heard) Sorry? Mother Mm? Father What did you say? Mother (as if nothing had been said) I said I’m aware of a great void. Father It’s your fault as well, you know … You don’t do anything. You haven’t developed any enthusiasms. You stay here, doing nothing. So obviously … the world seems … dreary to you. Mother What am I supposed to do? Father I don’t know. Mother See. Pause. Father You have no interests. Since the children left home, it’s as if … I mean, you have to find yourself something to do. Some focus of interest. Some … Mother I’ve been had. That’s the truth of it. I’ve been had. All the way down the line. Father What are you talking about? Mother There were the children, yes. I took care of them. I certainly took care of the children. Two children, that’s quite something. I say two … three, including you. Because I took care of you as well. And then I took care of this house. Father You did. Mother But now everyone’s gone. And here I am on my own. In this big house. Nobody needs me any more. And not even a phone call … Father You’re exaggerating … Mother He never phones me. Never. Sara, I’m not saying. But him … Nicolas … Not even a phone call … To ask how I am. To, I don’t know, let me hear his voice. He’s cut me out of his life. Father He’s in love. It’s natural … Brief pause. Mother (as if to herself) Little bitches in hotel rooms … Father You … What’s the matter with you? Anne … Are you all right? You don’t look very … Mother (her tone suddenly completely normal) I’m fine. What about you? Had a good day? Father (disconcerted) Mm? Yes. Mother You had meetings? Father Why are you doing this? Mother Why am I doing what? Father You keep repeating yourself. Mother You didn’t have a meeting? Father I did. I told you I did. Mother Just one? Father Yes. Mother So? Did it go well? Did you close the deal? Father Mm? Yes. Mother Great. I’m very happy for you. Pause. Father (walking on eggshells) And you … Mother Oh, I just stayed here. I didn’t do much. Tidied up a bit. Oh, yes, I did go out … Did some shopping. I bought a dress. Want me to show it to you? You won’t like it, though. It’s not your style. It’s red. Need some bravado to carry it off. Or else some really important occasion. I’ll wear it to your funeral. Father Have you been drinking today? Mother Me? Father Yes. Have you been drinking? Mother Not a drop. Father You haven’t been drinking? Mother No. Why are you looking at me like that? Father No reason. Pause. Mother Actually, I should never have had children. Father What? Mother I realise now. I should never have had children. Especially with someone like you. Someone who works, I mean. Who has meetings. And seminars. Father Anne… Mother It’s true … When we met, I was what, twenty-two? Naive. How could I have known? If you’re twenty-two, you have no idea what a huge cheat life is. You don’t know anything about it. You can be had so easily. Especially by a man like you. Apparently presentable, superficially at least. Later, as time passes, you find you have to dig a bit deeper. And that’s when you find out the extent of the disaster. Anyway, and I don’t mean this as a compliment, Pierre, you were a … pathetic father. Really. I’ve been meaning to tell you. Father Me? Mother Yes. Pathetic. The complete opposite of a role model. At least for Nicolas. Father Why are you saying this? Mother It’s what Nicolas told me. He told me he’s always taken you as an anti-role model. Obviously, he’s an artist. He told me that as far as he was concerned, to be anything like you would mean his life was a failure. To some extent, I agree with him. Father Are you listening to what you’re saying to me? Anne … Are you...