The Little Drummer Girl (2018) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
1 The catastrophe.
The war of 1948.
If it can be called a war.
When your British betrayed us, and the Zionists drove us out of our homeland.
When I was eight, l was driven from our land.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
Brothers.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
See? Brothers.
It's not enough.
It sounds like Salim.
The revolutionary crowd.
Who is this? Charmian Ross, she's an actress.
An actress? Youâre kidding.
Does she have a voice? and we don't want our lives laid down by a multinational corporation registered in Lichtenstein and banking in the Dutch bloody Antilles! What's more is I, for one, don't think the Jewish state has to be an imperialist American garrison that treats Arabs like dirt.
Well, she's got a point.
Hi.
Iâm Charmian, Charmian Ross.
We are thrilled to meet you, Miss Ross.
Believe me.
Please.
Shall we begin, Miss Ross? - OK - [VOLUME MUTES.]
- Iâm studying architecture now.
- Hm No Israeli soldier can doubt the great Gadi Becker's right to live in peace.
But is this peace? This is about truth.
They need to believe her.
I've heard you speak their truth before.
Believed it even.
That truth cost an innocent girlâs life.
Innocent, but not clever.
Charlie here could learn from you, Gadi.
Surpass you, perhaps.
I thought Charlie was a boy's name? We will do it right this time.
Khalil.
Who knows? It may be an imitator.
No killing.
Autonomy.
I left my hat.
Who are you people? Who are WE? Come.
Who are we? We .
.
are friends.
Non-sectarian, non-aligned friends, deeply concerned, like you, with the many wrong directions the world is taking.
Yes.
Friends who must do the unavoidable from time to time.
But friends, nonetheless.
Beautiful, isnât it? Please, come in.
Yes, Iâm sure you you must have a thousand questions for us, Charlie.
Of course you do.
You are a curious mind.
And we too also have a thousand questions for you.
Make yourself comfortable.
Freshen up, and we shall go through them all, OK? [SNIFFS.]
Mm-hmm.
It's an honour.
I've heard a lot about you.
No, you havenât.
The kids said you made a fine couple up there on the Acropolis, Gadi.
Like a pair of movie stars.
It was a beautiful moment.
Sorry.
Protocol.
I need to go for a number two.
Charlie! You know what it cost me to get you here? - Your decency? - Nothing so cheap.
My career.
All for you.
Didn't get what you needed in London, then? Oh, I saw everything I needed, Charlie.
Everything to know that you are worth this very moment.
What did you say your name was? I didn't.
How about Marty? Are you asking me or telling me? And when God finished making me, he had a few pieces of wire left over so he tied them up haphazardly and put together Shimon.
Say hello, Shimon.
Everyone else, I think you know.
Oh, you liar! | suggest you listen to what they have And | suggest you go fuck yourself! Who are you? Do you have a problem with Jews? Ethnically culturally, politically.
We don't smell bad to you? Have improper table manners? - No, don't be stupid.
- Wonderful.
Then I pray I can trust you won't jump out a window or vomit if I say we are also citizens of Israel? Do you have a bucket just in case? Ha-ha! Now, must all of us Jews pack up our belongings, return to our former countries and begin again? Wait for the next pogrom? - I just want - Peace.
Hm? Weâre not here to attack your politics, Charlie.
In fact.
we love your crazy politics, every paradox and conflicted spurt of anger or compassion.
But we believe in a bigger you.
That you have talent to waste and you believe it is being wasted.
And if you decide to collaborate with us on this performance, I swear to God you will never be wasted again.
Put in its simplest form, weâre mounting a production.
- Hmm? - Now, there will be no cut, no curtain, constant improvisation.
Well, shit! I've been kidnapped by an experimental theatre company.
[LAUGHTER.]
Experimental, certainly.
Your audience, they won't even know they are watching.
But they will be grateful.
Kids, their parents, innocent bystanders whoâd get a piece of shrapnel in their throat when a bomb goes off right beside them, were it not for you.
Should you want to go home of course, back to your, er pub theatres your lonely brilliance, no-one is stopping you.
But if you are at all intrigued by this role we need to ask you a final round of questions.
Tonight.
What's the character? A terrorist.
No! Go back.
Are you OK? I'm here to talk to you.
I'll be fine.
Dear God, Salim, Iâm so sorry.
My name is Joanna.
Iâm an observer for the International Aid Alliance, - and it is our job to - Where am I? Iâm not allowed to say.
Am I still in Greece? Have they mistreated you at all since your arrival? Are you getting enough fruit and.
vegetables? Huh.
What is he, a puppy? We don't have time.
This side is clean, yes? Weâve got to get that drop-off location.
Look what I have Fire away then, Mart.
Ask me anything.
Let's begin with your family.
Israeli oranges are the best in the world.
Israeli? Hm.
It's the only good thing they have because they were grown on Palestinian soil.
If you want to get out of solitary, you have to pacify your enemies without betraying your friends.
I have no friends.
No-one does.
Not at first.
But they will find out.
Do you have family you can write to? I will only write to my lawyers.
Of course.
But family plays better with the press.
What about your mother? Jane Ashcroft.
- Dead? - Drunk.
Because of your father? Because my father was a criminal, yes.
Did the school ask you to leave because of these problems? Yeah.
It was heartless but we didnât have money to pay the school fees.
So, after that fall from grace He went to prison, - and we lost everything.
- Mm.
I've been fending for myself since I was 15.
But it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
- Hm.
- So as soon as you could, you rebelled to the stage and radical politics.
Oh, there were other ways of rebelling than radical politics.
