Speaking in Tongues, by Andrew Bovell

Year of Publication: 2001

Time: Contemporary Location: Not specified Setting: Part One: Cheap motel room, a bar, and a house. Part Two: A telephone box on the side of an isolated road, a police interview room, a therapist's office, and a desk. Part Three: A house, a therapist's office, and a sidewalk.

Characters:

• Leon, Sonja’s husband, cheats, convinces Pete to take back his wife. Works out the problems with Sonja through a story of a man who lost his love.
• Sonja, Leon’s wife, doesn't cheat. Admits that she almost cheats with Pete. Realizes Leon did cheat on her and leaves him.
• Jane, Pete’s wife, Nick’s neighbour. Called the police on Nick. Sees that the love Nick’s wife has for Nick and realizes she will never have that with Pete.
• Pete, Jane’s husband, Nick’s neighbor, doesn’t cheat. Admits that he almost cheats with Sonja. Realizes Jane did cheat on him and left her.
• Valerie, John’s wife, Sarah’s therapist. Goes missing when Nick gives her a ride home.
• Sarah, Valerie’s client, Neil’s ex-girlfriend. Barely remembers Neil, never loved him. Is the woman from Leon’s Story. Constantly leaves once someone loves her.
• Nick, Jane’s and Pete’s neighbor. Lost his job and drinks every wednesday and gives a ride to Valerie.
• Neil, Sarah’s ex-boyfriend, is still in love with Sarah. Is the man from Leon’s story.
• John, Valerie’s husband. Had to work late and came home to Valerie’s messages of being stuck on the side of the road.

Synopsis

Part One: The play starts in two cheap motel rooms superimposed on each other with 2 couples about cheating on each other after previously being at a bar. The couples talk about their spouses and how nervous they are about cheating on them. The lines are superimposed on each other where one character will start a line and another will finish it with the conversations mirroring each other. As the night progresses, they get closer to the acting of cheating but Sonja and Pete don’t go through with it and Leon and Jane go through with it. Later that night Sonja and Pete wait for their spouses to return and each admit that they nearly cheated; neither Jane or Leon admit they did. Sonja and Pete recognise the smell of another man/woman and decide to leave. A few days later Leon and Pete talk in a bar without realizing who the other is, Leon realizes what he’s done to Pete but does not let him know and convinces Pete to take back his wife. Sona and Jane meet in a bar and talk about what they did and Sonja reveals herself as the wife of the man Jane slept with. Leon and Sonia talk in their house and are able to work out their differences. Pete and Jane also talk in their house but are not able to work out their differences.

Part Two: There are four characters in each their own world, with an interconnected story. Neil writes to Sarah that he still loves her as Sarah speaks to Valerie about how she forgot about him and her problems with every relationship close to love. Meanwhile Valerie is leaving messages to her husband as her car broke down on the side of the road. Nick drives by and gives her a ride but he takes a shortcut she is unfamiliar with and jumps out of the car. As that happens, Nick writes that this is his last letter to Sarah and that he will be forever his. All four characters have intertwined unanswered cries for help.

Part Three: Leon goes to John’s house to ask him about his missing wife. Leon listens to the messages Valerie leaves as the scene splits to before with Valerie and Sarah in the office. They talk about Sarah’s

problems with love and how she can never be the only object of someone. John talks to Leon about how he has wished his wife dead and now she is missing. The play ends with John calling Sarah, his mistress, so that he can be with her now that Valerie is missing.

Possible Scenes for an Acting Class

• Leon and Pete, pages 20-26
• Sonja and Jane, pages 26-30
• Sonja and Leon, pages 31-36
• Pete and Jane, pages 36-43
• John and Leon, pages 57-61

Possible Audition Monologues

• Pete, page 25
• Pete, page 32
• Sarah, page 48

Characters that Suite Me

The actors in this play are multiple characters since there are only 4 characters in each of the three parts. This could be cast differently but since it was the playwright’s intention to have them play multiple parts I will write this as though I am playing the original casted parts. The characters that I would like to play are Pete/Neil/John because the tree are deeply hurt by different women and it would be very interesting to play as well as it would be a good challenge to play three characters in one show.

Problems with this Play from an Acting Perspective

The show is very theatrical and does not have many bearings in the real world other than the emotions the characters feel. A big challenge to the actor is in the first part where one character begins a line and another character finishes it as the scenes are superimposed on stage. The timing for the lines would have to be very exact and flow together flawlessly which would take a lot of practice. A lot of the characters are also very

similar so a challenge to the actor would be to make sure that the characters come off as being different from the others. Another part difficult for the actor is part two with an intertwined story line and lines that cut between each other but each have separate stories. It would be difficult to show the different lives that are still connected. This play would also be difficult for the actor because each of the actors play two or three parts meaning that the actor would have to learn about and present multiple characters differently.

--by Trevor Stoneburner