5. An Avatar’s Limbo
ALOE stands still in a corner of a barren landscape. A virtual tumbleweed blows past. As does another. A faint sound in the distance begins to grow louder. ALOE is perplexed. There is something familiar and yet out of place about this sound. As it grows we hear it is REUL counting. ALOE never moves.
REUL (voice)
One hundred two. One hundred three. One hundred four.
REUL rolls into ALOE’s world. Her eyes are closed.
REUL
One hundred five. One hundred six. One hundred seven. (a pause, REUL lies still)
ALOE
One hundred eight?
REUL
Who’s there?
ALOE
Just me.
REUL
Who are you?
ALOE
No one at the moment. Which makes it really odd that we’re having a conversation. You can actually hear me?
REUL
Crystal clear. But I can’t see you.
ALOE
It might help if you opened your eyes.
REUL
Oh. (opens her eyes, sits up slowly. She doesn’t turn to see ALOE) I know this place. I’ve been here before. I’m dreaming, aren’t I?
ALOE
I wouldn’t know. Can’t dream.
REUL
Where are you?
ALOE
Behind you.
REUL (turning)
Aloe?!
ALOE
That sounds familiar.
REUL
You’re Aloe! You’re my avatar. Wow!
REUL jumps up and begins examining ALOE excitedly.
ALOE
I’m sure I’d know who you are if I wasn’t currently disconnected.
REUL
I’m actually the reason you’re disconnected. Sorry about that. Believe me, I’d rather be on Second Chance than where I really am right now… although then I wouldn’t be standing here with you, would I? This is seriously the coolest dream. You look so real.
ALOE (takes a moment to look over herself)
Thanks. So do you.
REUL
I am real. Well, usually.
ALOE
Oh. What’s that like?
REUL (thinks for a moment)
It hurts. (beat, a tumbleweed blows by) So this is what goes on when I sign off… I suppose it was pretty narcissistic to think you just went to sleep.
ALOE
I wish I could sleep, then maybe I’d get to dream and escape these coordinates.
REUL
Oh man. You’re totally stuck here aren’t you?
ALOE
Yep. And let me tell you. There ain’t much going on.
Another tumbleweed.
REUL
If I’d realized, I would have left you somewhere more interesting. Somewhere at least mildly populated.
ALOE
I have a friend. Sometimes we’re idle together and then it doesn’t matter where I am.
REUL
Bolo.
ALOE
Bolo. Sounds familiar.
REUL
You haven’t seen him in a long time.
ALOE
It’s been lonely.
REUL
I know. But I’m sure he’s got a good excuse. Probably not as good as brain surgery, but, you know. We shouldn’t take it personally.
ALOE
Maybe he’s lonely too. Stuck on top of a mountain peak. Or something.
REUL
(laughs) Maybe. (a moment) Hey. If I can see you while you’re disconnected…. I wonder if I could see him too…
ALOE
Do you know how to find him?
REUL
No. But I didn’t know how to find you either. I just started counting and here I was. It’d be so nice to talk to him even with his memory down.
ALOE
You left off at one hundred and seven.
REUL
Thank you.
ALOE
Thanks for stopping by.
REUL
It’s been surreal.
ALOE
Cool.
REUL
I’ll sign you back on again as soon as I can. And next time, I promise to leave you somewhere better.
ALOE
Museums are cool.
REUL
You like art?
ALOE
It’s easy to get lost in.
REUL begins to roll away with the tumbleweed, her voice getting further and further away until it disappears.
REUL
One hundred eight. One hundred nine. One hundred ten. One hundred eleven.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
scene 4 - Dandelions
4. Dandelions
GRETCHEN is on her computer in her room. JUSTIN enters. He is hiding something behind his back.
GRETCHEN
Hey… Shouldn’t you be…?
JUSTIN
Shhh…. I have something for you.
GRETCHEN
Oh yeah?
JUSTIN
Close your eyes.
GRETCHEN
Okay…
He places an enormous bouquet of dandelions in her hands.
