Theater Plays. Valentin Krasnogorov

legs. Voice training: shouting, sighing, groaning. Resisting, relaxing, surrendering. Pretending.

      WIFE. I already know how to pretend.

      PROFESSOR. I will teach you how to pretend so well that you’ll believe it yourself.

      WIFE. And when I learn all this, then what?

      PROFESSOR. Then everything will still be the same. But you will never learn everything. Sex is a boundless science. A science that brings us happiness. All your life is not enough to explore it completely, even if you start from childhood and don’t stop until you die. This subject should be taught in school. Why do we have to learn algebra, which is of no use to anybody, and not sex, which everybody needs all the time? Tell me, have you ever needed to know Newton’s binomial theorem?

      WIFE. Never.

      PROFESSOR. And yet sex is with us always and everywhere. It accompanies us all our life. It warms us in the winter and cools us in the hot summer. It soothes us but does not let us rest. It’s a magic elixir which gives us a sense of youth and happiness. That’s why we love it so much.

      WIFE. Right now I detest it.

      PROFESSOR. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not sex that you feel an aversion to, but your partner. Change partners. Three times a day. Start today. I will teach you. Right now. You are a beautiful woman, and it is your duty to be happy. My services are expensive, but I am willing to teach you for free.

      WIFE. I always thought that in circumstances like this the teacher pays, not the girl. And I didn’t call you.

      PROFESSOR. Called me, didn’t call me, what’s the difference? Remember, we don’t have much time. Let’s get started. One, two, three, go!

      Pause.

      WIFE. How do we start?

      PROFESSOR. You see, you don’t even know how to start. One, two, three, go!

      Pause.

      One, two, three!

      WIFE. Stop that. It would be better if you teach me…

      PROFESSOR. Teach you what?

      WIFE. How to live differently. Not like I live now. Better. More sensibly.

      PROFESSOR. To live differently? It’s very simple. To live in another way you must live with another partner. This idea might seem like a commonplace joke to you, but it’s true. You can’t change yourself now – so left to your own devices you will always live the same way you have before. But life with another man will force you to live differently.

      WIFE. Better or worse?

      PROFESSOR. Worse for sure. But differently. That’s what you want, isn’t it?

      WIFE. I don’t even know what I want. I only know what I don’t want. To live here. To live like this. A miserable, boring life. Alone. People are alienated and crazy. Their favorite pastime is tormenting each other. I want to run away. Doesn’t it seem to you that everybody has gone mad?

      PROFESSOR. No, it doesn’t just seem that way, that’s the way it really is. So there is nowhere to run away to.

      WIFE. The years will pass like peas in a pod, but each one uglier than the one before. The end will come, and I’ll ask myself, what did I live for? Did I ever live at all?

      PROFESSOR. My dear, life does not and cannot have any meaning, except for the continuation of life. In other words, the meaning of life is sex. Sex is the affirmation, continuation and celebration of life. You and I are ants, and nature does not care about each separate ant. Its goal is to preserve the anthill.

      WIFE. I despise the human anthill.

      PROFESSOR. An anthill? That’s an undeserved compliment for our society. Ants work together in harmony, while we are a society of competitors, where everybody is wolf to each other.

      WIFE. I don’t know how to solve my problems anymore.

      PROFESSOR. Don’t complicate things. All problems come from sex. Happy sex – happy life, bad sex – unhappy life. That's all. Is your sex life good?

      WIFE. No.

      PROFESSOR. And the rest of your life?

      WIFE. No.

      PROFESSOR. Q.E.D.

      WIFE. That’s why I want to run away. Away from this life.

      PROFESSOR. To tell the truth, so do I. Who will you run away with?

      WIFE. Alone.... But it would be better with somebody.

      PROFESSOR. Together is certainly better.

      WIFE. Why don’t we run away together?

      PROFESSOR. I am asking myself the same question.

      WIFE. And what is your answer?

      PROFESSOR. Let’s do it. That’s what I offered to do when I first got here.

      WIFE. You offered to have sex when you first got here.

      PROFESSOR. Sex is just an escape from life.

      WIFE. I thought it was life itself.

      PROFESSOR. Let’s not argue. We don’t have much time.

      WIFE. So you’ll take me with you?

      PROFESSOR. I’ll abduct you, steal you, take you away, carry you away in my arms.

      WIFE. Where to?

      PROFESSOR. Nowhere.

      WIFE. That’s the problem.

      PROFESSOR. But we have to run away all the same.

      WIFE. Where to?

      PROFESSOR. That’s not important. The main thing is not to stop. Not to think. Not to look back. Give me your hand.

      WIFE. Right now?

      PROFESSOR. Otherwise someone will come and it will be too late.

      WIFE. Then wait here, I’ll just get some things to take with me.

      WIFE leaves. Pause. GIRL enters.

      GIRL. Let’s have sex.

      PROFESSOR. So it was you who called me?

      GIRL. Me? Called you? What for?

      PROFESSOR. To have sex, I believe.

      GIRL. No, it wasn’t me. But I’m ready.

      PROFESSOR. So who called me?

      GIRL. If someone wanted to have sex, just presume it was me that called. A very urgent call. Let's start immediately.

      PROFESSOR. That’s just what I wanted to suggest. Who are you, by the way?

      GIRL. I work with the husband.

      PROFESSOR. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

      GIRL. Whether it’s a pleasure or not, we’ll soon find out, I hope. (Starts to unbutton her dress.)

      PROFESSOR. And why don’t you have sex with the husband?

      GIRL. With whose husband?

      PROFESSOR. With yours, for a change.

      GIRL. I don’t have a husband.

      PROFESSOR. But you work with him!

      GIRL. I work with him, but he is not my husband.

      PROFESSOR. That changes things completely. If he isn’t your husband, it is simply your duty to have unlimited sex with him. Especially since you work together. It’s very convenient and saves time.

      GIRL. Unfortunately, he’s terribly busy.

      PROFESSOR. Busy? At work!? With what? Impossible! What can keep a person busy at work?

      GIRL. Sex, of course.

      PROFESSOR. That’s different.

      GIRL. I make out his daily schedule for him and keep a record of his work: the beginning of sex, the end of it, with whom, when, on whose recommendation, who’s next. It’s a lot of work.

      PROFESSOR. If he’s so busy, you