Exhibition (2013) - full transcript

CHURCH BELLS CHIME

SHE DIALS THE INTERCOM

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

Yeah? Do you want anything?

Mm...

You know, it'd be nice if you

could come up here.

Um, maybe try and distract

me from my work.

Get under the desk or something.

SHE HANGS UP

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

THUD

THUMPING UPSTAIRS

FOOTSTEPS

FOOTSTEPS

Where you going?

Ah.

CAR HORN TOOTS

FRONT DOOR OPENS

TYRES SCREECH

FOOTSTEPS

SHE SKETCHES

DOOR CLOSES

FOOTSTEPS UPSTAIRS

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

In a way, if you don't really talk

about it or-or can't discuss it,

other people are going to

decide, you know?

I know, I just don't want to

discuss it with you.

Eh? I just don't want to

discuss it with you.

Yeah, but I'm good, you know,

I'm good practice, no?

No, 'cause you'll just say it's

silly and glib.

Well, but...you know.

If you don't, you won't get it.

I'm on your side. I'm not... I'm not

against you, I'm just curious.

I'm just curious, that's all.

I know, but... 'Cause why not...why

not use someone else?

You should use someone else,

makes life much easier.

I don't want to be put down,

criticised, and I think that's

what you'll do.

Stop it before it's begun.

No.

SHE KNOCKS THE DOOR

Hi.

Hi. What you up to?

Ah, eh, just...go.

It'll be better, thank you.

All right, sorry.

'Yet though she played at

being a child,

'she had seen through me completely.

'And though she made

me her pupil there and then

'in the game of living, for each

fleeting moment, she seemed to

'know more of life than is known to

the wisest of the wise.

'It might be the highest wisdom or

the merest artlessness.

'It is certain in any case that life

is quite disarmed by the gift

'to live so entirely in the present,

'to treasure with such eager care

every flower by the wayside

'and the light that plays on

every passing moment.

'Was I to believe that this

happy child,

'with her hearty appetite

and the air of a gourmet, was at the

'same time a victim of hysterical

visions who wished to die,

'or a careful calculating woman who

unmoved herself at the

'conscious intention of making

me her lover and her slave?

'I could not believe it.

'Know her surrender to the moment

was so simple and complete that

'the fleeting shadows and agitation

to the very depths of the

'soul come to her no less than every

pleasurable impulse and were

'lived as fully.'

RAIN FALLS

THEY GIGGLE

SHE LAUGHS

SHE SQUEALS HAPPILY

ALARM ARMS

CAR HORN TOOTS

Did I do something?

Did I say something?

MOTOR CORD PULLED

MOTOR STARTS

MOTOR REVS

HEAVY CONSTRUCTION NOISE

Then I was in the cinema, but the

screen was blank and there

were only two chairs.

And he was standing in the doorway,

a very narrow doorway.

I had to squeeze through it

and we touched.

I could feel him watching me,

his eyes boring into me

everywhere I went.

HE SNORES SOFTLY BEHIND HER

And he called out and asked

me how my work was going.

And he really listened and

I told him.

He never took his eyes off

me and when he spoke he had

a beautiful deep voice.

And I wanted

him to touch me so badly.

SHE BREATHES SHAKILY

I can barely make any decisions at

all, to be honest.

I start making decisions based on

stupid things that I think about.

I thought we would just sort of

miraculously come to some...

unified position,

based on a mixture of intellect and

intuition that somehow

magically synchronise.

HE LAUGHS

...garden carries traces of a body,

in a way,

because a yard is based on

a human measurement.

So, you've got these kind of moments

where you keep encountering

these three foot here,

three foot there,

and they're basically the reach

of an adult male.

And it's interesting that... I don't

know if this was subconscious, but

it's almost like the architect had

stood in the garden and then

reached out from the house, and

where their fingertips were, that's

where a retaining wall would be.

A low retaining wall.

So, all the way around the house

you've got these moments

of...of reach.

BIRDS SING

First you look at it and you think

that's some kind of...possibly

a beech tree or something like that.

But actually, if you look at the

leaf shape and so on,

it's very special. Oop, sorry. Heh.

I'm always doing that.

You know...

So, you know, the way it's been cut,

it means that you've got these

different levels. The different

views from the different floors of

the house give you a very particular

kind of layering, you know, of

the foliage and what not. It's good.

Yeah, OK. Yeah, thank you.

It's great, very unique.

