Gill Versailles

Main
ISBN: 978-0-571-31531-4
Verlag: Faber & Faber
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 144 Seiten

In the drawing room of the Rawlinson's late Victorian villa in Kent, life as it was lived before the war is quietly resuming. The family's son, Leonard Rawlinson, is among the British delegation sent to Versailles to draw up the treaty that will come to define Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world. With the ghost of a fallen loved one still haunting him, Leonard perceives that the choices made in Paris will shape the fate of millions for centuries to come. Versailles premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in February 2014.

Peter Gill was born in 1939 in Cardiff and started his professional career as an actor. A director as well as a writer, he has directed over a hundred productions in the UK, Europe and North America. At the Royal Court Theatre in the sixties, he was responsible for introducing D. H. Lawrence's plays to the theatre. The founding director of Riverside Studios and the National Theatre Studio, Peter Gill lives in London. His plays include The Sleepers Den (Royal Court, London, 1965), A Provincial Life (Royal Court, 1966), Over Gardens Out (Royal Court, 1968), Small Change (Royal Court, 1976), Kick for Touch (National Theatre, London, 1983), Cardiff East (National Theatre, 1997), Certain Young Men (Almeida Theatre, London, 1999), The York Realist (English Touring Theatre, 2001), Original Sin (Sheffield Crucible, 2002), Another Door Closed (Theatre Royal, Bath, 2009), A Provincial Life (National Theatre of Wales, Sherman Cymru, Cardiff, 2011), Versailles (Donmar Warehouse, London, 2014) and As Good a Time as Any (Print Room at the Coronet, 2015).

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gill, Peter

Leseproben

Act Two

Miss Isham Where is Mr Rawlinson? Isn’t he back yet?

Henry He is back, yes, but he’s gone down to the reference room. What do you need him for?

Miss Isham I want to know if he wants to make any alterations to this.

Henry I don’t know, I’m afraid.

Miss Isham If it needs typing afresh, I’ll send it to the typing pool, but I need to know.

Henry He shouldn’t be long.

Miss Isham If it’s to go over to the Quai d’Orsay in time he’d better jump to, you know. This clause comes up for ratification, as far as I can see, this afternoon. I don’t think he’s going to get a postponement.

Henry I know, I know.

Miss Isham He’s been rebuffed already on this, you know. I don’t know why he doesn’t call it quits. I really don’t.

Henry Well, yes, but he’s absolutely certain he’s right. Isn’t he?

Miss Isham He is. Do you think he is?

Leonard I do on the whole.

Miss Isham Where has he been?

Henry I think he was lunching with his opposite number in the French delegation.

Miss Isham Not likely to get any change there and I think it’s gone beyond, long ago, alteration at this level.

Henry They’ve taken very little notice of what I’ve had to say. Just glad of the figures. I’ve put in my tuppence worth.

Miss Isham I think they’re getting more than a little irritated, you know.

I’ll leave it on his desk.

Oh, you are the limit.

Henry Me?

Miss Isham Both of you. I don’t know. Look at all this …

Henry Oh, sorry.

Miss Isham It’s no laughing matter, you know, really. These are a security risk left like this. Look, you left them for anybody to read.

Henry I don’t know that this is a risk, you know. It’s a card from my mother to remind me that my father’s birthday is on the fifteenth.

Miss Isham Why are you throwing it away?

Henry I’ve put the date in my diary.

Miss Isham Such a pretty picture.

Henry It’s the church at Much Haddon.

Miss Isham You could pin it on the wall. Now, you both have wastepaper baskets. All you have to do is tear this stuff in half and divide it between the two baskets.

Henry Sorry. But, you know, do you think the Germans really have easy access to this room? It seems to get locked up pretty safe.

Miss Isham It’s not the Germans that are the worry. It’s the French. And by the way, discretion and security goes wider than this place.

Henry What do you mean?

Miss Isham Mr Rawlinson was seen dining, , with one of the German delegates.

Henry Really, well well. How do you know?

Miss Isham It was I who saw him. I was dining with someone from the Canadian delegation in the same restaurant. You might mention it. I don’t want to have to tell the powers that be. Have you anything for me?

Henry Could you get them to tidy this up?

Miss Isham Will they understand it?

Leonard Oh, hello.

Miss Isham There you are. Now am I to send this over? Are there any changes?

Leonard No, that’s it.

Miss Isham Are you sure you want it to go without looking at it again? It’s a bit emphatic, isn’t it?

Leonard It needs to be.

Miss Isham Do you think so? So much?

Leonard I do.

Miss Isham Are you absolutely convinced of all this?

Leonard I am, why?

Miss Isham In that case, you really need someone to speak it to first, you know.

Leonard Do you?

Miss Isham I do. Frederick Gibb is here. Perhaps I should go and sound him out.

Leonard What do you think?

Miss Isham Might be a good idea.

Leonard Would you?

Miss Isham Yes. I don’t want to be late today again. I really don’t. I’ve a rehearsal this evening.

Leonard Rehearsal for what?

Miss Isham It’s an entertainment for the Empire delegation on Saturday. Would you like to come?

Leonard Me?

Miss Isham Both of you

Henry Is it very highbrow?

Miss Isham Would it be?

Leonard You’re not in it, are you?

Miss Isham I’m doing the properties.

Henry What is it then?

Miss Isham It’s a series of skits and songs. You know. I wonder they haven’t dragooned you.

Henry A kind of smoker.

Leonard Is Miss Forbes in it?

Miss Isham Yes.

Leonard Henry –

Miss Isham Plenty in it from this floor. I heard them in the conference room during their luncheon, rehearsing the sextet.

Leonard Oh dear.

Miss Isham I know. I have to find some cushions to make a punt. Let me know.

Henry Might be fun. She hasn’t taken this. Since when have you become the favourite?

Leonard I don’t know about that.

Henry By the way, she saw you with the Hun.

Leonard Really? Hun?

Henry Really.

Leonard How did she manage that?

Henry I think she does more than run this office. I’d better take this down.

Gerald Finding it hard?

Leonard Proving so. Yes.

Gerald Not expected.

Leonard Not really. No. Not like this, at any rate.

Gerald He seems sweet.

Leonard Yes.

Gerald Your colleague.

Leonard Yes.

Gerald...