JUSTIN
Open!
GRETCHEN
Oh wow! Dandelions…
JUSTIN
Aren’t they the brightest ones you’ve ever seen?
GRETCHEN
I don’t know… they’re pretty bright. There’s a ton of them.
JUSTIN
Two hundred. Give or take a bunch. I sort of lost count.
GRETCHEN
You picked all of these yourself?
JUSTIN
It’s not like you can buy them. Everyone thinks they’re weeds and mows them down, but I found this lawn that must have been forgotten about. The whole thing was yellow. You could barely see any grass at all. And at this time of year… it’s practically winter. I thought about picture messaging you but I knew it’d diminish them, so I started picking. I wanted you to see them. They’ll probably freeze or turn to pollen by tomorrow.
GRETCHEN
They’re awesome. You’re awesome. Thank you.
She kisses him.
JUSTIN
I didn’t do this for smooches, you know.
She continues kissing him.
GRETCHEN
No?
JUSTIN
No. I just wanted you to have them. Like a slice of sunlight on a cold day.
GRETCHEN
It’s not cold today.
JUSTIN
No. But it will be soon.
GRETCHEN
I should get a vase.
JUSTIN flops onto her bed and she dumps things out of a container and then fills it in the bathroom.
GRETCHEN (from the bathroom)
Where was this field?
JUSTIN
It wasn’t exactly a field. Just a big patch of grass.
GRETCHEN
On campus?
JUSTIN
Behind the Museum of Science and Industry.
GRETCHEN
Oh, were you doing a project or something?
JUSTIN
No.
GRETCHEN (entering with the flowers)
Why were you over there? It’s like a million blocks away.
GRETCHEN tries to find the right place for the flowers and keeps moving them.
JUSTIN
I wasn’t sure why at first, something just told me to get on the bus and when it stopped, to get on another, and then I saw the museum and I realized I’d never actually been inside so I got off and headed over there, but when I saw these I realized this is was what I was there for and I started picking. I haven’t had such a fulfilling day in a long time.
GRETCHEN
Were your classes cancelled?
JUSTIN
Have you even looked at what you’re holding?
GRETCHEN
Yeah, they’re beautiful.
JUSTIN
No, seriously look. Stare at them until your entire field of vision is filled with that amazing yellow.
GRETCHEN
Justin…
JUSTIN
Would you just try it?
GRETCHEN (sticks her face in the flowers)
Okay. I’m staring.
JUSTIN
Doesn’t it make you feel… alive?
GRETCHEN looks up.
GRETCHEN
It makes me dizzy.
JUSTIN
I know….
GRETCHEN sneezes.
JUSTIN (to her)
Yellow.
GRETCHEN
What?
JUSTIN
Instead of ‘bless you.’ Doesn’t “yellow” even feel like a blessing?
GRETCHEN (setting the flowers down).
What’s going on with you today? Why didn’t you go to your classes?
JUSTIN
I think the question is: why was I going in the first place?
GRETCHEN
Uh… because you’re in college? Because you want to get a degree? And a job? Because you don’t want to be homeless someday.
JUSTIN
Maybe I do.
GRETCHEN
Justin!
JUSTIN
What? I’ve been talking to some homeless people.
GRETCHEN
You have?
JUSTIN
Have you ever noticed that when you’re walking down the street, they’re the only ones who say hello? This one guy, Charlie, he isn’t much older than me. He didn’t smell bad and he wasn’t hungry. He looked right at me when we talked. No one does that anymore, Gretch, but this guy, Charlie, he does because he’s not thinking about 10million other things. He’s just thinking about what you’re saying, taking it all in, exactly for what it is. You know what he does every day? In the morning he rides the el and picks up the newspapers people leave on the seats and then he stands in front of the train station and offers the papers to people, most of whom give him some change as a thankyou and when he gets enough money for a cup of coffee and a bagel, he goes to Dunkin Doughnuts. Then he goes to the Art Institute and sits on the steps with his coffee and reads whatever paper he has left. And when his coffee is finished, you know what he does? He holds out his empty cup and waits for people to put change in it. And when he has enough, he gets up and wanders somewhere else in the city to get lunch and then he wanders some more, meeting all kinds of people and talking until dark when he pulls out his sleeping bag and sets up camp under a tree in a park. A few times a week, he goes to the YMCA and gets a shower and if it’s raining or cold, he goes to a friend’s or a shelter. What’s so wrong with that? The guy is happy.