Such as? Sex, of course.
The essential basis to any revolt.
Weâre not interested in all those failures, Charlie.
Was it your father who made you feel so angry? - Can we take a break? - In a moment.
It must have upset you, his going to prison like that, conning people out of their money.
It was humiliation.
The bailiffs coming in, ransacking the place.
Mum having to apply for benefits just to put food on the table.
That sort of thing didnât happen to people like us.
So what did happen? They took it all.
Everything.
My childhood.
- Our home.
- Hm.
Our happiness.
And where were you when your father died? Standing in a bus shelter outside the prison, waiting for the gates to open.
Standing in the pissing rain.
The date? 15th of July, 1975.
Rain In July? Youâve never been to England, I take it? Was your mother there with you, Charlie? When he died? [SHE WEEPS.]
Let's take that break now.
[SINGING FROM NEARBY.]
[SINGING CONTINUES.]
Who gives her the home truth? It should come from me.
Thank you, Gadi.
Here you go, like you asked.
You'll have to write in English.
Otherwise they won't let your sister read it.
These people don't allow Arabic.
My lawyers? They responded already, dear.
Last week.
Last week? Your lawyers told you write to Fatmeh.
I-I don't remember.
Really? You don't remember me giving you an orange last week, either? I remember that.
Thatâs good.
But Iâm telling you, your lawyers told you to write to Fatmeh.
Thatâs your sisterâs name, isnât it? Fatmeh? You'll have to tell her youâre missing, at least.
She She already knows if if I have been here a week.
0h? I I call in every three days.
Contact every three days.
But never the same way twice.
We need to tell Marty.
Now, Iâm afraid weâve found some rather worrying contradictions in what you told us, Charlie.
Thought we weren't talking politics.
Weâre not.
Weâre talking beliefs.
The reasoning behind every one of your political choices.
Look, I don't want the world wiped out in some dick-swinging contest between some fascist - demagogues weâve never heard of.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Weâve heard all your rehearsed quotations.
Oh, piss off! You say youâre the radical soul here, Charlie, but when are you going to go out and do something about all this talk? Have you not the courage to steal, to kill for these hearts and minds enslaved by your capitalist overlords? Is that what you want.
Stealing and killing? I want to know you stand by your promises.
Then stop twisting my words.
Are you recanting your stated position? I don't have a stated position! Oh.
No commitment to activism, except that you are unaligned.
- Yes! - Peaceably unaligned, too.
You belong to the extreme centre.
Just like youâre a peace-loving Israeli.
[HE CACKLES.]
Hm.
- That was nothing.
- Yes.
Quite an illegal nothing for someone who is anti-violence weapons training.
With dummy guns, look! Sabotage techniques.
Combat skills.
It was Al's scene.
I didn't really get I thought it was just some cheap weekend away.
You can get ten years for this.
What? No, it wasn't like that.
I was playing.
| go with the flow.
I take whatever role that is on offer, OK? Playing.
Now.
Do you remember the last session devoted to the lamentable expansion of Zionism? The leading performer was a Palestinian revolutionary.
Do you not recall this speaker? - I mean - "The gun is my passport" "to my homeland.
" "We are no longer refugees.
We are revolutionary people.
" All right, Iâm superficial.
I get it.
But I didnât do anything.
Didn't do anything? No more lies, Charlie.
You say you went to this forum a couple of times.
- That correct? - It was a couple of times.
- Couple is two.
- Oh, my God! Two or three.
What the hell? "I went to visit my aunt in the country a couple of times" "last year," that could be three.
- Four is possible.
- Five, I guess.
Five.
Oh, with five itâs half a dozen.
You want to revise "couple", Charlie? I said a couple.
I mean a couple.
And what do we make it out to be? Six times.
All documented.
Well, where does she get two from? Sheâs lying.
[HE CHUCKLES.]
Charlie deceived us.
Thatâs so disappointing.
- That sure is.
- It's a phrase.
I-I was just acting - Like you've been acting here? - Yes! - All your politics, all your claims.
- Yes! Like you've acted every day since the great fall of your - criminal father! - Yes! Oh, my God! Joseph, please tell me why any of this matters? We know your father never went to prison, Charlie.
You never had the bailiffs in.
There was no rain on the 15th of July.
You were expelled from St Floras after you were caught sleeping with a local boy.
Your parents forgave you, as they always did everything.
Then one day your father died of a stroke in his home.
And you were heart-broken because, in fact you adored your bourgeois father.
We understand how you've spun a more dramatic fiction for your life.
One that plays in interviews and auditions, at political forums with your so-called friends.
One that feels more like you, than the ordinary, suburban reality.
And we love you for it.
Because we are just the same.
Let me go! Hey, hey, hey! You did great, kid.
You just got the part.
[DISTORTED GROANING.]
Every three days? Thatâs what she said.
His last contact was two days ago.
We need to march double time.
[PRINTER ACTIVATES.]
- Message from Noah Gavron.
- Mm-hmm.
"On no account will you admit to her that you are Israeli subjects.
" "Insist that you pose as Americans.
" I love it! Cable back, "Yes.
" "Repeat, no.
" [KURTZ WHISTLES CHEERILY.]
Heâs happy since you came back.
It's not good for him.
He's lost his stomach.
I can tell.
When the moment comes, Gadi will do what is necessary.
You haven't told him about the Mercedes? Timing is everything, Shimon.
Hmm? I wonder how the weather is in Munich.
[TAPE.]
: We fled their tanks on the West Bank "We fled their tanks, from the West Bank across Jordan.
