Characters:
Rachel: Aged mid-thirties at the start of the play.
Dan: Rachel's cousin, two years older than her.
Jack: Rachel's fiance.
Annie: Jack's younger sister, aged late-twenties.
ACT ONE: SCENE ONE
The stage is dark. Sound effects, general party hubbub -
people chattering, glasses clinking.
LIGHTS UP.
Sound effects fade out.
Dan and Rachel are standing at opposite sides of the stage,
each holding a drink. Rachel is also holding a plate. They
talk alternately to invisible actors and move around the
stage as they do so, as if moving from one speaker to
another.
Spotlight changes between them as they have their turn.
RACHEL
Oh she's lovely isn't she? Aunt
Jean showed me the photos. She
looks just like her dad - without
the big nose.
(brief pause while she
listens to reply;
laughter)
I know, I know. Don't tell him I
said it.
DAN
Well, I've been there about seven
years now. Absolutely fabulous.
Apartment by the river, ten
minutes walk from the office,
everything you could want nearby -
gym, restaurants - Chinese,
Italian, Russian, Korean even.
You name it.
(pause to listen)
No, that's a myth: cats maybe.
RACHEL
Eight years, and I've passed all
my exams to level three, so I can
audit customer accounts, but I'm
not a fully qualified accountant.
I wish.
(pause to listen)
No, it's okay. It's a small
company and we all know each
other so... But what about you, I
heard that you were out the fish
business?
DAN
Seventy, eighty, two hundred -
three-hundred and fifty four. Any
number you can think of.
RACHEL
(concerned)
Oh my god, really? I heard she'd
been ill. It's strange isn't it,
how fast it progresses. Remember
great aunt Rose, she got it
didn't she?
DAN
Chief Analyst for the European
section. If I play my cards
right, I'll be Director of
Finance.
(pause)
It's big, but I can handle it.
RACHEL
She just started shaking one day.
Uncle Tom said that she spilled
the sugar and he laughed at her
and she started crying - he
hadn't noticed until then.
(pause)
Well, that's it. The men were
never around were they, in those
days, so he wouldn't have
noticed.
DAN
Two and half million euro. And
they moved it between fourteen
jurisdictions so there was no way
we could trace it back.
(pause)
Nobody gets away with it in the
end. We always find them. We have
the best fraud division
Stateside.
RACHEL
Look there she is over there,
talking to uncle Eddy. What's he
doing now?
(pause)
Retired? Uncled Eddy. God, that
makes me feel old.
DAN
(conspiratorially and
slightly macho)
Not New York women - I don't
bother with them.
They're too hard. Honestly, all
this bullshit you hear about
millions of single women looking
for an elegible man - forget it.
They've got a shopping list as
long as your arm and if you don't
match on every item, you're
wasting your money. US-Asians,
first generation - take it from
me, they're innocent, they're
naive, they know what they want.
Beautiful, beautiful women -
those high cheekbones.
RACHEL
He was going to come but he's
speaking at a conference.
(pause)
Senior Lecturer in Politics.
DAN
I know she's here because I saw
her at the buffet.
(he looks around)
She's over there. No doubt we'll
bump in to each other.
(pause)
I'm two years older than her, so
that would make her - hang on,
I'm giving it away now - thirty
five. She's looking good for
thirty-five.
RACHEL
The last time I saw you was just
before Dan left for New York and
you were about to retire, I
think. No, not retire, get
divorced.
DAN
I get back about twice a year, on
business, but I don't see the
family that much, to tell you the
truth. There's so many of them
that if I see one and not the
others, I end up upsetting
someone, so I think it's best to
wait until occasions like this
and catch up with everyone in one
go.
(pause)
That's right - I'm so bloody busy
when I do come back.
RACHEL
What star sign are you?
(pause)
Aquarius. In Chinese, you'd be
the year of the Ram.
DAN
So they strap this guy on to the
back of a camel - literally, tie
him down - and then one of the
natives takes this stick and
gives it a real whack, and off he
goes. We're all standing around
pissing ourselves with laughter.
This poor guy, when he gets back
to work, we've got the pictures
up on the wall, everything.
RACHEL
(counts on her fingers)
Intuition, femininity,
compassion, and...
DAN
How many kids have you got now?
Last time we met, you had one boy
and one girl. What was her name?
(pause)
Emily. And the boy?
RACHEL
You like art. That was the fifth
thing. I knew there was another.
(pause)
Do they do that rubbing on your
back thing? I had that in
Indonesia - it's brilliant, isn't
it, you just feel all your energy
going up your spine and stopping
in your head.
DAN
I don't believe in computers. I
have to use them, obviously. But
a computer can't tell you what
somebody is thinking. You have to
sit down face to face for that.
It's all become too... too...
(pause)
That's right. So, let me write
that down: ProbeIT dot com -
okay, I'll have a look at it.
They get closer on the stage.
RACHEL
I had this weird dream in which
you, me, Suzanne, Dan, and
someone else were in the swimming
baths - remember, the outdoor
ones we used to go to every
summer? - and Mister Kinshaw was
there and he tried to make us
drink all the water, and you hit
him. Well, you would do that
wouldn't you. And then we were in
Cornwall at your grandmother's
house and everyone was...
(she whispers in the
speakers ear)
Honestly. It's crazy isn't it. I
wonder if it means anything?
DAN
Everybody says that about old
Cyril, but I liked him. I never
found him difficult. He was
always nice to me.
(pause)
But that was after he got cancer -
his jaw came out like that, and
it spread to his liver.
(pause)
No, not his jaw, the cancer.
You'd be bad tempered, wouldn't
you.
They back in to each other and Rachel drops her plate,
which breaks.
RACHEL
Argh... shit!
She bends down to pick it up.
DAN
Opps, sorry.
(realises it's Rachel)
Hiya Rach - it would have to be
you. I'm sorry, let me help you.
He bends down to help her.
DAN (cont'd)
I was just talking about you to
auntie Jean. I saw you loading up
at the buffet.
RACHEL
Thank you - I was not loading up.
She puts the broken plate on the side.
RACHEL (cont'd)
Right, that was inauspicious -
let's start again.
They have a big hug.
DAN
Mmm, you smell gorgeous. What is
it?
RACHEL
Mine's Chanel number 5. What's
yours?
DAN
That's my natural aroma.
RACHEL
Of course, I forgot.
DAN
Shall we go outside, get away
from the zoo?
RACHEL
(linking arms)
Come on. So tell me all your
news, I haven't seen you since,
when?
DAN
I don't know - since I went to
New York, probably. seven years?
RACHEL
Seven years. Why did you stop
phoning me, you bugger?
DAN
I got distracted by all that New
York has to offer. And I have
been busy you know.
RACHEL
Too busy for your own cousin.
DAN
I'm not picking on you. I haven't
seen anyone, apart from mum and
dad.
RACHEL
Where is your dad?
They look back through the window.
RACHEL (cont'd)
Oh, he's dancing with my mum.
He's got his hand on her bum.
DAN
That's not her bum. That's her...
lower back.
RACHEL
Oh really? Look how his fingers
are spread out so that his little
finger is just creeping onto her
bum. It's creeping down, creeping
down - it's almost at the
'shouldn't be there' area.
DAN
No it isn't. Let me look! Oh
well, he always was a ladies man.
Do you remember some of the
parties they had when we were
young.
RACHEL
And we used to go around taking
sips out of all their drinks.
DAN
Some of the things they got up to
then, it makes me wonder.
RACHEL
You see things that you don't
understand at the time and then
later on you realise what they
meant. Remember that time I saw
aunt Carole in my bedroom with
that bloke who used to fix your
dad's car.
DAN
Tony Marcade.
RACHEL
That's him. I just go waltzing
back in to the lounge and say,
"Aunt Carole and Tony are in my
bedroom." Do you remember?
DAN
I do. Great days.
RACHEL
We were inseparable then.
DAN
We used to finish each other's...
RACHEL
Dinner?
DAN
Sentences.
Long pause.
DAN (cont'd)
You look great.
RACHEL
Thankyou. I work at it.
(embarrassed pause)
So how's New York?
DAN
New York is fan-tastic. I have an
apartment in Manhattan, which is
only fifteen minutes walk from my
office. There's a gym and a
swimming pool in the basement and
a deli on the ground floor, an
Italian restaurant on the corner,
a Chinese restaurant on the other
corner. Everything is within
walking distance. What more could
anyone want?
RACHEL
And work?
DAN
Work is good. I am now Chief
Analyst for the European section
and next year I want to be
Director of Finance.
RACHEL
Is that likely?
DAN
I normally get what I want,
unless I...
(hesitant)
...mess up big time.
RACHEL
I don't suppose that's very
likely.
DAN
Hmm. What about you, still
with...
RACHEL
Bowharp and Bowharp. Still
hacking up to London every day,
but not for much longer.
DAN
So I heard. You're getting
hitched. Tell me about your bloke
then. What's his name?
RACHEL
Jack.
DAN
(with weird intonation)
Ja-ack.
RACHEL
Why did you say it like that?
DAN
I'm just trying to remember it.
RACHEL
He's a year younger than me. He's
a political scientist...
DAN
That's an oxymoron.
RACHEL
What do you mean?
DAN
It's a contradiction of terms:
politics and science are not
natural bedfellows.
RACHEL
(good natured)
Shut up. He's sort of shy, when
you first meet him...
DAN
And then?
RACHEL
He can be quite abrasive because
he has strong opinions. You might
find him rude, but he isn't
really.
DAN
Where did you meet him?
RACHEL
Why?
DAN
I don't know, I just want to get
the whole picture, you know, in
my head, of you two coming
together - the fateful moment.
RACHEL
(brazening it out)
I met him on the Internet.
DAN
The Internet? That's not like,
real life, is it. You're joking.
RACHEL
No, I met him on the Internet.
What's the difference if I met
him in a bar or through an ad in
a newspaper? It's just another
way of meeting.
DAN
So you're in love with him.
RACHEL
Why not get straight to the
point? Don't spare my feelings or
anything.
DAN
We used to tell each other
everything - all the gory
details. You can tell me if you
love him.
RACHEL
Yuh, I think so. I suppose so, I
mean, it's different when you get
to thirty-five, isn't it.
