Greig Lanark: A Life in Three Acts

adapted for the stage
Main
ISBN: 978-0-571-32923-6
Verlag: Faber & Faber
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 128 Seiten

The first thing I remember is... falling. A young man arrives in a dying city with seashells in his pockets. He doesn't know who he is, or how he got here. He goes by the only name he can think of: Lanark. Lanark is a portrait of the outsider artist as a young man, an exploded life story like no other. This theatrical re-imagining of Alasdair Gray's classic novel takes us from the Dragon Chambers to the Cathedral of Unthank, from the post-war Glasgow School of Art to the sinister underground Institute, from the heavenly city of Provan to the hellish Elite Café, combining science-fiction, realism, fantasy, and playful storytelling. 'Insanely ambitious... a heady, unsettling, unpredictable dream... this is a darkly playful and intriguingly dislocated evening in which chronological time, theatre's fourth wall, character conventions and all expectations get smashed.' Guardian Lanark: A Life in Three Acts was conceived in collaboration by David Greig and Graham Eatough and adapted for the stage in collaboration with the creative team. It was presented as a co-production between the Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival at the Edinburgh International Festival 2015.

David Greig is a writer and theatre director. He was born in Edinburgh in 1969. His play Europe was performed at the Traverse Theatre in 1994. Since then, his plays, adaptations and musical scripts have been performed widely in the UK and around the world. In 1990 he co-founded Suspect Culture, who produced collaborative, experimental work until their funding was ended in 2010. In 2016 he became the Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre. In 2023 he published his first novel, Columba's Bones.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Greig, David

Weitere Mitwirkende

Gray, Alasdair

Leseproben

SCENE SIX

Sludden and the Gang arrive at the party.

Gloopy stands in the grand vestibule and welcomes the revellers taking their coats.

Gloopy Hello … Welcome … Delighted … Welcome. Bienvenue! Wilcommen! Bonsoir!

Mr Sludden, congratulations! Gay, delighted!

He sees Lanark.

Well. If it isn’t himself.

Lanark Hello.

Gloopy Gracing us with your presence, are you? Last time I saw you, you had seashells in your pockets!

Lanark Is this your boarding house?

Gloopy It is indeed, I am the ‘concierge’.

Lanark What’s a concierge?

Gloopy Always so brusque!

‘What’s a concierge! What? What?’

What did I do to hurt you?

Sludden You don’t understand the mystery man, Gloopy. It’s not that he doesn’t like you. He’s just very very serious all the time.

Gloopy Bof!

Sludden Come on, Lanark. Come into the hall.
Everyone’s dancing!

Lanark enters the party.

Gloopy continues to welcome guests.

Gloopy Delighted. Welcome. Overjoyed.

Mind you don’t slip on the terrazzo!

Music.
Dancing, men in suits, girls more exotically dressed.
Low light and shadow.

Lanark finds Rima.
The music is loud.

Lanark Would you like to dance?

Rima What?

Lanark Would you like to dance.

Rima WHAT?

Lanark WOULD YOU LIKE TO DANCE?

Rima I’m not fussy.

Sorry.

Lanark It’s all right.

Rima Don’t be so serious!

A moment.

Music starts again.
Rima and Lanark dance.
He lets himself go.
They have fun.

The music stops.

All look at Lanark.

Lanark Stop!

I killed you.

Rima What?

Lanark I think I killed you?

Girl What the hell are you talking about?

Lanark I killed a woman.

Rima Lanark!

Lanark Before we were here, don’t you remember?

Girl Before we were here we were at the café.

Lanark No!

I held her and the crow cut –

A ripple of concerned comment from the crowd.

Lanark The crow cut her off – here – and here – and –

Rima Lanark!

Lanark Don’t you remember?

Girl Get this madman away from me!

The Girl backs away.

Lanark goes towards the Girl.
The Girl screams.
She pushes him away.
He struggles to get closer.

Lanark Don’t you remember?

Men surround him and subdue him.
Screams and commotion.

I just want to establish – Get off! Get off me!

Help!

The men dump Lanark in a dark room.

A heavy door closes.

Music starts up again far away.
In dim light.
Lanark scratches his elbow.
A lamp comes on.
A man in military uniform holding a whisky tumbler.

General Well, well, well. If it isn’t the famous Lanark. We’ve been expecting you.

Lanark Who are you?

General We’re the hosts. It’s our party. We’re paying for it at any rate.

Drink?

Lanark takes the whisky.

Lanark Are you friends of Sludden’s?

General Sludden? Oh yes. We’re great buddies, Sludden and I. Great pals. I like him very much, though he does associate with invertebrates. We often laugh about that. I say, ‘Sludden, many of the people with whom you associate are actually leeches, what do you think about that?’ Oh yes, we have a laugh, Sludden and I.

Lanark Do I know you?

General Sludden tells me you’re a writer?

Lanark Apparently so.

General Tell me, what is it that makes you writer chaps tick?

Lanark I don’t know. I’ve only just started.

General So modest!

Lanark I suppose I like the discipline.

General Discipline!

Lanark I enjoy the work.

General Work?

Lanark Yes.

General Disciplined. Modest. Hard-working!

You’re the perfect candidate.

Lanark For what?

General The army.

Lanark …

General Your prose has a terse, muscular style that speaks of a logical mind. We need logical minds in the army. I wonder if, in spite of your apparent association with spongiforms, you may, in fact, yourself be a vertebrate?

Lanark I don’t know what I am.

General You stay with Mrs Fleck by the Turk’s Head forge, don’t you?

Lanark How did you know that?

General We know everything. The point is, down at the forge the army are producing components for the Q39 Project. Q39s are those huge metal constructions you’ll have seen down by the riverside. They’re bomb shelters. Each one can house up to five hundred people. They’re our insurance, for when the balloon goes up.

Lanark The balloon?

General For when the big show starts.

Lanark I don’t understand.

General For when the fat lady sings.

Lanark I’m sorry, I –

General Lanark, at any moment this city could be on the receiving end of about sixty-eight different forms of violent attack and I don’t mind telling you that we haven’t the slightest idea how to defend ourselves from any of them.

Lanark Oh.

General So we build Q39s.

Lanark To protect the population?

General Oh no. We build Q39s so they have to build Q38s. As long as both sides are building things the balloon remains … shall we say … descendant. But if either side stop –

Pop.

We’re gone.

The people are getting restive. They’re demanding we stop building Q39s. My own daughter goes on the protest marches.

We need to persuade the people they’re wrong.

That’s why we need chaps like you on our team.

Disciplined. Modest. Hard-working.

Lanark Writers?

General Yes. Isn’t that right, Baillie Dodd?

From the swivel chair, a grunt.

General Lanark, meet Baillie Dodd, Baillie Dodd, meet Lanark.

The chair swivels round.
In it, Baillie Dodd sits, reading Lanark’s manuscript.

General We call him Baillie Dodd, in fact he’s Provost. He’s the Lord Provost of the whole fucking metropolis!

Baillie Dodd grunts.

Baillie Dodd, Lanark is a writer. I think he might be a...