" "I asked my mother what was happening" "and she said to me, to me, the youngest.
" "What the Westerners did to the Jews" "the Zionists now do to us.
" Iâm finished.
"When I was eight, I was driven from our land.
" "The Gun and the Return, they are one for us.
" How's the lip? Well, I'll never play the trumpet again.
If Iâm going to do this, I have to know what it is Iâm deciding to do.
And in order to know, you first have to decide.
Well, thatâs just marvellous.
This job, is it dangerous? Incredibly.
This is the secret world, Charlie.
Are you in or out? Who am I? You.
And who are you? You know me as Michel.
And are we in love? Infatuated.
Promise me something.
If I go along with this, I want complete honesty.
So, for everything I do, you answer a question for me in return.
So weâre even.
OK? Wear this today.
Your hair up.
Thereâs underwear in the bathroom.
Michel likes it when you wear bold colours.
Hm.
That's from our lovemaking last night.
How memorable.
"If the Israelis bomb our villages with fighter jets" [TAPE STOPS.]
Very good.
Theyâre still working on the drop-off location but we need to make a start.
From now on everything I say and do is crucial.
Weâre building a fiction, and our audience is everywhere, all the time.
Our love affair has been secret.
Last night was our first together after weeks of waiting.
The whole time you were in Greece you were aching to join me.
Thatâs why you gave Alistair and the others the slip.
And what about Joseph? The creepy businessman who tried to chat you up? Mmm.
He was nothing.
The moment you got in this car in Athens, you were with me, Michel.
Ah.
I took you to the Acropolis at night to celebrate our reunion.
We kissed in the ruins.
Iâm romantic that way.
- Hmm - Gestural.
Not terribly into that, Iâm afraid.
Youâve never felt like this before.
Have I not? OK.
No! | disapprove of women smoking.
And I disapprove of men who disapprove of women smoking.
Mush.
It is your pleasure to obey me in these small matters.
- Jose, love - Michel.
Mickey, love, I don't really see how this is going to work.
I mean, Iâm still meant to be myself, or a credible version, right? Exactly credible.
Hmm.
Well, then.
Chauvinist then, this Michel? Or some sort of wicked stereotype you lot've cooked up? Well, he is, isnât he? There is nothing stereotypical about me, Charlie.
One day you'll meet my sister, Fatmeh.
Our inspiration.
Then youâll understand.
Our Palestinian women have a dignity you can't even begin to imagine.
Ahh.
Palestinian.
| see.
Tricky.
I've checked the law firm.
Zurich, legitimate.
Just as well.
How close are you on Fatmehâs reply? Just the envelope to go.
I hope I got Fatmehâs tone right.
We need to know where he was taking that car.
"No words can tell how much I admire the sacrifice you are making" "but we must leave you now for the good of our cause.
" "No-one will forget your name or the pride we all feel in you.
" [VOICES BLEND.]
: "You will become a blessed martyr," "like your brothers Fawaz and Abed.
" "This I swear, as your sister.
" "And so, I pray that you are given courage when your time comes.
" "Your Fatmeh.
" Salim.
Is Fatmeh going to help you? I've tried everything.
But itâs beyond me now.
They're sending an expert to talk to you.
All right.
- It's time.
- I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Let go.
Let go.
It's good that youâre eating.
You'll need your strength.
Argh! [SCREAMING.]
Very good.
What did you say? I said you did a very good job in there, - Miss Bach.
- Thank you.
This is also equally impressive.
Tell me the details.
So Thatâs Charlieâs timeline and hereâs Michel's.
Hm.
Weâve tracked his movements using his receipts and matchbooks.
They coincide in London and Greece.
And while they are apart he writes to her to keep up the romance.
Miss Bach created some moving love ballads for me.
Oh, yes.
We need to put all this back in the apartment, Marty.
Theyâll come looking soon.
How are we on the carâs destination? Without that weâre on the diving board and the pool is empty.
Heâs on the edge.
I think.
- Hm.
- You going to get it out of him? No, keep me in reserve.
Just in case.
So, who will be the expert? [GREEK MUSIC PLAYS.]
Thank you.
Where did I meet you? Michel? Although it was long before I was born, | tell you often about Al Nakba.
Al Nakba? The catastrophe of 1948.
The Israelis call it the War of Independence.
When your British betrayed us and the Zionists drove us from our homeland No, Iâm not talking about your great-great grandad.
Iâm talking about you and me.
For 20 years, my father had faith in the Zionists to see reason.
And then came the massacres of â67.
They shot him.
Made me stand next to him as they did.
We fled their tanks from the West Bank across Jordan.
And I asked my mother what was happening, and she said to me, - to me the youngest - Oh, God.
Youâre him.
What the Westerners did to the Jews, the Zionists now do to us.
When I was eight, I was driven from our land.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
Excuse me? Yes.
What's What's an Ashbal? Sorry.
A children's militia.
If children can be bombed, - they can also - fight.
When i was 11.
I crouched in a home-made shelter, while the Jordanians poured rockets into our camp.
The Gun and the Return they are one for us.
Thatâs why you chose me then.
Because I was at that forum? I fell in love with you instantly.
His eyes, they - They were - Endless? You look nothing like him.
It's not just what they see.
- It's what you believe.
- Where is he now? Here.
With you.
Is this what youâre after then? It's perfect.
Don't confuse drama with reality, Jose.
Thatâs very dangerous.
I'll remember that.
Coming from a professional.
Ironic, don't you think? The first time we met it was me on stage and you in the audience.
You watched the matinee, and stayed for the evening performance and everyone saw you.
