by Kat Georges
ELIOT: We gotta talk.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. I have hives on my face! Yuck! No more. I’ll stay. Talk. Okay? What’s up, son? Wait—don’t tell me—you’re gay.
ELIOT: Dad!
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Not so loud. I’m supposed to be dead.
ELIOT: I’m supposed to be king.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Oh, that. Look, I’m sorry—I’m working on it.
ELIOT: It’s been seven years, Dad.
DRUITT’S VOICE: From EZRA. Eddy?
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Oh, Lord. Druitt! How are you?
DRUITT’S VOICE: From EZRA. Dead. And yourself?
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Oh, the same. Whispers to ELIOT. Thomas—Help!
ELIOT: Good night, John. Rubs ether on EZRA.
DRUITT’S VOICE: From EZRA. What’s that smell? Eddy! Snores.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Thank you.
ELIOT: Tell me—how come George is still on the throne? George is a moron. This war should be over.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. You’ll have to be patient. I’ll take care of it soon.
ELIOT: People are dying—
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. I’m dying, too.
ELIOT: Oh. I didn’t know. When did this start?
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. I started dying the day I was born.
ELIOT: You know what you are? A coward.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. And you?
ELIOT: I know what I’m not.
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. You’re not dead.
APPOLLINAIRE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Nothing’s dead—
EDDY’S VOICE: From EZRA. Oh, shut up!
Gunshot. Silence.
ELIOT: Dad? Eddy? John?
Silence.
ELIOT: Jack?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Hello, Thomas.
ELIOT: Who are you?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Let’s just say—I’m a friend—
ELIOT: Go away. Rubs ether on EZRA.
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Sorry, lad. You’ll never get rid of me. I know who you are. We had a deal.
ELIOT: Stephen White?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Very good.
ELIOT: What are you doing here?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. Making sure you remember.
ELIOT: How could I forget?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. When we drink, we get careless. When we’re careless—we die.
ELIOT: I started dying the day I was born.
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. The day you were born, someone murdered two whores.
ELIOT: How do you know?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. I know everything, Thomas.
ELIOT: You don’t know me. Not at all.
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. That’s what you think. I have eyes everywhere. They’re paid to watch you. You slip up just once—
ELIOT: Mum’s the word.
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. You’ve been warned.
Pause.
ELIOT: By the way—how’s your wife?
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: From EZRA. That’s not funny.
ELIOT: Oh, my! Neither is this. Puts knife to EZRA’s throat.
EZRA: Waking up suddenly. Gasps. Tom—I’m your friend!
Awkward silence.
ELIOT: Sorry, umm—
EZRA: Oh, you loon! Laughs. I thought it was a knife—it’s only a pen! . . . My pen.
ELIOT: Fell out of your pocket. Top left.
EZRA: Have I been out long?
ELIOT: A few years.
EZRA: Anything change?
ELIOT: Everyone’s dead.
EZRA: In APOLLINAIRE’s voice. Nothing’s dead—except—
ELIOT: Here— Have more of this . . . Spreads ether on EZRA. EZRA snores.
Fade LIGHTS. BLACKOUT.
END OF SCENE IV
SCENE V
Backstage, Near Dressing Womb Los Angeles, 1999
WENDY’S VOICE: On cell phone. Stephen—calm down, do your yoga, relax— . . . As soon as Jack shows up— . . . The baby? Don’t ask. He’s been kicking all night. Wish you’d both go to sleep. . . . I know you’re not crazy. So do the police. Okay? Me too. Bye
LIGHTS up. WENDY puts cell phone away. ANNIE enters behind her.
WENDY: Fucking loon.
ANNIE: Got a light?
WENDY: Do I look like I smoke?
ANNIE: I don’t know.
WENDY: I’m pregnant.
ANNIE: Got a light?
WENDY: Annie? Shit—keep your head. Annie is gone. Annie is dead. WENDY clutches her stomach. Oww!
ANNIE: That’s what the papers said.
WENDY: What’s that smell?
ANNIE: Ether.
WENDY: Ha! You may hallucinate freely. JACK kicks. Ow! (To womb.) Stop it!
ANNIE: Pulls out ether tube. Want some ether?
WENDY: Is it bad for the—
ANNIE: Nah.
WENDY: Rubs ether on belly. This stuff is nice.
