Land Without Dreams

Tue Biering

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781786829054
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Drama
• Index: Literature

This Is A Play About The Future (And Climate Change. Not Insomnia.) A woman walks onto the stage. She says she is from the future. She says that we have stopped dreaming. She says we can change everything. She says that she can help end all our dystopian nightmares. But we know plays don't change the world. Right? Land Without Dreams is a hopeful, funny and courageous new show by experimental Copenhagen-based theatre company Fix&Foxy. Their previous works include radical versions of Pretty Woman, Twin Peaks, and Friends.

PART ONE

(There’s full light on the empty stage and on the seats when the audience enters. The light is kept that way without any change for most of the performance.)

1.

IN THE NEAR PAST

(A woman walks on stage.)

Now imagine that it’s completely dark.

You can’t see anything.

There are no sounds.

Then, a light turns on.

Imagine a room.

It looks like this one,

but there’s nobody on stage.

Nobody in the seats. It’s completely empty.

Nothing is happening.

Time passes.

Then the door opens.

The audience comes in.

They look like you.

They talk to each other.

Some of them are talking about how long it’s been since they’ve seen something really good in the theatre.

Two of them are talking about where they’re going for the summer holidays.

There is a couple, who are on their first date. You sit down at the very back, but you don’t yet know whether you’ll be sitting close together and holding hands or whether you should start off by resting your hands in your laps. You decide to leave your hands alone.

One of you is wondering if the title of the play that you’re watching right now has something to do with insomnia or maybe it’s more of a metaphor.

Another person in here loves sci-fi. You love sci-fi because anything can happen. Nothing can be called unrealistic because it’s about the future, and no one knows what that’ll bring. You’re really excited to see how they’ll do sci-fi in the theatre.

THE PLAY BEGINS

The lights on the audience are switched off and the lights on the stage fade up. There is still nothing in the room.

One person is thinking:

“Is that really it? Where’s the set? Where’s the scenography?”

You, who’d been so looking forward to seeing some sci-fi, can feel the disappointment spreading itself.

“Where’s the room that’s supposed to look like something from the future?”

There’s a long pause.

Nothing happens.

Someone lets their eyes wander.

(The description of the room ends at the door.)

Right behind the door stands a woman.

She’s biting her bottom lip.

In just a few moments, she’ll meet about (the number of audience members that evening) people.

They don’t know this, but she knows all of them.

She has to tell them something they’ll have a hard time believing. It will be intense and change their lives, but she’s heard that people who go to the theatre are always very open-minded. They want to believe everything.

She opens the door.

And enters.

A WOMAN ENTERS

She walks across the stage and stands near its centre.

She is (description of the actress: height and length/colour of hair).

She looks trustworthy, reliable.

She looks out at the audience.

And you look back at her.

Some of you think that it’s off to a good start.

(Smiles at some of them.)

Others sit and smile back out of politeness.

(Looking at someone in particular.)

One of you can feel that your underpants have ridden up a bit and you’re contemplating how to pull them back down again without anyone noticing.

(Looking at someone specific.)

One of you is wondering if the new season of The End of the Fucking World is on Channel 4 yet? Or if that is next Wednesday. And when you can just binge it on Netflix.

One of you is waiting on an important call and your phone is on ‘vibrate’ — even though you were all told to switch off your cell phones. About once a minute, you place your hand on your pocket, to check if it’s vibrating. And if it vibrates, you plan on answering, and leaving, even though you’ll have to walk past ten audience members and the woman on stage will notice.

The woman looks at everyone in the room and then she says something that will change everything for all of you.

(Exit.)

2.

THE WOMAN IS FROM THE FUTURE

(Time passes.)

(Enter.)

I come from the future.

Don’t be afraid.

All will be well.

I know that a lot of you are worried about what will happen in the future.

Crises, catastrophes, and even more complex issues weigh on your minds and when you look to the future, it only gets worse and worse.

Several of you can’t even imagine it being any different. You’ve stopped dreaming because it’s pointless. Naïve.

I’ve come from the future to tell you that it’s going to be okay.

(Looking at someone in particular.)

Now, you’re thinking:

I need some sort of set design to be able to imagine where I’m meant to be. When she says that she’s from the future, there could at least be some white glass walls and some sharp white LED lights. Or she could wear sci-fi clothes. Like a tight, sexy, sci-fi outfit.

You, the one on the date, you’re thinking about sex with your date. How will it be? Will you already have sex tonight? You definitely want to. Should you take the initiative or let your date make the first move?

Someone in the audience hasn’t really been paying attention. You’ve been sitting and thinking about the conversation that you and your partner have been putting off for years. About getting your eggs and his sperm frozen. You know, just in case. You’re thinking that when the show is over, you’ll go straight home and talk about it. ’Cause the way things are looking now, it’ll only get worse.

The woman on stage can tell that no one is taking her seriously. No one really believes that she’s from the future. Everyone thinks that this is theatre. That she’s playing a part. That she’s just saying some lines.

Some think they’ve actually seen her in some other play. Most are impressed that actors can remember so many lines.

(Exit.)

3.

I LOOK LIKE YOU

(Enter.)

I come from the future.

I know I don’t look like someone from the future.

...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Part One
• Part Two