Ma volt szerencsém felvételről megnézni a külön a szerző kérésére az NT Live programjába illesztett műsor ismétléseként a Skylight című darabot Bill Nighy (Tom) és Carey Mulligan (Kyra) főszereplésével, valamint Az órák direktora, Stephen Daldry rendezésében. Azt hiszem, a moziban közvetített színházi előadás új műfaja egy tökéletesen meglovagolt piaci rés, főként a londoni kultúra pofátlanul és megfizethetetlenül drága mozijegyeinek és csillagászati árú színházjegyeinek számomra élhető keresztmetszetében. Bár nagyon szeretem az élő színházat is, itt a szuper operatőri munka miatt többet láthatunk, mintha a londoni színházak egyikébe próbálnánk a pénztárcánknak is túlélési esélyt biztosító áron jegyet szerezni. Azért a lényeg mégis a színház, lenyűgöző, ahogy a végtelenül vicces jelenetek egy pillanat alatt megtelnek drámaisággal, és hallom - itt a felvételről - a közönség reakcióját, amellyel párhuzamosan mi, a mozi közönsége is reagálunk - nevetünk, meghökkenünk vagy éppen a térdünket csapkodjuk és tapsolunk a zseniális megoldások miatt. Imádom. Végre itthon vagyok.
A Skylightról semmit sem tudtam, szándékosan nem olvastam el a tartalmát - vagy magát a darabot - előre, így talán duplán ütöttek egyes sorai, párbeszédei, és elhatároztam, hogy négyet mindenképpen megosztok belőlük, mert a székbe döngölt, hogy egy angol férfi által 18 évvel ezelőtt írt darabból a saját gondolataimat hallom visszhangozni, ráadásul rendkívül lényegre törő megfogalmazásban. Egyesek örök érvényű témákhoz kapcsolódnak, mások társadalomspecifikusak, és a terv szerint korspecifikusak is, ma mégis talán minden korábbinál aktuálisabbak. Elsőként a számomra legfontosabb idézetet választottam, és a kiemelések tőlem származnak, hogy érzékeltessem Bill Nighy fergeteges előadásmódját, amely letaglózza az embert. Tudom, hogy ez lehetetlen, de azért megpróbálom.
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Tom - You see, it’s a funny thing, you’ve always said yes to everyone. It’s something I noticed right from the start. Everyone liked you for this very reason. The first time they meet you, they always say, ‘Kyra, what a nice person!’ Always. ‘Kyra, no question, she’s a good sort …’ (He stops, gentle, knowing where he’s going.) It’s typical. Your friend needs a tenant. To you, oh, it’s no problem. You’ll do it. There’s no inconvenience. You’re happy to do it. That’s who you are. Even for us, when you started. You were happy to babysit when Alice and I wanted to go out. It used to amaze me. I used to ask myself why there was only one person, one person in the world my friend Kyra ever said no to. And that is the man who asked her if she’d be his wife.
Kyra sits silent, just looking at him.
- I remember, I remember that morning so clearly. I remember coming downstairs. Then you were at the office. I rang you. I said, ‘I’m afraid she’s discovered. This is our moment. It’s finally possible. So now at last we make a clean break …’ You put down the phone. For the rest of the day I couldn’t find you. At the office they said you’d simply walked out.
Kyra - I did.
Tom - Why? My marriage was finished. You knew that. And Alice herself had no wish to go on.
Kyra doesn’t move, just watching.
- You could have had a thousand reactions. You could have gone to try and talk to Alice. You could have come to me. But no. You did something cowardly. You picked up your bags and walked out. Kyra looks at him darkly, not answering.
-Oh, you always said you did it for Alice.
Kyra - Partly.
Tom - That’s what you told me. When I finally found you, you said, ‘I had to do it. I did it for Alice. And for the children as well.’ But that wasn’t so. Well, was it?
Kyra - What do you want me to say?
She looks at him resentfully, as if cornered. Tom wanders away to get more whisky, having the concession he wanted.