ANNIE: Have some more. You want Jack? Bring me Stephen White.
WENDY: I can’t. He’s a suspect—
ANNIE: He’s a cop.
ANNIE and WENDY begin to drift off stage as they do, LIGHTS fade up on womb.
WENDY: Echo voice. Stephen? Ha! The day you died he had to hide from the cops. He hates police—thinks they’re all out to get him. Since August he’s been in a lunatic asylum—in New Mexico of all places—isn’t that funny? Laughs. No cop in his right mind would look for him there. Hysterical laughter.
VOICE: Hurry up, please. It’s time.
WENDY: Echo voice. Some girl.
In womb: JACK covers his ears and kicks the walls, as WENDY and ANNIE’s echo voices continue.
ANNIE: Echo voice. Voice fades. He’ll be here. You’ll see . . .
JACK: Kicking. Quiet! I’m trying to think.
LIGHTS off on WENDY. Silence. TV on. JACK flips channels. All channels feature breaking news reports with images of the missing Jack the Rapper.
JACK: That’s me . . . that’s me . . . that’s me . . . what’s this?—
Fade LIGHTS on womb.
INTERLUDE
Video
SHOT 1: Sixties protest.
SHOT 2: Armed struggle somewhere.
SHOT 3: Washington DC.
SHOT 4–10: Traffic, pollution, homeless people, sad children, etc.
V.O. (SHOTS 1–10): After all the rebellion, has anything really changed?
SHOT 11: (From the movie Network) I asked—Why me? And the voice said, “Because you’re on television, dummy.” Freeze frame.
V.O.: Welcome to “This Time, the Revolution Will Be Televised.” Sponsored by:
SHOT 12: List of thousands of names, all indiscernible.
V.O.: Tonight’s special guest . . .
Fade TV. Raise LIGHTS on womb.
JACK: Me.
V.O.: The madman—J.C.
JACK watches, nonplussed. Enter ANNIE.
ANNIE: Hi, Jack.
JACK leaps up and turns around.
JACK: Devil woman.
ANNIE: How you been?
JACK: Go away.
ANNIE: Ready yet?
JACK: Not on your life.
ANNIE: Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know what life is, you who hold it in your hands.
JACK: Get out.
ANNIE: Everyone thought we would be such good friends.
JACK: We’re not.
SOUND: Cell phone ring echoes.
WENDY: Echo voice. (To cell phone.) This is Knight.
ANNIE: Not yet.
WENDY: Echo voice. (To cell phone.) Stephen who? Stephen White?
JACK: What’s that smell?
ANNIE: Medication.
WENDY: Echo voice. You sound weird.
JACK: Smells like ether.
WENDY: Echo voice. This is not Stephen White.
JACK: I’m allergic to ether. I
t’s making me itch. Scratches.
WENDY: Echo voice. How dare you—Shit.
JACK kicks.
ANNIE: Uh-oh. I see hives. Let’s go—
JACK: Stops scratching. Nice try.
WENDY: Echo voice. On cell phone. Stephen, it’s me—Pick up the phone . . .
ANNIE: I like you—
WENDY: Echo voice. You there? . . .
ANNIE: Remember that.
WENDY: Echo voice. Steve! Thank God—
JACK: I like being alone . . .
WENDY: Echo voice. listen— . . .
JACK: with all the—
WENDY: Echo voice. What?
JACK: —old nocturnal smells. Smells—
WENDY: Echo voice. Who is this!
JACK: —of chestnuts in the street—and female—
WENDY: Echo voice. Ann who?
JACK: —smells in shuttered rooms—
WENDY: Echo voice. Ann D.?
JACK: —and cigarettes in corridors—
ANNIE: You do not know me. Exits.
WENDY: Echo voice. Annie!
JACK: and cocktail smells in bars . . . in bars . . . in bars . . . in bars . . .
Fade LIGHTS to black.
END OF SCENE V
SCENE VI—PART I
Inside Pub
Whitechapel, London, 1888
Half-past three
In BLACKOUT, STEPHEN WHITE reads unfinished letter that EDDY was writing at the bar before he stepped outside to urinate.
STEPHEN WHITE’S VOICE: Reads. Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won’t fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. I am down on whores and shan’t quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Speaks. Buckled? I like that. Eddy—you’re a sage. Buckled. Meaning . . . hmm . . . What else?
