Read Online Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and Professional Foul by Tom Stoppard - Free Book Online Page B

HOLLAR
calls out
.)
    MAN 3: Shut up.
( MAN 3
and
MAN 2
come out of the flat on to the landing, closing the door behind them
.)
    ANDERSON: I just came to see him. Just to say hello. For a minute. I have a taxi waiting. Taxi.
    MAN 3: Taxi.
    ANDERSON: Yes. I can’t stay.
    MAN 3: (
In English
) Moment. O.K.
    ANDERSON: I can’t stay.
( MAN 3
rings the bell of the adjacent flat. A rather scared woman opens the door
. MAN 3
asks, in Czech, to use the phone
. MAN 3
goes inside the other flat
. ANDERSON
begins to realize the situation
.)
Well, look, if you don’t mind—I’m on my way to—an engagement….
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) Stay here.
(
Pause
. ANDERSON
looks at his watch. Then from inside the flat
MRS HOLLAR
is shouting in Czech
.)
    MRS HOLLAR: (
Unseen
) I’m entitled to a witness of my choice.
(
The door is opened violently and immediately slammed
. ANDERSON
becomes agitated
.)
    ANDERSON: What’s going on in there?
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) Stay here, he won’t be a minute.
( ANDERSON
can hear
MRS HOLLAR
shouting
.)
    ANDERSON: Now look here—
( ANDERSON
rings the doorbell.
The door is opened by
MAN 4.)
I demand to speak to Mrs Hollar.
(
Upstairs and downstairs doors are opening and people are shouting, in Czech ‘What’s going on?’ And so on. There is also shouting from inside the flat
. MAN 2
shouts up and down the staircase, in Czech
.)
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) Go inside!
    ANDERSON: Now look here, I am the J. S. Mill Professor of Ethics at the University of Cambridge and I demand that I am allowed to leave or to telephone the British Ambassador!
    MAN 4: (
In Czech
) Bring him inside.
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) In.
(
He pushes
ANDERSON
into the flat. Interior flat. The hallway. Inside it is apparent that the front door leads to more than oneflat. Off the very small dirty hall there is a kitchen, a lavatory and two other doors, not counting the door to the
HOLLAR
rooms
.)
    MAN 4: (
In Czech
) Stay with him.
(
The
HOLLAR
interior door is opened from inside by
MRS HOLLAR. )
    MRS HOLLAR: (
In Czech
) If he’s my witness he’s allowed in here.
    MAN 4: (
In Czech
) Go inside—he’s not your witness.
( MAN 4
pushes
MRS HOLLAR
inside and closes the door from within. This leaves
ANDERSON
and
MAN 2
in the little hall. Another door now opens, and a small girl, poorly dressed, looks round it. She is jerked back out of sight by someone and the door is pulled closed. The
HOLLAR
door is flung open again, by
MRS HOLLAR .)
    MRS HOLLAR: (
In Czech
) I want this door open.
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) Leave it open then. He’ll be back in a minute.
( MAN 4
disappears back inside the flat
. MRS HOLLAR
is heard
.)
    MRS HOLLAR: (
Unseen. In Czech
) Bastards.
( ANDERSON
stands in the hallway. He can hear
MRS HOLLAR
starting to cry
. ANDERSON
looks completely out of his depth
.)
    ANDERSON: My God….
(
Then the doorbell rings
. MAN 2
opens it to let in
MAN 3.)
    MAN 2: (
In Czech
) We had to come in to shut her up.
    MAN 3: (
In Czech
) Well, he’s coming over. (
In English to
ANDERSON .) Captain coming. Speak English.
    ANDERSON: I would like to telephone the British Ambassador.
    MAN 3: (
In English
) O.K. Captain coming.
    ANDERSON: How long will he be? I have an appointment. (
He looks at his watch
.) Yes, by God! I do have an engagement and it starts in half an hour—
    MAN 3: (
In English
) Please.
(
A lavatory flushes. From the other interior door an
OLD MAN
comes out
. MAN 3
nods curtly at the
OLD MAN.
The
OLD MAN
shuffles by looking at
ANDERSON. MAN 3
becomes uneasy at being in the traffic. He decides to bring
ANDERSON
inside the flat. He does so.
Interior
HOLLAR ’
s room. There are two connecting rooms. Beyond this room is a door leading to a bedroom. This door is open. The rooms seem full of people. The rooms are small andshabby. They are being thoroughly searched, and obviously have been in this process for hours. The searchers do not spoil or destroy