Gecilie L0veid
The Tightrope Walker (Birth is Music)
English version by Julian Gamer
NORWSKA STRAKOSCH TEATERFÖRLAGET ApS
v/Hanne Wilhelm Hansen Gothersgade 11,4. sal DK-1123 K0benhavnK
1
characters:
Susanne   approx. 40
Axel        approx. 50
Rita approx. 20
Kristian approx. 20
Two Men
The Tightrope Walker is set in the present.
It can be reality, it can be the internal journey a
woman makes as she lies in the labour ward having
just given birth, waiting for her new life to
begin.
2
ACT 1
MUSEUM.
Scene 1.
(A history museum.
A large display cabinet, lit, empty. Susanne, dressed in black, elegant. Eyeing something she see in the cabinet. Smiles, secretively.)
SUSANNE
I have dreamt of silk
Of entering a different rhythm
I have dreamt Backwards
Backwards Backwards in time
First, sand on asphalt as in a movie
Then:
Leap out from the time-mountain Leap into a shape which is the solution: The Coil of Time
I love weights, scales I love balance That is my wish
I have a story When I tell it it sounds like a story from a woman's magazine
(Strokes her body)
Do you really want my old sour milk?
(Smiles)
4
TURBULENCE
Scene 2
(Susanne and Axel's apartment.
Susanne is tense. She's been awaiting Axel's return from a trip abroad. She is going to tell him she is pregnant. Axel enters, wearing a pale-blue, light-weight American suit. They anticipate each others smile and embrace.)
SUSANNE Is it you?
The plane, didn't it shake just a little? Turbulence
AXEL
Nothing to speak of Were you so afraid so lonely
SUSANNE
Where's my perfume?
AXEL
Your fragrance
SUSANNE
(Opens the bottle and sniffs) Protection
You remembered it this time, also
I've enough now
for the next nine lives
at least
(Laughs)
(Axel kisses her)
SUSANNE
Suddenly you happened to think of me
For the first time of the journey My fragrance
AXEL
It' s you I have danced with always
SUSANNE
And I have danced only with you
AXEL
(uncertain) You should've come Next time
SUSANNE
To warmer climes With the baby
(Anxious as to his reaction.)
AXEL
Is that still
so important to you
What will you do with it?
SUSANNE
Stroke its skin smell it living
6
AXEL
Careful careful
SUSANNE
Careful?
Birth is music.
AXEL
And then afterwards it grows
SUSANNE Be proud
picture yourself
pushing the baby-carriage through town yellow carriage, green wheels
AXEL Grandpa
SUSANNE
When I was little I met a women who had twins two girls
a bird and a butterfly she said
as she put one to each breast (Holds her breasts in her hands)
AXEL
Careful careful
SUSANNE
Why careful?
7
AXEL
And so, then? What then?
SUSANNE
We've been given a new life And so, then, life goes on
AXEL
And she goes on playing with her dolls It's not like that You know it never is
SUSANNE
Sitting up in a plane
Wheels pulled up
The plane flying
all you can do is sit there
Hoping they'll give you a drink
a movie to distract you
The Sound of Music
hoping they'll give you a hot towel
to wipe away your anxiety
Aren't you going to take your coat off?
(He takes it off)
God, we're falling -Then I think, It doesn't matter. Axel will manage. I have no dependants If I die
what does it matter?
Cut through the clouds
Then I buy spirits
and remember you
your fragrance
and I buy you aftershave
(Grasps his hand.)
8
AXEL
Not a bad description actually
SUSANNE
I'm thinking of the town
I discovered in the desert
One great corpse
People have lived
have filled and emptied
water-jars
AXEL
Life was
A confirmation
that we ARE. We're alive.
SUSANNE
Every time you go away from me
Are you trying to
say
I'm dead?
Are you reahearsing that?
(Axel shakes his head, despairingly.)
Maybe I'll die on a plane Maybe that's where I will die
while everybody flies on and my body flies on
(Smiles.)
It would look good
on my carriculum vitae
if I died on a plane
(Laughs.)
9
AXEL
Each time you go away from me Are you trying to say consider me dead Perhaps I'll never come back.
May I not be permitted to dance with you?
FLIGHT ALL FLIGHT
Scene 3
(Post coitus. Susanne lies as if dead. Axel strokes her back.)
SUSANNE
Now I'm back.
Haven't I always come back to you?
(She rises, acts out the following.)
As a little girl
I could both
speak French
and dance the minuett
My father came with curb-stones in his hands and said: Read
I lay on my back beneath the table wagging my tail with delight
(Lies down, so Axel may scratch her behind the ears.)
He insisted that I read
each and every stone in the building
Dostoyevsky, Ibsen
the oriental religions
the history of art
I read
and read
Folklore
the art of curation the lost objects the wonders of the world the lost thoughts the lost techniques the burned libraries the huge loneliness of a pair of human legs
11
struck: me they were abandoned to infinity
earth mountain stone water
And so I began
shouting by daylight messages meant only
to be whispered in the dark
I looked up to Father Axel
He pulled at me
He pulled out my hair
He lay more stones in my hands
Other stones
At first, they were comfortable warm
as a heated floor But eventually
(She burns herself and drops the stone.)
I looked up to him like I look up to you, now. Axel
to where the suit-stripes stop and the neck-tie ceases and I loved him
I looked up and many times later
I have looked up to men and seen nothing but the air and sky
and there where the stripes stop
and an endless
* Match of the Day'
begins
He smiled
His face was a precipice
12
AXEL
And here, there's just air?
(Susanne doesn't answer.)
Shouldn't I have come back? Shall I phone your father for you?
(Susanne tries to stare him out.)
SUSANNE
There's a telephone on the market now which shows you the eyes
of the person you're talking to
AXEL
(Looks away.) Just the eyes?
SUSANNE (Teasing)
Just the eyes, what else? The nose? Just the nose?
AXEL
Isn't my smile dangerous enough for you?
SUSANNE
Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
AXEL
You think so?
13
SUSANNE
So it's always been in the past But I'm
the Red Queen from Alice screaming
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
AXEL
Ask to be excused
loving
Come back
from Wonderland
SUSANNE
Balance. I must have balance
AXEL
With her it's flight all flight
SUSANNE
Straight down
It goes straight down
Leap off
AXEL Flight
SUSANNE
(smiling) No!