LIGHTS up. STEPHEN WHITE continues to read letter at bar.
STEPHEN WHITE: Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. Pause. Speaks. That’s true. Reads. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle— Speaks. Nice touch. Reads. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha ha.—
CATHERINE: Offstage. Flowers!
STEPHEN WHITE: Stall him. Yells pre-established code to CATHERINE. Curse it! Pause. Good. Reads. My knife is nice and sharp. I love my work— Etcetera. Etcetera. Good luck. . . . Yours truly, Jack the Ripper. Speaks. Jack the Ripper—. . . Laughs. Who wrote this? Reads. P.S.—Don’t mind me giving the trade name—
CATHERINE: Offstage. Flowers! A rose for ye sor? Ooooooo—. . . Is that Collars and Cuffs? Aye—It is! Eddy! Pissin’, are ye? With a pen in yer hand? And no paper, I see—well, lucky for ye—I’ve some paper—I make paper roses, ye know. Would ye care fer a piece—eh, Ed?
DRUITT: Offstage. Leave me be—
CATHERINE: Offstage. Ooo . . . Lookie there, Eddy . . . I see yer winkie!
STEPHEN WHITE: Still at bar. I think this letter could use a bit more. Let’s see —. . . Aye, I like it. Wait. Picks up pen. Writes, reads. P.S.S. So the say I’m a doctor now—ha ha. Speaks. Still want to play games, Eddy? You lose. Ha-Ha!
Fade LIGHTS.
CATHERINE: Offstage. Night, Eddy. Flowers! Roses!
Enter DRUITT. Sees note. Looks worried. Rushes out.
BLACKOUT. Begin AUDIO.
SCENE VI—PART II
Later, Inside Same Pub
EDDY’S VOICE: Reads. So they say I’m a doctor now. Ha ha. Speaks. Ha ha? Yells. Montague—what’s the meaning of this?
DRUITT’S VOICE: Rotten cop . . . Must have been—yes, that’s it—when I went out to piss—The postcard was in my pocket, I thought. I came back in the pub and—
LIGHTS up.
DRUITT: White was gone. I’ll wager he wrote it. The bastard—
EDDY: Druitt— . . . You left the pub?
DRUITT: ’Ad to. You know ’ow it is. . . . When a man has to piss—
EDDY: Are you out of your mind?
DRUITT: I was there ’alf the night—
EDDY: ’Alf the night?
DRUITT: ’Alf the night.
EDDY: Drunk were you, then?
DRUITT: I only ’ad tea. Twenty-two cups and still White wouldn’t leave. After writing yours truly, J—I felt me ’ead roll. I think to meself—me tea ’as been drooged. I left an’ I retched. I did ’ave a piss. I was gone but a minute—I come back, I see this.
EDDY: In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. . . . Thoughtful. Do I dare— . . . disturb the universe? Silly. Oh, why not. (To DRUITT.) Get a knife.
DRUITT: A what?
EDDY: A knife. Get it. Pause. Annie . . . forgive me. I have to do this. Starts writing. Wasn’t good . . . enough to post . . . this before I got . . . all the red ink—(To DRUITT.) Where’s the knife? Writing— . . . off my hands.
DRUITT: Curse it.
EDDY: Writing. Curse it.
DRUITT: I’m sorry.
EDDY: Too late. Done.
DRUITT: I did my best.
EDDY: Mail this. But first—Give me your hand. This is for pissing. This is for me. Cuts DRUITT’s hand. DRUITT shouts. This is for Anne.
DRUITT: She read the papers? I’ll send it to The Times.
Exits. Leaves letter on bar.
The letter traverses time. MARY JANE appears. Picks up note—passes it to OTTOLINE—who passes it to STEPHEN in med gown.
SCENE VI—PART III
Mental Asylum
New Mexico, 1999
STEPHEN and the voices in his head.
STEPHEN: Reading letter. Yours truly, Jack the Ripper—Rapper—Where’s my cell phone? Where’s my cell phone? I gotta have my cell phone!
STEPHEN WHITE: I never had a cell phone. Why should you have one?
STEPHEN: Times change.
STEPHEN WHITE: You changed, my friend. You’ve changed. You’ve become a Hollow Man.