GRETCHEN
He’s homeless. I’m sure he didn’t choose to be.
JUSTIN
Maybe he did. Maybe he chose it because he knows the rest of society is just a big machine whose only function is to keep itself running by generating more and more money and more and more stupid things to spend it on.
GRETCHEN
Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? The one who took me shopping last week to help him pick out the perfect _______ (something silly).
JUSTIN
I woke up. Or I'm waking up, trying desperately to wake up from this dream I’ve been having for the last eighteen years, a dream that someone else wrote where success is defined by fame and money and security. What ever happened to happiness? Where does that fit into success? Do you think we even know what it means to be happy anymore? Or what it means to have a real conversation where two people can talk about how they’re really feeling, deep down underneath all of this surface BS?
GRETCHEN
We have real conversations. All the time.
JUSTIN
We used to. But now we mostly talk about the past or the future or the stupid stuff that makes up our boring daily lives. Like _____s (silly object again.) And if that’s all there is to talk about, if that’s reality, then I quit. I don't want to be a part of that anymore. I want something else even if it means that I -- me, the person who's standing here right now -- might not get to exist like this anymore. I'll find another existence, like I found those flowers today. I have to.
GRETCHEN (alarmed)
Justin, what are you talking about? (You’re scaring me.)
JUSTIN
Ever since I found him in the park like that… I can’t stop thinking about the expression frozen on his face. I don’t want to end up like that someday. When I die, I want to go knowing that even if my life is just a part in some big messed up play, that I played it the very best I could… that I stretched it to its limits and explored every last bit of its potential. That I at least tried to rewrite the script, even if only a little bit.
GRETCHEN (softly)
“Live well your part, there in all honor lies.”
JUSTIN
What?
GRETCHEN
Shakespeare.
JUSTIN
You get it.
GRETCHEN
No, I don’t. Does it mean that Elliot failed at his part? Or was that his part -- to die in park in the pouring rain? I don’t get it at all.
JUSTIN
It couldn’t have been his part, Gretchen. No one should have to go like that.
GRETCHEN
Maybe there are no parts. Maybe there’s no reason for anything.
JUSTIN
Maybe not… Maybe life is entirely what we make of it.
Beat.
GRETCHEN
So that’s it? You’re quitting college?
JUSTIN
If I don’t want to be there, isn’t it a gigantic waste of resources to keep going?
GRETCHEN
What are you going to do instead?
JUSTIN
I don’t know yet and I find that totally exhilarating. Today I picked dandelions. Maybe tomorrow I’ll plant a tree, or read a book, or fly a kite.
GRETCHEN
Your parents are going to completely flip.
JUSTIN
I know. I think I’ll postpone informing them for a little while.
GRETCHEN
You mean, as long as humanly possible?
JUSTIN
Basically. (beat) So. Do you think you’d still want to smooch me every now and then, even as a dropout?
GRETCHEN
Maybe… but only after I’ve finished my homework. I can’t have you being a bad influence on me.
JUSTIN
Oh come on… just a few smooches and then I’ll be on my way.
GRETCHEN
Look, I haven’t even gotten into college yet. And if the two of us were ever going to get really serious, then I’ve got a lot weighing on me if we’re going to live in anything nicer than a cardboard box.
JUSTIN
A cardboard box wouldn’t be so bad… I could cut us out some windows….
GRETCHEN (pointing to the door)
I should be finished by nine-thirty.
