Dumitru CRUDU 

FOREVER 

Characters:
 
Eugen 
Magda 
Mihail 
A Young Man 
Another Young Man


 
SCENE 1 
Writers' Union Bar.  All tables are full.  People everywhere.  Cigarette smoke you can cut with a knife.  Noise.  Eugen and Madga's table is in between Nichita's and Mazilescu's, Caraion and Adrain Paunescu's¹. 
Eugen: Any moment now your husband will walk through the door. 
Eugen drinks a glass of wine. 
Magda: What? 
Eugen: Any moment now... 
Magda: Who? 
Eugen: Your husband. 
Magda: How? 
Eugen: Through the door. 
Magda: My husband? 
Eugen: Yes, your future husband. 
Magda: He'll walk in? 
Eugen: Yes. You're not married yet, are you? 
Magda: No, I'm not married. 
Eugen: Well, any minute now, your future husband will burst in through that door. 
Magda: Will burst in? 
Eugen: It's just an expression. 
Magda drinks coffee. 
Magda: My future husband? 
Eugen: Yes, whom you haven't yet met. 
Magda: I haven't yet met my future husband? 
Eugen: This is the first time you'll see him. 
Magda: What, I've never seen my future husband? 
Eugen: No. Because your future husband has just come out of prison a few days ago. 
Magda: My future husband is a convict? 
Eugen: Ex-convict. 
Magda: But I'm with someone already. You know very well who it is. Shall I tell you who I'm with?

