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    Table
    Table
    Table
    Ebook148 pages1 hour

    Table

    By Tanya Ronder

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Six generations, twenty-three characters one very special piece of furniture. Tanya Ronder's thrilling play is an epic tale of belonging, identity and the things we pass on.
    Table was the first play to be staged in The Shed, a temporary venue at the National Theatre, London, to celebrate original, ambitious and unexpected theatre. It premiered in April 2013 in a production directed by Rufus Norris.
    'Highly inventive and often touching' Telegraph
    'Tremendous... richly textured' Guardian
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNick Hern Books
    Release dateMay 16, 2013
    ISBN9781780012308
    Table
    Author

    Tanya Ronder

    Tanya Ronder is a celebrated playwright who trained at RADA and spent fourteen years working as an actress before turning to writing. Her 2007 adaptation of DBC Pierre's Booker Prize-winning novel, Vernon God Little, was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Play as well as a What's On Stage Award for Best New Comedy and was revived by the Young Vic in 2011 as part of their anniversary season. In 2009, she adapted JM Barrie's much-loved children's book, Peter Pan, which played to critical acclaim at Kensington Gardens' twelve hundred seat tent and then moved to the O2 for Christmas before touring America. It toured again in the summer of 2014. Her original plays include Table, which opened to critical acclaim in the Shed at the National Theatre in 2013, and F*ck the Polar Bears, which premiered at The Bush Theatre, London, in 2015. Other credits include Liolà which opened at the National Theatre's Lyttelton in 2013 and Dara which opened in January 2015, again in the Lyttelton.

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      Book preview

      Table - Tanya Ronder

      Tanya Ronder

      TABLE

      NICK HERN BOOKS

      London

      www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

      Contents

      Title Page

      Author’s Note

      Original Production

      A Family Tree

      Characters and Settings

      Table

      About the Author

      Copyright and Performing Rights Information

      Author’s Note

      This play was developed with the support of the National Theatre Studio, evolving through workshops with director Rufus Norris. The following actors took part in the workshops: Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Jamie Ballard, Clare Burt, Daniel Cerqueira, Chipo Chung, Rosalie Craig, Jonathan Cullen, Joseph Drake, Katie Fleetwood, Ian Gelder, Harry Hadden-Paton, Paul Hilton, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Jenny Jules, Rory Kinnear, Martina Laird, Penny Layden, Lyndsey Marshal, Andrew Maud, Itxaso Moreno, Sarah Niles, Lauren O’Neil, Matthew Pidgeon, Jessica Raine, Maggie Service, Michael Shaeffer, Sharon Small, Rebecca Sutherland and Sophie Wu. Table is full of moments inspired by the above.

      The following script was created for the first production of Table, which opened The Shed at the National Theatre in April 2013. Some of the stage directions reflect the set created for that space, where the table was mounted on a large, low platform, surrounded by audience on three sides. At the back there was another long, thin platform, with chairs. This enabled us to use different playing areas at the same time, allowing ‘ghosting’ of different time-frames, or the resonance of an ancestor passing through, or simply providing an off-stage space. Another production can, of course, find different solutions. Likewise, the hymns and music noted are the choices used for this production, they’re not imperatives.

      Tanya Ronder

      Table was first performed in The Shed at the National Theatre, London, on 12 April 2013 (previews from 9 April), with the following cast:

      A Family Tree

      Characters and Settings

      LICHFIELD, STAFFORDSHIRE, 1898–1946

      DAVID BEST

      ELIZABETH, David’s wife

      FINLEY, David and Elizabeth’s son

      MARGARET FOWLER, Finley’s neighbour / wife

      ALBERT (II), Finley and Margaret’s son (twin)

      SARAH, Finley and Margaret’s daughter (twin)

