A GIRL'S WAR by Joyce Van Dyke A Play in Two Acts Characters ANAHID SARKISIAN (called ANNA), 31, a model ARSHALUIS SARKISIAN, 55, her mother; now, a sniper in the Karabakh army SERGEI SARKISIAN (called SERYOZHA), 21, a shepherd; ANNA’s younger brother STEPHEN WELLINGTON, 40s, a British-born photographer working in New York TITO UCCELLO, 22, his assistant ILYAS ALIZADE, 22, a refugee and deserter from the Azerbaijani army (The roles of SERYOZHA and TITO are played by the same actor.) Setting The action takes place in the present, in a photographer’s studio in New York City (Scene 1), and in a mountain village in Karabakh, near the Karabakh-Azerbaijan front.* The main location is the central room of the Sarkisian house in the village of Matarash in Karabakh. It is an old (19th century) stone house built on the mountainside. A main wing of the house was ruined by bombs eight years earlier and has never been rebuilt. A heavy plastic sheet is nailed over the crumbling opening to the ruined wing; over the years, duct tape has repaired tears in the plastic. The house is kept scrupulously clean, though it is very sparsely furnished, with the only note of luxury in the "martyr's corner" where a small table holds two large framed photographs of Anna's brothers, as well as two candles, a Bible and a crucifix. * Karabakh -- also known as Nagorno-Karabakh -- is a small Armenian-populated enclave in the southern Caucasus Mountains. During the Soviet regime, when Karabakh was an autonomous region within the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, it had a mixed population of ethnic Armenians (about 3/4) and Azerbaijanis (about 1/4). In 1988, Karabakh became the first territory in the U.S.S.R. to demand independence, as well as demanding unification with the neighboring Soviet republic of Armenia, their ethnic kin. "Ethnic cleansing" followed, leading to full-scale civil war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1994 a ceasefire went into effect, but the political situation remains tense and unresolved, and border skirmishes and deaths continue to occur. Over a million people, both Azerbaijanis and Armenians, were displaced or made refugees by the conflict; nearly a decade after the ceasefire, many Azerbaijani refugees still live in refugee camps in Azerbaijan. The Karabakh village of Matarash (its Armenian name) or Madariz (its Azerbaijani name), where most of the action of the play occurs, is fictional. Act I Scene I (In the dark, a strobe flashes on ANNA in a sequence of different postures, being photographed by STEPHEN. Lights come up on a photography studio, New York City, afternoon. TITO is alone, arranging strobes and reflectors on the set.) STEPHEN (off) (Calling.) Hey Tito! You ready to go? TITO She’s not out yet. (STEPHEN enters with a camera with a Polaroid back.) STEPHEN I’m not happy, Tito! TITO She’ll be out in a sec. Supposed to be a nice weekend. You going out to the beach? STEPHEN Is she reading in there? TITO It’s makeup – you know Josh, The Artist. (TITO poses on the set.) Stephen – you could just use me. STEPHEN I’m tempted. (STEPHEN takes a Polaroid of TITO. He paces as he waits for the Polaroid to develop.) TITO Hey, you know that building you were talking about, with the courtyard – I stopped by this morning on my way down and – STEPHEN What’d you think? You go in the courtyard? TITO Yeah – I felt it. That pool in the center – so quiet – (ANNA enters with a book.) Hey! (Admiring ANNA.) Wow! STEPHEN All right, let’s go, let’s go. Make my life worth living, Tito, is that too much to ask? Can’t we make some Italian light? I thought you were supposed to be Italian. (STEPHEN prepares to take a Polaroid of ANNA. She stands on the set reading her book.) No, no, no, no, no, no – give me a better angle, Anna! (She turns, without looking up from her book.) Turn. More. Turn. More. (STEPHEN takes the Polaroid.) Ta very much. (STEPHEN waits for the Polaroid to develop, ANNA reads.) (To TITO.) Yeah, it’s gorgeous, isn’t it? That pool. So Tito, why don’t you find out how we can shoot in that courtyard? (Watching the Polaroid develop.) I don’t think I’m happy Tito! (STEPHEN moves upstage with TITO to discuss some pictures. ANNA, still holding her book, goes into a daydream . . . and ARSHALUIS enters carrying a large crockery bowl of madzoon and a spoon.) ARSHALUIS Anahid. Taste. ANNA It’s so hot out here. ARSHALUIS Taste, I say! ANNA It’s too hot to eat. ARSHALUIS Not too hot for madzoon! Come taste! (Indicating ANNA’s book.) What is that? ANNA “Poems of the English Socialists.” William Blake. Percy Shelley. ARSHALUIS Da, Shelley. We learned in school. “I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed.” “Ode to the West Wind,” composed 1819. Poetry is good, but history is more important. Come, sit and taste! (ARSHALUIS spoons madzoon into ANNA’s mouth. With every statement comes a spoonful.) Very sweet, eh? That time, I was telling before, Armenia had empire – you remember? Long long ago. Before Jesus Christ. Empire that touched three seas. (Spoonful.) Armenia is first nation in all the world to become Christian. First nation in all the world to translate Bible into our own language. (Spoonful.) Last Armenian kingdom was 1375. After that time, Armenians ruled by many other peoples. . . Persians . . . Russians . . . but especially Ottoman Turks. Mohammedans. They like to do their Satan minds, persecuting Armenians in all their dominions. (Spoonful.) 1895 – Turks massacre Armenians. (Spoonful.) 1905 – again they massacre. (Spoonful.) 1915! Vy, Astvadz! 