Eugen: No need.  
Magda: Still, I want to tell you with whom I'm... I'm...sleeping... 
Eugen: You don't have to tell me anything because I know very well what you mean. 
Magda: And I'm very happy with him. I even orgasm with him. 
Eugen: I know. 
Magda: So then? 
Eugen: Dump him. 
Magda: How? 
Eugen: Show him the door. 
Magda: Whom? 
Eugen: Him. 
Magda: You. 
Eugen: Yes, me. 
Eugen lights a cigarette. 
That's what the 'secu'² want. 
Magda: And you're the one telling me this? 
Eugen: Yes I am. 
Magda: 'Secu' didn't tell me anything. 
Eugen: They asked me to tell you. 
Magda: You? 
Eugen: Yes. 
Magda: They could've found someone else. 
Eugen: They thought this was best. 
Magda smokes.  Annoyed. 
Magda: I can't marry a guy I've never seen before. 
Eugen: You must. 
Magda: How? 
Eugen: Just like that. 
Magda: Shit! 
Eugen: You want to go against the 'secu'? 
Magda: No. 
Eugen: You oppose the party? 
Magda: No. 
Eugen: Then yo must act in such a way to... 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: Make this guy who's going to walk through the door become your husband. 
Magda: So what does he look like? 
Eugen: Shit. 
Magda: How? 
Eugen: Skinny as a rake. 
Magda is silent. 
Unshaven. 
Magda is silent. 
Face is swollen. 
Magda is silent. 
Balding. 
Magda is silent. 
Mouth full of tooth cavities. 
Magda is silent. 
His breath stinks. 
Magda: I can't marry a monster. 
Eugen: You want to go against the party? 
Magda: No. But I can't marry a guy I don't even know and who scares people on the street as they walk past. 
Eugen: The comrades will be upset. 
Magda: And does he want to? 
Eugen: Who? 
Magda: The ex-convict. 
Eugen: What? 
Magda: To be my future husband. 
Eugen: He doesn't know. 
Magda: What? 
Eugen: He doesn't have a clue that his future wife is waiting in this bar. 
Magda: Not a clue? 
Eugen: He hasn't even heard about you.  
Magda: Hasn't he? 
Eugen: He doesn't know you exist and that he'll bump into you at the Union Bar and that he'll marry you in the quickest of time.  
Magda: That means this will be a huge surprise for him as well? 
Eugen: I hope it won't. 
Magda: What do you mean? 
Eugen: The comrades wish you to act in such a way that he thinks it's all down to the power and will of fate. 
Magda: Be more specific. 
Eugen: Make his snot run after you as soon as he's through the door. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: Make his fillings fall, on the spot, as soon as he sees you and of course, be charmed by him to give him the impression that he seduced you and not the other way round. 
Magda: Alright. 
Eugen: Don't make him realize you didn't resist him one bit. 
Magda: I understand. 
Eugen: Then we'll get him drunk, I'll disappear and you'll take him to yours... 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: And you'll sleep with him. 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: And then starting tomorrow, you'll live together.  Did you get that? 
Magda: Yes. And he really doesn't know what's coming? 
Eugen: He doesn't. 
Magda: And he really doesn't know that starting tomorrow he'll be living with a woman he's never met before? 
Eugen: He doesn't.  
He drinks another glass of wine. 
That's what the party requested. 
He drinks another glass of wine. 
The party will be grateful to you. 
Magda: And what about us? 
Eugen: We'll carry on as before. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: Without him knowing. 
Magda: And where will we see each other? 
Eugen: Round mine.  
Magda: And what do the comrades think? 
Eugen: The comrades agree. 
Magda: But why does the party insist I marry an ex-convict? 
Eugen: Because the party want to create ideal conditions for him to write.  
Magda: He's a writer? 
Eugen: Yes.  
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: He's got to have his own flat. His own desk.  His own wife.  You got that? 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: The party has high hopes for him.  
Magda: Does he know anything about this? 
Eugen: Nothing. 
Magda: He doesn't know what the party have got in mind for his future? 
Eugen: No. 
Magda: He doesn't know the party are counting on him? 
Eugen: No. He knows absolutely nothing. He doesn't even know what will happen in the next ten minutes. He doesn't have a clue and there's no reason he should, that in this bar is waiting his future wife whom he's never seen face to face in his whole life.  He doesn't know his life is programmed by the hour for the next few years. 
Magda: Poor him. 
Eugen: He thinks he's out of prison because he's been acquitted.  But that's not the truth. 
Magda: Poor him. 
Eugen: He thinks he met me randomly yesterday at the university.  Hell we did.  That bumping into each other in front of the literature department was planned by the comrades. They've developed it with a lot of care a few weeks ago. 
Magda drinks a glass of wine. 
But he doesn't know a thing about that.  I feigned surprise, of course, when I saw him at the university where we were both in the same year once, even though I knew perfectly well that, upon opening the door at 12pm exactly, I'll be standing right in front of him. 
Magda drinks a glass of wine. 
This meeting at the Union Bar isn't by chance either, like he thinks it is. The comrades from „secu” have planned it a long time ago.  It's down to them completely.  But he thinks he's been the one to arrange it.  And he's completely wrong.  He's wrong thinking he called me to meet him at the Union to scrounge money off me.  He doesn't know I know he's going to ask for money.  But I know this and I also know that if the comrades from the 'secu' hadn't set up this meeting, it would have never happened.   
Magda drinks a glass of wine. 
He'll ask me for money and I'll give him and he'll think I'm a good man, but I'm not a generous guy, because the money I'm going to give him is the money of the comrade's from 'secu'. 
Eugen lights up a cigarette. 
He won't find a job anywhere.  All doors will be closed for him.  Because that's what the comrades want.  It's going to be just me offering him to commission a novel.  Because that's what the comrades want.  And he will write it, he's got no other choice.  This was also the comrades' idea.  To create an environment for him where nobody will want to employ him so he'll have no other choice but to write.  And he'll think he's writing because he feels like writing, when in fact it's far from the truth, because if he had a choice he wouldn't write another line, not one.  Behind his hunched back over the writing desk will always be the party, but he'll never realize this. 
Magda drinks a glass of wine. 
They also ask you to cook him food every day. 
Magda: Alright. 
Eugen: To wash his socks. 
Magda: Alright. 
Eugen: To iron his shirt and his trousers. 
Magda: Alright. 
Eugen: That's what the 'secu' want.  The comrades believe these things will help him write better.  It's time he showed up now.  According to the pre-established instructions, the porter should not be letting him in, and then I'll show up, the saviour, andl help him come into the bar. 
Mihail enters. The Porter blocks his way. 
Portarul: Show me your Writers Union from Socialist Romania members pass! 
Eugen: And here is your husband. 
Mihail: I don't have it. 
Magda: Where is he?  
Portarul: I can't let you in unless you show me your writer's card. 
Eugen: It's that gaunt skinny guy quarrelling with the porter. 
Mihail: We're talking exactly like in Master and Margarita.  Are you quoting Bulgakov intentionally? 
Magda: That's him? 
Portarul: I haven't heard of that writer.  I don't know him. 
Eugen: Yes. 
Mihail: Will 5 lei³ do? 
Magda: And you're sure nothing can be changed anymore? 
Portarul: Yes, that's fine. 
Eugen: Nothing. 
Mihail looks through his pockets but can't find any money. 
Mihail: Unfortunately, I don't even have 5 lei on me. 
Magda: God?! 
Portarul: Then our conversation ends here. 
Eugen: Stand up now and go to the bathroom.  Come back in quarter of an hour and move in fast.  Six years ago he published a volume of poetry.  Here it is.  Skim it through and tell him you've read it.  Learn a stanza from a poem and recite it to him.  I'm certain you'll have him bowled over. 
Mihail keeps looking through his pockets. 
Mihail: I wonder where my money's gone? 
Magda: Alright. 
Magda stands up and walks towards the toilets. 
Portarul: Move aside so I can close the door. 
The Portar pushes Mihail aside. 
Eugen: Now, according to the comrades' plans, it's time I entered the scene. Time I stood up and saved him from the porter. 
Eugen stands in between Mihail and the porter. 
Eugen: Comrade, why are you pushing my guest around? 
Portarul: Because I didn't know he was your guest. My apologies, comrade. A thousand apologies, comrade Eugen. 
To Mihail: 
Please, come in.  
Would you like me to show you right in? 
Mihail: No need. 
Eugen and Mihail walk through the bar. Eugen greets people left right and centre. Handshakes. Pecks on the cheek. Hugs. Finally, they sit at Eugen's table. 
Eugen: And you've really read Bulgakov? 
Mihail: He's one of my favourite writers. 
Eugen: And what's Master and Margarita about? 
Mihail: About the master and Margarita. 
Eugen: And the porter really used phrases from Bulgakov? 
Mihail: Yes.

