Mosquitoes Read online

  Lucy Kirkwood

  MOSQUITOES

  NICK HERN BOOKS

  London

  www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

  Contents

  Title Page

  Original Production

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Characters

  Mosquitoes

  About the Author

  Copyright and Performing Rights Information

  Mosquitoes was first performed in the Dorfman auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 25 July 2017 (previews from 18 July). The cast was as follows:

  ALICE Olivia Williams

  JENNY Olivia Colman

  THE BOSON Paul Hilton

  LUKE Joseph Quinn

  NATALIE Sofia Barclay

  KAREN Amanda Boxer

  HENRI Yoli Fuller

  JOURNALIST/SONOGRAPHER Vanessa Emme

  GAVRIELLA BASTIANELLI/

  POLICEWOMAN Cait Davis

  SECURITY GUARD Ira Mandela Siobhan

  Director Rufus Norris

  Designer Katrina Lindsay

  Lighting Designer Paule Constable

  Music Adam Cork

  Sound Designer Paul Arditti

  Video Designers Finn Ross

  Ian William Galloway

  Movement Ira Mandela Siobhan

  Fight Director Kev McCurdy

  Company Voice Work Charmian Hoare

  Staff Director Nicola Miles-Wildin

  Originally commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer, with funds provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

  Acknowledgements

  This play was a Sloane commission from the Manhattan Theatre Club, and I am very grateful to everyone there who has supported it over the years, especially Annie MacCrae, Lynne Meadow and Doug Hughes.

  I would also like to thank:

  Rufus Norris.

  The creative team, cast and crew of the National Theatre production.

  Connie Potter, Gordon Watts, Paul Laycock and Chris Thomas at CERN who have been so generous and imaginative with their help in the writing of the play.

  Lyndsey Turner.

  Ben Power.

  James Yeatman.

  The many actors who have participated in readings.

  Yoli Fuller for correcting and improving my appalling French.

  Most of all, Ed Hime, for bringing order to chaos.

  L.K.

  In memory of Alex Willie Singerman

  For Sophie

  ‘The general public has long been divided into two parts; those who think that science can do anything and those who are afraid it will.’

  Mason & Dixon, Thomas Pynchon

  ‘We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas… No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information.’

  Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

  Characters

  THE BOSON

  ALICE

  JENNY

  LUKE

  NATALIE

  KAREN

  HENRI

  GAVRIELLA BASTIANELLI/POLICEWOMAN

  JOURNALIST/SONOGRAPHER

  SCIENTISTS

  Key

  A forward slash (/) indicates an overlap in speech.

  Words in brackets are spoken aloud but are incidental.

  An asterisk (*) before a line indicates simultaneous speech.

  A comma on its own line (,) indicates a beat. A beat is shorter than a pause. It can also denote a shift in thought or energy.

  The text has been punctuated to serve the music of the play, not grammatical convention. Dashes are used sparingly and generally indicate a hard interruption.

  This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

  ACT ONE

  IN THE BEGINNING

  Summer 2006. A house in Luton, England, beneath a flight path. JENNY, heavily pregnant. She walks, always in motion. ALICE sits. She is forty-one and JENNY is thirty-nine.

  JENNY. Just it’s like waves.

  ALICE. And but which part in particular is worrying you?

  JENNY. It’s the part which, I think it’s mainly the part where it comes out.

  ALICE. This is very natural Jenny.

  JENNY. Mike says millions of women do it every day. He says ‘look at the animal kingdom’.

  JENNY sits down.

  ALICE. Don’t worry about Mike. He’s just feeling powerless and redundant.

  JENNY. I want a cigarette.

  ALICE. well okay but that’s not / going to

  JENNY. Mum smoked twenty a day when she was pregnant.

  ALICE. Both of us?

  JENNY. No just me Alice that’s why I’m Forrest Gump and you’re the Wizard of fucking Oz.

