Thebes Land

Sergio Blanco, Daniel Goldman

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781786820938
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786820945
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

This title is only available for purchase in the UK and Ireland

How could anyone kill their own father? One of the rarest and most shocking crimes known to man is interrogated in this daring new play, with the on-stage participation of convicted patricide Martin Santos.

Translated from the original Spanish, an electrifying tale about retribution and justice, love and masculinity.

THIRD QUARTER

T: I like watching you play.

MARTIN: I know. I can tell.

T: And you like being watched, right?

MARTIN: I told you. It don’t bother me.

T: You’re good.

MARTIN: I know that, too. (MARTIN dribbles.) I can do it from over here, too. Thud.

T: You have good aim.

MARTIN: I’m good at calculating. It’s just a matter of being able to calculate distance and velocity. That’s all. See? (MARTIN dribbles.) Aren’t you coming in?

T: Yes.

MARTIN: Do want a go?

T: No. Thank you.

MARTIN: No, thank you. Why won’t you try?

T: I’m not very good at ball games.

MARTIN: None of them?

T: They’re not really my thing.

MARTIN: What about football?

T: No. I don’t play that either.

MARTIN: You don’t like football?

T: I’d rather watch it.

MARTIN: Me too. I like playing basketball but I’d rather watch football. Who’s your favourite team?

T: I don’t have one.

MARTIN: Mine’s Man U.

T: Okay. Tottenham. I guess.

MARTIN: Spurs are shit. Manchester United are the best. Well, they were. Who’s your favourite player?

T: I don’t know. Gareth Bale. Messi.

MARTIN: What about Zidane?

T: Yes. Of course. I like him too.

MARTIN: He’s my favourite player.

T: Well… He was very good.

MARTIN: He’s the best ever. The best by miles.

T: Maybe.

MARTIN: There’s no one else like him.

T: That famous headbutt, right?

MARTIN: The headbutt…

T: Yes. The head butt. The Materazzi headbutt.

MARTIN: That’s because he cussed him. Materazzi cussed Zidane’s sister.

T: Yes. I know.

MARTIN: And his mum.

T: Sometimes I watch it on YouTube.

MARTIN: The headbutt?

T: Just that clip. On repeat. I like watching Zidane hitting Materazzi square in the middle of his chest.

MARTIN: Just like that. Two steps back and one good, hard hit. Bam. Full-on and dead centre. Zidane. Best ever. So you do know a bit about football.

T: No. Very little. Hardly anything.

MARTIN: I read an article the other day. Guess what it was about it? You’ve got three guesses.

T: Was it about Zidane?

MARTIN: No.

T: I don’t know. Messi?

MARTIN: No. One more guess. I’ll give you a clue.

T: Basketball?

MARTIN: Yeah. It was an article about you. Well, actually, it was about your dad, how your dad played basketball when he was younger.

T: Ah. Yes. How did you…?

MARTIN: The librarian showed it to me. Cos he knows… Was he a professional?

T: My father?

MARTIN: Yeah. Was he a professional basketball player?

T: Yes. When he was young.

MARTIN: And now?

T: No. He only played for a few years. But that was a while ago. Before I was born. Then he stopped.

MARTIN: And was he good?

T: I don’t know. I never saw him play. I think so. He must have been. It never occurred to me to ask him.

MARTIN: Is he dead?

T: Who? My father? No. No. He’s alive. I spoke with him this morning.

MARTIN: And do you get on with him?

T: Yes. Generally. We argue a bit sometimes. But we get on.

MARTIN: So… I mean… Do you love him?

T: Yes. Of course. Very much.

MARTIN: And him?

T: What?

MARTIN: Does he love you too?

T: Yes. Of course. Well… I‘ve never asked him that either. But I imagine so. I imagine he loves me very much.

MARTIN: My dad never loved me. I know because he told me. All the time.

T: What did he say?

MARTIN: I don’t love you. I don’t love you, he said. Any time something happened, any time there was a problem or something, I don’t love you anyway. I never loved you. And I’m never going to love you, he’d say. He always wanted to let me know in one way or another. Since I was little. Since I was very little. And sometimes he’d walk past me and hit me just because. Bam. Punch me. Right in the face. And if I complained. Bam. Another punch. I think he enjoyed it.

T: Enjoyed what?

MARTIN: You know. Enjoyed hitting me. It gave him pleasure. He used to hit my mum too. And also just because. Bam. Out of nowhere. Bam. All of a sudden he’d feel like hitting us. Bam. Bam. Bam. Sometimes he’d go and get a belt and whack us hard on our backs.

T: With the belt?

MARTIN: Yes. Right here. This part here. Where it hurts most. And sometimes he’d even do it in front of his friends. He’d sit them on the couch, stand me in front of them and hit me. With everything he had. But the belt was the worst. Cos of the buckle. That really messed you up. Besides, the belt left marks. On the skin. Like sores. And then it would hurt for days. It hurt when I moved, when I showered. Skin too tight. Other times he hits me here. On this part of my neck. Where the vein is. And afterward the pain goes up to my head. Other times he picks up a book and hits me with it. Or he uses them as a vice to crush my hands. My fingers. Inside the book. And then… then he’d stamp on them. That ever happen to you?

T: No.

MARTIN: He did it until my hands were bleeding. Understand? That’s why I don’t go to the library. It reminds me. It hurts so m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword One
• Foreword Two
• FIBA Official Basketball Rules
• Characters
• First Quarter
• Second Quarter
• Third Quarter
• Four Quarter
• Over Time
• Post-script One
• Post-script Two