Acts of dissension how political theatre has been presented in the past and what strategies the playwright can employ to make issues of radical or alternative politics more accessible to a mainstream theatre aud

PIKE: Maybe I just think you’re an arse hole.. MANDY: There have been riots on campus before so it’s not like its new, but there was something about it, something about the way the new g

Character Breakdown

Pike Mid to late twenties, low level officer worker Opinionated and filled with

vague, half formed ideas of anti-American, anti-globalisation politics Believes that there is something very wrong with the society he lives in but can not accurately identify what it is This results in him being quick tempered and short with his loved ones This unfocused anger becomes something much more dangerous after he returns from his disappearance

Mandy Pike’s Girlfriend Early twenties Studying at University Smart, caring

and intelligent, she is better informed about the world than she lets on From her view point at the university she sees the growing persecution of dissenting ideas and can interpret the changes happening in the world around them but does not want to believe that it could be possible In reaction she shuts down emotionally and tries to pretend that she doesn’t see what is happening to try and protect herself and just “get by.” After Pike’s disappearance she focuses her worry on looking after Pike’s Mum

to distract herself from the growing fear She keeps a diary of the events

as they are occurring

Mum Pike’s mother In her late fifties A housewife and mother, retired from

work Pike’s Mum has internalised the new value set of the risen government Pike’s Mum is of a generation which believes in authority and law, that those in power are acting in the best interest of the people they rule and that the media are scrupulously honest In response to the contradiction between her beliefs and the world as it is around her, she refuses to see that any thing is wrong This reaction becomes even

stronger after Pike’s disappearance as she turns to the state sponsored Hilltop church to provide comfort and stability

Guards The guards are all members of the New Guard, an extra-judiciary vigilante

group which patrols the streets of the suburbs The New Guard would have been the fascist paramilitary group that supported the rise to power of the new totalitarian regime Operating outside the law while claiming to enforce it, they function as ever present reminders of the ultimate power of authority and reinforce the population’s fear of violence and persecution Some of the guards will be average people trying to survive in frightening times, others will be brutish thugs looking for an outlet for their frustrations and powerlessness and still others will be cruel sociopaths looking to exercise their darker desires There are several guards throughout the script so it would be good to see a range of characterisations

A note on performance from the Author:

Pornography: The True Confessions of Mandy Lightspeed is a dystopic fantasy set in a

“not too distant” future in which a totalitarian government takes control of an Australia The main events of the play’s history take place in the back ground of the personal lives

of our main characters and we only see their effects on the lives of the main characters Pornography is an attempt to capture how the revolution may look from the suburbs of Australia The sense of the growing oppression should be constantly present in the interaction between the characters They’re actions should all have a sense of muted shock or whispered urgency

Throughout the play there have been included several elements which exist in modern society at the date of publication, and which have been exaggerated for effect to act the tools of the unnamed totalitarian government Examples of these elements include the Smart Card, the Hilltop church and the anti-terrorism laws These are not meant to be examined in great detail

The central idea of the play is that the actions Pike takes in response to his torture and the rise of totalitarianism are of course terrorist in nature However, because we see the story through his eyes we are at least tempted to identify with them, demonstrating some of the methods of coercion which have been used fascist and totalitarian regimes in the past As this is a dystopic fantasy it will work best if the audience is on familiar narrative ground,

in this case, the political thriller from the point of view of the anti-hero/vigilante

Act 1

1

(The space is empty The work lights are on Dvorjak’s Symphony for the

New World plays softly An ABC Radio announcer begins to be heard over the top.)

RADIO: It’s quarter past eleven and as I promised last night a little later we’ll

complete our broadcast of the BBC’s special report into happiness Before that however we’re taking you into midnight with Dvorjak’s Symphony from the New World

(From the fly tower a tear gas canister falls into the space spiralling

smoke out its tail and filling the space The workers shut off and the space

is plunged into darkness as the sound of a riot blares to life The riot noise continues as the lights come up and the smoke clears revealing PIKE being interviewed for a new job The interviewer is GUARD ONE MANDY is in a separate space on the stage, reading into a handheld Dictaphone.)