DAN
Is it? Why?
RACHEL
Because, I don't know, you just
don't go around falling in love
like you did when you were
fifteen - it's a biological
thing. Now I just want to get
married and have a baby, so it's
more important that we're
compatible and enjoy each other's
company.
DAN
That sounds like a long-winded
way of saying 'no'.
RACHEL
It isn't - look, I do love him. I
like him, he's nice, he's kind,
we have a lot of fun together...
DAN
And you have this desperate urge
to get married and have a child.
RACHEL
Well, yes, if you put it like
that. The biological clock is
ticking away...
DAN
And he has a key that fits.
RACHEL
Okay, it doesn't sound very
romantic, I know, but how many
people do you know who seem to be
madly in love and then two or
three years later, it's all over?
Surely it's better to marry
someone you actually like and get
on with.
DAN
Maybe, it just sounds a bit
lukewarm, that's all.
RACHEL
Okay, when are you going to fall
in love and get married, Mister
Superior?
DAN
I'll never get married.
RACHEL
You will. You'll meet someone
who's right for you and then
you'll want to stop messing
around.
DAN
Maybe. But I sometimes wonder if
I've already met her and let her
go unwittingly.
(pause)
Let's change the subject: what
are you doing tonight?
RACHEL
I should go back to mum's and
spend the evening with them. Why?
DAN
Why not come out with me for a
few drinks around town. I'm only
here for one more night. You
never know, we might see some of
the old gang.
RACHEL
If they're still old and single,
like us, you mean.
DAN
Yeah.
RACHEL
I really should go back to mum's.
DAN
Come on, Rach, you can see your
mum any time, but this is our
last chance together for... for
ever, maybe.
RACHEL
That's horrible - why did you say
that?
DAN
For emphasis.
RACHEL
Okay, but I'm not going dressed
like this. I'll go home and get
changed first. Come on, let's go
back inside.
DAN
(stops her and puts his
hand on her back; it
wanders down)
Look, look! He's dancing with
aunt Rose now! Watch his hand,
watch his hand!
Lights down.
ACT ONE: SCENE TWO
Lights up. Dan's hotel room. Rachel and Dan enter, quite
drunk after their night on the town.
RACHEL
God, what a laugh. I thought he
was going to hit you.
DAN
Well, he started it. He said he
thought I was thick when I was at
school.
RACHEL
And you replied?
DAN
Who's been divorced twice and is
living on welfare? It's a fair
question. Do you remember him
from school?
RACHEL
I do, but there was no way I ever
fancied him, like he thought. He
kept going on about, didn't he:
"I used to really fancy you at
school."
DAN
You see what you missed - you
could have been one of his two
divorces.
RACHEL
God, imagine that. Married and
divorced twice before you're
thirty. How many children did he
say he had?
DAN
Five, and "I support them all you
know."
(looking in mini-bar)
Drinks - whisky, gin, white wine
vinegar, probably.
RACHEL
Maybe I shouldn't have any more.
DAN
Go on - it will help you calm
down.
RACHEL
(holding out her hand)
I've stopped shaking.
DAN
Your face was white when you
arrived. I wondered what had
happened to you.
RACHEL
Well, it scared me. I was driving
back from the hotel to mum's -
you know the road that goes past
the golf club - and I just see
this dog, or something, run out
in front of me. If there'd been a
car coming the other way, I would
have hit it head on, because I
swerved right across the road.
He sits down next to her with the drinks and pats her leg.
She puts her legs across his lap.
DAN
But you're alright now?
RACHEL
Yes, thanks. Cheers.
DAN
Cheers.
RACHEL
It's great seeing you again.
DAN
And you.
(pause)
Ah, it's weird being back. It
seems like a dream.
RACHEL
What does?
DAN
My family. The past. When you
move away, everything becomes
faint and insubstantial, almost
as if you only imagined it, and
then when you come back, you're
flooded with sensations and
experiences that bring it all
back. Memories...
RACHEL
Good ones, though.
DAN
Mostly. Mostly of you.
RACHEL
Why me?
DAN
We were the closest, weren't we.
RACHEL
I suppose so, because we lived
closer and when your dad was in
hospital, you lived at our house
most of the time.
DAN
I meant emotionally closer.
RACHEL
Suzanne and I were best friends.
I see a lot of her these days.
She often takes the same train
into London, so we have a chat.
Their marriage is on the rocks.
DAN
Another one.
RACHEL
Who else's.
DAN
I thought they all were.
RACHEL
Whose?
DAN
All of them.
RACHEL
Of course they're not. Who else's
- tell me.
DAN
I just assume that all marriages
are on the rocks.
RACHEL
That's just you, and your
jaundiced attitude. Our parents
are all still together.
DAN
But at what cost? We know what
they got up to, don't we?
RACHEL
Well, that was a long time ago.
They didn't have much fun, did
they? They were all married with
kids by the age of twenty.
It's not surprising if they all
went a bit wild when the Sixties
came along and everybody else
seemed to be free. Maybe that's
what kept them together.
DAN
Illicit sex.
RACHEL
A bit of fun.
Silence. Dan looks serious.
RACHEL (cont'd)
What's up? Why are you so
serious?
DAN
I don't think I can come to your
wedding.
RACHEL
(concerned)
Oh, why not? Can't you get away
from work?
DAN
No, it's not that, it's...
RACHEL
What?
DAN
I don't think I could bear to see
you marrying someone else.
RACHEL
Who else would I marry?
DAN
I'd find it very hard to accept
that you'd gone for ever.
RACHEL
What are you talking about, gone
forever? You know where I'll be.
You can come and see us whenever
you want.
DAN
I didn't mean that. I meant, the
thought of losing you forever,
that I would never be able to...
to have you. I would never be
able to have you, as opposed to
somebody else.
RACHEL
(sitting up)
Do you mean 'have', as in have?
DAN
Yes. I mean that I love you.
RACHEL
And I love you. We're like
brother and sister.
DAN
But that's just the point - we're
not brother and sister, we're
only cousins and there's nothing
to stop us being together, if we
want to be - if you want to be.
RACHEL
Dan, I've never thought of you in
that way and I never would.
You're my cousin.
DAN
I'm the first boy you kissed,
remember.
RACHEL
Oh that! That was just a dare. We
were only twelve, messing around.
DAN
I know, but I can't forget it,
and after that my feelings for
you just grew stronger. That was
why I wanted to be with you all
the time. I loved it when we
walked around arm in arm, and you
put your arm around my neck, like
you did tonight. I love your
smell, your eyes, the sound of
your voice. When I saw you again
today and you hugged me, it
overwhelmed me. It's something I
can't explain, a feeling so deep
inside me that I can't stop it.
It overpowers me and makes me...
it makes me happy. You make me
happy and I know that I'm in love
with you.
RACHEL
But you can't be, it's not...
DAN
It's not what? Natural? Legal? It
happens all the time and it's not
illegal. There's nothing to stop
us if we want to, and I want to.
RACHEL
Come on, you're drunk. You
wouldn't be saying this
otherwise. Go to bed and you'll
have forgotten it by the morning.
DAN
I won't have forgotten it. That's
just the point, that I can't
forget you. That's the reason I
ran away to New York, so that I
didn't have to see you all the
time, with other men. And while I
was there I dated lots of women
but none of them satisfied me
because all the time I'm with
them, I'm thinking of you. They
seem somehow insubstantial,
unreal - they don't smell right,
their bodies don't seem as soft
as yours. I long to touch you,
and hold you, to make you happy.
I think, I could make you happy.
RACHEL
(stands up)
Dan, don't say anything else. I
didn't know about this and it's
come as a shock to me. I just
think of us as cousins.
DAN
So you don't feel the same about
me?
RACHEL
Well, I love you, obviously, I've
told you that, but I don't fancy
you, to put it crudely.
DAN
But we both love each other.
RACHEL
Yes, but not in a sexual way. I
love you like I love my mum, my
dad, my dog.
DAN
(groans)
How can you compare me to your
dog?
RACHEL
It's an analogy. I meant that I
love my dog, but I don't want to
have sex with it, that's all.
DAN
You didn't mention Jack in that
list.
RACHEL
Well, I love Jack, and we have
sex, and we're going to have
children together. He's not my
cousin.
DAN
Why do you keep talking about
cousins - that doesn't matter. If
two people love each other, they
love each other. Einstein married
his cousin.
RACHEL
Well, that's another kind of
relativity, I suppose.
DAN
You see, I even love your sense
of humour. We have fun together,
we joke, we get along.
RACHEL
All of that is true, but that
doesn't mean I want to marry you,
or even hop into bed with you.
Dan, go back down to that bar and
pull that girl who was giving you
the eye, and forget about all
this madness.
DAN
Admit that you don't love him.
RACHEL
I do love him.
DAN
You said earlier that you liked
him, you got on well, that he was
a companion. You said he was
'shy', by which you mean boring.
It sounds like the only thing
he's got going for him is that
he's a good sperm donor who'll
provide for his offspring. What's
the good of that?
RACHEL
(getting up and picking
up her coat)
Jack is a good man and I'm not
going to stand here and listen to
you run him down. You don't even
know him.
DAN
Okay, but answer me this: does he
love you like I do?
RACHEL
I don't know - yes, probably.
DAN
Probably? Has he told you that?
Does he show it every day in lots
of little ways?
RACHEL
He loves me, he loves me, he
loves me - I know that he loves
me. He doesn't have to show it
every minute of the day. That
would be oppressive and stifling.
I wouldn't want him to.
DAN
I bet he doesn't ring you every
morning. Remember when I first
moved to New York, I used to ring
you every day when I woke up to
tell you how I was getting on.
But really I just wanted to hear
your voice. I had to hear your
voice and imagine your face, and
after that I could do anything.
Do you think he feels like that
about you?
RACHEL
No, but that's abnormal.
DAN
It's not abnormal. It's called
love. How many people really feel
that? It's special and when you
find it, you shouldn't throw it
away.
RACHEL
Dan, I'm sorry that you feel that
way about me. I've honestly done
nothing to encourage you, and if
you think I have, I'm sorry.
DAN
You don't have to encourage me.
You just have to be who you are.
