Poison (NHB Modern Plays)

Lot Vekemans, Rina Vergano

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781780019857
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Drama
• Index: Literature

An extraordinary play that asks a simple question: is it ever possible to move on?

Poison by Dutch writer Lot Vekemans had a critically acclaimed run in New York in 2016, and was premiered in the UK at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in November 2017, directed by Paul Miller.

'An absorbing dance around the truth, in which tenderness and starkness alternate and the awkward cadences of debate are chasteningly authentic… considers the effects of grief, but instead of making pain appear poetic it portrays with sober precision the essential ordinariness of its two characters' - Evening Standard

'Painful, powerful… a minutely realistic look at the oddly colourless nature of grieving, and the grim concrete structures that 21st-century secular society builds around it' - Time Out

'Quietly unflinching… an almost forensic exploration of the hard, sharp edges of grief and loss… [has a] bruising truthfulness' - The Stage

'searing... a tear-jerker' - New York Times

'truly astounding' - Broadway World

PART ONE

We see the chapel of a cemetery: an empty, white room containing a number of chairs. A water cooler and a coffee machine. HE is seated on a chair against the wall, a beaker of water in his hand. SHE enters, damp from the rain and a little chaotic.

SHE You’re early

I saw your car standing there and I thought: he’s early

HE It didn’t take as long as I thought

SHE Shitty weather

HE Yeah

SHE Is the weather this shitty where you are too?

HE Where we are?

SHE In Normandy I mean

HE Oh yeah, I mean, yeah yeah

They look at each other.

You haven’t changed a bit

SHE Oh, well don’t look too closely

HE takes a letter out of his pocket and holds it up.

HE I only got it the day before yesterday

SHE I didn’t know if you’d get it in time

HE I meant to phone you to say I was coming

But em…

I’m not much of a phoner

SHE No, no, I’ve noticed

HE But I’m here

SHE Yes, you’re here

You been here long?

HE Twenty minutes

Half an hour, at most

SHE Have you already been to his grave?

HE It looks lovely

SHE I do my best

HE It’s quiet here

SHE It usually is in cemeteries

HE Not many people I mean

SHE Perhaps no one’s died this week

HE Sorry?

SHE That’s why it’s so quiet

HE Oh I see yeah

Well anyway they probably won’t be burying any more people here will they

Considering the situation

SHE No

No, probably not no

HE Are we the only ones at this meeting?

SHE They wanted to speak to everyone personally

HE Okay

Don’t you want to sit down?

SHE In a minute

I’ve got bulbs in the car

Tulip bulbs

I wanted to plant them

HE Now?

SHE Yes or in a while

When it’s less wet

HE Right

So here we are then

SHE Yes, here we are then

HE I don’t really know what to say

SHE Neither do I

HE You look good

SHE Do you think so?

HE Yes, I do

SHE That’s nice, nice of you to say so

Even though you probably don’t mean it

HE I do mean it

SHE Then it’s even nicer of you

…

You too

HE What?

SHE You look good too

HE Thanks

SHE France is doing you good, obviously

HE Yes yes it probably is

Shall we sit down?

SHE Fine

They sit down. First SHE. HE ’s a bit unsure which seat to choose. Goes to sit next to her first of all, then reconsiders. Leaves a couple of chairs empty between them.

HE Nothing’s changed here then

SHE No

HE Except that enormous hedge has gone I noticed

SHE Too much upkeep

Same with the rose bushes in the middle

Someone’s got to look after them and that all costs too much

HE I thought it might have been the poison

SHE No, no, it’s got nothing to do with the poison

HE Ridiculous eh

SHE Dreadful

HE And they’ve only just found out about it

SHE They’re talking about moving two hundred grav...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Original Production
• Characters
• Poison
• About the Author
• Copyright and Performing Rights Information