MANDY: The weirdest thing happened today at Uni

PIKE: It’s been kinda a long time since I did this so…

GUARD 1: That’s fine that’s fine Relax, there’s nothing to be afraid about

PIKE: I didn’t say I was afraid

GUARD 1: So how long have you been without work?

PIKE: I’m not without work, I’m a writer

GUARD 1: Then why are you here?

PIKE: Writing doesn’t pay enough

GUARD 1: So why are you doing it?

PIKE: Because one day I hope that it will

GUARD 1: What if it never does…

PIKE: I’m sorry, these are really personal questions Whatever happened to…

MANDY: There was some kind of serious thing going on in the union hall Cops

came and everything

PIKE: …describe your most difficult customer and what you did to rectify the

situation I’ve got a million of ‘em made up

MANDY: No, not a protest as such Haven’t been many of those on campus since

last year when the magazine editors got taken to court Might be more now though People are starting to get wired…

GUARD 1: We don’t actually use that method any more This is a new development

in job placement strategy from the states It’s protodisciplinary

PIKE: That’s not even a word

GUARD 1: I take it you’re generally unhappy working in the corporate environment

PIKE: Oh, no, I love it

GUARD 1: Sarcastic and disrespectful of authority figures

PIKE: You’re an authority figure?

GUARD 1: I’m just an interviewer You don’t even remember my name However, in

our current relationship I am, yes, an authority figure You’re certainly reacting to me like I’m one

PIKE: Maybe I just think you’re an arse hole

GUARD 1: Temper Would you say you define yourself as a rebel?

MANDY: It was one of the lecturers I don’t know in what, but she looked like one,

you know? Not like a mature age student Cops though The New Guard

I think maybe the Chancellor

GUARD 1: Hostile certainly Look, to be honest, I doubt that we can find anything

you’ll be suited to

PIKE: Upon which we can both surely agree However, as you will see from my

CV, I have been doing this since before you were in your first push up bra,

so here’s how it is You charge the company you hire me out to fifty bucks Of that I get eighteen Your company makes more than fifty percent commission off my labour The way I see it, I pay you thirty two bucks a fortnight for my job, so you will get me the job I ask for I’m burnt out from working the phones I cannot stress how much I can’t go back on the phones

GUARD 1: Okay

PIKE: I’d rather not have to communicate with members of the public at all

There must be hundreds of dead head jobs, data entry, copy writing, I don’t care Something I can do without thinking and without human interaction

GUARD 1: I understand that Mr Pike but you only really have any experience in call

centre work In fact, your skills would be quite valued…

PIKE: The flip side of which is that within half an hour on the phones I will

begin flailing wildly at my co-workers with my swivel chair

MANDY: There have been riots on campus before so it’s not like its new, but there

was something about it, something about the way the new guard were when they were there…

GUARD 1: I think we’re done here

MANDY: I don’t know what this is really, a diary maybe, maybe nothing Maybe

this is all nothing I just… wanted to talk about it but it feels like something I shouldn’t say to another person Like it’d be dangerous to talk about it

PIKE: Incidentally, working for a temp agency is what happens to the popular

high school bitches too stupid to marry rich

2

MUM: Do you guys eat… you guys eat a lotta pizza right

PIKE: I dunno if I’d call it a lot

MUM: Oh once every week, some times more than that

PIKE: Rarely

MANDY: Why Mrs Pike?

MUM: Mandy, please, you can call me Joan I’m practically your mother in love

PIKE: Nobody thinks that’s cute anymore mum

MUM: I don’t mean it to be cute

MANDY: Why did you want to know if we eat a lot of pizza Joan?

MUM: Oh there’s a coupon come through the letter box for two for one pizzas

MANDY: Really, where?

PIKE: Brace yourself

MUM: That new American place

PIKE: Thank you and good night

MANDY: I dunno, maybe Pike?

PIKE: Did you take leave of your senses for a moment Mandy?

MANDY: It’s hard to know these days

PIKE: No, we don’t want two for one pizza coupons I wouldn’t eat a pizza from

there if they were offering free cheerleaders

MUM: What’s wrong with them?

