Pause.
PRISONER
Mother, you can speak.
Pause.
Mother, I’m speaking to you. You see? We can speak.
You can speak to me in our own language.
She is still.
You can speak.
Pause.
Mother. Can you hear me? I am speaking to you in our own language.
Pause.
Do you hear me?
Pause.
It’s our language.
Pause.
Can’t you hear me? Do you hear me?
She does not respond.
Mother?
GUARD
Tell her she can speak in her own language. New rules. Until further notice.
PRISONER
Mother?
She does not respond. She sits still.
The PRISONER’s trembling grows. He falls from the chair on to his knees, begins to gasp and shake violently.
The SERGEANT walks into the room and studies the PRISONER shaking on the floor.
SERGEANT (To GUARD)
Look at this. You go out of your way to give them a helping hand and they fuck it up.
Blackout.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER
The New World Order was first performed on 19 July 1991 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London. The cast was as follows:
DES Bill Paterson
LIONEL Michael Byrne
BLINDFOLDED MAN Douglas McFerran
Directed by Harold Pinter
Designed by Ian MacNeil
Lighting by Kevin Sleep
A BLINDFOLDED MAN sitting on a chair.
Two men (DES and LIONEL) looking at him.
DES
Do you want to know something about this man?
LIONEL
What?
DES
He hasn’t got any idea at all of what we’re going to do to him.
LIONEL
He hasn’t, no.
DES
He hasn’t, no. He hasn’t got any idea at all about any one of the number of things that we might do to him.
LIONEL
That we will do to him.
DES
That we will.
Pause.
Well, some of them. We’ll do some of them.
LIONEL
Sometimes we do all of them.
DES
That can be counterproductive.
LIONEL
Bollocks.
They study the man. He is still.
DES
But anyway here he is, here he is sitting here, and he hasn’t the faintest idea of what we might do to him.
LIONEL
Well, he probably has the faintest idea.
DES
A faint idea, yes. Possibly.
DES bends over the man.
Have you? What do you say?
He straightens.
Let’s put it this way. He has little idea of what we might do to him, of what in fact we are about to do to him.
LIONEL
Or his wife. Don’t forget his wife. He has little idea of what we’re about to do to his wife.
DES
Well, he probably has some idea, he’s probably got some idea. After all, he’s read the papers.
LIONEL
What papers?
Pause.
DES
You’re right there.
LIONEL
Who is this cunt anyway? What is he, some kind of peasant – or a lecturer in theology?
DES
He’s a lecturer in fucking peasant theology.
LIONEL
Is he? What about his wife?
DES
Women don’t have theological inclinations.
LIONEL
Oh, I don’t know. I used to discuss that question with my mother – quite often.
DES
What question?
LIONEL
Oh you know, the theological aspirations of the female.
Pause.
DES
What did she say?
LIONEL
She said …
DES
What?
Pause.
LIONEL
I can’t remember.
He turns to the man in the chair.
Motherfucker.
DES
Fuckpig.
They walk round the chair.
LIONEL
You know what I find really disappointing?
DES
What?
LIONEL
The level of ignorance that surrounds us. I mean, this prick here –
DES
You called him a cunt last time.
LIONEL
What?
DES
You called him a cunt last time. Now you call him a prick. How many times do I have to tell you? You’ve got to learn to define your terms and stick to them. You can’t call him a cunt in one breath and a prick in the next. The terms are mutually contradictory. You’d lose face in any linguistic discussion group, take my tip.
LIONEL
Christ. Would I?
DES
Definitely. And you know what it means to you. You know what language means to you.
LIONEL
Yes, I do know.
DES
Yes, you do know. Look at this man here, for example.
He’s a first-class example. See what I mean? Before he came in here he was a big shot, he never stopped shooting his mouth off, he never stopped questioning received ideas. Now – because he’s apprehensive about what’s about to happen to him – he’s stopped all that, he’s got nothing more to say, he’s more or less called it a day. I mean once – not too long ago – this man was a man of conviction, wasn’t he, a man of principle. Now he’s just a prick.
LIONEL
Or a cunt.
DES
And we haven’t even finished with him. We haven’t begun.
LIONEL
No, we haven’t even finished with him. We haven’t even finished with him! Well, we haven’t begun.
DES
And there’s still his wife to come.
LIONEL
That’s right. We haven’t finished with him. We haven’t even begun. And we haven’t finished with his wife either.
DES
We haven’t even begun.
LIONEL put his hand over his face and sobs.
DES
What are you crying about?
LIONEL
I love it. I love it. I love it.
He grasps DES’s shoulder.
Look. I have to tell you. I’ve got to tell you. There’s no one else I can tell.