  ALICE. That’s not / what I was

  JENNY. Twenty a day. Marlboro, not light. Red. And we’re alright.

  A wave of panic engulfs her. She takes a breath, closes her eyes, trying to control it.

  ALICE. What?

  JENNY. No, it’s just. It doesn’t kick. I don’t feel it, kicking, I think it might be in the wrong position. I think the cord might be round its neck.

  ALICE. Okay. Okay. But you’ve had the ultrasound?

  Pause. JENNY makes a non-committal sound.

  Jenny, you’ve / had

  JENNY. Yeah, it’s not, it’s not something we felt comfortable doing.

  ,

  ALICE. But. Okay but so because it’s completely safe.

  JENNY. Um, no, not, actually, not completely

  ALICE. In what way?

  Pause.

  Jenny in / what

  JENNY. No because you’re going to shout at me.

  ALICE. I won’t shout at you, when / have I ever

  JENNY. They’ve done animal studies.

  ,

  ALICE. Which animals?

  JENNY. Mammals.

  Pause.

  ALICE. Which mammals?

  JENNY. Rats.

  ALICE. Rats. Okay. And what did they find in / these

  JENNY. Oh you know, just brain injuries. Dyslexia

  JENNY finds a printout of an internet article.

  ALICE. How can a rat be dyslexic?

  JENNY. epilepsy (don’t do that) mental retardation, an increased incidence in left-handedness in boys

  ALICE. Luke is left-handed.

  JENNY. well there you go, listen to this:

  ALICE. Jenny, we’ve talked about this.

  JENNY. No, I know

  ALICE. Googling is

  JENNY. Bad, / I know, but just

  ALICE. What did we, just because you can access the information doesn’t mean you’re equipped to understand it.

  JENNY. okay, okay but – (Reading.) ‘a World Health Organisation report warned that ultrasound can cause reduced fetal weight, neurological changes’, this is from a journal by the / way, like a proper

  ALICE. Millions of women do it, every single day and

  JENNY. So? Millions of women drink diet coke.

  ALICE. What’s wrong with / diet coke?

  JENNY. ‘In 2001 an ultrasound transducer placed in a woman’s uterus recorded sound as loud as a train coming into a station.’

  As loud as a train.

  ALICE. It’s safe.

  JENNY. As loud as a fucking train.

  ALICE. In America, you can get it done in a shopping centre.

  JENNY. Yeah well in America you can buy a gun in a shopping centre can’t you, just cos something happens in America / doesn’t mean

  ALICE. (oh my God) it’s safe, it’s safe, it’s less dangerous than a hot bath.

  JENNY. Yes, well I�
�d like to believe that Alice / but

  ALICE. It doesn’t matter whether you believe it, it’s a fact.

  JENNY. Says who?

  ALICE. The doctor, and he’s an expert, / so

  JENNY. She.

  ALICE. She’s an expert / so

  JENNY. Yeah well I think actually what I feel, as a mother, might be stronger than a a a a just a… fact don’t you?

  ALICE. No.

  ,

  JENNY. Okay well there’s not like a single version of

  ALICE. Yes there is. There is, absolutely / there is

  JENNY. Well that’s a very Western way / of

  ALICE. A what?

  JENNY. I’m just / saying.

  ALICE. Western?

  JENNY. I’m just saying!

  ALICE. You live in Luton.

  JENNY. Don’t, shouting at me, it doesn’t kick. It doesn’t move. I think it might be dead.

  ,

  ALICE. I promise you. I promise you, there is nothing to worry about.

  JENNY. yeah well there’s a higher rate of Down’s

  ALICE. From an ultrasound?

  JENNY. No, in IVF babies

  ALICE. Statistically?

  JENNY. statistically, yes, statistically in IVF babies there is a higher rate of Down’s and and and and death.