PIKE: What’s… What’s wrong with them? Have you ever eaten a good pizza?

I mean really, I can understand if it’s just straight ignorance, but…

MANDY: Pike…

PIKE: Have you had a pizza from a real pizza joint? Like a family owned

business that’s been sitting on that corner in that spot for decades, named Sophia’s or something, after his wife Made by young guys who look like they could just as easily be out the back showing you the giant stereo in the back of their commodore that lights up neon blue in the dark

MUM: Those are dirty

PIKE: Cause they don’t windex their front window every morning? Cause they

don’t have a seventeen year old manager? You go to the fish and chip shop, that’s just as dirty

MUM: Oh but that’s always been like that Make your point

MUM: No

PIKE: Okay Alright Why not?

MUM: They’re expensive

PIKE: It’s like the friggn’ depression in your head Alright, what if I went and

got you a pizza from somewhere good? Would you eat it? I will pay for it

I will buy you a proper pizza so you at least can make an informed choice

MANDY: Let it go Pike

MUM: Do you have a licence for that soap box?

PIKE: You’re a slave We’re all fucking slaves

PIKE: This is how they do it THIS IS HOW THEY TAKE OVER THE DAMN

PLANET AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SEE THIS?

PIKE: It’s like the whole planet’s got Stockholm syndrome

MUM: This is what cost you your job you know

PIKE: No, I realised I was a gas chamber attendant and had to quit

MUM: A gas chamber attendant

PIKE: Forget it Forget I even mentioned it, enjoy your pizza

(MUM goes)

MANDY: Why are you being such an arsehole?

PIKE: I hope it tastes like servitude

3

(MANDY and PIKE sit outside, she is recording him with her Dictaphone

He speaks into it.)

PIKE: Like this? Okay I just think it’s a very tense time at the moment, every

body seems to be at their wits end

(PAUSE)

You know what this place is gonna be like? See that sun? See how you can see all the bugs lit up in it? Flitting around, on fire for a second and then gone somewhere else It’ll be like that

(PAUSE)

Alive with the smell of the grass and the dirt, and the herb garden behind

us, and the veggie patch over there, and the fruit trees giving off their scent and the night alive with birds bedding down Coupla ducks Sheep

or two for the wool Pig

MANDY: What are we gonna do with the compost?

PIKE: Get a bigger bin

MANDY: What’s the difference between the one under the house and that one there?

PIKE: Admitting my mother was right about that one

MANDY: Right

PIKE: Besides that one’s got a nasty vibe to it Turns whatever we put in it into

sludge Black as shit and more alive than Mum, certainly more nutritious, but does she put it in the ground? No, what does she…

MANDY: Squeals like a girl and throws it out?

PIKE: Squeals like a girl and throws it out

(They laugh PAUSE, PIKE grows distant.)

They’re not gonna know what to do hey? Most of ‘em are gonna get caught in it Whatever it is Big storm, tsunami, the water war Who knows? Could be anything next, I guess

(PAUSE)

We’ll be out in the country somewhere by then Off the grid, own power supply, own water supply, own food Be illegal by then, to have your own resources, be at war with everyone around us Standing on the roof with shot guns and homemade nail grenades, house mined for miles around with hand-built land mines

(PAUSE)

MANDY: You get your card today?

PIKE: Not yet

MANDY: You’ll get a fine

PIKE: So they’ll fine me

MANDY: You could come with me, I’m going down tomorrow for a replacement

before they start charging for them

PIKE: Replacement?

MANDY: Lost my first one already

PIKE: It’ll turn up down the back of the couch before long

MANDY: Well, then I’ll have two

PIKE: That’s illegal, isn’t it?

MANDY: Might be, haven’t read the handbook properly yet

(PAUSE)

I’m gonna go in

MANDY: You coming?

PIKE: Couple more minutes

(The sunlight fades on PIKE)

4

(The orange glow and the sound of the protest build slowly until they are

an unbearable riot At their most chaotic the noise cuts out abruptly and the lights return to normal, revealing MANDY alone on the stage speaking into her Dictaphone.)