      VERONIQUE

      TANGANYIKA, AFRICA, 1950–1957

      SARAH, already listed above

      HOPE, a nun

      BABETTE, a nun

      RUTH, a nun

      MOTHER SUPERIOR

      JACK HOLMAN, big-cat hunter

      GIDEON, Sarah’s son

      HEREFORDSHIRE, 1964–1981

      SARAH, already listed above

      GIDEON, already listed above

      JACK, already listed above

      JULIAN, founder member of commune

      ORION, founder member of commune

      STACEY, founder member of commune

      AISHA, daughter of commune

      BARBARA, daughter of commune

      CHRIS, commune member

      JESS, commune member

      MICHELLE WISEMAN, Gideon’s wife

      ANTHONY, Gideon and Michelle’s son

      SOUTH LONDON, 2013

      MICHELLE, already listed

      ANTHONY, already listed

      GIDEON, already listed

      SU-LIN, Anthony’s daughter

      Note on Text

      A forward slash (/) in the text indicates where the next character starts speaking, overlapping current speech.

      The story takes place in four time frames: Lichfield 1898–1946, Tanganyika 1950–1957, Herefordshire 1964–1981 and South London 2013.

      At the National Theatre, we used a cast of nine, but the cast size could be different in another production.

      Acknowledgements

      Thank you to Lucian Msamati for his Swahili translations and song, and to Tom Bompa Harding for ‘Oh Jemima, where’s your Uncle Jim...’

      T.R.

      This text went to press before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

      FIRST HALF

      Part One

      A room with a substantial wooden table in it. London, 2013. SU-LIN (nine) and GIDEON (sixty-one) stand and look at it from afar.

      SU-LIN. I hate this table, or should I not say that?

      GIDEON. It’s yours, you can say what you like.

      SU-LIN. It’s not mine.

      GIDEON. It will be.

      SU-LIN. I don’t want it. I’m going to buy a big glass one from Ikea.

      GIDEON. What’ll you do with this?

      SU-LIN. Freecycle? It’s mank.

      GIDEON. Why?

      SU-LIN. Look at it, it’s all cacked-up.

      GIDEON. What’s cacked it up, though?

      SU-LIN. What do you mean?

      GIDEON. Pick a cack-up, any cack-up.

      SU-LIN. What?

      GIDEON. Want to see a coffin scratch?

      SU-LIN. Is that the big one?

      GIDEON. It’s not, no, nobody knows how that one happened.

      SU-LIN. That one, then?

      She points. He shakes his head.

      GIDEON. Leopard claws.

      SU-LIN. Not true.

      GIDEON. True.

      SU-LIN. What’s that from?

      GIDEON. Mad nun’s nails.

      SU-LIN. That pale bit?

      GIDEON. Bleach. Or possibly urine.

      SU-LIN. Urgh.

      She indicates a new patch.

      That?

      GIDEON. Heartburn.

      SU-LIN. Those?

      GIDEON. That’s a thump, and that’s a joke gone wrong.

      SU-LIN. That?

      DAVID (twenty-six) appears in a woodworker’s apron.

      GIDEON. Bits of flour from five thousand loaves of bread.

      SU-LIN. That?

      GIDEON. What, the sparkly bits?

      SU-LIN. Which sparkly bits?

      GIDEON. Tiny shards from twenty-seven million boring conversations.

      SU-LIN. This?

      GIDEON. Prayers.

      SU-LIN. Prayers?

      SU-LIN moves off. Lichfield, 1898. DAVID, a perfectionist, inspects the table with his thumb and fingers, ensuring every inch is entirely smooth. He is mirrored by GIDEON.

      GIDEON slides underneath the table, touching it from beneath. He sings to himself.

      GIDEON (singing).

      Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

      Forgive our foolish ways

      Re-clothe us in our rightful mind

      In purer lives thy service find

      In deeper reverence praise

      In deeper reverence praise.

      DAVID takes off his apron, puts it away. He attaches a buttonhole to his dark jacket. A door opens. There is a spill of light.

      ELIZABETH. Hello, husband.

      DAVID turns to see his bride. He goes to pick her up.

      DAVID. Hello, missus. Welcome home.

      He carries her in.

      ELIZABETH (seeing the table). What’s that

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