Jamaica - part of The Glasgow Masters Series 2013

 

JAMAICA 

Part of The Glasgow Masters Series 2013

Simon Buckley, Jennifer Campbell, Patrick Cole, Hardeep Pandhal
The play is set in an expensive hotel room in Leeds. Ian, a foul-mouthed middle-aged tabloid journalist has brought a young woman, Cate, to the room for the night. Cate is much younger than Ian, emotionally fragile, and seemingly intellectually simple. Throughout Scene 1, Ian tries to seduce Cate, but she resists. All the while, Ian proudly parades his misogyny, racism and homophobia. The scene ends with the sound of spring rain.
Scene 2 begins the next morning. Ian rapes Cate during one of her fits. She attacks him and then escapes through the bathroom window. Then, unexpectedly, a soldier enters the room brandishing a gun. The hotel room is then struck by a mortar bomb, and the scene ends with the sound of summer rain.
In Scene 3, the hotel room is in ruins; the bomb has blasted a hole in the wall. The soldier and Ian begin to talk, and it is gradually revealed that the hotel is located in the midst of a brutal war. The soldier tells Ian about appalling atrocities that he has witnessed and taken part in, involving rape, torture and genocide, and says he has done everything as an act of revenge for the murder of his girlfriend. He then rapes Ian, and sucks out his eyes. The scene ends with the sound of autumn rain.
In Scene 4, Ian lies blinded next to the soldier, who has committed suicide. Cate returns, describing the city being overrun by soldiers, and bringing with her a baby that she has rescued. The baby dies, and she buries it in a hole in the floorboards and leaves, but not before arguing with Ian about the utility or futility of praying during a burial. The scene ends with the sound of heavy winter rain.
Scene 5 consists of a series of brief images, showing Ian crying, masturbating and even hugging the dead soldier for comfort as he starves in the ruined room. Eventually, he crawls into the hole with the dead baby and eats it. The stage direction then reads that Ian dies. It starts raining, and Ian says “Shit”. Cate returns, bringing a sausage that she has paid for by having sex with the soldiers outside. She eats and hand-feeds the rest of her meal to Ian, who says: ‘Thank you’.
Text Simon Buckley and Sarah Kane.


Simon Buckley (b. 1984, UK)
Simon gained his MFA from The Glasgow School of Art in 2013. Prior to this he was awarded an MA in Metaethics from Bristol University. In 2014 he will undertake one year as a guest student at Stadelschule, Frankfurt am Main. Recent shows include ‘Radio Arthur’, Kunsthalle Baselland (Basel), ‘Ps & Qs’ Joshua Baskin Gallery (Glasgow) and ‘Sessions Polivalents #2′. Hangor (Barcelona).
Jennifer Campbell (b.1985, UK)
Jennifer is currently studying for her MFA in painting at The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (UCL). Recent shows include ‘Premonitions’, TAP Gallery, (Southend-on-Sea), ‘Habits, Cleavages and Fractures,’ The Rock Room, UCL (London), ‘Ininland’, Inland studios, Camberwell (London) and ‘Eastern Pavilions’, Bethnal Green Library (London).
Patrick Cole (b. 1985, UK)
Patrick is currently studying for his MFA at The Glasgow School of Art. From October he will undertake a three-month exchange at The Stadelschule, Frankfurt am Main. Recent shows include ‘New Contemporaries 2013’, Spike Island (Bristol) and ‘The Response’, Sunday Painters (London).
Hardeep Pandhal (b. 1985, UK)
Hardeep gained his MFA from The Glasgow School of Art in 2013. Recent shows include ‘New Contemporaries 2013’, Spike Island Gallery (Bristol), ‘Colme Cille Spiral: A Convocation’, The Mackintosh Museum (Glasgow), ‘Tattoo City: The First Three Chapters’, Castlefield Gallery (Manchester) and ‘Contemporary Figuration’, Exhibition Space Cube (Copenhagen).