An ordinary room of work of an advertisement agent with two doors (one which
opens on a garden, the other on a court), one window which opens on a street, a
quay, a river another bank). A poster is on the wall reproducing "Neil Young"
once on each of the four bands which forms it; two red bands with white letters
inserted in between two white bands with green letters. But the audience doesn’t
see all of this because it is 9 PM on Tuesday December 5, 1989, and only the
middle of the room is lit up and also the street which one sees by the framing
of the window.
CHARACTERS:
Mr ADMAN
MISS FREEDOM
Mr
MUSCLEMAN
THE BLIND MAN (the voice coming from the open window)
MISS
POCAHONTAS
Mr SAMPEDRO
Mr KEITH
Scene I
(Mr Adman, enters with
sharp steps, begins some stretchings, sees a crown on the shelf, takes it and
uses it to work out, then to have fun he puts it on his head.)
Mr ADMAN: The
king is gone but he’s not forgotten.
Scene II
(Miss Freedom enters, sees
Mr Adman in an extravagant behaviour but doesn’t pay attention to his
embarrassing situation.)
MISS FREEDOM: Keep movement. You have got the good
rhythm for your first night... You are really talented with your hands.
Mr
ADMAN: Well... I am as clumsy with my right hand as useless with my left
hand.
MISS FREEDOM: Your knees are tattered.
Mr ADMAN pacing the room:
You’ll find them in the dustbin... like your baby...
MISS FREEDOM: Air and
water are inaccessible nowadays.
Mr ADMAN: Is the air better close to the
ground or at the top of the mountain? All that is a matter of shoes.
Scene
III
Mr ADMAN: Do you remember "Prisoners exercising in Newgate yard" by
Gustave Doré?
MISS FREEDOM: Their head is low so that it didn’t cut.
Mr
ADMAN: They hunch their back in order to gather better their dream still marked
with dew.
MISS FREEDOM: Dream laughs like a girl having known to save
time.
(One door opens. It hides the person who is in fact Mr
Muscleman.)
Mr MUSCLEMAN: Is Pretty Pegy here?
(A pause. The door is
closed.)
Mr ADMAN: The dream is a river that breaks our leg if we dip it
inside to check its temperature. By the way, are you still here?
MISS
FREEDOM: And according to you, where should I be? I am at the horizon for those
who don’t have your luck.
Mr ADMAN: It’s necessary to have talent to know to
jump at the chance.
Scene IV
Mr ADMAN looks out of the window: Look! The
blind man is there.
THE BLIND MAN shouts: We love you!
MISS FREEDOM: Sit
down, please. You make me dizzy!
(Mr Adman sits down at his desk, taps on his
keyboard.)
Mr ADMAN: You look delightful in your black and white lady's suit.
What’s the price of petroleum on snow?
MISS FREEDOM slightly ruffled: It’s
the same price than the egg descended from yin and yang.
(She comes in the
darkness.)
Scene V
Mr ADMAN thoughtful, paces the room: The castles burn
in the dumps. It is certainly the reason why these cards games are now
fireproofed... Except the four aces that is continuously to look after... and...
the queen of hearts... and... (looking out of the window)... The blind man had
the revelation: he lit his candle that he was pushing in front of him like a
corpse. He runs in the night. Never again the same night.
Scene VI
(Miss
Pocahontas enters.)
Mr ADMAN: How are you doing?
MISS POCAHONTAS: Can I
stay here for a while?
THE BLIND MAN: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!... Shut up!
Shut up!
MISS FREEDOM: The things we thought of yesterday come back now, come
back now...
(Mr Adman paces the room, goes to the window.)
Mr ADMAN: An
aurora borealis... This icy sky in the night...
MISS POCAHONTAS: I’m going to
get some beer for you.
(Miss Pocahontas goes out.)
Scene VII
(Mr Adman
paces the room walking as if he was putting his feet on a hotplate.)
Mr
ADMAN: I’m really far from my home.
MISS FREEDOM: I bring a cheeseburger to
you.
(Mr Adman, always standing, calms his nerves striking his tool with his
hand. Miss Freedom observes him. Mr Adman takes off his black leather
jacket.)
Mr ADMAN: I don’t accustom myself to this underfloor heating. I
can’t keep my feet on the ground without stifling.
MISS FREEDOM: Do you want
me to reduce the temperature of the thermostat? (She comes close to the electric
heater.) Well! Goodness!
Mr ADMAN: What's the matter?
MISS FREEDOM:
Nothing's the matter. (She leaves.)
Scene VIII
Mr Adman: I hear somebody
approaching. It isn’t the airy tread of Miss Pocahontas nor Miss Freedom’s one.
And then that comes from the door giving onto the garden. (He goes near this
door and opens it.)
Mr ADMAN surprised: Oh! Who is there? Poncho! Frank
Poncho Sampedro from Crazy Horse! How are you doing?
