[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: What do you do when you go out? Sift?
[Spot from W2 to M.]
M: Am I hiding something? Have I lost–
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: She had means, I fancy, though she lived like a pig.
[Spot from W1 to W2.]
W2: Like dragging a great roller, on a scorching day. The strain … to get it moving, momentum coming–
[Spot off W2. Blackout. Three seconds. Spot on W2.]
W2: Kill it and strain again.
[Spot from W2 to M.]
M: Have I lost … the thing you want? Why go out? Why go–
[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: And you perhaps pitying me, thinking, Poor thing, she needs a rest.
[Spot from W2 to W1.]
W1: Perhaps she has taken him away to live … somewhere in the sun.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: Why go down? Why not–
[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: I don’t know.
[Spot from W2 to W1.]
W1: Perhaps she is sitting somewhere, by the open window, her hands folded in her lap, gazing down out over the olives–
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: Why not keep on glaring at me without ceasing? I might start to rave and–[Hiccup.]–bring it up for you. Par–
[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: No.
[Spot from W2 to M.]
M: –don.
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Gazing down out over the olives, then the sea, wondering what can be keeping him, growing cold. Shadow stealing over everything. Creeping. Yes.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: To think we were never together.
[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: Am I not perhaps a little unhinged already?
[Spot from W2 to W1.]
W1: Poor creature. Poor creatures.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: Never woke together, on a May morning, the first to wake to wake the other two. Then in a little dinghy–
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Penitence, yes, at a pinch, atonement, one was resigned, but no, that does not seem to be the point either.
[Spot from W1 to W2.]
W2: I say, Am I not perhaps a little unhinged already? [Hopefully.] Just a little? [Pause.] I doubt it.
[Spot from W2 to M.]
M: A little dinghy–
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Silence and darkness were all I craved. Well, I get a certain amount of both. They being one. Perhaps it is more wickedness to pray for more.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: A little dinghy, on the river, I resting on my oars, they lolling on air-pillows in the stern … sheets. Drifting. Such fantasies.
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Hellish half-light.
[Spot from W1 to W2.]
W2: A shade gone. In the head. Just a shade. I doubt it.
[Spot from W2 to M.]
M: We were not civilized.
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Dying for dark–and the darker the worse. Strange.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: Such fantasies. Then. And now–
[Spot from M to W2.]
W2: I doubt it.
[Pause. Peal of wild low laughter from W2 cut short as spot from her to W1.]
W1: Yes, and the whole thing there, all there, staring you in the face. You’ll see it. Get off me. Or weary.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: And now, that you are … mere eye. Just looking. At my face. On and off.
[Spot from M to W1.]
W1: Weary of playing with me. Get off me. Yes.
[Spot from W1 to M.]
M: Looking for something. In my face. Some truth. In my eyes. Not even.
[Spot from M to W2. Laugh as before from W2 cut short as spot from her to M.]
M: Mere eye. No mind. Opening and shutting on me. Am I as much–
[Spot off M. Blackout. Three seconds. Spot on M.]
Am I as much as … being seen?
[Spot off M. Blackout. Five seconds. Faint spots simultaneously on three faces. Three seconds. Voices faint, largely unintelligible.]
[Repeat play.]
M: [Closing repeat.] Am I as much as … being seen?
[Spot off M. Blackout. Five seconds. Strong spots simultaneously on three faces. Three seconds. Voices normal strength.]
[Spots off. Blackout. Five seconds. Spot on M.]
M: We were not long together–
[Spot off M. Blackout. Five seconds.]
CURTAIN
LIGHT
The source of light is single and must not be situated outside the ideal space (stage) occupied by its victims.
The optimum position for the spot is at the centre of the footlights, the faces being thus lit at close quarters and from below.
When exceptionally three spots are required to light the three faces simultaneously, they should be as a single spot branching into three.
Apart from these moments a single mobile spot should be used, swivelling at maximum speed from one face to another as required.
The method consisting in assigning to each face a separate fixed spot is unsatisfactory in that it is less expressive of a unique inquisitor than the single mobile spot.
CHORUS
W1 Yes strange darkness best and the darker the worse
W2 Yes perhaps a shade gone I suppose some might say
M Yes peace one assumed all out all the pain
W1 till all dark then all well for the time but it will come
W2 poor thing a shade gone just a shade in the head
M all as if never been it will come [Hiccup] pardon
W1 the time will come the thing is there you'll see it
W2 [Laugh] just a shade but I doubt it
M no sense in this oh I know none the less
W1 get off me keep off me all dark all still
W2 I doubt it not really I'm all right still all right
M one assumed peace I mean not merely all over
W1 all over wiped out–
W2 do my best all I can–
M but as if never been–
URNS
In order for the urns to be only one yard high, it is necessary either that traps be used, enabling the actors to stand below stage level, or that they kneel throughout play, the urns being open at the back.
Should traps be not available, and the kneeling posture found impracticable, the actors should stand, the urns be enlarged to full length and moved back from front to mid-stage, the tallest actor setting the height, the broadest the breadth, to which the three urns should conform.
