Lava

James Fritz

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781848427709
• eBook ISBN: 9781788500579
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

A small asteroid has hit the capital city. Thousands have been displaced. And in a town far away, a young man called Vin is finding it hard to talk. The only person who seems to notice is Rach, who resolves to find out what's troubling him and help him find his voice again.

But when Rach's family take in an articulate and charismatic survivor of the asteroid incident, Vin's silence is no longer her first priority. How does it feel when the suffering of others seems more legitimate than our own?

James Fritz's Lava is a timely play about grief, masculinity and the power of expression, rocking with raw emotion and sharp humour. It premiered at Nottingham Playhouse in 2018, in a co-production with Fifth Word.

STAGE ONE: DENIAL

Death toll: 12,002

VIN and RACH.

RACH I still don’t believe that an asteroid hit North London.

I mean I know it’s a fact. I know it’s an undisputable fact that a car-shaped bit of rock fell out of the sky and killed all those people and there’s a big hole in the ground to prove it. I know all that. But I still don’t believe it.

I refuse to be a part of a world where something that ridiculous can happen, you know what I mean?

Silence.

What did you think of the vigil? My mum’s mate from school. Lucy. She died. She was on her way home when it hit. That’s what we’re doing here, Mum wanted to do a candle.

Silence.

Here you’ll like this. I was doing a shift with Becca on Monday and she wouldn’t stop going on about how she was supposed to be visiting her cousin in London on the weekend it hit but she’d cancelled at the last minute and how that decision might have saved her life and I was like ‘Oh does your cousin live near the impact site’ and she was like ‘No. Why?’ It took all the strength I had not to be like what are you on about you fucking mental case.

There are Beccas right across the country telling their mates that if only they’d got on a certain train or stayed for that extra drink or hadn’t been living in fucking Fiji at the time they’d be as dead as the rest of them. What’s that about?

Okay.

Where you been hiding Vin?

You just disappeared on me. Came into work and there was a Vin-shaped hole where you used to be.

I text you. I know you’ve seen them. Did I do something to

How you been anyway? You been up to much?

Brief silence.

Right. You know it’s pretty rude not to answer people in the same way it’s pretty rude disappearing on your mates without a word. I’m just saying.

VIN doesn’t say anything.

I get it.

Nice talking to you.

Fucking rude.

…

RACH Sorry I called you rude.

Last time I saw you. I thought you were blanking me. You can see why because I was talking and you were just stood there in silence like. Well kinda like you are now actually.

But then I went into work and I said I saw Vin he’s rude and Ian was like oh yeah he just don’t talk any more. And I was like what d’you mean he don’t talk any more and he was like he just stopped talking which was a bit of a problem it being a call centre and all.

That true then?

That’s weird innit mate?

Is it like a brain thing?

Cos right before he died my granddad lost all his speech ’cept he could only say one word which was Jane. We’d be like do you want some more food Granddad and he’d say Jane. Have you got enough pillows? ‘Jane.’ Over and over Jane Jane Jane which was a bit awkward given Nan’s name is Martha. We asked her who Jane was and she said it must be something he picked up from the telly but then at his funeral there was this card that said ‘Always yours, Jane.’ What do you think that was about then?

Did you hit your head or something?

I saw th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Original Production
• Director’s Note
• Acknowledgements
• Characters
• Lava
• About the Author
• Copyright and Performing Rights Information