Barker: Plays Seven

Howard Barker

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781849436977
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Teatro britannico

The latest volume in Oberon's Howard Barker series comprises the plays Und, The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo, 12 Encounters With a Prodigy, Christ's Dog and Learning Kneeling. Howard Barker is Barker is an internationally renowned dramatist. There has been a recent resurgence of presentations of his plays in Britain, with particularly acclaimed productions at the Arcola theatre and the Hackney Empire in recent years. He has a sizable following on the European mainland.

12 ENCOUNTERS WITH A PRODIGY

Characters

KISSTER
a Boy of 12

COLOGNE
his Governess

TOLEDO
his Tutor

TUESDAY
his Friend

SAMUELLA
his Mother

GABRIELE
his Ecstasy

BEHEMOND
a Vagrant

GNASH
a Female Vagrant

MARSTON
a Thinker

MENDEL
Father of Gabriele

RAGSIT
a Victim of Plague

SCHOCK
Father of Tuesday

TERESA
Mother of Tuesday

OLMUTZ
an Angel

PRESSBURG
an Angel

CANNAY
a Mortuary Assistant

RILEY
a Lover

I

A child rehearses.

KISSTER:	I was born at a roadside. Planes swooped overhead, firing cannon. Five uncles died, three of them clutching clocks. These clocks chimed as in their last convulsions my uncles crushed them to their chests. The fields were barley. When the barley burned it gave off dense clouds of smoke. This smoke attracted the attention of looters, rapists, and psychopaths. For two days my mother hid me in a drain, lifting the iron lid to feed me and replacing it again. For two days she was subjected to unspeakable barbarities. Her body was the site of more refined depravity with every passing hour. To this day she bears the scars of –
	YES –
	YES –
	The scars of her ordeal not only on her body but also in the deepest –
	OH –
	OH –
	RECESSES –
	RECESSES of her mind, hardly a night goes by without the darkness tearing like a sheet as in some nightmare she dives and screams, I force the pillow tight around my ears and –
	I’m not going on –
	I’m stopping there –
	Don’t make me –
	I WON’T –
	I WON’T –
	(He sits defiantly on the floor, his legs stuck out in front of him… A woman emerges from the shadows… she regards him with exasperation…his eyes at last rise to meet hers…)
COLOGNE:	You are such a such a such a clever child –
KISSTER:	I know –
COLOGNE:	Such a clever child –
KISSTER:	Yes –
COLOGNE:	And it –
KISSTER:	I know –
COLOGNE:	WOUNDS ME SOMEWHERE IN MY –
KISSTER:	I know –
COLOGNE:	IN MY MOST TENDER PLACE THAT YOU WILL TIP YOUR LIFE LIKE WATER DOWN THE SLUICE –
KISSTER:	Yes –
COLOGNE:	BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT CONCENTRATE…!
	(She is suddenly calm, collected. She moves to and fro with the patient demeanour of a gifted teacher…)
	What is the first law of human behaviour Kisster?
KISSTER:	Coercion.
COLOGNE:	And how does coercion announce itself?
KISSTER:	By violence.
COLOGNE:	Only by violence?
KISSTER:	No. It has a number of masks.
COLOGNE:	Name the masks of coercion, Kisster.
KISSTER:	Pity. Argument. And Shame.
COLOGNE:	And which is the greatest of these?
KISSTER:	Pity. Can I play now I have been indoors for –
COLOGNE:	No –
KISSTER:	Indoors for two hours –
COLOGNE:	WHY NOT WHY NOT INDOORS FOR A HUNDRED HOURS –
	(He smarts.)
	KISSTER, I AM SAVING YOUR LIFE…!
KISSTER:	I know, I know –
	(He sobs… COLOGNE goes to him, kneels, hugs him to her…they rock in one another’s arms…)
COLOGNE:	You are so clever, so very, very clever –
KISSTER:	(Stifled.) Mmm –
COLOGNE:	And I adore you –
KISSTER:	Mmm –
COLOGNE:	Adore you with the vehemence of a perverse maternity whose –
KISSTER:	Mmm –
COLOGNE:	Is without –
	(She kisses him powerfully on the lips…)
	Perimeters –
	(She thrusts him away, and scrambles to her feet.)
	AND SHAMELESS SHAMELESS KISSTER…!
KISSTER:	(Wiping his mouth.) Yes…
	(She stares at him… Pause.)
COLOGNE:	You do not want to play…you have no more desire to go outside and kick balls in gutters than I have to jostle fat women at market stalls…the sun is hateful to you…look how pale you are and when your hands are dirty you frown as if some vile excrement had been smeared on a sacred robe –
KISSTER:	I LIKE FOOTBALL…!
COLOGNE:	Oh, lie, lie, Kisster, it delights me –
KISSTER:	(Stamping a foot.) LIKE IT I SAID…
	(Pause… She examines him…coolly…)
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