THE RAFT: by Gavarre Benjamin

The Raft

 

The existential drift in the raft

 

The Raft (2006) is consolidated as a work of symbolic and existential minimalism, directly related to the theatre of the absurd and modern tragic irony. A metaphor about isolation, the impossibility of communication and the weight of the social role. The psychiatric hospital is not a building; it is a human condition.

 

Dynamics of Actions and Atmosphere

 

The structure advances through a contained tension that never explodes into words, but into paralysis. The play opens with the ghost of a suicide (Laura) and closes with the sound of an ambulance and an omnipresent wave. The sea, which is acoustically introduced at the end, resignifies the entire text: the characters were always on a raft adrift, condemned not to touch each other (the referee's rule in psychodrama is the rule of their lives: "the only thing that is not allowed is to touch each other"). In the end, the music invites a liberation through dance, but the bodies choose silence and immobility, accepting their shipwreck in an almost ritualistic way.

 

Anatomy of Personalities

 

Doctors (defensive distance):

 

Dr. Lavín: It represents the exhaustion and alienation of the professional. His refuge in the cell phone and his harsh response ("I thought you were adults") show a man who has lost his own tools of empathy so as not to drown in the pain of others.

Doctor Gálvez: The intellectual strategist. He uses psychodrama and the chair as a laboratory where he dissects the traumas of patients from a safe distance. It causes catharsis that it cannot contain.

Residente (Julio): The cold look of the new academy. It acts as a boxing referee in patient confrontations; For him, suffering is study material and notes.

 

The Patients (The Castaways of the Self):

 

Lilith: Guilt and absolute wear and tear. It is the echo of Laura's suicide, trapped in a maternal role that no longer supports her and a declared envy towards the peace of the dead.

Renata: Vulnerability Stripped. Her somatized pain in her legs and her fantasy of being a "designer" are the only blankets she has to cover an environment of abuse and hatred inherited from the mother figure. It is pure open wound.

Gustavo: The cynical and lucid observer. Her elegance and piercing irony are her armor against "labels". He is the only one who verbalizes that sanity and madness are just characters that society forces us to rehearse.

Ramón: Defensive rigidity. A man trapped in authority and what he should be (his role as a teacher), whose inability to express tenderness or tears turns into a physical fury that clouds his vision and takes away his words.

Inma: The fragility exposed. It is the emotional thermometer of the group; she seeks affection and physical contact (they go out hugging), but she is broken by a family history of absolute distance.

 

THE RAFT

 

by Gavarre Benjamin

 

 

CHARACTERS:

 

• DR. LAVIN
• DR. GALVEZ
• RESIDENT (JULIAN)
• LILITH
• RAYMOND
• GUSTAVO
• EMMA
• RENATA

 

 

The action takes place in a psychiatric specialty hospital.

 

 

ACT ONE

 

SCENE ONE

 

(DR. LAVIN and DR. GALVEZ.)

 

DR. LAVIN. — (As the conclusion of a long reflection, but without looking up from mechanically playing with his phone) As if it were our fault!

DR. GALVEZ. — (Focused on his book) I shouldn't have revealed… anything.

DR. LAVIN. — (Acidly) No, really?

DR. GALVEZ. — You know how they are. They think medicine is magic.

DR. LAVIN. — (Ignoring him) Having to put up with them... The nerve, calling me a murderer.

 

 

SCENE TWO

(LILITH.)

 

LILITH. — Laura warned us. She made it very clear. Did anyone care when she said she was serious?

 

(Blackout.)

 

LILITH approaches DR. LAVIN. The latter does not flinch. He is completely focused on a medical file.

 

 

SCENE THREE

 

(LILITH and DR. LAVIN.)

 

 

LILITH. — (Like an echo) Did anyone care when she said that this time… she was serious?

DR. LAVIN. — If time could be turned back...

LILITH. — You people are supposed to take care of our lives.

DR. LAVIN. — I thought you were adults.

LILITH. — (Furious) Is this a joke?

DR. LAVIN. — No one could save her. Not even God.

LILITH. — You don't understand.

DR. LAVIN. — What would you have done to save her?

LILITH. — I don't know. I have my own problems.

(Blackout.)