You see, it's simple: I love you,
and I always will do.
RACHEL
I'm going now.
DAN
(grabbing hold of her)
Don't go. Stay with me.
RACHEL
(trying to pull herself
free)
I'm not staying with you. It's
crazy.
DAN
You can't say you don't feel
anything for me.
RACHEL
(pushing him away)
Dan, don't ruin our friendship.
DAN
Don't marry Jack.
RACHEL
Of course I'm going to marry
Jack.
DAN
You'll live to regret it.
RACHEL
I'm doing what is right, and I
won't regret that. What you're
asking me to do is wrong - every
instinct in my body tells me
that, and it should you. When you
can't have something, you can't
have it, and you just have to put
it out your mind.
(walking back to him and
touching his chest)
Dan, if you care about me like
you say you do, you'll forget
about this, like I will.
I'll never refer to it again, so
let's pretend it never happened.
(pause)
I still want you to come to my
wedding.
DAN
(turning away)
No, I can't. I can't.
Lights down.
ACT ONE: SCENE THREE
Lights up.
Rachel and Frank's house, two years later. Rachel is on the
sofa; she seems serious and concerned. Jack comes in.
JACK
Oh, you're back.
RACHEL
(hesitant)
Ye-es, I left early. I had a
headache.
He walks up behind her and puts his arms over her shoulders
and kisses the top of the head. Her response seems a bit
cool.
JACK
Are you okay now?
RACHEL
I took a painkiller.
JACK
Is that alright?
RACHEL
It doesn't matter. I'm not
pregnant.
Jack sits down next to her.
JACK
(tenderly)
Oh, no.
(pause)
How do you know?
She passes him a letter.
JACK (cont'd)
Does that mean your test was
wrong?
RACHEL
So it seems. Home-test kits are
not one-hundred percent reliable.
JACK
What about your period?
RACHEL
I missed a period. It's happened
before.
JACK
Do you think you could have been
pregnant and lost it?
RACHEL
How do I know? I don't know
anything anymore. It's getting me
down so much, thinking about it
all the time.
Jack sits next to her and comforts her.
JACK
Don't be like that. You will
conceive eventually. We just have
to keep trying.
RACHEL
I'm even sick of that: having to
have sex every night at ten
o'clock with your balls at
exactly the right temperature. Oh
god, I don't know. Maybe you need
to be tested.
JACK
Me?
RACHEL
Well, it does take two to make a
baby and I'm producing eggs every
month.
JACK
Except for last month, obviously.
RACHEL
You might have a low sperm count.
That might be the reason. If I
arrange it, will you have the
test?
JACK
Of course. What do I have to do.
RACHEL
Well, just wank in a pot I
suppose and then rush it around
there before it goes cold.
JACK
(jokily)
I could do it there.
RACHEL
What, in the path lab? I'm sure
they'd enjoy that.
JACK
Well, I would.
RACHEL
I'm sure you would, you pervert.
JACK
Maybe you can help me.
RACHEL
I'm not helping you. I told you,
it's put me off sex, trying all
the bloody time. It's like having
to eat when you're not hungry:
all it does is make you bloated.
JACK
Except it doesn't.
RACHEL
Ha ha. Anyway, how was your day?
JACK
Well, where shall I start? We've
lost thirty percent of our
funding, the Dean is taking early
retirement, Alan has got a post
in Australia, and Miranda
announced that she is pregnant
and is taking maternity leave,
so...
Rachel buries her head in her hands and appears to be
crying.
JACK (cont'd)
What's the matter?
(no reply)
Rach, what's up? Is it Miranda?
I'm sorry, I...
RACHEL
Don't tell me things like that.
Why do you think I don't have any
magazines in the house? Because I
can't stand reading about all
those happy couples, celebrities
and their lovely babies, cooing
and grinning at me from their
lovely houses and their perfect
lives.
JACK
We're happy, aren't we?
RACHEL
Yes, but you can't understand how
this affects me, thinking about
it all the time, wondering if
I'll get pregnant this month,
looking at every pregnant woman I
see and wondering what her secret
is, avoiding the baby section in
the supermarket, trying to avoid
walking past Mothercare.
JACK
We're both trying to have a baby,
you know - not just you.
RACHEL
(wiping her eyes)
I'm sorry, I'm sorry - it's
selfish of me. I should think of
you more. I'm sorry about your
job. What's going to happen?
JACK
I really don't know. They will
slowly wind the department down
until we all have to find another
job, I suppose.
RACHEL
How easy will that be?
JACK
Not easy. I could try and go to
America, I suppose but I would
need to write more about American
politics before I even apply.
It's a long route, but if I start
now, I could start applying in
about nine months.
RACHEL
Nine months...
JACK
Sorry.
(brightening)
Oh, I saw your mum today.
Apparently, your cousin Dan is
moving back here. Maybe I will
get to meet the mysterious
stranger after all.
RACHEL
He's coming here?
JACK
Well, not here here - he's being
transferred to London, so I
suppose he'll buy himself a
swanky apartment by the river. I
hope that I get to meet him,
since you've told me so much
about him. I'm starting to think
that he's avoiding me.
RACHEL
(angrily)
Don't be stupid!
JACK
I was joking! But I do find it a
bit strange that he missed our
wedding and he's been back in the
country three times since and
hasn't been to see us. I mean,
you told me how close you are,
so...
RACHEL
He's busy with work, I suppose.
JACK
But if I only had one cousin...
RACHEL
(interrupting him,
irritated)
Okay, just forget it will you.
I'll invite him down when he gets
back and then you can meet him.
JACK
Maybe we can invite him the same
time as my sister comes to stay.
They might like each other.
RACHEL
I doubt it.
JACK
Why?
RACHEL
She's not his type.
JACK
Who is his type?
RACHEL
She's too spikey, too left-wing
for him.
JACK
Is he soggy and right-wing then?
RACHEL
No, but he's been out with a lot
of girls so - he probably won't
fancy her.
JACK
If he's been out with a lot of
girls, he's more likely to fancy
her.
RACHEL
I meant that he might find her
challenging.
JACK
You make her sound like a
harridan: she isn't, she's quiet
really.
RACHEL
Okay, okay, it doesn't matter. I
just don't like match-making. It
always goes awry, doesn't it?
JACK
That's how we met.
RACHEL
Okay, it often goes awry.
Lights down.
ACT TWO: SCENE ONE
Lights up. At the dinner table - Dan, Rachel, Jack, and
Jack's sister, Annie. Several empty wine bottles; they all
seem quite drunk and are arguing vociferously, talking over
the top of each other, apart from Rachel, who is quiet.
ANNIE
(to Dan)
No - fuck - come on, you said...
DAN
I didn't say anything - you
implied it.
ANNIE
No, you said that you thought it
was okay for banks...
DAN
You're putting words in my mouth
now. I never said it was okay, I
just said that they were invited
in by governments of developing
countries...
ANNIE
No, no - what you actually said
was, "it's okay if a bank goes
into a developing country to..."
JACK
Exploit them.
DAN
That's your word, not mine. I
said it's okay because all
sophisticated societies have
provision for finance and
investment.
JACK
Usury is still illegal in Muslim
countries, and historically in
many...
DAN
Okay, okay - let me ask you
this...
ANNIE
All they do is go in, right...
DAN
(holding his hand up in
a gesture of silence)
No, hang on, let me ask Jack
this...
ANNIE
Don't hold your hand up to me
like that. I won't be silenced.
DAN
I'm not silencing you. I was in
the middle of asking a question
and you interrupted me.
ANNIE
What does that mean then?
(mimics the hand-up
gesture)
You're directing the traffic?
DAN
You know what it means.
ANNIE
Exactly. You don't understand how
to have a debate on something.
You just want to shout your
opponent down.
DAN
Right, I'm sorry I did that. I
shouldn't have done it. Now can I
ask my question?
(all silent; pause;
calmly)
You are right that Muslim
countries condemn usury, but
where do you think they borrow
their money? From Mister Generous
here.
(pointing at his chest)
I get a steady stream of
businessmen from the Middle East -
Dubai, Oman, Saudi Arabia, you
name it - coming through my door
and borrowing money - at interest
- in order to fund their
businesses. And in any complex
society...
JACK
You can't just say that primitive
societies weren't complex because
they didn't lend money with
interest.
DAN
I'm not saying that. I'm saying
the opposite: that all complex
societies lend money with
interest.
ANNIE
It's an insult to say that a
primitive society is not complex.
That's just a hangover from the
colonial period, you know, where
you say something is primitive so
that you can justify all kinds of
interventions into their society
in order to plunder their
resources.
DAN
No it isn't. It's a value-free,
objective description. Look it up
in the dictionary - Rach, have
you got a dictionary?
ANNIE
I don't need a fucking dictionary
to know what primitive means,
thank you.
JACK
I can tell you exactly what it
means: primitive means...
Jack searches his head for definition.
DAN
It means simple, which is the
opposite of complex.
ANNIE
Not quite.
DAN
What do you mean, 'not quite'? Of
course it's opposite.
ANNIE
Sim-plex would be the opposite of
com-plex.
DAN
Oh, and comple would be the
opposite of simple, would it?
RACHEL
(laughs)
My life has become so comple.
JACK
Primitive means, fundamental,
original - it doesn't imply not
complex.
DAN
'Doesn't imply not'? That's a
double negative. You're just
playing with words now. It's
degenerating into an argument
over semantics. We all know what
we mean by a primitive society.
ANNIE
But that is exactly the
designation that Jack and I are
opposing: just because a society
is primitive does not mean it is
simple. They have sophisticated
languages, complex symbolic
orders, religions, oral histories
and stories, science, kinship
systems...
DAN
They don't have science, in the
modern Western sense.
ANNIE
But that's defining science as
what we do, and everything anyone
anybody else does is not science.
It's a subtle form of racism.
DAN
Are you calling me a racist?
ANNIE
(smiling, pleased with
herself)
No, I'm saying that to deny
science to primitive societies is
a form of racism.
DAN
But there's science and science.
It's like saying they have cars
because they've got a wheel. It's
a totally different thing.
JACK
What about Chinese science? Their
science was superior to ours for
two thousand years, until the
seventeenth century at least.
