Gregg Shibboleth

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-78001-663-4
Verlag: Nick Hern Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 112 Seiten

Reihe: NHB Modern Plays

An exhilarating and unsentimental exploration of working-class life in Belfast. Development. Hotels, spas, Nando's, boutiques. Belfast is changing, but for some people, progress means new barriers. A group of construction workers is building an extension to the Peace Wall that separates Them-ens from Us-ens. When Polish worker Yuri's daughter starts having serious problems with her boyfriend, they rally round in support. But good intentions can easily go too far... Stacey Gregg's play Shibboleth premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, as part of the 2015 Dublin Theatre Festival. This edition includes an Afterword by the author.

Stacey Gregg is from Belfast and is a writer and performer for stage and screen. Her plays include Scorch ( Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast, 2015 ; Edinburgh Fringe, 2016); Shibboleth ( Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 2015 ); Override ( Watford Palace Theatre, 2013 ); Lagan (Ovalhouse Theatre London, 2011); Perve ( Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 2011 ; BBC Radio Drama Award 2012) and When Cows Go Boom ( Abbey Theatre, Dublin 2008 ). She co-created an interactive web installation for CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities). Television work includes Raw (RTÉ), Spoof or Die (Channel Four) and The Frankenstein Chronicles (Rainmark). Author photo by Nina Sologubenko

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gregg, Stacey

Leseproben

Prelude

Night.

An empty worksite. Foundations for an extension to a wall. We distantly hear the voice of the President of the United States of America.

[Full transcript found at http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov]

OBAMA

‘We need you to get this right. And what’s more, you set an example for those who seek a peace of their own. Because beyond these shores, right now, in scattered corners of the world, there are people living in the grip of conflict – ethnic conflict, religious conflict, tribal conflicts – and they know something better is out there. And they’re groping to find a way to discover how to move beyond the heavy hand of history, to put aside the violence. They’re studying what you’re doing. And they’re wondering, perhaps if Northern Ireland can achieve peace, we can, too. You’re their blueprint to follow. You’re their proof of what is possible – because hope is contagious. They’re watching to see what you do next.’

OBAMA is interrupted by a noise. The WALL sings.

A deep, timeless hum. A magnificent voice of ages, polyglot, from the cosmos.

(Fading away.) ‘But the fact that so far we’ve only got a gate open and the wall is still up means there’s more work to do.’

WALL

BUILD ME

BUILD ME

BUILD ME

One

Early morning. Birds tweet.

The pace is rapid, the chaos that greets any morning in a busy household. Bits of uniform and lunch boxes circulate throughout.

ALAN dressed for the worksite, stands at the bottom of the stairs.

ALAN

Son.

Darren.

Darren.

DARREN.

DARREN appears at the top of the stairs.

DARREN

Wha?

ALAN	Is yer ma not outta the bathroom yet?

DARREN

What’re ya buildin today Dad?

ALAN	Buildin a wall.

DARREN

What kinda wall?

ALAN	A Peace Wall.

DARREN

What’s a Peace Wall?

ALAN	It’s a big twelve-foot-high wall between Themens and Usens, to keep the peace.

DARREN

Does it?

ALAN	Keep the peace? I don’t know.

DARREN

How does it do it?

ALAN	It’s just a wall son

DARREN

How do ya build a wall?

ALAN	With bricks is yer mammy not out yet? Give her a shout there

DARREN

MAMMY DADDY WANTS THE TOILET.

RUBY	(Off, indignant.) Darren!

DARREN

Wha?

ALAN

Wha?

DARREN

Dunno. So why do ya have to build a Peace Wall again?

ALAN	Cos once upon a time there was a war and Themens and Usens couldn’t get on, so they built these walls to keep Usens safe.

DARREN

Is there still a war?

ALAN	No son, been peace for twenty-odd years, twice your lifetime.

DARREN

That’s class.

ALAN	Give yer ma another shout there I’m bustin

DARREN

So if there’s no war why’re youse buildin the wall?

ALA	Give her a shout

DARREN

What’s a Peace Wall do when there’s no war?

ALAN	I dunno, suppose people like the idea of them. They paint them up dead nice, with murals about all the peace we’re havin. They bring the tourists in.

DARREN

How many Peace Walls are there?

ALAN	Think there’s about eighty maybe

DARREN

How many is eighty?

ALAN	Eighty is – ehm – ahm – go you and get on ya.

DARREN scampers off.

Simultaneously, in another household: the following might be performed in Polish with English surtitles. AGNIESZKA may mix English and Polish.

YURI drinks coffee, dressed for the site, doing a crossword. AGNIESZKA breezes in, dressed in a supermarket tabard.

YURI	‘Derry. A shibboleth. Used to mark one group from another – six across.’

AGNIESZKA

I have to go.

YURI	Ends in ‘N’.

AGNIESZKA faffs about, grabbing things for lunch.

Maybe it’s not an ‘N’. Maybe it’s a ‘U’. I use pencil.

‘London!’

AGNIESZKA

What?

YURI	Derry/Londonderry!

AGNIESZKA

Right.

YURI	You’re a ray of sunshine in the morning Agnieszka. Sometimes, when I hear the birds sing, I wake up, I think: I cannot wait to be sitting here radiating joy from our morning chats.

AGNIESZKA

I have two groups after work Dad, my brain’s exploding.

AGNIESZKA scrutinises a paper.

YURI	What a misery. Are you hungover?

AGNIESZKA

Give me your pencil.

YURI	I love listening to your English.

Your confident grasp of ‘shithead’ and ‘ballroot’.

He passes her his pencil.

I don’t like you teaching these late classes. Walking home. This area. It isn’t…

AGNIESZKA

Why’re we here then?

YURI	Cheapest housing.

ALAN lets MO in.

ALAN	Alright Mo?

MO	Standin there ma balls pickled off me

Toilet flushes and door opens upstairs. RUBY appears at the top of the stairs holding washing.

RUBY	Alan I’ll wrap that clothes horse round your skull – gettin him shoutin my business – Hello Mo.

MO	Alright Ruby?

RUBY	Wanna KitKat?

MO

Nah.

ALAN	One sec here till I do a slash –

ALAN races up past RUBY to use the bathroom.

RUBY descends.

RUBY	Darren you better be ready for school in five, four, three, two –

DARREN appears at the top of the stairs in a pair of kitten heels.

RUBY hasn’t seen him, still descending the stairs. MO stares at...