1915 we can never forget. Turks kill one and a half million Armenians. (Spoonful.) They kill. They rape. (Spoonful.) They torture. (Spoonful, which ANNA refuses.) ANNA Ma. Ma. Ma. Ma – I know the English word for madzoon. ARSHALUIS English people no eat madzoon. ANNA Yes they do. They call it yogurt. ARSHALUIS That is Turkish word. ANNA But that's what they call it in America. ARSHALUIS America friends with Turkey. They like to use Turkish word. ANNA Yogurt is the same thing as madzoon. The words are different but the thing is the same. ARSHALUIS Not the same. ANNA Why not? ARSHALUIS Not the same. ANNA Do the Turks make it differently? don't they use milk? ARSHALUIS They use. ANNA And starter? ARSHALUIS They use. ANNA You mean they add other ingredients? ARSHALUIS No. I don't think so. I never watch them. ANNA So it is the same. Madzoon and yogurt are the same thing. ARSHALUIS No! Not the same! Anahid, listen what I telling. What Turk is doing, what Turk is saying, is never the same as Armenian! ANNA But why isn't it? ARSHALUIS Different, I say! Down to the center of the earth! ANNA But if it's made the same way – how is it different? I don’t understand. ARSHALUIS Who can understand? How, why – we can't understand. Only we know what is history. Never forget history. Most important thing in all the world happened 2000 years ago. Easter Day, resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. O lamb of God . . . that takest away the sins of the world . . . have mercy upon us. STEPHEN (To TITO.) By tomorrow. (STEPHEN’s voice breaks ANNA’s reverie. As TITO comes downstage with STEPHEN’s camera, ARSHALUIS exits. TITO replaces the Polaroid back with a regular one and checks the light with a light meter, during the following.) TITO Can I get you a tea or anything? (ANNA shakes her head.) ANNA That was about me, wasn’t it. TITO What? No – really. It was technical stuff. Really. ANNA He didn’t tell you about me? TITO Just . . . he said that you used to be together. ANNA (Prompting him.) And . . . TITO Uh . . . that it’s been a long time — three years? —. Since you . . . . He doesn’t, you know. Tell me intimate stuff. ANNA Stephen looks a lot older. Don’t tell him I said that. TITO I won’t. ANNA You’re so nice. How long have you been working for Stephen? TITO Two years? Feels like a lifetime. ANNA Is that good or bad? (TITO laughs. STEPHEN enters and takes the camera from Tito.) STEPHEN (To TITO.) Go tell them to see if they can get the new girl for tomorrow – the new girl, uh . . . they’ll know her name. But find out if she’s got any tattoos. I don't want tattoos anywhere. No marks. No history. (TITO exits.) OK, let’s see if we can get the shot this time, eh? (STEPHEN begins photographing ANNA continuously.) You know, insolence is my favorite quality in a girl. But you know that, don’t you, Anna. When you do that I can see that top clamp. C’mon, a little heat, a little heat! Live Girls, like the sign says. My, isn’t Anna quiet today? Dead quiet. She wasn’t always like that, was she, old timer? No . . . no, if memory serves, not what you could call quiet. But perhaps we’ve begun to pall. Perhaps Anna secretly yearns to be elsewhere, far from these scenes of glamor and lighthearted fun. How superficial it all is! What a waste of human endeavor, eh? What’s on your mind, Anna? ANNA Nothing. STEPHEN You want to know why I booked you, after all this time. ANNA No. STEPHEN Bullshit. (As he shoots.) Nice. I’ve been waiting all day for you to ask and you just stand there, not asking. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not what you think. ANNA What do I think? STEPHEN Come on, come on – you were dying to come. You had to see for yourself. ANNA I don’t know what you’re talking about. STEPHEN Photographer Obsessed With Former Model. Creative Drive Blocked For Years. Lost Without His Muse – ANNA Shut up, Stephen! STEPHEN (Delighted, laughs.) Every girl who comes in here – ANNA (Interrupting.) Don’t call me that. STEPHEN Every girl who comes in here is – a girl. But I digress. Here’s the deal. We go on sabbatical in a few months – and big changes since your time, we go for four weeks now, and we take the whole crew – but no models, we don’t do any fashion at all, we do . . . explorations, we do – last year in Egypt we did a series on beggars, some great stuff. We’re going to Istanbul this year. ANNA How nice. STEPHEN Turkey. ANNA I got that. So what? STEPHEN Want to come? ANNA What? STEPHEN Nice. Do you want to come? ANNA Is this a joke? Or an insult? I don’t get it. STEPHEN I thought of it as an invitation. ANNA You haven’t seen me in three years. And you invite me to Turkey, off the cuff? And you just told me you don’t take models anymore. STEPHEN We wouldn’t be taking you as a model, more as a . . . ANNA (Interrupting.) I don’t speak Turkish. STEPHEN Who does? ANNA This is ridiculous! STEPHEN Nice. ANNA Oh my God! STEPHEN Yes! ANNA Did you say it just to get the shot?! Did you say it just to get the fucking shot?! STEPHEN Did I? Well would you consider going? ANNA I’m not speaking to you for the rest of the day. STEPHEN Yeah, all my best stuff is coming out of sabbaticals these days. Got to get outside to life and death . . . well, sex and death. Every now and then you get a girl in the studio who has it, but then it’s usually someone too ruined to work. But the others bore me. (TITO enters with a bottle of water for STEPHEN.) Tito! Just reminiscing about old times. You know those old pictures of Anna – the boulder series – TITO Yeah, sure – where she’s lying – yeah, they’re legendary. When was that, when you did those? STEPHEN It was about – . It