(Mr Sampedro smiles by
way of answer.)
Mr ADMAN: Don't you want to leave the leash that you
drag?
Mr SAMPEDRO: I’m less free in my movements as you can be but that suits
me because I’m more introvert, less fiery than a bull in the arena.
Mr ADMAN:
This leash makes you a blind dog.
Mr SAMPEDRO: I was born to serve
others.
Mr ADMAN looks out of the window: Eldorado is on fire.
(Mr
Sampedro doesn’t move but casts his eyes the window.)
Mr SAMPEDRO: How do you
know that? This hill shines with thousand glows all the time.
Mr ADMAN: The
moon cries like a diamond of these shining women from Tijuana.
Mr SAMPEDRO:
Your words and your melodies are palpable poetry.
Mr ADMAN: You help me a
lot. Without you... (At this time, we hear a sound of castanets coming from
outside.) And without this blind man...
Scene IX
(The door giving onto the
garden opens.)
Mr ADMAN cheerfully welcomes the newcomer: Oh! Ben
Keith!
(Mr Keith sits down, puts on his knees his working gear. He’s wearing
a white hat and a moustache that are suitable for a dandy.)
THE BLIND MAN:
Where is Billy? Mr Adman, intrigued approaches the window and talks to the blind
man.
Mr ADMAN: Who?
THE BLIND MAN: Billy!
Mr ADMAN: Question for
question: Did I go too far for him?
Mr KEITH: Yes, too far gone.
Mr
SAMPEDRO: You groan like crystal pounded by a neurotic mandolin. It’s
beautiful.
(Mr Adman gestures his greeting to his two companions that leaves
by the way they had come.)
Scene X
(Mr Adman goes near the window.)
THE
BLIND MAN: It’s all illusion anyway.
Mr ADMAN: How are you doing out
there?
THE BLIND MAN: Half the time has passed away.
(Mr Adman goes to the
door giving on the yard, opens it and speaks to somebody that we can’t
see.)
Mr ADMAN: what's going on this evening? Is there no maintenance? Do you
spend some good time with the Miss Pocahontas beers?
(Mr Adman lets Miss
Freedom pass and keeps on his moaning. Miss Freedom leans her bottom on his
desk. She holds out a cheeseburger to Mr Adman but this one worried by strange
noises doesn’t notice her offer. Miss Freedom begins to eat it then.)
Mr
ADMAN happy: I’ve got the real thing.
MISS FREEDOM: Would it begin with a
small bowl?... (She repeats louder.) Would it begin with a small bowl?...
Mr
ADMAN: What was that?
MISS FREEDOM makes a circular gesture above her head:
The real thing. Yes, it begins with a small bowl and then after a sombrero isn’t
enough.
Mr ADMAN in dismay: That's bright.
MISS FREEDOM smiles: Yes,
especially by the light of lamppost. (She leaves.)
Scene XI
Mr ADMAN: The
damage is done. (He comes near the window hearing some repeated knocks.) It’s
the blind man... He knocks on this cellar door as if it was an old dusty carpet.
It’s touching.
Scene XII
Mr SAMPEDRO enters: Pay no attention to me. I
stand apart.
Mr ADMAN, going from the window to his desk, unveils his thought
to us: This blind man lives at the edge of the night. He gets giddy about that.
He gropes his way. He refuses his walking stick. The plan for a liked hand isn’t
a crutch. Does he know that? That’s weakling him. And the orphan of stars joined
the wet nurse with his feeding bottle with her prickly teat in the garden in the
black hole where the race of the sun is more vertiginous than elsewhere.
Mr
SAMPEDRO: I leave.
(Mr Adman nods a greeting to him. He goes to his desk,
examines his working board.)
Mr ADMAN: What is it going wrong here? OK for
that one... And what about this one?
THE BLIND MAN: Half the time has passed
away.
Scene XIII
Mr ADMAN, lonely, at the window: This evening, the
street runs gently. Its high flood resonates like a soft oceanic hubbub. The
blind man hung his roots on his bloodless pavement. One girl berths close to
him. She starts dancing and wants to carry him away with her dance. He doesn’t
want: he lets himself sink into the grip of his freedom. He doesn’t want to
leave his freedom for Freedom. And then, he knows he’s awkward as dancer. The
girl made him smile. Now she really ensnares him. He must say to himself: "How
can it be that these things also happen to me?" Yes indeed... Even if the end of
the roaming arrives blowing a gale at our last breath, we should breathe it
deeply. The bitterness should disappear quickly.
Scene XIV
(Miss Freedom
enters.)
MISS FREEDOM: Ah! Ah! Did you talk to yourselves? Your remarks
reverberated to Hollywood. I hope there was no secret for you in what you
say.
Mr ADMAN: If you recorded my remarks, you can listen to the tape again.