It was the longest day of my life.
Ha-ha! But you were excellent though.
Far better than the theatre deserved No! No.
Too late, love.
Sorry.
- Keep the tip.
- Right.
Ef charisto.
Anna Witgen, the Swedish trash who delivered the bomb.
The one who killed the boy, Gabriel.
Where did you send her? Does your big brother Khalil let you choose your women? I know of no Khalil.
Thanks to your help we picked him up this week.
- My help? - Heâs upstairs.
Shalom, Khalil.
You don't have Khalil.
He is alive.
For now.
When you've answered my question I might even let you share his cell.
Nurse him a bit.
Youâre on the diving board, Salim.
And the pool is empty.
Come on, what have you got for me, so that I can hold off my boss for another night? That Mercedes, where were you going to drop it? - Austria.
- Where in Austria? Salzburg train station.
Who was going to pick it up? And when? I want to see Khalil.
Here, a gift.
Something I've already given you.
How can you give me something you've already given me? Ah.
Heavier this time.
Not exactly my taste.
Good.
It's your actual response.
We have to build this fiction as solidly as possible.
Is it real? Look beneath, Charlie.
There was something with it in the box.
You called the number.
My hotel.
But you refused to meet me anywhere but the theatre.
To return it, itâs too expensive.
Yes.
Iâm too young to afford something like that.
Sorry.
So you arrived at the theatre after hours.
We met in the bar.
When everything had closed, in a corner.
Behind you I could see the empty stage.
You took the box from your pocket and you pushed it across the table to me.
I need you to have it.
My Joan.
Iâm not a saint.
People get crushes on actors all the time.
- You're special.
- Yeah, we're all special, love.
No.
just some of us.
I am, which is why I recognise it, in you.
What are you doing? - Falling in love with you.
- Ha-ha.
Infinitely.
How much of this is you? Is that your one question? Mmm-mmh.
Are you really divorced? She couldn't leave Jerusalem.
- I couldn't live in Israel.
- Why? Not exactly my taste.
Why?! One question at a time.
So, does it play, Charlie? Just about.
Enough for me to take you to dinner in my hotel room? Cheeky bugger.
To the second night of our honeymoon.
Youâre only supposed to toast if youâre drinking too.
Whereâs all this leading to, Jose? To bed.
Great.
I love bed.
Youâre shy, arenât you? [SCOFFS.]
Michel has slept with many women.
So? So, we fuck.
Yeah.
Why not? Why not.
How is he? Well, you tell me.
Enthusiastic.
But he lacks technique.
After we have sex, we sleep.
With this under the pillow.
Always.
I let you put a gun under there? It thrills you.
Really? Getting what you want puts you in a bad mood, doesnât it? Sleep.
[TAPE.]
: With Al Nakba, the British began a war, for which they have not yet been held to account.
Al Nakba.
Just as they dispersed the people of Palestine, so shall we punish them in their diaspora and declare our agony to the world.
A telegram for room 24.
Sheâs not ready.
Then get her ready, Gadi.
Thank you.
Forgive me! Frau Schulmann was furious! We are on our way, Paul.
I can feel it in my bones.
I'll just need one more favour from the Austrian authorities now.
It was no small task clearing the last shipment.
And you will reap no small rewards, I promise.
You have an eye for detail, Paul.
We both know it.
It was you who picked this excellent cafe, didnât you? Baumkuchen.
A German delicacy.
It is, I think, the best baumkuchen in all the country.
Really? Hm.
A bit dry.
For the best you really must go to Fussen.
Details, Paul.
I have more news.
Of Anna Witgen.
The blonde bombshell.
I tracked her movements in the lead up to the explosion.
It turns out she rented rooms, one night in Maribor, Slovenia, and then she spent some time in Salzburg before she came to Bad Godesberg.
- Salzburg, Austria.
- Yes.
The birthplace of Mozart.
It can't be.
These people never use the same location twice.
Are you saying I've been given false information? No, I have.
[FADING.]
: The last favour you asked me, it was so difficult to help you Iâm sorry.
The first night we spent together in London, we made love.
And I told you my real name.
It's not Michel.
Salim.
A great secret.
Why did you tell me that? Because I trust you.
You will become my latest recruit.
And once you have proven yourself, my network will reach out to you and you will enter its ranks.
Enter its ranks? I will stay close to you every step of the way.
Your make-up.
Oh! Michel loves it.
And he doesnât mind me taking my time, either.
- Really? - Mm.
Well, we might as well have a little fun while we're at it.
Ha-ha! So, what happens now? First I set you a very important test.
Mm? To pass, you must drive this car for the next 800 miles.
All the way across the Yugoslav border and into Austria.
[SCOFFS.]
Great.
I've never been to Austria before.
Alone.
You said you'd be close.
I will be, but not in the car.
And once you reach Salzburg train station, I'll find you again.
Hm.
But thereâs one more thing.
Of course.
Turn right at the end.
From here youâll be driving that car.
- What's the difference? - Thereâs just papers in there, love.
Nothing sinister.
The point is you've promised to do this for Michel here.
Now, if thereâs any trouble, you're on your own.
It's Russian semtex.
Divided into bricks - Gadi! - hidden in the interior panel.
Enough for a dozen bombs.
Is this real? It's real.
What are you going to use it for? To kill Jews throughout Europe.
And just as they dispersed the people of Palestine, so shall we punish them in their diaspora and declare our agony to the world.
I ask you to do this, Charlie.
For me.
For love.
For our great revolution.
To prove that you are as special as I believe.
This is your debut in the theatre of the real.
