Almost Nothing

The pace, tone and atmosphere in this short play work like the touches of paint in an impressionist painting. The story is about a couple who are dealing with the guilt and horror of having killed a boy. The way the story unfolds is subtle and very much similar to the second play published in the text (see previous blog post) At the Table, in that the reader is given very little information about a traumatic event that all characters are aware of.

Barbosa takes his time, making use of long silences and frequent pauses in the dialogue. The pauses result in a great deal of waiting and this plays a dual role since it makes every word audible and clear and in this sense gives a certain grace to the dialogue but at the same time, for the couple in the story it is quiet torture, because they must live with the uncertainty of their future as a police enquiry into the murder threatens their existence.

In scene 2 Dona Vãnia, mother of the deceased boy, enters and reveals her intention to the couple to take the matter to the police. At the end of the scene there is a haunting moment when Antonio comes back with his cheque book and asks her whether the sum he has marked down will be enough to keep her from going to the police. She agrees.

In scene 3 we meet a character called Cesar, he is a bounty hunter and a private eye who is employed by the couple to report on the situation with Dona Vãnia. He explains that the chance that she will go to the police after having taken the couple’s money is very small, but nonetheless a possibility. At the end of the scene comes another gripping moment in which Cesar suggests that the only way to fix the situation completely is to have Don Vania removed all together. He asks the couple to remain silent as a sign of agreement to the idea and the silence at the end of that scene is long and hard.

In the final scene we see the couple in bed discussing their plans for next morning’s breakfast. It is 3 am and they will get little sleep, becasue how much sleep can one get with 2 murders on the conscience?

I was drawn to the simplicity of this play, simple on the surface but very cleverly engineered underneath, with a subtext that works in the long pauses and pointed stares, there is trememdous tension throughout this piece.