THE PANEL
Zinnie Harris
Characters
CHRIS
MAURICE
BILL
JASON
DAVID
Five men behind a table. JASON, BILL, CHRIS, MAURICE and DAVID.
In front of them, a jug of water, and some biscuits. The table is littered with pieces of paper.
CHRIS is the chairperson, JASON is the shit-hot guy from another office, DAVID is close to retirement and MAURICE and BILL are mid-career. MAURICE can be cantankerous, BILL pensive.
CHRIS. the door isnât quite closed
MAURICE. I didnât like her
CHRIS. the door isnât quite shut, can we shut it first?
One of the men goes and shuts the door.
honestly, for goodnessâ sake
MAURICE. I hadnât heard you
CHRIS. is it shut now?
BILL. yes.
JASON. sheâd gone donât worry
CHRIS. had she?
Beat.
BILL. well Iâll start if you want
CHRIS. okay
MAURICE. I thought she was poor actually, I was more hopeful when I saw her CV but her performance, okay the presentation was acceptable but her answers
CHRIS. poor, as strong as that?
BILL. I thought I was going to start�
MAURICE. yes, not only did she not answer the questions
JASON. she was nervous
MAURICE. but she seemed not to really understand what we were asking JASON. nerves are no excuse anyway in my book
BILL. is anyone interested in what I think?
MAURICE. no Iâm not saying that
DAVID. I disagree, nerves okay not an excuse but
MAURICE. what are you saying? We should have worked to put her at her ease?
CHRIS. the questions were very clear
DAVID. well we could have done
JASON. youâre supposed to be nervous thatâs the point
MAURICE. not so nervous you donât present yourself well
CHRIS. presentation is part of the job, will be
DAVID. we donât know her circumstances, that is all I am saying
MAURICE. I think she hadnât thought it all through properly, she hadnât â
DAVID. did we offer her a tea?
MAURICE. collected her thoughts
BILL. she was shoddy
DAVID. she had come all the way from Darlington
MAURICE. prepared it in her mind
BILL. her reference isnât good either
MAURICE. got her story straight, she hadnât
DAVID. did we offer to take her coat?
JASON. let me see
CHRIS hands JASON the piece of paper.
CHRIS. I suppose maybe if she had been here with us longer
BILL. they all got the same
CHRIS. I know but if she had had another twenty minutes
MAURICE. I was frustrated with her
DAVID. women like that, men like that they donât perform well on-the-hoof thatâs all
JASON. this isnât a bad reference
BILL. I didnât say it was bad
JASON. you said it wasnât good
BILL. it doesnâtâŚ
MAURICE. let me see
BILL. whatâs the word, glow
The reference is handed on.
JASON. I donât know what sheâs got in her favour really.
We are all more or less saying the same thing
DAVID. her age
MAURICE. a little old I thought
DAVID. well yes but
BILL. this is a young womanâs game
DAVID. sheâs experienced
JASON. I never know what people mean when they say that
MAURICE. it means elderly
DAVID. no it means
JASON. look she isnât up to it, we are all agreed.
DAVID. they have years behind them, status
JASON. can we move on Chris?
only time is pressing â
CHRIS. yes okay.
Gentlemen, a decision?
He holds her CV over the bin.
DAVID. we just move on too fast in my opinion, she is two minutes out of the door and here we are
JASON. we donât have all day
DAVID. sometimes a little reflection
CHRIS. Jason has to get a train
DAVID. I know but
Beat.
MAURICE. Iâm on Davidâs side, another couple of minutes wonât hurt
After all not everything is about Jasonâs train.
Beat
CHRIS. Jason?
JASON. fine
DAVID. just to collect my thoughts.
Pause.
DAVID is thinking, everyone else waiting expectantly.
BILL. David, she wasnât strong. None of us have ha...