The war of 1948.
If it can be called a war.
When your British betrayed us, and the Zionists drove us out of our homeland.
When I was eight, l was driven from our land.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
Brothers.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
See? Brothers.
It's not enough.
It sounds like Salim.
The revolutionary crowd.
Who is this? Charmian Ross, she's an actress.
An actress? Youâre kidding.
Does she have a voice? and we don't want our lives laid down by a multinational corporation registered in Lichtenstein and banking in the Dutch bloody Antilles! What's more is I, for one, don't think the Jewish state has to be an imperialist American garrison that treats Arabs like dirt.
Well, she's got a point.
Hi.
Iâm Charmian, Charmian Ross.
We are thrilled to meet you, Miss Ross.
Believe me.
Please.
Shall we begin, Miss Ross? - OK - [VOLUME MUTES.]
- Iâm studying architecture now.
- Hm No Israeli soldier can doubt the great Gadi Becker's right to live in peace.
But is this peace? This is about truth.
They need to believe her.
I've heard you speak their truth before.
Believed it even.
That truth cost an innocent girlâs life.
Innocent, but not clever.
Charlie here could learn from you, Gadi.
Surpass you, perhaps.
I thought Charlie was a boy's name? We will do it right this time.
Khalil.
Who knows? It may be an imitator.
No killing.
Autonomy.
I left my hat.
Who are you people? Who are WE? Come.
Who are we? We .
.
are friends.
Non-sectarian, non-aligned friends, deeply concerned, like you, with the many wrong directions the world is taking.
Yes.
Friends who must do the unavoidable from time to time.
But friends, nonetheless.
Beautiful, isnât it? Please, come in.
Yes, Iâm sure you you must have a thousand questions for us, Charlie.
Of course you do.
You are a curious mind.
And we too also have a thousand questions for you.
Make yourself comfortable.
Freshen up, and we shall go through them all, OK? [SNIFFS.]
Mm-hmm.
It's an honour.
I've heard a lot about you.
No, you havenât.
The kids said you made a fine couple up there on the Acropolis, Gadi.
Like a pair of movie stars.
It was a beautiful moment.
Sorry.
Protocol.
I need to go for a number two.
Charlie! You know what it cost me to get you here? - Your decency? - Nothing so cheap.
My career.
All for you.
Didn't get what you needed in London, then? Oh, I saw everything I needed, Charlie.
Everything to know that you are worth this very moment.
What did you say your name was? I didn't.
How about Marty? Are you asking me or telling me? And when God finished making me, he had a few pieces of wire left over so he tied them up haphazardly and put together Shimon.
Say hello, Shimon.
Everyone else, I think you know.
Oh, you liar! | suggest you listen to what they have And | suggest you go fuck yourself! Who are you? Do you have a problem with Jews? Ethnically culturally, politically.
We don't smell bad to you? Have improper table manners? - No, don't be stupid.
- Wonderful.
Then I pray I can trust you won't jump out a window or vomit if I say we are also citizens of Israel? Do you have a bucket just in case? Ha-ha! Now, must all of us Jews pack up our belongings, return to our former countries and begin again? Wait for the next pogrom? - I just want - Peace.
Hm? Weâre not here to attack your politics, Charlie.
In fact.
we love your crazy politics, every paradox and conflicted spurt of anger or compassion.
But we believe in a bigger you.
That you have talent to waste and you believe it is being wasted.
And if you decide to collaborate with us on this performance, I swear to God you will never be wasted again.
Put in its simplest form, weâre mounting a production.
- Hmm? - Now, there will be no cut, no curtain, constant improvisation.
Well, shit! I've been kidnapped by an experimental theatre company.
[LAUGHTER.]
Experimental, certainly.
Your audience, they won't even know they are watching.
But they will be grateful.
Kids, their parents, innocent bystanders whoâd get a piece of shrapnel in their throat when a bomb goes off right beside them, were it not for you.
Should you want to go home of course, back to your, er pub theatres your lonely brilliance, no-one is stopping you.
But if you are at all intrigued by this role we need to ask you a final round of questions.
Tonight.
What's the character? A terrorist.
No! Go back.
Are you OK? I'm here to talk to you.
I'll be fine.
Dear God, Salim, Iâm so sorry.
My name is Joanna.
Iâm an observer for the International Aid Alliance, - and it is our job to - Where am I? Iâm not allowed to say.
Am I still in Greece? Have they mistreated you at all since your arrival? Are you getting enough fruit and.
vegetables? Huh.
What is he, a puppy? We don't have time.
This side is clean, yes? Weâve got to get that drop-off location.
Look what I have Fire away then, Mart.
Ask me anything.
Let's begin with your family.
Israeli oranges are the best in the world.
Israeli? Hm.
It's the only good thing they have because they were grown on Palestinian soil.
If you want to get out of solitary, you have to pacify your enemies without betraying your friends.
I have no friends.
No-one does.
Not at first.
But they will find out.
Do you have family you can write to? I will only write to my lawyers.
Of course.
But family plays better with the press.
What about your mother? Jane Ashcroft.
- Dead? - Drunk.
Because of your father? Because my father was a criminal, yes.
Did the school ask you to leave because of these problems? Yeah.
It was heartless but we didnât have money to pay the school fees.
So, after that fall from grace He went to prison, - and we lost everything.
- Mm.
I've been fending for myself since I was 15.
But it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
- Hm.
- So as soon as you could, you rebelled to the stage and radical politics.
Oh, there were other ways of rebelling than radical politics.
Such as? Sex, of course.
The essential basis to any revolt.