Should we go back inside? Yeah.

I have to say, I have always wanted

to be inside this house. Exactly.

Original spiral staircase and I

always wonder if they...you know,

I always wonder if they intended to

go right through to the roof. Mm.

I mean, it's about the only thing I

would really suggest changing

about the house, probably. Right.

That would still be in keeping,

you know, with its importance.

Go all the way up.

Yeah, think about it. I just think

people didn't do it then.

Roof terraces. I don't know,

you're the expert.

We claim to be. Yes.

How long have you lived here,

do you mind me asking?

18 years, I suppose now, 17?

Feels like 40 or something.

I mean...

Well, don't know. Doesn't it?

Bit of a disagreement.

I really love the house still and

I'll be

sorry to leave it.

Shall we go into the bedroom?

Yes, yes, of course. Right.

Might take a while.

All right.

God, it used to fit.

Don't do the neck up,

it's choking me already.

You sure? Yeah.

Maybe. More?

Yeah, just up to the collar.

I'm going to go and make some

things. Ahem, do I look all right?

What? Do I look all right?

Don't have any fear, just get in.

Trust it. It's amazing.

We've got the wine if anything goes wrong.

HE LAUGHS

LIFT STARTS

He'll end up in Feltham Young

Offenders Institute anyway.

Oh, no, William, you always go to

the worst-case scenario.

It is not going to get that far.

It happens, you know, it happens.

It does because that's what you see

every day in court.

That's not going to be

Matthew's path. No.

We've just got to help him and

support him. OK, all right.

He's doing his homework at the

moment. Mm-hmm.

Well, that's good, you see? Well.

Yes, I mean,

as long as he's doing it. Yeah.

I mean, if he... Would you mind if I

just had a little look,

'cause I can see through? I just want

to see that he's still...

Don't worry so much about him,

he'll be OK. No, I'm just checking.

It's OK, it's OK. Sorry, it's just a

bit of a stressful night. I mean...

HE CHUCKLES

You know, you can imagine. I understand.

Sorry, it's very boring going on

about children the whole time.

HE COUGHS

Does this actually come off or...?

Ever?

This thing.

POLE FALLS

CLATTERING

It's not about wanting to,

it's the fact that we can.

We have time, we can do something.

We can...

build something.

We've got possibilities, you know?

We should do it while we can.

We've been here so long.

There's no children,

there's nothing to stop us doing it.

We can do what we want.

THUNDER ROLLS

OK.

Try and enjoy the house while

you can. Yep.

OK?

Watch out for the phantom pisser.

BOILER HUMS AND CLANKS

ALARM ARMS

BOILER HUMS AND CLANKS

THUD

THUD

DULL RATTLE

VAGUE COMMOTION OUTSIDE

WOMAN SCREAMS

BANG

SOMEONE POUNDS ON A DOOR

ALARM SOUNDS

DOG BARKS

ALARM STOPS

CLATTERING UPSTAIRS

SHE JOGS UPSTAIRS

PEOPLE LAUGH AND TALK

PHONE RINGS

TOOTHBRUSH BUZZES

TOOTHBRUSH BUZZES

Well, there is some regret.

I mean, there's two things. There's

the nostalgia, really. Mm.

Regret maybe is a bit strong. Mm.

But there's the nostalgia.

I mean, if I had to make the

decision again, I probably

would have done what I've done. Oh.

But the nostalgia is

a permanent factor... Yeah.

...of making such a huge move.

But I can't imagine... All

those maintenance factors

will be the same wherever you are.

Exactly.

I live in a cabin here and it was

only yesterday that I

finished all the maintenance,

and the cabin's only

six metres by three.

Yeah. You know, there's always going

to be maintenance, even if it's a

tiny place, there's

going to be maintenance.

And, you know, the original

architects, they stayed here

until they were in their 80s.

They had a very happy marriage here.

I feel it's in the walls, you know.

Oh, did they?

Yeah, the house has recorded,

you know, this happy,

long happy marriage from the...

Oh, gorgeous.

You know, from the building of the

house till their 80s, yeah. Yeah.

HEAVY CONSTRUCTION

CAR HORN TOOTS

Me ol' mate, what's up?

What's going on?

That's my car there. What's up?

Come on. What's up, mate?

What are you doing? I'm parking here.

I'm waiting for a bit of paint to come down.

Private. It don't

look private to me, mate.

Public. Private.