  ,

  statistically, yes, and all I’m saying is I’m allowed, actually, I am allowed to make my own decisions about what’s best for my, without being made to feel like I’m constantly failing some fucking cosmic exam, like I might actually be a capable, grown-up woman you know? Who can be trusted to, not just some sack of skin with a pair of tits for people to to examine and and inject and monitor and and stick their fucking fingers in because actually at the end of the day who’s in charge? Who’s in charge?

  ,

  fucking, statistically, who’s in charge, / Alice?

  ALICE. You are.

  JENNY. Thank you. Not them. Not you. Me. That’s all I’m. Thank you.

  JENNY looks at ALICE, wretched.

  Didn’t you ever feel like this?

  ALICE. I’m sorry, I wish I could… but actually I felt. Sort of amazing. Like, tuned in to some weird frequency, because I understood for the first time. This is what my body is for, and it was like. Wow! / And

  JENNY. Yeah and your boobs got really big, and then one day you sneezed and out popped Luke, and he trotted off the bed and cut his own umbilical cord. I bet you didn’t even shit yourself / did you?

  ALICE. Stop it. You know that’s not

  JENNY. That’s not?

  ALICE. no, you know that’s not

  JENNY. Tell me then.

  ALICE. I already told you.

  JENNY. So tell me again.

  Pause.

  The contractions started, go on. Please. Please Alice.

  Pause.

  Please

  ALICE. The contractions started at about 10 p.m.

  JENNY. But which this worried you because it was too early.

  ALICE. Yes it was much too early. I hadn’t even packed my case so I instead I put some things

  JENNY. Knickers, nightie, inhaler.

  ALICE. I shoved them in a plastic bag and I called the ambulance.

  JENNY. You get to the hospital, then – no I forgot, this is the best bit, go on.

  ALICE. The midwife / was a

  JENNY. The midwife was a man!

  ALICE. I nearly said No. I don’t want you, I want a woman because this is a very exposing process and also

  JENNY. and also he was really fit, you said.

  ALICE. yes and also he was problematically good looking, but then he said is your husband or partner on his or her way?

  JENNY. And you said no actually he’s in Geneva watching protons collide cos that apparently is more important than the birth / of his

  ALICE. No I just said no and he understood because Javier was a very understanding person and married with a girl of his own that he delivered in a beautiful ceremony in a Donald Duck paddling pool.

  JENNY. And you’re still just on the gas and air at this point.

  ALICE. No Pethidine too, I was six centimetres.

  JENNY. The Grand Canyon!

  ALICE. But then his heartbeat slowed down. And they said we’ll have to do a Caesarean. I didn’t wake up till later. I thought, Luke wasn’t there so / I thought

  JENNY. Course you did, baby’s not there, of course you thought

  ALICE. Nurse comes in, she says: You can see him now

  JENNY. no but before that she says.

  ,

  JENNY. no but before that she says.

  ,

  ALICE. yes she said do you have a Faith? She said Do you have a Faith? Because if you have a Faith and / it I just

  JENNY. no then you said What kind?

  ALICE. literally didn't understand the question

  JENNY. and then you did

  ALICE. and then I did I understood it completely I started crying ran out, well not ran, I couldn't run

  JENNY. waddled.

  ALICE. and then I found him.

  Pause.

  JENNY. Go on.

  ,

  ALICE. He was in a closed-air bassinette. That’s what they called it / but

  JENNY. But it was an incubator

  ALICE. Yes. A plastic box, you could see through the sides.

  JENNY. You couldn’t touch him.

  You couldn’t touch him, could you?

  This is making me feel a lot better, you couldn’t touch / him

  ALICE. I couldn’t touch him, I had to put my hands into these gloves to touch him.

  JENNY. His head.

  ALICE. His head was the size of an apple.

  ,

  JENNY feels her stomach.

  JENNY. It kicked.

  ,

  Feel then.

  Pause. ALICE puts her hand on JENNY.

  Wait. Might do it again in a minute.

  They sit, waiting.

  THE CREATION

  THE BOSON appears.