Weâre not interested in all those failures, Charlie.
Was it your father who made you feel so angry? - Can we take a break? - In a moment.
It must have upset you, his going to prison like that, conning people out of their money.
It was humiliation.
The bailiffs coming in, ransacking the place.
Mum having to apply for benefits just to put food on the table.
That sort of thing didnât happen to people like us.
So what did happen? They took it all.
Everything.
My childhood.
- Our home.
- Hm.
Our happiness.
And where were you when your father died? Standing in a bus shelter outside the prison, waiting for the gates to open.
Standing in the pissing rain.
The date? 15th of July, 1975.
Rain In July? Youâve never been to England, I take it? Was your mother there with you, Charlie? When he died? [SHE WEEPS.]
Let's take that break now.
[SINGING FROM NEARBY.]
[SINGING CONTINUES.]
Who gives her the home truth? It should come from me.
Thank you, Gadi.
Here you go, like you asked.
You'll have to write in English.
Otherwise they won't let your sister read it.
These people don't allow Arabic.
My lawyers? They responded already, dear.
Last week.
Last week? Your lawyers told you write to Fatmeh.
I-I don't remember.
Really? You don't remember me giving you an orange last week, either? I remember that.
Thatâs good.
But Iâm telling you, your lawyers told you to write to Fatmeh.
Thatâs your sisterâs name, isnât it? Fatmeh? You'll have to tell her youâre missing, at least.
She She already knows if if I have been here a week.
0h? I I call in every three days.
Contact every three days.
But never the same way twice.
We need to tell Marty.
Now, Iâm afraid weâve found some rather worrying contradictions in what you told us, Charlie.
Thought we weren't talking politics.
Weâre not.
Weâre talking beliefs.
The reasoning behind every one of your political choices.
Look, I don't want the world wiped out in some dick-swinging contest between some fascist - demagogues weâve never heard of.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Weâve heard all your rehearsed quotations.
Oh, piss off! You say youâre the radical soul here, Charlie, but when are you going to go out and do something about all this talk? Have you not the courage to steal, to kill for these hearts and minds enslaved by your capitalist overlords? Is that what you want.
Stealing and killing? I want to know you stand by your promises.
Then stop twisting my words.
Are you recanting your stated position? I don't have a stated position! Oh.
No commitment to activism, except that you are unaligned.
- Yes! - Peaceably unaligned, too.
You belong to the extreme centre.
Just like youâre a peace-loving Israeli.
[HE CACKLES.]
Hm.
- That was nothing.
- Yes.
Quite an illegal nothing for someone who is anti-violence weapons training.
With dummy guns, look! Sabotage techniques.
Combat skills.
It was Al's scene.
I didn't really get I thought it was just some cheap weekend away.
You can get ten years for this.
What? No, it wasn't like that.
I was playing.
| go with the flow.
I take whatever role that is on offer, OK? Playing.
Now.
Do you remember the last session devoted to the lamentable expansion of Zionism? The leading performer was a Palestinian revolutionary.
Do you not recall this speaker? - I mean - "The gun is my passport" "to my homeland.
" "We are no longer refugees.
We are revolutionary people.
" All right, Iâm superficial.
I get it.
But I didnât do anything.
Didn't do anything? No more lies, Charlie.
You say you went to this forum a couple of times.
- That correct? - It was a couple of times.
- Couple is two.
- Oh, my God! Two or three.
What the hell? "I went to visit my aunt in the country a couple of times" "last year," that could be three.
- Four is possible.
- Five, I guess.
Five.
Oh, with five itâs half a dozen.
You want to revise "couple", Charlie? I said a couple.
I mean a couple.
And what do we make it out to be? Six times.
All documented.
Well, where does she get two from? Sheâs lying.
[HE CHUCKLES.]
Charlie deceived us.
Thatâs so disappointing.
- That sure is.
- It's a phrase.
I-I was just acting - Like you've been acting here? - Yes! - All your politics, all your claims.
- Yes! Like you've acted every day since the great fall of your - criminal father! - Yes! Oh, my God! Joseph, please tell me why any of this matters? We know your father never went to prison, Charlie.
You never had the bailiffs in.
There was no rain on the 15th of July.
You were expelled from St Floras after you were caught sleeping with a local boy.
Your parents forgave you, as they always did everything.
Then one day your father died of a stroke in his home.
And you were heart-broken because, in fact you adored your bourgeois father.
We understand how you've spun a more dramatic fiction for your life.
One that plays in interviews and auditions, at political forums with your so-called friends.
One that feels more like you, than the ordinary, suburban reality.
And we love you for it.
Because we are just the same.
Let me go! Hey, hey, hey! You did great, kid.
You just got the part.
[DISTORTED GROANING.]
Every three days? Thatâs what she said.
His last contact was two days ago.
We need to march double time.
[PRINTER ACTIVATES.]
- Message from Noah Gavron.
- Mm-hmm.
"On no account will you admit to her that you are Israeli subjects.
" "Insist that you pose as Americans.
" I love it! Cable back, "Yes.
" "Repeat, no.
" [KURTZ WHISTLES CHEERILY.]
Heâs happy since you came back.
It's not good for him.
He's lost his stomach.
I can tell.
When the moment comes, Gadi will do what is necessary.
You haven't told him about the Mercedes? Timing is everything, Shimon.
Hmm? I wonder how the weather is in Munich.
[TAPE.]
: We fled their tanks on the West Bank "We fled their tanks, from the West Bank across Jordan.
" "I asked my mother what was happening" "and she said to me, to me, the youngest.
