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Doctor Kronos |
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Scene One |
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(A
DIM CELLAR. FIVE ACTORS REPRESENTING BABIES, WEARING BABY MASKS AND NAKED
EXCEPT FOR A BABY’S NAPPY, ARE CHAINED TO THE FLOOR: EACH ONE SEPARATE
AND OUT OF REACH FROM THE OTHERS. A
LARGE, HIGH DOOR SUDDENLY OPENS FROM A HEIGHT AT THE BACK OF THE STAGE.
THERE IS A STAIRCASE COMING DOWN FROM THE DOOR. BRIGHT LIGHT FLASHES IN.
AN ADULT FIGURE OF AMBIGUOUS SEX (the gaoler) ENTERS. DRESSED IN BLACK, A
LONG BLACK OVERCOAT, AND ON STILTS SO THAT IT SEEMS HUGE. THE FIGURE
CARRIES FOOD: RAW MEAT AND OFFAL, THAT IS FLUNG TOWARDS THE BABIES. THESE
ARE GROANING, WEEPING, THEIR ARMS OUTSTRETCHED AND STRAINING TO REACH THE
FLYING MORSELS - LUSTILY DEVOURING ANYTHING THAT FALLS WITHIN THEIR REACH. THE
ADULT DESCENDS THE STEPS AND OBSERVES THE BABIES EAT, WALKING AROUND THEM,
THEN SUDDENLY CROUCHES AND GRABS ONE BY THE ARM - THE BABY (BABY 5)
SCREAMS. THE OTHERS DROP THEIR FOOD AND COWER, EXCEPT ONE (BABY 4) WHO
KEEPS SCOFFING THE FOOD AND FORAGING FOR ANYTHING WITHIN ITS GRASP. THE
SCREAMING BABY IS LIFTED AND PUNCHED IN THE FACE, RENDERING IT UNCONSCIOUS.
THEN THE ADULT UNLOCKS THE SHATTLES OF THE BABY’S ANKLES, LIFTS IT AND
TAKES IT AWAY. BABY
4 KEEPS EATING AND FISHING FOR SCRAPS WHILE THE OTHER THREE EMBARK ON A
MISERABLE DIALOGUE) BABY
1: Another gone BABY
3: Once we were twelve BABY
2: Now only four BABY
1: They go BABY
2: and never come back BABY
3: Not one BABY
2: has returned (THE
THREE BABIES HOWL) BABY
1: never BABY
3: And the next time BABY
2: it will be one of us (THE
THREE BABIES HOWL) BABY1:
Could be me BABY
2: or me BABY
3: or me BABY
2: Where? BABY
1: We have our theories BABY 3: Locked up like thisBABY
2: without toys or a single chance to play a single game BABY
1: allows one time to ponder BABY
2: analyse BABY
1: our situation BABY
2: which is every day more intolerable (THEY
HOWL) BABY
1: If we could but break these chains BABY
2: we would find a way out BABY
3: We could overcome our gaoler BABY
2: Unchained BABY
1: we could overcome BABY
2: Despite our enemy’s height BABY
3: Despite our pathetic bulk BABY
2: and obvious lack of meaningful education BABY
3: we could overcome any gaoler (THEY
HOWL) BABY
1: For although our gaoler is mad BABY
2: this same mad gaoler has made us mad too (THEY
HOWL) BABY
1: Madder BABY
2: of course we are BABY
3: and our madderness BABY
2: our madder rabidness BABY
1: makes us BABY
2: so much BABY
3: potentially BABY
2: so much BABY
1: stronger (THEY
HOWL) (SUDDENLY
THEY ARE INTERRUPTED BY A RADIO BROADCAST LIKE THE VOICE OF AN OMNIPRESENT
GOD FROM A SPEAKER WE CANNOT SEE... THIS IS ANNOUNCED BY TWELVE BEEPS...
