The Incomplete Message — a scene for two voices
Lina waits for Marc in a photography studio’s courtyard. He arrives after the photographer has left, with an immaculate shirt and a very clear message. Or so he thinks.
For two voices
Original fiction, translated from the French. Lina and Marc are an adult sister and brother. Two chairs, a phone and a bag are enough; the door, window and phone actions can be mimed. Directions in parentheses are not read aloud.
Indicative length: about five minutes, depending on pace and pauses. This is a reading estimate, not a timed performance.
The studio courtyard
(Twenty-five past ten. In a photography studio’s courtyard, Lina sits beside a locked door. Another chair is empty. Marc arrives carrying a bag.)
LINA: Nice shirt.
MARC: Thank you.
LINA: It almost had its photograph taken.
MARC: Has the photographer gone?
LINA: At quarter past ten. Our appointment was at ten. He had another session somewhere else.
MARC: You told me not to come.
LINA: I told you not to come through the main entrance.
MARC: No. You wrote: “Don’t come.”
LINA: And then?
MARC: Then I took my shirt off.
LINA: The rest of the message, Marc.
MARC: There wasn’t any more. Two words. A full stop. A very firm full stop.
(Lina checks her phone.)
LINA: I’d written: “Through the main entrance. It’s closed off. Use the courtyard.”
MARC: Had you written it or sent it?
(A silence.)
LINA: It’s still in the box.
MARC: So I followed half an instruction.
LINA: You could have called.
MARC: Yes. But I thought you’d changed your mind.
LINA: About the photograph?
MARC: About having me in it.
(Lina puts the phone in her lap.)
LINA: Why would you think that?
MARC: Sunday dinner. You all waited for me.
LINA: You’d said seven.
MARC: Mum’s present is still in my hallway. It looks at me when I come home.
LINA: It’s towels.
MARC: They judge me in silence.
LINA: You could have come after seven.
MARC: At eight, I thought it was too late. By nine, that seemed even more true.
LINA: And today?
MARC: Today I was ready at nine. I even ironed the back.
LINA: We were going to be photographed from the front.
MARC: I wanted to be ready for anything.
(He sits on the empty chair.)
LINA: I sent the beginning too quickly. The door was locked, I was looking for the other entrance… I’m sorry.
MARC: I could have asked a question. It’s less tiring than imagining the answer.
LINA: What made you come in the end?
MARC: Your call at ten past ten. I was in the shower. Then I put the shirt back on. It was offended.
LINA: Have you apologised to it?
MARC: Not yet. I was starting with the family.
LINA: Mum leaves tonight. She wanted a photograph of the two of us before she moves away.
MARC: She’s got the wedding one.
LINA: You’re behind a palm tree.
MARC: You can recognise my shoe.
LINA: She’d like to have your face.
MARC: She’s demanding.
(Lina looks at the phone, then at Marc.)
LINA: We can take it here.
MARC: In front of the locked door?
LINA: In front of the wall. Without the palm tree.
MARC: With your phone?
LINA: It can do more than receive excuses.
(She puts the phone on a window ledge and sets the timer. Marc stands in front of the wall.)
MARC: Is it steady?
LINA: Yes. Look here. I mean, there. Ten seconds.
(She joins him. They stand very straight, their arms at their sides.)
MARC: We look as if we’re waiting to be punished.
LINA: Smile.
MARC: Now it’s punishment with aggravating circumstances.
(While they wait, Lina straightens Marc’s collar. Then she goes back to the phone.)
LINA: No good. You’re looking down.
MARC: I was keeping an eye on my shoe. It’s done this before.
(She shows him the screen. He smiles.)
MARC: You’ve got my collar there.
LINA: What?
MARC: In your hand. You were straightening it.
LINA: And you’re watching me do it.
MARC: That’s nice, isn’t it?
(She looks again.)
LINA: Yes. We’ll keep it.
MARC: Shall we take one where I’m looking at the camera as well?
LINA: To replace the shoe?
MARC: So she has a choice.
(Lina picks up the phone.)
LINA: I’m sending Mum: “We’re coming over with the photo.”
MARC: The whole message at once.
LINA: “And the towels.”
MARC: We’ll have to stop at mine.
LINA: We’ve got time.
(She shows him the message before sending it.)
MARC: Add “Both of us.”
LINA: She knows who…
(She stops, adds the three words and sends it.)
LINA: Both of us.
(Marc picks up his bag. Lina straightens his collar. This time, he lets her.)
For reading or performance
Lina first wants an explanation; Marc defends himself with jokes. After “About having me in it”, leave a silence before the next question. Both voices can then soften without becoming solemn.
During the photograph, Lina can actually straighten Marc’s collar: make the gesture visible, without comment, while they wait. No shutter sound or working camera is needed. Repeating the gesture at the end closes the scene.