*
The translation of Mrs. Ghada’s Pain Threshold was one of four works developed during hotINK at The Lark 2015. The translation was commissioned by Catherine Coray with funding from NYU Abu Dhabi.
Synopsis
Inspired by the author’s admiration for the Damascene women who “push against the edges of all that constrains them–societal norms, religious propriety, family expectations–in subtle and personally significant ways,” Mrs. Ghada’s Pain Threshold focuses on one such woman who, facing middle age and life as a recently widowed, single woman, unexpectedly meets a man who offers the possibility of a new start. The play is a subtle–almost mysterious–and moving play about coping with the past and trying to find new love.
____________________________________
Characters
GHADA – 42
ANAS – 40
RABIH – 48
MONA – 68
*
SCENE 1
Ghada’s family home. Mona and Ghada are sitting on the balcony having coffee. Mona is wearing a woolen scarf.
MONA
They are going to dig up the park…turn it into a café.
GHADA
They were bound to do that sooner or later.
(Ghada takes out a pack of cigarettes from her handbag and puts it on the table. Then she pulls out two pillboxes and puts them near Mona.)
GHADA
This is the medicine. One pill in the morning and one before bedtime…you should take a diuretic with it.
MONA
I am bored with this…my feet hurt from going to the bathroom.
GHADA
You can’t take blood pressure pills without a diuretic, it can be dangerous…and you should change the bathroom, get a Western toilet.
MONA
That’d be disgusting. Your dad would pee in it standing up.
GHADA
It is important you take the diuretics.
(Ghada takes a cigarette and lights it.)
MONA
Put it out.
GHADA
Just one puff.
MONA
Put it out.
GHADA
He’s at the mosque. He won’t finish for another half an hour.
(Mona looks firmly at Ghada and vice versa. Ghada takes a quick drag and puts out the cigarette. Short silence.)
MONA
Haven’t you been to the dentist yet?
GHADA
I’ll go this week.
MONA
How is work?
GHADA
Splendid!
MONA
What is it?
GHADA
The manager is threatening to deduct 5 percent if I don’t quit the course.
MONA
What course is that?
GHADA
Spanish. They want me to quit.
MONA
Do you have enough money to sign up for it?
GHADA
It’s fully paid by the ministry. And I ought to be allowed time off work for it.
MONA
Why do you want to learn Spanish?
GHADA
I want a change.
MONA
What use is it?
GHADA
I will speak Spanish.
MONA
How long is this course for? And where is it?
GHADA
At the Spanish centre.
MONA
Is your teacher Spanish? Is he a man?
GHADA
It’s a girl, mum. A woman.
MONA
There’s no need for this kind of thing. Really, that’s enough.
GHADA
What shall I do instead? Have tea and coffee and chat on the phone? I do that every day.
MONA
Your manager said there is no need for it.
GHADA
It’s none of his business. The ministry provides courses so we can sign up for them.
MONA
He can fire or transfer you. How will you live then? Haven’t you had enough hardships?
GHADA
Forget about it. Stop worrying.
MONA
Yes…sure, no need to worry.
(Ghada starts to talk when suddenly she has a toothache. She begins to gather her things.)
MONA
Yesterday Abu Khaldon visited us.
GHADA
And?
MONA
He told your dad that he saw you in Bab Touma.
GHADA
I saw him. He was staring at me.
MONA
Smoking shisha and laughing.
GHADA
He was staring at me like an idiot. I wanted to slap him.
(Mona looks at Ghada for a while.)
MONA
You have to stop doing that, stop your obscene behavior, stop wearing clothes that do not suit us.
GHADA
They suit me.
MONA
They don’t suit your look or age.
GHADA
I haven’t worn a skirt in 25 years because Abu Khaldon said I was too old and it wasn’t appropriate for me to show off my legs…we were still living in the same neighborhood then. Today he comes all the way here to say the same thing and dad listens and agrees.
MONA
Show some respect when you talk about your father.
GHADA
Why is he allowed to interfere in our business?
MONA
Talk to your father when he comes back and resolve it.
