The Arc, part III: La Reine Claude

In this, the third part of The Arc, an Irish Times project in association with Dublin Theatre Festival, Deirdre Kinahan follows on from Enda Walsh and Tom Murphy.

We’ve asked 10 playwrights to contribute to a play, with each adding a few pages to what has gone before. The play is being written during the Dublin Theatre Festival, and will receive a rehearsed reading on the final Sunday of its programme, on October 12th.

Tom Murphy kicked things off with the opening scene for the play, which he has called La Reine Claude. You can read it here. Enda Walsh then gave things a surreal twist, which you can read here. And now Deirdre Kinahan, whose new play Spinning is currently playing at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, has taken the plot in a new intriguing direction.

The other parts of the play will be published on irishtimes.com/culture in the coming weeks, along with details of the public reading. Tickets will be available from dublintheatrefestival.com. The other contributing writers are Bush Moukarzel, Sonya Kelly, Brokentalkers, Stacey Gregg, Michael West, Genevieve Hulme-Beaman and Kate Heffernan.

La Reine Claude: Part III

She shouts to PAULINA

KAROLINA: (In Irish) Shut the door. Shut the bloody door.

PAULINA doesn’t. The front door opens and MULCAHY comes in.

KAROLINA: (In an Irish accent now) Your chicken is on the floor.

MULCAHY: Perfect.

KAROLINA: The plums are in the oven and the wine is

She takes a swig.

The wine is rotten.

MULCAHY: Of course.

He sits.

Who is she?

KAROLINA: She is my sister.

MULCAHY: Really?

KAROLINA: Yes really.

MULCAHY: Come over here so and let me have a look at you.

PAULINA steps into the room and removes her hat.

MULCAHY: What’s your name.

PAULINA doesn’t answer.

MULCAHY: Does she not speak the lingo?

KAROLINA: Paulina.

MULCAHY: I see.

Give us a twirl Paulina.

She turns around.

Not bad.

You look after yourself.

To KAROLINA

She looks after herself.

They look after themselves don’t they,

I see them in the gym or down at the swimming,

the Polish wans.

KAROLINA doesn’t answer. She takes another swig of wine.

MULCAHY: (To PAULINA)

I have to make a call.

I have some business...

Some business to attend to!

So you….you make yourself useful here and we’ll see if you can stay.

He taps out a number on his mobile phone.

MULCAHY: (Into the phone) Me, yeh…I picked up….

PAULINA: (quietly) You have something belonging to me.

MULCAHY: What?

PAULINA: (louder) You have something belonging to me.

MULCAHY: (Into the phone) Hang on a second Percy…she’s saying…someone’s saying something….

PAULINA: You stole my brother’s shoes.

MULCAHY: I what?

PAULINA: You stole them.

MULCAHY: (to KAROLINA) What’s she saying?.

PAULINA: The nice lady cut his toenails. She bathed…she washed his feet. She said that he was happy that she did that. She said..

KAROLINA: that they were in a state…all puss and cuts and filthy.

PAULINA: Filthy.

KAROLINA: But then she cleaned them.

PAULINA: She cleaned them and she said he had a coffee.

KAROLINA: A cup of coffee.

PAULINA: Before he went on his way.

MULCAHY: So?

PAULINA: They found him in a dumpster.

KAROLINA: A bin.

PAULINA: He was sleeping in a dumpster.

KAROLINA: Dead in a dumpster.

PAULINA: Dead in a bin.

MULCAHY: O Right.

Yeah,.

I think I heard about that…read about that.

Tragic.

Treacherous.

Tough.

It can be tough out there.

Pause

PAULINA: You have his shoes.

MULCAHY: (To KAROLINA) What the fuck is she saying?

KAROLINA: You’re wearing….

You wore.

You walked in his shoes.

MULCAHY: Well, not any more.

Not any more my sweet.

Now! I need to make this call.

He taps a number into his mobile phone but KAROLINA approaches and takes it from him. She switches it off.

KAROLINA: You have something belonging to me.

MULCAHY: For Christ’s sake….what are you at?

KATALINA: You stole my Mother’s voice.

MULCAHY: Your Mother?

KATALINA: And after you promised so much.

MULCAHY: I promised…..I promised fucking nothing.

KATALINA: But we were the first.

PAULINA: The first.

KATALINA: To have a woman there at all.

MULCAHY: Where at all?

KATALINA: What happened?

MULCAHY: I don’t know.

PAULINA: What happened?

MULCAHY: I don’t know what you’re asking.

KATALINA: I think you do.