  He should be visible in every scene-change. But he is visible only to us.

  He is holding an apple.

  The apple explodes.

  A Big Bang. Very loud and frightening.

  A pea-souper of plasma settles over the stage.

  Through it, LUKE, sixteen, appears, at home in Geneva, at his laptop, wearing headphones. THE BOSON watches him.

  THE BOSON. Welcome back Luke. You have one new friend request.

  THE BOSON exits.

  VIRAL

  Lights up on NATALIE, sixteen.

  LUKE. hi Natalie, thanks for accepting me

  NATALIE. hey Luke thanks for finding me! It was so cool of you to sit with me at lunch yesterday I felt like such a loner!!! But I couldn’t find you today, WTF?

  LUKE. sorry. I’m on suspension

  NATALIE. shit what did you do?

  LUKE. hacked the parent portal

  NATALIE. that’s hilarious. You’re lucky, you could’ve got expelled

  LUKE. I was trying to get expelled

  NATALIE. oh right. That backfired then didn’t it? LOL

  LUKE. LOL

  NATALIE. what you doing?

  LUKE. thinking about killing myself so I don’t have to do my French homework

  NATALIE. ha ha what is it?

  LUKE. past participle

  NATALIE. omg the past participle is like, the devil. But you just have to remember which verbs are être and which ones are avoir

  LUKE. do you miss your old school?

  NATALIE. also don’t forget it has to agree with the subject when the auxiliary is être sorry crossed over yeah I do, we move all the time for my dad’s job and he says it’s good to learn to adapt yourself to new situations but he doesn’t get how exhausting it is making friends all the time? You know those guys from the drama club? Stefan and Heloise and Celeste? I tried to ask them about auditions today and they literally like laughed in my face

  LUKE. ye
ah those guys are dicks

  NATALIE. yeah and also is ‘neger’ not as racist as it sounds cos I heard them say it about Mahalia

  LUKE. no it’s totally racist. What does your dad do?

  NATALIE. he works for UBS. He’s an investment manager, he like, manages investments. How come you’re in Geneva?

  LUKE. my mum’s a scientist, she’s looking for the Higgs Boson

  NATALIE. what’s that?

  LUKE. it’s just a particle. It’s invisible but it’s all around us. They think it’s what gives us mass. Alice bangs on about it all the time, she’s completely obsessed. I think she might get married again. This wankstain keeps coming round and leaving the bread out of the fridge and sometimes they have showers together which I think is completely unnecessary

  NATALIE. my parents are divorced too it sucks. Do you still see your dad?

  Pause.

  LUKE. not really. He works for a government science agency.

  NATALIE. cool. Like in Men in Black 2?

  or Men in Black 1

  or

  LUKE. i’m not really allowed to talk about it. It’s classified.

  NATALIE. cool. Did you know there’s a video of you going mental in the canteen on youtube?

  LUKE. I wasn’t going mental. Stefan put spätzle in my backpack

  NATALIE. I spend like five hours a night on youtube that’s really bad isn’t it? Does Stefan have a girlfriend?

  LUKE. I don’t know

  NATALIE. him and Heloise are just friends right? Have you seen the video with the man crying and going ‘Leave her alone! Leave Britney alone!’?

  LUKE. no

  NATALIE. omg you need to youtube it immediately, have you seen the one about how you can charge your iPod with an onion?

  LUKE. yeah but it’s not true

  NATALIE. I know I totally spazzed my Nano have you seen the one where all the prisoners do the dance from ‘Thriller’?

  LUKE. no

  NATALIE. have you seen two girls one cup?

  LUKE. no

  NATALIE. don’t it’s rank

  LUKE. have you seen the one where the baby’s just laughing and laughing?

  NATALIE. NO. Oh my god BRB

  The sound of a baby laughing and laughing and laughing. Pause.

  LUKE. hey did you watch it?

  Pause.

  so cute right?

  Pause.

  poke