Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards

Aare Toikka (Estonia)
Péter Horváth (Hungary)


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Text Extract


Two

BOY (Enters with his lamp which is switched off, pulling the GIRL behind him with the little strength he has left) Ei, ei, ei! (“No, no, no!”) (Tries to get his lamp to work, hits it. The lamp gives some light… In the light he sees a door in front of them.) Jumal tänatud! (“Thank god!”) (Shouts) Hei, on siin keegi?(“Hey, is anyone here?”) (Knocks on the door – no answer. He tries to open it. It opens. He pulls the GIRL in.)
It is difficult to tell where they are, just some parts of a cottage are visible in the moving light of his lamp…
BOY Nii on juba parem…(“That’s better…”) (to the GIRL) Kuule sina! (“Hey you!”) (Slaps the GIRL’s face, she doesn’t move.) Oh, raisk… Ma polegi kunagi varem tüdrukule musi andnud… ja nüüd… See koll peab nüüd esimene olema…? (“I’ve never kissed a girl… and now… This monster has to be the first…?”) (Moves close to her, and tries to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.)
GIRL (Begins to move, coughing, opens her eyes, coughs at him. The lamp falls down from the BOY’s head, the light goes out, darkness again.)
BOY Loll oled või? (“Are you stupid?”)
GIRL (Moving away from him) Ki volt az? Ki van ott? (“Who did it? Who is there?”)
BOY Ära vehi! (“Stop gesticulating!”)
GIRL Mi van? (“What?”)
BOY Sa astud selle puruks! (“You’ll step on it and break it!”)
GIRL Mit akarsz? (“What do you want?”)
BOY Ma katsun oma lampi üles leida, mille sa mu käest maha lõid. (“I’m trying to find my lamp which you dropped from my hand.”)
GIRL (Cries) Segítség! (“Help!”)
BOY (Finds his lamp on the floor) Palju õnne, kurat! (“Fucking well done!”)
GIRL Nem értem. (“I don’t understand.”)
BOY You broke my lamp!
GIRL Mi van? (“Pardon?”)
BOY Ma ei saa aru, mida sa seletad. Ma ei saa sust aru! Saad aru! (“I don’t understand what you’re saying. I don’t understand you! Get it?”)
GIRL What happened?
BOY You hit me. That’s what happened.
GIRL Hit?
BOY Hit. Knock. Knock out my lamp.
GIRL Csak mert te… (“Because of you…”) Because you wanted…
BOY What? Bring you back from death, that’s what I wanted.
GIRL Death?
BOY (imitates her) „Death?” Yes. Toboggan crash.
GIRL Toboggan…?
BOY Snow-mobil. (Demonstrates, like being on a toboggan) Remember? We stole three toboggans to take part in a race… Ollé… Tralalal! (Shows.) „Faster! Faster! Go, go…!” (Steps on something, falls down) Crash. Kaput. Finish.
GIRL I’m not Finnish. I’m Hungay.
BOY Stupid. Finish, not Finnish. But we have nothing to eat.
GIRL (Doesn’t understand) Eat?
BOY You said you’re hungry.
GIRL No. I said, Hungary. I’m Hungarian. Hungary is my home.
BOY Home…? Camp is there… (Shows some direction.) Or somewhere there… (Shows another direction.) I don’t know. Far.
GIRL I don’t fear.
BOY Not fear. Far. Far in the forest.
GIRL Cold. Hurts.
BOY Because you flew.
GIRL Flew?
BOY Like a chicken. We were on snow-mobil… Wanted to win the race. Lost way… Against a tree… Crashed. You were flying from the toboggan… I found you… Stand up!
GIRL Why are you commanding me?
BOY I’m captain.
GIRL What?
BOY Group race. You and me – a group. Every group needs a boss. I was the captain of the team, now I’m your boss.
GIRL I don’t need group. You’re stupid, not boss. I don’t need you.
BOY Stand up from the snow before you get sick.
GIRL (Stands up, freezes. Nearly crying) I want go home…Back to camp.
BOY Ok. You can… If you know where.
GIRL El?ttem van Észak, hátam mögött Dél… balra a nap nyugszik, jobbról pedig kél… (In front of me is North, back is South, left side shows West, right hand shows East.)
BOY (Hits himself, freezes) Perfect. You know some other silly songs?
GIRL In front of me is North… my backside is South…
BOY Aha. Great. Turn around. (Turns her) Where is North now? Mu vend naeraks ennast ribadeks, kui ta siin oleks. (“If my brother was here, he’d crack up laughing.”) Stupid chick…
GIRL It works at home…
BOY But we are not at home now!
GIRL Where we are?
BOY. Fucking place. Here.
GIRL I can’t see nothing.
BOY Because you broke my lamp!
GIRL (Reaches out her hand, trying to feel her surroundings) Is it a cottage?