DES
All right. Fine. Go on. What is it? Tell me.
Pause.
LIONEL
I feel so pure.
Pause.
DES
Well, you’re right. You’re right to feel pure. You know why?
LIONEL
Why?
DES
Because you’re keeping the world clean for democracy.
They look into each other’s eyes.
I’m going to shake you by the hand.
DES shakes LIONEL’s hand. He then gestures to the man in the chair with his thumb.
And so will he … (He looks at his watch) … in about thirty-five minutes.
PARTY TIME
Party Time was first performed by the Almeida Theatre Company on 31 October 1991 at the Almeida Theatre, London. The cast was as follows:
TERRY, a man of forty Peter Howitt
GAVIN, a man in his fifties Barry Foster
DUSTY, a woman in her twenties Cordelia Roche
MELISSA, a woman of seventy Dorothy Tutin
LIZ, a woman in her thirties Tacye Nichols
CHARLOTTE, a woman in her thirties Nicola Pagett
FRED, a man in his forties Roger Lloyd Pack
DOUGLAS, a man of fifty Gawn Grainger
JIMMY, a young man Harry Burton
Directed by Harold Pinter
Designed by Mark Thompson
Gavin’s flat.
A large room. Sofas, armchairs, etc. People sitting, standing. A WAITER with a drinks tray.
Two doors. One door, which is never used, is half open, in a dim light.
GAVIN and TERRY stand in foreground. The others sit in half-light, drinking.
Spasmodic party music throughout the play.
TERRY
I tell you, it’s got everything.
GAVIN
Has it?
TERRY
Oh, yes. Real class.
GAVIN
Really?
TERRY
Real class. I mean, what I mean to say, you play a game of tennis, you have a beautiful swim, they’ve got a bar right there –
GAVIN
Where?
TERRY
By the pool. You can have a fruit juice on the spot, no extra charge, then they give you this fantastic hot towel –
GAVIN
Hot?
TERRY
Wonderful. And I mean hot. I’m not joking.
GAVIN
Like the barber.
TERRY
Barber?
GAVIN
In the barber shop. When I was a boy.
TERRY
Oh yes?
Pause.
What do you mean?
GAVIN
They used to put a hot towel over your face, you see, over your nose and eyes. I had it done thousands of times. It got rid of all the blackheads, all the blackheads on your face.
TERRY
Blackheads?
GAVIN
It burnt them out. The towels, you see, were as hot as you could stand. That’s what the barber used to say: ‘Hot enough for you, sir?’ It burnt all the blackheads out of your skin.
Pause.
I was born in the West Country, of course. So I could be talking only of West Country barber shops. But on the other hand I’m pretty sure that hot towels for blackheads were used in barber shops throughout the land in those days. Yes, I believe it was common practice in those days.
TERRY
Well, I’m sure it was. I’m sure it was. But no, these towels I’m talking about are big bath towels, towels for the body, I’m just talking about pure comfort, that’s why I’m telling you, the place has got real class, it’s got everything. Mind you, there’s a waiting list as long as – I mean you’ve got to be proposed and seconded, and then they’ve got to check you out, they don’t let any old spare bugger in there, why should they?
GAVIN
Quite right.
TERRY
But of course it goes without saying that someone like yourself would be warmly welcome – as an honorary member.
GAVIN
How kind.
DUSTY walks through the door and joins them.
DUSTY
Did you hear what’s happened to Jimmy? What’s happened to Jimmy?
TERRY
Nothing’s happened.
DUSTY
Nothing?
GAVIN
Nobody is discussing this. Nobody’s discussing it, sweetie. Do you follow me? Nothing’s happened to Jimmy. And if you’re not a good girl I’ll spank you.
DUSTY
What’s going on?
TERRY
Tell him about the new club. I’ve just been telling him about the club. She’s a member.
GAVIN
What’s it like?
DUSTY
Oh, it’s beautiful. It’s got everything. It’s beautiful. The lighting’s wonderful. Isn’t it? Did you tell him about the alcoves?
TERRY
Well, there’s a bar, you see, with glass alcoves, looking out to under the water.
DUSTY
People swim at you, you see, while you’re having a drink.
TERRY
Lovely girls.
DUSTY
And men.
TERRY
Mostly girls.
DUSTY
Did you tell him about the food?
TERRY
The cannelloni is brilliant.
DUSTY
It’s first class. The food is really first class.
TERRY
They even do chopped liver.
GAVIN
You couldn’t describe that as a local dish.
MELISSA comes through the door and joins them.
MELISSA
What on earth’s going on out there? It’s like the Black Death.
TERRY
What is?