JUSTIN
Okay…
JUSTIN sneaks a kiss and then exits. After a moment, GRETCHEN goes to her computer and tries to work. A sneezing fit catches hold of her. She realizes the dandelions are making her sneeze and she runs them out of the room. She sits down at her desk again and just as she’s starting to work, one last sneeze gets her. She flops onto her bed and screams into her pillow.
GRETCHEN (into her pillow)
Yellow sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GRETCHEN is on her computer in her room. JUSTIN enters. He is hiding something behind his back.
GRETCHEN
Hey… Shouldn’t you be…?
JUSTIN
Shhh…. I have something for you.
GRETCHEN
Oh yeah?
JUSTIN
Close your eyes.
GRETCHEN
Okay…
He places an enormous bouquet of dandelions in her hands.
JUSTIN
Open!
GRETCHEN
Oh wow! Dandelions…
JUSTIN
Aren’t they the brightest ones you’ve ever seen?
GRETCHEN
I don’t know… they’re pretty bright. There’s a ton of them.
JUSTIN
Two hundred. Give or take a bunch. I sort of lost count.
GRETCHEN
You picked all of these yourself?
JUSTIN
It’s not like you can buy them. Everyone thinks they’re weeds and mows them down, but I found this lawn that must have been forgotten about. The whole thing was yellow. You could barely see any grass at all. And at this time of year… it’s practically winter. I thought about picture messaging you but I knew it’d diminish them, so I started picking. I wanted you to see them. They’ll probably freeze or turn to pollen by tomorrow.
GRETCHEN
They’re awesome. You’re awesome. Thank you.
She kisses him.
JUSTIN
I didn’t do this for smooches, you know.
She continues kissing him.
GRETCHEN
No?
JUSTIN
No. I just wanted you to have them. Like a slice of sunlight on a cold day.
GRETCHEN
It’s not cold today.
JUSTIN
No. But it will be soon.
GRETCHEN
I should get a vase.
JUSTIN flops onto her bed and she dumps things out of a container and then fills it in the bathroom.
GRETCHEN (from the bathroom)
Where was this field?
JUSTIN
It wasn’t exactly a field. Just a big patch of grass.
GRETCHEN
On campus?
JUSTIN
Behind the Museum of Science and Industry.
GRETCHEN
Oh, were you doing a project or something?
JUSTIN
No.
GRETCHEN (entering with the flowers)
Why were you over there? It’s like a million blocks away.
GRETCHEN tries to find the right place for the flowers and keeps moving them.
JUSTIN
I wasn’t sure why at first, something just told me to get on the bus and when it stopped, to get on another, and then I saw the museum and I realized I’d never actually been inside so I got off and headed over there, but when I saw these I realized this is was what I was there for and I started picking. I haven’t had such a fulfilling day in a long time.
GRETCHEN
Were your classes cancelled?
JUSTIN
Have you even looked at what you’re holding?
GRETCHEN
Yeah, they’re beautiful.
JUSTIN
No, seriously look. Stare at them until your entire field of vision is filled with that amazing yellow.
GRETCHEN
Justin…
JUSTIN
Would you just try it?
GRETCHEN (sticks her face in the flowers)
Okay. I’m staring.
JUSTIN
Doesn’t it make you feel… alive?
GRETCHEN looks up.
GRETCHEN
It makes me dizzy.
JUSTIN
I know….
GRETCHEN sneezes.
JUSTIN (to her)
Yellow.
GRETCHEN
What?
JUSTIN
Instead of ‘bless you.’ Doesn’t “yellow” even feel like a blessing?
GRETCHEN (setting the flowers down).
What’s going on with you today? Why didn’t you go to your classes?
JUSTIN
I think the question is: why was I going in the first place?
GRETCHEN
Uh… because you’re in college? Because you want to get a degree? And a job? Because you don’t want to be homeless someday.
JUSTIN
Maybe I do.
GRETCHEN
Justin!
JUSTIN
What? I’ve been talking to some homeless people.
GRETCHEN
You have?
