FLORIAN ZELLER
The Son
translated by
CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON
Contents
Title Page
Premiere Production
Characters
The Son
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
About the Authors
Also by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton
Programme Pages
Copyright
The Son in this translation by Christopher Hampton was first presented at the Kiln Theatre, London, on 20 February 2019. The cast, in order of appearance, was as follows:
Anne Amanda Abbington
Nicolas Laurie Kynaston
Pierre John Light
Nurse Oseloka Obi
Doctor Martin Turner
Sofia Amaka Okafor
Director Michael Longhurst
Designer Lizzie Clachan
Lighting Designer Lee Curran
Composer and Sound Designer Isobel Waller-Bridge
Casting Director Amy Ball
Assistant Director Atri Banerjee
Le Fils in its original French production opened at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées, Paris, in February 2018, directed by Ladislas Chollat, with Stéphane Freiss, Rod Paradot, Florence Darel, Élodie Navarre, Raphael Magnabosco and Daniel San Pedro.
Characters
Pierre
Anne
Sofia
Nicolas
Nurse
Doctor
THE SON
ONE
Pierre’s flat. Anne stands facing him. He looks tense.
Pierre What are you doing here?
Anne doesn’t answer.
Anne, I’m speaking to you …
Anne I …
Pierre Yes?
Anne I don’t know, I …
Pierre You don’t know?
Anne No, sorry. I mean, I don’t know where to begin. I …
Pierre Has something happened?
Pierre is looking behind her, as if he’s afraid that at any moment, someone might come out of the bedroom.
You turn up with no warning … You know very well …
Anne I tried to call, but you weren’t answering.
Pierre Why? Is there a problem?
Anne Is she here?
Pierre Mm?
Anne Is she here?
Pierre She’s putting the baby to bed. Why?
Anne I didn’t want to disturb you. But you never pick up. And I had to speak to you. One way or another.
Pierre What’s the matter?
Anne It’s Nicolas.
Pierre Oh, yes? Has something happened?
Anne Yes. He’s not well. And I’m not well either. It’s too difficult. I can’t manage it.
Pierre You can’t manage what?
Anne It’s just impossible. I … I don’t know what to do any more. I … this morning, I was summoned to the school, and the headmaster …
Pierre exhales. She stops dead in the middle of her sentence. Pierre notices.
Pierre What?
Anne Am I disturbing you? You’re making a face, as if I’m disturbing you.
Pierre Of course not.
Anne It’s your son I’m talking about!
Pierre I know.
Anne You ought to be just a little bit concerned …
Pierre Obviously I’m concerned! Why are you saying these things?
Anne Because you’ve got this expression. As if I was here to annoy you with problems about … With my problems. When I’m talking to you about Nicolas!
Pierre I’m sorry. I’m just a bit … tired. You know what it is, the baby’s still not sleeping through and …
Anne (interrupting him) Anyway, he summoned me. The headmaster. To find out what was going on. And that’s when I found out he hadn’t been to school for more than three months …
Pierre What?
Anne I’m telling you. For three months he’s been pretending … Every morning.
Pierre What are you talking about?
Anne I’m explaining the situation to you and I …
Pierre Wait a minute … He hasn’t been to school for three months? And during all this time, you never noticed anything?
Anne No.
Pierre How is that possible?
Anne He set off every morning with his bag and everything he needed for the day, but he didn’t go there.
Pierre Are you joking? What was he doing? I mean, all day … For three months! Where did he go?
Anne I don’t know. He hardly ever answers when I ask him a question. He behaves as if I don’t exist.
Pierre But why?
Anne I don’t know. I’m worried about him, Pierre. He’s not like he was before. Believe me. I don’t know what’s happened, but something has. He’s changed. He … And I’m wondering if … To be absolutely honest with you … I’m even wondering if …
Pierre If what?
Sofia comes in. Tense moment. Pierre tries to justify Anne’s presence.
Ah, Sofia, I …
Sofia (hostile) What’s going on?
Pierre Anne has come to talk to me about Nicolas. It’s just been discovered he hasn’t been going to school, and …
Anne It’s not just that, Pierre … He’s not well.
Pierre Yes, he’s not well at the moment, and …
Anne He hasn’t been well for months.
Sofia Ever since Pierre left you, I expect …
Pierre Sofia, please.
Pause.
And the headmaster? What did he say?
Anne They want to expel him.
Pierre Unbelievable! Have you told Nicolas?
Anne Yes. But he couldn’t care less …
Pierre What’s going on in his head?
Anne You have to speak to him, Pierre. I can’t manage it any more. He needs you. You can’t abandon him.
