Stephens - Three Kingdoms

Simon Stephens began his theatrical career as a tutor in the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court Theatre. His plays for theatre include Bluebird (Royal Court Theatre, London Upstairs, 1998, directed by Gordon Anderson); Herons (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 2001); Port (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2002); One Minute (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 2003 and Bush Theatre, London, 2004); Christmas (Bush Theatre, 2004); Country Music (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 2004); On the Shore of the Wide World (Royal Exchange Theatre and National Theatre, London, 2005); Motortown (Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, 2006); Pornography (Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hanover, 2007; Edinburgh Festival/Birmingham Rep, 2008 and Tricycle Theatre, London, 2009); Harper Regan (National Theatre, 2008); Sea Wall (Bush Theatre, 2008/Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2009); Heaven (Traverse Theatre, 2009); Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith, London, and Royal Exchange Theatre, 2009); The Trial of Ubu (Essen Schauspielhaus/Toneelgroep Amsterdam, 2010 and Hampstead Theatre, London, 2012); A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with David Eldridge and Robert Holman; Lyric Hammersmith, London, 2010); Marine Parade (co-written with Mark Eitzel; Brighton International Festival, 2010); T5 (Traverse Theatre, 2010); and Wastwater (Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, 2011). His radio plays include Five Letters Home to Elizabeth (BBC Radio 4, 2001) and Digging (BBC Radio 4, 2003). His screenwriting includes the two-part serial Dive (with Dominic Savage) for Granada/BBC (2009) and a short film adaptation of Pornography for Channel 4s Coming Up series (2009). Awards include the Pearson Award for Best New Play, 2001, for Port; Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of the Wide World, 2005; and Theater Heutes for Motortown (2007), Pornography (2008) and Wastwater (2011) for Best Foreign Play. In England the characters speak English unless otherwise stated.
In Germany the characters speak German unless otherwise stated.
In Estonia the characters speak Estonian unless otherwise stated. Simultaneous translation should be displayed on surtitles throughout in whichever of the three languages is not being spoken by the actors. Published by Methuen Drama 2012 Methuen Drama, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Methuen Drama Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP www.methuendrama.com This electronic edition published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published by Methuen Drama in 2012 Copyright 2012 Simon Stephens The author has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work e-book ISBN: 978 1 408 17296 4 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Available in the USA from Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, 175 Fifth Avenue/3rd Floor, New York, NY 10010. Caution All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before rehearsals begin to Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited, Waverley House, 712 Noel Street, London W1F 8GQ. should be made before rehearsals begin to Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited, Waverley House, 712 Noel Street, London W1F 8GQ.

No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including information storage and retrieval systems without the written permission of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. This play is written with thanks to
the law officers and sex workers who let me talk to them
about their lives in London, Hamburg and Tallinn

IgnatiusandCaroline Stones house. That night. Caroline Theres no food. None. No bread. No beans. No fruit. No fruit.

No vegetables. No meat. Nothing. Ignatius Fuck. Caroline Yeah. Im really sorry.

I wasnt expecting you back. Ignatius Thats awful. Im really hungry. What are we going to do? Caroline Order a curry. Ignatius Good idea. Ignatius No, really. Ignatius No, really.

Thatss a brilliant idea. I could kill a curry, actually. Yes. Caroline Hey. Ignatius What? Caroline You. Ignatius Sorry. Caroline Youre being a bit frenetic. Ignatius I know. Sorry. Sorry.

I Caroline What? Ignatius I missed you. Caroline Yeah. Ignatius Quite, can I say, rather a lot actually? Caroline Me too. Ignatius Ive only been gone a week. It seems longer than that. Im sorry. Im sorry.

Am I being very strange? Caroline Just a little. Its OK. Take your time. I went shopping with Mum last week. Ignatius Did you? Caroline She kept crying. Ignatius What? Caroline She came back for supper.

Shed be talking perfectly normally about things and then shed just start crying. Ignatius What was she crying about? Caroline She wouldnt say. Ignatius Oh. Caroline I know. Ignatius That sounds horrible. Caroline Yeah. Caroline Yeah.

It was a bit. So. Detective Stone. Ignatius So. Caroline Hows the world? Ignatius Fucking He trails off. Caroline How was Germany? Ignatius It was good.

We were busy. I didnt see much of it. Caroline What was Tallinn like? Ignatius Yeah. You know? Whats happening to the windows? Caroline Theyre kind of falling in. Ignatius Fuck. Ignatius We should get that sorted. Caroline Yeah. Caroline Yeah.

Your face looks completely fucked. Ignatius It is a bit. Itll heal. Caroline Ouch. Ignatius I used to think. Caroline What? Ignatius I used to think we should go somewhere again, me and you.

On like a big holiday or something. Caroline I know. You talk about that all the time. Ignatius I missed the point, didnt I? Some time. They look at each other. Sometimes Caroline What? Ignatius Do you ever get that feeling? Caroline What feelings that? Ignatius I cant find the Im She rests her fingers on his lips to stop him from trying to speak.

Smiles at him. Rests her head on him, perhaps.

Three Kingdoms was presented in Tallinn at Teater NO99 in Estonia on 17 September 2011, before opening at the Munich Kammerspiele, Germany, on 15 October 2011, and at the Lyric Hammersmith, London, on 3 May 2012. The cast was as follows: Rasmus Kaljujrv Risto Kbar Lasse Myhr Mirtel Pohla Jaak Prints Gert Raudsep Ferdy Roberts Steven Scharf Rupert Simonian igdem Teke Nicolas Tennant Tambet Tuisk Sergo Vares Director Sebastian Nbling Set and Costume Designer Ene-Liis Semper Lighting Designer Stephan Mariani Composer and Sound Designer Lars Wittershagen