Franzmann - Bodies

Vivienne Franzmann BODIES NICK HERN BOOKS London www.nickhernbooks.co.uk ContentsBodies was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, on 5 July 2017. The cast was as follows:

ONI	Lorna Brown
JOSH	Brian Ferguson
DAVID	Philip Goldacre
LAKSHMI	Salma Hoque
CLEM	Justine Mitchell
DAUGHTER	Hannah Rae
DR SHARMA (voice only)	Manjinder Virk
BOY	Alexander Molony, Rohan Shinn
Director	Jude Christian
Designer	Gabriella Slade
Lighting & Projection Designer	Joshua Pharo
Sound Designer	Helen Skiera
Film Maker	Meghna Gupta
Director of Photography	Susie Salavati
Casting Director	Amy Ball
Production Manager	Marty Moore
Costume Supervisor	Lydia Cawson
Stage Managers	Nic Donithorn, Tamsin Withers
Chaperone	Chelsea Smith
Set Built by	Set Blue Scenery

Characters CLEM, forty-three JOSH, early forties ONI, late thirties DAVID, seventies, has motor neurone disease DAUGHTER, sixteen LAKSHMI, early twenties DR SHARMA BOY, seven GIRL, five CARER The action takes place over nine months.Note on TextA dash on its own line indicates a beat.Two dashes indicate a pause.Three or more dashes lasts longer.This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.OneClems House CLEM and DAUGHTER. DAUGHTER. What are these? CLEM. Crisps. DAUGHTER.

Crisps? CLEM. Kale crisps. DAUGHTER. Kale crisps? CLEM. Yeah, crisps made out of kale. DAUGHTER.

Crisps made out of kale? CLEM. Can you stop repeating everything I DAUGHTER. Can you stop repeating everything I CLEM. Very good. LOL. DAUGHTER.

Please dont say LOL. CLEM (offering). Kale crisp? DAUGHTER (picks one up). This is not a crisp. Its not crisp. This is a flake.

Its a kale flake. CLEM. Try it. DAUGHTER. No thanks. Go on. YOLO. DAUGHTER. Dont. CLEM. CLEM.

I made them. DAUGHTER. You made these? CLEM. Yeah, you get a bag of kale, get rid of the stalky parts, separate all the bits, cover them in oil, mustard, honey, lemon juice and tarragon and bake them for fifteen minutes. You turn the oven off and let them rest for fifteen minutes. Jesus. CLEM. CLEM.

Theyre delicious. They are absolutely DAUGHTER. Have we got any proper crisps? CLEM. No. DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

Dont say fuck. And you told me not to buy any proper crisps. DAUGHTER. I didnt tell you to CLEM. You said you didnt want me to get any crisps, because of the trans-fats thing. DAUGHTER. DAUGHTER.

Yeah, but I didnt mean it. Obviously, I didnt mean it. CLEM. Top cupboard. DAUGHTER gets out a packet of Kettle Chips. DAUGHTER. The thing is, I did mean it.

When I said that about the trans fats and the cancer and getting fat, I completely meant it. CLEM. I know. DAUGHTER. No, you didnt. You wouldnt have bought CLEM.

I know you. I know you from the tips of your fingers to the ends of your hair to your weird little toe that points outwards like Daddys. DAUGHTER. Do you mean my special toe? CLEM. When you were little, we DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

It was so sweet, the way DAUGHTER. Yep. CLEM. It was DAUGHTER. Okay. CLEM.

So perfect. DAUGHTER. You should have got the small bags. Im going to have to eat the whole thing now. CLEM. DAUGHTER. DAUGHTER.

I could if I was a totally different person. If I was you. Arent you going to stop me? CLEM. No. DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

What you do with your body is your business. DAUGHTER. You dont say that about smoking. CLEM. Smoking kills. DAUGHTER.

Trans fats kill. Do you want some? CLEM. No thanks, Ive got these delicious oil-and-mustard-and-honey-and-lemon-juice-and-tarragon-infused kale crisps. DAUGHTER. Weird word. CLEM. CLEM.

Its a herb. Its like DAUGHTER. I know what it is. It tastes like aniseed and grows wild in Europe and North America. What? CLEM. How do you know that? DAUGHTER.

How does anyone know anything? CLEM. Someone tells you. You learn it at school. You read it in a book. You go on the internet. DAUGHTER. DAUGHTER.

Some things you just know. You dont know how, you just do. Stop looking at me like that. CLEM. Like what? DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

Im proud of you. DAUGHTER. Because I know about tarragon? CLEM. Because of the person that you are. It seems like yesterday we were holding you in our arms and wondering what you were going to be like. You were so tiny, so gorgeous a tiny gorgeous little bird who we had waited DAUGHTER.

Whats your favourite bird? CLEM. A finch. DAUGHTER. Like Granddad. CLEM. When I was little and he used to breed them, Id feed the ones that had been rejected by their mothers with DAUGHTER.

Why do animals do that? I mean, they go to all the trouble of conceiving, and from what Ive heard of the foxes fucking in the middle of the night that doesnt sound like its up to much, and then they give birth or sit on a nest for a million years until it hatches and then they just say, sod it, Im not into this any more, youre on your own. CLEM. Something instinctive, I guess. DAUGHTER. Surely the instinct should be to look after them, continue the genes, protect their bloodline, whatever. Thats instinct.

I like crows. Crows are cool. Theres something about crows, isnt there? Theyre sleek and their eyes shine and their feathers are beautiful like oil. CLEM. A crow got into my dads aviary once. Destroyed everything.

It was awful. DAUGHTER. How did it get in there? CLEM. Dont know. DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

I doubt it, its only a DAUGHTER. Crows are so clever. At my school, theres this one that waits until breaks over and then goes through the bins, picks out the crisp packets with its beak, eats all the bits and then chucks each bag on the floor. One Year 7 class got a detention for littering their playground and it was the crow all along. I think I might be a crow. I said I think I might be a CLEM.

I heard you. Im just trying to figure out what that actually means. DAUGHTER. It means Im a crow. CLEM. Youre not going to get a tattoo, are you? Thats not what this is leading to, is it? Wings on your back.

Not a horrible black feather along your arm or anything like that. Please dont do that. Promise me you wont do that. Promise me you wont do anything to your skin. DAUGHTER. CLEM. CLEM.

Your skin has always been so beautiful, why would you want to mutilate your DAUGHTER. Im not getting a tattoo. CLEM. Promise. Promise. I promise. CLEM. CLEM.

Which school do you go to? DAUGHTER. Creighton. Its on Wellington Lane. CLEM. Where the lido is? DAUGHTER. Was.

They demolished it to build the school. CLEM. When? DAUGHTER. About nine years ago. CLEM. No. CLEM. Good. Good.

I thought not. I would never Its not something that I think is Not that your father agrees with me. I keep telling him, my dad will kill me if wewell, its not just that. I dont believe in it. Is it a good school? DAUGHTER. Rated outstanding three times.

Says so on a banner outside the gates. Lacking a bit of humility that. CLEM. And youre a good student? DAUGHTER. Six A-stars, three As and a B. CLEM.