Victory - Howard Barker
DEVONSHIRE: I do feel clean here. I do feel clean. The wind off the estuary. And
the low cloud racing, and the grey flat water, the thin surf on the mudbank, really
it is better than a marine landscape by Mr Van Oots and in any case I dont think I
like sex. [Pause. She breathes.] Oh, this is pure, this is absolute life, I never felt
so whole and so completely independent, this is the third letter in a week begging
me back and in verse too! All very flattering but really it is pure dick, a woman
should never forget a poem is actually dick, should she?
To look at me youd think she knows no pain, no, wouldnt you? Im sure you say
that, privately. Admit you say that
Oh, you do, you do! Her lovely this, her lovely that, you do, of course you do, you
think I have no agonies. But there are pains and pains, arent there?
I am twenty-four and have miscarried seven times. That is wicked, isnt it, of
God?
It is particularly cruel because I care for men. Last week I thought the floor of my
body was being, was being bitten out, by rats, by dogs, I thought my whole floor
was going, have you had that?
I cannot keep a child in, absolutely cannot, yet I conceive from a look, what is the
matter with God, my womb is only fit for a nun, is that His way, do you think? I will
die from one of these drops. I would keep away from dick if I could, but you
cannot be as good as I am, looking as I do, and keep away from them, can you?
I am trying to appreciate views instead, but he writes so beautifully, my rump, my
rump, he goes on about, keeps him awake at nights, my whispering hair and so
on, I go back tonight, I know all poems are dick but I go back, I will die of him, it is
silly but he makes me feel alive. Whats your advice? I believe in asking
strangers for advice, you cannot trust your friends, I believe in essence all your
friends wish you dead. Say yes or no.
The Web - Eugene ONeill
ROSE: (scornfully)Oh, couldnt he? Dyuh suppose theyd keep me any place if
they knew what I was? And dyuh suppose he wouldnt tell them or have some
one else tell them? Yuh dont know the game Im up against. (bitterly)Ive tried
that job thing. Ive looked fur decent work and Ive starved at it. A year after I first
hit this town I quit and tried to be on the level. I got a job at houseworkworkin
twelve hours a day for twenty-five dollars a month. And I worked like a dog, too,
and never left the house I was so scared of seein some one who knew me. But
what was the use? One night they have a guy to dinner whos seen me some
place when I was on the town. He tells the ladyhis duty he said it wasand
she fires me right off the reel. I tried the same thing a lot of times. But there was
always some one whod drag me back. And then I quit tryin. There didnt seem to
be no use. Theyall the good peoplethey got me where I am and theyre goin
to keep me there. Reform? Take it from me it cant be done. They wont let yuh
do it, and thats Gawds truth.
[TIM: Give it another trial any way. Yuh never know your luck. Yuh might be able
to stick this time.]
ROSE: (wearily) Talk is cheap. Yuh dont know what yuhre talkin about. What
job cn I git? What am I fit fur? Housework is the only thing I know about and I
dont know much about that. Where else could I make enough to live on? Thats
the trouble with all us girls. Most all of us ud like to come back but we jest cant
and thats all theres to it. We cant work out of this life because we dont know
how to work. We was never taught how. (She shakes with a horrible fit of
coughing, wipes her lips, and smiles pitifully.)Who dyuh think would take a
chance on hiring me the way I look and with this cough? Besides, theres the kid.
(sarcastically)Yuh may not know it but people aint strong for hirin girls with
babiesespecially when the girls aint married.
Anton in Show Business - Jane Martin
CASEY: So, the casting agent says to me, Youre not right for it; youre a
character woman. I die. My blood congeals. Fissures appear. Its the actresses
death knell. I go through menopause in five seconds. All fluids dry. I become the
Mojave Desert. Character woman! I, who have screwed every leading man on
the East Coast, become their mother. Vertigo. I scream out in a silent,
unattending universe: Im too young to be a character woman! and the echo
replies, rolling out of infinite space: They want to see you for the funny aunt at
the wedding! (She ritually disembowels herself) Bad day. I once believed I could
be very good. I wanted to be so concentrated, so compressed, so vivid and
present and skillful and heartfelt that any- one watching me would literally burst
into flame. Combust. I never did it. It never happened. I used to think that theatre
could change peoples lives. The truth is, two months later the audience cant
remember the name of the play. I mean, honestly, has anybody you know to be a
sentient being ever walked up to you and said the play changed their life? No,
fine, [Link] know who is changed by Chekhov? Me. I finish a play, its like,
Get me an exorcist! He eats my life. He chews me up. He spits me out. Im like
bleeding from Chekhov. The audience? Who knows what their deal is? They
come from the mists; they return to the mist. They cough, they sneeze, they
sleep, they unwrap little hard candies, and then they head for their cars during
the curtain call. And once, once I would like to step out and say to the ones who
are up the aisles while we take the bows, Hey! Excuse me! Could you show a
little mercy because I just left it all out here on the stage and even if you dont
have the foggiest notion what it was or what it meant, could you have the
common courtesy to leave your goddamn cars in the garage for another forty
seconds and give me a little hand for twenty years of work!