Pierre I’m not abandoning him! Why are you saying that?
Anne The other day, I simply asked him to – I can’t even remember what, something trivial, to clear his plate away or something like that – and he looked at me with such … with such hatred. I thought he was going to …
Pierre To what?
Anne He frightens me, do you understand?
Pause.
Pierre I’ll go and see him tomorrow. All right? I’ll drop in at the end of the day. Will he be there?
Anne Yes.
Pierre I’ll drop in and see him. Don’t worry.
Anne Thanks.
Anne makes an affectionate gesture to thank him. It’s not even as much as a gesture, just a hint, a sketch, but it’s enough to make Pierre feel embarrassed in front of Sofia.
He was such a sweet child. So wonderful. Do you remember? So sensitive. I don’t know what’s happened …
In the distance, the baby starts crying. Sofia hesitates, then leaves the room.
Pierre Come on. Don’t worry. Everything’ll go back to normal.
Anne You think so?
Pierre Of course.
Anne I don’t know.
Pierre Yes, it will. Don’t worry. I’m here.
Anne No, that’s exactly it. You’re not here any more.
Pause. Blackout.
TWO
A different room. Nicolas is sitting on the sofa. He’s biting his nails. Pierre is standing in front of him.
Pierre I wanted to talk to you, Nicolas … That’s … That’s why I’ve co
me home. You know, I mean … here.
Pause.
Are you listening to me?
Nicolas Yes.
Pierre I know you’re having a difficult time and things aren’t easy for you … I also know you’re angry with me … But we have to talk. Both of us.
Pierre sits down. Pause.
Your mother told me that you haven’t been going to school.
Nicolas shrugs his shoulders.
What’s going on?
Nicolas Nothing.
Pierre Don’t say ‘nothing’. Explain it to me.
Pause.
Nicolas? Why have you stopped going to school?
Nicolas I don’t know.
Pierre You don’t know?
Nicolas No.
Pierre There must be a reason?
Nicolas shrugs his shoulders.
You can’t decide to stop going to school, just like that. It’s not an option. Do you hear what I’m saying?
Nicolas Yes.
Pause.
Pierre Are you having problems?
Nicolas sighs.
What? Why are you sighing?
Nicolas No reason.
Pierre Nicolas, I can’t help you if you won’t tell me anything. And stop biting your nails like that!
Pause.
I’ve spoken to your mother. She tells me you don’t sleep at night. That you pace up and down in your room … That you … What is it you’re up to?
Nicolas Nothing.
Pause.
Pierre And school … I mean … What are you going to do? Are you going to repeat a year? Is that your plan?
Nicolas I really couldn’t give a shit.
Pierre Terrific! Great attitude …
Pause.
What were you doing? All those days … Where did you go?
Nicolas I walked.
Pierre You walked?
Nicolas Yes.
Pierre On your own?
Nicolas Yes.
Pierre You walked on your own in the street?
Nicolas Or in the park.
Pierre But why?
Nicolas shrugs his shoulders.
Come on, Nicolas! Do you understand what’s going on? Do you honestly believe that this is acceptable? Because you needed to stretch your legs? And in your exam year, as well … Doesn’t make any sense!
Pause.
It didn’t occur to you that eventually your school would get in touch with us?
Nicolas I wasn’t feeling well. Walking was the only thing that relaxed me.
Pierre Why weren’t you feeling well?
He doesn’t answer.
All right, let’s say you weren’t feeling well! But that’s no reason to just give up … In life, you have to struggle.
Nicolas I don’t want to struggle any more.
Pierre But why? What’s the matter with you?
Pause.
Nicolas … Talk to me.
Pause. Nicolas starts biting his nails again.
I don’t understand. A couple of years ago, you always had this big smile on your face. And then all of a sudden … What happened to you?
Pause.
Your mother’s at the end of her rope, you know that? She tells me you’re making her life a living hell. That you haven’t been behaving well towards her. Is that true?
Pause.
She wants to send you to boarding school. Did you know that? Is that what you want?
Nicolas No.
Pierre So?
Nicolas shrugs his shoulders. All the same, it’s clear that the mention of boarding school has unsettled him.
You have to do something, Nicolas. You can’t just let things go like this …
Nicolas I can’t manage it.
Pierre What makes you say that?
Pause.
(More gently.) Has something happened at school? I mean …
Nicolas No.
Pierre Or outside of school? … We can talk to one another, you know.
Nicolas It’s not that. It’s …
Pierre Yes?
Nicolas I don’t know how to describe it.
Pierre Tell me in your own words.
Nicolas (sincerely) It’s life, it’s weighing me down.