Eugen lifts the wine bottle. 
Eugen: Some wine? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: I'll pour it for you. 
A young man from another table. 
A Young Man: More wine for Nichita! 
Another young man from another table. 
Another Young Man: More wine for Mazilescu! 
Eugen: And something to eat? 
Mihail: Thank you. I don't want any. 
Eugen: Still. 
Mihail: I don't want any. 
Eugen: I can tell you do. 
A middle-aged man approaches with a bottle of vodka. 
The Middle-Ages Man: This bottle is from comrade Paunescu. 
Eugen: We thank him. Let us drink to his health. 
Thank you. 
Eugen: I can tell you want to. Waiter! 
The waiter approaches. 
Another glass of wine for the comrade. 
The waiter leaves. 
Waiter! 
The Waiter returns.. 
And a few biscuits. 
The waiter is off again. 
And a bread roll. 
The waiter returns then he leaves. 
I think we haven't seen each other since we used to work for that paper.  How many years has it been I wonder? 
Mihail: A century. 
Eugen: There was a time, until you ended up in Jilava⁴, when we used to see each other quite often. 
Mihail: Yes, almost daily. 
The waiter is back with the wine. Gives it to Mihail and leaves. He returns with a plate full of biscuits and a bread roll. Gives it to Mihail and leaves.  Eugen comes in closer. 
Eugen: Tell me straight, did you want to meet me to ask for money? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: I haven't got any today.  
Mihail: I understand. 
Eugen: And I can't employ you at the publishing house either because all the positions are filled, including the porter and the cleaning lady. 
Mihail: I'm sorry to have bothered you. 
Mihail goes to leave. 
Eugen: Stay. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: Eat your roll first. 
Mihail eats in a hurry. Goes to leave again. 
Eugen: And drink your wine. 
Mihail drinks while standing.  Goes to leave again. 
Eugen: Stay. 
Mihail stops. 
I have money. 
Mihail: Yes? 
Eugen: How much do you want? 
Mihail: A hundred lei. 
Eugen: Two hundred. 
Mihail: Two hundred? 
Eugen: I'll give you two hundred lei. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: But... 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: I would like you to do me a favour. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: I want them back in a week. 
Mihail: Alright. 
Mihail wants to leave. 
Eugen: Stay. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: Give me back my money. 
Mihail gives him back his money. 
I've given you too much.  Have a hundred. 
Eugen give him a hundred back, puts the other hundred in his pocket. 
And you really couldn't find a job? 
Mihail: Nothing. 
Eugen: I find that hard to believe. 
Mihail: Nobody wants to employ me. 
Eugen:  Why? 
Mihail: Because I've been in the clink. 
Eugen: I thought so.  
Eugen lights up a cigarette. 
What about the newspaper we both used to write for till you went down? 
Mihail: They don't need any editors. 
Eugen: What about somewhere else? 
Mihail: Nobody wants to get involved with me. 
Eugen: Because you've been in the slammer. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: And where do you live? 
Mihail: Nowhere. 
Eugen: And nights? 
Mihail: Nights too. 
Eugen: And where do you sleep? 
Mihail: At friends' places. Or stations. 
Eugen: Give me back my hundred. 
Mihail gives it to him. 
Mihail: Take it. 
Eugen: So how are you going to pay me back in a week if you don't work anywhere? 
Mihail is silent. 
Eugen: Will 25 lei do? 
Mihail: Yea.  It'll do.

Eugen: 25 is a bit much for you. Is 15 enough? 
Mihail: Course it is!

