Perverse Incentives

In the foothill of the Andes, far from the horrors of the city down below, an enlightened, selective, and most definitely private school greets a group of eager parents.  As their little ones take their all-important entrance exams, the mums and dads are treated to a tour of the school facilities.  But little do they know they are about to face a test of their own.  When the cage of the reception class’s pet is found smashed open and empty, it hardly seems like much to worry about.  But this is a creature of a different kind, and before long there is terror in the corridors and blood and guts on the science lab floor.  It’s a gruesome, horrifying thing to go through just to get your darling child a good eductaion.  But what’s the alternative?  After all, anything’s better than sending them to a state school.

A scream.

Or maybe not a scream. Very strange. Shrill and short. Everyone stops. They move around you oddly, as if walking around, but it’s very short. Now they all head to the classroom. Either they drag you or you run, you’re not sure, sort of lurching across the large tiles through a badly-lit corridor. You think one of the doors is open to one of the classrooms that are in darkness. Everyone heads for the classroom at the end of the corridor, although it’s not the classroom you have to go to, but then they turn around in a sort of U-turn, and then there it is: the classroom, blinding.

The first thing you see is the hand, closed, with the palm and the fingers facing downwards except for the ring finger pointing with the fingertip towards the wrist. You can’t see Felipe. The parents all back away, behind each other.

Bárbara says quietly: oh, oh, oh.

This play has been translated as part of a British Council Santiago project, which aims to translate a number of modern Chilean plays into English for the first time.  Other plays in the selection include The Lady of the Andes by Bosco Cayo, The Desolate Prince, by Juan Radrigán, and The Recommendation by Egon Wolff, some of Chile’s most renowned and prolific playwrights.

Contact me for more details.

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