MANDY: It’s been six months since Pike disappeared now His mum stopped being

frantic about it in august Figures he’s dead That he was one of the bodies She’s just numb now I think

(PAUSE)

When I stand here in the window, doing the dishes or dinner I catch myself watching He used to cook dinner standing here I keep expecting him to come past the window, shooing me out of the kitchen

(PAUSE)

It’s hard, yeah, but yeah, that’s the world now

5

MUM I done a good job with that garden, eh?

MANDY Yeah Yeah Could move onto something a bit more…

MUM: Yep, that looks good Lots of green, and other colours Green green

green And the sleepers, they make it look nice don’t they Bit better than all those pots Yes Much better Much, tidier That’s not important I don’t know why that’s important

(PAUSE)

MANDY You gonna fill up those holes in between, those gaps?

MUM Maria says you can’t plant ‘em too close together but I think the closer

you plant ‘em the less likely you are to get weeds Yeah But Maria says that’s the point of the activity, to weed And you can take cuttings from anywhere and spread them around the garden

(PAUSE)

What do you think Pike would have thought of this hey? You think he woulda liked the sleepers He liked it when I did that side of the garden, and then when Maria and I did the front down by the fence and showed it

to him he laughed Do you think he woulda liked it like this?

(PAUSE)

She’s got me a special rose for him that she’s got ordered from the nursery It’s getting delivered and it’s gonna go there in the center of the garden, I’ve gotta get a concrete circle to go in the ground and the rose, this rose that Maria’s ordered at the nursery will go there

(PAUSE)

It’s pretty the way it goes like that Rose rose azalea rose azalea azalea rose, rose around the corner

6

(MANDY and MUM are watching TV.)

MANDY: I can’t take this anymore, I’m gonna go down the servo and get an ice

cream or something You want something?

MUM: Now, but the news is on?

MANDY: Yeah, I know Do you?

MUM: No dear, not for me Diet

MANDY: Right, of course

MUM: Do you want to take the car?

MANDY: Think I’ll just walk

MUM: It’s nearly curfew

MANDY: I’ll be back before that

MUM: But there could be anybody…

MANDY: Not in this neighborhood

MUM: You can never be too careful That’s the whole point of the neighborhood

watch

MANDY: I thought the point of the Neighborhood Watch was to give you an excuse

to peer into each other’s gardens and see how much better off they are than you

MUM: You sound like Pike

(PAUSE)

I think you should take the car

MANDY: I’ll be okay

MUM: I worry about you, going out at night

MANDY: I’ve got my work ID We’re allowed out at night for work

MUM: You don’t think they can cross check that and see if you’re rostered on?

MANDY: I’m sure they can, I just don’t think they’ll bother I’m not going to be

breaking the law

MUM: It’s not that

MANDY: Then what?

MUM: They said the New Guard think there’s a threat in West Heidelberg

That’s very near here

MANDY: If I get into trouble I’m sure there’ll be one of them around

MUM: Look for the blue shirt

MANDY: You’re really worried aren’t you?

MUM: Well, you’re all I’ve got left now after…

MANDY: I’ll be quick I promise

MUM: Alright But promise

MANDY: I just did

MUM: Bring me back some chocolate?

MANDY: Of course What sort?

MUM: Uh, Freedom Bar, I think

MANDY: The new one?

MUM: That’s the one

MANDY: I’ll see if they’ve got any

7

(MANDY is on the street GUARD 2 approaches her.)

GUARD 2: Card

MANDY: I’m sorry?

GUARD 2: Show me your card

MANDY: It’s not curfew…

GUARD 2: It doesn’t have to be

MANDY: Alright

(She does)

GUARD 2: This is you?

MANDY: Unless I grabbed my mother in love’s by mistake

GUARD 2: Mother in Love?

MANDY: My boyfriend’s mother I live with her

GUARD 2: Not married?

MANDY: No

GUARD 2: Unusual

MANDY: Not since the fifties

GUARD 2: What’s your boyfriend think of it?

MANDY: He’s one of the missing

GUARD 2: Oh

MANDY: Everything in order then?

