Mrs Dalloway

Hal Coase

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781786826404
• eBook ISBN: 9781786826411
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Historical Fiction
• Index: Literature

This adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel asks the audience to reflect on how we become who we are, and on how we judge others. On a single day in 1920s London, we delve deep into the life of Clarissa Dalloway, as she prepares to throw a party for her high-society friends and members of the Government. We hear her interior monologue, her thoughts on others, and her reflection on her own place in this higher strata of society. In the same city, a very different story unfolds. First world war veteran Septimus Warren Smith, suffering from shell-shock and emotionally distanced from his wife, seeks help from the ruling class that Clarissa entertains. This adaptation opened at the Arcola Theatre, London in 2018 and used a cast of five. It was staged in an experimental way, to convey the intricacies of the novel and capture the characters' stream-of-consciousness. It is afast-paced, dynamic take on Virginia Woolf's classic tale.

Actors 1 and 2 enter the space:

1 Hi everyone!

2 Hello. Thanks for coming to the show.

1 Yes – thank you.

2 We’ll be starting soon after a bit of a preamble.

1 Before all that ambling!

My name’s [first name]. I’m an actor, obviously! I live in [place]. I’ve lived there for [how long]. And I think the thing I love most about living in [place] is [personal reason].

And I first read Mrs Dalloway when I was a teenager.

2 And my name’s [full name]. And I live in Westminster. No, only joking! Imagine! No, I live in [place]. And the thing I love most about living in [place] is the people. Yeah, the people are great.

I first read Mrs Dalloway about a month ago when I got this part because I thought that might be helpful.

1 Great. OK, great. Who else here lives in London?

Audience responds.

Well, that makes sense! That’s good. The book’s about London – and lots of other things.

2 Lots of other things!

1 Yes.

2 Right now we want to mention and reflect on the idea that when ‘so much strength is spent on finding a way of telling the truth, the truth itself is bound to reach us in rather an exhausted and chaotic condition.’

That’s Virginia Woolf in her essay ‘Mr Bennett and Mrs Brown’, which was published in 1924, the year before Mrs Dalloway.

‘An exhausted and chaotic condition’ – maybe that’s the best we can hope for.

1 That’s also one hell of a disclaimer, isn’t it? ‘Hey! Fuck ups are inevitable! We’re doing our best!’

2 I like it.

1 I know. Me too. Do you want to say anything else about it?

2 Not right now. When we’re all ready, we’re going to start with her – Mrs Dalloway.

How is everyone feeling?

Audience responds.

1 Well I feel terrified!

2 Do you?

1 Yes.

2 Are you – terrified?

1 Yes!

2 Why?

1 I couldn’t say. How are you doing?

2 I’m excited.

1 Really?

2 Yeah, always excited. Ecstatic, even!

1 Ecstatic?

2 Absolutely.

1 Right. OK.

3 and 4 enter – 3 is carrying flowers.

3 Hi everyone.

1 Hello.2Hi.

4 She’s just coming.

2 This is –

3 I’m [first name].

2 [second name].

3 Yeah, [full name]. Thanks.

4 I’m [full name]. Hi.

2 Good of you to show up.

3 S/he says that every night.

2 I do, yes. It’s funny. What are those?

3 [name of flowers].

2 They’re beautiful.

4 Ready?

2 Yes. Shall I do her entrance?

4 Sure.

3 Are you excited?

2 I am, yes. Are you?

3 Yup and [1] is / terrified?

2 Terrified – but s/he can’t say why!

3 But what does the brain matter, compared with the heart?

2 Said Lady Rosseter, getting up.

1 I will come.

4 Said Peter Walsh, but he sat on for a moment.

2 exits.

1 What is this terror?

4 What is this ecstasy?

2 He thought to himself.

1 What is it that fills me with extraordinary excitement?

4 It is Clarissa.

1 He said.

3 For there she was.

4 For here she is…

2 enters as ‘Mrs Dalloway’.

2 ?

1 No.

2 No?

1 Yes, no, sorry – it’s –

Unsatisfactory.

2 Unsatisfactory?

4 Well she’s more… It’s more sort of – pinched? I think is what s/he means.

3 Pinched?2Pinched?

1 No, I don’t think – ‘pinched’ – ?

4 Poised, then – it’s more poised.

2 She comes into a room, this room – any room – a room – she comes in – kind, curious, sentimental – she stands, like this, she stands,...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Notes
• Contents
• Chapter 1