Yeah, I know, but it just...

This is everyone else's bit...

There's nothing up there saying...

...and this is my bit. Can you go in?

H, can you go inside? Your bit.

No, this,

nothing says this is private.

Looks like the back of a shop to me.

Look!

It's context, right?

Building. Yeah.

This is everyone else's bit.

What's going on? I don't understand.

This is driving me nuts. I'm going

to be here five minutes, that's all.

Just, look, just go inside. He'll

move it. I'll get him to move it.

Five minutes.

Can't do it now.

You know what? I'm going to put some

big gates up here...

That's what I would do... and write

"fuck off" across them.

I'd put gates all the way along here

and that way you won't get

this problem, will ya?

Can't move it now, can you?

No, I can't move it, I'm waiting for

some paint. H, just...

Move it, move it. No, I can't.

I'm going to pop over there, get the

paint and just come back, all right?

Move it, move it. Got the picture?

Got the picture? Move it.

Fuck off, fucker.

You're so aggressive. Fucker.

Where you going?

I'm just moving the car.

THUMPING UPSTAIRS

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

INTERCOM BEEPS

Hi.

'Hi.

'What are you doing?'

Just working.

'Uh-huh.'

Just working.

'Want to come upstairs?'

I can't at the moment. Maybe later.

'Uh-huh.

'Well, you won't feel like it then,

will you?'

HE HANGS UP

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

THUDDING

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

Mm-hm.

She's not moving.

Just do it.

I know, I know. I want you to get...

Hey, hey, I want to play.

Do you want to play first? Nope.

No?

Suppose it's too fast?

Hm? I like it fast.

And, you know...

I can't with-with, eh...

...with like, eh, just a-a-a body.

You know?

Hm?

Are they scared of getting

too close to it?

No, no,

it's got nothing to do with that.

Lazy?

Perhaps they want you to say it

so they don't look stupid.

No, I'm not doing that.

I'm not going to tell them.

It's not my job to classify

myself or tell people...

Describe to people what species I'm

part of or what subset,

you know, of waterfowl I am.

See what I mean? Mm. Every artist

gets that. No, they don't.

It's really...it's

particular to now.

It's a unique problem now.

It's not an old problem.

It is, every artist, every musician

always gets asked, you know,

"Where do you fit in?

Define yourself."

I don't know why you're making such

a fuss about it.

Sounds like you're on her side.

Well, just think you're lucky to

have people write about you

and are interested in your ideas and

they want to talk to you

because they think you're...

interesting.

And, uh, they want to engage with

you and that's...

...that's a nice position to be in.

Maybe it's something else. Maybe...

...you're unhappy about

something else.

'Cause you've dealt with that

so many times.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

INTERCOM BEEPS

Hi.

'I love you.'

PASSING CAR PLAYS HEAVY BASS

I don't think there's anything

really wrong with him.

You've got to give him a little...

We've just got to be very careful.

This is a difficult...it's

a very tricky stage. Very hard.

I mean, to be honest, I was all over

the place as a teenager.

So, I'm just very,

very wary. Oh, I see.

I'm just... A-ha, aah. Maybe we

should go to the party. Well...

I know what you mean, I know what

you mean and, you know, yes,

but he's just not quite ready for

that kind of stuff.

He's just not. You can't write

him...

And now it's just... One has

to be so careful.

You can't write him out an ASBO or

something, keep him...

Well, it's just much heavier and

there are these kids with knives.

Just fascinating,

seeing it from the other side.

Yes, you won't have seen

it from the other way.

Are we in? What are we doing?

NEIGHBOUR LAUGHS

You are funny, aren't you?

We're thinking.

Yes, it's lovely actually,

just seeing the sort of...

That used to terrify me as a kid,

the idea of knocking on the

door and he would answer the

door or something. Mm.

It was one of those things.

Oh. So, you sure you really want to

sell? It's a doppelganger thing.

Beg your pardon?

You really want to sell? Uh, yeah.

I mean, it's such a stunning place.

I just dream of living there myself.

You say that, but who would want to

live...? It's very odd.

Sorry, I'm not being rude but it is

odd. It's a fantastic place.

It's not, it's... Do you want to put

in an offer?

I wish I could but on my minimal

legal aid barrister salary,

unfortunately I'm not able... No, it

wouldn't be, it's not a family home.

Sorry, I don't mean... No, no. It's

not really a family home, is it?