BOY Yeah.
GIRL What kind of cottage is it?
BOY (Jokingly) Maybe a fucking English course cottage.
GIRL What?
BOY Idiot. There are shelter houses in forest. (He also wants to find something in the darkness)
GIRL Shelter?
BOY To be safe. Here there is no storm, no animals…
GIRL Animals?
BOY Rabbit, fox, wolf, bear… (Touches the GIRL in the darkness)
GIRL (Cries and jumps) A bear?!
BOY Stop shouting!
GIRL Something touched me!
BOY I did.
GIRL Why?
BOY To find a light. Küll ma olen loll, raisk. (“I’m such an idiot.”) (Gets a lighter from his pocket. Lights a cigarette and lights up the room with his lighter.)
GIRL You smoke?
BOY And…?
GIRL Dangerous.
BOY Living is dangerous! (To himself) Together with such a stupid chick. (Finds a table.) Oh, shit! (Finds a storm-lamp on the table) I think I found something…
GIRL Animal?
BOY (Switches on the lamp) You see what a clever boss? (Takes the lamp, goes around the cottage. There are two small beds, some shelves with different things on it.)
GIRL (Recognises him) You are not boss! You are crazy Russian!
BOY Not crazy. Just drunk.
GIRL Drunk?
BOY And not Russian.
GIRL Alexander is Russian name.
BOY I’m Estonian!
GIRL Stupid thing like Estonia not existing.
BOY Doesn’t. Not ‘not existing’. And without “ing”. But yes. Estonia has been existing from the beginning of time.
GIRL Don’t understand.
BOY My fatherland.
GIRL (Doesn’t understand) Your father name…?
BOY No father. My country. My father’s name is Nikolai.
GIRL So your father is Russian.
BOY He is not Russian, he is Estonian. My mother is…
GIRL Russian.
BOY She is not. Estonian.
GIRL I have never heard of this country.
BOY Stupid hungry girl.
GIRL Not hungry. Hungary. I’m Hungarian. And I want home!!!
BOY (Finds wood) There is something…
GIRL Do you hear it?!!
BOY Wood.
GIRL Clever Russian. This house is made of wood.
BOY Correct sentence. But these ones are for making fire. Fire! You understand fire? – There must be a stove.
GIRL Behind you.
BOY What?
GIRL A stove is situated behind you.
BOY (Looks at it) Yeah.
GIRL You are wellcome.
BOY (Making fire) Using these woods … but we need more when we leave.
GIRL How?
BOY What how?
GIRL How we leave… we don’t know the way to back…?
BOY Somebody comes to show it…
GIRL Who?
BOY Others. From camp. They will come.
GIRL When?
BOY May be tomorrow.
GIRL Not tomorrow. Must today. They see that we are lost.
BOY They don’t talk to teachers about we being lost. They’re scared. They also stole toboggan. If it’s secret, nobody gets punished.
GIRL We must be here … together … until tomorrow?
BOY No. You can go out…
GIRL Cold.
BOY Because it’s winter. Snow… ice… fog… We are in Finland. (For himself) See ei põle, kurat. (“Damn, it doesn’t burn.”)
GILRL What?
BOY Wood is wet.
GIRL Need some paper.
BOY Can you see any paper?
GIRL In your pocket.
BOY Where?!
GIRL Your cigarettes …
BOY I need them…
GIRL If you smoke, you die.
BOY Everybody has to die.
GIRL Not me.
BOY What?
GIRL My mother said I never die. She promised.
BOY Yes. Stupid Hungarian girls can live forever.
GIRL Yes. If they are… not frozen … because stupid Russian boss doesn’t make a fire…
BOY Jube tark oled. Olgu. Mulle ei meeldigi suitsetada. (“You’re so smart. All right. I don’t like smoking anyway.”) (Takes his cigarettes to make a fire, lights them, but the fire goes out.) Oh, shit! No fire, no cigarettes. Fuck you.
GIRL You must be Russian. My mother says Russians are rude.
BOY Shut up… Look for paper instead…
GIRL I have it, but I don’t give it.
BOY What kind of paper do you have?
GIRL My secret diary. (Gets it from her pocket. Both of them are wearing ski-clothes.) It’s always with me.
BOY Give it to me!
GIRL Nobody can read it. Secret.
BOY I don’t want to read but light it!
GIRL When I was very young, I was not able to write – I draw everything… (Shows a drawing) You see? – It’s me… When I was four…
BOY You are absolutely crazy.
GIRL I don’t give it you. Full of secrets. I need it. But… There are some empty pages… (Tears some pages from her diary) Here you are… Be careful… with my future.
BOY (Lights it, laughing) Nice. Your future is burning well… Stupid girls…
GIRL We don’t need to talk to each other.
BOY Right. I’ll let you go to sleep. It’s evening.