Eugen: They'll be useful to pay for your bill here. 
Mihail: I thank you. 
Magda enters. 
Magda: Oh, what a surprise. Hello Eugen! 
Eugen: Hello. 
Magda:  Are you busy? 
Eugen:  No. 
To Mihail: 
She works with me at the publishing house. Can't get rid of you here either? 
Magda: I was just passing by. I could sit with you for a bit. Magda. 
Mihail: Excuse me? 
Magda: I'm Magda. 
Mihail: Mihail. 
Magda: You have such a beautiful name. Mihail...? 
Mihail: Mihail Stancu. 
Magda: Mihail Stancu.  Was it you I wonder, who wrote a poetry book called The Future about six years ago? 
Mihail: It was. 
Magda: So beautiful. I still remember it. 
Magda starts reciting. 
The future starts at the top of Victoria Road, where I've become another me, another you,
Fast and furious, unexpectedly so, does the uproar ensue
And I still haven't noticed the world around me is a thing of the past
But seeing you at the top of Victoria, I know a new future is cast.  
Mihail: I would have never thought there are people who still remember my poems of youth. 
Eugen: Magda, how about a line or two from my poems? 
Magda: Sorry, I don't know any.  
A young man from another table. 
Young Man: Don't disturb Nichita who's just started writing a new poem! 
Magda: You want some more wine, Mihail? 
Mihail: Yes, I do. 
Eugen: You seem a little sad. 
Mihail: Because I don't know where I'll be sleeping tonight. 
Under the table, Magda touches Mihail's leg with hers. 
She whispers in his ear.  
Magda: You'll come to mine. 
Mihail: What? 
Another young man from another table. 
Another young man: Keep the noise down, Nichita is writing! 
Magda:Or, perhaps you don't want to? 
Another young man from another table: Keep the noise down, Nichita is writing! 
Eugen: What are you two whispering about? 
Magda: I'm telling Mihail I've always wanted to meet him, having read his poems.  And now destiny has made this possible.  I wasn't planning to come here tonight.  I was just passing by, hurrying home to see Sergiu Nicholaescu⁵'s latest film, which is on TV tonight.  I simply came in to smoke a cigarette.  But I could have just walked on, and then I would have caught the film, but I would have never met Mihail.  God, it's fate that we've met.  Mihail, do you believe in fate? 
Mihail: Yes.  I do. 
Magda: I think fate made me want a cigarette, made me come in this bar where I've met you, Mihail.  
A young man from another table. 
Young Man from another table: Nichita has finished the poem! Nichita, hand me the napkin you wrote on, so I can read it out loud. Listen to Nichita's latest poem. 
The young man starts reading it. 
Voices: Well done, maestro! It's very good. 
Voices: To Nichita! 
A young man from another able. 
Young Man from another table: More wine for Nichita! 
A young man from another table. 
Young Man from another table: More wine for Mazilescu! 
Eugen: I want to tell you something. 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: Let us go out so nobody can hear. Magda, we'll be back straight away! 
They exit. Behind them is Doinaş⁶. 
Eugen: Let's wait for Doinas to leave and then we'll talk. 
Doinaş leaves. 
Mihail: We were in the same prison. 
Eugen: I know. 
Eugen links arms with him. 
I have a feeling Magda has a thing for you. 
Mihail: You think? 
Eugen: I think she's got it in for you. I think you shouldn't miss your chance... 
Mihail: She's far too beautiful for me. 
Eugen: You only think so. 
Links arms with him again. 
And really, no-one wants to hire you? 
Mihail: No one. 
Eugen: So what are you going to do? 
Mihail: I'll die of starvation. 
Eugen: Meanwhile, I've become an editor. 
Mihail: I know. 
Eugen: I could help you. 
Mihail: You'll hire me? 
Eugen: No. 
Mihail: Then what? 
Eugen: Write a novel and I'll publish it. Let's say about ... 
Mihail: A novel? 
Eugen: Yes. 
Mihail: But I've never written novels before. 
Eugen: What about “22 hours”? 
Mihail: That was a novella. I've never written novels though. Not read them much either. 
Eugen: What about Dostoevsky and Camus? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: And “Nausea”⁷ or “Journey to the End of the Night”⁸? 
Mihail: Yes. A while ago though. 
Eugen: That doesn't matter. 
Mihail: I don't know what to say... 
Eugen: I'll give you 1000 lei for it. Haraşo⁹? 
Mihail: What? 
Eugen: I'll publish it for 1000 lei.. 
Mihail smokes. 
It's a pharmacist's monthly wage! 
Mihail: What? 
Eugen: 1500.. 
Mihail: What? 
Eugen: 2000. 
Mihail: 2000 lei? 
Doinaş enters and is watching them. 
Eugen: Let's go in the loos so Doinas doesn't see us. 
They go in the toilets. 
Eugen: I feel safer in here. So, two thousand? 
Mihail: I haven't seen so much money in ages.  
Eugen takes out 2000 lei and puts it into Mihail's hand.  Pees whilst talking.  Then he flushes the loo. 
Eugen: Now you pay back what you owe me. 
Mihail: What's that? 
Eugen:  The 15 lei I gave you earlier. 
Mihail gives him the money. 
Eugen: I've just remembered. You owe me something else too.  
Mihail: I can't remember. 
Eugen: It's an older debt.  
Mihail: Right. 
Eugen: I lent you 200 lei the day you got taken to Jilava. I was in the newspaper's bar, you wanted to have another drink, but you had no more money so I lent you 200 lei. 
Mihail: Here you go, 200lei. 
Eugen: How much are you left with? 
Mihail: Enough. 
Eugen: It's too little? 
Mihail: It's very good.  
Mihail puts the money in his pocket. 
It's enough for a small flat.  
Mihail takes out the money and starts counting. 
The flat will be 400 lei, of course, somewhere on the outskirts.  Lunch for a month in the workers' canteen 60 lei and I'm left with 40 for a roll and a yoghurt every morning.   
Mihail puts the money back in his pocket. 
I'm sorted. 
Eugen: I want to have the novel in two months. I'll publish it as soon as you hand it in.  
Mihail takes out the money and starts counting again. 
I want it to have something of Celine, but not too much like the Frenchman. Understand? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen:  I want it to have a glimmer of our reality, our characters, our slums, our abjectness and our mud.  Haraşo? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: No one must know of our understanding though. 
Mihail: I promise. 
Eugen: If the novel is weak, you can stick up your bum and return all my money.   
Mihail: Alright. 
Mihail links arms with him. 
I didn't think there were any more decent people left in this country.  If I hadn't met you, I think I would have died of hunger. 
Eugen and Mihail go back to the restaurant. They sit back down at their table. 
A young man from another table. 
Young Man from another table: More wine for Nichita! 
A young man from another table. 
Young Man from another table: More wine for Mazilescu! 
Mihail: What else would you like to have, Magda? 
Magda: You got rich all of a sudden? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Magda (takes his hand and strokes it): Some wine. And a steak. 
Eugen looks around. His gaze hovers over Doinaş and Paunescu's table.

Eugen: Since when is Doinaş such good mates with Paunescu? 
Magda and Mihail don't hear his question anymore.  A guy wearing a large brimmed hat is apporaching their table. 
The guy approaching Eugene's table: Everyone here is a turd, Eugen.  You and I are the only valuable men around here.  Apart from us, they should all be chucked out.  How dare they sit in this bar when we are here, as Iurie Matei, that painter from Chisinau, used to say.  How, Eugen? 
Eugen: That's true. 
The guy approaching Eugene's table ( raises the glass he had in his hand and drinks): To your health, Eugen! If it wouldn't have been for you, my life wouldn't have been worth living! 
The guy exits. Eugen talks to Mihail and Magda. 
Eugen: I think I might go. Are you staying? 
Magda: We're staying a bit longer. Aren't we, Mihail? 
Mihail: Yes, we're staying a bit longer. 
Eugen: I'm off then. I have an important meeting tomorrow, at the Central Committee and I have to be on top form.  See you tomorrow!  
End of Scene 1
 