STEPHEN: Don’t tell me Wendy signed that band?
STEPHEN WHITE: A Hollow Man is not a band.—
STEPHEN: Listen, man. I’m in the business, see?
STEPHEN WHITE: Not recently.
STEPHEN: I’ve been on vacation, but—
STEPHEN WHITE: You’ve been hiding.
STEPHEN: Did she tell you that?
STEPHEN WHITE: No, Stephen—
STEPHEN: Gulps. You know me?
STEPHEN WHITE: What’s to know, Hollow Man? You are empty.
STEPHEN: I’m a musician at heart.
STEPHEN WHITE: You’re a dick and a car.
STEPHEN: How is my car?
STEPHEN WHITE: It’s not yours anymore. Since you murdered that whore—
STEPHEN: I didn’t kill her.
STEPHEN WHITE: Who did?
STEPHEN: Jack the Rapper.
STEPHEN WHITE: Jack the Rapper is you.
Pause.
STEPHEN: Prove it.
STEPHEN WHITE: It’s true. The police say it’s true. And the press, and the president—
STEPHEN: I’m a scapegoat for someone—
STEPHEN WHITE: The question is who.
Pause.
STEPHEN: Speaking of who—what’s your name, pal?
STEPHEN WHITE: Stephen. Stephen White. Like you. Just like you. I’m you tonight. A musician—
STEPHEN: You play? Get your axe, man—we’ll jam—
STEPHEN WHITE: Steve—
STEPHEN: Stephen—
STEPHEN WHITE: I’ll call you whatever I damn—well, please—killer, coward, Jack the Rapper, arse, cop—. . .
Pause.
STEPHEN: Don’t call me cop.
STEPHEN WHITE: I’m a cop.
STEPHEN: No you’re not. If you were, you’d arrest me. Ha!
STEPHEN WHITE: Why give you credit? I’m Steven White.
STEPHEN: Me too.
STEPHEN WHITE: Not tonight. You ripped me off. I should sue you. You blew it. I’m Jack the Ripper.
DRUITT: Fuck you.
STEPHEN WHITE: Is that Druitt or Eddy?
&
nbsp; DRUITT: Neither. I’m . . . ummm . . . Where’s my passport? I’m . . . umm . . . Leon Beron! A Russian Jew, from France.
STEPHEN WHITE: You were killed in 1910.
ELIOT: New Year’s Day, 1911.
DRUITT: Eliot?
STEPHEN WHITE: We had a deal.
ELIOT: The deal is off.
DRUITT: I’m dead?
STEPHEN WHITE: Oh, no!
APPOLLINAIRE: Greetings! Nothing’s dead. Continue over EZRA. Except for what does not yet exist.
EZRA: Appollinaire.
APPOLLINAIRE: Greetings!
EZRA: I’m Ezra.
OTTOLINE: Ezra? Ezra Pound?
EZRA: In the flesh— . . . Ottoline, dear. Where’s my check?
STEPHEN: I found my cell phone!
OTTOLINE: Pound—You’re dead.
ELIOT: No!
APPOLLINAIRE: Nothing’s dead—Except—That which does not yet exist.
STEPHEN: Get out of this hotel. Get out! Dials cell phone.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. This is Knight.
STEPHEN: Wendy. Stephen.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Stephen who?
STEPHEN: Stephen White!
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Stephen White?
STEPHEN: You double crosser—Chokes.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. You sound weird.
STEPHEN WHITE: I can smell you from here.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. This is not Stephen White.
STEPHEN WHITE: I’ll murder you—
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. How dare you. Hangs up.
STEPHEN WHITE: She is alone.
Silence.
Cell phone rings.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone answering machine. Stephen, it’s me. Pick up the phone. Stephen, you there?
STEPHEN WHITE: Answer it, Stephen.
STEPHEN: Hello?
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Stephen, thank God, listen—
STEPHEN: Wendy, help! Chokes, dies.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. What?
STEPHEN WHITE: Hello, dear.
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Who is this? Where’s Steve?
STEPHEN WHITE: Where’s Anne?
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Who’s Ann?
STEPHEN WHITE: Anne D—
WENDY’S VOICE: Over cell phone. Anne D—?
STEPHEN WHITE: You know who I mean.
BLACKOUT.
END OF SCENE VI