 

SCENE FOUR

 

(GUSTAVO, RENATA, RAYMOND, and EMMA.)

 

The general lights come up. We see the patients—GUSTAVO, RENATA, RAYMOND, and EMMA—waiting for their consultation. GUSTAVO is a man in his thirties. He is very elegant and impeccably dressed. He is powerfully intuitive, though he often takes things too lightly. RENATA is a humble woman who cannot stop moving her legs; she claims to be a fashion designer but dresses with no sense of color coordination, as if she only thought of covering herself with whatever clothes she could find; she is overheated and uncomfortable. RAYMOND is a harsh, rigid man, an elementary school teacher who has clawed his way through life. EMMA looks like an old child… she tries to wipe away the marks of suffering with a smile directed at anyone who will look, yet she can burst into tears in a split second.

EMMA. — They’re late already.

GUSTAVO. — Only Lavin is coming today.

RAYMOND. — (Annoyed by the familiarity, emphasizing the medical title) Doctor Lavin.

EMMA. — How are your legs, Renata?

RENATA does not answer. She only makes a gesture resembling a smile while moving her legs with even greater nervousness than before EMMA's question.

GUSTAVO. — (To Renata) We found out about… Laura because of you.

RAYMOND. — We shouldn't be talking. We must wait for the specialists.

GUSTAVO. — (Challenging, to Raymond, who looks at him with distaste) For the specialist doctors.

(Pause.)

EMMA bursts into tears.

EMMA. — I knew it. She told me she had all those pills.

RAYMOND. — Pills that don't cost us a dime.

GUSTAVO. — Medicine paid for with our taxes.

RAYMOND. — You sound insane, you have no idea how things work.

GUSTAVO. — Maybe I am imagining things… Oh, I see… maybe you are all just a figment of my imagination. Ha. Ha.

RAYMOND has no sense of humor. He glares with growing seriousness at the sharp-witted GUSTAVO.

EMMA. — We should all be grateful because we are unwell and they take care of us here.

(Pause.)

GUSTAVO. — I refuse to label myself. (After a pause) Laura…

RAYMOND. — (Confused) Laura what…

GUSTAVO. — (Incisively) Laura did what she did, we can't crawl inside her head.

RAYMOND. — We have all received a proper diagnosis.

GUSTAVO. — (Maliciously) True. And what did they tell you? That you're the teacher's pet?

RAYMOND. — Look who's talking, the one who doesn't like labels.

GUSTAVO. — (Changing his attitude) Touché.

RAYMOND does not reply, but his animosity toward GUSTAVO is palpable.

SCENE FIVE

(DR. LAVIN arrives.)

DR. LAVIN. — Apologies for the delay.

GUSTAVO. — Is Galvez not coming?

DR. LAVIN. — The doctor… stayed behind taking notes.

GUSTAVO. — Interesting notes?

DR. LAVIN. — Very.

 

(Pause.)

 

The patients try to blend into the background to avoid being the first to speak. The doctor doesn't need to tell them to talk; they know whoever wants to starts. In this case, it is RAYMOND.

 

RAYMOND. — I feel more and more foolish. I drove my son to school last Monday, and while driving, I suddenly lost track of where I was. My vision blurred, and I had to pull over so I wouldn't crash. Other times, I say words completely different from the ones I intended to say. I don't like to ask, but then I notice people looking at me funny, as if they don't understand me. The worst part is I'm not sure if I said what I thought or something else entirely. Then, I write words on the blackboard, but the children yell at me, complaining that I'm missing letters. I write them, and sometimes I notice the letters are missing, and other times the kids have to tell me.

GUSTAVO. — Are you missing vowels or consonants?

RAYMOND. — I don't see the point of your question.

GUSTAVO. — My legs used to go numb and my vision would blur. If I got angry, I'd lose my sight entirely. And my voice too. But the medication has worked.

RAYMOND. — Every time I yell at my wife or my kids, I feel like everything turns red. I feel my head burning hot, and I can't control myself.

GUSTAVO. — Is that what's happening, Doctor? All those symptoms…

DR. LAVIN. — (Answers briefly) It's called somatization. (Changing the subject) Raymond, are you taking your medication?

RAYMOND. — …To be honest, I don't want to become dependent.

