Samuel Beckett
Catastrophe
For
Václav Havel
In a letter to
Samuel Beckett written in
April 1983, six weeks after his release, the
Czech dramatist
Vaclav Havel described
'the shock I experienced during my time in
prison when, on the occasion of one of her
one-hour visits allowed four times a year,
my wife told me in the presence of an
obtuse warder that at Avignon there took
place a night of solidarity with me, and
that you took the opportunity to write, and
to make public for the first time, your play
Catastrophe. For a long time afterwards
there accompanied me in prison a great joy
and emotion and helped to live on amidst
all the dirt and baseness'.
When he came out,
Vaclav Havel wrote
a similarly short piece,
Mistake, as a
response to the play
Samuel Beckett had
dedicated to him. While
Catastrophe had
its first performance at the Avignon
Theatre Festival in 1982, both plays were
produced as a double bill at the Stockholm
Stadsteater on 29 November 1983, as part
of an 'evening of solidarity' with
Havel and
his fellow-members of the Charter 77
human rights movement in Czechoslovakia.
The text of
Catastrophe will appear in a
collection of
Beckett's shorter pieces, to be
published by Faber in London in June this
year.
We are delighted to be the first to print
both these plays, and we would like to
thank
Samuel Beckett, Faber & Faber, and
Rowohlt Theater Verlagfor giving us
permission to do so.
Director (D).
His female assistant (A).
Protagonist (p).
Luke, in charge of the lighting, offstage (L).
Rehearsal. Final touches to the last scene.
Bare stage, A and L have just set the
lighting. D has just arrived.
D in an armchair downstairs audience left.
Fur coat. Fur toque to match. Age and
physique unimportant.
A standing beside him. White overall.
Bare head. Pencil on ear. Age and
physique unimportant.
p midstage standing on a black block
18 inches high. Black wide-brimmed
hat. Black dressing-gown to ankles.
Barefoot. Head bowed. Hands in
pockets. Age and physique unimportant.
D and A contemplate p. Long pause.
A: [Finally.] Like the look of him?
D: SO SO. [Pause.] Why the plinth?
A: TO let the stalls see the feet.
[Pause.]
D:. Why the hat?
A: To help hide the face.
[Pause.]
D: Why the gown? •
A: TO have him all black.
[Pause.]
D: What has he on underneath? [A
moves towards p.] Say it. [A halts.]
A: His night attire.
D: Colour?
A: Ash.
[D takes out a cigar.]
D: Light. [Areturns, lights the cigar, stands
. still. D smokes.] How's the skull?
A: You've seen it.
D: I forget, [A moves towards p.] Say it.
[A halts.]
A: Moulting. A few tufts.
D: Colour?
A: Ash.
[Pause.]
D: Why hands in pockets?
A: TO help have him all black.
D: They mustn't.
A: I make a note. [She takes out a pad, takes
pencil, notes.] Hands exposed.
[She puts back pad and pencil.]
D: How are they? [A at a loss. Irritably. ] The
hands, how are the hands?
A: You've seen them.
D: I forget.
A: Crippled. Fibrous degeneration.
D: Clawlike?
A: If you like.
D: TWO claws?
A: Unless he clench his fists.
D: He mustn't.
A: I make a note. [She takes out pad, takes
pencil, notes.] Hands limp.
[She puts back pad and pencil.]
D: Light, [A returns, relights the cigar,
stands stilt. D smokes.] Good. Now
let's have a look. [Aat a loss. Irritably. ]
Get going. Lose that gown. [He
consults his chronometer.] Step on it, I
have a caucus.
[A goes to p, takes off the gown, p
. submits, inert. A steps back, the
gown over her arm. p in old grey
pyjamas, head bowed, fists clenched.
Pause.]
A: Like him better without? [Pause.] He's
shivering.
D: Not all that. Hat.
[A advances, takes off hat, steps
back, hat in hand. Pause.]
A: Like that cranium?