It's an artist's home and that's

what it's... Well, they are artists.

I mean, they belong there.

Yes, exactly, it suits them but it

wouldn't be right for us.

No, no, I'm not...

God, I feel, I feel really hot.

Ooh! What?

Are you OK? Shit.

Oh, God, right.

She's going to be fine. She's going

to be fine. What's happened?!

Leave... Hang on, hang on.

Let's have some air. Is it the food?

You can open this window

if you like. Hang on, hang on.

I'll call a doctor, yeah?

Oh, my God.

Oh, I think... D. I'm all right.

Can you stand? No, no, shall I...?

Get some water, William, for

Christ's sake. All right, all right.

I thought you were going to leave

me down there.

You can't keep doing that

kind of thing.

Why? I thought you...I thought

you'd be pleased.

No, someone's going to give you the

kiss of life if you're not careful.

SHE GIGGLES

And it's not going to be me.

I was having a good time.

I couldn't stand it any longer,

going on about their children all

the time. I just wanted to get home.

DOOR OPENS

DOOR CLOSES

Mm?

That's better.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

Hang on.

I had an idea. I had an idea.

I had an idea. You're not going out.

Hm? You're not going out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's fine.

It's too late.

No, it's good. I'll feel better.

You'll feel better too.

It's too late.

No, no, no. No. No, no, no, no.

No, you're not going out.

It's ridiculous.

It's good, it's lovely.

Don't you feel better?

Right, hang on.

No, no, no. What are you doing?!

It's fine. Where's my coat?

It's too late. It's good for you,

it's good for you.

No, no. It's good for you.

Two scarves too many.

Please...please don't go. It's good.

Please don't go out.

You'll like it. You'll be impressed.

No, I don't want you to go.

You'll be impressed.

Please, please, please don't go.

No, no, no, you'll be impressed.

No, no, no, no.

No, no, no. I really worry.

No, no. Look, look,

let me get my shit together.

It reminds me...

Look at...look, how do I look?

No, please don't go out. I beg you.

It's going to be fun. It's fun.

No, I'm going to really worry,

please. No, no, no.

It's too dangerous, you know,

it reminds me of what...

It's not dangerous. Come on,

let's look at it.

Look at everyone who's out there. Look,

it reminds me of what happened before.

No-one's watching.

Come on. Let's go.

Please, please. No, no, no,

it's fine. It's nice, it's lovely.

Please. Look at it.

It's really nice.

CAR ALARM SOUNDS

CAR HORN TOOTS

Yeah, just...just don't worry about

me. Go back to work.

CAR ALARM SOUNDS

CHURCH BELLS AND TRAFFIC MINGLE

HELICOPTER WHIRS

SHE BREATHES SHAKILY

SNAP

STOOL SLIDES

INTERCOM BEEPS

Yeah?

'Hi.

'Um...'

What?

What are we doing tonight?

I'm...I'm working at the moment.

'Uh-huh.'

SHE HANGS UP

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

SHE BREATHES SHAKILY

DOOR CLOSES

FOOTSTEPS FADE

PEOPLE TALK LOUDLY

OUTSIDE: Fucking fuck!

FUCKER!

CAR STARTS

SOMEONE RUNS PAST

SIRENS WAIL

SHE BREATHES NERVOUSLY

CAR ALARM SOUNDS

TRAFFIC PASSES NOISILY

SIRENS APPROACH

SIRENS AND SHOUTING

OUTSIDE: Get off me!

KNOCKING

CHORUS OF SIRENS

SHE DIALS A NUMBER

VEHICLE MOVES OFF

PHONE RINGS

DOOR OPENS

DOOR CLOSES

HE SNORES SOFTLY

SHE STIRS

SHE BREATHES DEEPLY

SHE BREATHES RAGGEDLY

REMOTE CONTROL CAR BUZZES

SHE KNOCKS

H?

Are you OK in there?

'What?'

Are you OK?

You sure you're all right?

DULL METALLIC SCRAPING

'Stop worrying about me.'

MUSIC PLAYS OUTSIDE

PASSING SHOUTS

PASSING FOOTSTEPS

DREAMY CHIMES

DRESS RUSTLES

DOORBELL CHIMES

Just them. Yeah?

DOORBELL CHIMES

Come on.

Oop. Oh, hi, hi. Hello.

Come in. Good to see you again.

And you. Hiya. Hi.

Hello. Glad to see you.

Good to see you. Welcome back.