The sitting posture results in urns of unacceptable bulk and is not to be considered.
REPEAT
The repeat may be an exact replica of first statement or it may present an element of variation.
In other words, the light may operate the second time exactly as it did the first (exact replica) or it may try a different method (variation).
The London production (and in a lesser degree the Paris production) opted for the variation with following deviations from first statement:
1. Introduction of an abridged chorus, cut short on laugh of W2, to open fragment of second repeat.
2. Light less strong in repeat and voices correspondingly lower, giving the following schema, where A is the highest level of light and voice and E the lowest:
3. Breathless quality in voices from beginning of Repeat 1 and increasing to end of play.
4. Changed order of speeches in repeat as far as this is compatible with unchanged continuity for actors. E.g. the order of interrogation W1, W2, M, W2, W1, M at opening of 1 becomes W2, W1, M, W2, M, W1 at opening of repeat, and so on if and as desired.
Film
Written in English in April 1963. Commissioned for the Evergreen Theater, New York. Filmed in New York in the summer of 1964 and first shown publicly in 1965 at t
he New York Film Festival. First published by Faber and Faber, London, in 1967.
This is the original project for Film. No attempt has been made to bring it into line with the finished work. The one considerable departure from what was imagined concerns the opening sequence in the street. This was first shot as given, then replaced by a simplified version in which only the indispensable couple is retained. For the rest the shooting followed closely the indications of the script.
Throughout first two parts all perception is E’s. E is the camera. But in third part there is O’s perception of room and contents and at the same time E’s continued perception of O. This poses a problem of images which I cannot solve without technical help. See below, note 8.
The film is divided into three parts. 1. The street (about eight minutes). 2. The stairs (about five minutes). 3. The room (about seventeen minutes).
The film is entirely silent except for the ‘sssh!’ in part one.
Climate of film comic and unreal. O should invite laughter throughout by his way of moving. Unreality of street scene (see notes to this section).
GENERAL
Esse est percipi.
All extraneous perception suppressed, animal, human, divine, self-perception maintains in being.
Search of non-being in flight from extraneous perception breaking down in inescapability of self-perception.
No truth value attaches to above, regarded as of merely structural and dramatic convenience.
In order to be figured in this situation the protagonist is sundered into object (O) and eye (E), the former in flight, the latter in pursuit.
It will not be clear until end of film that pursuing perceiver is not extraneous, but self.
Until end of film O is perceived by E from behind and at an angle not exceeding 45°. Convention: O enters percipi = experiences anguish of perceivedness, only when this angle is exceeded.
E is therefore at pains, throughout pursuit, to keep within this ‘angle of immunity’ and only exceeds it (1) inadvertently at beginning of part one when he first sights O (2) inadvertently at beginning of part two when he follows O into vestibule and (3) deliberately at end of part three when O is cornered. In first two cases he hastily reduces angle.
OUTLINE
1. The street
Dead straight. No sidestreets or intersections. Period: about 1929. Early summer morning. Small factory district. Moderate animation of workers going unhurriedly to work. All going in same direction and all in couples. No automobiles. Two bicycles ridden by men with girl passengers (on crossbar). One cab, cantering nag, driver standing brandishing whip. All persons in opening scene to be shown in some way perceiving–one another, an object, a shop window, a poster, etc., i.e. all contentedly in percipere and percipi. First view of above is by E motionless and searching with his eyes for O. He may be supposed at street edge of wide (4 yards) sidewalk. O finally comes into view hastening blindly along sidewalk, hugging the wall on his left, in opposite direction to all the others. Long dark overcoat (whereas all others in light summer dress) with collar up, hat pulled down over eyes, briefcase in left hand, right hand shielding exposed side of face. He storms along in comic foundered precipitancy. E’s searching eye, turning left from street to sidewalk, picks him up at an angle exceeding that of immunity (O’s unperceivedness according to convention) (1). O, entering perceivedness, reacts (after just sufficient onward movement for his gait to be established) by halting and cringing aside towards wall. E immediately draws back to close the angle (2) and O, released from perceivedness, hurries on. E lets him get about 10 yards ahead and then starts after him (3). Street elements from now on incidental (except for episode of couple) in the sense that only registered in so far as they happen to enter field of pursuing eye fixed on O.
Episode of couple (4). In his blind haste O jostles an elderly couple of shabby genteel aspect, standing on sidewalk, peering together at a newspaper. They should be discovered by E a few yards before collision. The woman is holding a pet monkey under her left arm. E follows O an instant as he hastens blindly on, then registers couple recovering from shock, comes up with them, passes them slightly and halts to observe them (5). Having recovered they turn and look after O, the woman raising a lorgnon to her eyes, the man taking off his pince-nez fastened to his coat by a ribbon. They then look at each other, she lowering her lorgnon, he resuming his pince-nez. He opens his mouth to vituperate. She checks him with a gesture and soft ‘sssh!’ He turns again, taking off his pince-nez, to look after O. She feels the gaze of E upon them and turns, raising her lorgnon, to look at him. She nudges her companion who turns back towards her, resuming his pince-nez, follows direction of her gaze and, taking off his pince-nez, looks at E. As they both stare at E the expression gradually comes over their faces which will be that of the flower-woman in the stairs scene and that of O at the end of film, an expression only to be described as corresponding to an agony of perceivedness. Indifference of monkey, looking up into face of its mistress. They close their eyes, she lowering her lorgnon, and hasten away in direction of all the others, i.e. that opposed to O and E (6).
