PICTURES
IN YOUR DREAMS
HOME
My memories are so real, Babcia. But whose are they, and why can't I believe they are true?
First performances Etcetera Theatre, London, July 1998.
The cast:
.........................Babcia ..............................................................Jennifer Lautrec
.................................Wanda................................................................Lyn Morgan.................................Director............................................. .................Robert Tomlinson
.................................Composer/ on-stage musician ............... . Chris Nettleton
.................................Lighting ..............................................................Dominic Burnham
Set: Family photos hang from wall. Stage right a kitchen - wooden table, chairs, various props for food preparation and to indicate a birthday. Stage mid-left is a chair. Upstage left a box of framed photographs. Preset Wanda, opening presents, later peeling potatoes. Babcia preset on stage mid-left chair.
.Lighting: Stage right fully lit, stage left in darkness.
Wanda:
Where is it? Where has it gone? What is it about
the first thing I remember? My earliest memory; why should it be so important?
What is it that makes me always look back when I should be facing forwards? Why
then am I so drawn to a time before I can easily recall, to the first sign of
memory? Nobody ever tells you that they have heard the second cuckoo of spring.
My earliest memory? I can see it so clearly. I’m not sure where I am; only
know that the first thing I can recall is a boat on a blue, blue sea. I am
feeling sick, cold and feverish under the warm sun. Could this really be my
earliest memory after all? If so, it is such a disappointment. I’m
sure it can’t be right. But then why is it that nobody else is sure about the
second earliest event? It seems that second best is all I can ever find. Why am
I on this boat, bobbing about on sparkling blue sea? Am I going to another
country? Yes, that must be it. I am, I was coming here. Why didn’t I realise
that before? But if I can remember the journey so clearly, why is the start of
it just beyond my recollection?.............................
Sound cue: Short,
far-background sound of a gently lapping sea. Fade.
Lighting cue: Very gradually, through following speech, spot Babcia.
Wanda: ..................................
Wherever I have travelled, it was always to move away,
never to go back, never back, never to revisit my past. It had passed. How
strange then that I should yearn so, for a memory that I do not possess. If I
could only remember my beginnings perhaps I could have settled down and felt
more at home here. I know I have earlier memories, I can feel them. But they
have no shape. These memories are so strong. But are they my own?
My earliest memory? The first thing I can remember is me on a boat, a boat on a blue, blue sea. I am feeling sick, cold and feverish under the warm sun. I so want to remember a place I must have seen, the place where I was……….
Lighting change: Light whole of stage left.
Babcia: ..................................
You never saw Beirut, that so beautiful city? My dear! Oh, so
beautiful, so peaceful.
Wanda: ..................................
Yes, Babcia, I
must have seen it. I just don't remember. If only I could recall
a little earlier, remember just a few days earlier.
Babcia: ...................................
Yes, remember just a few hours earlier and you would see. So
beautiful, happy city. Try, little one. Try to remember. My child
grew up in that so beautiful place.
Wanda: Stands
centre stage, looking upward, then around.
I have been am feeling sick, cold and feverish under the warm
sun. I'm feeling a little better. The sea is calmer now.
Looking upward, then searching stage.
Where is Mama? In my memory everyone, everything is so big. I
feel small. I am a child again, a curious, frightened child.
Admires her clothes.
And I am wearing my smart green coat, shiny brown shoes and a
big straw hat on the back of my head.
Babcia: ...................................
You have seen a photograph. That is what you are seeing, yourself
in a photograph, you as a child on a ship. Maybe that is what you
are thinking, or thinking back to what happened? You maybe don’t
remember, and maybe you do. Ah, but that is just how you were,
the coat and hat and my pretty little one on a boat, dressed up
like she was going to church. So smart, so careful to keep your
shoes clean, to put your hat on straight.
Wanda:....................................
I do remember,
Babcia. This is real. The black and white photo, yes –
…..the photo was in black and white,
Admiring clothes, then looking upwards and around, as before................................................
......................................... but in my head I can see the
colours; the green of my coat, the olive band on the golden straw
hat. And I feel sickness from the rocking boat, sun and spray in
my face, the taste of salt. Hot and cold and sick - you cannot
feel that by looking at a .photograph. And I am so happy and sad
because ........ I do not know why I am happy and sad. But
I remember that is how you and Mama felt. I remember being
confused that anyone could be happy and sad. I remember
asking you. Why is that Babcia? How can you be .........
Babcia:...................................
.……….happy
and sad, oh yes. So happy, so very sad. Happy to be safe, sad to
travel so far, always so far away from home. Our little
farm, our small house. So far, far away. So far. Sad because we
had to leave my Mama, your Prababcia. They said Mama could not
come. Was too old to travel, too very old.
Wanda: ...................................
Not as old as
your Tata!
Babcia: ....................................
Oldest man in
Poland, maybe the oldest man in the world. I don't know. One
hundred fifteen years, my Tata.
Wanda:.....................................
One hundred and
fifteen years. Out of bed at six o’clock, washed in cold
water. And every.morning for breakfast he had a big glass
of vodka.
Sudden change, agitated
Why should I remember that? Was I there?
End of taster.
Contact Ed Udovick at IMPULSE PLAYWRIGHTS AGENCY for North America performances