Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties

Jen Silverman

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781786824257
• eBook ISBN: 9781786824264
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Social Sciences

In Collective Rage, the lives of five very different New York women named Betty collide at the intersection of anger, sex and "theat-ah." As they meet, fall in love, rehearse, revel and rage, they realise that they've been stuck reading the same scripts for far too long. They all come from different backgrounds, and are bored or angry about different things, but the Betty's - each one numbered 1-5 - come togetherto rehearse a new version of Pyramus and Thisbe, the play within a play in A Midsummer Night's Dream. What follows are discoveries, transformations and raucous comedy. Hitting the ring with an electrifying soundtrack, looks to kill and spectacular routines, this outrageous comedy packs the punch to shatter lacquered femininity into a thousand glittering pieces. Strongly influenced by cabaret and female drag, this exquisite rejection of shame and stereotype will punch you in the gut, break your heart and then take you dancing. Collective Rage had its UK premiere at the Southwark Playhouse.

1. BETTY 1 IS IN A RAGE

BETTY 1 walks out on stage.

The space is very empty and very spare.

She looks very proper. But she’s pissed off.

BETTY 1

I was watching the news the other day and

there was this segment on mutilated children?

And then I was watching the news, and

there was this special insider report on amputees.

And then I was watching the news and

it told me that I was going to die of diabetes and high blood

pressure and lyme disease and ovarian cancer and

violent-thug-attack by a person, I think a Man? A Foreign Man?

—oh maybe that’s racist.

Well that’s just the news, I am not responsible for the news.

This world is terrible. This world is awful.

I am Very Very Concerned about the State of Things.

My husband Richard came home and I said to him RICHARD

I said RICHARD

I am Very Very Concerned About The State of Things.

My husband Richard is a calm person.

He is a logical and a rational person and He Wears A Suit.

And Richard said to me: BETTY

Richard said: BETTY

Richard said: Betty, Don’t Worry.

Pause—with sudden fury.

AND THAT DIDN’T MAKE ME FEEL BETTER.

Beat—breath—with great dignity.

There is currently nothing in the whole world

that makes me feel better.

So I decided to throw a Dinner Party.

2. BETTIES 1 AND 2 AT A DINNER PARTY

BETTY 2 walks out onstage.

She’s younger and a little more fragile. Possibly coming unraveled.

Now all of a sudden the two BETTIES are having a dinner party. A really uptight dinner party, where they pretend to be much better friends than they actually are.

BETTY 1

Betty.

BETTY 2

Yes Betty?

BETTY 1

Lady, I love your nails.

BETTY 2

Thanks lady, I love your nails too.

BETTY 1

I think that colour is just darling on you. Where’d you get it?

BETTY 2

Well I went to this little salon on the Upper East.

Charles said, You treat yourself, you just treat yourself.

So I just treated myself.

BETTY 1

That Charles. He’s so thoughtful.

BETTY 2

I know!

BETTY 1

Richard gave me the nicest present the other day.

BETTY 2

What was that?

BETTY 1

Well I’d been so Stressed out, I’ve just been feeling a lot of Stress and I came home and Richard’s assistant had gotten me a gift card for a massage

Richard told his assistant to get me a gift card for a massage isn’t that thoughtful?

BETTY 2

That’s so thoughtful.

An awkward beat. They sip their white wine.

BETTY 1

How are the kids?

BETTY 2

I don’t have kids.

BETTY 1

Oh!

I thought…?

BETTY 2

No…

BETTY 1

Oh.

They sip.

BETTY 2

This neighbourhood is so lovely.

BETTY 1

That’s so true.

Other neighbourhoods are so much less lovely these days.

BETTY 2

Oh, I know…

BETTY 1

They say there’s an Influx

if you know what I mean

yes, that’s certainly happening.

Beat.

I didn’t mean to be… [racist...

Table of contents

• FRONT COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• CONTENTS
• 1. BETTY 1 IS IN A RAGE
• 2. BETTIES 1 AND 2 AT A DINNER PARTY
• 3. BETTY 3 HAS HER OWN DINNER PARTY, IN WHICH ALL OF US TALK ABOUT PUSSY
• 4. BETTIES 4 AND 5 WORK ON THEIR TRUCKS AND DISCUSS LOVE
• 5. BETTY 1 HAS MORE RAGE, AND DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT
• 6. BETTIES 3 AND 4 DISCOVER THAT HIGHBROW THINGS ARE JUST THINGS THAT SEEM TO BE ABOUT OTHER THINGS WHEN THEY’RE ACTUALLY ABOUT PUSSY
• 7. BETTY 2 ACTS OUT HER FEELINGS WITH A PUPPET BECAUSE SHE HAS NO REAL FRIENDS
• 8. BETTIES 1 AND 5 DISCUSS TITS AND RAGE
• 9. ALL OF THE BETTIES HAVE THEIR FIRST COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF RAGE, ALSO KNOWN AS REHEARSAL
• 10. BETTY 4 AND 5 WORK ON THEIR TRUCKS AND TALK ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS, WHICH IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR PUSSY.
• 11. BETTY 1 HAS MORE RAGE BUT ACTUALLY THIS TIME IT FEELS LIKE A SOLUTION, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, A VALID POINT OF VIEW
• 12. BETTY 3 TELLS US HER THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, BECAUSE WE CARE, BECAUSE SHE IS GOING TO BE ALL THE RAGE
• 13. BETTY 2 WATCHES HER PUSSY INSTEAD OF A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT LIONS, AND THEN SHARES SOMETHING PROFOUND WITH US
• 14. THE BETTIES BRING THEIR DEVISED PIECES TO REHEARSAL; THE WALL HAS LINES
• 15. BETTY 4 HAS RAGE, BUT IT’S THE KIND OF RAGE WHERE YOU LOVE THE PERSON YOU’RE ANGRY AT, SO YOU JUST FEEL SICK AND A LITTLE CRAZY, WHICH MAY BE WHY SHE AUDITIONS FOR THE PART OF THE WALL
• 16. BETTIES 1 AND 5 HAVE A SLUMBER PARTY
• 17. BETTY 2 CURATES THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH SHE IS MOST LIKELY TO FLOURISH
• 18. BETTY 2, HAVING COME TO THE END OF HER ABILITY TO BE A BETTY, BECOMES A LION AND THROWS A DINNER PARTY, THAT IS ALSO A DRESS REHEARSAL, THAT IS ALSO A POINT OF NO RETURN
• 19. THE LAST REHEARSAL WHICH IS OPENING NIGHT WHICH IS A CATASTROPHE BECAUSE NOBODY SHOWS UP EXCEPT BETTY 2’S PUSSY.