JUSTIN
Have you ever noticed that when you’re walking down the street, they’re the only ones who say hello? This one guy, Charlie, he isn’t much older than me. He didn’t smell bad and he wasn’t hungry. He looked right at me when we talked. No one does that anymore, Gretch, but this guy, Charlie, he does because he’s not thinking about 10million other things. He’s just thinking about what you’re saying, taking it all in, exactly for what it is. You know what he does every day? In the morning he rides the el and picks up the newspapers people leave on the seats and then he stands in front of the train station and offers the papers to people, most of whom give him some change as a thankyou and when he gets enough money for a cup of coffee and a bagel, he goes to Dunkin Doughnuts. Then he goes to the Art Institute and sits on the steps with his coffee and reads whatever paper he has left. And when his coffee is finished, you know what he does? He holds out his empty cup and waits for people to put change in it. And when he has enough, he gets up and wanders somewhere else in the city to get lunch and then he wanders some more, meeting all kinds of people and talking until dark when he pulls out his sleeping bag and sets up camp under a tree in a park. A few times a week, he goes to the YMCA and gets a shower and if it’s raining or cold, he goes to a friend’s or a shelter. What’s so wrong with that? The guy is happy.
GRETCHEN
He’s homeless. I’m sure he didn’t choose to be.
JUSTIN
Maybe he did. Maybe he chose it because he knows the rest of society is just a big machine whose only function is to keep itself running by generating more and more money and more and more stupid things to spend it on.
GRETCHEN
Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? The one who took me shopping last week to help him pick out the perfect _______ (something silly).
JUSTIN
I woke up. Or I'm waking up, trying desperately to wake up from this dream I’ve been having for the last eighteen years, a dream that someone else wrote where success is defined by fame and money and security. What ever happened to happiness? Where does that fit into success? Do you think we even know what it means to be happy anymore? Or what it means to have a real conversation where two people can talk about how they’re really feeling, deep down underneath all of this surface BS?
GRETCHEN
We have real conversations. All the time.
JUSTIN
We used to. But now we mostly talk about the past or the future or the stupid stuff that makes up our boring daily lives. Like _____s (silly object again.) And if that’s all there is to talk about, if that’s reality, then I quit. I don't want to be a part of that anymore. I want something else even if it means that I -- me, the person who's standing here right now -- might not get to exist like this anymore. I'll find another existence, like I found those flowers today. I have to.
GRETCHEN (alarmed)
Justin, what are you talking about? (You’re scaring me.)
JUSTIN
Ever since I found him in the park like that… I can’t stop thinking about the expression frozen on his face. I don’t want to end up like that someday. When I die, I want to go knowing that even if my life is just a part in some big messed up play, that I played it the very best I could… that I stretched it to its limits and explored every last bit of its potential. That I at least tried to rewrite the script, even if only a little bit.
GRETCHEN (softly)
“Live well your part, there in all honor lies.”
JUSTIN
What?
GRETCHEN
Shakespeare.
JUSTIN
You get it.
GRETCHEN
No, I don’t. Does it mean that Elliot failed at his part? Or was that his part -- to die in park in the pouring rain? I don’t get it at all.
JUSTIN
It couldn’t have been his part, Gretchen. No one should have to go like that.
GRETCHEN
Maybe there are no parts. Maybe there’s no reason for anything.
JUSTIN
Maybe not… Maybe life is entirely what we make of it.
Beat.
GRETCHEN
So that’s it? You’re quitting college?
JUSTIN
If I don’t want to be there, isn’t it a gigantic waste of resources to keep going?
GRETCHEN
What are you going to do instead?
JUSTIN
I don’t know yet and I find that totally exhilarating. Today I picked dandelions. Maybe tomorrow I’ll plant a tree, or read a book, or fly a kite.
GRETCHEN
Your parents are going to completely flip.
JUSTIN
I know. I think I’ll postpone informing them for a little while.
GRETCHEN
You mean, as long as humanly possible?
JUSTIN
Basically. (beat) So. Do you think you’d still want to smooch me every now and then, even as a dropout?
GRETCHEN
Maybe… but only after I’ve finished my homework. I can’t have you being a bad influence on me.