THE TONE OF THE ELECTRONIC CLOCK) BABY
2: Twelve o’clock BABY
3: a.m.? BABY
2: or p.m.? BABY
1: we have lost track BABY
2: For a while we were keeping up BABY
3: morning BABY
2: night BABY
1: a binary sequence BABY
2: studied at crèche BABY
3: in our computer science class BABY
2: my favourite class BABY
1: As if we were counting with elbows BABY
2: or knees BABY
3: or eyes BABY
2: or ears BABY
1: but now it is time for the news RADIO:
And now for the news... BABY
2: Our hourly torture RADIO:
Police today arrested a new suspect in relation to the twelve babies
from Brussels case... BABY
3: Vain hope BABY
2: This BABY
1: our only contact BABY
2: with the outside world BABY
3: a world I can hardly remember BABY
2: strange how quickly we forget BABY
1: How long has it been? RADIO:
...the case is now in its seventh week... BABY
2: Only seven BABY
3: weeks BABY
2: more like seven BABY
1: centuries RADIO:
The suspect, a man in his thirties, whose name has not been disclosed,
is reported to be a butcher from... BABY
2: A butcher BABY
3: Hence the raw meat that is brought BABY
2: our sustenance BABY
1: Could it be true? BABY
2: No, our gaoler was here only a moment ago BABY
3: but what do we know of time? BABY
2: It is better BABY
1: not to hope RADIO:
Police traced the suspect through a child pornography network on the
World Wide Web... BABY
2: which explains BABY
3: why BABY
2: we are half naked BABY
1: Our vulnerability is our tyrant’s vice BABY
2: Our innocence is our oppressor’s power BABY
3: Only when we are all experienced will freedom be possible BABY
2: anarchy is only feasible in a learned society BABY
1: real education is the key to real democracy (THEY
HOWL) RADIO:
Torrential rains have caused heavy flooding throughout much of Eastern
and Central Europe and the Eastern parts of Western and Southern Europe... BABY
3: Floods BABY
2: our daily dose BABY
1: of disasters BABY
3: begins BABY
2: with floods BABY
3: The horror RADIO:
A massive earthquake registering 9 on the Richter scale has flattened a
great number of villages, towns and even what once were cities in northern
Irak and Turkey... BABY
2: Which is hardly surprising BABY
1: We are accustomed to it BABY
2: perfectly accustomed BABY
3: have been accustomed for such a long time now BABY
2: to any catastrophe BABY
1: except our own BABY
2: Only the most personal grief really affects us BABY
3: which is logical BABY
2: if we were to weep over every drop BABY
1: of spilled milk BABY
2: we would not have so many tears BABY
3: our ducts BABY
2: would be incapable BABY
1: of producing BABY
2: such a source BABY
3: our body liquids would be exhausted BABY
2: we would be drained of salt BABY
1: and we would die BABY
2: Compassion BABY
1: sympathy BABY
3: and empathy BABY
2: kill BABY
1: But being BABY
2: no longer BABY
3: able BABY
2: to cry BABY
1: in the face of disaster BABY
2: is agony RADIO:
Spokespersons from the environmentalist group Welt claim that recent
statistics show that the indiscriminate hunting of baby seals using the
barbaric practice of clubbing is quite clearly on the increase this year
after a decade of... BABY
3: Of course it is obvious what our gaoler’s BABY
2: our personal torturer’s BABY
1: tactic is BABY
2: trying to break BABY
1: our will BABY
3: trying to mitigate BABY
2: our own BABY
3: sense BABY
1: of personal suffering BABY
3: with sentiment BABY
1: and thus BABY
2: weaken BABY
3: our resolve BABY
1: to defend ourselves BABIES
1, 2 & 3: but we are strong we will overcome we will survive (THEY
HOWL) (SUDDENLY
THE DOOR FLIES OPEN AGAIN AND MORE FLESH IS TOSSED IN. BABY 4, WHO HAS
NEVER PAUSED FROM GORGING HIMSELF, BEGINS GATHERING IT ALL UP, MUNCHING ON
MORSELS... BABY 3 REACHES FOR A LIMB. IT IS OBVIOUSLY A HUMAN ARM) BABY
3: Am I so hungry? (THE DOOR SLAMS, LIGHTS BLACK. THE END OF SCENE 1) SCENE II (A
KITCHEN IN A SUBURBAN HOUSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BRUSSELS. THERE IS A
PICTURE OF THE BELGIAN ROYAL FAMILY, A POSTER OF THE MANIKEN PIS, AND A
PAINTING BY DELVAUX ON THE WALLS. A
TEENAGE GIRL, MARIE, IS SITTING DOWN AT THE TABLE EATING CORNFLAKES FROM A
BOWL. ENTER
SERGE, HER BROTHER, A TEENAGE BOY, A FEW YEARS OLDER. HE LOOKS AT MARIE,
LOOKS AT THE TABLE, THEN STOPS) SERGE: And father? (MARIE SHRUGS)
He has not come down... (MARIE SHAKES HER HEAD)
Or has not come home again. (HE GOES TO A CUPBOARD AND GETS OUT A BOX OF CHOCOLATE COATED CEREALS.