SCENE 2 
On the street. 
Eugen: Fancy seeing you! Where are you off to? 
Mihail: I'm buying my wife some food. 
Eugen: So you're really together? 
Mihail: Yes, we are. 
Eugen: Where are you living? 
Mihail: At Magda's. 
Eugen: So how did it happen? 
Mihail: I don't know how. 
Eugen: Love at first sight? 
Mihail: Yes, at first sight. 
Eugen: Since that night? 
Mihail: I don't know how it happened, but when I stopped and looked at Magda I fell in love with her. 
Eugen: And she with you? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: Are you happy now with the way your life is? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: And how does your wife treat you? 
Mihail: Very well. 
Eugen: And you really love her? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: And she you? 
Mihail: And Magda loves me. 
Eugen: Really? 
Mihail: Why, you don't believe me? 
Eugen: I do.  But... 
Mihail: What? 
Eugen: Everything happened so fast. 
Mihail: You can't foresee life's events sometimes. 
Eugen: You're right. 
Mihail: I'm happy I've met her. 
Eugen: And did you finish the novel? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Magda appears. 
Magda: Hello! 
Eugen: Good to see you! 
Magda: I came to look for my husband who wasn't returning. 
Eugen: Here he is! 
Magda: I can see him. Mihail, come home! 
Mihail: I haven't made it to the shop yet. 
Magda: I'll go. 
Mihail: What are you doing this evening? 
Eugen: I'm going to the Union Bar. 
Mihail: Why don't you come to ours? I'll give you the novel. And also... We've got our one month anniversary. We'll eat a rabbit stew and drink some Cotnari¹⁰. You're invited. You're coming? 
Eugen: I can't. 
Mihail: Why? 
Eugen: How can turn up empty handed? 
Eugen looks at his watch. 
I'll come. I'll be there in an hour. I'll bring a present you wouldn't even dream of. We'll celebrate in style. 
End of scene 2. 
SCENE 3 
At home with Magda and Mihail. Doorbell rings. It's Eugen. 
Eugen: I'm here. Wow, you both look great! 
Mihail: Come in! 
Eugen gives him a pack of coffee¹¹. 
Eugen: This is for you. 
Magda: Thank you. Would you like a drink? 
Eugen: A coffee. 
Magda: I'll make it straight away. 
Magda goes to the kitchen. 
Eugen:  You've put on some weight since... 
Mihail: It's Magda's cooking. 
Eugen: So how many kilos? 
Mihail: About 20. 
Eugen: That means you're getting on well. 
Mihail:  I can't complain. 
Eugen: And the novel? 
Mihail: Here it is. 
Gives him the manuscript.  
Magda: Here is your coffee. Anything else I can get you? 
Mihail: A beer. 
Magda (to Mihail): Just a sec! 
Magda Mihail a beer then goes back to the kitchen. 
Eugen: Congratulations! 
Mihail:  Thank you. 
Mihail drinks his beer, Eugen his coffee. 
Eugen:  This is good coffee I brought you.  
Eugen sips his coffee. 
Eugen looks at his watch. 
Eugen: Oh, it's already four o'clock. 
Puts his hat on. 
I have to be at the publishing house in an hour. I have to run. Call your wife so I can say good-bye. 
Mihail goes to the kitchen. Comes back. 
Mihail: She's in the bathroom. 
Eugen: I have to dash. I'll read your novel today. Greetings to your wife! 
End of Scene three
 
SCENA 4 
Eugen's home. Magda and Eugen are naked and sweaty. They are in bed, hugging. 
Eugen: Magda,  give me... 
Magda: Yes. 
She hands him some sheets of paper. Eugen reads them. 
Eugen: You've noted everything he does? 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: And whom he's meeting with? 
Magda: Page five. Separate chapter. 
Eugen: Well done. 
Magda: His views on the country he's living in, about its past and present are on page six.  About the party's political line, page nine, the Writers Union, page ten.  
Eugen: Very professional.

