Chaos - Elaine Abery

Me!

No me!

It was…

Surely not? I’m sure it wasn’t…

Yellow!

Yellow?

Why are we talking about colours?

Did Roger do it?

Roger?

Roger!

Who was Roger?

Oh! You weren’t here for Roger?

Did Roger ever turn up?

I don’t have an email for Roger.

HAHAHAHAAAAA. One person starts laughing. The laughter takes form. Like a thunderstorm rolling in. It gets louder, more raucous. Others join in, like the wind picking up ahead of the storm.

Lightning strikes as someone bangs cutlery on the table.

Silence! The calm before the storm? Or the eye of the storm?

I’m just trying to get an answer, so I can record it!

The storm gathers momentum again, as answers, questions, irrelevant comments fly from every angle of the table.

The words obstreperous and prevaricate suddenly dominate.

So, was it….? Her voice rises

Oh go ring Michael’s friends if you want a fight.

Slowly, the storm subsides as glasses of drink are once again sipped, filled, sipped, placed (rather than slammed) onto the table. Knives and forks, no longer banging on the table, are calmly placed on finished plates.

Breaths start to come slower, more relaxed, across the table.

So, someone finally asks (in a calm voice) what do we do next?