GUARD 2: Don’t get shirty with me love, just doin’ my job

MANDY: It’s a wonder you didn’t say duty

GUARD 2: What’s that supposed to mean?

MANDY: Nothing Can I go? It’s nearly curfew

GUARD 2: It certainly is Shouldn’t be out so close to it

MANDY: She wanted chocolate

GUARD 2: I see

MANDY: Look, I haven’t done anything wrong

GUARD 2: I didn’t say you had Mandy Lightspeed Funny name

MANDY: Glad you’re amused

GUARD 2: Strange, I mean

MANDY: I understood It’s just a name, I didn’t get a choice

GUARD 2: Sounds fake

MANDY: It’s not Check your records The Lightspeeds go a long way back

GUARD 2: Never met one

MANDY: Well most of them are dead now

GUARD 2: Look, there’s no need to be…

MANDY: I’d just like to get home

GUARD 2: Card’s getting battered You should get a new one issued

MANDY: That costs money

GUARD 2: Everything costs money Stuff you’ve got in that bag cost money

MANDY: I wanted these

GUARD 2: You didn’t want the card?

MANDY: It wasn’t on my Christmas list, no

(PAUSE)

I understand the need for it I accept it But I don’t want to buy a new one till I have to

GUARD 2: Alright Mrs Lightspeed, I’ll walk you home

MANDY: That’s not necessary

GUARD 2: Reports of dangerous individuals in the area The Guard are considering

extending the curfew in this area

MANDY: In Heidelberg?

GUARD 2: That’s right

MANDY: That’s ridiculous

GUARD 2: Can’t be too careful

MANDY: That’s the motto

GUARD 2: Come on, I can’t stand here talking all night Let’s go

(PAUSE)

MANDY: Alright, it’s further down this street

GUARD 2: Three blocks and turn left, I know, it’s on the card

8

(MANDY is silhouetted in the door to the house The lights are dim on

stage.)

MANDY: You’re not going to believe what just happened Actually you probably

are First the machine at the store wouldn’t recognize my credit card and then…

(PAUSE)

Mum, did you knock the dimmer switch again?

(MANDY turns the lights back up and reveals a battered PIKE curled up

on the floor with MUM worrying over him.)

MUM: I heard a noise at the door I thought it was you, or maybe the cat geting

into the bins again But when I opened the door…

MANDY: Pike?

MUM: He hasn’t said anything yet

MANDY: (She rushes to him) What’s wrong with him?

MUM: He was curled up in the garden outside Around the pot where I was going

to put his rose

MANDY: He’s freezing

MUM: God knows what’s happened to him I’ll call the doctor

PIKE: No

MANDY: It’s okay babe It’s okay You’re, you look like you’re in shock You’re

scratched, look he’s bleeding, get a couple of bandages

MUM: Right

MANDY: It’s okay You’re home now Look, you’re home Come on, we’ll get

you cleaned up Run you a warm bath God, you’re so cold

MUM: Here

MANDY: Okay You got any disinfectant?

MUM: Detol

MANDY: Good Where is it? Run him a bath We’ll try and bring up his core

temperature We should get him a doctor

MANDY: You really look you need a doctor babe We should make sure you’re

okay

(PIKE starts to crawl away.)

Okay okay, stop Babe? Stop No doctor We won’t call a doctor God what’s happened to him?

MUM: I don’t know I’m just glad he’s back

MANDY: Bath ready?

MUM: Won’t be long

MANDY: Alright, can you get to the bath babe or do you need me to help you?

(Nothing.)

Okay, help me lift him Come on, we’ll get you warmed up Clean some

of these cuts Are you hungry? Have you been eating? God I hate to think what you’ve been eating

9

(MANDY sits with PIKE, she has her Dictaphone out recording him.)