I thought
because you liked jazz
and I liked jazz
you were someone else
(Laughs, somewhat hysterically.)
14
AXEL
Flight all flight
SUSANNE
I want to go back to my time to the 18th century You know what I long for (To herself.) His face was
a precipice?
(Thinks about the child.)
I can't tell him He'd kill it
AXEL
(Turns away from her.) Flight all flight.
(Susanne begins to move away from him.)
Is that the solution to all women's probl to have a baby?
YOU'RE TOO OLD!
SUSANNE
Because some of us need
music
ACT 2
16
HARPSICHORD 1
Scene 4
(Susanne alone in her great OPEN LANDSCAPE. Curled up, turned in on herself.
Two men in white overalls, their faces covered, come on, slowly pushing a white harpsichord. They stop, wipe the sweat from their brows. Susanne does not react. They continue towards Susanne. Stop and share a drink from a bottle.)
MAN
Where shall we put it, Ma'aam?
SUSANNE Here
Right here
MAN Here?
SUSANNE Yes
MAN
Wouldn't it be better
to put it inside?
17
SUSANNE
I can't
cope
without
music
Right here
where I am now
You understand, don't you? you who are so musical
MAN
I wouldn't advise Ma'am to let it stand out in the cold it will get so out of tune
MAN
Snowstorms
and harpsichords
MAN
No good
SUSANNE
When a woman says she needs something she needs it
MAN
That's right, Ma'am that's quite correct So, what
you'll get someone else to help you?
SUSANNE
Thank you for your help
18
(They go out.
Susanne begins to touch the instrument. Then she spins it around, wildly, around and around.)
Freezes.)
19
ROCOCCO NIGHT
Scene 5
(Night in the rococco garden. A castle in the distance, illuminated. A white parachute hanging from a tree, like the cadavar of a bird. Rita and Kristian arrive. They've come from a party and are heading for the castle, she in an evening dress and cape, he in a white suit and tail-coat. They are playing a game, but are not playful. Kristian virtually pulls Rita along. She's drunk.)
RITA
So tired so tired
Why did you stop in the middle of the Ravel?
You never do anything properly.
Why are you pulling me along like this?
I have
no energy
You said
something to me
In the middle of the Ravel
Soon, I'll be nothing
but a see-through dress
with nothing inside it to see
KRISTIAN
With yourself inside it Only kids want to know where are we going
RITA
This is abuse is what this isi
20
KRISTIAN
Wake up
Tell me more
you haven't finished
you're almost asleep
Where were we?
Longing
desperately
for him
me
RITA
(Yawns) Yes
I'm lying, asleep, in the garden
KRISTIAN
With your hand, thus
RITA
I lie with my hand thus
she lay with her hand, thus realises it is night and puts it to her face
(Sniffs her hand violently. Likes the smell.)
Hopeless
Letting me sleep
In the middle of Ravel
KRISTIAN
(Rita lets him sniff her hand.)
She's hungry
hence
the mouth
21
RITA
She's unsettled frightened resists it but must
Can't you see I'm dog tired?
KRISTIÁN
Must have a man
RITA
She gets up
dresses quickly
he's practicing
each note costs him dear
You're using me, now
(Tries to break free of him, but he holds her, tightly.)
KRISTIAN Naked
but for a cardigan What was it you wanted me for?
RITA
My own
satisfaction
Taxi!
(She waves, he pulls her arm down.)
She comes to his room
every note
keen
she knocks on the door repeatedly
peers through the keyhole wants so much to enter she sees him in there At last he comes
22
KRISTIÁN
Says it's impossible
RITA
He says it's impossible She doesn't believe him forces her way in climbs onto his bed He says, it's impossible that Ravel was so elegant in military attire
KRISTIÁN
I want to be like him
RITA
But you can't
just reject a woman
like that!
Not accept me
accept me
who was so
KRISTIÁN
But it was impossible didn't you see that?
RITA He said
I know it's impossible to satisfy you
(They stand beside the parachute. Embrace, hungrily. Go off to make love.)
HARPSICHORD 2
Scene 6
(The OPEN LANDSCAPE. Sharp morning light. Susanne has failed asleep at the harpsichord. She wakes, slowly, and strokes the instrument as if it were a person. Listens for music inside it. She is happy. She gets up and is about to open the lid when the two men come back on. They approach her, threateningly.)
MAN
This instrument
SUSANNE Yes?
MAN
It's not payed for
SUSANNE Oh?
Send the bill to my husband
MAN
Can't you settle up here and now?
SUSANNE
Not payed for?
How can I settle up?
Do you know the way a soldier rapes a woman?
24
MAN No
SUSANNE
I shall show you
(She changes her demeanour, becomes a sexy vamp", pawing at their bodies. They try to kiss her, but she doesn't want that.)
No kissing
(She gathers her dress up over her head and ties it in a knot.)
That's the way a soldier likes his victim to be
(They fuck her. Suddenly, she screams terribly. The men get off her.)
MAN
That was that
(Susanne stands, her dress still tied up over her head.)
SUSANNE
Are we settled, then?
(The men take the harpsichord)
MAN
Unfortunately, Ma'am,
we must have cash
How do you think our boss'd be
if we came back
without cash?
(They push the instrument off.)
25
SUSANNE
You should be paying me!
MAN
Now that's what I call a real woman
SUSANNE
(Shouts after them)
I can't
play
(Lights down)
THE NEW CURATOR
Scene 7
(In the Rococco garden, some weeks later. Summer. In the background, Kristian is practicing his violin. Rita is alone. She's working with the large white parachute, together with a lace shawl. Arranges them into a still-life, which she then moistens and sows with cress seeds. Nearby, is a music stand with the beginnings of several compositions upon it.)
RITA Openings
Beginnings is all he does
I wonder if he ever
When we were making love
Ladies on the walls
watching us continuously
Their eyes noting each movement
We were in a boat
Rocking
A white bush of luminous roses approached drew nearer
Then, suddenly, the image was whisked away
(Susanne suddenly stands before her, stately, professional, with briefcase. Her dress, however, is inside-out. Rita greets her as a long lost friend. Begins stroking her clothes. Susanne reacts as if this were quite natural. Offers her hand.)