There’s strictly no news in what I have just said. (A this moment, Ben Keith
enters and settles down like previously.) Rather listen to this:
The wind
getting dark whispers me
Elders dragged their steps in dust
Their night
was bright
It was gold dust
Mr KEITH: Beautiful introduction. Go on!
You’ll make a great hit!
Mr ADMAN turns around Mr Keith: You take my
inspiration out.
Mr KEITH: I will help you. (Mr Adman turns around Mr Keith,
moves away from him and he’s standing in his back contemplating him.)
Mr
KEITH declaims: Like this, for example:
I run across Kentucky
I've set up
its sun in Nashville
The ground boomed during harvest
Before the end you
told me your name
It wasn’t sorrow
I'm getting old
Mr ADMAN: You bring
really a magnificent personal touch! I’m very grateful to you... I am filled
with admiration for you. (Mr Adman puts his hand on the Mr Keith shoulder. This
one gets up. Mr Adman stays still looking at him, then suddenly he becomes
impassioned in honour of Mr Keith going out.)
Scene XV
(Mr Adman takes off
his shirt.)
MISS FREEDOM: You had a good scissors to cut out the sleeves of
your T-shirt thus.
Mr ADMAN: It’s necessary to have the pirate standard
embroidered on the heart to be appeared like me on TV... It was on BBC and on
one USA TV...
(Mr Adman grabs one guitar. His strap is wide and black and it
ends in fringes.)
MISS FREEDOM: I didn’t notice your guitar yet.
Mr ADMAN:
That's the last straw! It seldom leaves me. It’s an integral part of myself. It
helps me to find ideas, to improve my work. Where are you?
MISS FREEDOM: In
Ohio. I’m the smile of Allison, Jeffrey, Sandra and William in Kent State
University. The car park of Prentice Hall becomes Cambodia. I’m in May 4,
1970.
Mr ADMAN goes to the window: Look! The blind man is always there...
This song is for me... This song is for you... Four dead in Ohio.
(Mr Adman
stops his guitar playing.)
THE BLIND MAN: Four dead in Ohio! Four dead in
Ohio! Four dead in Ohio! Four dead in Ohio! Four dead in Ohio!
Mr ADMAN
embarrassed: I think that is good! Everyone understood! Four dead in
Ohio...
Scene XVI
(Mr Adman becomes eccentric wriggling vigorously in
concentric circles.)
MISS FREEDOM: Do you think your gesticulation makes more
dynamic your rosette?
Mr ADMAN: My message is more powerful filling all the
available space. It’s the most elementary requirement of the job.
MISS
FREEDOM: And what is your message?
Mr ADMAN: My message is yours: keep on
rocking in the free world!
THE BLIND MAN: Keep on rockin' in the free
world!
THE BLIND MAN, Mr ADMAN: Keep on rockin' in the free world! Keep on
rockin' in the free world! Keep on rockin' in the free world! Keep on rockin' in
the free world! Keep on rockin' in the free world!
(Mr Adman jumps out of the
window and comes close to the blind man who tries to envelop him in his
affection with his arms but the surprise and the emotion caused by this type of
event makes coarse his gestures. Miss Freedom utters a little cry of
astonishment. Mr Muscleman enters running in the room of work, sees the
situation then he intervenes bringing vigorously back Mr Adman in his place. Mr
Adman looks displeased as much with the blind man that of Mr Muscleman.)
MR
MUSCLEMAN: You are not serious! That could have finished more badly!
Mr
ADMAN severe: With whom?
(Mr Muscleman leaves. Miss Freedom is absorbed in
thought close to the dustbin. Mr Adman gets over the event wearing a broad
smile. He leaves.)
Scene XVII
(Mr Adman enters precipitately running
towards the window. The blind man applauds "his friend". Siren rings giving the
blind man a start.)
MISS FREEDOM: It’s just a boat berthing.
THE BLIND
MAN: I don’t feel easy in my mind... I see it will bring the darkness in the
country.
Mr ADMAN: ... It gets already dark...
THE BLIND MAN: It could
well be... But night or day, it will be a night with loneliness stinking of
powder.
Mr ADMAN: You are strange, you, blind men.
THE BLIND MAN: People
often think our hands are our eyes but they only act as guide. Our heart is our
true eye.
Mr ADMAN: I understand. It’s the same thing for everyone, but we
sometimes to forget that since our eyes are lit... And when our heart burns by
love, in which kind of darkness do we sink?
MISS FREEDOM: A quite dry and
rugged darkness at the end of this combustion in the so brilliant light...
Mr
ADMAN: Yes... Darkness doesn’t mean without light. The room where we are will be
switched off but our heart will remain illuminated.
(Mr Adman and Miss
Freedom leave. The room of work is in darkness now.)
The end
Denis Between
The Rusty Words
(July 01, 2005)
Note: In French, the abbreviation of
"Mister" is "M". The visual effect is more comical before ADMAN.
© IDDN 2005