was – . No, it was ten years ago. Christ. TITO I love those pictures. Well, who doesn’t. ANNA (To TITO.) I don’t. STEPHEN Fuck. ANNA (To TITO.) I’ve done much better things since then. STEPHEN (Putting down his water and picking up his camera.) Tito, go stand behind Anna. TITO Me in the frame? STEPHEN I’ll take care of it. OK, Tito – pull her arms behind her. TITO What? STEPHEN Go on. She likes it. (TITO complies. STEPHEN starts shooting.) Tighter. Tighter! Good! Yes! I love your dirty looks, Anna, I don’t know why I’ve got to work so hard to get them. Yes — yes — yes — (ANNA wrenches herself free from TITO's grasp.) What are you doing? I’m not done! I haven't finished! (ANNA starts tearing the clamps off her clothes and messing up her hair.) ANNA (Shrieking, in Armenian.) Yes geh-noom em! Yes geh-noom em! Yes geh-noom em! [I’m finished! I’m finished! I’m finished!] STEPHEN What the hell – I could kill you – ANNA (Interrupting.) Go on, kill me! Go on! Take everything! (ANNA exits.) STEPHEN Go call her agency. Call her booker. Go on, Tito! (TITO exits. STEPHEN kicks the wall. Hearing ANNA approach, he turns away. ANNA enters, putting on a shirt.) ANNA I'm tired. This is my third continent in four days. STEPHEN If you don't want to do the job, quit. ANNA You can get "the new girl." STEPHEN That's right. You're free to go. ANNA Free to go! Thanks to you, I'm free to go! Where am I free to go? STEPHEN Go home. I’ve got work to do. ANNA “Work”! You mean abusing people. STEPHEN Here we go. ANNA It’s your fault! You provoked this! STEPHEN Because you refused to give me anything, that’s why! You stand there like a stone! ANNA I hate you. You’re such an appalling waste of life. STEPHEN Oh that’s rich, coming from you. Coming from a model. ANNA That’s not what I am! I’m quitting. I’m getting out of the business. STEPHEN Yeah, well, you’re 31. ANNA That’s not why. I don’t want to be old and bitter, like you. STEPHEN You were old and bitter when you were 19. Now, you’re – like a lot of other girls. (TITO enters with a phone.) ANNA That’s a lie! You’re a liar! Acting like the past never happened. Like you’ve forgotten what I was. STEPHEN That’s life, isn’t it. (ANNA turns to leave.) TITO Excuse me – Anna? I’m sorry, it’s your agency. They said it couldn’t wait. ANNA (To phone.) Hello? (ANNA listens.) I’m here. I’m leaving now. ‘Bye. Yes. ‘Bye. (She puts the phone down.) STEPHEN Anna? ANNA My brother. Seryozha. STEPHEN What happened? ANNA They killed him. Soldiers. (ANNA presses a hand to her forehead, hard.) STEPHEN (Touching her, trying to hold her.) Anna. Anna . . . ANNA (To herself.) I have to go. (She goes out.) TITO Stephen? Did you know – STEPHEN Her brother – it must be her younger brother. There was another one – he was older – he was killed a few years ago. TITO Where is this? – a war? STEPHEN Karabakh. Where she’s from. Tito – I’m going to take her home – cancel that 5:30 – yeah – . Scene II (Three months later, Karabakh. ARSHALUIS is dressed in black. We hear the repeated clanking of pipes offstage. On the floor, a bucket of water with rags in it.) ARSHALUIS (In Armenian, on the phone.) Babu Sarah? Babu Sarah? La-soom yes eents? Babu Sarah, la-soom yes eents? Babu Sarah – [Babu Sarah? Babu Sarah? Can you hear me? Babu Sarah, can you hear me? Babu Sarah — ] (Sound of clanking pipes. ARSHALUIS hangs up the phone. ANNA enters.) ANNA Ma? Does she have water? ARSHALUIS Who knows? Phone is died. Come, work. (ARSHALUIS kneels down and begins to wash the floor. ANNA, standing, throws a rag down on the floor and moves it about with her foot.) This is how you wash the floor?! Amahn! (In Armenian.) Ga-mar-ah tsev shar-jheer. Ga-mar-ah tsev shar-jheer. Hahs-geh-tsar? [Make arcs. Make arcs. You understand?] (ANNA doesn’t understand.) ARSHALUIS Clean the right way. Watch me. Big. Make big. Like this. (ANNA kneels down and mockingly exaggerates her mother’s movements.) Ahmot! My English is better than your Armenian. Thank God, now we have independence, they teach Armenian in the schools. (Continuing to wash the floor.) Yesterday I saw your English teacher. Arkady Minassian. He is talking about you. Talking, talking. He is widower now. ANNA I know, Ma. He told me. ARSHALUIS He has three children by this second wife. Now she died, last year. Breast cancer. (ANNA washes the floor.) You admire him. Intelligent, handsome man. (ANNA washes the floor.) Now is three months since you came back. ANNA And not married yet! ARSHALUIS Yes! Time is gliding! ANNA I didn’t come back to get married. ARSHALUIS Why you came back? ANNA How can you say that? ARSHALUIS Fifteen years you don’t come back. Fifteen years. When Andranik is killed in 1992, you don’t come back. ANNA Don’t start, Ma. (Caressing her.) You look tired. Are you on duty again tonight? ARSHALUIS Anahid, you listen. Now you are here three months – time is gliding. Time to work, time to take husband. What you do? This is you, every day, walk around Matarash, taking picture. You see fence, you take picture! You see clothesline, you take picture! What use? Work! Why you stop? Work! ANNA My hand. I hurt it on that faucet. ARSHALUIS (Dismissively.) From Alizades’ time. Alizades put the flosset when we lived Stepanakert. ANNA It’s just a bad design. ARSHALUIS What can you expect? Alizades are Turk people. Bad work. Bad quality. ANNA Ma. They weren’t Turks. They were Azerbaijanis. ARSHALUIS Turk, Azeri — same thing. ANNA They’re not the same, Ma. They’re different. ARSHALUIS Turks, I say! Alizades are just Turks! Robbers! Those people take everything. Yesterday you look for samovar? Gone! They