Howard Barker: Plays Nine. Howard Barker
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/ she weakens you /
(WARDROBE desists. BIBLE shakes his head. THRASH strokes his brow. Silence returns but for the crisp turning of the photographs and the eternal wind of the frontier.)
THRASH: I don’t say live /
(WARDROBE views SISI from another angle.)
I don’t say live / do I? / when did you ever hear me say live? / never / not to any man / and some found this peculiar / I’m dying / they would say / and it’s nothing / is it? / nothing to you? /
(WARDROBE turns the photograph.)
No /
(The floorboards creak in the wind.)
No /
(WARDROBE studies SISI.)
No / it isn’t /
(The wind, the boards.)
On the frontier / you don’t need exaggeration /
(She looks down at BIBLE, who is frowning.)
I don’t say live / but you are half the weight you were / you two /
(WARDROBE lets fall his arm, whilst his hand remains clutching the photograph. He gazes at the ceiling. He states his article of horror but in a different and milder tone.)
WARDROBE: Did you frig my mother? / did you? / did you? / did you frig my mother? /
(No one reacts to this. He is pensive. After a while he plays with the remainder of the words.)
Your fingers shone / your shining fingers / he says /
(He frowns. He articulates with intense concentration.)
you / frigged / my / mother /
(WARDROBE seems to contemplate the words as if they were engraved on the ceiling.)
Frigged /
(He weighs the syllable.)
Frigged /
BIBLE: (Helpfully.) It’s the juxtaposition / it’s not really the idea /
WARDROBE: Yes /
BIBLE: The quality of the first word / and the entirely different quality of the second /
WARDROBE: I think so / yes /
BIBLE: The first being / possibly / I don’t know / onomatopoeic / and consequently / as is usually the case with onomatopoeia / vulgar / and the second / the second being / both soft-syllabled / but / more importantly / endowed with cultural and sentimental / associations which /
WARDROBE: Yes /
BIBLE: Which render it / somehow / sacred / yes / that is not I think / to overstate the /
WARDROBE: Not at all /
BIBLE: The significance of mother / as a noun / as a concept /
WARDROBE: Quite / quite /
BIBLE: So / to place these two words /
WARDROBE: These two ideas /
BIBLE: These two ideas / yes / in such proximity / it’s no wonder you / in a frisson of disgust / require to / somehow / abolish the pain of having heard it by incessant repetition / I myself /
WARDROBE: You say it /
BIBLE: Can hardly bear to hear it / whereas /
WARDROBE: You say it / Bible /
BIBLE: The idea itself / yes / yes / I’m certain of it / the idea is less appalling than the language used to describe it /
(He is bemused by his meditation.)
That’s interesting / very interesting /
WARDROBE: Say it / Bible / say it / please /
BIBLE: Say /
WARDROBE: Say it / say this thing that / I am not unaware of this / profoundly irritates your nerves /
(The wind creaks the floorboards. BIBLE’s reluctance becomes evident.)
Bible? / would you / please? /
BIBLE: I think / I think the reason you are asking me to say these words is less to do with / whatever it appears to be to do with / than coercing me to /
(He frowns with his concentration.)
I don’t want to say the words /
(WARDROBE gazes at the ceiling.)
I can say the words / I can say them / though the thought of actually saying them / as opposed to hearing them / is rather worse than I anticipated / still I /
(BIBLE falters and is silent.)
WARDROBE: You can’t / can you? / you cannot say the words? /
BIBLE: I can / I can but I decline your invitation to do so /
(The wind, for a long time.)
WARDROBE: (Without chagrin.) All right /
(The three are motionless as the wind blows litter through the room, and leaves scrape the floor. BIBLE’s discomfort is greater than his triumph.)
THRASH: Peculiar / hearing you / the volume of exaggeration /
WARDROBE: I do not / I promise you / exaggerate in the slightest degree / when I say you stink / you do stink / it is possible / however / and in this respect I admit the possibility of overstatement / the offence of stinking in a place like this is lessened / abolished even / by the fact I stink myself / perhaps in saying you stink/ I am merely remarking on a circumstance / there’s no criticism intended /
(THRASH does not respond for a long time. BIBLE stares into space.)
THRASH: Me and the Captain / we don’t exaggerate /
(WARDROBE gazes at her back without replying.)
Do we? / when did you ever hear the Captain exaggerate? /
(WARDROBE shifts violently onto his back. He clasps his hands over his chest.)
I don’t say live / but if you want to live / it’s possible / without exaggeration /
(WARDROBE ponders this advice as THRASH, with a certain resignation, undoes her garment, exposing her breast for BIBLE, who suckles her.)
WARDROBE: Yes /
(He frowns. He twists uncomfortably.)
Yes /
(He struggles with a thought.)
But it’s culture / isn’t it? / exaggeration? /
(THRASH makes no reply to this. BIBLE makes infantile sounds of gratification. In a spasm of mental agony WARDROBE sits up violently and reiterates his article.)
DID YOU FRIG MY MOTHER? / DID YOU? / DID YOU? / DID YOU FRIG MY MOTHER? / YOUR FINGERS SHONE / YOUR SHINING FINGERS / HE SAYS YOU FRIGGED MY MOTHER /
6
A YOUNG WOMAN enters, in elegant but filthy clothing. She stares at the spectacle. Her mouth moves in an uncontrolled way.
SISI: I’m visiting /
(She puts a hand to her mouth.)
Visiting /
(SISI’s voice wounds BIBLE like the stroke of a knife. He ceases suckling. His body rigidifies.)
Oh yes /
(She controls the nerves of her face.)
VISITING /
(Recognizing BIBLE, SISI extends a mocking finger and laughs hysterically. THRASH merely observes her. WARDROBE climbs off the canvas bed, wide-eyed and ghastly. He goes to her. He takes her hands in his own. He places his forehead to hers. The wind blows. At last he separates his face from hers.)
WARDROBE: Sisi / you stink /
SISI: