The shameless one
(She suddenly grabs the empty cup and examines it.)
He
Drank
From
This
(The waiter delivers a second coffee and goes to the saucer of the first.)
No
(The waiter withdraws.)
Or was this the single cup which by the law of coincidence never once in all our history came near his lips?
(She replaces it on the saucer.)
Whereas this
(She tips out the coffee on the floor.)
This certainly must have
Oh certainly he drank from this
(She bangs it down.)
It’s not mystical it’s arithmetic
There are sixty cups and sixty saucers at the counter
Stacked
I counted them
I was not the only customer though I came early still two others had preceded me
I counted fifty-eight
Two on the tables
Sixty therefore
And allowing for breakages and the replacements of the breakages one must deduce that for a considerable lenght of time to come the coffee cups in this establishment will bear the intimate trace of his lips
Not all of them
We submit to the law of coincidences
But
Most
(She is very still.)
Yes
Have
Him
Indelibly
Around
The
Rim
(Pause. She lets the cup fall to the ground. It shatters.)
One less
Oh
Sorry
(She makes a face in the direction of the waiter.) [...] (The waiter brings a third coffee, places it down the table and retrieves the broken pieces of the second cup and goes.) [...] (She lifts the new cup.)
Most will have been removed from circulation and not only because they are broken chips will condemn them and one must not conceal from oneself that in a culture so susceptible as this to fashion the whole lot might be swept away I might arrive here on a somewhat ordinary morning ordinary in most regards at least and find the entire stock replaced I have seen such things they do not consult the consumers why should they possibly they live under the illusion we are as charmed by innovation as they themselves are I should rummage in the dustbins but oh but
(She shakes her head.)
In Howard Barker‘s play, the objects mentioned in the title are often just an excuse to build a scene upon. But in this case, the sixty —or less— cups are also being analysed in terms of wastage and fashion.
Barker, Howard. “13 objects. Studies in Servitude” (“2. Cruel Cup Kind Saucer”), in Plays Two. London: Oberon Books, 2006. p. 266-267.
Thanks to Ana Roca: The image above is a still from the promotional video for her adaptation of the play at Nau Ivanow (Barcelona, 2012). [Video by Ana Roca and Aleix Fernández].