Hi. Hello, how are you?

Good to see you. Yeah, good.

Right. OK, can you take your shoes

off, please? We forgot.

Oh, of course. Yeah.

There we go. OK, great. Thanks.

Thanks.

Up until you exchange contracts,

it's completely up to you and nobody

has to know why you're refusing to

sell to them specifically.

Um, we'll...and we're pretty

sharp at keeping

a beady eye out for developers.

Even developers disguised as

domestic buyers. Mm. Mm.

Can it be in a contract even to say,

you know,

they won't pull the building down?

It's hard to stipulate that and you

risk alienating buyers at the

point of sale. Mm.

Um, but you'll get

a very... You'll have an instinct.

As soon as people walk into the

house, you'll have

a very clear instinct of their taste

and if they fall in love with

the house as it is. People

start talking about what they

would do to the house. "This is

where... Oh, I love this kitchen,

"this is what I'd do to the

bathroom." Yeah.

In a way, I can't even go there,

to start thinking what they

might do with the house.

You know, I'm going to have to

cut off emotionally and

separate, otherwise, you know,

it's going to be too hurtful.

But I don't ever want it to be

pulled down, you know.

It's important that it isn't.

You don't have to be here when

people are being shown round

if you don't want to. I mean, we can

arrange whatever's useful for you.

Mm. And we'll try and make it as

painless as we possibly can. Mm.

METALLIC SAWING SOUND

POLES FALL

Yeah, I've got a few things,

you know, ideas that I'm working on

at the moment that might be really

good, you know, to develop for that.

Yeah, but we'd have to have a...

you know, have a good talk and...

Yeah.

No, nothing this year, no.

So, you know, it's a good time to do

it really, 'cause I haven't sort

of saturated.

I haven't been overexposed or

anything so it would be good.

Yeah.

Mm.

Mm, well, thank you very much.

Yeah, that's good to hear.

Um, yeah, because I think I've been

quite... Working quite sort of

insular in a way.

Which, you know,

is a strength, I think,

of the work as well but there comes

a time when it

has to go out and it makes you...not

so much to be seen but, yeah,

makes me reassess what I'm doing if

I let go of it sometimes.

And, uh, yeah, moves it along

so that would be brilliant.

SCAFFOLDER SHOUTS

Yeah, that's very exciting, yeah.

That's a very exciting prospect.

Mm.

OK, so, shall I wait for an e-mail

for you, or...? Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm, absolutely.

That's...yeah, really exciting.

Great.

Thanks very much.

Bye.

INTERCOM BEEPS

'Hello.'

Do you still love me?

'Oh, of course. What kind of a

question's that? Of course I do.

'Did that just arrive

out of the blue?'

Sort of.

'What's the problem?'

Nothing.

'You sure?'

Yeah.

Just-just needed to know.

'Uh-huh.'

OK.

Talk to you later.

'OK.'

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

THUMPING OVERHEAD

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

CAR ALARM SOUNDS

MUFFLED ALARM SOUND

ALARM FADES

'40s STYLE DANCE MUSIC

BELL TOLLS

Maybe this is one aspect of the work

that you're capable of

putting into people's minds.

A critical and analytical

framework, that otherwise they

wouldn't have, yet you do it without

being overly didactic or telling

them exactly how to behave or think.

And I have to say, I spend

a lot of time nowadays when I'm

looking at certain situations, I'm

brought back to your work somehow.

It stays with me, it haunts me,

it somehow... It feeds my...

It works as a road map to

try and unpack

a lot of these kind of psychological

aspects of the domestic that

are normally quite hard to reach.

When you're working on something

yourself, are you...?

What are you

responding to most profoundly?

Is it the place itself or is it the

things that come from your

private life that somehow find

their way into the work?

It's ridiculous if you get to the

point where you're not even

prepared to say anything at all. It

makes me feel I'm missing something

or that I just a...happen to be

there at the same time as you.

I have no other purpose.

I know, but it's funny because you

say that about my work,

but actually I find you very

withholding emotionally

and you never talk about your

emotions or what you're feeling.

That's a construct,

it's not a... People are different.

Some people do, some people don't.

Well, some people talk about their

work, some people don't.

Right, right. Well, then it's fine,

it doesn't bother me really.

Can just... You just said it did.

It bothers me a little bit but I'm

curious and I support it,

but I'm also... I feel that

there's this barrier.