DAN
I agree with you there. But they
are not a primitive society -
they've been a complex society
for two thousand years or more.
Actually I know a joke about
that... no, come on, let's calm
down a bit. Right, how does it
go? Okay, I've got it - you have
to say it right: the wheelbarrow
is a Chinese invention. It was
invented in the seventh century
but took seven hundred years to
reach Europe.
Nobody laughs.
DAN (cont'd)
Do you get it?
ANNIE
Is that a joke?
DAN
Yuh, this little Coolie, with his
wheelbarrow - it took him seven
hundred years to get to Europe.
JACK
Coolie?
DAN
Chinaman, then.
ANNIE
(head in hands)
Chinaman?
RACHEL
(laughs)
Oh, I get it. That's quite funny,
actually. I can see this picture
of a map, like Marco Polo, and
this little man with a
wheelbarrow starting out from
China and heading for Europe.
(Rachel walks the little
man across the table
with her finger)
Wheeeeee...
ANNIE
(not unfriendly)
God, that joke was so bad.
RACHEL
It made me laugh. Can we stop
arguing now.
ANNIE
We're not arguing, Rachel. We're
discussing something. It's just
not possible to say that
primitive societies are not
complex.
DAN
There is a difference.
ANNIE
What's simple about language,
numbers, incest prohibitions,
mythology?
DAN
What incest prohibitions?
ANNIE
Well, that you can't marry your
sister, or anyone in your family.
DAN
There have been lots of societies
in which you can marry your own
sister. In fact, in some of them
it was mandatory.
JACK
That's true. Egypt was one.
DAN
Not only Egypt, but Mesopotamia,
the Andes, Bali, Papua New
Guinea, Polynesia - Haiwai, even,
until recently.
ANNIE
Regardless of what the rules are,
the fact that they have rules
makes them a complex society.
DAN
I suppose it all comes down to
what definition of complex you
want to use. For example,
everyone would agree that we're a
complex society, but here you're
allowed to marry your cousin.
so...
RACHEL
(uncomfortable; rising
from the table)
I'm going to start clearing these
dishes away. I'll put some music
on.
JACK
Put on that CD that Annie gave
us. What's it called?
RACHEL
[names CD] - have you heard it,
Dan?
DAN
No. Cousins...
JACK
How did we get from usury to
incest?
DAN
Complexity. We're never going to
agree, are we?
JACK
It's not a case of agreeing -
we're just exploring the ideas.
Annie and I are on one side, and
you're on the other.
ANNIE
(joking - punching the
air)
Yeah! And you're the class enemy.
You globaliser!
DAN
Actually, there's one great thing
about globalisation.
JACK
What's that?
DAN
Wherever you go in the world,
you're assured of the same
protesters.
ANNIE
I was in Seattle.
DAN
I was in New York.
ANNIE
Protesting?
DAN
Working. Some of us have to work,
to support the protesters.
ANNIE
I work.
DAN
I thought you said you were a
volunteer.
ANNIE
I work for a charity.
DAN
It was just the word charity. It
made me think you didn't work. So
what were you protesting about?
ANNIE
The World Bank and the WTO.
DAN
I support free markets.
JACK
Liberality for the wolves means
death for the lambs. A free-for
all is only free for some, and
they're the powerful. You need
controls. It's like incest, which
you seem to know so much about. I
didn't realise that you were an
anthropologist as well as a
banker.
DAN
What, I'm not allowed to know
about anything except banking?
How liberal of you.
JACK
Why incest?
DAN
It's my hobby.
Silence.
DAN (cont'd)
Now there's a conversation
stopper.
(pause)
So Annie, what's your job?
ANNIE
Fund-raiser.
DAN
Out shaking the tin can, eh?
ANNIE
Metaphorically. And you?
DAN
Well, I was Chief Analyst for
European investments, but since
I've moved back here, I'm not
sure what I'm doing. I'm
inbetween roles, as they say.
ANNIE
Being investigated, probably.
DAN
Why do you say that?
ANNIE
I just have this image of
banking, that they are all dodgy
geezers out to make a fast buck
at the expense of the poor, the
weak, and the less-informed.
Clever, creative people driven by
greed.
DAN
No, you're so wrong. Honestly,
honestly... it would genuinely
upset me if you thought about me
like that.
(offers her his hand)
Come on, let's be friends. Come
on, come on...
She shakes his hand and he, drunkenly, won't let it go.
ANNIE
So you're one of the good guys...
I'm glad about that. What was it
dad used to say? Anyone who...
JACK
Anyone who has to ask a banker
for investment advice, should be
advised not to invest.
DAN
(let's go of her hand)
Sound advice, and it's probably
true.
But the people I deal with
already know what they want to do
with our money - I just have to
decide whether we should let
them. You can't do anything
without money, can you?
ANNIE
Lots. Everything, in fact. Money
is a means that comes along after
the fact - it facilitates, but it
can't stop you.
DAN
You really believe that?
ANNIE
Why would I say it if I didn't
really believe it?
DAN
But you're a fund-raiser and you
don't believe in money.
ANNIE
The money is not fundamental.
What's fundamental is the desire
and ambition to change the world.
All you money people have got it
the wrong way round - you put the
cart before the horse. You've
managed to brainwash most of
society into believing your
religion.
DAN
Which is?
JACK
Materialism: that what matters
most is things, and having
things, and having more things,
for time everafter, amen.
DAN
But why are you blaming me?
ANNIE
Because you defend them: you're a
banker wanker.
RACHEL
(returning to the table)
That's not a nice thing to say.
(throwing arm
protectively around
Dan's neck)
Leave him alone.
ANNIE
We're only teasing him. In our
house, you had to be able to
defend yourself else my dad made
mincemeat of you.
JACK
He was a staunch socialist of the
old school.
RACHEL
That's no reason to be rude to
Dan.
DAN
Would you describe yourself as a
socialist, Annie?
ANNIE
No. I believe in the human spirit
and the unquenchable desire for
freedom, justice, and happiness.
That encompasses all those other
arguments about capitalism and
exploitation.
DAN
You're a humanist.
ANNIE
No, because I believe in the
spirit, something bigger than us
that we only get a glimpse of.
RACHEL
I believe that, too.
JACK
Well, it's obvious that we can
never know everything, and the
more we know, the more we know
how little we know... or
something like that.
RACHEL
I saw this program about a tribe
in South America who make all the
major decisions about the tribe
using dreams. There are these
special people, like fortune
tellers, who have dreams in which
they see what the tribe should
do.
ANNIE
(puts her hand on
Rachel's)
Oh I saw that - the old woman who
lived in that hut and never came
out.
RACHEL
No, it was a man.
ANNIE
(withdrawing her hand)
Oh. Well, I believe that too.
DAN
It's not scientific.
ANNIE
Neither's love.
DAN
It probably is - we just don't
understand the mechanism. When
two people see each other, it
could just be their genes saying,
"I really need that person's
genes to match up with mine so
that my offspring are strong and
will survive."
JACK
(getting up)
Shall we go in the lounge?
RACHEL
Okay, I'll make a coffee.
Jack and Annie leave.
RACHEL (cont'd)
Sorry about that. They were
picking on you.
DAN
Don't worry about it - I can hold
my own. Anyway, she's nice. I
like feisty women - they're
challenging.
No reply.
DAN (cont'd)
You were very quiet tonight. Is
anything the matter?
RACHEL
I don't want to talk about it.
I'll tell you later.
DAN
You can tell me now.
RACHEL
No, it doesn't matter.
DAN
Is it to do with me?
RACHEL
No, don't be silly. Why would it
be to do with you?
DAN
I haven't seen you since that
night. You didn't reply to my
emails.
RACHEL
You didn't come to my wedding.
What was I to think?
DAN
You know how we left it. We'd
never mention it again.
RACHEL
So why are you talking about it?
DAN
Because you said we'd carry on as
normal and then you don't answer
my emails.
RACHEL
And you don't come to see us when
you visit England.
DAN
You know why that is.
RACHEL
No.
DAN
I don't like to see you with...
RACHEL
Stop it! Don't say that. Why did
you come tonight then?
DAN
I wanted to ask you something.
Rachel looks fearful of what he will say.
RACHEL
Not that - not that again, Dan.
DAN
No, not that.
RACHEL
(holds his hand)
Good. We can be friends again. I
need you. I need to talk to
someone.
DAN
You know you can always talk to
me.
RACHEL
Yes. I know that. What was it?
DAN
What?
RACHEL
(still squeezing his
hand)
The thing - you want - you wanted
to ask.
DAN
(puts his other hand on
top of hers)
I, um, I - spoke to your mum.
RACHEL
(freezes)
What about?
DAN
We were just talking about the
family, gran and grandad, my mum.
She showed me your wedding photos
and while I was looking at them,
something struck me that I'd
never noticed before, when they
were all young I mean.
RACHEL
What?
DAN
I noticed how different my mum
and your mum were. When they were
young, they looked the same, but
I think that was all down to
fashion - same hairstyles,
clothes, make-up. But as they've
got older, they've become
different. I just...
RACHEL
What did you?
DAN
...pointed it out to her. And she
told me something.
RACHEL
She told you?
DAN
Yes.
RACHEL
Oh, god. It doesn't change
anything.
DAN
You're not my cousin.
RACHEL
We still have the same
relationship.
DAN
When I asked you, in my hotel
room, did you know then that your
mum was adopted?
RACHEL
Of course.
DAN
Why didn't you tell me?
RACHEL
Because it doesn't change
anything. We grew up alongside
each other, as cousins; that's
how I think of you - as a cousin.
Just because I discovered when I
was eighteen that mum was
adopted, didn't change how I felt
about you, because our
relationship was already formed.
DAN
But it makes sense now.
RACHEL
It's all the same.
DAN
No. That I feel...
Rachel doesn't want to hear this.
RACHEL
No!
DAN
That I feel so much love for you.
RACHEL
Dan, stop it.
She stands up but he grabs her wrist.
DAN
My animal instincts - I must have
known that you weren't related to
me. You see, it's natural -
there's nothing to stop us now,
if we want to.
Pulls herself away.
RACHEL
I'm married... I...