DR. LAVIN. — You don't say.

EMMA. — It’s like you’re attacking yourself. Isn’t it, Doctor?

DR. LAVIN. — Oh, so now everyone here is a specialist.

GUSTAVO. — Well, since you aren't capable of explaining anything…

DR. LAVIN. — (Changing the conversation) And how are you, Renata? How are your legs doing?

RAYMOND. — Doctor, I don't think we're finished with my matter.

DR. LAVIN. — We have many matters. I'll see you next Monday.

DR. LAVIN leaves. RAYMOND follows right behind him. EMMA stands up, unsure of what to do. GUSTAVO remains lost in thought and exclaims:

GUSTAVO. — “Men I do not lack, women I have no excess of,” who said that?

EMMA. — You probably just made it up.

GUSTAVO. — It was said by a writer “well known by those in the know.”

EMMA. — Let’s go, shall we?

GUSTAVO. — Yes. The doctor is an imbecile, you must agree.

EMMA. — Yes. You have no respect, but yes. At least the meds do work.

They exit arm-in-arm like friends.

(Blackout.)

 

SCENE SIX

 

(GALVEZ, believing he is alone, lectures an imaginary audience about Laura's suicide.)

The spotlight narrows on DR. GALVEZ, who adopts the posture of an old-fashioned professor at a podium that resembles a university chair.

 

DR. GÁLVEZ. — The news that moves us all is undoubtedly a lesson. In Laura’s case, we could observe a contradiction: she had the strength to recover her physical health, but she could not withstand her family's indifference. Her daughters. Her husband… She bought them the house they used to rent. Her husband abandoned her and took the girls with him. Perhaps Laura Luz died just to… receive a little bit more than indifference.

The RESIDENT steps out of the observation booth and hands some index cards to DR. GALVEZ. The RESIDENT takes a microphone and speaks to another imaginary audience, to the evident annoyance of the psychiatrist GALVEZ, who feels exposed.

RESIDENT. — What should one do in cases where a patient is utterly determined to die? Do we watch them day and night? Should she be committed, should she be chained down? What if she escapes? What if she hangs herself or throws herself out the window? Committing them is convenient. "Put her in a straitjacket," some would say. We cannot be responsible for every single patient. Besides, patients can manage themselves outside of hospitals now... The real question is… Who cares.

LILITH and LAVIN confront each other. EMMA and RENATA stand by as witnesses.

LILITH. — (To Dr. Lavin, who looks tormented) I'm glad for her, because... she's finally resting. I envy her.

DR. LAVIN. — Then why don't you follow in her footsteps?

LILITH. — Do you want me to kill myself?

DR. LAVIN. — No. You envy her, didn't you just say so?

LILITH. — What kind of doctor are you? I have to take care of my daughters.

DR. LAVIN. — Your daughters don't need you anymore.

LILITH. — It's so easy for you to talk. You know, my daughter says you're the one who's crazy.

 

 

 

ACT TWO

 

SCENE ONE

 

(GALVEZ explains Renata's case.)

 

DR. GALVEZ. — (Apparently alone, from his podium where he rehearses his thoughts on a patient before the session begins) Renata is a woman of very meager resources. She lacks money, education, feelings, and affection. Her death wish first expressed itself as chronic pain in her head and legs. Her apparent conflict stems from a battered Ego, overwhelmed by the maternal figure.

The RESIDENT "enters the scene" and applauds DR. GALVEZ. The latter is mildly flattered but also rejects what he considers a mockery.

 

SCENE TWO

 

(RENATA and her reasons. The assistant exits. DR. GALVEZ remains, conducting the session this time. RENATA, GUSTAVO, and LILITH enter the stage.)

RENATA. — They never even told me when my father died. My mother never told me a thing. She never forgave me for being easy, for catching me kissing the neighbor. Everyone in that house hates me and wishes me harm.

GUSTAVO. — (To Renata) I don't think your problem is severe enough to want to die. Why don't you just leave that miserable house… Just walk away and start a new life. Aren't you a fashion designer?

