Catastrophe Practice by Nicholas Mosley

the Four, right. Bert speaks as if with increasing difficulty —
BERT
A man, on his honeymoon found he wanted his wife to die. The child that was then conceived became a danger to its mother —
    He stops
.
    There is a long silence
.
    Then Bert speaks with a hand over his eyes
.
    You’re in some sort of trouble, can I help you?
    After a time the Four realise he is talking to them
.
WALDORF
We want to get out —
BERT
You can’t —
SMUDGER
Why not —
BERT
My men are outside —
    Harry has been watching the Hostess
.
    Bert speaks with increasing confidence
.
    You should have been at the control tower this morning. They thought it was a game, but it was not.
GEORDIE
What happened?
BERT
They were shot.
    The Barman, behind the bar, takes a dust sheet and throws it over the machine, the lights of which have gone out
.
GEORDIE
I’m going —
WALDORF
You can’t —
NORBERT
Why not —
SMUDGER
You should have been at the control tower this morning —
    The Hostess goes out through the gothic door, left
.
    Harry takes the table, left, and turns it on its side. Then he takes the three chairs and puts them this way and that on the table, as if he were constructing a shelter
.
BERT
Up to now men have been able to die —
HARRY
Now they cannot.
    Harry stands back and looks at his shelter
.
    Bert takes his hand from his eyes
.
BERT
Johnny —
HARRY
Yes?
BERT
Don’t jump —
    Harry goes to the table, right, and takes it to build up his shelter
.
    Your old grandmother, in Australia, has a message for you —
    Harry puts the table on top of his shelter
.
    â€” You might hit a little doggie in the road.
HARRY
Oh really!
    He stands back and surveys his tower, or shelter
.
BERT
I could have given you an address —
HARRY
— What would have been the colour of her eyes, her hair —
BERT
Let it have three?
    Harry goes and collects the chairs from where the table was, right, and makes his shelter more solid
.
BERT
Spit then —
HARRY
Spit?
    Harry goes to the front of the stage and looks at the curtain which is stretched along by the footlights
.
BERT
A bird, a camel —
    Harry takes hold of the curtain and drags it to his shelter. He tries, with difficulty, to throw it over the structure to form a roof like that of a nomad’s tent. It floats. At the third attempt he succeeds in getting it over the shelter. He walks round, tucking it in at the base
.
    Bert, by the footlights, puts his hand to his eyes. He rubs them. Then he takes his hands from his eyes: blinks. It is as if he can see
.
    Harry stops by him
.
HARRY
A miracle?
BERT
A coincidence —
HARRY
One or two.
BERT
Get through.
    Smudger speaks from the back loudly —
SMUDGER
What is he, schizo?
BERT
Yes, he thinks that everything in the world exists for him and he can save it.
WALDORF
Isn’t that a contradiction?
BERT
No, I’ve often found selfishness goes with altruism.
    Bert is watching the audience
.
    Harry has finished arranging his shelter. It is like a nomad’s tent. He walks round it
.
HARRY
I sometimes think nothing has ever happened. No one has been raped, or driven into a ravine. Two football teams have run on to the field of play and have run straight off again. An alderman has waited on the steps of a guildhall for lunch —
    The Char calls from the bar —
CHAR
And the long jump. How do you do the long jump?
HARRY
You have a run. A take-off board. Then you wiggle your feet in the air —
CHAR
And the discus. How do you do the discus?
    Geordie suddenly goes to the gothic door, left, and goes out
.
    They wait
.
    The Barman has been putting away bottles and glasses behind the bar
.
    Harry murmurs —
HARRY
— Furry friends will visit me. Dancing girls in red and brown —
    Then Geordie comes in again at the gothic door, left. When he sees the scene it is as if he had not expected it. He looks back the way he has come. Then he comes into the room leaving the