GHADA
I don’t want to talk about anything. If he wants to he can visit me, he knows where I live.
MONA
You left home years ago and he never forced you to return.
GHADA
The month I spent here was enough.
MONA
You were in your grace period after the Wajeh…. What, did you want to go out and meet people for example?
GHADA
That is not why I left.
MONA
You talk as if someone mistreated you or forced you to do something against your will.
GHADA
I can’t stand sitting in the living room or keeping my bedroom door open. I can’t stand your waking up early, the TV never turned off, all the visitors, the smell of cooking, dad’s constant worrying about my silence and always asking the same question: “What are you thinking about? What are you thinking about?”
MONA
You’ve acquired your husband’s worst habits and his moodiness.
GHADA
I’ll stay in my home.
MONA
The pitiful amount of money you inherited is about to run out…how will you pay your rent?
GHADA
Don’t worry about me.
(Short silence.)
MONA
You will have to answer to God for everything you are doing to yourself and to me.
GHADA
We don’t need to have this conversation.
MONA
You’ve deprived me from having grandchildren. Your marriage only brought us trouble.
GHADA
Goodbye mum…look after yourself.
(Ghada gathers her stuff and leaves…in a few seconds we hear the outside door closing. Mona is trying to calm herself down. She brings out a hidden pack of cigarettes and lights one up.)
(Blackout)
*
SCENE 2
Anas’ office. Anas is sitting behind his desk, working at a computer. Mozart’s “An Die Einsamkeit” (“The Loneliness”) is playing quietly, barely audible. Enter Ghada.
GHADA
Hi.
ANAS
Hello.
GHADA
I’d like to get my teeth checked.
ANAS
What’s the problem?
GHADA
Sudden bouts of pain.
ANAS
Since when?
GHADA
About a month.
ANAS
Please.
(Anas rises, puts on gloves and turns on the light by the examination chair.)
ANAS
Please, sit down.
GHADA
You’re the doctor?
ANAS
I don’t have a nurse. I have to do everything myself.
(Ghada hesitates for a moment and then approaches the chair while Anas prepares the tools he needs to examine her teeth.)
GHADA
I’ll come back tomorrow.
ANAS
Don’t worry, I don’t have any appointments right now.
GHADA
Better to come back later.
ANAS
I could do a quick examination.
(Ghada hesitates for a moment and then sits on the examination chair. Anas approaches, putting the mask over his mouth. Ghada gets up quickly.)
GHADA
I’d rather book an appointment.
ANAS
As you wish.
(Anas takes off the gloves and the mouth mask, turns off the chair light and goes back to sit behind his desk.)
ANAS
Your name?
GHADA
Ghada.
ANAS
Can you come tomorrow. Around 8:30pm. I only work at the office in the evening, does that suit you?
GHADA
It does.
ANAS
Age?
GHADA (hesitating)
Forty-two.
ANAS
Profession?
GHADA
Officer in the Directorate of Finance.
ANAS
Do you have insurance?
GHADA
I don’t know.
ANAS
Check on that. Maybe your insurance would cover this. Address?
GHADA
Third floor.
ANAS
Pardon?
GHADA
Third floor.
ANAS
You live here?
GHADA
I heard a dentist was transferred here about a month ago.
ANAS
None of the building’s residents have paid me a visit yet.
GHADA
No one lives on the first or second floors. There are only surgeries and offices there.
ANAS
This basement is good but lacks mobile reception and ventilation.
GHADA
Smoke?
ANAS
No. You?
GHADA
Not in a doctor’s office.
ANAS
Are you sure you don’t want me to examine you now?
GHADA
Tomorrow.
ANAS
Half past eight.
GHADA
See you.
ANAS
Bye.
(Anas gets up and walks Ghada to the door. He stays looking in her direction after she leaves.)
(Blackout)
*
SCENE 3
Ghada’s house, the bathroom.