take samovar. They take all precious things. Rugs, lamps, silver – even my doshag they take. ANNA You don’t know it was them. ARSHALUIS Why you like to take their side! I let them live here free, my house, for four years – and they repay by looting. Ahmot! When I hear Alizades died in refugee camp, I think – now, all our house is gone . . . all is scattered and lost. ANNA The Alizades put in the plumbing, didn’t they? ARSHALUIS I surprise they don’t take that too! I surprise they leave the flosset! ANNA It’s faucet not flosset. At least we have running water now. ARSHALUIS Running? Ha! (She laughs.) Water comes like fart, once, twice — (she makes the noise) — all finished. ANNA Your English is really improving, Ma. Look, what if I went down to Stepanakert tomorrow? I’ll buy you a new faucet. ARSHALUIS We have flosset, we don’t need. Throw money away. Throw, throw –. Everything is money. This is American style. ANNA Oh, and what is Armenian style, huh? I thought it was shameful for a woman to leave the house at night. That’s what you taught me. ARSHALUIS Why you come back? To judge us? ANNA How can this be right, what you’re doing? How could you have joined the army? You think that’s what Seryozha wanted? He wanted you to be a sniper? This is supposed to be a ceasefire! ARSHALUIS Ceasefire? If there is ceasefire, why they kill Seryozha? No, we have no peace! ANNA Because no one will stop fighting! ARSHALUIS What are you talking – standing there? Why you don’t help? ANNA It’s not my war! ARSHALUIS I say that is lie! You are Karabakhtsi. Fifteen years in America — for what? You don’t marry, you don’t have children — why you don’t have children? In all New York you can’t find husband? ANNA I don’t want your kind of life, Ma. That’s why I left. ARSHALUIS Who wants?! You think we ask for this kind life?! Please God, send us hard, hard life! Take away our joys, take away our food, take our beloved ones, fill our mouths with dust, make happen that we cry until no more tears can come! ANNA And you want me to have children? That’s insane. ARSHALUIS I want you should help! ANNA You mean join your war! I will never do that! ARSHALUIS Already you joined. Already you paid for weapons. ANNA You know I was sending that money for you and Seryozha! If I’d known what you were using it for — ARSHALUIS We use it to survive! You like to defeat us then? Is this why you come back? ANNA No, I came back to say, Onward, Christian soldiers! ARSHALUIS You don't respect God! You have no right! ANNA God?! You pray to the God of Battles! The God of Armies, the Lord of Hosts! ARSHALUIS Amahn! ANNA "Saul has killed his thousands, And David his ten thousands." That's your religion. I've never met a Christian in my life! (ARSHALUIS slaps her face.) ARSHALUIS (In Armenian.) Ahn-amoht akh-cheeg! [Disgraceful girl!] You are not worthy to be Armenian! ANNA I don't want to be Armenian! I never wanted to be! (ANNA exits. SERYOZHA enters with a clarinet. We hear clarinet music, although SERYOZHA does not hold the instrument to his mouth. ARSHALUIS does not look at him. She straightens the objects on the martyrs’ table. She picks up Seryozha’s picture and kisses it.) ARSHALUIS (In Armenian, making the sign of the Cross.) Anoon hor, yev vort-voh, yev hok-vooyn, ser-po, Amen. [In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.] (ARSHALUIS puts the picture back in its place on the table.) (In Armenian.) Seryozha, seer-a-lis. Inch ha-je-li yes neh-va-goom, Seryozha. Inch lahv yer-ah-jeesht yes, Seryozha. [Seryozha, darling. How sweetly you play, Seryozha. What a musician you are, Seryozha.] (At the sound of a grenade exploding, the music stops and Seryozha exits. ARSHALUIS gets down and scrubs the floor, reciting the Psalm.) (In English.) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. (Another grenade explosion.) He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil (A series of grenade explosions close together.) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. (ARSHALUIS leans over and rests her head on the floor. When she gets up, she puts the rags in the bucket. But when she wrings them out, they are full of blood; the bucket is full of blood. She gives a cry of fear; she carries the bucket to the door, goes outside with it, and closes the door. At the sound of the door closing, ANNA calls from offstage.) ANNA (off) Ma? (ANNA enters. She opens the door, looks out and calls.) Ma, where are you! Ma! Ma! (ANNA turns back into the room. ARSHALUIS re-enters.) (Casually.) Where did you go? ARSHALUIS I dump blood on the garden. ANNA Ma? Did you say blood? ARSHALUIS Bucket, from floor. ANNA Ma. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. (ANNA embraces her and pulls her to sit down.) Ma. It doesn’t have to be like this. We could go somewhere. ARSHALUIS Go? Where? ANNA Anywhere! We could move to Yerevan. ARSHALUIS I never leave Karabakh. ANNA OK, we could move down to Stepanakert. I heard that engineering company in Stepanakert was looking for people, they pay well – ARSHALUIS Money, pah! You are just American. ANNA No I’m not. Don’t tell me what I am. ARSHALUIS You are Anahid Sarkisian, born Matarash village, Karabakh. Mother, Arshaluis Sarkisian, father, Levon Sarkisian (crossing herself.) Flesh and blood, eh? (ARSHALUIS strikes her on the upper arm with the back of her hand.) You like to disagree? You are somebody else? Vy, Anahid! ANNA Did you know that in Russia, women go and take their sons out of the war? ARSHALUIS What are you talking? ANNA In Chechnya! Russian mothers, they say NO! to the generals – ARSHALUIS Russians