SUSANNE
I'm the new curator
As I'm sure you know
27
RITA Susanne
We've been expecting you Now we shall see some real activity at the castle
SUSANNE
Some people think I'm nothing but a common whore
evidently
RITA
What a divine colour
SUSANNE
You're not blind?
RITA Blind?
SUSANNE
I'd been rehearsing a meeting
with a blind woman
that she was blind
and the first thing she said was
What a beautiful
dress you're wearing
what a divine colour
RITA
Don't swoon
It's just the way I am
was it blue?
28
SUSANNE
Yes blue
porcelain-blue So you're Rita I'm putting my soul into this project
RITA Yes
I'm Rita
(They smile at each other. Kristián ceases playing.)
Kristián he
always stops
in the middle of Ravel
SUSANNE
That isn't Ravel
RITA
What is it, then? One
of his own? (Laughs) Divine colour. (About the dress)
29
SUSANNE
I searched many years for the right colours my colours My entire wardrobe is based
on a limited range of colours
everything matches
But then I began to long
for something totally different
I'm getting close
RITA
Red is quite becoming
SUSANNE
Blood soaking into sand
RITA Red
for sensuality and fire To be taken seriously forcefully
Blue
for bullet-proof energy
White
the most powerful colour or non-colour diamond wisdom calm
Black
for mystery and oblivion Black
Draws energy from others for career-women and nuns
30
SUSANNE Black
I've been taken for a common tart
RITA
Black is fine
SUSANNE
It makes one look every bit one's age
RITA
I've sown cress here As they do in Poland on the bridal veil It means luck of course
SUSANNE
But I have
some clothes
whose colours
clash completely
with all the others
I don't know what to do
RITA
Why is it one so often confides
in complete strangers? Despite the fact they hardly listen? Barely give one a second glance?
31
SUSANNE
One doesn't share real experiences or pain
Besdies, I'm not telling everything
RITA
Do you have a lover?
SUSANNE Yes.
(Rita takes of one of Susanne's shoes, attempts to place in it in her still-life.)
RITA
Often I'm afraid of being crushed destroyed by love
but then I'm saved by what is it saves me?
SUSANNE
Have you ever tried to put a end to it all?
RITA
I've yet to discover my colours I prefer to go naked
You look like
the cover of a magazine
You were on the cover of a magazine
That was when we tried to contact
you
You
could save the castle
32
SUSANNE
You didn't answer me
RITA
I'm one of those who helps themselves As I'm doing now I've no wish to be numbered amongst the broken, the damaged So the answer is no
By the way, a letter came for you
(Takes out the letter. Susanne opens it.) There.
SUSANNE Listen!
Madame, all I can say is that I love you!
Yes yes yes and it continues:
Farewell, dearly beloved and most
beloved
of all women
I embrace you with all my heart
RITA
Goodness, how wonderful Your husband?
SUSANNE
No, not him No, it's a duke writing to Marie Antoinette in 1789
33
RITA
She who recommended the starving eat cake?
SUSANNE
That was just a vicious rumour
put about
afterwards
What she recommended was amour
RITA
My workshop is this way
Everything there is white floor cieling everything I'm happy there in white
But I don't suppose one can
isolate oneself
in one's white little world?
(Touches Susanne.
Susanne strokes her cheek.)
SUSANNE
Actually,
I have many lives
RITA You too?
It's quite normal is it not
to have many lives?
(Rita lies on the ground and stares straight up into the air. Susanne reads the music on the stand.)
34
SUSANNE
Nocturn for Rita.
(Kristian comes out. He goes to the music stand and demonstratively turn the music back over. Susanne walks over to the parachute and puts on her other shoe. Rita closes her eyes. Kristian touches her, not with his hands, but with his foot. She smiles but does not open her eyes. Susanne watches them.)
KRISTIAN
How pretty you are today, Rita Something about you Something happy Something secretive What is it?
RITA Nothing
A dream come true There
KRISTIAN
Is that what makes you so happy? Just that?
(Rita turns away from him. susanne sweeps forward in her inside-out dress.)
SUSANNE
I am happy
only the nose
is beautiful
I don't believe
we've been introduced?
35
CONVERSATION GALANTE
Scene 8
(Susanne and Kristian go into the castle (or it opens out). A Rococco drawing-room, containing numerous antique obj ects. We see a number of rooms at once.  (In perspective?) A four poster bed. The interior is indicative of a new era's negelct for the old. The furniture is covered in plastic sheets, there are punk-objects from Rita's business.   The coffee-table is an electronic game based on Star Wars.)
SUSANNE
(to herself)
Your eyes are so clear that I can read all your thoughts
You're wondering why I'm not at home with my husband why I'm not a mother
How I could embark upon this
(To Kristian)
How's the service here
in the castle?
Are the servants friendly?
KRISTIAN
There's no service No servants
36
SUSANNE Oh?
How disappointing
KRISTIAN
Teabags and cigarettes Wine at night Wine-cellar aristocrats Dead or alive straight from the cellar A turbid muddle or a clean spirit!
SUSANNE
Sounds exiting Music?
KRISTIAN
Don't mention that word! I can't bear it!
SUSANNE NO
KRISTIAN
This is the best place on earth
for the imagination
In winter it's freezing
Dead rats tumble from the rafters
Black ice on the floors
But you won't be here that long
will you?
SUSANNE
You wish to keep her to yourself
37
KRISTIÁN Yes
SUSANNE
Don't worry This is merely a staging post for me
a temporary shelter I'm searching for the hole in the wall through which I may enter the picture
Through the looking glass
(Rita comes in, irritated to find Kristian enjoying Susanne's company.}
Yes, I'm sure the wine-cellar here is most exiting!
RITA
We're at a standstill we stand and we're still but it only happens once a year
SUSANNE
What about my breakfast egg? Two, if possible
RITA
One lifts the hen thus
that one might see Cluuuuuuck
SUSANNE
One never has
the hen into bed with one?