PIKE: I came out of work It was the late shift, finishing at eleven I remember

thinking there were more guards posted than usual Must be something going on No one said anything on the phones, though they usually don’t

I mean, they still think they’re talking to India or somewhere Hadn’t been any quieter either More calls if anything Our phone line’s been down for weeks, when are you coming to fix it, I’ve got a son with asthma, we have to be able to call a doctor in an emergency Yeah, you and everybody else lady

(PAUSE)

Guard in the elevator, guard at the end of the corridor on our floor, probably one on every floor Don’t say much those blokes Just sorta grunt at you Blue shirt and a badge Chest all puffed out with ego and testosterone Guys who weren’t fast enough for footy and too dumb to become cops Thugs paid by the corporation to protect the nerds they used

to beat up in high school Paid to protect the building at any rate Doubt the company gives a rat’s arse about us Though we are corporate property while we’re on the clock

(PAUSE)

Lift doors open and there’s this tremendous roar from outside You can hear it through the concrete Cordon of blue shirts shoulder to shoulder outside Barricades up against the doors and the windows Last time some of the protesters kicked in the glass

(PAUSE)

Dude that just got out of the lift with me says, ‘Wouldn’t bother with all this if it was me Sniper up on that building, one up there, maybe another there Pick a couple of ‘em off That’d send ‘em home.’

(PAUSE)

Show my pass to the monster stuffed into a uniform at the front The others grab me ‘You’re not gonna go out in that are you?’ How else am I supposed to get home? I’m not sleeping here in the foyer ‘We’re gonna wait a bit See if it ends soon.’ Look at that out there What is there, couple of thousand of em? They’re not going anywhere I wanna get home See the news See what this was about

(PAUSE)

One of ‘em says ‘probably petrol’ as I’m swinging out the revolving door

I don’t hear the rest cause the roar of the crowd suddenly fills the world Sky lit up orange and red and blue Police on the loud hailer telling them

to move To go home Warning them

(PAUSE)

That’s it That’s all I’ve got

MANDY: That was six months ago Where have you been since then?

10

(Knocking)

MUM: Yes? Oh

GUARD 1: Good afternoon, Ma’am No need for alarm Just a random security

check of the neighborhood

MUM: Is there something happening?

GUARD 1: We’ve had reports of suspicious activity in the neighborhood Do you

mind if we come in?

MUM: Are you police?

GUARD 1: No Ma’am, we’re New Guard Just look for the blue shirt

MUM: Yes Yes Only I’m with the neighborhood watch you see, and I thought I

might have heard something…

GUARD 1: If this were a police matter, of course Neighborhood watch? Good

Good Very important to have responsible citizens like yourself in the neighborhood

MUM: You can never be too careful What kind of suspicious activity?

GUARD 1: Broken curfew Possible unauthorized surveillance of key structures

MUM: There aren’t any key structures in Heidelberg Unless you mean the

shopping center

GUARD 1: That’s one yes, and the school, the post office There’s the telephone

exchange at the end of this street you know

MUM: I suppose there is

GUARD 1: Have you seen anything out of the ordinary lately?

MUM: No Nothing

GUARD 1: Seen anyone you don’t recognize in the area?

MUM: I don’t get out much You could ask my son’s girlfriend, she’s the active

one

GUARD 1: What’s her name?

(PAUSE)

Is there something the matter?

GUARD 1: What was your son’s name again, Ma’am?

MUM: Declan Declan Pike

GUARD 1: He’s listed as one of the missing

(PAUSE)

…is

GUARD 1: How long has he been gone for now?

GUARD 1: Mmm Is Mrs Lightspeed home at the moment?

MUM: No no she’s at work She works in the city in one of the offices

GUARD 1: Of course Could you tell her to come down to the station when she

comes home?

MUM: She’s not in any trouble is she?

GUARD 1: Just to help us with the investigation

MUM: Investigation?

GUARD 1: Do you have your smart card with you?

MUM: Of course, I keep it in my purse Hang on

GUARD 1: Of course not Just routine Have to swipe everyone we’ve spoken to

Keep it on record There we are Have a nice day Mrs Pike And remember to ask Mrs Lightspeed to pay us a visit Any time Soon as she can

11

(PIKE enters having noticed MUM leaving.)

PIKE: Where’s mum off to?

MANDY: She started going to that church out in Nunawadding When you went

missing Looking for comfort I suppose

PIKE; Hilltop?

MANDY: That’s the one

PIKE; I’ll talk to her about it

MANDY: She’s made friends there It’ss good for her Helped her a lot She wasn’t

doing so good before…

PIKE; Hilltop’s no church

MANDY: What do you mean?