HE PLACES THESE ON THE TABLE THEN LOOKS AT THE AUDIENCE AS IF PREPARING A
GREAT SPEECH)
His weekly binge
For the seventh week running he has been out all night
Drinking litres of Leffe
How it hurts our mother,
there will be a divorce. MARIE: I don’t know why you worry
He is a pig
Our father is a pig SERGE: Call him a swine
it sounds better (HE GOES TO THE FRIDGE AND GETS A CARTON OF MILK, THEN SITS DOWN AGAIN)
Not like other fathers MARIE: He is antiquated SERGE: has evolved badly MARIE: Mother said he used to be a hippy SERGE: ...a happy hippy... MARIE: when she married him SERGE: So hard to believe
to grasp him MARIE: with a mat of uncombed locks dangling around his elbows SERGE: What made him change? MARIE: An anarchist of love
Our mother, Yvonne’s, dear Jean SERGE: evolving into Doctor Kronos
respectable surgeon MARIE: with hardly a hair out of place SERGE: Imagine him with all those hippy locks MARIE: A daisy chain SERGE: Incredible
now each strand is cut with such MARIE: precision SERGE: Then he was Jean MARIE: preaching flower power SERGE: Now
so cynical MARIE: complaining SERGE: and cruel MARIE: They were both hippies
mum said SERGE: But they didn’t get married at first MARIE: Not until you came along SERGE: Then they waited eight months MARIE: and mother was huge at the church SERGE: No!
It was a civil wedding,
why did you say church? MARIE: I would have liked them to have married in a church SERGE: Because it is more romantic... (TO AUDIENCE)
Ah
my darling sister Marie
Always so romantic
The picture of the King and Queen was her idea (HE GESTURES TOWARDS THE PICTURE OF THE KING AND QUEEN. ENTER MOTHER.
SHE DOES NOT SAY ANYTHING. GOES STRAIGHT TO THE FRIDGE. SHE OPENS IT,
LOOKS INSIDE THEN BREAKS DOWN INTO TEARS AND SLAMS THE FRIDGE DOOR SHUT
AGAIN BEFORE RUNNING OUT OF THE KITCHEN AND ABANDONING THE SCENE) SERGE: Distraught MARIE: Separation is imminent SERGE: Mother has endured so long MARIE: For us SERGE: And now that we are nearly adults MARIE: Nearly capable of fending for ourselves SERGE: Now that a father at home is no longer essential MARIE: the divorce becomes a serious consideration SERGE: a welcome consideration MARIE: others would not have endured so long SERGE: all the torture MARIE: it has been torture SERGE: life with our father MARIE: the eminent Dr. Kronos SERGE: a constant torture (MARIE TURNS ON THE TRANSISTOR... EIGHT BEEPS ANNOUNCING THE HOUR...