She stands at the sideboard with her head buried in her
arms, repeating, "I'm married, I...". Dan walks up behind
her and rubs her back reassuringly. Then he holds the back
of her neck in a gesture that is at once loving and
possessive/threatening.
DAN
You're married but you're not in
love.
RACHEL
(sobbing)
I'm married... to a man...
Jack walks into the room and watches them. Neither of them
see him.
DAN
There, there... don't get upset.
I'm here for you.
RACHEL
(sobbing uncontrollably
now)
I'm married to a man who's
sterile. I'll never have a baby
now. Never, never, never.
DAN
Oh, come on.
He pulls her up and she turns around and lets him hug her.
Lights down.
ACT TWO: SCENE TWO
Lights up. Jack and Rachel alone.
RACHEL
You were mean to him.
JACK
He should be able to have an
argument and defend his position.
RACHEL
You called him a wanker.
JACK
I never called him a wanker: it
was Annie, and she was joking.
You know what she's like. I told
you what she was like beforehand.
Anyway, I think he likes her.
RACHEL
Of course he doesn't like her,
after what she said to him.
JACK
He was enjoying it - you could
tell. He was laughing inside. He
was winding her up as much as she
was winding him up. It was just a
game.
RACHEL
Well, I didn't like it. It ruined
the evening.
JACK
It did not. He's perfectly able
to defend himself. He's very well
read... on some subjects.
RACHEL
Yes, but it was wrong to...
She pauses, as if she's not sure what it was wrong to.
JACK
(finishing her sentence)
...tell him about us. Why did you
do that?
RACHEL
I was upset.
JACK
That's between you and me - it's
our problem.
RACHEL
I needed to talk to somebody and
he's always been close to me.
JACK
(simultaneous with
Rachel)
...always been close to me. So
you keep saying. Can't you speak
to your mother, your aunt,
someone at work, one of your
female cousins - me, even? Why
does it have to be him?
RACHEL
Because, he knows me.
JACK
Do you know what I think?
RACHEL
Go on.
JACK
I think he fancies you.
RACHEL
Don't be ridiculous! What a
stupid thing to say. He's my
cousin.
JACK
So - he's got that one covered,
with his little kinship theory.
RACHEL
He does not fancy me.
JACK
He's never made a pass at you, or
spoken about it?
RACHEL
No! Of course not. Anyway, it's
how I feel about him that
matters, not the other way round.
JACK
So he has said something?
RACHEL
No.
JACK
What about when you were young?
Did anything happen then?
RACHEL
Well, we played Dare, like all
kids do. We snogged once, but I
was about eleven, for god's sake.
Why are you so suspicious? Don't
you trust me?
JACK
Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't trust
him.
RACHEL
Why, because he's a banker, and
he's succesful, and he has a good
job?
JACK
Thanks for reminding me.
RACHEL
Well, how can you say you don't
trust him? I wouldn't say that
about your sister - it's... it's
insulting to me and my family.
JACK
Let's not make this a family
issue.
RACHEL
You did, not me. You said that
you didn't trust my cousin. What
am I supposed to do with that?
Never see him again?
JACK
Well, don't take any notice of
what I say. I'm just a sterile,
unemployed nobody.
RACHEL
Jack, you're not a nobody. You'll
find another job soon...
JACK
But I'll always be sterile.
RACHEL
There are other ways.
JACK
Which involve other men.
RACHEL
Not necessarily - we could adopt
a child.
JACK
It won't be your child though.
You want to have your own baby,
not someone else's. You won't be
satisfied until you've got
pregnant. Maybe you should ask
him to...
RACHEL
Why do you keep going on about
Dan? He's nothing to do with us.
JACK
You're close to him. You told him
about me. He wants you.
RACHEL
He doesn't want me. We're close,
yes, but that's because we're
cousins. We're only close like
you and Annie are. We grew up
together and shared our
experiences, he knows me well,
and we can talk easily to each
other. But that's all, honestly,
that's all.
Lights down.
ACT TWO: SCENE THREE
Lights up. A dimly-lit wine bar in London. Dan and Rachel
are sat close together, drinking. Their conversation is
slightly hysterical, animated by the fact that Dan knows he
is closing in on his prey and Rachel knows she is close to
submitting.
RACHEL
It's like - it's, I don't know, I
really don't know what to do for
him. He just sits there all day,
brooding, saying, "What have I
done with my life?" As if it's
his fault.
DAN
It's obviously not.
RACHEL
Of course. Of course it's not his
fault. People get made redundant
all of the time.
He just has to try harder and
start applying for more jobs. I
even tried to help him, by going
to all the academic sites looking
for positions but he resents me
helping him. He sits there...
DAN
Resenting you.
RACHEL
Yeah. Yeah! He resents me, but
I'm the one trying to help him.
DAN
You're the one who's stood by.
RACHEL
Stood by him. I have, and now, I
don't understand why he pushes me
away, because...
DAN
He pushes you away.
RACHEL
Away! There's all this aggression
that I can feel from him. Maybe
it's because...
DAN
Because you can't.
RACHEL
Because we can't have...
DAN
Have a baby, or...
RACHEL
Or he just feels useless because
I earn the money now but if it
was...
DAN
The other way round, you would...
RACHEL
Pleased, I would, be, that he was
supporting me. I wouldn't
resent...
DAN
Why would you? It's mad. At least
it's not what you'd expect and...
RACHEL
Yuh, he's just drinking all day
and when I come in he's
already...
DAN
Drunk, probably. That's why...
RACHEL
That's why he's so aggressive
towards me as if I've done
something wrong all the time,
but...
DAN
You haven't.
RACHEL
...I've tried to help him, to
pull him out of the jam he's in,
because...
DAN
Everyone gets in a jam sometimes.
You just need self-belief and
friends.
RACHEL
He has people around him, but, I
don't know, he pushes them away.
DAN
That's the worst thing - to push
too far - to push away.
RACHEL
Yuh, and I get so lonely because
I want to help him but he won't
let me touch him or suggest...
DAN
Suggest? What? What? Suggest
what?
RACHEL
Anything. Like there's a barrier
of silence when I speak to him.
Like...
DAN
That must be horrible.
RACHEL
It is, you know it's not like
speaking to a normal human being
any more, like...
DAN
Like we do.
RACHEL
Yeah, yeah! Just like we're doing
now - it's ebb...
DAN
And flow.
RACHEL
And it all feels so natural,
because we know each other, I
think. I mean - what do I mean? I
mean, there's some barrier of
communication that I can't jump
over...
DAN
Or get around.
RACHEL
There's something blocking us.
DAN
What about...
RACHEL AND DAN
(together)
Counselling.
Long pause.
DAN
You could try that.
RACHEL
We could try that.
DAN
It's worth a try.
RACHEL
But he wouldn't go, because...
DAN
He's too resentful.
RACHEL
I don't know any more, what to
do.
DAN
What can you do?
RACHEL
Nothing. I can leave him. But I
can't.
DAN
You could see someone.
RACHEL
A counsellor.
DAN
A solicitor.
RACHEL
No, I can't. He needs me. I'm
worried about him. What if he did
something?
DAN
Like, what like?
RACHEL AND DAN
(together)
Suicide.
RACHEL
No - he wouldn't do that.
DAN
He wouldn't do that.
RACHEL
Would he?
DAN
Would he?
RACHEL
No. I'm sure. Listen, I've got to
go. I'll ring you tomorrow.
DAN
Don't go now - wait.
RACHEL
I can't - I've got to go back to
him.
She shakes her head despairingly. Dan holds her close and
she buries her head on his shoulder.
DAN
You know, sometimes you just make
mistakes in life. You think that
you do things for the right
reason, but you don't. They turn
out wrong.
And then you have to have the
strength to admit your mistake
and rectify it. I can't advise
you what to do but, Rach, I can't
stand to see you like this.
RACHEL
But there's no-one else I can
talk to at the moment and if I
don't talk to anyone I'll just
bottle it up inside and explode.
It's driving me insane.
She stands up to leave. He stands up as well.
DAN
You know where I am.
RACHEL
Yes.
DAN
And Rach...
(pause)
If he ever hurts you, I'll kill
him.
RACHEL
He wouldn't. I don't think he
would. No.
The have a confused embrace, almost too warm and then she
resists, then warm again.
Lights down.
ACT TWO: SCENE FOUR
Lights up. Rachel enters the house. Jack is slumped in an
armchair with the lights out. Rachel turns on the lights.
JACK
(aggressively)
No lights!
She is shocked.
RACHEL
You can't sit in the dark.
JACK
Turn them out!
RACHEL
I'll put the lamp on instead.
She turns the main light out and bumps her way towards the
lamp. Before she can find the lamp:
JACK
Where've you been?
RACHEL
We had an audit.
JACK
Who?
RACHEL
Work.
JACK
It's not the end of the year.
RACHEL
No, it was a three-monthly one.
Nine months.
She finds the lamp and turns it on.
JACK
Nine months?
RACHEL
Yes. They take stock of the
accounts every three months
throughout the financial year and
now it's the ninth month.
JACK
(grunts)
RACHEL
What have you been doing?
JACK
Thinking.
RACHEL
Any emails?
(no reply)
What about Keele? They were going
to ring you back.
(no reply)
Have you been out?
She touches his arm, sympathetically.
JACK
No.
RACHEL
Jack, you can't carry on like
this. You're making yourself
depressed. You need to do things,
to talk to people, not just sit
here all day brooding. You have
to get up and make your luck.
JACK
(sardonically)
Make - my - luck? How can I make
my luck? I can't make jobs
appear. I can't force myself to
the top of the candidate list. I
can't have more research papers
to my name than I have got. I
can't force people to interview
me, or talk to me, or even answer
my emails. How can I make my
luck?
RACHEL
I know that you can't change all
those things, but nothing will
come of anything, if you just sit
here like this, getting deeper
and deeper into...
JACK
Depression? Can't you say it?
RACHEL
No, you're not depressed. You
don't get depressed but you
shouldn't drink so much.
JACK
I'm good at it. It's the only
thing I am good at.
RACHEL
Look, you've got to stop thinking
like this. You've got to be
positive, think laterally. I
mean, have you thought about
doing something else?