Magda: Thank you. 
Eugen: The party won't forget you. 
Magda: So why does the party need this guy? 
Eugen: How can I put it. He was in prison. His biography is immaculate. The party need him to launch him in the Western world. 
Magda: And is it true his novel's good? 
Eugen: Yes. It's good.  But he would have never known such success if the Securitate hadn't had a hand in promoting him.  He'd be surrounded by dust in libraries.  You don't think this unexpected success has made him suspicious?  
Magda: No. 
Eugen: He really hasn't sniffed a thing? 
Magda: Nothing. He thinks he deserves it.  He thinks his popularity is just.  He considers it absolutely normal for Mihai Ungheanu to praise his novel because his work is brilliant. 
Eugen: He's totally deluding himself, if we wouldn't have paid off the reviewers to advertise for him, they wouldn't have written a single line about him. But it's better he knows nothing. It's much better for us that he has no doubts as to his success with the public. 
Eugen gets dressed. 
There's no more wine. 
Eugen opens the door. 
I'll go get some wine and I'll be back straight away. 
He meets Mihail on the street. Greets him and kisses him on the cheek. 
Mihail: I'm looking for Magda. 
Eugen: She's not at the publishers? 
Mihail: No. 
Eugen: Maybe she's gone to the market? 
Mihail: Maybe. 
Eugen: Have you managed to find any more jobs? 
Mihail: No. 
Eugen: But have you tried? 
Mihail: Yes. But... 
Eugen: What? 
Mihail: They all shut the door to me when they hear I've been to Jilava. 
Eugen: I'm sorry. 
Mihail: Thank you for... 
Eugen: No need. 
Mihail: If it wasn't for you, I would have died of hunger by now.  
Eugen: I'm doing what I can. 
Mihail: You're the only one looking after me. You're the only one thinking of me.  You're the only one helping me. 
Eugen: And your wife. 
Eugen smokes. 
Everyone loves your novel. All the magazines have written about you. There isn't a paper left in this country who hasn't praised your novel. Eugen Simion calls it a masterpiece. 
Mihail: I know. 
Eugen: But they're all wondering when you're writing your second one. 
Mihail takes another manuscript out of his bag and give it to Eugen. 
Here is my second novel. 
Eugen: You finished it? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: Is 3000 lei alright? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: You're only seeing this money after I've read it and convinced myself it's better that your last one. 
Mihail: It's better. 
Eugen: We'll see. If it's worse, then you'll return all the money I've paid you so far and this manuscript you can use as toilet paper.  
Mihail: Alright. 
Eugen: I'm off to read it. I'll tell you what I think tomorrow. See you then, mate! 
Mihail: I wonder where Magda is? 
Eugen: Maybe she's at the union. 
Mihail: Maybe. I'll go see if she's there. 
Mihail leaves. Eugen returns to Magda. 
Eugen: He's looking for you... 
Magda: The idiot.  He really loves me and he's convinced I love him too. He's such a fool! 
Eugen: I told him to go to the union to look to for you. 
Magda: You had better told him to go to hell. 
Eugen: Calm down, Magda. You know very well the comrades won't like it to hear you talk like that. 
Magda: Still, I don't get it. Why is the party counting on him? 
Eugen: Because he's been to prison. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: Because he holds liberal views. 
Magda: And how's Nichita or Mazilescu any worse? 
Eugen: Nichita hasn't got a chance left to make it in Europe. 
Magda: Why? 
Eugen: Because he supports the party.  
Magda: And Mazilescu? 
Eugen: Mazilescu is an alcoholic. 
Magda: Who was it though who made him an alcoholic? 
Eugen: We. We realize now it was a mistake, but it's too late. 
Eugen strokes her bum cheeks. 
So who else is left if not Mihail? 
Eugen strokes her calves. 
To take the Herder, the Medicis and the Nobel we need a person with a crystal clear biography and Mihail fits the brief best: he's not a member of the party, he was in prison, he holds liberal political views and besides, he writes well.  And another thing.  The comrades want this. 
Magda: What? 
Eugen: Stir him up so he opposes the communist regime in Romania. 
Magda: How? 
Eugen: The comrades believe a Romanian will only win the Nobel if he's a dissident  So, we have to fabricate a dissident  And Mihail has to be a dissident, not only in his writing, but also in his way of life.   
Magda moves so her whole body touches Eugen. 
Eugen: It's important for us to take the Nobel. It's not important how. Or who takes it. What matters is that we have it. We hope he'll take it. But he'll only succeed in taking it if we manage to turn him into a Romanian Soljeniţîn¹². 
Magda: I see. 
Eugen: Therefore, encourage him to take a stance against the party's, so to speak, anti-Semitic policy.  Push him to criticize the Romanian state for selling the Jews like cattle. 
Magda: Haraşo. 
Eugen: It's time he started taking action on that front too.   
Magda: What if he finds out about the Securitate's plans and the grand part that he's been made to play in the history of Romania?  
Eugen: He won't find out. He doesn't even suspect the popularity he currently enjoys is the work of the Communist Party of Romania.  He's no naive!  You've also confirmed it.   
Magda: That's true. 
Eugen: Mihail has his head in the clouds. As you very well know, most articles that appeared in the press have been written because the comrades have seen to it.  You think otherwise that anyone would have interviewed him or invited him to be on television?   
Magda: Of course not. 
Eugen: Guide him towards writing about the squalor of Bucharest's estates. 
Magda: OK. 
Eugen: The party wants this. 
Magda: You mean I should get him to 'slap' the party? 
Eugen: Yes.  
Magda: If you say so. 
Eugen: The party needs this as well: slaps from Mihail.  
Magda: OK. 
Eugen: The comrades believe this is the only bate our Western friends will bite on.  That's the only way we'll win a Nobel or at least a Medicis.  Now go to the union, but don't stay there long, the man has to write.  Before you go, let's fuck again.   
End of scene three.
 
SCENE 4 
Mihail and Magda are drinking at the union. It's nearly dawn. Eugen enters.  
Eugen: You'vebeen here since last night? 
Magda: Sorry? 
Eugen: Mihail, I have to tell you something. 
Magda doesn't want to let her husband stand up. 
Eugen: Magda, I'm stealing your husband for five minutes. Mihail, let's go outside for a bit. 
They go out in the courtyard.  On the stairs of the bar Buzura and Caraion are talking. 
Let us go further off. 
They move away from Buzura & Caraion. 
Buzura or Caraion won't hear us here. 
He looks around tensely. 
No-one else either. 
Links arms with Mihail. 
I read your last novel and I brought you your money. Is 3000 alright? 
Mihail: I'll go and ask my wife. 
Eugen: Your wife? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: She mustn't know a thing. 
Lifts him by the front of his shirt. 
Or does she know already? 
Mihail: She doesn't know and she won't. 
Eugen releases him. 
Eugen: It's 3000 alright? 
Mihail: Yes. 
Eugen: So, you've written another good novel.  Congratulations.  Let us return to the bar.   
Mihail: Let's.
.
Eugen: But stop drinking and go home and start writing your third. This one should be about your experience in Jilava. 
Cups his cheeks in his hands.