D: Needs whitening.
A: I make a note. [She takes out pad, takes
pencil, notes.] Whiten cranium.
[She puts back pad and pencil.]
D: The hands, [A at a loss. Irritably.] The
fists. Get going, [A advances,
unclenches fists, steps back.] And
whiten.
A: I make a note. [She takes out pad, takes
pencil, notes.] Whiten hands.
[She puts back pad and pencil. They
contemplate p.]
D: [Finally.] Something wrong. [Distraught.]
What is it?
A: [Timidly.] What if we were... were t o . . .
join them?
D: NO harm trying. [A advances, joins the
hands, steps back.] Higher, [A advances,
raises waist high the joined hands, steps
back.] A touch more, [A advances,
raises breast-high the joined hands.]
Stop! [A steps back.] Better. It's
coming. Light:
[A returns, relights cigar, stands
still, D smokes.]
A: He's shivering.
D: Bless his heart.
[Pause.]
A: [Timidly.] What about a little... a
little... gag?
D: For God's sake! This craze for explicitation!
Every i dotted to death! Little
gag! For God's sake!
A: Sure he won't utter?
D: Not a squeak. [He consults his chronometer.]
Just time. I'll go and see how it
looks from the house.
[Exit D, not to appear again, A
subsides in the armchair, springs to
her feet no sooner seated, takes out a
rag, wipes vigorously back and seat
of chair, discards rag, sits again.
Pause.]
D: [Off, plaintive.] I can't see the toes.
[Irritably.] I'm sitting in the front row
of the stalls and can't see the toes.
A: [Rising.] I make a note. [She takes out a
pad, takes pencil, notes.] Raise
pedestal. .
D: There's a trace of face.
A: I make a note.
[She takes out pad, takes pencil,
makes to note.] A:
D: Down the head, [A at a loss. Irritably.]
Get going. Down his head, [A puts D:
back pad and pencil, goes to p, bows his A:
head further, steps back.] A shade L:
more, [A advances, bows the head
further.] Stop! [A steps back.] Fine. A:
It's coming. [Pause.] Could do with D:
more nudity. L:
A: I make a note.
[She takes out pad, makes to take
her pencil. ]
D: Get going! Get going! [Aputs back the D:
pad, goes to p, stands irresolute.] Bare L:
the neck, [A undoes top buttons, parts
the flaps, steps back.] The legs. The
shins, [A advances, rolls up to below
knee one trouser-leg, steps back.] The D:
other. [Same for other leg, steps back. ]
Higher. The knees, [A advances, rolls A:
up to above knees both trouser-legs,
steps back.] And whiten.
I make a note. [She takes out pad, takes
pencil, notes.] Whiten all flesh.
It's coming. Is Luke around?
[Calling.] Luke! [Pause. Louder.] Luke!
[Off, distant.] I hear you. [Pause.
Nearer.] What's the trouble now?
Luke's around.
Blackout stage.
What?
[A transmits in technical terms.
Fade-out of general light. Light on p
alone, A in shadow.]
Just the head.
What?
[A transmits in technical terms.
Fade-out of light on p's body. Light
on head alone. Long pause. ]
Lovely.
[Pause.]
[Timidly.] What if he were to...were
to raise his head... an instant... show
his face .. .just an instant.
: For God's sake! What next? Raise his
head? Where do you think we are? In
Patagonia? Raise his head? For God's
sake! [Pause.] Good. There's our
catastrophe. In the bag. Once more
and I'm off.
: [To L.] Once more and he's off.
[Fade-up of light on p's body. Pause.
Fade-up of general light.]
: Stop! [Pause.] Now...let 'em have it.
[Fade-out of general light. Pause. Fadeout
of light on body. Light on head
alone. Long pause. ] Terrific! He'll have
them on their feet. I can hear it from
here.
[Pause. Distant storm of applause, p
raises his head, fixes the audience.
The applause falters, dies.
Long pause.
Fade-out of light on face.]
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