DR. GALVEZ. — (Ironical) Nothing easier. (Stands up and walks toward Gustavo) Let's see, Gustavo. We are going to do a role-play. Do you know what I mean? (Gustavo nods, unsure of what game he's stepping into) Good. You are not the protagonist of this exercise. However, you will play Renata's husband.

GUSTAVO. — Me?

DR. GALVEZ. — Would you rather play the mother-in-law?

GUSTAVO. — I'll play the husband.

DR. GALVEZ. — Lilith will be the mother-in-law.

LILITH. — No. I'm not an actress. Don't do this to me.

DR. GALVEZ. — Now Renata, you will be the star of this drama. Do we agree? Excellent. Tell Richard you want to leave. Tell him: “If we don't leave this filthy house with my children right now, I'm going to kill myself.” Say it to him.

(Pause.)

RENATA, timid at first, shocks everyone with her performance.

RENATA. — (To Gustavo) Look, Richard. Your mother has you by the balls... (Pause) Is that good?

DR. GALVEZ. — Keep going, don't stop.

RENATA. — (Pouring her heart out) Me. They never believed me when I said it wasn't true, that I didn't sleep around. I wasn't a whore, I'm still not.

DR. GALVEZ. — Talk to the husband. Talk to your mother-in-law.

RENATA. — (To Lilith) You miserable old bitch, you think you can boss me around? You stole my daughter, you stole your son... I'm the one who married him.

DR. GALVEZ. — What would you like to say to your daughter? I am your daughter.

RENATA. — (To Dr. Galvez) Damn you, since the day you were born, bitch. I don't forgive you. You just run off with that miserable old woman.

DR. GALVEZ. — What would you like to say to your mother?

RENATA. — (Addressing Lilith as if she were her own mother) I hope hell swallows you whole in this life. I pray to God you die a slow, painful death, you piece of garbage mother of mine. I wish you had never given birth to me, you wretched, miserable bitch.

(Pause.)

DR. GALVEZ. — You may sit down. The exercise is over.

GUSTAVO. — (In a low voice) Lilith, were you the mother-in-law or the mother? (To the doctor) Does this actually work, Doctor? There is way too much rage.

DR. GALVEZ. — Too much rage, yes. Gustavo is right. The important thing, Renata, is for you to know who you truly hate. And why. After that, the hardest part begins: you must forgive. You must learn to forgive.

RENATA. — Are you trying to tell me that I hate my mother?

DR. GALVEZ. — You were the one who said it. Do you agree? With yourself?

(Blackout.)

 

SCENE THREE

 

(LAVIN and GALVEZ discussing the patients.)

 

DR. LAVIN. — (To Dr. Galvez) They bore me. They are inconsistent. There can be no progress if there is no continuity in therapy.

DR. GALVEZ. — I can take over this group.

DR. LAVIN. — Yes, I’ve noticed they follow you more.

DR. GALVEZ. — Perhaps you are the one with a problem.

DR. LAVIN. — Oh, of course, you always have a solution for everything, as usual.

(Blackout.)

 

 

SCENE FOUR

 

(GUSTAVO, RAYMOND, and THE RESIDENT. DR. GALVEZ is in the observation booth.)

 

RESIDENT. — (Acting like a referee next to Raymond and Gustavo, who stand face to face) We have called you here for this special session to exchange some ideas on any topic you choose. You have absolute freedom to do and say whatever you want. Stand face to face. The only thing that is strictly forbidden is touching each other.

The assistant exits. Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” plays. RAYMOND and GUSTAVO, who had been staring at each other, step apart. RAYMOND is visibly annoyed. GUSTAVO cannot help but burst into laughter at the choice of music. RAYMOND grows angrier.

RAYMOND. — (Toward the booth) Can you turn that music off? This isn't fair.

GUSTAVO. — It’s Handel.

RAYMOND. — I don't care.

GUSTAVO. — I guess it doesn't match your taste.

RAYMOND. — I'm going to sit down.

GUSTAVO. — They told us to stand, face to face.

RAYMOND. — They also told us we could do and say whatever we wanted. I am sitting down.

RAYMOND moves away to find a chair. Mussorgsky’s “Promenade” from “Pictures at an Exhibition” plays. GUSTAVO looks amused as RAYMOND becomes increasingly infuriated, sitting down with an obvious posture of rejection.

