Bradwell Mike - Airsick

Emma Frost AIRSICK NICK HERN BOOKS
London
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk Airsick was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, on 8 October 2003. It subsequently transferred to the Drum Theatre, Plymouth on 13 November 2003. The cast was as follows:

LUCY	Celia Robertson
MICK	Peter Jonfield
GABRIEL	Gideon Turner
SCARLET	Susannah Doyle
JOE	Eric Loren
Director	Mike Bradwell
Producer	Holly Hooper
Designer	Es Devlin
Lighting Designer	Jason Taylor
Sound Designer	Nick Manning

For T Thanks to Ligeia Marsh.
Nikki Grier, James Tovell, Andrew Neil,
Rosamund Barker, Rob Messik and Angela McSherry
for being there at the beginning. Tanya Vickers, Ronaldo Vasconcellos, Jo Smith,
Angie Brooker and Janine Gray
for huge support. And big, big thanks to Mike Bradwell, Fiona Clark,
Nicola Wilson, Simon Stokes and all at
the Bush Theatre and Drum Theatre, Plymouth. Characters LUCY, early thirties
SCARLET, early thirties
MICK, sixty-ish, Lucys father
GABRIEL, late-twenties New Zealander
JOE, mid-thirties East Coast American The two men in Scene One could be played by stage crew, or failing that, by the actors playing Gabriel and Joe The woman in the final scene should not be played by actresses playing Lucy or Scarlet A stroke (/) marks the point of interruption in overlapping dialogue The action takes place in East London between June and October 2002 Scene One .

A black hole spins and sucks silently in space. From the darkness, a voice: LUCY. On 4th October 1968, American scientist John Wheeler named Black Holes. It was morning in Princeton and hed just finished eating his egg. He peered into the shell, at the yellow remains and it came to him. The most destructive force in the universe: Black Holes.

The French werent too happy. Their translation, trou noir, implied something rather dodgy about female parts so the journals wouldnt print it because they thought it was obscene Lights up on LUCY , self conscious in a white hospital gown, as she stands before the black hole. Sorry Im ranting... Its just... I know this because the 4th of October 1968 is also the day I was born. It wasnt particularly remarkable, a dreary day my mum said, but the usual well-wishers came, predicted health, wealth and happiness.

They said Id be a star. ( Beat. ) My mum said I used to suck the mud off stones, I dont remember. My first memory is of my fifth birthday party... The sound of a childrens party fades in and three men enter, one of whom is LUCY s father, MICK . He is dressed in black, with a heavy black overcoat.

One of the other men holds a yellow plastic tray, the other a hard backed book. We were running round the house trying to catch Scarlet, my best friend, who was acting weird... when my dad appeared. Usually he stayed as far away from children as he could, a dark presence behind a closed door, so it was strange to see him knee deep in streamers, forcing on a smile. He told us we were going to play a game. MICK. MICK.

Here you go then, put this on. MICK ties a blindfold round LUCY s eyes. The other men put the tray on the floor and move her forward onto it. Right. Youre going on a journey, and its a long way from here so youve gotta go by plane. LUCY. LUCY.

I hear the engines roar, a tightness in my throat. I buckle my seatbelt round me. MICK. But the only trouble is, the planes held together with Sellotape and string, cause its so old! SECOND MAN. Cabin crew, ready for take off. LUCY.

Sellotape and string... The engines are really roaring now. MICK and one of the men take hold of the tray. MICK. Sellotape and string and rubber bands. LUCY. LUCY.

My heart is beating. I feel myself lift / off. MICK and the other man inch the tray off the ground. MICK. And shes up. LUCY. LUCY.

A sudden lurch. I hold on tight. Ive lost all sense of time and space... The tray now weaves high and round and about, disorientating LUCY . MICK. Way up above the ground.

Were over London, over all the little / houses. LUCY. Im frightened, head spinning. But I dont let on. MICK. Ah! Oh no! But the rubber bands are snapping! The plane is breaking up! LUCY.

No! / NO! They start to wobble the tray, which is now only two inches above the ground, but LUCY in her blindfold has lost all sense of space and doesnt know this. MEN.Oh no, Lucy! Shes breaking up! Shes breaking up! But youre too high! Youre on the / ceiling! As he speaks the second man holds the hard-backed book on top of LUCY s head so that it feels like the ceiling. LUCY. I feel the ceiling above my head. MICK. The rubber bands are going! The wings are falling off! LUCY.

No! Daddy! No! MICK. Youre on the ceiling! But youre gonna have to jump! LUCY. Im too high! MEN ( wobbling the tray around ) . Shes breaking up, Lucy! MICK. Lucy! You gotta JUMP! Take a big jump Lucy! The sound of the engines plummeting towards the ground. MICK / MEN.

Jump! Lucy, / jump! LUCY. No! MICK. JUMP! JUMP! Almost sobbing, LUCY takes a huge breath. She leaps into the void. Blackout. The sound of children laughing gradually fading.

The distant sound of a plane landing. Scene Two . Heathrow Airport arrivals hall . A sense of bustle. Announcements over speakers about flight arrivals from the US. LUCY walks unsteadily through, obviously feeling sick.

She takes her large suitcase from the carousel, then vomits on the floor. A passing man, GABRIEL , easy charm, infectious, watches her. He comes over. GABRIEL. Are you... ) Is there anything... ? LUCY shakes her head. ? LUCY shakes her head.

Do you want some water? She looks up as he offers a bottle of water out, and fishes for a tissue. She takes them. LUCY. Thanks. Sorry. GABRIEL. GABRIEL.

Come here, let them clean it up. Sit down for a minute. He steers her away. LUCY sits down on her upended suitcase. LUCY. flying . flying .

I thought I was gonna be alright. I wasnt even gonna have a drink because Ive just spent most of the last year in New York trying to kill myself with alcohol, but then the film came on, and I couldnt work out why I was getting so stressed and not just me, everyone and then I realised, the films Chicken Run , and its about a bunch of creatures being force fed in a tiny space, and theyre all gonna die because they cant fly! So I lost it. Downed eighteen vodkas and tried for liver damage. GABRIEL. Quality illness. LUCY ( smiles ) .

I suppose youre one of those people who loves flying and is on and off like theres no tomorrow. GABRIEL looks like hes about to say no, but then he smiles and nods. GABRIEL. If youre going down, youre going down, theres nothing you can do about it. Even the brace positions a load of rubbish. A friend of mine whos a pilot told me.

They only tell you to do it so you make less mess. Youre still dead, but at least they can find all the pieces. Sorry, you probably didnt want to know that, did you? Still, look on the bright side. At least they didnt lose your luggage. LUCY. They lost your luggage? GABRIEL ( nods ) .

All Ive got is this... He indicates his clothes. ... and a British-Airways-Lost-My-Luggage-and-All-I-Got-Was-This-Lousy-T-Shirt T-shirt. LUCY. No. No.

Course not. It just says British Airways. You have to write the rest on yourself. Trouble is, my pens in the suitcase. Along with the details of the hotel Im meant to be staying in... LUCY.

So what will you do? GABRIEL. Stay at your house? LUCY stiffens, suddenly worried by him. Salright. Im only joking. You think Im coming on to you now, dont you? LUCY. Beat. GABRIEL. GABRIEL.