It's morning already and the waiters can't close up because no-one wants to go home. Go and write! 
Mihail: I'll wait for my wife. 
Eugen: She's throwing up in the loos. 
Mihail: I'll go get her. 
Eugen: Do! And go home swiftly and start your third novel. 
Eugen whispers in Mihail's ear. 
Eugen: Finish it by the beginning of August. 
Mihail: I will. 
Eugen: I think it's better you went off to the mountains to write it.  
Mihail: Alright. 
Eugen: Sinaia¹³ for example. 
Mihail: As you wish. 
Eugen: Sinaia's the best. 
Mihail: That's fine with me. 
Eugen gives him some money. 
Eugen: You'll pay your hotel and train ticket with this. You'll go on your own. There's a train in two and a half hours. 
Mihail notes down the name of the hotel. 
Mihail: Alright. 
Mihail brings out his wife from the toilets. Magda can barely stand up. 
Mihail: Could you help me take her home? 
Eugen: I can't.  I have to go to the House of the People¹⁴ to meet some mates from secu to go pheasant hunting.  Take her home quickly and then go to Sinaia.  Don't forget, your train's in two and a half hours.  Good luck, Mihail!  And remember, the story is about what you saw and lived through in Jilava.  That's the novel I'm expecting. 
End of scene four
 
SCENE 5 
Eugen's home. Eugen's home. Magda and Eugen are naked and sweaty. They are in bed, hugging. 
Eugen: Give me... 
Magda: Yes. 
She hands him some sheets of paper.  
You'll find everything there. 
Eugen flicks through. 
You'll see who he's been meeting with and what they've been talking about. 
Eugen looks up and listens to her. 
You'll find there's a meeting he had with an ex-inmate from Jilava. 
Eugen: Right. 
Magda: And you'll also find what he thinks about the party and about our comrade, the prime min... 
Eugen: Right. 
Magda: You'll also find a couple of thoughts on you. 
Eugen: Right. 
Magda: But also his reflections on hot water and the freezing cold flats. 
Eugen: The 'secu' will be indebted. 
Magda: I hope. 
Eugen: Magda, why hasn't he criticised the anti-Semitic policies of the party? 
Magda: He's promised to write in this novel about how the Romanian state is selling the Jews. 
Eugen: I hope so. Otherwise, the comrades will lose their patience. 
Magda: I remind him daily to do it. 
Eugen: Is he writing the novel? 
Magda: He is. 
Eugen: About Jilava? 
Magda: He didn't want to tell me what it's about. 
Eugen: Go back to Sinaia and see what he's writing about. 
Magda: I'll go. 
Eugen: It would be good if you left right now. 
Magda: I'm going. 
Eugen: One more thing. 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: 23^rd of August is coming up. 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: I want Mihail to go on hunger strike on the 23^rd of August. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: To protest against the party policies regarding our prisons.  
Magda: Do the comrades know about this? 
Eugen: It was their idea. The comrades believe this way, Mihai's fame as a dissident will grow considerably in the eyes of the Western world.   
Magda: I understand.  
Eugen: On the 23^rd of August he should go on hunger strike to protest against the inhuman conditions in the prisons in Romania.  OK? 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: It's very important you convince him to do this. 
Magda: I'll do everything I can to convince him. 
Eugen: You can even suck him off to convince him to protest. 
Magda: I understand. 
Eugen: Then we'll arrest him and there'll be an uproar in the international press who will demand to set him free. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: We'll reject his last novel on Jilava. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: Our house won't publish any more of his books. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: And a few comrades will set all his books on fire in the centre of town. 
Magda: Well thought out. 
Eugen: Meanwhile, a few of our messengers will go across the border with versions of his novels translated in German, English, French, including the one about Jilava and they'll distribute them across the West and they'll appear on the desks of the most prestigious Western publishers. 
Magda: Well aimed. 
Eugen: This way, Mihail will start collecting all the important literary prizes in Europe, and our country, finally, will end up with the Nobel Prize.  It's been a great embarrassment that the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Polish, the Russians, the Czechs, they all have at least one Nobel and we have  nothing.  
Magda: A great embarrassment indeed. 
Eugen: This is the plan created by the 'secu'.  Its success depends a lot on you though.  Now go to Sinaia.  Do him all the favours he asks for, be more active in bed and don't forget, do everything you can so he goes on hunger strike on the 23^rd of August.  We've already translated his novels and our messengers are awaiting to cross the border.  We'll translate the one about Jilava after we put him back in prison.   
End of Scene five
 