Tom - You didn’t give a fuck about Alice’s feelings. Alice’s feelings were just an excuse. I mean, even tonight, you were telling me, you told me: an adulterous love is the best. Well, let me tell you it isn’t. The best thing is loving with your whole heart. Yes, and what’s more, out in the open. The two of you. That’s when there’s risk. Not the risk of discovery. But the risk of two people really setting off on their own. But that means all the things you’ve avoided. Really giving yourself.
He has no need to press his argument any more. His tone is sorrowful.
- Even now you’re doing it. You’re telling me how much you love the people! How much you’re in love with the courage of the people on the bus! Yes, of course you love them. Because in three minutes you can get off.
Kyra stays sitting, stubborn now, her mood darkening from sadness into resentment.
- Do you think I don’t see it? Loving the people’s an easy project for you. Loving a person … now that’s something different. Something that will take you right to the brink.
Kyra - That isn’t fair.
Tom - Isn’t it? I think it is. You love the people because you don’t have to go home with them. You love them because you don’t have to commit.
Kyra (quiet, not moving, looking down) - You’re very cruel. I’ve made a life here.
Tom - Yes. You can’t open a paper, that’s what you say. You have banished papers, you tell me, you’ve banished TV. I mean, why? What’s the reason? It’s some kind of insanity. What, you feel the world is somehow letting you down? You go off to do what you call ‘rebuilding’. ‘Rebuild your life’, that’s what you say. Start again. But how can you? Kyra, look at you now! It won’t even work. It can’t work. Because it’s built on a negative. It’s built on escape.
Kyra sits silent, just looking at him.
- I remember, I remember that morning so clearly. I remember coming downstairs. Then you were at the office. I rang you. I said, ‘I’m afraid she’s discovered. This is our moment. It’s finally possible. So now at last we make a clean break …’ You put down the phone. For the rest of the day I couldn’t find you. At the office they said you’d simply walked out.
Kyra - I did.
Tom - Why? My marriage was finished. You knew that. And Alice herself had no wish to go on.
Kyra doesn’t move, just watching.
- You could have had a thousand reactions. You could have gone to try and talk to Alice. You could have come to me. But no. You did something cowardly. You picked up your bags and walked out. Kyra looks at him darkly, not answering.
-Oh, you always said you did it for Alice.
Kyra - Partly.
Tom - That’s what you told me. When I finally found you, you said, ‘I had to do it. I did it for Alice. And for the children as well.’ But that wasn’t so. Well, was it?
Kyra - What do you want me to say?
She looks at him resentfully, as if cornered. Tom wanders away to get more whisky, having the concession he wanted.
Tom - You didn’t give a fuck about Alice’s feelings. Alice’s feelings were just an excuse. I mean, even tonight, you were telling me, you told me: an adulterous love is the best. Well, let me tell you it isn’t. The best thing is loving with your whole heart. Yes, and what’s more, out in the open. The two of you. That’s when there’s risk. Not the risk of discovery. But the risk of two people really setting off on their own. But that means all the things you’ve avoided. Really giving yourself.
He has no need to press his argument any more. His tone is sorrowful.
- Even now you’re doing it. You’re telling me how much you love the people! How much you’re in love with the courage of the people on the bus! Yes, of course you love them. Because in three minutes you can get off.
Kyra stays sitting, stubborn now, her mood darkening from sadness into resentment.
- Do you think I don’t see it? Loving the people’s an easy project for you. Loving a person … now that’s something different. Something that will take you right to the brink.
Kyra - That isn’t fair.
Tom - Isn’t it? I think it is. You love the people because you don’t have to go home with them. You love them because you don’t have to commit.
Kyra (quiet, not moving, looking down) - You’re very cruel. I’ve made a life here.
Tom - Yes. You can’t open a paper, that’s what you say. You have banished papers, you tell me, you’ve banished TV. I mean, why? What’s the reason? It’s some kind of insanity. What, you feel the world is somehow letting you down? You go off to do what you call ‘rebuilding’. ‘Rebuild your life’, that’s what you say. Start again. But how can you? Kyra, look at you now! It won’t even work. It can’t work. Because it’s built on a negative. It’s built on escape.