" "What the Westerners did to the Jews" "the Zionists now do to us.
" Iâm finished.
"When I was eight, I was driven from our land.
" "The Gun and the Return, they are one for us.
" How's the lip? Well, I'll never play the trumpet again.
If Iâm going to do this, I have to know what it is Iâm deciding to do.
And in order to know, you first have to decide.
Well, thatâs just marvellous.
This job, is it dangerous? Incredibly.
This is the secret world, Charlie.
Are you in or out? Who am I? You.
And who are you? You know me as Michel.
And are we in love? Infatuated.
Promise me something.
If I go along with this, I want complete honesty.
So, for everything I do, you answer a question for me in return.
So weâre even.
OK? Wear this today.
Your hair up.
Thereâs underwear in the bathroom.
Michel likes it when you wear bold colours.
Hm.
That's from our lovemaking last night.
How memorable.
"If the Israelis bomb our villages with fighter jets" [TAPE STOPS.]
Very good.
Theyâre still working on the drop-off location but we need to make a start.
From now on everything I say and do is crucial.
Weâre building a fiction, and our audience is everywhere, all the time.
Our love affair has been secret.
Last night was our first together after weeks of waiting.
The whole time you were in Greece you were aching to join me.
Thatâs why you gave Alistair and the others the slip.
And what about Joseph? The creepy businessman who tried to chat you up? Mmm.
He was nothing.
The moment you got in this car in Athens, you were with me, Michel.
Ah.
I took you to the Acropolis at night to celebrate our reunion.
We kissed in the ruins.
Iâm romantic that way.
- Hmm - Gestural.
Not terribly into that, Iâm afraid.
Youâve never felt like this before.
Have I not? OK.
No! | disapprove of women smoking.
And I disapprove of men who disapprove of women smoking.
Mush.
It is your pleasure to obey me in these small matters.
- Jose, love - Michel.
Mickey, love, I don't really see how this is going to work.
I mean, Iâm still meant to be myself, or a credible version, right? Exactly credible.
Hmm.
Well, then.
Chauvinist then, this Michel? Or some sort of wicked stereotype you lot've cooked up? Well, he is, isnât he? There is nothing stereotypical about me, Charlie.
One day you'll meet my sister, Fatmeh.
Our inspiration.
Then youâll understand.
Our Palestinian women have a dignity you can't even begin to imagine.
Ahh.
Palestinian.
| see.
Tricky.
I've checked the law firm.
Zurich, legitimate.
Just as well.
How close are you on Fatmehâs reply? Just the envelope to go.
I hope I got Fatmehâs tone right.
We need to know where he was taking that car.
"No words can tell how much I admire the sacrifice you are making" "but we must leave you now for the good of our cause.
" "No-one will forget your name or the pride we all feel in you.
" [VOICES BLEND.]
: "You will become a blessed martyr," "like your brothers Fawaz and Abed.
" "This I swear, as your sister.
" "And so, I pray that you are given courage when your time comes.
" "Your Fatmeh.
" Salim.
Is Fatmeh going to help you? I've tried everything.
But itâs beyond me now.
They're sending an expert to talk to you.
All right.
- It's time.
- I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Let go.
Let go.
It's good that youâre eating.
You'll need your strength.
Argh! [SCREAMING.]
Very good.
What did you say? I said you did a very good job in there, - Miss Bach.
- Thank you.
This is also equally impressive.
Tell me the details.
So Thatâs Charlieâs timeline and hereâs Michel's.
Hm.
Weâve tracked his movements using his receipts and matchbooks.
They coincide in London and Greece.
And while they are apart he writes to her to keep up the romance.
Miss Bach created some moving love ballads for me.
Oh, yes.
We need to put all this back in the apartment, Marty.
Theyâll come looking soon.
How are we on the carâs destination? Without that weâre on the diving board and the pool is empty.
Heâs on the edge.
I think.
- Hm.
- You going to get it out of him? No, keep me in reserve.
Just in case.
So, who will be the expert? [GREEK MUSIC PLAYS.]
Thank you.
Where did I meet you? Michel? Although it was long before I was born, | tell you often about Al Nakba.
Al Nakba? The catastrophe of 1948.
The Israelis call it the War of Independence.
When your British betrayed us and the Zionists drove us from our homeland No, Iâm not talking about your great-great grandad.
Iâm talking about you and me.
For 20 years, my father had faith in the Zionists to see reason.
And then came the massacres of â67.
They shot him.
Made me stand next to him as they did.
We fled their tanks from the West Bank across Jordan.
And I asked my mother what was happening, and she said to me, - to me the youngest - Oh, God.
Youâre him.
What the Westerners did to the Jews, the Zionists now do to us.
When I was eight, I was driven from our land.
When I was ten, I joined the Ashbal with my brothers.
Excuse me? Yes.
What's What's an Ashbal? Sorry.
A children's militia.
If children can be bombed, - they can also - fight.
When i was 11.
I crouched in a home-made shelter, while the Jordanians poured rockets into our camp.
The Gun and the Return they are one for us.
Thatâs why you chose me then.
Because I was at that forum? I fell in love with you instantly.
His eyes, they - They were - Endless? You look nothing like him.
It's not just what they see.
- It's what you believe.
- Where is he now? Here.
With you.
Is this what youâre after then? It's perfect.
Don't confuse drama with reality, Jose.
Thatâs very dangerous.
I'll remember that.
Coming from a professional.
Ironic, don't you think? The first time we met it was me on stage and you in the audience.
You watched the matinee, and stayed for the evening performance and everyone saw you.