JACK
The only other thing I can do is
drink.
RACHEL
You can write. You have good IT
skills. You could easily get a
job doing IT.
JACK
Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. IT?
No, no, no. I'm a thinker, I work
with ideas, I use my brain.
RACHEL
I'm trying to help.
JACK
I know. You're trying to help me.
Maybe I could work in a bank, and
be like Dan, making lots of money
while ripping people off.
RACHEL
Don't bring Dan into this.
JACK
I didn't - you did.
RACHEL
I did?
JACK
You brought him into our
household.
RACHEL
(confused)
What?! What are you talking
about.
JACK
Annie phoned.
RACHEL
How is she?
JACK
She said that she'd seen you.
RACHEL
I haven't seen her.
JACK
She said that too: she - saw -
you, but - you - didn't - see -
her.
RACHEL
Where?
JACK
In a bar. A cosy little wine bar
in a cosy little back street
nowhere near the City.
RACHEL
Why didn't she speak to me?
JACK
You were with someone.
RACHEL
Who? Dan?
JACK
That's right. You were with Dan
and she didn't think she could
interrupt you because you were
deeply in... conversation. And
she said that you looked like you
didn't want to be interrupted.
RACHEL
That's silly. She should have
come and spoken to us.
JACK
I should have guessed that,
shouldn't I.
RACHEL
Guessed what?
JACK
That you, and him, were close.
RACHEL
I told you we were close. He's
like a brother to me.
JACK
I know about his little kinship
theories.
RACHEL
(standing up)
What are you... what do you mean?
JACK
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Everything is totally above board
and normal. There is nothing
strange going on at all. That's
the reason you never told me that
you'd 'bumped' into Dan on
several occasions, because there
was nothing to say about anything
at all.
RACHEL
Well, I...
JACK
Well you just thought that you
would lie that's all.
(standing up,
unsteadily)
I wonder why that would be?
RACHEL
Because, I meet Dan...
JACK
Yes, you meet Dan, we already
know that much.
RACHEL
I meet him to talk about things
and I thought you would get
upset.
JACK
What things?
RACHEL
Well, what's happening with us,
with your job...
JACK
I don't have a job.
RACHEL
You know what I mean.
JACK
No.
RACHEL
You do.
JACK
(Jack Nicholson)
I don't. You're confusing me. I
don't think I'm getting the whole
truth, or anything like the
truth. You meet Dan to discuss
things like me and you, my job,
your job, Dan's job, my
sterility, the fact that you
can't have a baby and you're
thirty-eight years old and time
is running out. And I wonder what
Dan's response to that is?
(sarcastically)
"You know, it's not illegal to
marry your cousin in this
country.
Maybe you should walk out on Jack
and come and live with me and
then we can have a baby together
in our little nest of incest."
(extreme violence)
Wouldn't that be nice!
RACHEL
Jack. You're imagining all this.
None of it is true.
JACK
Isn't it? Oh, I get it - I'm
behind the times. Maybe you two
have already done the dirty
deed...
RACHEL
Jack! Stop it!
He grabs her.
JACK
Maybe little Danny the
anthropologist is already fucking
my wife, his cousin, because he
knows that the only way she can
get up the spout is if he shafts
her, and he's been longing to do
that all his life. Watching - and
waiting - until she becomes
available. You tell me that isn't
true.
Holds her by her hair.
JACK (cont'd)
You tell me! Say it! It isn't
true.
RACHEL
It isn't true. You're hurting me -
let me go. It isn't true. I've
never done anything with him. I
never would. I love you, Jack, I
do love you. I'm trying to help
you.
JACK
Why the lies? Why the secrecy?
RACHEL
I don't know - it just didn't
feel right to tell you.
JACK
(mimicking
sarcastically)
'It just didn't feel right to
tell you.' You know why?
RACHEL
Let me go!
JACK
Do - you - know - why?
RACHEL
Why?
JACK
Because your instincts tell you
that what you are doing is wrong!
You are lying instinctively
because you know that you are in
love with your cousin.
RACHEL
No, no, no.
JACK
Yes, yes, yes. It's been obvious
for a long time. The first night
I saw you together, I knew that
he could hardly stop himself. And
that little scene in the kitchen,
remember? "I'm here for you." I
bet he is.
(grabs her between the
legs)
Is he here?
Rachel fights her way free and goes over to the other side
of the room.
RACHEL
You're wrong. Nothing has
happened. I'm close to him, but
not in that way. But how can I
live with you when you're like
this. It's destroying both of us,
slowly.
JACK
If you can't live with me, you'd
better go to him, hadn't you.
Tell him about us and how it's
all gone wrong. How my whole
fucking life has gone wrong. And
then he can give you the baby you
want so badly.
Lights down.
ACT THREE: SCENE ONE
Natural sounds: water flowing; birds; wind; animals.
Overlaid by Varese's "Density 21.5".
Lights up.
Dan and Rachel are now living together. Indications that
there is a baby in the house. An atmosphere of languorous
repose. Intimacy between them - an animal closeness.
In one corner of the stage is a pile of twigs and branches,
stacked like an unlit fire. Stones and sand.
Rachel is reading a hardback book with a plain cover. Dan
is laid between her legs, relaxed and contemplative.
RACHEL
(listens)
Was that Ben?
DAN
(listens)
No. I went in a minute ago and he
was sound asleep.
RACHEL
Did you wind him when you put him
down?
DAN
(assenting)
Hhm.
Long silence.
RACHEL
Annie's coming around later.
DAN
I spoke to her.
RACHEL
What did she say?
DAN
She's coming around later.
Long silence.
DAN (cont'd)
Jack has got a job. In America.
RACHEL
Boston.
DAN
M.I.T.
Silence.
DAN (cont'd)
By the way...
No reply.
DAN (cont'd)
I'm not going back to work when
my paternity leave is over.
Rachel stops reading, thinks about it, unconcerned, she
resumes reading.
RACHEL
Why?
DAN
The shit - has hit - the fan.
RACHEL
The New York stuff.
DAN
(assenting)
Hmm.
RACHEL
Lucky you got out of there when
you did.
DAN
I didn't, really.
RACHEL
Well, you did, really.
DAN
Possibly.
Long silence.
RACHEL
I got another letter.
DAN
Who from this time?
RACHEL
Auntie Jean.
DAN
Saying?
RACHEL
Oh, the usual rubbish: You are a
disgrace to the whole family. You
should have had an abortion like
we told you to... blah, blah,
blah.
DAN
You'd think they'd give up by
now.
RACHEL
Apparently not.
(listens)
Is that Ben?
DAN
I'll go and see.
Dan leaves.
Annie enters.
ANNIE
Hi-ii.
RACHEL
Hi Annie.
ANNIE
Where's Dan?
RACHEL
Just gone to check on Ben.
ANNIE
I got him a little toy.
RACHEL
Dan?
ANNIE
Benjie. How is he?
Annie takes a small horse from out of her bag and puts it
on the floor.
RACHEL
Great. Cried a bit this
afternoon, after his measles
injection, but he's fine now. I
think the crying knocked him out.
ANNIE
Aaah, poor little thing. What
about his tests?
RACHEL
His development is above normal
for his age.
ANNIE
He's going to be clever - like
his parents.
(pause)
Do you want a cup of tea?
RACHEL
Yes, please. Peppermint, thanks.
Annie goes over to make the tea.
ANNIE
Did I tell you I heard from Jack?
RACHEL
Not since you said he'd been
offerred the job.
ANNIE
I got an email. He's already in
Boston, looking for a place to
live. It's the Fall.
RACHEL
The what?
ANNIE
The Fall - Autumn.
RACHEL
Here too.
ANNIE
He says, he drove three hundred
miles through deciduous forest,
and everything was gold, and red,
and brown. He sent me the photos:
amazing.
RACHEL
I bet.
(pause)
I've never been to Boston. Is it
nice?
ANNIE
I've never been.
RACHEL
Dan has been. Or was that Oregon?
ANNIE
There's a big difference.
Gives her her tea.
ANNIE (cont'd)
So, I had three meetings this
afternoon. I raced from
Bermondsey to Marble Arch, and
then Dorking.
RACHEL
And then here. You must be tired.
ANNIE
I am a bit.
RACHEL
Do you want to stay over?
ANNIE
I could do. I have to drive to
Essex tomorrow morning anyway. I
might as well start from here.
RACHEL
(shivers)
Somone just walked over my grave.
ANNIE
Are you cold? I'll get you a
blanket.
Annie gets a blanket and tenderly puts it over Rachel,
rubbing her shoulders as she does so.
ANNIE (cont'd)
It's going to be a cold winter,
the weatherman said. Siberian.
RACHEL
I like staying in when it's cold,
curled up around a real fire. It
reminds me of my childhood - all
that warmth. Are you cold?
ANNIE
No.
Dan comes back.
DAN
Hi Annie.
ANNIE
Hi.
RACHEL
Is he asleep?
DAN
I managed to get him back off and
then I dropped my shoe and he
started screaming again.
RACHEL
He's sensitive to loud noises.
You have to creep around.
DAN
That's why I was taking my shoe
off.
ANNIE
There's tea in the pot.
They sit in silence, totally comfortable with each other,
with no compulsion to speak. After five seconds:
RACHEL
Dan's not going back to work.
ANNIE
Lucky Dan. Why not?
DAN
I want to stay here and be with
Ben.
ANNIE
What will you do about money?
RACHEL
I suppose that I will have to go
to work.
DAN
It's easier for you to go to
work.
RACHEL
Easier for you.
DAN
That's right.
The phone rings. No-one answers it.
ANNIE
Why don't you answer it?
DAN
It'll be them again.
ANNIE
Oh - them.
Phone stops.
DAN
(to Annie)
Backgammon?
ANNIE
(to Rachel)
Do you want to play?
RACHEL
I'll read thanks.
ANNIE
What are you reading?
RACHEL
(holds up book)
Life on the Plains, being the
true and verified account of an
Appawatch Indian, before the
White Man.
Annie and Dan play backgammon on the floor.
ANNIE
I'm staying here tonight.
Dan stops and looks at her.
DAN
Which room?
ANNIE
The spare one.
Dan throws the dice.
DAN
Dub-bell si-ix.