don’t fight for their own land! ANNA – they do things no man would dare to do – ARSHALUIS I tell you Russians don’t fight for their own land! They are sent to fight in Chechnya, they don’t fight for their own land! ANNA And land is more important than living! Land is more important than life! ARSHALUIS Yes! Yes! Of course more important! We are glad to give our lives! ANNA For what? A government of thieves and killers? Why should we die for them? I will never give my life! I will never be a picture on the martyr’s table in this house! ARSHALUIS No, you like to be picture in magazine! Showing your body! Shame, shame, shame! ANNA This is the shame, the way you live here. This is the shame! ARSHALUIS No shame to be poor. Shame is to do evil. ANNA And all the evil is done by the Azeris and the Turks! ARSHALUIS They are Satan on earth. ANNA What about what the Armenians did in Khojali? ARSHALUIS We have to protect ourselves! ANNA Protect? It was a massacre! What about all the Azeri refugees from this war – half a million people, children – ARSHALUIS Don’t tell me Azeri refugees! How many Armenian refugees from this war?! ANNA People we knew! Our neighbors! ARSHALUIS I say how many Armenian refugees! Hundreds of thousands! And before this war, how many years Azeris try to bury us little by little! Even our language is not allowed! Why you telling me Azeri refugees? Why I feel sorry for them? ANNA (Quietly.) I don’t know, Ma. Why should anyone feel anything for anyone? All I know is, when I left, the Alizades were our friends. Olga was your best friend. What about her son, Ilyas? Ilyas and Seryozha – you used to say Ilyas and Seryozha were like David and Jonathan in the Bible. Don’t you remember? ARSHALUIS No. ANNA You only remember the terrible things. ARSHALUIS We can’t forget what they have done to us. Twenty-one years old. My Seryozha. Mine, but everyone loved. ANNA Ma. ARSHALUIS Andranik they kill in battle, but Seryozha – ANNA Ma. ARSHALUIS He was shepherd. They torture, then they kill. ANNA Ma! ARSHALUIS They cut off his head. They – ANNA Ma! Stop it! (ANNA holds her mother.) Stop. Stop, Ma. Listen. I have to tell you something. I’m going to go back for awhile. To New York. ARSHALUIS This is joke? ANNA No. ARSHALUIS How you can go? ANNA It’s already arranged. ARSHALUIS Arranged? ANNA I got a campaign. My booker got it for me. Totally out of the blue, but it’s really – ARSHALUIS How arranged? ANNA I have a plane ticket. In a week. ARSHALUIS Vy, Astvadz! ANNA It’s a lot of money! We could rebuild the house. We could put in a water system for the whole village. I have to go. ARSHALUIS You like to go! You like to go back to that Satan world! You were Judas before. Still Judas. ANNA I’m Judas. ARSHALUIS Betrayer. Kiss, and then kill. ANNA That makes you Jesus Christ. ARSHALUIS Not only me you betray. Everybody in Matarash. Now we see, this is why you come back. To betray. Go. Go. (ARSHALUIS exits.) Scene III (Later that night. The room is dark. A basket of clean laundry on the floor. ILYAS opens the door, slips inside and looks around the room, taking it in. He sees the photos on the martyr’s table, picks up the picture of SERYOZHA and studies it. He notices the laundry basket and rummages through it. He finds ANNA's shirt – the same one she put on in Scene 1– takes off his own shirt, and puts hers on. He searches for pants in the basket but finds none he can wear. ANNA enters and sees ILYAS holding a gun on her.) ANNA Is that my shirt? ILYAS I need pants. ANNA OK. Good. Yes. I'll get you — there's some on the clothesline — right outside — (She tries to move toward the door, and he blocks her exit.) ILYAS No. Who are you? I said, who are you? ANNA (Flashing him a winning smile.) Your English is very good. ILYAS Are you Armenian? ANNA No. ILYAS American? ANNA No. I'm a visitor. There are some pants — ILYAS (Dismissing the laundry basket.) Too small. ANNA Not those. My brother's. ILYAS Whose? ANNA My brother's. ILYAS Your brother's. ANNA Yes. ILYAS Your brother's. ANNA Yes, my brother's. ILYAS (Picking up SERYOZHA's picture.) This is your brother? ANNA Yes. (Referring to both photographs on the table.) Both of them. ILYAS What is his name? ANNA Seryozha. ILYAS When did he die? ANNA Three months ago. I'll get the pants. ILYAS Where were you when he died? ANNA New York. I'll get the pants. ILYAS No. Not his. You – you will make me some pants. New pants. ANNA I don't know how. ILYAS You know how to sew. ANNA I can sew, I can sew on buttons and – . ILYAS Begin. ANNA I've never made a pair of pants. I've seen it done – ILYAS Where? Where have you seen it? ANNA In New York. ILYAS For which man? ANNA Which man? A model, he was – ILYAS (Interrupting.) Your husband? ANNA No. ILYAS Why not? ANNA I'm not married. ILYAS Why not? ANNA Because I don't want to be. ILYAS You don't like my questions? I have more. ANNA So do I. ILYAS But I have the gun. (ANNA makes a break for the door. ILYAS seizes her, but without threatening her with the gun.) Don't leave. ANNA The house down there, our neighbor, I know they’ve got pants, there’s a man living there I mean he’s not there right now – I'll get them for you. It's just the next house, it won’t take a minute – ILYAS No. I could have done that. I won't kill you. (ILYAS empties the clip from the gun and holds it out to her. She takes it.) ANNA I want the gun too. ILYAS No. You keep that, I'll keep this. Anahid. You don't remember me. ANNA What did you say? ILYAS I used to live in Madariz. I used to live here. ANNA When? ILYAS In this house. ANNA This house. ILYAS You were gone. ANNA What? ILYAS