It was the longest day of my life.
Ha-ha! But you were excellent though.
Far better than the theatre deserved No! No.
Too late, love.
Sorry.
- Keep the tip.
- Right.
Ef charisto.
Anna Witgen, the Swedish trash who delivered the bomb.
The one who killed the boy, Gabriel.
Where did you send her? Does your big brother Khalil let you choose your women? I know of no Khalil.
Thanks to your help we picked him up this week.
- My help? - Heâs upstairs.
Shalom, Khalil.
You don't have Khalil.
He is alive.
For now.
When you've answered my question I might even let you share his cell.
Nurse him a bit.
Youâre on the diving board, Salim.
And the pool is empty.
Come on, what have you got for me, so that I can hold off my boss for another night? That Mercedes, where were you going to drop it? - Austria.
- Where in Austria? Salzburg train station.
Who was going to pick it up? And when? I want to see Khalil.
Here, a gift.
Something I've already given you.
How can you give me something you've already given me? Ah.
Heavier this time.
Not exactly my taste.
Good.
It's your actual response.
We have to build this fiction as solidly as possible.
Is it real? Look beneath, Charlie.
There was something with it in the box.
You called the number.
My hotel.
But you refused to meet me anywhere but the theatre.
To return it, itâs too expensive.
Yes.
Iâm too young to afford something like that.
Sorry.
So you arrived at the theatre after hours.
We met in the bar.
When everything had closed, in a corner.
Behind you I could see the empty stage.
You took the box from your pocket and you pushed it across the table to me.
I need you to have it.
My Joan.
Iâm not a saint.
People get crushes on actors all the time.
- You're special.
- Yeah, we're all special, love.
No.
just some of us.
I am, which is why I recognise it, in you.
What are you doing? - Falling in love with you.
- Ha-ha.
Infinitely.
How much of this is you? Is that your one question? Mmm-mmh.
Are you really divorced? She couldn't leave Jerusalem.
- I couldn't live in Israel.
- Why? Not exactly my taste.
Why?! One question at a time.
So, does it play, Charlie? Just about.
Enough for me to take you to dinner in my hotel room? Cheeky bugger.
To the second night of our honeymoon.
Youâre only supposed to toast if youâre drinking too.
Whereâs all this leading to, Jose? To bed.
Great.
I love bed.
Youâre shy, arenât you? [SCOFFS.]
Michel has slept with many women.
So? So, we fuck.
Yeah.
Why not? Why not.
How is he? Well, you tell me.
Enthusiastic.
But he lacks technique.
After we have sex, we sleep.
With this under the pillow.
Always.
I let you put a gun under there? It thrills you.
Really? Getting what you want puts you in a bad mood, doesnât it? Sleep.
[TAPE.]
: With Al Nakba, the British began a war, for which they have not yet been held to account.
Al Nakba.
Just as they dispersed the people of Palestine, so shall we punish them in their diaspora and declare our agony to the world.
A telegram for room 24.
Sheâs not ready.
Then get her ready, Gadi.
Thank you.
Forgive me! Frau Schulmann was furious! We are on our way, Paul.
I can feel it in my bones.
I'll just need one more favour from the Austrian authorities now.
It was no small task clearing the last shipment.
And you will reap no small rewards, I promise.
You have an eye for detail, Paul.
We both know it.
It was you who picked this excellent cafe, didnât you? Baumkuchen.
A German delicacy.
It is, I think, the best baumkuchen in all the country.
Really? Hm.
A bit dry.
For the best you really must go to Fussen.
Details, Paul.
I have more news.
Of Anna Witgen.
The blonde bombshell.
I tracked her movements in the lead up to the explosion.
It turns out she rented rooms, one night in Maribor, Slovenia, and then she spent some time in Salzburg before she came to Bad Godesberg.
- Salzburg, Austria.
- Yes.
The birthplace of Mozart.
It can't be.
These people never use the same location twice.
Are you saying I've been given false information? No, I have.
[FADING.]
: The last favour you asked me, it was so difficult to help you Iâm sorry.
The first night we spent together in London, we made love.
And I told you my real name.
It's not Michel.
Salim.
A great secret.
Why did you tell me that? Because I trust you.
You will become my latest recruit.
And once you have proven yourself, my network will reach out to you and you will enter its ranks.
Enter its ranks? I will stay close to you every step of the way.
Your make-up.
Oh! Michel loves it.
And he doesnât mind me taking my time, either.
- Really? - Mm.
Well, we might as well have a little fun while we're at it.
Ha-ha! So, what happens now? First I set you a very important test.
Mm? To pass, you must drive this car for the next 800 miles.
All the way across the Yugoslav border and into Austria.
[SCOFFS.]
Great.
I've never been to Austria before.
Alone.
You said you'd be close.
I will be, but not in the car.
And once you reach Salzburg train station, I'll find you again.
Hm.
But thereâs one more thing.
Of course.
Turn right at the end.
From here youâll be driving that car.
- What's the difference? - Thereâs just papers in there, love.
Nothing sinister.
The point is you've promised to do this for Michel here.
Now, if thereâs any trouble, you're on your own.
It's Russian semtex.
Divided into bricks - Gadi! - hidden in the interior panel.
Enough for a dozen bombs.
Is this real? It's real.
What are you going to use it for? To kill Jews throughout Europe.
And just as they dispersed the people of Palestine, so shall we punish them in their diaspora and declare our agony to the world.
I ask you to do this, Charlie.
For me.
For love.
For our great revolution.
To prove that you are as special as I believe.
This is your debut in the theatre of the real.