Rachel stands up.
RACHEL
I'm going to go to bed. Do you
mind?
DAN AND ANNIE
(together)
No, not at all.
RACHEL
I'll wake him up and feed him.
Can you not put the light on when
you come to bed?
DAN
Shall I sleep in the spare room?
RACHEL
If you want to.
DAN
Okay. Night.
Rachel kisses both of them.
DAN (cont'd)
I rang your phone.
ANNIE
I know. I got your message.
DAN
I wanted to hear your voice.
ANNIE
So you said. And?
DAN
Well, I'm glad you came.
ANNIE
Did you miss me?
DAN
You know I missed you.
ANNIE
Did you speak to Rachel?
DAN
What about?
ANNIE
Me moving in.
DAN
I'm not sure if that's a good
idea.
ANNIE
It is. It's what I want. She
already knows about us.
DAN
Does she?
ANNIE
She told me. She said, "I know
about you and Dan. I had a
feeling that he liked you, the
day he met you."
DAN
Did she say, "the day he met
you"?
ANNIE
I'm sure she said that.
DAN
A feeling inside, probably. She
didn't seem hurt, or upset?
ANNIE
She seemed happy. Her actual
words were, "Well, I've got
everything I ever wanted, so..."
DAN
What did she say after the 'so'?
ANNIE
She said that she wouldn't stand
in our way, if that's what
everyone wanted.
(pause while they play
dice)
So can you persuade her to let me
move in?
DAN
I can persuade her to do
anything.
ANNIE
I thought so.
DAN
Are you jealous?
ANNIE
I might be.
DAN
Well don't be. When you move in,
the family will be complete.
He pulls her on top of him and they kiss.
Lights down.
ACT THREE: SCENE TWO
Sound of deep bass voice chants (low volume), a baby
howling, and an African thumb piano.
Lights up.
Dan is sat playing the thumb piano, automatically, with a
concentrated look on his face - not concentrated on the
music but on his thoughts.
Rachel enters, wearing a raincoat and carrying a briefcase.
She is holding a newspaper and appears agitated.
RACHEL
Have you read the news?
He stops playing and looks at her, without speaking. She
walks over to him and waves her hand in front of his eyes.
DAN
Peter rang me.
RACHEL
And?
DAN
They're going to prosecute.
RACHEL
Be honest with me: Is this the
real reason you left New York?
DAN
It was part of the reason. But it
was you, mostly.
Annie walks in unseen by them.
RACHEL
I'm not sure I believe you.
ANNIE
What don't you believe?
Rachel passes her the newspaper.
ANNIE (cont'd)
Oh my god! Have you got a
solicitor?
Dan puts down the thumb piano and stands up.
DAN
It's a collective defence. The
bank is being prosecuted as well,
not just me.
RACHEL
But you're the only individual.
How could that happen? You said
you were a team.
DAN
You have to stand by me in this -
both of you.
ANNIE
Tell us what happened in New
York.
DAN
Won't you stick by me if I don't
tell you?
ANNIE
I think we need to know. I think
you have a responsibility to tell
us everything.
DAN
Everything?
RACHEL
Everything.
Dan paces around the room, thinking, and then he speaks:
DAN
When I arrived in New York, I was
just a country boy, and I was
overwhelmed: the skyscrapers, the
powerful people, the beautiful
women - they all seemed beyond me
and made me feel small. I admit,
I was intimidated at first and I
wanted to come home - that was
when I used to ring Rachel every
day and it was only speaking to
her that let me survive. Somehow,
listening to her voice connected
me to some place deep inside my
past, from where I'd come from,
connected me to my own nature.
And out of that nature I
realised I could flourish and
become strong. Even though I was
the boy from nowhere, a little
village no-one had heard of,
there was something vital and
alive in me that no-one else had,
a secret energy that came from
all the days we spent together as
children, climbing trees, hiding
in the fields, building camps in
the forest.
And so I prospered, and before
long I find myself on the forty
second floor in charge of my
team, and everyone respects me
because they know the
buck stops
with me and I can carry it. They
know that whatever happens, I'm
the one who'll take the blame,
which is why I'm in the office
every morning before them and
leave every evening after them -
I'm alone in the tower, going
through the accounts, making sure
that none of them has made a
mistake.
And then one day, this kid
comes into my office - a young
Irish lad by the name of Sean
Cunningham - and his face is pale
and his hands are shaking. When I
ask him what is wrong, he tells
me, "I just lost three million
dollars in one transaction."
After he'd told me, the poor kid
turned green and started throwing
up into my bin; the acrid stench
of fear and vomit was revolting
so I opened the window. Do you
know what it's like to open a
window on the forty-second floor?
No matter how blue the skies are,
it's always windy, a wind that
freezes your ribs beneath your
shirt.
So I'm standing here, and he's
standing there, and I can see him
looking at the window, thinking,
"It would be so easy, it's only
six steps and a jump." So I shut
the window and say to him, "Tell
me exactly what happened." He
told me that the night before
he'd been to an all night party
with his sister and brother-in
law who were on their honeymoon,
and the next day he was feeling
kind of dozy.
When he entered the transaction,
he said it was as if his finger
just wanted, all by itself, to
keep pushing zero - those were
his exact words: "My finger kept
pushing zero."
And then when he pressed
Enter, the computer asked him,
"Do you want to proceed with this
transaction?" and even though he
heard an insistent voice in his
head, telling him 'No!', he
pressed Yes. It was as if some
force made him do it, something
he couldn't control, that knew
more than he did. But even as he
pressed the key, he knew exactly
what he had done and this
mounting panic rose from his
stomach, which was suddenly light
and churning around; this fear
rose to his face, which was hot
and sweating, then cold and pale.
So, I'm the leader of the
team and the buck stops with me.
Everyone is depending on me - not
just Sean, everyone - their
lives, their futures. I created a
secret account and I moved funds
into it from other accounts that
no-one would check. Over the next
few months I stayed behind at
night, trading on futures -
coffee, gas, currencies, anything
you can name. At first I lost
more money, until our loss was
over sixty million, but then I
made it all back again and all I
had to do was transfer the money
back to the accounts I'd borrowed
from, shut down the secret
account, and nobody would know.
We would all be in the clear.
He stops speaking.
RACHEL
Why didn't you?
DAN
Because, that was the weekend I
flew over to your mum's
anniversary, and I met you again.
I went back to New York, prepared
to close the account and come
back to England to try and
persuade you not to marry Jack,
but when I got back, I found that
someone had put through another
ten-million dollar transaction.
Nobody knows to this day who did
it, but there it was, right in
front of me, in green and yellow.
So then I started again, trying
to clear it, but now all I can
think about is you and Jack
getting married, and I have this
picture in my mind, permanently,
of you and him - even though I
don't know what he looks like -
you and him standing beneath a
granite archway with a Yew tree
on either side and all my family
throwing confetti onto you.
This image is driving me
insane and I cannot concentrate.
I start making mistakes, falling
asleep at work, staying awake at
night, dreaming that the day will
come when I clear the debt and
come back home. But it never
happens - the tide is running
against me. I can feel the
wolfpack circling around, beyond
the perimeter of the campfire,
they're waiting for me to weaken.
By now my debt is four billion,
and I realise that there's no way
to clear it, so I bow to my fate
and come back home, knowing that
in one, two, three, six months,
someone will find out. But I know
that in those six months, I can
force you away from Jack and make
you happy. I could have you, if
only for one month. You'd be
mine.
ANNIE
What will happen to you now?
DAN
It doesn't matter. Everything is
settled. I've done what I wanted.
They can do what they like to me,
but I need you both, to stand by
me, to look after Ben. I can't go
through this alone.
There's a banging at the door. They look at each other, but
nobody answers it.
Lights down.
ACT THREE: SCENE THREE
Lights up. Annie and Rachel together. Annie sitting, Rachel
walking about, concerned.
RACHEL
He just fell over, and I sat him
up again, and he fell over again.
ANNIE
Maybe he was tired.
RACHEL
No, he wasn't. He hadn't been
awake for long. I'd fed him,
changed him, and then I sat him
up on his mat, and over he went,
as if he'd lost his sense of
balance.
ANNIE
He could have an ear infection.
Did he scream?
RACHEL
He screams a lot, especially when
there's a loud noise, as if it
hurts him.
ANNIE
Some babies have sensitive
hearing.
RACHEL
But it's getting worse. And this
was the strangest thing: after
I'd sat him up again, I held out
my finger so that he could grab
hold of it, but he couldn't. I
touched his palm with it and he
tried to close his hand but he
was unable to. I could see the
muscles trying to flex, but
something was stopping him. I
think there's something wrong
with him.
ANNIE
No - all his development tests
have been fine. I think you're
worrying unecessarily.
RACHEL
Yes, but since his last test,
I've detected signs. He seems to
be regressing not progressing.
ANNIE
When is his next test?
RACHEL
Next week, but I think I might
phone the doctor tomorrow and see
if I can take him in early.
Dan arrives with a pile of legal papers under his arm.
DAN
We'll have to move somewhere
else.
RACHEL
Why?
DAN
There's a reporter outside, from
the press, but before long, we'll
have television cameras out
there. We need to get out of
here?
RACHEL
Don't be stupid! We're not
moving.
ANNIE
Once the court case has started,
it will all die down.
DAN
I need to be able to concentrate.
I have have to read all of these
before the first hearing in two
days.
ANNIE
What is it?
DAN
Correspondence between me and my
manager in London. We have to
prove that I tried to tell them
that we had a problem.
ANNIE
But you didn't try and tell them.
DAN
If there's a form of words that
indicates I was worried about
something and they didn't
respond, we can use it to say
they dampened my concern. I have
to prove that they were
negligent.
RACHEL
But were they?
DAN
It doesn't matter, if we can
prove that they were.
RACHEL
But they didn't know, did they?
You kept it secret.
DAN
That's not the point. They failed
in their duty of care to inform
themselves of what was happening
in our office. They didn't
properly supervise me.
RACHEL
Is that the law?
DAN
Well, if we can prove that the
bank was negligent, and its
procedures were inadequate, that
lessens my responsibility. Which
is why I won't plead guilty. My
lawyer thinks that we can
convince a jury that the bank was
at fault and I just acted
naturally, to protect my staff.
