Free Kaspar and Other Plays by Peter Handke Page A

chair. Walking on, he directs the sentence at the table, expressing with it that neither chair heard him. Still walking, he directs the sentence at the closet, expressing with it that the closet does not hear him. He utters the sentence once more in front of the closet, but without expressing anything: I want to be a person like somebody else was once. As though by accident, he kicks the closet. Once again he kicks the closet, as though intentionally. He kicks the closet once more: whereupon all the closet doors open, gradually. The audience sees that the closet contains several colorful theatrical costumes. Kaspar does not react to the movement of the closet doors. He has only let himself be pushed back a bit. Now he stands still until the closet doors have stopped moving. He reacts to the open doors with the sentence: I want to be a person like somebody else was once.
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    VIII
    The tri-sectioning of events now sets in first, Kaspar moves across the stage, now no longer avoiding each object but touching it ( and more ) ; second, after having done something to each object, Kaspar says his sentence; third, the prompters now begin to speak from all sides, they make Kaspar speak by speaking. The prompters—three persons, say—remain invisible ( their voices are perhaps prerecorded ) and speak without undertones or overtones; that is, they speak neither with the usual irony, humor, helpfulness, human warmth, nor with the usual ominousness, dread, incorporeality or supernaturalness: they speak comprehensibly. Over a good amplifying system they speak a text that is not theirs. They do not speak
to make sense but to show that they are playing at speaking, and do so with great exertion of their voices even when they speak softly. The following events ensue: the audience sees Kaspar walking from the closet to the sofa and simultaneously hears speaking from all sides.
    Kaspar goes to the sofa. He discovers the gaps between the cushions. He puts one hand into a gap. He can’t extract his hand. To help extract it, he puts his other hand into the gap. He can’t extract either hand. He tugs at the sofa. With one tug he gets both hands free but also flings one sofa cushion onto the floor, whereupon, after a moment of looking, he utters the sentence: I want to be a person like somebody else was once.
Already you have a sentence with which you can make yourself noticeable. With this sentence you can make yourself noticeable in the dark, so no one will think you are an animal. You have a sentence with which you can tell yourself everything that you can’t tell others. You can explain to yourself how it goes with you. You have a sentence with which you can already contradict the same sentence.
    The prompters stop speaking at about the time Kaspar does something to whatever object he happens to be touching: the sofa cushion falls on the floor at the moment the prompters stop speaking; it functions like a period. Kaspar’s sentence after each encounter with an object is preceded by a brief pause.
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    IX
    Kaspar walks to the table. He notices the drawer in the table. He tries to turn the knob on the drawer but is unable to. He pulls on the drawer. It comes out a little. He tugs once more at the drawer. The drawer is now askew . He tugs at it once more. The drawer loses hold and falls to the floor. Several objects, such as silverware, a box of matches, and coins, fall out of the drawer. After regarding them for a moment Kaspar says: I want to be a person like somebody else was once.
The sentence is more useful to you than a word. You can speak a sentence to the end. You can make yourself comfortable with a sentence. You can occupy yourself with a sentence and have gotten several steps further ahead in the meantime. You can make pauses with the sentence. Play off one word against the other. With the sentence you can compare one word with the other. Only with a sentence, not with a word, can you ask leave to