THEN...) RADIO: And now for the news... SERGE: (IMITATING THE NEWS READER’S VOICE)
Dr. Kronos is dead MARIE: Serge! (SHE GETS UP AND GOES TO THE CUPBOARD) RADIO: A tidal wave scourged the
east coast of Japan this morning... (FADE) MARIE: And the wholemeal bread? RADIO: There are no official
figures but emergency services have estimated that there could be as many
as fifty thousand people missing... (FADE) MARIE: Serge! (HOLDING UP A PACKET OF WHITEBREAD)
No one eats white bread in this house SERGE: It’s mine MARIE: White?
Without fibre
White bread has no fibre
Have you forgotten what mother has taught us
what mother has spent so many years
telling
instructing us?
That white bread is bad for the bowel
and that genetically
we come from a family
suspect
to bowel cancers SERGE: It is easier to swallow
and besides
by the time we have developed our cancer there will be a cure
There will be a cure for bowel cancer
they’re working on it
have been for years
but there won’t be a cure for the new kinds of deadly diseases
coming from dependencies on fibre
Viruses still unknown
undreamt of
State-of-the-art viruses
leaping into the twenty-first century with an ingrained need for
propagating their genes
the basic need of all living creatures
and like all good viruses
this new virus will be looking for human metabolisms as hosts
then
after observing us
it will discover that the entire human race are gorging themselves
on wholemeal bread
the new strains will spread themselves through roughage
the roughage you crave
because you cannot move your bowels without it MARIE: Serge! (PAUSE. HE RESUMES EATING)
In any case
I want wholemeal
and there is none
Serge!
Why is there no wholemeal bread?! SERGE: Mum must have forgot
She remembered my white
and forgot your fibre MARIE: But we have always had
have always eaten
the same SERGE: Bread
We only ever ate the same bread
the rest of our tastes have always been different
And now
my dear little sister
our taste in bread
is different (HE CONTINUES SLURPING HIS CEREALS) RADIO: Last week’s mysterious
derailment of the high-velocity train in the Channel tunnel which resulted
in the deaths of 365 passengers has taken a strange turn this week when
police discovered that the rails had been clamped and cut at the scene of
the accident. Suspicions, already expressed, about the possibility of a
renewed terrorist campaign by the... (FADE) MARIE: Fibre is an essential ingredient
in order to cope with the stress
of modern-day life SERGE: So much more stressful than when our parents were young MARIE: We have to work so much harder at school SERGE: And with an infirm MARIE: drug-addict SERGE: mother MARIE: and alcoholic SERGE: father MARIE: it is so much harder SERGE: Their divorce would be our best hope MARIE: it could actually relieve SERGE: the situation MARIE: By separating the parents we are supposed to love SERGE: but really hate MARIE: the daily torment would be mitigated SERGE: cut in half RADIO: The National Opera will
open its autumn season with a homage to George Gershwin and a rendition of
that all time classic “Porgy & Bess”... (FADE) (THEIR FATHER, Dr. KRONOS, SUDDENLY BURSTS INTO THE KITCHEN. HE IS
DRESSED IN A DARK SUIT WITH A BRIGHT BOW TIE. HIS WHITE SHIRT IS
SPLATTERED WITH BLOOD) SERGE: Our dear daddy is home MARIE: Fighting again
Just look at that shirt SERGE: Smell the whisky on his breath MARIE: So strong SERGE: Not the best accompaniment for a Monday breakfast Dr. KRONOS: Hello
perhaps
can I have a hello? MARIE: His anger
expressing his guilt SERGE: Knows that we hate him MARIE: for the almost infinite everything that he is not SERGE: And for the infinitesimal few
but at the same time
gross, gigantic,