38
RITA
What one does with one's hen is entirely one's own affair Noone meddles with
the curator's business
SUSANNE Good
Then I'll keep chickens Grow my own saladings and hand-make chocolate ice-cream
KRISTIAN
Have you any baggage I may help you with?
SUSANNE No.
(Rita and Kristian exchange glances.) Basically
I'm used to most things having lived in the Sahara where I excavated a city
RITA
An entire city! Goodness, what an exhausting project that must have been!
SUSANNE
I love it once I start I simply cannot stop
It's a game
39
RITA
It must have been lonely
SUSANNE
There were people there the whole time
I wanted not to emphasise
the fact I was a woman
so I shared a tent with the men
the archeologists
and their assistants
Though eventually
it became filled
with kings
princesses
Mummies
What was it I did that was so terrible?
RITA
What an exiting life! Like being commissioned to decorate the Arctic Sea
SUSANNE
The first white women ever to go to the desert was stoned to death I was the second
RITA
Did you die?
I would have have died
SUSANNE
I wanted not to draw attention to the fact I was a woman and so, no, I didn't die I took no house-plants with me Not once did I cry
40
Not one tear
I completely forgot my gender
RITA
You were happy
(Susanne smiles radiently at her. You understand me!)
You were happy? I see it on you
SUSANNE
Once I sat above the desert in an aeroplane looking down at sand sand sand sand
Obsessed
by the thought
of what might lie
beneath the sand
I had to go down
Under
We found a city
with streets and squares
and people
with water-jugs
and seeds
which sprouted after a thousand years
It was quite a successful project
RITA
That city should be named Susanne
SUSANNE
Now, Susanne wishes
to discover what lies beneath time
beneath The Now
41
(She begins feeling her body, nervously. She realises something is not as it should be, because she cannot locate her pockets.)
SUSANNE I want
to enter the 18th century To go back
(She realises from the feel of the seams that her dress is on inside-out.)
There used to be pockets here.
RITA
It's inside out, that's all
SUSANNE So it is
(She pulls the dress off and turns it right-way-out, then puts it back on. A long, meaningful action. Beneath the dress she is wearing a three hundred year old corsett and stays. He body is white as chalk. She moves away, into her OPEN LANSCAPE.)
KRISTIÁN
Her arse swings so beautifully when she walks
(RITA snuggles into him.)
42
THE TOUCH
Scene 9
(Susanne in her OPEN LANDSCAPE. Axel comes in, up right, wearing his pale-blue suit. He walks, slowly, diagonally across to where Susanne is standing, centre stage. She senses his presence and arches her head backwards into his hands. With his finger, he traces a line from the crown of her head accross her face to her throat and back again. Leaves her, moves slowly diagonally up left, and out. Susanne traces the same line from the top of her head across her face to her throat and back again.)
SUSANNE
Flight all flight Flight
(Reaches out for Axel in a gesture of longing)
What were we promised which so holds us to our
side of the bargain?
(Fiddles with her hair.)
What would be our reward? Coffee and cake at a conditori?
(Lights down. In the dark, Rita sits down at the space invader's table. Green lights, computer sounds, music, full of pain.)
43
ACT 3
44
WHALE MUSIC
Scene 10
(The castle interior. Some weeks later. Autumnal light. Susanne walks around, alone. Gathers up books, old letters, clothes, all 18th century, and places them in a trunk. She appears unconcentrated. Comes to a halt, feeling strange, has to sit. Stands again, forces herslf to continue. Rita comes in with boxes and bags.)
RITA Hello!
SUSANNE
Have you got it? RITA
Yes, yes, fusspot
SUSANNE Show me!
RITA
Be patient SUSANNE
Why wait?
I want to see
45
RITA
Have you no sense of drama?
SUSANNE No
(Rita takes out a roll of material, blue silk, shakes it out.)
500 metres It's begun
RITA Raw silk
SUSANNE My dream
RITA
Exclusive Expensive
SUSANNE
Send the bill to my husband RITA
How tense you are It's just a party There's enough here to make a Big Top
SUSANNE
Don't worry about the price
I've already sold my soul Money is no object
46
RITA
Nonesense
SUSANNE
Did you remember the accessories?
RITA Lace
embroidery thread sequinnes applique jewels
SUSANNE
Spare a thought for the lacemakers goodness
how they laboured so I might go to my grave in this
RITA
EXQUISITE
SUSANNE
They collapsed exhausted
continued counting stitches
in their sleep
simple
though it appears so complicated
Now all we lack is a whale
RITA
A whale?
47
SUSANNE
Yes, a whale. For the crinolines
I roust be laced up properly
the skirts must stand out
so the wind
really catches them
(Drapes herself in the blue material.)
Actually, my figure is perfect
don't you think, Rita?
I don't even own a pair of trousers
they're not my style
A slender waist
and broad hips
Like a bottle of something fine
Let me look at you
Hm
RITA Hm?
SUSANNE
I hope the corsett is suitably robust Oh I'm fainting Smelling salts!
(longingly.)
If only we had a whale
Whale music
You know they sing?
RITA
Seen it on t.v.
SUSANNE They love
They love each other They love with hearts
48
weighing twenty kilos each The heart of the grampus is something I can respect A twenty kilo heart thumping with desire the ocean shivers And they sing To the ends of the Earth they sing
But now, they can no longer reach one and other
RITA
Saw the programme on t.v.
(Goes up close to Susanne. Looks at her closely. Gently touches her breasts.)
Congratulations, Susanne!
SUSANNE
Thank you. With what? Something I did?
RITA
You're with child.
SUSANNE
Yes No no
It's not true it just seems I am I refuse point blank It must be someone else
RITA Tender?
SUSANNE
No-o
49
RITA
(smiling) Birth?
what's that to a woman like you? Shvuuuup! then
sling it up on a pile of books and read on
eat the afterbirth with a green salad
Congratulations
You'll go back to Axel, now
Missing you alreadyI
(Susanne stands, perplexed. The material slides slowly off her.)
SUSANNE
No! Never
I'll put fifteen seamstresses to work cutting
so we get production moving
Day and night
they shall sew for me
though the earth quake
and storms blow
danger plagues the women
willingly
what do they think they're making
costumes for a carnival!