Brief pause. Pierre seems moved by this unexpected confidence.
Pierre But why? What is it about your life that isn’t working?
Nicolas I don’t know.
Pause.
I’ve been telling myself that … maybe …
Pierre Go on.
Nicolas No. Nothing. Forget it.
Pierre No, tell me …
Nicolas is hesitating.
Nicolas, tell me.
Nicolas I’d like to live with you.
Pierre (caught offguard) You … You mean …
Nicolas I can’t go on here. Because I know I could get out of this. But not here. Not on my own. It’s too difficult …
Pierre Yes, but …
Nicolas Me and Mum aren’t getting on. She can’t put up with me any more … She’s at the end of her tether, I know she is. And when I’m here, I get too many black ideas. It’s too difficult. I promise you. And I know it’s just going to get worse and worse. I feel it. Also, I’d like to live with my little brother …
Pierre (embarrassed) Yes.
Nicolas If you send me to boarding school, I’ll go crazy.
Pierre Of course you won’t.
Nicolas Yes, I will, I promise you. My head feels like it’s exploding.
Pierre Come on, come here.
Pierre takes him in his arms.
Nicolas Sometimes I feel as if I am going crazy, Dad.
Pierre hugs him closer.
Pierre What are you talking about?
Nicolas I’m telling you. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.
Pierre Come on …
Nicolas I don’t understand.
Nicolas weeps. Pierre is unsettled.
Pierre Don’t worry. We’ll get out of this. Mm? Don’t worry. We’ll find a solution. Come on … Trust me.
He comforts him. Nicolas is like a small child. Blackout.
THREE
Pierre’s flat. Tense silence between Sofia and Pierre. It stretches out.
Pierre Why are you taking it like this?
Sofia Taking it like what?
Pause.
Pierre I can’t just abandon him.
Sofia Why are you talking about abandoning him? She’s just telling you these things to make you feel guilty.
Pierre That’s got nothing to do with it, Sofia. Please … He’s going through a difficult phase. That’s a fact.
Pause.
He can stay in my office. I’ll put a bed in there. Just temporary.
Sofia And what about school?
Pierre We’ll work something out. There must be a school which would take him in mid-year. Don’t you think?
Sofia I’m sure.
Pierre You’ve only known him for two years and I can see that … I mean, I know you have a negative impression of him … After everything that happened … But he hasn’t always been like this. When he was younger … He was so …
Pause.
There were marks on his forearm.
Sofia What?
Pierre When I went to see him just now, I saw he had, I don’t know, marks.
Sofia What kind of marks?
Pierre Little scars all up his arm … As if he’d … Well, you know what I mean … It upset me so much. My little boy … I’d do anything for him, anything. And today, there he was, in front of me, suffering … And what am I doing for him? I mean, you only do that kind of thing when you’re suffering, right?
Sofia makes an affectionate gesture.
Sofia Come on …
Pierre And it’s true, you’re right, I’m feeling guilty. I know it started when … I can’t pretend I’m not responsible for the situation. I left, Sofia.
Sofia I don’t see the connection.
Pierre shrugs his shoul
ders.
It’s not your fault if he isn’t well.
Pierre I don’t know.
Sofia It’s nothing to do with …
She prefers not to complete the sentence.
It’s nothing to do with it, Pierre!
Pierre You know, I made him cry. When I told him I was leaving his mother, I made him cry. It’s not an image I can easily forget.
Sofia I understand. But you’re not the first man to … This has nothing to do with what’s going on today. Believe me. It’s a difficult time for him. Simple as that.
Pierre Anyway, there’s nothing else I can do. I can’t just give up on him.
Sofia I understand. Don’t worry.
He smiles at her, as if to thank her.
Pierre When I was his age, my mother was already ill. I was thinking about it just now … I … I went to see her every day in hospital and sat with her. I revised for my exams on a little table opposite her, while she … while she was dying … It was horribly sad. My father never showed up. Too busy living his life. He had his business … His famous hunting parties … He travelled all the time. But a week before … before she died … I ran into someone on the street, a family friend, who told me he’d had dinner with him the night before … I didn’t even know he was in Paris … And he hadn’t thought it was worth telling us, or coming in to see her …
Sofia Why are you telling me this?
Pierre I don’t know. Sorry. No reason. I … It’s all mixed up in my head. What I wanted to say is that I don’t want to be that kind of man. That kind of father.
Pause.
Sofia What about us?
Pierre What?
Sofia What about us? Our life? … Sacha.
Pierre It won’t make any difference to Sacha. We’ll look after him exactly the same way.
The Son Page 1