Ghada enters the bathroom, looks in the mirror, contemplating herself for some time…extending her finger to her teeth, she rubs them then sniffs her finger…it seems that she doesn’t like the smell, so she opens the water tap and begins to brush her teeth. This lasts for about a minute, she winces with pain every now and then. She brushes her teeth and tries to smell their odor. She starts using a mouthwash, gurgles and once again tries to smell her teeth. She lights a cigarette and contemplates her surroundings, puts the cigarette aside and collects her clothes from the laundry basket. She leaves the bathroom and then comes back and starts cleaning the floor with a broom (or mop). Her mobile rings for a while before she pays attention to it. She leaves the broom on the ground.
GHADA
Hello, Nesma…good…no…all right…I’m reading…yes…a new book…I don’t feel like it today…no, I didn’t check his Facebook page…did he write something new?…about what?…maybe he is writing about his girlfriend…why would he write about me on his wall?…tomorrow, maybe…don’t worry, I’ll get in touch…bye.
(Ghada puts away the mobile. She starts to brush her teeth again. After a few seconds she realizes she was in the middle of cleaning the floor. She wipes her mouth and goes back to smoking a cigarette.)
(Blackout)
*
SCENE 4
Anas’ office. Ghada is on the examination chair. Anas is examining her teeth. The only sound is “An Die Einsamkeit” playing in the background. Ghada winces with pain every now and then. Anas removes the face mask and turns off the chair lights. Ghada straightens up in the chair.
ANAS
I haven’t finished yet. You have beautiful teeth.
GHADA
Any problems?
ANAS
Five teeth need root canal treatment. Another two are on the verge of total collapse.
GHADA
I don’t understand.
ANAS
Your teeth are rotten, infected.
GHADA
I only feel mild pain, when I eat something.
ANAS
What you feel has little connection to what is really going on.
GHADA
When did this happen?
ANAS
How long has it been since you saw a dentist?
GHADA
Two years, I think.
ANAS
Your teeth are suffering.
GHADA
I didn’t feel that.
ANAS
Pain is relative, you need a lot of time before you feel the warning signals it sends…the good news is you haven’t suffered, but the bad news is that your teeth are rotting. You must have high endurance. To pain, I mean.
GHADA
What should we do?
ANAS
You’ll need to spend a lot of time here at the office.
GHADA
How much?
ANAS
Two months of intensive treatment.
GHADA
That’s not what I meant.
ANAS
I can’t determine how much it will cost now.
GHADA
I can’t start the treatment without knowing. I don’t have medical insurance.
ANAS
Let me ask you this: do you need to do your seasonal vegetable shopping, for example?
GHADA
No.
ANAS
Oil for the heater?
GHADA
No.
ANAS
Pay the school fees?
GHADA
I don’t have children.
ANAS
Then everything else can wait. You can get up.
(Anas sits behind his desk. Ghada sits opposite him.)
ANAS
We’ll make a start on the right side as it’s less affected. Then you can decide if you want the rest done. I’ll cap all the teeth to protect them.
(Brief silence.)
ANAS
Let me take care of it.
GHADA
When will the torture begin?
ANAS
Torture? Is that what you think we do?
(Goes to the examination chair.)
ANAS
Come.
(Ghada gets up. Anas starts to show her his tools.)
ANAS
These are our weapons…nothing to fear.
GHADA
Can I touch them?
(Anas takes a pair of medical gloves.)
ANAS
Give me your hands.
(Anas puts the gloves on Ghada’s hands.)
ANAS
Go ahead.
(Ghada examines the instruments one after another. Then she grabs hold of the drill.)
GHADA
What’s that?
ANAS
It can help to reveal cavities. Remove the rot.
(Anas turns on the drill for a while then turns it off.)
ANAS
Is that scary?
GHADA
What do you think?
ANAS
If the noise bothers you, I can fix it. Two cotton buds in the ears.
GHADA
What really scares me is what you’ll do with it. Pull, drill, cut.
ANAS
I won’t hurt you.
GHADA
Do you take care of all your patients this way?
ANAS
We have time.
(Ghada takes off the gloves.)
ANAS
If you decide to go ahead, you can’t back out. Things will only get worse.
GHADA
I don’t have a choice?
ANAS
I fear not.