Yes
Let it be a carnival
Every stitch hand-sewn though it must pass through five and sixty layers of cloth
Whilst I remain here and relax from it all
And after night and day
day and night
the dress is ready
And I shall board the dress
shall be laced up
laced
changed
50
become cleaner
more silent
a lady behind her fan
(Rita begins fingering Susanne's hair. They have a contact now which they have never had before. Caring, erotic, tender, happy.)
RITA
I love you Like I love strange countries
SUSANNE
Then I shall journey to countries beyond those stranger countries still
It is far
But I will let myself fall
RITA
Fall? From the plane?
SUSANNE
The time-mountain
RITA
And if the parachute doesn't open?
SUSANNE
Then I shall fall gently
for the first time
51
Gently into the other place behind everything
RITA
But I love you as I love strange countries
(They kiss each other.)
(Ocean light. Music.)
RITA
We're whales
We sing to one and other
as we swim
We sing and we
fall in love
SUSANNE
We fall in love with our children
RITA
Disturbing love songs uninterrupted by any other wave or signal
(Kristian's practice theme emerges from the music.)
SUSANNE
You shall stay, little one I shall not tear you out You shall be
(Music continues. Rita and Susanne exit.)
QUESTIONS
52
Scene 11
(Kristian and Rita sitting on the four poster bed. They are in the middle of a conversation. It is some weeks later.)
RITA
Go back?
Back to the same blood-bath we have now?
The soup tureens are still padlocked against the starving why does she wish to go back?
KRISTIAN
She desires luxury She desires servants
RITA
Massage Decoutage
KRISTIAN
She desires to be her queen
RITA
And bear children Poor children
KRISTIAN
It's a fairytale Susanne is a fairytale
53
RITA
(Anxious)
I won't let youi
KRISTIAN What?
RITA
Is this person real?
KRISTIAN
Try sticking her in her side with a needle!
(He pinches Rita so she squeals.)
54
THE DANCE AROUND LE GATEAUX CHOCOLAT
Scene 12
(Susanne enters with a huge creation of cake and fruit. Wine. She's clearly suffering wit travel-fever. )
SUSANNE
Come children out of bed Welcome!
(Curtsies deeply)
Candied oranges
le gateaux chocolat
sprinkled with orange-blossom water
I purchased from a little
17th century apothecary in Florence.
A thing worth doing is worth doing well
RITA
We have decided what you need is a good masseur and decouteur
SUSANNE Correct
(Allows Rita to tend to her, whilst Kristian takes out a magazine with a picture of Susanne on the cover. He reads.)
KRISTIAN
(Reads) "There are those who find Susanne O
55
the curator and art historian
at LOVby castle
a little spooky
Not only does she appear
old-fashioned
(Susanne laughs, flattered)
and speak of Marie Antoinette
as if they were
friends and confidents
there is something else about her
Something in her look
a knowledge
of a different time
a different way of living
which makes people doubt
in fact
whether she truly lives in the here and now."
(Susanne snatches the magazine from him.)
SUSANNE
"Yes, she says,
some might believe that I believe
I've had
a previous life
in the 18th century" (Laughs)
Oh, that journalist
he was such a sweet young man
terrified
I wouldn't like his curls
I told him contraception
didn't belong in the 18th century
And when he wished to sleep with me said I
Goat-gut, perhaps?
He got his
interview
He got it all
Today, my dress
is not on inside-out
56
RITA
Have you tried to have children before, Susanne?
SUSANNE Tore it out
He thought of them as small
cuddly crocodiles
which threatened to become
big eaters
screamers
biters
yet more creepy-crawlies in a world already
gone to the dogs
What will you do with them he asked me
And now
they crawl around in the sewers
Three metres long eating shit and anyone else who happens to fall down there
RITA
What a scumbag!
KRISTIÁN But you?
SUSANNE
You think I wanted this They hindered my travels
My concentration
57
(Lifts up her hand to see the children wriggling about in it.)
RITA
Do you have a mother?
SUSANNE (Shouts)
Don't mention heri I just get angry
More cake?
See
I'm a perfect birth machine Look at my hips
A child shouldn't
stop me doing
anything
I travel
I read
I travel
I write
and soon now I shall travel back in time
The birth will be easy Like music
I'll feel the child coming Spread my legs a little thus plopp
and it's out.
I lay it on a pile of books And continue writing
RITA But
the breast
58
SUSANNE
It shall have my milk for the first four months Only milk Cheers!
Aristocratic,  (ie the wine.)
RITA But
SUSANNE
Of course,
he'll need washing
occassionally
KRISTIÁN But
SUSANNE
You can both accompany me
And we can celibrate
with champagne rose
I shall serve the afterbirth
with a green salad
Better than liver
better than kidneys
better than steak!
(Kristian wretches.)
You, who are so refined Kristian
It's hard for you
to stomache
Nonetheless
it's what I propose
to do
(They meet in an unashamedly erotic gesture.)
59
KRISTIÁN YOU
exite me
Were you aware of that?
(He buries his head between Susanne's breasts.)
SUSANNE
We shall all go
I'll have a green coach built
with lemon-coloured wheels
like the one in which Marie Antoinette
escaped Versaille
We shall flee
RITA Where
SUSANNE
You need to ask?
We'll lack for nothing
not wine
not nightingales
silk
And on our way
we'll find beautiful small children
at the roadside
for me to gather up and kiss
Kristian
prepare the coach!
KRISTIAN
I shall endeavour to
fulfill Madamme's wish (Goes out.)
SUSANNE
He's so handsome So sexy
He touches me, here!
60
(Without warning, grabs Rita between the legs.)
RITA
(sulkily)
When it came to Spring
I was happy
to be a little
promiscuous
brazen even
but come the evening
I was too weary
SUSANNE
(calls after Kristian)
Kristian, wait
a courtier's foot
should never leave the floor
but glide graciously forward
as if he were skating on ice!
KRISTIAN Oh?
SUSANNE
You're waddling!
(Laughs exaggeratedly, runs across to Rita and enbraces her, then puts a record of gallant music on the gramaphone.)
Watch me
attempt to glide forward As if
on thin ice
(Demonstrates the dance.)