The music cuts off. The voice of the RESIDENT is heard.

RESIDENT. — Raymond is so rigid, so tense, that even music irritates him. Raymond does not allow himself to cry. Much less does he allow himself to laugh, because once he starts, he cannot stop. His laughter is uncontrollable; it’s like an attack, it physically hurts him to laugh. Gustavo has issues with authority. He believes he shouldn't give anything in return for what he receives. The world owes him, and everyone must pay him just for existing on this earth. Nothing annoys him more than a man like Raymond. He connects very well with his peers and the youth. He detests adults who try to impose themselves purely because of their age.

(Pause.)

RAYMOND and GUSTAVO are deeply uncomfortable.

GUSTAVO. — Look, as for me disliking you, it's not that. To be honest, I just feel uncomfortable around people like you.

RAYMOND. — Here we go. "People like me." With those delusions of grandeur you carry around, you should be seeing a private doctor. You, with your proper way of speaking, your... your arrogant air, acting like you're better or more important than the rest of us here.

GUSTAVO. — You heard what the doctor said about me, that the world owes me.

RAYMOND. — I guess we have to pay you just to exist, then.

GUSTAVO. — In your case, no. You have enough problems. You can't laugh, you can't cry. What can you do? Ah, right: get angry. You should take your meds. They actually work for me.

The RESIDENT'S voice is heard offstage.

RESIDENT. — Raymond and Gustavo detest each other. They always greet each other with coldness.

GUSTAVO and RAYMOND stare at each other as if waiting for something to happen. RAYMOND stands up and steps closer, but GUSTAVO lowers his gaze. RAYMOND sits back down, annoyed, uncomfortable, but no longer wanting to interact.

RAYMOND. — I think we can say we are cured.

GUSTAVO. — The mistake is thinking we are sick in the first place.

RAYMOND. — (Trying to joke) Right, the doctors are the sick ones, and we're going to cure them.

GUSTAVO. — (Joking along) Now don't disrespect the doctors… They aren't sick, no, no, no.

RAYMOND. — (Realizing) I can't stand your lack of respect… but… but I don't like labels either. We can't go through life living under the idea that we are sick.

GUSTAVO. — You're actually starting to grow on me, Raymond. Alright, Doctor. I believe we're wrapped up for today, don't you think?

During these final lines, the tension relaxes. RAYMOND and GUSTAVO look at each other and smile. RAYMOND'S smile is unusual, stiff. THE RESIDENT takes notes.

(Blackout.)

 

 

SCENE FIVE

 

(EMMA and DR. LAVIN.)

 

The lights come up on DR. LAVIN listening to EMMA.

EMMA. — We were one of those families where everyone kept their distance. When I left home, I met my husband. I don't hate my husband, but I can't be affectionate, I just can't. I can't do it with my daughter either. It drives me crazy when she wants me to hug her, I can't, it just doesn't come out of me.

The lights begin to fade until EMMA’S voice becomes a mere whisper. A strange, eerie music swells.

DR. GALVEZ enters the stage alongside the patients, who are now wearing half-masks reflecting their inner conflicts: LILITH, RAYMOND, GUSTAVO, EMMA, and RENATA. DR. LAVIN tries to pay attention to them all.

RAYMOND. — I hate being the monster in my own home. I wish I could take my son to the park. I wish I could tell him I love him, give him a hug.

EMMA. — I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't control my crying.

LILITH. — I can't laugh. I'm forty-four years old and I can't laugh. I hate people who laugh. I hate jokes.

RAYMOND. — It seems to me that you doctors think you're perfectly sane and that we're the ones who are broken. You aren't gods. And we aren't just… patients. Stop classifying human beings.

GUSTAVO. — I like mirrors. Other people are our mirrors. I don't believe the world is divided into the sick and the healthy either. To anyone who marries the character life assigned to them, you have my deepest condolences. You will be doctors, lunatics, housewives, teachers, and designers. No one can play the character they chose in life… no one can do it all the time. I agree with Raymond. Enough with the labels.

 

Concert music playing, inviting them to dance. However, everyone remains seated in absolute silence. The distant siren of an ambulance is heard, fading into the sound of a heavy, crashing tide.

 

(Final blackout.)