The GIRL lies down on one of beds to get some sleep. The BOY does the same on the other bed… GIRL has fallen asleep. The BOY follows her. Deep silence. Sometime later the GIRL wakes up suddenly, overcome by anxiety.

GIRL Nem, nem nem…! (“No, no, no…!”)
BOY (Wakes up) What’s wrong?
GIRL Something is outside.
BOY (Listens) Nothing.
GIRL Going around the house. I hear.
BOY Only the wind. Sleep.

Silence. Sometime later the GIRL sits up again.

GIRL I saw!
BOY What?
GIRL It looked through the window.
BOY Who?
GIRL A deer.
BOY Hirv? (“Deer?”) No. Deers are afraid of humans. It never comes to you.
GIRL It was big.
BOY You just dreamt.
GIRL Very big. Huge.
BOY Ok.
GIRL You are not afraid?
BOY I’m the boss. Boss ei karda mitte kunagi ja mitte midagi. (“The boss is never scared and scared of nothing”). Try to sleep.
GIRL (Loudly) Miatyánk, ki vagy a Mennyekben, szenteltessék meg a te neved…Jöjjön el a te országod, legyen meg a te akaratod… (“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done”)
BOY What are you burbling?
GIRL … mint a Mennyben, úgy a földön is. (“…on earth as it is in heaven.”)
BOY Hey!
GIRL Mindennapi kenyerünket add meg nekünk ma… (“Give today our daily bread…”)
BOY Shut up! Let me sleep!
GIRL …és bocsásd meg a mi vétkeinket, miképpen mi is megbocsátunk az ellenünk vétkez?knek. (“…and forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who wrong us.”)
BOY Some prayer?
GIRL És ne vígy minket a kísértésbe, de szabadíts meg a gonosztól… () mert Tied az ország és a hatalom és a dics?ség… (“Subject us not to the trial, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory…”)
BOY Nobody in Heavens…

Summary

A fourteen years old (Estonian) boy and a twelve year old (Hungarian) girl (the home countries can be changed to any country) spend their holiday in an International Youth Camp in Finland in winter time. Together with some other boys and girls they steal some snowmobiles to take part in an illegal race in the dark evening. The girl and the boy are together on the same toboggan. They lose their way, the snowmobile breaks down in the forest, a long way from the camp. It’s a dark and cold night. What can they do? Finding a cottage for shelter, they decide to wait there until somebody finds them and helps them to get back to the camp. Nobody comes to their rescue. There’s a big snowstorm. The boy and girl spend a number of days and nights together, eventually they run out of firewood, food and drink. They have to come to grips with the fact that they may die. The boy can’t speak Hungarian and the girl can’t speak Estonian. Both can speak English a little bit, so they have to communicate in their English, this is a difficult process. They neither understand each other very well, nor do they trust each other very much. The games and the tales help them to get to know each other better and to try and find a way to stay alive and to protect each other.

Two actors, one spotlight: the duration of the play is approximately one hour.


Rightholder:

© Hungary Péter Horváth h-p@t-online.hu
© Estonia and abroad: Estonian Drama Agency Eesti Teatri Agentuur www.teater.ee,


Performances:

Kolibri Theatre, Budapest (HU) April, 25, 2011,
VAT Theatre Tallinn (EE) , May 9, 2011


Cast:
M: 1
F: 1