This you must be able to do I shall teach you to walk
61
RITA Walk?
Why should you do that? Shouldn't you teach me to fuck instead?
SUSANNE
Shouldn't this be authentic?
RITA
What's the point?
SUSANNE
If you know how to walk you can always pass as
a lady of importance
RITA
Obviously you're the boss Susanne
SUSANNE Boss
what an expression You're already a little tired of me, aren't you?
You must have poise There are two ways of walking Positively quite quickly Always elegantly (Demonstrates.) Like Marie Antoinette She was an expert You're musical?
62
RITA Am I?
SUSANNE
A sense of rythm?
RITA Well
SUSANNE
Then this is no problem
Women can't walk anymore trousers have destroyed femininity
(Continues to demonstrate. Rita tries to copy her, but is clearly without talent. The reult is rather comical.)
The other way is thus
Swaying
lazily
no, more subtle perhaps carressingly is better thus
(Rita tries, but the effect is vulgar.)
(encouraging) Very good! Perfect
But now, less sexy Simply glide away promising nothing you couldn't care less
63
RITA
Nothing is more important than firm shoulders sparkling eyes a direct look Femme fatal
That's something I've learnt
SUSANNE
(Smiling)
Nonesense!
Who told you that?
Now watch me
(Dances.)
(Rita stops beside the computer game, sets the electronic music playing.)
SUSANNE
(Has danced some distance away) You know why
they danced so beautifully, Rita?
The wind caught their skirts and they could only follow
They abandoned themselves to fate
(Laughs happily, dances alone.)
64
PARACHUTE SILK
Scene 13
(Rita by the space invader's game. Kristian enters.)
RITA
Soon, I shall be nothing but a see-through dress with nothing inside to see
KRISTIAN Not you
(They cross to the parachute.)
Here you are This is you Not that escapist game in there
RITA Once
a dead man hung from the parachute Who was that?
And those
who went amongst the trees
to pick
bridal veils
had first to pluck
awat death and putrification
before they could find
the living the succulent
the powerful the new
65
KRISTIÁN
That fine strong silk
had bourn and flown
RITA
And failed
KRISTIAN
First they had to clear away death and putrification But the birds
had been most helpful in this
And now you use the parachute to make your version of the truth What is that you've sewn there?
RITA
Cress an idea
Of good fortune
KRISTIAN
From the story
of my mother and father?
Of when they were married?
RITA Yes
It was nice
The parachute silk
they'd plucked from the trees
the silk she used for
her bridal gown
66
KRISTIAN And
after the ceremony
as they emerged from the church
it began to rain
RITA
And the dress became
transparant
And everyone saw her
KRISTIAN
That- was how I saw you
the first time
out here in the snow
I was shocked
at your nakedness
RITA
You're such a romantic You'll end up with Susanne I'm sure
KRISTIAN
Does she resemble a bride?
RITA No
A fugative queen
The worst thing is she makes me feel as perculiar as she is
I dream about you About you
67
You're standing at the foot of a slope
Entrails and scraps of food
are spread about
on the terraces above
like the aftermath
of a party or a slaughter
They lie there
quivering, steaming
One is supposed to
tread upon them
And all the time I hear your music
Your unfinished music
And you begin to climb the terraces
The entrails quiver and move cry out
They're no longer alive but they promise to behave as if they were
KRISTIÁN
Am I scared?
RITA
And I begin to sing right into your face
KRISTIAN
Honestly I thought it was our wedding
we were planning
RITA
Now, when it's over?
KRISTIAN
Isn't it always like that?
68
(They console one and other.)
69
NAKED
Scene 14
(Susanne in her OPEN LANDSCAPE:
She comes in, slowly. She's naked, her hair free. She's holding various games, dolls, musical boxes playing. She leans right forward.)
SUSANNE
It's you I have danced with always
And I have danced only with you
(Lights down.
Musical boxes continue to play.)
I
70
FAREWELL TO THE MOTHER GODDESS
Scene 15
(In front of the parachute. Rita's painting of a nude woman wearing a mask, a large coil painted on her stomache, a crescent moon in her hair, her arms are outstretched and each hand emits a powerful flash of lightning. Rita has positioned Susanne in front of the parachute. In front of her, along two axies, she places a number of sparklers supported in lumps of clay. She ignites the sparklers one by one and records the result both with a polaroid camera and on video. Susanne has remained passively compliant during this. Suddenly, she reacts violently to the proceedings.)
SUSANNE
(Kicks out at the sparklers and the painting) Won't!
I am not a thing to be worshipped
It's pitiful
Unworthy
Guilty
no innocense in this world Why can't I be allowed Why can't I be allowed to die?
(Approaches Rita, drapes herself on her.) No no Help me!
(Rita lets the video camera run. She lies on the ground, pulls her skirt up over her head, crosses her legs and becomes a little boy guiltily masturbating.)
71
RITA
Sissel! Sissel!
SUSANNE
I feel a certain responsibility
RITA
Sissel! Sissel!
SUSANNE
What are you doing?
(Susanne stands. Watches Rita, fascinated.)
RITA
The sun is shining the grass is green
And the little legless crocodile-child look
I've no legs
he has no legs
do you see?
He lies in the grass
before you
SUSANNE
The sun is shining
RITA
Sissel! Sissel!
72
SUSANNE
But Sissel isn't my name!
RITA
Sissel is the name he calls
How should a little crocodile-child know
what you are called?
He knows no better
Sissel could have been
your name
SUSANNE
Yes, my parents
could
why not
have called me Sissel But I don't
RITA
Who is he?
Is he the child whose legs
you tore off
when you ripped him out
that time?
Who is he?
SUSANNE No no!
RITA
You could go to him and say:
Good morning, Crocodile-child your Sissel is here and sucked his cock for him
and he would be happy
because he has always believed this
73
would cause his legs to grow anew
And you came
SUSANNE I did
RITA
And you came
SUSANNE I did?
RITA
And you took him into your mouth
SUSANNE
Yes I did
that's true
And his legs and feet bagan to grow
And they grew and they grew
and soon he was a man!
(Rita stands.)
How happy he was!
