RUTH. Yeah! And make sure you text me any Robert and Katie news…!
ADAM. Definitely! Yes!
RUTH. They’re such a funny couple!
ADAM. Yes!
A beat.
Right. I’d better be off.
He moves off.
RUTH. Cool.
A beat.
I think I’ll have a tidy. Clean the bathroom. Your study could do with a clear-out.
ADAM (turning back, like a bullet). I wouldn’t bother.
RUTH. When did you last clean it?
ADAM. Seriously. Everything’s in an order, I know where everything is. I like it like that.
RUTH. I’ll just give it a once-over. Sort out your folders.
ADAM. Honestly. Leave it. Relax. Have some time to yourself. Don’t worry about it. Read your book.
RUTH. I don’t mind.
ADAM. Seriously. Read your book. I don’t want you sorting out my folders on a Saturday night!
They laugh.
Seriously. Have some downtime. Read your book. Get in the right frame of mind for tomorrow.
RUTH. Okay.
ADAM. Good. Well I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll see you afterwards, okay? Good luck.
RUTH. Thanks.
ADAM. I’ll be in the foyer.
RUTH. I might be a bit longer than normal because they’ll want to go through how it went and the solo and everything.
ADAM. Cool. No worries. I’ll wait.
RUTH. Cool. Thanks.
ADAM. And no tidying!
RUTH. No. Okay. Thanks.
ADAM. Bye then.
RUTH. Bye.
She goes in for a kiss. They kiss, a peck on the lips. He leaves.
RUTH stands onstage alone, dead still.
She leaves the stage. Pause on the empty stage. She returns with her book and a piece of her steaming-hot apple pie. She sits on the sofa and removes her shoes. She gets her phone out and puts it beside her, in her line of vision.
She reads her book. She eats her pie, blowing on it because it’s hot. She reads her book. Hold on this for a long time. She then looks up for a moment with a thought. She then returns to her book. Hold on this.
Blackout.
About the Author
STEFAN GOLASZEWSKI
Stefan Golaszewski co-wrote and performed in Cowards on Radio 4 (2007, 2008) and BBC4 (2009). He produced and performed his first two plays at the Pleasance Courtyard (2008) and the Traverse Theatre (2009) in Edinburgh, and then together as The Stefan Golaszewski Plays at the Bush Theatre in London (2009–10). His play Sex with a Stranger was first performed at the Trafalgar Studios in 2012. He was the writer, creator and executive producer of BBC3’s Him & Her (2010–13), winning the BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy in 2014.
Copyright and Performing Rights Information
A Nick Hern Book
Sex with a Stranger first published in 2012 by Nick Hern Books Limited, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP
Reprinted with a new cover and revisions to the text in 2014
This ebook edition first published in 2014
Sex with a Stranger copyright © Stefan Golaszewski, 2012, 2014
Stefan Golaszewski has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work
Cover photo: Jaime Winstone and Russell Tovey in the original production of Sex with a Stranger (2012), photograph by Pete Le May
Designed and typeset by Nick Hern Books, London
ISBN 978 1 78001 218 6 (ebook edition)
ISBN 978 1 84842 255 1 (print edition)
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Amateur Performing Rights Applications for performance, including readings and excerpts, by amateurs in English should be addressed to the Performing Rights Manager, Nick Hern Books, The Glasshouse, 49a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP, tel +44 (0)20 8749 4953, e-mail info@nickhernbooks.co.uk, except as follows:
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