E turns back towards O by now far ahead and out of sight. Immediate acceleration of E in pursuit (blurred transit of encountered elements). O comes into view, grows rapidly larger until E settles down behind him at same angle and remove as before. O disappears suddenly through open housedoor on his left. Immediate acceleration of E who comes up with O in vestibule at foot of stairs.
2. Stairs
Vestibule about 4 yards square with stairs at inner righthand angle. Relation of streetdoor to stairs such that E’s first perception of O (E near door, O motionless at foot of stairs, right hand on banister, body shaken by panting) is from an angle a little exceeding that of immunity. O, entering perceivedness (according to convention), transfers right hand from banister to exposed side of face and cringes aside towards wall on his left. E immediately draws back to close the angle and O, released, resumes his pose at foot of stairs, hand on banister. O mounts a few steps (E remaining near door), raises head, listens, redescends hastily backwards and crouches down in angle of stairs and wall on his right, invisible to one descending (7). E registers him there, then transfers to stairs. A frail old woman appears on bottom landing. She carries a tray of flowers slung from her neck by a strap. She descends slowly, with fumbling feet, one hand steadying the tray, the other holding the banister. Absorbed by difficulty of descent she does not become aware of E until she is quite down and making for the door. She halts and looks full at E. Gradually same expression as that of couple in street. She closes her eyes, then sinks to the ground and lies with face in scattered flowers. E lingers on this a moment, then transfers to where O last registered. He is no longer there, but hastening up the stairs. E transfers to stairs and picks up O as he reaches first landing. Bound forwards and up of E who overtakes O on second flight and is literally at his heels when he reaches second landing and opens with key door of room. They enter room together, E turning with O as he turns to lock the door behind him.
3. The room
Here we assume problem of dual perception solved and enter O’s perception (8). E must so manoeuvre throughout what follows, until investment proper, that O is always seen from behind, at most convenient remove, and from an angle never exceeding that of immunity, i.e. preserved from perceivedness.
Small barely furnished room (9). Side by side on floor a large cat and small dog. Unreal quality. Motionless till ejected. Cat bigger than dog. On a table against wall a parrot in a cage and a goldfish in a bowl. This room sequence falls into three parts.
1. Preparation of room (occlusion of window and mirror, ejection of dog and cat, destruction of God’s image, occlusion of parrot and goldfish).
2. Period in rocking-chair. Inspection and destruction of photographs.
3. Final investment of O by E and dénouement.
1. O stands near door with case in hand and takes in room. Succession of images: dog and cat, side by side, staring
at him; mirror; window; couch with rug; dog and cat staring at him; parrot and goldfish, parrot staring at him; rocking-chair; dog and cat staring at him. He sets down case, approaches window from side and draws curtain. He turns towards dog and cat, still staring at him, then goes to couch and takes up rug. He turns towards dog and cat, still staring at him. Holding rug before him he approaches mirror from side and covers it with rug. He turns towards parrot and goldfish, parrot still staring at him. He goes to rocking-chair, inspects it from front. Insistent image of curiously carved headrest (10). He turns towards dog and cat still staring at him. He puts them out of room (11). He takes up case and is moving towards chair when rug falls from mirror. He drops briefcase, hastens to wall between couch and mirror, follows walls past window, approaches mirror from side, picks up rug and, holding it before him, covers mirror with it again. He returns to briefcase, picks it up, goes to chair, sits down and is opening case when disturbed by print, pinned to wall before him, of the face of God the Father, the eyes staring at him severely. He sets down case on floor to his left, gets up and inspects print. Insistent image of wall, paper hanging off in strips (10). He tears print from wall, tears it in four, throws down the pieces and grinds them underfoot. He turns back to chair, image again of its curious headrest, sits down, image again of tattered wall-paper, takes case on his knees, takes out a folder, sets down case on floor to his left and is opening folder when disturbed by parrot’s eye. He lays folder on case, gets up, takes off overcoat, goes to parrot, close up of parrot’s eye, covers cage with coat, goes back to chair, image again of headrest, sits down, image again of tattered wall-paper, takes up folder and is opening it when disturbed by fish’s eye. He lays folder on case, gets up, goes to fish, close-up of fish’s eye, extends coat to cover bowl as well as cage, goes back to chair, image again of headrest, sits down, image again of wall, takes up folder, takes off hat and lays it on case to his left. Scant hair or bald to facilitate identification of narrow black elastic encircling head.