For Nicolas Party, New Work Scotland Programme 2010

Through the windows of a ground floor apartment four characters are arranged around a kitchen table. A bright light shines above the orange cloth covered surface. HENRY is stylish and charming; he sits proud in the back
left-hand chair with both elbows weightily leaning on the table. MATTHEW leans back on his chair, his relaxed
position causing him to be at a distance to the rest of the group displaying an almost detached manner. PETER is tall, willowy with rather effeminate mannerisms; what he lacks in charm he makes up for in an ignorant
stubbornness. He too is leaning forward, so much so he could almost be on top of the table. His chair is the only one positioned at the front of the table. NADINE is young, her face soft and rosy with rouged lips and cheeks; a timeless beauty. She sits to the right, positioned outwardly so that she is almost facing away from the others. A still life sits to the left of the window depicting a bourgeois dining table stacked with fruit and lavish silver kitchenware, a knife protrudes, balanced under the corner of a silver platter, it signals a forthcoming disaster. It’s early evening. Light is beginning to fall.