You went to New York. I knew Seryozha. ANNA When? When did you? ILYAS When we were young. ANNA He's dead. ILYAS I was his friend. I'm Ilyas. ANNA He's dead. What? ILYAS Ilyas Alizade. ANNA No, they died in Saatli, the whole family. During the war. ILYAS No. It isn't true. Who told you this? ANNA You're not dead. ILYAS Not yet. ANNA I don't understand. ILYAS You remember? ANNA I don't know. You're so tall. ILYAS How old are you now? ANNA Thirty-one. ILYAS Old. ANNA You're – you're – . You must be . . . twenty-two? ILYAS Yes. ANNA How did this happen? You're Ilyas? Are you really Ilyas? My God, how did this happen? ILYAS I deserted. ANNA From the Azeri army? You deserted from the Azeri army? ILYAS Yes. ANNA Oh thank God! You deserted! When? When did you desert? ILYAS Now. Tonight. ANNA Now? And you came here? Why did you come here? How did you cross the border? ILYAS In the back of a vegetable truck. Under a lot of melons. ANNA An Armenian truck? And the driver didn't know? You're lucky! ILYAS I've always been lucky. ANNA Where did you get out of the truck? ILYAS Behind the church. He stopped for cigarettes. ANNA But you're crazy to come here! To Matarash. It's so dangerous for you. ILYAS For you too. ANNA But I'm not the enemy! ILYAS Neither am I. I am like you. A visitor. ANNA Other people won't see it like that. ILYAS There are no other people. There is only you. ANNA But you won't be able to stay here – in Matarash. I mean – Madariz. ILYAS I know. Your mother – she is still living? ANNA Yes. She joined the army. After Seryozha –. She’s a sniper, she’ll be out on duty all night. You're lucky you came when she was gone. ILYAS You don’t mind to be alone with a man in the house? ANNA Oh for God’s sake! Are you OK? You're not injured? What are you going to do now? ILYAS I would like to sit down. ANNA Yes! Sit! Sit! ILYAS If it is OK. ANNA Oh, who cares! Let them cry shame if they want to! We’ll get drunk and crazy. We’ll give them something to cry shame about. (He sits. She goes to put down the gun clip and picks up the vodka bottle and two shot glasses, and pours drinks.) To deserting! (They drink.) Ilyas! I can't believe it’s really you. Why is your English so good? You don't talk like someone who grew up in a refugee camp. ILYAS I was in Baku. ANNA Baku? And then you went into the army? What about your family? Your little sisters – they're not little any more –. What happened in '92? God, Ilyas! How did you live? ILYAS These questions cannot be answered now. I am tired. (SERYOZHA enters.) ANNA You’re so grown up. SERYOZHA Not really. (ANNA starts to rise.) ILYAS Where are you going! ANNA I’ll get you something to eat. ILYAS No! ANNA OK. ILYAS Don’t go! SERYOZHA (To ANNA.) You remember the day I found you and that guy? In the field, lying down in the poppies. (ANNA sits back down, ILYAS does too.) ILYAS That was a nice smile you gave me. SERYOZHA You were so mad at me, you twisted my arm so hard – ANNA What else shall we drink to? SERYOZHA and you gave me a look – like you were on fire, and I was in the way. (ANNA refills their glasses.) ANNA To . . . melons! To all the melons that brought you here! (They drink, as SERYOZHA exits.) ILYAS (Picking up the vodka bottle.) If you’re going to toast the fruits and vegetables, I better be tamadah. (ANNA laughs. He refills their glasses.) To life . . . within life. ANNA (Toasting.) To life within life! What does that mean? ILYAS The within. Where the life is. (They drink.) Where no one can touch you. ANNA Life is in the mountains! Life is in the Motherland! (ANNA begins to sing the Soviet national anthem. ILYAS joins in.) ANNA & ILYAS (In Russian.) Unbreakable Union of freeborn Republics Great Russia has welded forever to stand. Created in struggle by will of the people, United and mighty, our Soviet land! (They laugh. The power goes out. More laughter. ANNA gropes for matches.) ILYAS We can still drink in the dark. ANNA Wait! I’ll light the lamp. (ANNA lights an oil lamp.) It’s been happening all week – the whole village. ILYAS When did you come back here? ANNA Three months ago. Oh God, Ilyas! I’m sorry, I’m going back to New York. (Long pause.) I came back because of Seryozha. Now there’s no one – my mother – I could never live here again. ILYAS When? ANNA In a few days. ILYAS Yes. ANNA You'll be gone by then. You’ll have to be. ILYAS Of course. Definitively, I will. (He gets up.) ANNA Are you leaving? ILYAS I’ll go up to the caves. (He picks up the gun clip from where ANNA left it.) They might be looking for me. ANNA What will you do? ILYAS I'll leave Madariz tomorrow night. May I keep this? (indicating the shirt.) ANNA Yes, keep it. But you don't have to go yet! You just got here! Ilyas! (Holding his arm.) I want to see you again. ILYAS No. Your mother is here. ANNA I could come up to the caves. No one would know! There's so much to talk about! ILYAS What? ANNA Everything! What happened to everybody – the old days – Seryozha – . ILYAS I don't really remember him. ANNA What?! What do you mean? ILYAS I remember he had a bicycle. He promised he would leave it for me when they moved to Stepanakert. But he didn't. ANNA Wait! (ILYAS opens the door.) ILYAS Don’t tell anyone you saw me. ANNA You can’t just walk away! ILYAS It doesn’t matter where I go. (ILYAS exits.) Scene IV (Three nights later, Karabakh. ARSHALUIS is at her sniper’s post. She has a rifle with a night-vision sight. She scans her target area, finds nothing, lays the rifle down. She takes a bit of bread from her pocket and eats. SERYOZHA enters.) SERYOZHA Mama, this fight with Anahid. ARSHALUIS (Whispering.) Seryozha . . . SERYOZHA You want her to go back to New York and never come home again? Three days now you haven’t spoken to her! Man, you’re stubborn. The two of you! She did something so terrible you can’t talk to her for three days? I’m going to give you some advice. ARSHALUIS (Whispering.) Vy, Seryozha. SERYOZHA When you go home, you make something nice for dinner, make kufta, and give Anahid your blessing. You’ve seen her the last few days – like a different person – working very quiet, like a nice girl, all the time she’s thinking. Thinking about what you said. You’re going to win. Blood’s thicker . . . our blood’s in this ground. She’ll come back, she’ll have children – ARSHALUIS (Whispering.) Vy, Seryozha, vy — SERYOZHA I give you strength, don’t I? I help you aim. Didn’t I help you with that lieutenant, the one who was carrying bread to his men? I’m proud of you, Mama. (SERYOZHA seems to sense another presence.) Down there . . . by the river . . . (ARSHALUIS swings the rifle into position. ARSHALUIS and SERYOZHA simultaneously focus on someone, ARSHALUIS gazing through her rifle-sight.) I see him. Coming down to the water, I see him. He’s carrying . . . it’s just a hat. Wait, wait, let him come down to drink. Look, he’s young. And stupid. That’s where they caught me. At the river. (ARSHALUIS lowers her rifle.) I came down to the river and they saw me. First they shot me in the foot so I couldn’t run. (Crying out for help.) Mama! Mama! (SERYOZHA disappears.) ARSHALUIS (Crying out.) Seryozha! (Her cry echoes against the mountains. Distant sounds of splashing and someone scrambling over rocks. ARSHALUIS raises her rifle and tries frantically to find the target, but she has lost it.) (In Armenian.) Deh-ghas, deh-ghas. Seryozha, balah jahn! Balah jahn! [My son, my son! Seryozha, my dear child! My dear child!] Scene V (That same night. A battered old tin bathtub in the middle of the floor, partly filled with water. ANNA is taking a bath. Next to the tub is ILYAS's shirt which she has just taken off. She uses a small metal bowl to pour water over herself. After a moment, the door opens and ILYAS is on the threshold. He wears a shepherd's clothes, which are wet all along on one side, and he carries a hat full of mulberries. ANNA cries out in alarm and grabs up his shirt for protection.) ANNA I'm taking a bath! (ILYAS steps into the room.) I thought you were gone. You can't come in. ILYAS Where is your mother? ANNA You can't come in! Go away! ILYAS Is your mother here? ANNA I'm taking a bath– that's why! ILYAS Is she on duty? ANNA Yes! Where were you? I thought you were gone. ILYAS I stayed in the caves. ANNA For three days? Why didn’t you come back? ILYAS You might have decided to turn me in. (Noticing the shirt.) Are you washing my shirt? ANNA No! I thought you'd left. I mean – . Go outside. Please go outside! ILYAS So you can call the authorities. ANNA No! So I can get out. Go. (ILYAS pulls out a cigarette and lights it.) ANNA How dare you! ILYAS The power is still out, eh? Who did you tell about me? ANNA No one! ILYAS Your mother. ANNA No! I didn’t tell her anything! ILYAS You didn’t betray me? You protected me? How can I believe that? ANNA I didn’t say a word. I swear! I’m not part of this war. ILYAS That’s easy to say. For a rich American. A tourist. ANNA That’s not what I am! ILYAS You’re an Armenian girl. (ANNA stands up in the tub. A long moment of silence. The cigarette burns ILYAS’s finger.) ANNA You're supposed to say something. ILYAS What? (She pulls a robe on quickly.) ANNA Why did you come back? (ILYAS holds out the hat full of mulberries.) ILYAS I brought this for you. ANNA You’re soaking wet! ILYAS I slipped. In the river. ANNA Mulberries? ILYAS I’ve been eating them for three days. ANNA What were you doing all this time? ILYAS Visiting. I visited places in Madariz. ANNA When? ILYAS At night. ANNA Why didn't you come see me? ILYAS Do people in New York ask so many questions? ANNA Yes. Yes they do. ILYAS I don't like questions. ANNA Or answers! I only have three more days before my flight. ILYAS Good. ANNA Good? You're glad? ILYAS No. Could I have some vodka? (ANNA pours glasses for both of them.) ANNA You're running a huge risk staying in Matarash. How much longer are you going to stay? ILYAS Three more days. (ANNA gives him a drink.) ANNA (Laughing.) Where'd you get those clothes? ILYAS I found them in one of the shepherds' caves. I put holes, stains. For disguise. (Silence.) What do you think it is like, to be in love? (Long silence.) People in New York don't ask this? ANNA No, they do. Sometimes. It isn't easy to answer. ILYAS (Holding out his glass.) Could I have some more? ANNA (Pouring him a drink.) You must be hungry. ILYAS No. I'd like a bath. I smell like sheep. ANNA There's no more water. This is the last of the water. ILYAS I can use this water. ANNA No. You can’t. It’s not right. My mother isn’t here. ILYAS You said you didn’t care about what is improper. ANNA It’s her house. (He squats down and swirls his hand in the water.) ILYAS Will you give me a bath? I took baths in this house when I was a boy. (He lifts his wet hand and brushes his head with it.) ANNA A woman is supposed to wash her father-in-law's feet. That's what my mother used to do. ILYAS I don't want to be your father-in-law. ANNA There’s one kettle of water left. I’ll turn it on. ILYAS That’s nice. ANNA You think so? My mother would kill me. (ANNA goes off, to the kitchen, and he takes off his shoes, socks, and trousers. She re-enters in time to see that he is still wearing her shirt, under the other clothes. It has a