on and on to be seventy ⦠something she didnât know herself ⦠wouldnât know if she heard ⦠thenforgiven ⦠God is love ⦠tender mercies ⦠new every morning ⦠back in the field ⦠April morning ⦠face in the grass ⦠nothing but the larks ⦠pick it up there ⦠get on with it from there ⦠another fewâ⦠what? ⦠not that? ⦠nothing to do with that? ⦠nothing she could tell? ⦠all right ⦠nothing she could tell ⦠try something else ⦠think of something else ⦠oh long after ⦠sudden flash ⦠not that either ⦠all right ⦠something else again ⦠so on ⦠hit on it in the end ⦠think everything keep on long enough ⦠then forgiven ⦠back in theâ⦠what? ⦠not that either? ⦠nothing to do with that either? ⦠nothing she could think? ⦠all right ⦠nothing she could tell ⦠nothing she could think ⦠nothing sheâ⦠what? ⦠who? ⦠no! ⦠she! ⦠(
pause and movement 4
)⦠tiny little thing ⦠out before its time ⦠godforsaken hole ⦠no love ⦠spared that ⦠speechless all her days ⦠practically speechless ⦠even to herself ⦠never out loud ⦠but not completely ⦠sometimes sudden urge ⦠once or twice a year ⦠always winter some strange reason ⦠the long evenings ⦠hours of darkness ⦠sudden urge to ⦠tell ⦠then rush out stop the first she saw ⦠nearest lavatory ⦠start pouring it out ⦠steady stream ⦠mad stuff ⦠half the vowels wrong ⦠no one could follow ⦠till she saw the stare she was getting ⦠then die of shame ⦠crawl back in ⦠once or twice a year ⦠always winter some strange reason ⦠long hours of darkness ⦠now this ⦠this ⦠quicker and quicker ⦠the words ⦠the brain ⦠flickering away like mad ⦠quick grab and on ⦠nothing there ⦠on somewhere else ⦠try somewhere else ⦠all the time somethingbegging ⦠something in her begging ⦠begging it all to stop ⦠unanswered ⦠prayer unanswered ⦠or unheard ⦠too faint ⦠so on ⦠keep on ⦠trying ⦠not knowing what ⦠what she was trying ⦠what to try ⦠whole body like gone ⦠just the mouth ⦠like maddened ⦠so on ⦠keepâ ⦠what? ⦠the buzzing? ⦠yes ⦠all the time the buzzing ⦠dull roar like falls ⦠in the skull ⦠and the beam ⦠poking around ⦠painless ⦠so far ⦠ha! ⦠so far ⦠all that ⦠keep on ⦠not knowing what ⦠what she wasâ⦠what? ⦠who? ⦠no! ⦠she! ⦠SHE! ⦠(
pause
)⦠what she was trying ⦠what to try ⦠no matter ⦠keep on ⦠(
curtain starts down
)⦠hit on it in the end ⦠then back ⦠God is love ⦠tender mercies ⦠new every morning ⦠back in the field ⦠April morning ⦠face in the grass ⦠nothing but the larks ⦠pick it upâ
Curtain fully down. House dark. Voice continues behind curtain, unintelligible, 10 seconds, ceases as house lights up.
That Time
That Time
was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in the spring of 1976 during a season mounted to mark the authorâs seventieth birthday.
NOTE
Moments of one and the same voice ABC relay one another without solution of continuityâapart from the two 10-second breaks. Yet the switch from one to another must be clearly faintly perceptible. If threefold source and context prove insufficient to produce this effect it should be assisted mechanically (e.g. threefold pitch).
Curtain. Stage in darkness. Fade up to
LISTENERâs
face about ten feet above stage level midstage off centre.
Old white face, long
pause and movement 4
)⦠tiny little thing ⦠out before its time ⦠godforsaken hole ⦠no love ⦠spared that ⦠speechless all her days ⦠practically speechless ⦠even to herself ⦠never out loud ⦠but not completely ⦠sometimes sudden urge ⦠once or twice a year ⦠always winter some strange reason ⦠the long evenings ⦠hours of darkness ⦠sudden urge to ⦠tell ⦠then rush out stop the first she saw ⦠nearest lavatory ⦠start pouring it out ⦠steady stream ⦠mad stuff ⦠half the vowels wrong ⦠no one could follow ⦠till she saw the stare she was getting ⦠then die of shame ⦠crawl back in ⦠once or twice a year ⦠always winter some strange reason ⦠long hours of darkness ⦠now this ⦠this ⦠quicker and quicker ⦠the words ⦠the brain ⦠flickering away like mad ⦠quick grab and on ⦠nothing there ⦠on somewhere else ⦠try somewhere else ⦠all the time somethingbegging ⦠something in her begging ⦠begging it all to stop ⦠unanswered ⦠prayer unanswered ⦠or unheard ⦠too faint ⦠so on ⦠keep on ⦠trying ⦠not knowing what ⦠what she was trying ⦠what to try ⦠whole body like gone ⦠just the mouth ⦠like maddened ⦠so on ⦠keepâ ⦠what? ⦠the buzzing? ⦠yes ⦠all the time the buzzing ⦠dull roar like falls ⦠in the skull ⦠and the beam ⦠poking around ⦠painless ⦠so far ⦠ha! ⦠so far ⦠all that ⦠keep on ⦠not knowing what ⦠what she wasâ⦠what? ⦠who? ⦠no! ⦠she! ⦠SHE! ⦠(
pause
)⦠what she was trying ⦠what to try ⦠no matter ⦠keep on ⦠(
curtain starts down
)⦠hit on it in the end ⦠then back ⦠God is love ⦠tender mercies ⦠new every morning ⦠back in the field ⦠April morning ⦠face in the grass ⦠nothing but the larks ⦠pick it upâ
Curtain fully down. House dark. Voice continues behind curtain, unintelligible, 10 seconds, ceases as house lights up.
That Time
That Time
was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in the spring of 1976 during a season mounted to mark the authorâs seventieth birthday.
NOTE
Moments of one and the same voice ABC relay one another without solution of continuityâapart from the two 10-second breaks. Yet the switch from one to another must be clearly faintly perceptible. If threefold source and context prove insufficient to produce this effect it should be assisted mechanically (e.g. threefold pitch).
Curtain. Stage in darkness. Fade up to
LISTENERâs
face about ten feet above stage level midstage off centre.
Old white face, long
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