Cullen - Anna Weiss

Mike Cullen ANNA WEISS NICK HERN BOOKS
London
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk ContentsAnna Weiss was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on 18 July 1997, with the following cast:

LYNNE	Iona Carbarns
DAVID	John Stahl
ANNA	Anne Marie Timoney
Director	Vicky Featherstone
Designer	Mark Leese
Lighting Designer	Chahine Yavroyan

This play is dedicated to Nick Marston, my agent,
for his endless enthusiasm and faith, and to
Peter Arnott, for giving me the right directions. I thought I saw, upon the stair
A little man who wasnt there
He wasnt there again today
Oh, how I wish hed go away Childrens rhyme Characters ANNA late thirties, a private hypnotherapis
DAVID early forties
LYNN Davids daughter, early twenties The action takes place in Annas flat ACT ONE the eve of moving out ACT TWO later the same evening The actors should feel free to use their own, natural, uninflected accent, regardless of the production location. Act One The living room of ANNA WEISS s flat. The flat is almost empty, save for a number of large tea chests, which are packed with possessions, and a couple of old wooden chairs. There are two exits, one to the street, the other to the rest of the flat. Four suitcases sit near the street exit.

Enter LYNN, jeans and a T-Shirt. She crosses to the first chest, starts to rummage through it. Enter ANNA, smartly dressed , carrying some books, which she places in another of the chests. She talks at breakneck speed. ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

What? ANNA. Talking, I hadnt finished talking. LYNN. Sorry. ANNA. LYNN. Im sorry. ANNA. ANNA.

Which is fine. ( Pause. ) Only I dont need to hear it. ANNA exits into the flat . LYNN ( looking over her shoulder ) . I said I was...

LYNN sighs, resumes her search . Enter ANNA, carrying more books, which she places in the chest . ANNA. And while I might be the first to admit that I like the sound of my own voice, I generally dont indulge in conversation without a purpose, without some point which I think may or may not be of use to you. LYNN. ANNA. ANNA.

I mean far be it from me to decide what you should or shouldnt listen to, Im only the one with experience. ANNA exits again. ANNA ( Offstage, raising her voice ) . Ten years of experience, to be exact, dealing, solving, healing case after case exactly like yours, experience which, judging by your lack of interest, you seem on a mission to ignore. ANNA returns carrying three wine glasses, which she places on the floor . ANNA.

Not that I want you to feel compelled to listen to whatever garbage I no doubt continually spew forth , but... LYNN. I thought youd finished. ANNA.... every day, hearing myself, endlessly repeating stuff, stuff, I might add, which is drawn from that well of ten years experience, however useless that might be. LYNN. LYNN.

I thought youd finished. Pause. ANNA. Which means what? Pause. LYNN.... ? ANNA. ? ANNA.

Which means you werent listening. LYNN. I was listening, I thought youd finished. Pause. ANNA. So, where did I get to? LYNN.

Where do you always get to? ANNA. No, you said you were listening, and if thats true, then youll know what I said. Pause. So? LYNN. What? ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

I dont know... ANNA. Hah! LYNN.... but it was probably something impressively clever. ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

Youre right... ANNA. I knew you werent... LYNN. I wasnt listening, you win. ) Carry on. Pause. ANNA. ANNA.

Doesnt matter. LYNN. Im listening now. ANNA. Ive forgotten it now. LYNN.

Youve forgotten it? ANNA. Probably wasnt worth hearing anyway. LYNN. Fair enough. ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

Thats fair enough. ANNA.... getting to where I always get to. Apparently. She exits again, returns a few moments later with two bottles of wine, red and white, which she proceeds to uncork . ANNA ( as she enters ) .

What I was saying, and I know you dont want to hear it, and its probably lost all impact by now, and the last thing I want is to is to... you know what I think about people who generalise , but all men, and I mean all men, share a common affliction... somebody should write a book... in fact, Ill write it, and you know what Ill call it? Hole Blindness The Male Affliction. Because, and stop me if Im wrong, but a man, any man, looks at a woman, any woman, what does he see? A hole to be filled. And thats it.

And it doesnt matter what age the woman is, the old woman in the post office queue, drawing her pension used to be a hole to be filled, the young girl on the baby swing at the park will be a hole to be filled, you go walking down the street with your skirt hitched up and your legs wide open, that, sweetheart, is a man. ( Pause. ) And if theres one thing Ive learned, its this desire knows no boundaries. Class, race, sex, age , all invisible to your average male on a hole hunt. ( Pause. ( Pause. ) The Love of a Caring Father, anything to make it look attractive, and believe me, theyre good at it, they know just the right buttons to press, convince you that youre something more, but the bottom line, when everythings stripped away, youre a big pink gaping hole that must be filled. Pause. Pause.

I mean, God knows, and I hope youre listening, I hope youre hearing this, but I been through that, a million times, men, queuing down the street, bearing gifts, flies undone. Pause. But there comes a time when you you you wake up, I dont mean from sleep, youre not even asleep, but you wake up, from from what youve been . Pause. You think, you think, is this what I am? This this this... LYNN. LYNN.

I take it theres a point to all of this. Pause. ANNA. A point? Of course theres a point. Pause. LYNN.

So, tell me. ANNA. What? LYNN. The point. ANNA. The point? LYNN.

You said there was a... ANNA. The point is, the point is I shouldnt even have to explain what the point is. LYNN. There isnt one, is there? ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

You just open your mouth... ANNA. By now, you should know. LYNN. You just open your mouth... ANNA.

Okay, okay, you want a point? Heres a point... how much do you really know? ( Pause. ) About men, about the nature of men, their desires, what scares them... LYNN. Why would I want... ANNA.

You need to know, be sure , be certain , and I know what Im talking about, here, the way they work , the tacky tricks , your only defence? Know what scares them. Know what scares them, and you got them round the throat. What scares them? The same, the very same thing that they desire, which is? Lynn? Pause. LYNN is searching through the box again . The hole. The hole.

Terrifies the living... its where they came from, and where they spend their entire bloody lives trying to get back to, scares the living death out of them, does he like red or white? Pause. Lynn? LYNN. What? ANNA. Does he like... ) You did it again. LYNN. LYNN.

What? ANNA. I dont believe... LYNN. What? ANNA. Just now. LYNN.

What did I do? ANNA. You stopped listening. Pause. LYNN. Just because Im not talking doesnt mean Im not listening. ) In fact, I seem to remember that not talking is kind of an essential part of listening. Pause. ANNA. ANNA.

I asked you a question. LYNN. I know. ANNA. What was it? Pause. LYNN.

You want me to repeat the question? ANNA. What did I... LYNN. You want me to... ANNA. What did I say? LYNN.

What is this, some kind of test? ANNA. What was the question? Pause. LYNN. Oh, I know what this is. ANNA. LYNN. LYNN.

This is tonight, isnt it? Pause. ANNA.... tonight... ? LYNN. This is... Pause. ANNA. ANNA.