WITHDRAWAL
MOHAMMAD AL ATTAR
translated by
CLEM NAYLOR
Mohammad Al Attar
Mohammad Al Attar studied English Literature at the University of Damascus and has a diploma in Theatre Studies from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. In 2008 he was coordinator of the Arab and International Performing Arts programme for the Damascus Arab Capital of Culture Festival. He is currently taking an MA in Applied Drama at Goldsmiths, University of London. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Theatre Studio Group in Damascus, working as dramaturg on the Boal-inspired project Interactive Theatre in Syrian Rural Areas (2006ā07); Samah (May 2008) at El Teatro, Damascus, a play performed by a group of young offenders from the Damascus Juvenile Institute; and Al-Merwad Wa Al-Mekhala (May 2009) at the Syrian Opera House. He was also dramaturg for a production of An Enemy of the People by Ibsen at the Syrian Opera House.
Clem Naylor
Clem Naylor graduated with a BA in Arabic and French from St Johnās College, Oxford, in 2009. As part of his degree he spent 2006ā07 studying Arabic at the University of Damascus. Since returning to the UK, he has been involved in various literary and non-literary translation projects. These projects have included work for the Royal Court Theatre, London, for whom he has translated and reported on scripts, and for the Georg Eckert Institute in Germany, for whom he translated a volume of essays about education. He is currently studying for a Modern Middle Eastern Studies MSt at Oxford and has recently returned from a British Council literary translation workshop in Cairo.
Withdrawal was first performed as a rehearsed reading as part of the I Come From There: New Plays from the Arab World season in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, London, on 12 November 2008, with the following cast:
AHMAD | Sam Crane |
NOUR | Jemima Rooper |
| |
Director | Amy Hodge |
The play was also read at Espace El Teatro in Tunis, Tunisia, in February 2009.
Characters
AHMAD, a twenty-six-year-old man
NOUR, a twenty-six-year-old woman
Setting
A medium-sized room with a bed taking up one side of it. Nearby, there is a small table. Roughly in the middle of the room, there is a table with two traditional wooden chairs around it. Near the table, against the back wall there is a big sofa and directly above this sofa there is a relatively big window. A large old cupboard, which is handmade and decorated with mother-of-pearl, occupies a large part of the second side of the room, facing the bed. Opposite the door to the room, there is a door leading to a small bathroom, next to which there is a very small kitchen in the corner. We also see some unopened cardboard boxes in the room, with small household objects, books, CDs and various other things inside.
Scene One
Night-time. AHMAD and NOUR are lying on the only mattress in the room.
AHMAD. Maybe itās time now.
NOUR. That was so good. It was the best Iāve ever had.
AHMAD. It was the first Iāve ever hadā¦ What time is it?
NOUR. Thank you for waiting until now for me. I wanted to, too.
AHMAD. Iāve got to get up, he could be here any minute now.
NOUR. I really wanted to ā I love you more than Iāve ever loved anyone before.
AHMAD. Me tooā¦ though Iāve never loved anyone before. Iām really going to miss you.
NOUR grabs hold of him by his hair and pulls him forcefully towards her chest.
NOUR. Donāt joke. You canāt really want to go away, not after we struggled so long to be able to rent this room. You canāt go. Youāre going to stay with me and Iām going to sleep with you every day until you forget about all our problems.
AHMAD (pulling himself out of her grasp). Whereās my watch? Heās got to get here now so I can go home and get my things. My family will be waiting to say goodbye, my mum will be crying like usual. Iāll miss her too. You and her, just you two.
NOUR (hugging him around his shoulders from behind). Youāre not really going to go, are you? You always said you werenāt going to go. Youāre not being serious.
AHMAD. Youāve never taken what I say seriously. Maybe itās better like that ā you know, you, my dad, my whole family, no one takes me seriously. Iāll miss you.
NOUR. Liarā¦ Youāre not going to go, you want to stay with me. Come on, letās do it again.
AHMAD. Itās funny how Iāve waited my whole life for this momentā¦ I canāt quite believe this is happening.
NOUR. I wanted to wait for you too. You canāt goā¦ Not now Iāve found you.
AHMAD. Does your neck still hurt? You should stop sitting in front of a computer so much, eight hours a day really is too long. Maybe you should quit your job. Why donāt you put on some music?
AHMAD stands up and starts looking for his watch. Then he finds his mobile and looks at the time on it.
NOUR (lying on her front on the bed). I feel like I want to cry. Please donāt have a go at me.
AHMAD. No, I want to have a go at you. Donāt cry, Iāve told you a hundred times not to cry. He should be here any minute now.
He approaches her again and sits down on the bed.
Everythingāll be fine. It wonāt get any worse, anyway.
A knock on the door.
I told you he was about to get here. Iāve got to get out quickly, I donāt want to keep him waiting. Heās going to take me home and then on to the airport.
He approaches her and hugs her tightly.
NOUR. No, stay a bit longer. Let me put on the music.
She rushes towards the CD player, but she freezes when there is another knock on the door.
Scene Two
NOUR. Itās the best room we could get for our money.
AHMAD. You mean, your money.
NOUR. Whatās the difference?
AHMAD. Just that youāve got a job and I donāt.
NOUR. Itās stupid, you could have a job if you wanted one. You leave all your jobs because theyāre taking advantage of you or they donāt understand you or they donāt appreciate you or they ā
AHMAD. You sound like someone I know.
NOUR. It was you...