and terrible few things
that he is (Dr. KRONOS STAGGERS TO THE FRIDGE) RADIO: This weekend’s match
between Brugge and Anderlecht had to be suspended when rival supporters
rioted...(FADE) Dr. KRONOS: (AFTER RUMMAGING THROUGH THE CONTENTS OF THE FRIDGE) Why is
there no beer here? SERGE: Someone drank it last night MARIE: (TO THE AUDIENCE) Contact is established SERGE: And besides,
only a pig drinks beer for breakfast DR. KRONOS: Pigs don’t drink beer (HE SLAMS THE FRIDGE DOOR)
Sometimes I think there is too much democracy in this house
At one time they said
that children should be seen and not heard
now it is different MARIE: You made it different Dr. KRONOS: Us
No
We
did nothing
nothing but dream
Then we had so many dreams SERGE: Of pseudo-democracies MARIE: (TO AUDIENCE) We have heard the story so many times SERGE: Always the same story Dr. KRONOS: Don’t get sarcastic with me
We were revolutionaries
your mother and I MARIE: In ‘68 SERGE: It’s always in ‘68 MARIE: The year of great hope and despair Dr. KRONOS: I was studying medicine
your mother economics SERGE: And both were revolutionaries Dr. KRONOS: Read Marx and Sartre SERGE: Hated the establishment Dr. KRONOS: We hated the establishment MARIE: And so you became the establishment SERGE: Our father
the heart surgeon MARIE: Our mother
with her job at the finance company SERGE: that she left MARIE: and started to paint instead SERGE: But they travelled first MARIE: three years in a Volkswagen SERGE: driving to India MARIE: in and around India SERGE: in search of a yogi MARIE: like the Beatles SERGE: we have heard the story
so many times before Dr. KRONOS: Yes
but
the difference between your mother and I is that I came back
back to reality
whereas she stayed in her dreams I came back
back to work
to my profession
to my brutal job
A surgeon
To the blood
so much blood SERGE: Enough to drive one mad Dr. KRONOS: Yes
mad (TO AUDIENCE)
I have said it a thousand times
I am mad
I have told them
your father has suffered much
endured too much
and it has made him
me
mad
I have told them
over and over again
but no-one listens
no-one cares
Do they care why I drink?
Why I fight?
Do they care that I am potentially capable of any error inspired by
my wandering mind?
Every day it is harder to keep on track
What do they care?
I am a doctor
I have read and understood the symptoms
if I were my own patient
I would have me locked away
and I have told them that too
You are risking your lives I say
but they laugh
or shrug their shoulders
or suck their bottom lips
because they think that I am saying something else
They are so defensive
They think I am constantly on the attack
cannot understand that I am crying out for help
But a madness like mine is beyond their grasp
they have no imagination
think that I am cruel
when really
I am merely
out of control (RE-ENTER THE MOTHER, YVONNE, SHE GOES UP TO Dr. KRONOS AND SLAPS HIS
FACE) YVONNE: Pig! Dr. KRONOS: (FALLS TO HIS KNEES) I could not help it YVONNE: You are a stinking cockroach! Dr. KRONOS: They all tell me the same
the same insults
never any attempt to understand
never a solitary moment of the most basic reflection MARIE & SERGE: Pig! Dr. KRONOIS: (TO AUDIENCE) See
I have one of the best salaries in Brussels
and they insult me
I have spent my life nourishing them
and they insult me
My wife
who paints
though she has never finished a single canvas
and has always been a disaster as a mother
I have supported her
for twenty-five years
we have lived together
and I have supported her
Supported her because she wanted to be an artist
supported her because she has always had an expensive taste for
high-quality drugs
supported her YVONNE: Supported me?!
