eBook - ePub
Stories
About this book
How do you have a baby when you're thirty-nine and single?
You decide. But what happens next?
The story, like a child, has a life of its own. The story becomes storiesā¦
A funny and touching play about the fertilisation of an idea, Nina Raine's Stories premiered at the National Theatre, London, in October 2018.
Stories was a finalist for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weāve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere ā even offline. Perfect for commutes or when youāre on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Stories by Nina Raine in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & British Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Scene One
40
A slightly bare kitchen with lots of pieces of modern art, but rather than being hung on the walls, it is mainly stacked in piles against the skirting. A few sculptures placed here and there.
ANNA wanders around looking at them, unsure whether to sit down or not, while FELIX watches her. ANNA looks up, taking in the height of the room.
ANNA. Yes. It is quite batch, isnāt it?
FELIX. Mm. Itās not really my style, but it belonged to some banker who did it up andā¦ he wanted a bachelor padā¦ soā¦
ANNA. Hence the polished concrete.
FELIX. And LED lights, andā¦
ANNA. Fridgesā¦
FELIX.ā¦Yesā¦ But then almost immediately he met a woman, had a baby andā¦ not a bachelor any more. So he put it on the market.
ANNA looks a bit at the art.
ANNA (kindly). The art warms it up a lot.
FELIX. Oh good.
ANNA. Theseā¦
She indicates some copper containers.
Are they art?
FELIX. Not really, I got them at auction, you just end up buying stuff. Theyāre for petrol I think, to tell you you really are buying a gallon and so on.
Beat.
At least someone like Paul Mellon had a cultural intelligence. Some of these Russian oligarchs itās really, itās very depressing, itās, letās just buy another fifty Damien Hirsts kind of thing. Theyāre just plundering. Oil in Russia, a Damien Hirst, it doesnāt matter to them.
ANNA is producing a small Carluccioās bag. She takes some gingerbread men out.
ANNA. Well, I bought these from Carluccioās to give a festive feel.
They laugh.
FELIX. Oh, gingerbread men, lovelyā¦ Do you want a cup of tea?
ANNA. Oh yes.
Are you having one?
FELIX busies himself with the kettle.
FELIX. No.
ANNA. I donāt really need oneā¦
FELIX. No, noā¦
FELIX gets a cup, teabag, etc.
It was good, actually, going to get tested, apparently my hep-C vaccinationās about to expire. Anyway Iām fine for anything up to the last six weeks.
Beat.
ANNA (curiously).ā¦Have you had action in the last six weeks?
FELIX. I have, but very very safe.
ANNA. Wow, action in the last six weeks, well done, you!
FELIX. Wellā¦
ANNA. I havenāt had action in the past year.
ANNA gets a newspaper out of her bag.
I bought something to readā¦
Pause.
ā¦Um, Felix ā where do you want me to go?
FELIX galvanises himself.
FELIX. Yes. What I thought was, Iāll go in the bathroom, with some porn. And you canā¦ the bedroomās just here.
He indicates a door, off.
ANNA. Oh great. So Iāll just lie down and read the paper sort of thing?
FELIX. Grand. And then Iāll bring it in andā¦ you do your stuff. Iāve got to head out actually. So Iāll just leave you there.
Take all the time you want.
ANNA. Thatās brilliant.
ā¦Actually, could I have a towel?
FELIX. Yes, yes of courseā¦
Let me go andā¦
He goes off, speaks from off.
Sorry, the roomās a bit of a messā¦
ā¦My friend was stayingā¦ I have changed the sheetsā¦
ANNA (half to herself, she is busy looking through her bag again).ā¦Oh, thank youā¦
FELIX (from off). Actually, I got some flowers. Daffodils.
ANNA. Oh, how lovely.
FELIX comes back in. She turns to him questioningly with some syringes in plastic packaging.
I donāt know what sizeā¦?
Syringe?
How much do you normallyā¦?
FELIX. Well it depends, really, on how turned on I am.
ANNA picks up one of the metal containers.
ANNA. Not a gallon then.
FELIX (remembering).ā¦Your tea!
He makes to resume tea-making, ANNA looks at her watch.
ANNA. Actually, Felix ā Iām a bit worried, actually, about time ā do you think we ought to just ā ? I can skip the tea.
FELIX abandons tea-making.
FELIX. Yes, yes of course. Of course! Iāll go in there.
ANNA. I donāt mean to be bossyā¦
FELIX. No no. Iāll get on with it.
As he goes out.
Help yourself to anything you want.
ANNA. Thank you.
We hear the fan turn on as he goes into the bathroom and switches the light on, closes the door.
ANNA is left on her own. She looks around at the art a bit more. Looks off towards the bathroom. Surreptitiously listens to see if she can hear any noises. She canāt. Then she hesitantly goes off into the spare bedroom with her bag and newspaper. The room is left empty.
Scene Two
39
ANNA sits with her brother, JOSEPH. They are scrolling through a website on a laptop which they pass between one another. When ANNA taps away, JOSEPH cranes over her shoulder.
Their DAD sits nearby, simultaneously engrossed in his own laptop and an open book beside him. Occasionally he throws comments into the mix but largely stays focused on his work.
JOSEPH. Fucking hell, thatās a bit expensive.
ANNA. Well thereās no point doing the cheap one because then you donāt get to see their photos.
JOSEPH. Right. So you do a searchā¦
ANNA. Yeahā¦ āUK-compliantā because itās based in Americaā¦ (Filling in details.) Any height, you think, right?
JOSEPH. Well. Beggars canāt be choosers.
ANNA. No, I think itās when youāre a beggar that y...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Original Production
- Dedication
- Characters
- Stories
- About the Author
- Copyright and Performing Rights Information