PIKE: Just what I said Hilltop’s a lot of things but it’s not a church

MANDY: It’s very popular now

MANDY: She’s got some of their CDs I think Bit saccharine for my taste…

PIKE; Where?

MANDY: In her CD rack probably You know how she is, everything in its place

(PIKE goes to the rack and hunts them out.)

PIKE: Has she been giving them money?

MANDY: I don’t know Probably What she can anyway

PIKE: Have you been?

MANDY: I went with her once

PIKE: Is that what you think a church is like?

MANDY: Hadn’t been to one before hand My folks weren’t religious Anti if

anything

PIKE: All that singing All that happy clappy crap Pop song prayers

MANDY: It seemed kinda nice There were a lot of people

PIKE: Of course there were Signing over their bank accounts Getting their

heads pumped full of state sponsored self affirming garbage Jesus wants

you to be healthy, happy, beautiful and rich People who don’t think the same way are dangerous Do they pass a collection plate there or a credit card machine?

MANDY: Pike

MANDY: What?

PIKE: You heard me, burn them

MANDY: Maybe you should sit down You don’t look well

PIKE: If you won’t do it I’ll do it myself

MANDY: Pike, don’t Pike, that’s the microwave

(PIKE throws the CDs into the microwave and sets it going.)

MANDY: Are you insane? Turn it off

MANDY: Pike

(She attempts to get past him and he shoves her down The CDs in the

microwave spit plastic and then begin to spark.)

What is wrong with you?

(PAUSE)

PIKE: I’m gonna go out

MANDY: Where are you going?

PIKE: I’m gonna take the car

MANDY: You can’t drive

MANDY: Suddenly you know how to drive a car?

PIKE: Yeah

MANDY: Babe, just sit down You’re not thinking straight Come on, we’ll put the

TV on, okay? Look, there should be news on You like the news

PIKE; No

(The microwave sparks badly and then shuts off Smoke comes from it)

I don’t want mum going to the Hilltop center When she gets home tell her that

MANDY: What do I tell her about the microwave?

PIKE; Tell her the truth

(He goes PAUSE MANDY turns on the TV.)

TV: …quarantine areas declared in Essendon, Footscray, West Heidelberg,

Coburg and Preston New Guard representatives say the caution could be indefinite In other news the American centre for ethnographic studies today released its long awaited report into family unity with some surprising results…

12

MUM: …and then he just took off again

MANDY: Yes Took the car and left

MUM: He doesn’t know how to drive

MANDY: He said he’d learnt

MUM; He doesn’t remember anything about where he’s been for the last six

months but now he knows how to drive a car?

MANDY: Yes

MUM: The car’s there now

MANDY: He must have come back and left it

MUM: But didn’t come back in

MANDY: No He’s not in our room He’s not out the back He’s not anywhere

MUM: It’s cruel It’s cruel is what it is To come back and then just disappear

again

MANDY: I don’t think he’s well

MUM: What do you mean not well?

MANDY: Wherever he’s been it’s done something to him

MUM: Look at this mess How am I gonna afford a new microwave?

MANDY: You hardly ever use it anyway, I usually cook your dinner and when you

cook you use the oven

MUM: That’s not the point Look at my lovely records Should we…

MANDY: What?

MUM: Well, talk to someone

MANDY: Like a doctor?

MUM: Or some one at the church, they’re very good there…

MANDY: I don’t think he’ll go That’s what set him off When I told him where you

were I think he thinks it’s some kind of scam

MUM: That’s ridiculous They’re good people

MANDY: That’s what I told him

MUM: It’s like he’s not…

MANDY: Not what?

(PAUSE)

Mum?

MUM: There’s something else

MANDY: What?

MUM: The New Guard came by the other day Two of them

MANDY: What did they want?

MUM: They said it was just a routine check

MANDY: They always say that, what was it really?

MUM: Something about suspicious people, I don’t know I didn’t take it in really

But they asked about Pike

MANDY: What did you tell them?

MUM: I lied I lied and told them he was still missing