The system was at fault, not me.
ANNIE
Your father rang.
DAN
You put the phone down on him, I
hope.
ANNIE
He wants to help.
DAN
Now he wants to help me. Where
was he last year when no-one
would speak to us except you?
ANNIE
He probably feels guilty and
genuinely wants to make up.
DAN
He wants to redeem himself. He
should have stood by me before.
ANNIE
But you need him now.
DAN
No I don't. I don't need anyone
apart from you three.
Pause.
RACHEL
I think there's something wrong
with Ben. I'm going to take him
to the doctor.
DAN
Just because he fell over.
RACHEL
There are lots of little things.
The falling over, the screaming,
his hand can't grasp. I have a
bad feeling.
Dan sits down at the table and buries his head in his
hands.
DAN
That's all I need - Ben to be
ill. How can I do all this legal
stuff, with a sick baby around
me?
ANNIE
You should be thinking of Ben,
not yourself.
DAN
How can I not think of myself?
I'm about to be tried for fraud
and false accounting, how could I
not possibly think of myself.
RACHEL
We know that, but...
ANNIE
But you have to be concerned with
Ben as well.
DAN
I don't have time to be concerned
with Ben - you two will have to
deal with that and leave me free
to deal with this.
The phone rings and Rachel answers it.
RACHEL
It's the Financial Times: will
you give an interview?
DAN
Of course not. Everything is sub
judice - tell them to fuck off.
RACHEL
Do you want to tell them?
DAN
No! Just leave me alone to go
through this paperwork.
Rachel puts the phone down and walks over to the sofa.
Annie stands up. Rachel holds Annie's shoulders and
whispers something in her ear. They leave the stage.
Loud knocking at the door. Dan looks around with a mixture
of fear and despair. He gets up and crosses to the window,
apparently peeking out the curtains. Another knock on the
door.
The two women return.
RACHEL
Aren't you going to answer the
door?
DAN
No. I can't bear to be...
intimidated in this way.
ANNIE
Who is intimidating you?
DAN
Everything, everyone - including
those people outside on the
pavement.
ANNIE
Are you including us in that?
DAN
No, not you, but I cannot deal
with anything except this.
You see here, it says, "Should I
keep you abreast of everything
that happens?" and they reply,
"No need." I mean, to me, that
means that they didn't want to
know. That's a derogation of
responsibilities. They should
have taken the trouble to find
out. I knew what all my staff
were doing, so should they have.
RACHEL
But you were hiding...
ANNIE
And conspiring to hide...
RACHEL
Information...
ANNIE
And facts...
RACHEL
So...
DAN
(angry)
So! I was acting to protect my
employees. But who was acting to
protect me? Who? No-one, they
just left me to my own devices so
that I could hang myself. They
gave me enough rope, they
shouldn't be surprised that I
used it.
RACHEL
Why are you shouting?
DAN
Because you doubt me. I suppose
you don't believe me either.
ANNIE
You told us what happened. We're
not your jury - you don't have to
convince us that it was something
different.
DAN
I'm not trying to convince you,
and don't ever tell anybody what
I told you. In fact, don't speak
to anybody about anything.
ANNIE
Anything?
DAN
To do with me. Don't speak to
anyone about me.
Silence. Annie and Rachel exchange a glance.
ANNIE
Wouldn't it be best if you found
some place you could hide? A
house deep in the country where
they couldn't find you. Or my
place? Why don't you go there?
RACHEL
Yes. And then you could
concentrate on your court case
and we can look after Ben.
ANNIE
We'd ring you every day and tell
you what's happening.
RACHEL
So that you could hear our
voices.
ANNIE
We'll take care of everything
here.
RACHEL
And you'll take care of
everything there.
ANNIE
We'd get back together later.
DAN
But I don't want to leave you and
Ben - I just need some peace and
quiet.
ANNIE
Precisely. That's why we think
you should go, just for a while,
and let us sort this out. You can
come back when it's all over.
RACHEL
If it's ever all over.
ANNIE
(to Rachel)
You go and help him pack. I'll
look after Ben.
Lights down.
ACT THREE: SCENE FOUR
Lights up. Rachel and Annie are sat on the sofa. Annie is
upright with Rachel's head in her lap.
ANNIE
I'll ring him.
RACHEL
Don't ring him.
ANNIE
We should tell him.
RACHEL
Don't tell him.
ANNIE
We said we'd tell him everything.
RACHEL
Don't tell him everything.
ANNIE
I'm going to ring him.
Annie gets up and Rachel stays slumped, head down on the
sofa. Annie rings Dan.
ANNIE (cont'd)
It's me, Annie. We got the
results of Ben's tests. I'm
sorry...
(pause)
It's very rare.
(pause)
It's an inherited genetic
disorder.
(pause)
Tay-Sachs disease. Tay-Sachs.
(pause; to Rachel)
He wants to speak to you.
Rachel shakes her head.
ANNIE (cont'd)
She doesn't want to talk to you.
He will get worse and worse, but
it will take two or three years
to kill him, unless we help him
go before that.
(pause)
I told you, it's genetic. You
must both be carriers, which is
most likely if...
(pause)
I'm not saying anything about
anything: I'm telling you what
the doctor told us. It occurs
most often in couples who are
related by blood.
(pause)
I know you're not, which is why I
said you might be, I didn't say
you are. It might just be that
you are randomly carriers, and
not related.
(pause)
We know that, you told us that,
but you should still be tested,
to confirm it.
(pause)
I'm not saying she's your cousin.
I'm telling you what the doctor
told us, that you should both
give DNA samples.
(pause)
She's already given hers.
(pause)
Your father, then - they can use
his.
(pause)
No you can't come back. It's not
safe. There are still people
outside on the pavement looking
for you. They're even writing
about us. You've seen that?
You've seen the pictures of us in
the paper, haven't you? That's
why you can't come back. Stay
there, in the country. It's safer
there.
(pause)
We know you might go to prison,
but...
(pause)
but...
(pause)
No - you can't. Rachel and I...
He obviously hangs up the phone.
ANNIE (cont'd)
He hung up. He doesn't want to
know.
RACHEL
About his own child? How could
he?
ANNIE
No, about the DNA. We'll have to
get a sample from his father.
Annie sits down next to Rachel, whose face is sunk into her
hands. She puts her arms around her and removes her face
from her hands. She holds Rachel's cheeks in her hands and
looks at her intently:
ANNIE (cont'd)
Rach, we can do this together if
we stay strong. I'll be here for
you, until the end, and after. I
won't leave you alone. We'll look
after Ben together and then when
his pain is too great, we'll end
it.
RACHEL
I think it was fated, from the
moment Dan and I met. I broke the
plate...
ANNIE
That was an accident.
RACHEL
And then I almost crashed the
car...
ANNIE
Coincidence.
RACHEL
Then Jack was sterile.
ANNIE
Biological.
RACHEL
Then he lost his job.
ANNIE
An economic downturn.
RACHEL
Then Dan lost his job.
ANNIE
Due to his own stupidity, Rachel.
None of this is connected.
RACHEL
And now Ben has this disease. It
is all connected, and I'm being
punished for what I did with Dan.
ANNIE
(wiping the hair from
Rachel's face)
Who would punish you?
What laws have you broken? None.
It's all chance and accident.
RACHEL
No, it's written in my stars. I
felt it inside me the moment I
met him again, but I didn't
follow my feelings. Instead, I
let him pursuade me against my
nature, so now I'm being
punished.
ANNIE
No you're not. It's just life,
and suffering, like many people
have to bear.
RACHEL
No, even if it's not against the
law, what I did was wrong for me,
that's why it has all gone wrong.
ANNIE
Rachel, don't do this to
yourself. Don't make your burden
heavier by loading it with guilt.
Deal with what is, not what
should have been.
(Annie lays Rachel's
head in her lap and
strokes her head)
There are so many things you
could have done, and you had to
choose one.
RACHEL
I chose the wrong one. I should
have known.
ANNIE
You couldn't have known.
RACHEL
I should have known.
ANNIE
You know what's right now, don't
you?
RACHEL
No - I don't know anything any
more.
ANNIE
We stay together.
Lights down.
ACT THREE: SCENE FIVE
Sound of waves, wind, and a baby howling.
Lights up. Sounds fade.
Annie is sat in front of the table. On the table are some
small pebbles and a handful of twigs. One side of the table
is spread with sand. While they talk, Annie is picking up
the bundle of twigs and dropping them, using their patterns
to divine the future. After dropping a bundle, she draws a
symbol in the sand and moves the stones around.
RACHEL
What does it say?
ANNIE
We should go North, where there
are fewer people.
RACHEL
What does it say about Ben?
ANNIE
What nature gives, nature takes
away. To help nature is no crime.
RACHEL
And what does it say about me and
Dan?
ANNIE
When the brother marries the
sister, there will be confusion.
RACHEL
But we didn't know.
ANNIE
How could you have known, that
his father and your mother...
RACHEL
Before we were born...
ANNIE
Everything was uncreated...
RACHEL
And from the egg...
ANNIE
There came forth chaos.
RACHEL
The natural order is disrupted.
ANNIE
There's no natural order...
RACHEL
Until it is disrupted.
(pause)
Annie, can we stay together? I
mean, there's no reason for us to
break apart now, is there? With
Dan gone, when Ben goes, there'll
just be the two of us.
ANNIE
We were made to be together. I
felt it the moment we met,
something inside of me turned. I
had to follow my instincts and be
with you, even if it meant using
Dan.
RACHEL
But that was in the past, wasn't
it?
ANNIE
Yes, and it says here...
RACHEL
What does it say? Tell me!
ANNIE
It says, you shouldn't be afraid
of the future just because the
past was wrong.
RACHEL
I think we should do what we feel
is right for us.
ANNIE
That's right. It's the only law
there is.
Sound of baby wailing.
RACHEL
It's Ben.
A bare arm is thrust through the wall on the side of the
stage and tries to grasp their clothes.
ANNIE
It's time to help him.
RACHEL
(suddenly brighter)
And then we can go North
together.
They leave the stage hand in hand.
Lights down.
THE END