Wolf of Wall Street By: Terence Winter
My name is Jordan Belfort [Danielle Donnelly]. Im a former member of the middle class
raised by two accountants in a tiny apartment in Bayside, Queens. The year I turned 26, I
made 49 million dollars as the head of my own brokerage firm--which really pissed me
off because it was three shy of a million a week.
I own a mansion, private jet, six cars, three horses, two vacation homes and a 170-foot
yacht. I also gamble like a degenerate, drink like a fish, fuck [male] hookers maybe five
times a week and have three different Federal agencies looking to indict me.
Oh yeah, and I love drugs.
Yes, on a daily basis I take enough drugs to sedate greater Long Island. I take Quaaludes
for my back, fifteen to twenty a day. I use Xanax to stay focused, ambien to sleep, pot to
mellow out, cocaine to wake up and morphine because its awesome. But of all the drugs
under Gods blue heaven, theres one thats my absolute favorite. Enough of this shitll
make you invincible, able to conquer the world and eviscerate your enemies.
DenityCrisiswrittenbyChristopherDurang
(Janetellsherpsychiatristastoryfromherchildhood.)
Jane:WhenIwaseightyearsold,someonebroughtmetothis...
[Link]
watchingaproductionof"PeterPan."AndIrememberthat
[Link]
[Link],whenthechildrenwouldfly,
theropestheywereonwouldjustkeepbreaking...andtheactors
wouldcomethumpingtothegroundandtheyhadtobecarriedoff
[Link]
understudies,totaketheirplaces,andthenthey'djustfalltothe
[Link],seemed
tobearealcrocodile,itwasn'[Link]
[Link]
someoftheunderstudiescameandtooktheirplacesinthe
[Link],Wendyjustseemedtoget
fatterandfatteruntilfinallybytheendofactoneshewas
completelyimmobileandtheyhadtomoveheroffstagewitha
cart.
YourememberhowinthesecondactTinkerbelldrinkssome
poisonthatpeterisabouttodrinkinordertosavehim?Andthen
Peterturnstotheaudienceandhesaysthat"Tinkerbellisgoingto
[Link]
clapyourhandsrealhardtoshowthatyoudobelieveinfairies,
maybeshewon'tdie."So,[Link]
andsohardthatmypalmshurtandtheyevenstartedtobleedI
[Link]
turnedtotheaudienceandshesaid,"Thatwasn'[Link]
[Link]."Andthenweallstarted
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]'t
[Link]
[Link],I
thinkit'[Link]
worthtryingifTinkerbellisjustgoingtodie.
DefyingGravitywrittenbyJaneAnderson
Elizabeth:WhenIwatchedmymothersshiptakeoff,Isawitgo
[Link]
thatmymotherwenttoheaven,Ithoughtthatwasapartofouter
[Link]'dcomebackwithall
kindsofneatpresentslikeaplasticharporapairofangelwings.I
wenttothemailboxeverydaylookingforapostcardfromherthat
[Link]
[Link]'[Link]
[Link]
[Link]'ttrue,thatshewas
[Link]
[Link],becauseI
[Link]
mymotherdidn'[Link]:Ihitmybrotheronthearm.
Two:Iwouldn'[Link]:Ididn'tsaythankyou
[Link]:Iwouldn'tletmy
[Link]:Ididn'tgetallthelintofftheLifesaver.
ButterfliesAreFreewrittenbyLeonardGershe
Jill:Ican'[Link],[Link]
awhileit'sgoodtodosomethingyoudon'twanttodo,itcleanses
[Link],andgroovylooking,butkindof
adolescent,yaknowwhatImean?Girlsmaturefasterthanboys,
boysareneater,[Link],itwaslike
fireworks!Itwasamarvelouskindofpassionthatmadeeveryday
seemlikethe4thofJuly!Anyways..thenextthingIknow,there
weare,standinginfrontoftheJusticeofthePeace,getting
married!?Itsonlybeenliketwoorthreemonthsandwe'regetting
married?!I'mnotevenoutofhighschool!I'vegottwobigexams
tomorrowandtheywereonmymindtoo..andthenIhearthe
words,"DoyouJack,takeJill,tobeyourlawfulweddedwife?"
UGH!!!Canyouimaginegoingthroughlifeas"JackandJill"?!
ThenIhear,"Untildeathdouspart."Andallofthesudden,itsnot
evenaweddinganymore,morelikeafuneralservice!AndthereI
ambeingburiedalive!...UnderJackBenson!Iwantedtoscream,
gorunningoutintothenight!ButIcouldn't..Itwas10o'clockin
themorningandwell,youcan'tgorunningoutinto10o'clockin
[Link],[Link]'dfainted,beforeI
said"Ido."