You enslaved me
You did not let me work
I have painted because you did not let me work MARIE: (TO AUDIENCE) They call themselves revolutionaries
repeat it over and over again
that they have dreams SERGE: No other woman would have allowed herself to be treated as our
mother did YVONNE: It was the drugs
the heroin that your father gave me Dr. KRONOS: That your mother begged me for MARIE: Amazing that we have turned out SERGE: so well MARIE: so balanced SERGE: so fit MARIE: and strong SERGE: They accuse us MARIE: the younger generation SERGE: of being weak MARIE: of not knowing how to fend for ourselves SERGE: while it us MARIE: and us alone SERGE: who hold the family together MARIE: Without our efforts SERGE: the unit would never survive MARIE: They accuse us of being conservative, right-wing SERGE: neo-fascists MARIE: incorrigible materialists SERGE: when really we are realists MARIE: who have learned the dangers of dreams SERGE: All we hope for is survival MARIE: in the cruel world we will inherit SERGE: Never has there been a world more cruel MARIE: and yet they expect us to be grateful for it SERGE: thank them for it MARIE: for their pseudo-democracies SERGE: in which freedom means MARIE: dog eat dog SERGE: Of course it incites violence MARIE: Each week I wash the blood from my father’s shirts SERGE: I slide the needle from my unconscious mother’s vein MARIE: and what thanks do we get SERGE: they tell us to turn the music down MARIE: to hurry up we are late for school SERGE: to get off the Internet MARIE: to finish our homework SERGE: our duties MARIE: so many duties SERGE: We are young but already tired MARIE: would rather have been born at a different time SERGE: in a slower world MARIE: We are slaves SERGE: while they do as they wish MARIE: exactly as they wish YVONNE: (REACHING FOR MARIE’S HAND) I love you (MARIE STANDS UP. SHE IS WEEPING. EXITS) SERGE: What would you like for breakfast mother? (YVONNE GROANS AND DRAWS HER KNEES UP TO HER CHEST)
Father?
There is no beer
but I can offer you a sausage (Dr. KRONOS SIGHS AND WAVES HIS HAND AMBIGUOUSLY. SERGE GOES TO THE
FRIDGE AND TAKES OUT A SUASAGE WHICH HE BEGINS TO FRY) Dr. KRONOS: (TO AUDIENCE) So much confusion
where did we go wrong?
They hate me
but it’s too late to change
change that
we all have oh so many scars (YVONNE SUDDENLY STANDS UP) YVONNE: I am going to paint (SHE LEAVES. Dr KRONOS BURIES HIS FACE IN HIS HANDS. SERGE PUTS THE
SAUSAGE ON TO THE PLATE) SERGE: Here dad
Eat it
then
go and lie down
I’ll ring the hospital
tell them you won’t be in today Dr. KRONOS: How much do you hate me? SERGE: If you don’t eat this sausage I’ll detest you (HE CUTS THE SAUSAGE)
Look
nearly raw
just how you like it RADIO: Now for the local news: a
new grave has been uncovered in which they have found more pieces of a
baby’s mutilated corpse. Police have not yet confirmed the victim’s
identity, but all signs seem to indicate that this is another of the
twelve baby boys and girls who disappeared seven weeks ago. Pessimism
grows rapidly over the possibility of finding any of the babies alive... (ENTER YVONNE. SHE SEEMS MORE RELAXED. EVEN HAPPY. SHE WALKS TOWARD THE
PAINTING BY DELVAUX AND STANDS BEFORE IT. REACHES OUT AND STROKES IT.
RE-ENTER MARIE. CHEERFUL NOW) MARIE: They are predicting another warm day SERGE: Let’s go to the pool again MARIE: I love the summer YVONNE: (TO AUDIENCE) I hate heat (TO SERGE & MARIE) Yes,
the pool will be nice
refreshing
but first
Sergi
there is your summer project to work on
how many pages was it?
And you
Marie
you must practise
at least an hour
to be competent you must practise at least an hour
every day MARIE: An hour at the cello YVONNE: At least Dr. KRONOS: (MUNCHING THE SAUSAGE) Our darling siblings
they try to learn
imagine themselves as budding artists
but lack the experience needed
to infuse the soul
necessary
to spark any creativity
necessary
to inspire application to any task
the innate knowledge
necessary
to do anything well
Yes
they lack an experienced soul
and because they lack that
they lack everything SERGE: What do you know of art? Dr. KRONOS: Velázquez could paint
Bosch was sublime
Shakespeare could write
and so could Cervantes
Bach and Mozart were great composers
Karl Marx was a genius SERGE: And Schoenberg? Dr. KRONOS: Noise
Noise is not music SERGE: And Picasso? Dr. KRONOS: He was taking the piss MARIE: The establishment speaks YVONNE: (TO FATHER) You are late
for the hospital MARIE: What’s new? SERGE: (TO FATHER) Are you going?