In the grass and the sun shining
and noone could detect
any flaw
anywhere
and noone
had any thought
of dying
74
They'd forgotten that
(She and Rita very close, exhausted.)
RITA
Shall I make a copy for you? We could call it the birth
SUSANNE
(confused) Have you
recorded that, too?
What have you done How vulgar How cheap
How could you trick me so
RITA
Trick you?
It was what you wanted
All I want is
SUSANNE
You little shit! You fucking shit! Go away Go away!
RITA
Yes I'm going
(She leaves. Susanne remains, shattered.)
RITA'S FAREWELL TO THE CASTLE
Scene 16
(Rita approaches Kristián.)
KRISTIAN Rita
my little Rita
I shall miss you
deep down inside
RITA
When the flax blossoms
in the field below the castle
when it turns blue
you must photograph it
it's something I have never done
Something I never did
KRISTIAN
I shall do it
RITA
I cannot remain here I cannot bear to watch any more Take care of her
She has opened me
(Touches him)
You have a lovely nose
She's made
an opening in the
white
through which darkness pours forth
A picture
I dare not look at
I'm frightened of what
will happen next
(Kisses him.)
My hands shall dream of this nose The hands dream
of the nose
KRISTIÁN
(smiles)
And the rest?
RITA
Dreams also of the nose
(Begins to leave.)
Remember me Forget-me-not
Remember me Forget-me-not
(Lights down. Mus ic.)
77
HARPSICHORD III
Scene 17
(Susanne's OPEN LANDSCAPE:
Wind, winter. Susanne approaches from afar. Pushing the harpsichord in front of her. She's heavily pregnant and utterly wretched. Positions the harpsichord centre stage and opens the lid. On the inside of the lid is an old fashioned picture of a couple making love.
Susanne is holding a piece of knitting. A tiny baby's jumper of yellow wool.)
SUSANNE
Aren't you singing? If I sing
noone will believe in me
Whenever my mother wanted peace she would go to the barn and bury herself in hay
She had five children
She buried herself nice and deep
I'm not sure which animal I should compare her to
whichever one
buries itself deepest
to attain
freedom
Hides itself away to be free
There was never a scream
It was quieter that usual
78
it was quiet and we children couldn't jump in the hay and laugh.
(Axel comes in. He's wearing the same suit, but is less immaculate than before. He breaks into Susanne's OPEN LANDSCAPE, and the lighting changes. Susanne reaches out, blindly, trying to grab hold of him. He approaches her at a tangent.)
SUSANNE
RITA!
AXEL
Aren't you even going to sav
you're pleased to see me?
SUSANNE
(still addressing Rita)
Can you see
Look
See
how the skin around my eyes has changed hue?
(She suddenly realises it is Axel. Reacts with fear, as if seeing a murderer.)
AXEL Susanne
(She runs away. Axel chaces her, captures her, drags her back. She struggles to break free. He holds her tightly.)
SUSANNE
Do you know how soldiers rape a woman?
79
AXEL No
But I must decide quite simply whether or not I wish to go on living
If I shall go on living
without you
because I have
no other
dreams
than you
SUSANNE
Actually, Axel,
I have more than one life!
AXEL I know
SUSANNE I'm not
what you think I am
AXEL I know
SUSANNE
(has her first contraction)
There are dead children hanging from you Can't you see them? Go away!
AXEL
I don't understand
80
SUSANNE
Just sniff at me smell me
What do I smell of? Can you use me as your lover?
Or should I
be put to some other
task
Sewing or washing?
AXEL
Are you happy now? Have you found someone else?
SUSANNE No
AXEL
I thought
so long as she's not sick dead
I have had many a glimpse of you
I sit dreaming
Incapable
of
work
incapable of discussion
Perhaps she's hurt
sick
dead
SUSANNE
I'm not dead
I'm standing on the mountain I'm smiling!
81
(Has her second contraction. Axel pulls her up from the harsichord, drags her after him, ignoring her protests.)
AXEL
You can't stay out here you should be in bed
SUSANNE
(Protesting.) NO!
HARPSICHORD IV
82
Scene 18
(Susanne and Axel on the ground by the harpsichord.)
SUSANNE
I don't feel
as you do -
I'm thinking
Is he who he says he is
Before I continue
risking destroying my life
I want to put the whole thing to the test
Give myself a trial run
The man who had control over me
must have been a gangster!
AXEL
Who is the father of this child Old-Erik?
SUSANNE You are!
(Axel laughs, contemptuously.)
83
AXEL
I think it's quite amusing
that you're having another go
(Susanne has her third contraction.)
SUSANNE
Remember you said, Fat men
make the best lovers
AXEL
I'm your husband
SUSANNE
You were also quite fat
AXEL
This thing's
nothing to do with me
SUSANNE
Nor me (Laughs)
AXEL
Perhaps it didn't happen
SUSANNE
I think there was something between us A marriage
84
AXEL
It's all very vague
SUSANNE And
in the meantime I've travelled so far
AXEL
You were at it With the postman With.the butcher With everyone Everyone!
SUSANNE
I'll never be able to explain, properly, who I am
I've been mistaken for a common whore
How sad
All I wanted
was to enjoy myself in cafes
But there's nothing
more
sexy
than me
with a briefcase Obviously?
AXEL
Come here
make love to me
Come
85
SUSANNE
Do you remember
when I chopped our bed
into pieces
with an axe?
No
AXEL
You're so beautiful
Never before have I seen you so beautiful
(She stands before him, provocing him with her nonchalance.)
SUSANNE
I've had a dream come true of course I'll not let you destroy it now
You killed them time and time again
AXEL
Forgive me Forget it
(Susanne has her fourth contraction.)
SUSANNE
You killed this one
Because you couldn't control
the outcome
Whether it would be white or black A child or a calf
Yours or mine
86
A little normality is too much to ask for
But one should ask for the moon
You weren't interested So I had to look elsewhere
Why do men never see that the road is open that escape is possible?
Straight through the wall and away
You build your houses on the great body of the Earth
Certain you'll never be shaken off
Why can't you be a part
of the Whole?
What have you been promised which so holds you to your
side of the bargain?
What's your reward in the end?
Coffee and cakes at the conditori?