large stain on it.) Are you still wearing my shirt? Is that blood? ILYAS No. Mulberries. (He takes the shirt off while she is looking at him, so he is wearing only his shorts. She turns to leave.) You don't like me? ANNA Look! This is not what happens, is it! ILYAS You don't want to look at me? ANNA I can look at you. (She turns back to look at him. He slips off his shorts.) ILYAS You don't say anything either. (He gets into the bath.) The bath houses below the spring are gone. ANNA They were bombed. They never got rebuilt. I don't know if anyone will rebuild them now. More people are putting in plumbing. ILYAS I remember, the towels there used to smell of camfora (saying the word in Russian.) I don't know the English. ANNA Yes! You’re right! Camphor. I'd forgotten all about that. ILYAS Since I came back to Madariz, I remember more and more. (ANNA pours them more drinks, and they toast.) ILYAS To water. ANNA To water. (They drink.) ILYAS I should have been a water animal. My soul was made to live in the water. But all my life I've been on land. Looking for water. ANNA Till now. ILYAS Yes. (The kettle whistles in the kitchen. ANNA goes off, and returns with it.) Do you know the story about the two peasants who are arguing about whose land it is? ANNA No. ILYAS There are two peasants. Having an argument. The first peasant says, "This land you are standing on belongs to me!" The second one says, "I despise you and your family! This land belongs to me!" The first man says, “You lying bastard, I spit on your wife, your children and your parents! This is my land!" The second one says, "I will grind the bones of your ancestors into dust till they are washed out of the mountains and into the sea! I tell you, this land belongs to me!" Then a third peasant comes along and listens to the two of them. After a while, he kneels down and puts his ear on the ground. The first two both cry out, "What are you doing!" And the third man says, "Sshhhh! I can't hear what the earth is saying." "Well?! What does the earth say?" ask the first two. The third man puts his ear to the ground again, and he says: "The earth is saying: both of you belong to me." ANNA (Pouring the hot water into the tub.) And then what happens? ILYAS Probably the two men start fighting again. I didn't want to go in the army. ANNA Why don't you want to kill the Armenians? Why don't you hate them? ILYAS You don't hate the Azeris. ANNA I might, if I lived here. But I'm not Armenian. ILYAS What are you then? ANNA Why does it have to be a country? ILYAS I don't say that. ANNA Why should someone die for a country? Why should that be who you are? ILYAS I met an old man from Thailand. He said, "Be a water." ANNA A water? ILYAS Yes. (Pause.) I walked around in the Azeri quarter. Everything is gone. There are no ruins even. Our old house – there is nothing there. Except the pomegranate tree. Not one stone. ANNA After the ceasefire, people took the stones – from there – to rebuild their houses. ILYAS Armenian houses. ANNA Ilyas. Where are your sisters now? Elizaveta – and the little ones . . . What happened to your family, are they in Baku? ILYAS No. ANNA They’re not still in Saatli? ILYAS No. ANNA Did you get separated? Are they – . Ilyas. Are you the only one . . . I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Your mother too? ILYAS They died in Saatli. My sisters. And my mother. They had cholera. ANNA Your father too? ILYAS No. Here. In Madariz. In the fighting. We could not bury him before we left. They had his body. (She fills the bowl with water and pours it over him repeatedly.) All my mother ever talked about in Saatli was Madariz. When would we come back . . . “Madariz, Madariz.” When she died we carried her on a board. There was a pile of bodies. I remember the smell. We had to tip the board and when she slid off her dress tore. I wanted to stay with her but the smell was so bad. She just lay there. Her hair was blowing. It must have been windy. ANNA How long were you in Saatli? ILYAS I don't remember. ANNA What was it like in the camp? ILYAS I don't remember much. One day someone came from Baku. I went to Baku with her. ANNA With her? To do what? To go to school, or – ? You mean someone adopted you? ILYAS Not exactly. ANNA How old were you at the time? ILYAS Seventeen. ANNA And you lived with her? For how long? ILYAS Five years. ANNA What's her name? ILYAS Lydia. ANNA Lydia. She's Russian? ILYAS No. She is American. She works for Exxon. In Baku. ANNA So when was the last time you saw her? ILYAS It is two months. ANNA Did you have a job too? I mean – ILYAS Many jobs. I can do anything. Pipefitter, translator, taxi driver, also I worked at Hyatt Regency. ANNA But why didn't she keep you out of the army? Why didn't she pay to keep you out? ILYAS Is there more vodka? ANNA I'll get you a towel. (She brings him one.) It doesn't smell of camphor. ILYAS I hated that smell. (ANNA laughs. He wraps the towel around his waist.) I hope I don't smell like a sheep anymore. ANNA No. I'm sure. (ANNA suddenly picks up her camera and starts taking pictures of him.) Do you like being a model? ILYAS I don’t know how to do it. ANNA You just stand there. ILYAS What else? ANNA That’s all. ILYAS No. There’s more. Anahid. Stop. Anahid. ANNA (Lowering the camera.) What is it? ILYAS I think you know. (Pause.) Say my name. I want you to say my name to me. ANNA I can say it. ILYAS Say it to me. ANNA I am saying it. ILYAS In your mouth. ANNA This is – . I’m not – . ILYAS Every mulberry I picked, I said your name. Every one I ate, I said your name. ANNA Oh Jesus. (Kissing.) End of Act I