I can be useful to you. I can be

useful. I'm not completely...

But the thing is... ...useless.

I...

I don't want your input,

I don't want your judgment, I don't

want your ideas, I don't want your

cleverness because it derails me.

Then what-what's...

what am I doing then, in the end?

I'm just sort of a... I'm company.

Yeah. Or something.

Yeah, you're my companion.

BEEPING

CHAIR ROLLS

HE HUMS

BOILER HUMS AND CLANKS

HE HUMS

SHE JOINS IN

CHEERFUL '40s STYLE MUSIC

HE LAUGHS

HE LAUGHS

# King was in the counting house

# The counting house

# Counting his money

# Wearing an artful grin

# The Queen began to plead then roar

# And cried once more

# "Unlock this door!"

# The King replied, "Shan't,

I'm busy, you can't come in.

# "When you were eating honey then

you made me wait, it's true.

# "For your housekeeping money,

you..." #

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

INTERCOM BEEPS

Hello.

'I'm cold.' You're cold?

'Mm...freezing.'

Why don't you put

a coat on or something?

'I've got a jumper on.'

Put another one on.

'Mm.'

You don't feel cold?

'No, no, I'm not cold but maybe,

I mean, I've been run...you know...

'I haven't been thinking about it.

'Are you trying to tell me

something?'

Mm.

'Do you want me to go and

look at the boiler?'

Wouldn't mind.

'OK.

'I'll stop what I'm doing

and do that.'

OK.

HE HANGS UP

CHAIR ROLLS OVERHEAD

FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS

The Chans are a family but they were

worried about actually

selling to a family

because it's so...

Yeah, they don't have any children

so I suppose they're worried it's

not very child friendly.

Right, well, that's what I'm here to

sort of have a look at. Yeah.

OK. Yeah. As you know they've got

three young children. Yes.

And, with the parents, that's five

people all on the top floor

so I'd be interested to, you know,

work our way through the house, but

perhaps we should start down here.

Absolutely. How can we help you?

What do you want to see?

Well, there's two key things I'd

like to look at.

One is the lift and the lift car in

relation to the lift shaft,

just to see how much space there is,

'cause it looks like here there's quite

a lot of space.

OK.

Oh, right, well...

So, it's a pretty small car within

what looks like quite

a big lift shaft itself.

Yeah, I don't know how many, um...

Quite a thin wall, yeah. Yep.

'Are you happy with everything

you've seen down here?

'Yep, sure. Yeah.

'Um, oh, shoes off, everybody.

Oh, yes, of course. Sorry.

'It's one of the house rules.

'The balustrade is very open and

these days you need to have

'a gap of not more than

four inches only.

'So, it would be nice to preserve

that but provide the safety

'that we do need for a family house.

'Especially with children, yeah.

'Yeah, exactly.'

CHURCH BELLS TOLL

PASSING CAR PLAYS BASS

HEAVY TRAFFIC

Met someone I really liked,

really attracted to him.

And he asked me about my work and

he talked about my work and...

he really listened and

he really got it.

Uh...

Oh, then we were running down

a corridor...

Stone steps,

laughing.

I loved the sound of his voice.

Could've listened to it forever.

SHE CRIES QUIETLY

SHE CONTINUES CRYING

SHE SNIFFS

Hey.

SHE SOBS QUIETLY

LOUD TRAFFIC

Hi. Hiya. How are you?

Good, thanks. Hello, how are you?

How's it going? All right, a bit

cold. Cold? Yeah. I didn't dress up.

Cup of tea to get you warm?

I wouldn't mind, I wouldn't mind,

but I've got to get home. OK.

All right. Well, I won't keep you.

You might want to pop in later.

See you later. See you, bye. Bye.

HER FOOTSTEPS ECHO CRISPLY

We should get the house tattooed on

my back. What do you think?

THEY LAUGH

Good idea?

You'd better get me tattooed if

you're getting the house.

If I get you tattooed standing in

the window of the house.

And then if things don't

work out I can always tattoo

a curtain over you and then tattoo

someone else into another window.

THEY LAUGH

You're such...

You're such trouble. It's funny,

it's not funny. No, it's not funny.

WATER SLOSHES QUIETLY

PLAYGROUND NOISE

CONTINUOUS BEEPING

ECHOING AND OVERLAPPING: Hi, what do

you want to do later? I...

Stay in on or go out? I don't really

know what you mean. What you doing?