Is my only reward
the knowledge that
Haitian ladies
paint their bottoms blue
whilst their Parisian counterparts
paint their faces
white?
(Axel is beside her. He strokes her, kisses her, she cries. He lays her down, tries to undress her. He doesn't understand she's is in the process of giving birth. She resists him.)
87
SUSANNE
(Smiling.)
Now I remember
Suddenly!
You traced a line
down my face
like this
isn't that right?
And you said
You're the one I've danced with always
When I made love to you
Your face
was
a precipice
AXEL Susanne
(They relax, lie still.)
AXEL
Be here Here and now
SUSANNE I am here
AXEL
Just here Just now Feel it
SUSANNE
(Rises, turns her back to him.) I'm not here I'm free!
88
AXEL
You betray reality
with your games, Susanne
SUSANNE
(Thrusts her stomache at him) Isn't this real enough?
AXEL
Were you looking for an opportunity to
really commit yourself? I wish
I could provide it for you
SUSANNE
Here I am Take roe
AXEL
That's a strength easily misunderstood it's seen as weakness
SUSANNE You think
you're begging for punishment
for all the sins
you have committed
But sins are first punished
then
committed
89
AXEL
I'm talking about loving
SUSANNE
And I'm talking about finding
a different life
(She has her fifth contraction)
It did mean something! Why open up Why leap off
why fall
if it's all arbitary if it has no meaning?
AXEL
You stage-manage
your life
You stage-manage
your lovers
you stage-manage
a child
Count me out
I won't take part in your planned leap
You have more talent
for problems
than for happiness
I came here
to make an impression
on you
To finally get you out To open your eyes
Forget defence
I love you
SUSANNE
I didn't think I could satisfy you
I didn't think it was possible
THE BIRD'S BIRTH
Scene 19
(Same place. Kristian arrives, dressed for travelling, carrying luggage. The men size each other up. . The wind is stronger, the lighting suggests night.)
AXEL
(Morose.) Is this him?
SUSANNE
(Radient.) This is Axel my husband
KRISTIAN
(Rude) Yeah yeah
(Susanne has her seventh contraction)
What's the matter are you ill?
SUSANNE
Can't you see I'm giving birth?
You are alive really
help me give birth
naturally
like music
Birth is
music
92
AXEL
Do you not want...
SUSANNE
I want to be here with both of you
Kristián
my dress was finished can I have it now? Where is it?
(Searches, cannot find it, desperately searching.)
Where is it? It's been stolen
Who has taken it . My dress Where is it?
Fetch it
AXEL
Which dress?
KRISTIAN
One she had made specially
Women always want dresses
Always wish they lived in another age They love cancelling themselves out
Dissolving themselves in water They're made only of love
SUSANNE
I must have it quickly
93
(She plasters herself with white make-up.)
AXEL
Is this it?
(Picks up the parachute.)
SUSANNE No!
KRISTIAN
That's a bridal gown It's made of silk Rita should have
SUSANNE
Rita should have had it I want it Bring it here!
(Puts it on. Calms down.)
The skin must be white as possible
AXEL
And the arse we paint blue!
(Susanne laughs)
SUSANNE
If you like
KRISTIAN
I thought you were crying I heard you crying I wondered why a woman
94
should cry when she had everything
(They bring out champagne, they drink first to quench their thirst, without toasting. Then they look up, remember to toast each other.)
SUSANNE
That's precicely when they do cry Cheers1
(Insolently.) Why should I go into hospital
when we can celibrate the birth here
in a whirl of pleasure
Feel my belly Say hello to it!
(Has her seventh contraction. She hangs onto the nearest person, scared. It's painful.)
AXEL
I think you should lie down now
SUSANNE No
Don't let go of me No!
(The birth is not at all as she was expecting. It's a terrifying, hysterical experience, but she won't lie down. She hangs onto the two men, exhausting them as she pushes and pushes and pushes. Screams, wildly.)
It's a cow! A crocodile! It has hooves!
95
AXEL
Do you want a drink? Is it painful?
SUSANNE
Of course it's not fucking painful! It's wonderful! Like a cat stretching!
(The birth is imminent. Kristian fetches a tub of water.)
KRISTIAN
He shall be born in the first element
(The child is born.) See, it's swimming!
SUSANNE
How wonderful
AXEL
He's dead
KRISTIAN
Dead? How? Why? He's just been born!
(Susanne reaches out for the baby, wants to hold him.)
(Wind and rain without. Music?)
96
SUSANNE You smell
like nocturnal herbs in Provence
A dark fragrance Night sweet Not music
It's inside you
I cannot hear it But I think there's something inside you playing
(Axel wants to take the baby from her, but she protests.)
AXEL
Everything's in place but for the music
(Susanne lets go the child. Axel is unsure what to do with it, so he he puts it into a plastic bag.)
SUSANNE
Murderer! Bloody murderer! Murderer!
(Feverishly, takes out her knitting and tries to knit. She's shaking.)
AXEL
How can you do that, now?
SUSANNE
I must do it it's not finished
97
(Susanne knits, but suddenly stops, as if realising something Slowly, she stands and unravels the knitting, row by row.)
SUSANNE
I want to be alone
What are you doing here?
Alone!
What do I know about taxidermy? Not much
it will take time practice
My first attempt probably won't be very wonderful
But
I want him to be eternal He shall always be with me
(Axel strokes her tenderly. She leans into him and capitulates to the situation.)
SUSANNE
It threatens us
I'm beginning to be fond
of this time
nonetheless
(She takes the baby out of the plastic bag, it has changed into a wild bird, alive and beautiful. She moves centre stage, followed by the men.)
SUSANNE
Can it ever become human do you think?
TABLEAU
98
Scene 20
(Susanne stands in the soaking parachute-dress. It has become transparent. She's holding the bird. Axel and Kristian stand on either side of her, figures, respectively, of light and dark.
Rita enters through the auditorium, dressed in full rococco attire, dress, make-up. hair, etc.
She sees everything, but holds her head high and light, not allowing herself to take anything in, because she is in another time.
She approaches the display case, which is lit from above. Enters it. Silence. Then:
the birth cry of a new born infant! Music, sound of the space-invaders machine.)