MELISSA
The town’s dead. There’s nobody on the streets, there’s not a soul in sight, apart from some … soldiers. My driver had to stop at a … you know … what do you call it? … a roadblock. We had to say who we were … it really was a trifle …
GAVIN
Oh, there’s just been a little … you know …
TERRY
Nothing in it. Can I introduce you? Gavin White – our host. Dame Melissa.
GAVIN
So glad you could come.
TERRY
What are you drinking?
The WAITER approaches.
Have a glass of wine.
He hands MELISSA a glass.
DUSTY
I keep hearing all these things. I don’t know what to believe.
MELISSA
(to GAVIN)
What a lovely party.
TERRY
(to DUSTY)
What did you say?
DUSTY
I said I don’t know what to believe.
TERRY
You don’t have to believe anything. You just have to shut up and mind your own business, how many times do I have to tell you? You come to a lovely party like this, all you have to do is shut up and enjoy the hospitality and mind your own fucking business. How many more times do I have to tell you? You keep hearing all these things. You keep hearing all these things spread by pricks about pricks. What’s it got to do with you?
Lights up on LIZ and CHARLOTTE, sitting on a sofa.
LIZ
So beautiful. The mouth, really. And of course the eyes.
CHARLOTTE
Yes.
LIZ
Not to mention his hands. I’ll tell you, I would have killed –
CHARLOTTE
I could see –
LIZ
But that bitch had her legs all over him.
CHARLOTTE
I know.
LIZ
I thought she was going to crush him to death.
CHARLOTTE
LIZ
Her skirt was right up to her neck – did you see?
CHARLOTTE
So barefaced –
LIZ
Next minute she’s lugging him up the stairs.
CHARLOTTE
I saw.
LIZ
But as he was going, do you know what he did?
CHARLOTTE
What?
LIZ
He looked at me.
CHARLOTTE
Did he?
LIZ
I swear it. As he was being lugged out he looked back, he looked back, I swear, at me, like a wounded deer, I shall never, as long as I live, forget it, I shall never forget that look.
CHARLOTTE
How beautiful.
LIZ
I could have cut her throat, that nymphomaniac slut.
CHARLOTTE
Yes, but think what happened. Think of the wonderful side of it. Because for you it was love, it was falling in love. That’s what it was, wasn’t it? You fell in love.
LIZ
I did. You’re right. I fell in love. I am in love. I haven’t slept all night, I’m in love.
CHARLOTTE
How many times does that happen? That’s the point. How often does it really happen? How often does anyone experience su
ch a thing?
LIZ
Yes, you’re right. That’s what happened to me. That is what has happened – to me.
CHARLOTTE
That’s why you’re in such pain.
LIZ
Yes, because that bigtitted tart –
CHARLOTTE
Raped the man you love.
LIZ
Yes she did. That’s what she did. She raped my beloved.
Lights up on FRED and DOUGLAS, drinking.
FRED
We’ve got to make it work.
DOUGLAS
What?
FRED
The country.
Pause.
DOUGLAS
You’ve brought the house down with that one, Fred.
FRED
But that’s what matters. That’s what matters. Doesn’t it?
DOUGLAS
Oh, it matters. It matters. I should say it matters. All this fucking-about has to stop.
FRED
You mean it?
DOUGLAS
I mean it all right.
FRED
I admire people like you.
DOUGLAS
So do I.
FRED clenches his fist.
FRED
A bit of that.
DOUGLAS clenches his fist.
DOUGLAS
A bit of that.
Pause.
FRED
How’s it going tonight?
DOUGLAS
Like clockwork. Look. Let me tell you something. We want peace. We want peace and we’re going to get it.
FRED
Quite right.
DOUGLAS
We want peace and we’re going to get it. But we want that peace to be cast iron. No leaks. No draughts. Cast iron. Tight as a drum. That’s the kind of peace we want and that’s the kind of peace we’re going to get. A cast-iron peace.
He clenches his fist.
Like this.
FRED
You know, I really admire people like you.
DOUGLAS
So do I.
Lights up on MELISSA, DUSTY, TERRY and GAVIN.
MELISSA
(to DUSTY)
How sweet of you to say so.
DUSTY
But you do have a really wonderful figure. Honestly. Doesn’t she?
TERRY
I’ve known this lady for years. Haven’t I? How many years have I known you? Years. And she’s always looked the same. Haven’t you? She’s always looked the same. Hasn’t she?
GAVIN
Has she?
DUSTY
Always. Haven’t you?
TERRY
She has. Isn’t that right?
MELISSA
Oh, you’re joking.
TERRY
Not me. I never joke. Have you ever heard me crack a joke?
MELISSA
No, if I still look all right, it’s probably because I’ve just joined this new club – (To GAVIN) Do you know it?