What you doing? Uh, writing.

We'll have children in here one day,

won't we? Mm-hm.

Exactly. We'll be perfect.

You know, sometimes I get the

feeling you'd rather be at home.

I don't want to tell you,

it'll spoil it. OK. Course.

What do you want to do later,

stay in or go out? What's wrong?

Mm, nothing. When you were away...

Uh-huh. I missed you so much.

Really? 2036 probably.

When's your next...hm-hm.

WATER SLOSHES

It's all sugar. Shall we do it?

Yeah.

Ahem, we're going to cut the...cut

the house as it were.

We're going to break the house.

And I know a lot of you have been

here over the years and it's been,

uh, great and we've had such good times,

and other people are new here.

And, you know,

we thought it'd be a good way to...

I don't know, what would you say,

celebrate?

No. Commiserate? Say goodbye. Good

way to say goodbye. Say goodbye.

So, shall we do it? Yep.

THEY LAUGH

OK, I'm... You guide it though.

You know what you're doing? No.

THEY LAUGH

GUESTS GASP

GUESTS LAUGH AND CHEER

There you go.

There's got to be something in

there. Oh, there goes the bathroom.

THEY LAUGH

OK. Try a bit? Tear a bit off.

Tear a bit off. Absolutely,

a bit of wall. Fantastic.

Oh, it's delicious.

Mm, hang on, I'm going to try and...

Get into the cake bit.

I'm going to try and cut some

properly at the same time.

Who wants the bed? Yeah, the bed.

Hang on a second.

Where's that other knife?

There. Here.

There you go.

H, I can't get through it.

Anyone want a tree?

Broccoli, anyone?

Bit of broccoli. H, you do it.

Yeah, I'll have a go.

I never liked that small

room anyway.

Yeah, we should've knocked

those walls down.

Oh, my God, it looks like a squat.

GUESTS LAUGH

TAPE TEARS

I got a call from Susan Shalabi

about doing a show. Really?

Uh-huh. Yeah. Are you serious?

THEY CHUCKLE

That's good.

Did she do the funny voice

thing she does?

We had a good chat, yes.

It was really good.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Wow.

An exhibition? Mm.

Excellent.

And you can do anything you want,

right?

Yeah, yeah.

Just left it open for... It was just

completely into what I do and...

Uh-huh. ...very open, yeah.

So, when's the exhibition

going to be?

Um, towards the end of next year.

Completely alone, no-one else?

Perfect.

So, you happy now?

HE LAUGHS

Happy and scared. Yeah?

It's nothing to be scared of.

I mean, it's perfect. Yeah.

Don't you think?

Well, I was thinking of doing...

Um, you know, a mixture of

performance and drawings but

the work to be ongoing

throughout the...

the time I'm there. So,

the whole exhibition would be that?

Mm, with no end in sight. Would just

keep changing through the whole thing?

Yeah, yeah. Good idea. Every day

would be something different. Mm-hm.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

And I'd, I sort of, you know,

improvise and make mistakes

and take wrong turns and it would

all be there for all to see.

Right, and normal gallery hours or

do you try and keep it open later?

No, normal, I think.

It's really good.

Did you tell her all that or

not yet? No.

Interesting. We sort of talked

around it. I said a few things,

probably a bit too much.

I don't think you can say too much.

It's fine, it's good.

You know, when someone offers you an

exhibition like that,

it's kind of commitment, you know?

That means they believe in the work

and that they want to show it

and that, um...

It's fine, you don't have to think

about anything else.

It gives you freedom to work,

in a way, maybe. Mm.

Or to think at least.

COMPLETE SILENCE

HEAVY TRAFFIC

BIRDS SING

CAR RUSHES PAST

'40s STYLE DANCE MUSIC

King Was In The Counting House

by Al Bowlly

# The king was in the counting house

# The counting house

# Counting his money

Wearing an artful grin

# The queen began to plead then roar

And cried once more

# "Unlock this door!"

# The king replied, "Shan't,

I'm busy, you can't come in."

# When you were eating honey

# Then you made me wait this through

# For your housekeeping money

# You can wait

Like I had to wait for you

# The king was in the counting house

# The counting house

# So the butcher and baker

Had to take IOUs. #

The case against you is too strong.

It's not a question of whether

you'll be found guilty, but when.

I am a gentleman.

I am a gentleman's wife.

Soon to be a gentleman's widow.

In truth, I would do the same again.