Why don’t you stay home today?
We could continue the debate
the meaning of art
what constitutes greatness
come on dad
we never confront the real
the great issues Dr. KRONOS: (TO SERGE) Sorry son
duty beckons
Your education is at stake
The dear school
you complain of so
is expensive (TO THE OTHERS) I will finish my breakfast first
It would not be right for the surgeon to faint after the first
incision
all because he has not had breakfast (ASIDE TO YVONNE)
And you darling
must take your methadone
your therapy YVONNE: I am almost well MARIE: (TO SERGE) Has she forgiven him already? SERGE: A new record MARIE: Perhaps she just wants to get him out of the house SERGE: so that she can go MARIE: Going shopping
she will tell us SERGE: When really MARIE: we all know SERGE: she is going to visit her lover MARIE: A theatre director SERGE: called Pavlowski MARIE: Who she gets stoned with SERGE: She always comes home stoned MARIE: Thank God we know how to cook SERGE: Oh yes
we have it so easy MARIE: don’t know what hardship is
they say SERGE: Call us spoiled MARIE: when really we have always been abandoned
(TO YVONNE) Today I will be working on Debussy
A difficult piece YVONNE: Brave Marie
you will make us proud
so proud
not like your lazy brother SERGE: (MIMICS. TO AUDIENCE) who
wastes his time on the Internet YVONNE: wasting his time on the Internet (EXITS) Dr. KRONOS: (WIPING HIS LIPS) I go
There is an impatient cancer in a small intestine awaiting me MARIE: Father please! Dr. KRONOS: We will have to remove ten inches
A tragedy that I face every day SERGE: So he drinks to find the courage to face it Dr. KRONOS: I drink to find the courage to face it (HE GOES TO THE CUPBOARD AND PULLS OUT A BOTTLE OF DUTCH GIN. HE FILLS A
GLASS. TAKES A SWIG)
It is sad
so sad
I know
but at least I do not try to hide my vice
I am an honest man
When I say I am mad
I am sincere
When I drink
I always do so in public
I am made of glass MARIE: (TO AUDIENCE) Oh that my glass father were but a little more opaque Dr. KRONOS: (TAKING ANOTHER SWIG OF GIN) This will settle my hand (HE SUDDENLY TURNS, PULLS ON A COAT AND LEAVES) SERGE: (TO AUDIENCE) That he is still allowed to carry out his bloody butcher’s profession
is incomprehensible
He has a summons against him
but the hospital defends him
just as the hospital defends each one of the criminals it employs
His tremendous negligence
a criminal act of torture
when he confused a pregnant woman
with a cancer patient
and removed her ovaries
provoking abortion
of course MARIE: Someone confused the patients’ files
he says SERGE: Not him
he asserts MARIE: and the hospital denies all responsibility SERGE: Meanwhile MARIE: the woman is a mess SERGE: suffers profound depressions MARIE: abysmal SERGE: She is incapable of defending herself MARIE: while the hospital employs the best lawyers SERGE: to defend its pathetic doctors (RE-ENTER YVONNE, DRESSED AS IF SHE WERE GOING OUT TO A NIGHT CLUB) YVONEE: I’m going shopping dears (SHE LEAVES) (MARIE BREAKS DOWN INTO TEARS. SERGE COMFORTS HER. HE HUGS HER, STROKES
HER HAIR. AFTER A FEW SECONDS HE LIFTS HER CHIN AND LOOKS DEEPLY INTO HER
EYES) SERGE: This life is pain
but one day they will be gone
and we will begin a normal existence MARIE: (SOBBING) Oh Serge
my dear brother
kiss me (SERGE KISSES HER. A DEEP PASSIONATE KISS. HE STARTS TO UNBUTTON HER
BLOUSE BUT MARIE SUDDENLY PUSHES HIM AWAY FROM HER) MARIE: No
Not here
Upstairs
Let’s go upstairs
I have to practise my cello (LIGHTS FADE DOWN. END OF SCENE 2) |