The Nest (NHB Modern Plays)

By Franz Xaver Kroetz

Parents-to-be Kurt and Martha just want the best for their baby. They're not afraid of hard work – the latest buggy doesn't come cheap. But when Kurt's boss offers him a chance to make some easy money with a mysterious side job, his rashness catches up with him.
A fable about the moral and environmental cost of our materialistic nesting instincts, Conor McPherson's powerful new version of Franz Xaver Kroetz's Das Nest premiered at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, in 2016 and the Young Vic, London, directed by Ian Rickson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Sep 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780018256

Book preview

The Nest, in this translation, was co-produced by the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and the Young Vic, London, and first performed at the Lyric on 1 October 2016, before transferring to the Young Vic on 28 October. The cast was as follows:

Characters

KURT

MARTHA

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

ACT ONE

Scene One

Late evening in the apartment. On the sofa, KURT lies asleep in the flickering light of the television. The volume is turned off. MARTHA sits at a table with her work in front of her. She holds a receiver to her ear as she speaks on the phone.

MARTHA. Good evening. May I speak to the head of the household please? Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Incorporated Research Group Limited, conducting research into banking practice and preferences in the…

She is cut off. She makes a note, looks at the next number on her list, dials and checks her watch, making a note.

Good evening. May I speak to the head of the household please? Thank you. (Waits.) Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Incorporated Research Group Limited, conducting market research into banking practice and preferences in your area, with whom am I speaking please? Yes, it’s one minute to nine o’clock. (Pause.) We call up till nine o’clock. Is there a time that would be more convenient? The questionnaire takes seven minutes. I see. Well I’m sorry for any inconvenience. Thank you, too.

She hangs up. She sits looking at the table disconsolately for a moment. KURT talks to someone in his sleep. She looks over at him. She gets up. She is visibly pregnant. Her back is sore. She leans on a chair, stretching to get some relief. She goes over to the couch and looks down at KURT, willing him to wake up. She picks up the TV remote control and presses the volume button. A voice suddenly explodes from the TV: ‘As a further ten thousand strikers descended upon the factory the police were ordered to make their first baton charge.’ KURT sits up, wondering where he is. MARTHA laughs andswitches the TV off.

KURT. I was watching that!

MARTHA. You’ve been asleep for half an hour!

KURT. What happened to the guy in the end?

MARTHA. I don’t know. I was working.