An Oak Tree

Tim Crouch

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781350262775
• eBook ISBN: 9781849435833
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

'Since your daughter's death I've not been much of a hypnotist.'
A man loses his daughter to a car accident. Nothing now is what it seems. It's like he's in a play - but he doesn't know the words or the moves.
The man who was driving the car is a stage hypnotist. Since the accident he's lost the power of suggestion. His act's a disaster. For him, everything now is exactly what it is. For the first time since the accident, these two men meet. They meet when the Father volunteers for the Hypnotist's act. And, this time, he really doesn't know the words or the moves...

An Oak Tree is a remarkable play for two actors. The Father, however, is played by a different actor - male or female - at each performance. They walk on stage having neither seen nor read a word of the play they're in...until they're in it. This is a breath-taking projection of a performance, given from one actor to another, from a hypnotist to their subject, from an audience to a person. An Oak Tree is a bold and absurdly comic play about loss, suggestion and the power of the mind.

An Oak Tree premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in August 2005.

Scene 1

The HYPNOTIST hands the FATHER a page of script: ‘Could we just read this together you and me?’ The second actor reads the part of the FATHER from the script.

HYPNOTIST:	Hello!
FATHER:	Hello!
HYPNOTIST:	Thanks for this.
FATHER:	It’s a pleasure!
HYPNOTIST:	You hope!
FATHER:	Yes!
Pause.
HYPNOTIST:	How are you feeling?
FATHER:	Okay.
HYPNOTIST:	Nervous?
FATHER:	A little.
HYPNOTIST:	It’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.
FATHER:	I’m sure.
HYPNOTIST:	Any questions before we start?
FATHER:	Not really.
HYPNOTIST:	Nothing?
FATHER:	How long is the show?
HYPNOTIST:	It’s just over an hour.
FATHER:	Okay.
HYPNOTIST:	Anything else?
FATHER:	How free am I?
HYPNOTIST:	Every word we speak is scripted but otherwise –
FATHER:	Okay.
HYPNOTIST:	Anything else?
FATHER:	Not really.
HYPNOTIST:	Just say if you feel awkward or confused and we’ll stop.
FATHER:	Okay.
The HYPNOTIST takes the FATHER’s script from him/her.
HYPNOTIST:	Good. Can I ask you just to look at me. Ask me what I’m being. Say, ‘What are you being?’
FATHER:	What are you being?
HYPNOTIST:	I’m being a hypnotist. Look. I’m fifty-one years old. I’ve got a red face, a bald head and bony shoulders. (This must be an accurate description of the actor playing the HYPNOTIST.) Look. I’m wearing these clothes. Now ask who you are, say ‘And me?’
FATHER:	And me?
HYPNOTIST:	You’re a father. Your name’s Andy. You’re 46 years old, you’re six foot two. Your lips are cracked. Your fingernails are dirty. You’re wearing a crumpled Gore-tex jacket. Your trousers are muddy, say, your shoes are muddy. You have tremors. You’re unshaven. Your hair is greying. You have a bloodshot eye. That’s great! You’re doing really well! Also, you’ll volunteer for my hypnotism act. You’ll volunteer because I accidentally killed your eldest daughter with my car and you think I may have some answers to some questions you’ve been asking. I won’t recognise you when y...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• An Oak Tree
• Second Actors in this Production of an Oak Tree
• A Note From Andy Smith
• Excerpts From…
• Dedication
• Notes for the second actor
• Notes
• Prologue
• Scene 1
• Scene 2
• Scene 3
• Scene 4
• Scene 5
• Scene 6
• Scene 7
• Scene 8
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