by Nina Raine
I’m sorry… it’s so… such a small… tiny… pathetic amount!
But… my mum called… at the crucial moment… rather put me off my stride…
‘Mum’… flashing up on my phone… you know…
He dissolves into slightly hysterical laughter again.
ANNA (laughing). Oh my God…
FELIX. Yes… But… you know… it only takes one, correct?
ANNA. Absolutely.
A sudden pause.
Well… Felix… I’m going to strip off and lie with my legs in the air now, so…
FELIX. Absolutely, absolutely. I’ll leave you to it.
He goes to leave. As he leaves.
And…
We’ll just see what happens!
ANNA. Yes!
He is gone. ANNA is alone on the bed with the little cup in her hand. She looks at it. As the lights start to dim on her, very faintly, lights come up on the two beds from the previous scene, either side of her. One with NATASHA in it. One with the little GIRL asleep in it.
Lights hold on the three of them, each lying on their bed.
Fade to black.
The End.
NINA RAINE
Nina Raine’s other plays include Consent (National Theatre, London, 2017/Harold Pinter Theatre, West End, 2018), Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre, London, 2011 and 2014), Tribes (Royal Court, London, 2010/Barrow Street Theatre, New York, 2012) and an adaptation of The Drunks by the Durnenkov Brothers (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2009). She was awarded the 2006 Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright for her debut play Rabbit. Tribes won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play. It has also been produced in LA, Chicago, throughout Europe and the rest of the world, having been translated into over ten different languages, including Croatian, Estonian, Italian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
A Nick Hern Book
Stories first published in Great Britain as a paperback original in 2018 by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP
This ebook first published in 2018
Stories copyright © 2018 Nina Raine
Nina Raine has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
Cover image by Louis Davies
Designed and typeset by Nick Hern Books, London
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84842 795 2 (print edition)
ISBN 978 1 78850 120 0 (ebook edition)
CAUTION All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved. Requests to reproduce the text in whole or in part should be addressed to the publisher.
Amateur Performing Rights Applications for performance, including readings and excerpts, by amateurs in the English language throughout the world should be addressed to the Performing Rights Manager, Nick Hern Books, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP, tel +44 (0)20 8749 4953, email [email protected], except as follows:
Australia: Dominie Drama, 8 Cross Street, Brookvale 2100, tel (2) 9938 8686, fax (2) 9938 8695, email [email protected]
New Zealand: Play Bureau, PO Box 9013, St Clair, Dunedin 9047, tel (3) 455 9959, email [email protected]
United States of America and Canada: United Agents, see details below.
Professional Performing Rights Applications for performance by professionals in any medium and in any language throughout the world should be addressed to United Agents, 12–26 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LE, tel +44 (0)20 3214 0800, fax +44 (0)20 3214 0801, email [email protected]
No performance of any kind may be given unless a licence has been obtained. Applications should be made before rehearsals begin. Publication of this play does not necessarily indicate its availability for amateur performance.