SCENE 6 
Magda and Eugen, naked in bed. 
Eugen: You've disappointed me, Magda. 
Magda: It's not my fault, Eugen. 
Magda gets up, still naked, and walks around the room angrily. 
I tried to convince him. But he didn't want to protest.  
Eugen: You should have been more active in bed. 
Magda: I was. 
Eugen: You should have sucked him off. 
Magda: I did. 
Eugen: Why didn't you tell him you'll throw yourself under a car? 
Magda: I told him. 
Eugen: So why didn't you? 
Magda: Because there weren't any cars passing by. I threatened that I'll throw myself out of the window. 
Magda is angry, walks around the room. 
Still, he didn't want to go on hunger strike. 
Eugen: The turd. 
Magda: He doesn't give a shit what the party is doing, what happens in prisons and what his mates are still having to endure.  
Eugen: The pest. 
Magda: He doesn't care if people have no hot water and if they're trembling with cold in their homes. He's not bothered in the slightest that the shelves are empty in the shops and that cues are endless.  Not bothered in the slightest that the party supports xenophobia, that the party policy is anti-Semitic, that the intellectuals have been silenced. 
Eugen: The faggot. 
Magda: He wants to join the party. 
Eugen: That's very bad.  
Magda: He's made a written application. 
Eugen: We didn't expect that. Not that. 
Eugen walks around fuming. 
We need a dissident, not another comrade. Nobody from the West will take notice of us now. 
Magda: I know. 
Eugen: The comrades' plan has gone to pot. 
Magda: I did everything I could. 
Eugen: I realize this. 
Magda: We tried all possible positions in bed. 
Eugen: I can imagine. 
Magda: But he didn't want to protest. He's such a conformist. He pisses himself with fear. He hasn't got any courage left in him. He simply wants to retire to the countryside and forget he's living in Romania. He kept trying to convince me to go the countryside. He even changed the subject of his novel. This one's not about Jilava anymore, but about how a right-wing intellectual adheres to the party policies.  
Eugen: The comrades are livid he's changed the subject.. 
Magda: It's not my fault.  
Eugen: They've put so much money into him and for what: the guy changes the subject. 
Magda: I only found out about it after he finished it. 
Eugen walks around the room.  He is angry. Magda's eyes follow him. 
Eugen: Unfortunately, the comrades project has failed. How are we going to get a Nobel now? 
Eugen walks around the room.  He is angry. Magda's eyes follow him. 
You'll have to give the comrades an explanation. 
Magda: I've prepared it already. Shall I send it to them? 
Eugen: No. It's better I do it. 
Magda: And what will happen to him? 
Eugen: I don't know yet. 
Magda: When will you find out? 
Eugen: Today. 
Magda walks around the room naked. She's also very angry. 
The comrades are debating this as we speak. 
Magda walks around the room naked.  Lights up a cigarette. 
I'll find out their decision in an hour. Now go and get drunk and try to get over what happened as quickly as possible. 
They hug and kiss.  Then they part. 
Union bar. Magda is drinking alone at a table. 
Eugen enters. 
Eugen: The comrades have decided to give up on Mihail. 
Magda: They don't want to give him another chance? 
Eugen: No. Let's go to mine so we're as far as possible from Paleolog or Caraion and Buzura¹⁵. 
They go home to Eugen. At first they're in a cab, then they're in his flat. 
They think Mihail could have retained a charm as a dissident and a myth, otherwise, his prose hasn't got the  power to compete with the new novel, magic realism or neorealism.  It's a little dusty in comparison with today's European literature. 
Magda: And you know what's happening in the European literature of today? 
Eugen: I don't, they do. 
Magda: Right. 
Eugen: Mihail was good while he had to become known in Romania and outdo the local prose writers.   
Magda: Is this what the comrades think? 
Eugen: Yes. They want more: to conquer Europe, but this is not within Mihail's powers. Only a dissident can make the West eat from our hand, Mihail is too much a conformist for this project.

Magda: Is that what the comrades think? 
Eugen: Yes. The comrades say Mihail is not right for this ambitious project because he's too much of a conformist and he's shitting himself with fear.  
Magda: And what did they do to him? 
Eugen: They set up a car accident.  Of course the driver escaped alive.  
Magda: Did they really have to dispose of him? 
Eugen: I suggested they sent him back to the cooler or somewhere in the sticks but they didn't want to. 
Magda: It would have been much better. 
Eugen: But they didn't want to. 
Magda: Shame. 
Eugen: They were scared he was going to talk. 
Magda: But he didn't know a thing. He had no idea of the frenzy bubbling beneath him and the grand projects he was woven into.   
Eugen: I think that too. He was so naive. Mihail really thought people loved his novels and that Mihai Ungheanu considered him the greatest contemporary novelist. How naive was he!
Magda: So what do  I say if someone asks me where my husband is? 
Eugen: No one will ask you because he hasn't got anyone: no relatives or close friends...apart from us. 
Magda: Still, what if? 
Eugen: Say he's ran off to the West and that you're now waiting to be called over. 
Magda: And what do the comrades think of that? 
Eugen: This is their idea. 
Magda: So who's going to conquer Europe now? 
Eugen: The 'secu' have found three new individuals who are about to come out of prison.  The comrades say their minds are sharp, that they write well and that they have oodles of courage.             They should arrive any minute now.  I'm very curious to meet them and see them work.  They say these ones will be great dissidents and at least one of them will win the Nobel.   
Magda: Right. 
Eugen hugs her. 
Eugen: My dear, we can finally be together again.  
Eugen hugs her. 
Magda: And the 'secu' have approved this? 
Eugen pulls away scared. 
Eugen: I haven't asked them. 
Magda: You should ask them first. 
Eugen: I'll ask them tomorrow. Will you move in with me? 
Eugen falls to his knees and takes her hand. 
Magda: After we find out what the comrades say. Maybe they'll ask me to get married again. 
Eugen: To whom? 
Magda: I have no idea. Maybe to... 
Eugen: Yes. 
Magda: To one of the guys you are waiting to come out of prison. Stand up! 
Eugen stands up. 
Eugen: Can you stay the night at least? 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: So you're staying? 
Magda: Yes. 
Eugen: Then I'll go warm up the bath and make the bed. 
He undresses in a hurry. He takes off his trousers, his shirt, his vest and his pants. 
Finally, Magda, we can be together all night. And starting tomorrow, I hope we'll be together for ever, of course, if the comrades agree.  
The phone rings.  Eugen picks it up. 
Eugen: I have to go I'm afraid.  The comrades are meeting me in half an hour outside the university to show me one of the guys who's come out of prison.  They say he's a very handsome guy.  They want you to put on an evening dress and come over to the union bar tonight, so I can introduce you to your future husband.   
THE END