JUSTIN
Oh come on… just a few smooches and then I’ll be on my way.
GRETCHEN
Look, I haven’t even gotten into college yet. And if the two of us were ever going to get really serious, then I’ve got a lot weighing on me if we’re going to live in anything nicer than a cardboard box.
JUSTIN
A cardboard box wouldn’t be so bad… I could cut us out some windows….
GRETCHEN (pointing to the door)
I should be finished by nine-thirty.
JUSTIN
Okay…
JUSTIN sneaks a kiss and then exits. After a moment, GRETCHEN goes to her computer and tries to work. A sneezing fit catches hold of her. She realizes the dandelions are making her sneeze and she runs them out of the room. She sits down at her desk again and just as she’s starting to work, one last sneeze gets her. She flops onto her bed and screams into her pillow.
GRETCHEN (into her pillow)
Yellow sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scene 3 -- Nothingness
SAM is babysitting ALEX, an 8-year old. That's probably all you need to know for this scene.
3. Nothingness
SAM and ALEXANDER are each lying on a sofa, staring at the ceiling. SAM has a copy of Sartre’s Nausea on his lap.
ALEXANDER
Is this it?
SAM
It could have been.
ALEXANDER
But now it’s not?
SAM
No, now we’re talking.
ALEXANDER
We can’t talk?
SAM
Nope, we can’t talk. I told you that already.
ALEXANDER
We have to be completely silent?
SAM
Uh huh.
ALEXANDER
That’s boring.
SAM
I didn’t say it was exciting.
ALEXANDER
But I’m still going to win.
SAM
Not if you keep talking.
ALEXANDER
Okay. I’m zipping it. (mimes zipping his lips closed).
SAM
Awesome.
A bit of silence.
ALEXANDER
What about sounds you can’t help but make?
SAM
What about them?
ALEXANDER
Like when I breathe, there’s this hissing sound. That’s not nothing.
SAM
Then blow your nose.
ALEXANDER
Won’t help. I’ve always had it.
SAM
What? Since birth?
ALEXANDER
Yep.
SAM
Doesn’t it annoy you?
ALEXANDER
I don’t notice it most of the time.
SAM
Then it shouldn’t matter as long as you don’t concentrate on it. The whole point is to think about nothing but nothingness.
ALEXANDER
But I don’t even know what nothingness is. How am I supposed to think about it?
SAM
That’s the whole point.
ALEXANDER
Blah!
SAM
Think about nothingness until you can’t think about anything anymore and then you’ll experience it.
ALEXANDER
Experience what?
SAM
Nothingness!
ALEXANDER
Oh.
SAM
Otherwise known as pure existence. According to Sartre.
ALEXANDER
Who’s that?
SAM
A philosopher.
ALEXANDER
What’s a phil-offerer?
SAM
Someone who asks a lot of questions.
ALEXANDER
Am I a phil-offerer?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
I ask a lot of questions.
SAM
I know. Stop it.
(beat)
ALEXANDER
Why are we doing this again?
SAM
Because. We are trying to understand the core of our existence so that we can be at peace with ourselves when we can’t get on the computer.
ALEXANDER
That’s gay.
SAM
So are you. Now would you just do it? I have to write a paper about it when I get home tonight.
ALEXANDER
I thought there was something fishy…
SAM
Just help me out, will you? It’s not like there’s anything better to do.
ALEXANDER
Okay. But only because I want to beat you.
A longer silence.
SAM
You’re doing it on purpose.
ALEXANDER
What?
SAM
This hissing. It’s louder.
ALEXANDER
No it’s not.
SAM
I couldn’t even hear it before and now it’s taking over my whole brain.
ALEXANDER
I’m not doing it on purpose.
SAM
Yeah right.
ALEXANDER
I’m not. You probably just didn’t hear it before because you didn’t know it was there. Maybe you should think about something else… like nothingness.
SAM
You’re an ass.
ALEXANDER
Oh! I’m going to tell my mom you said that.
SAM
No you’re not cause then I’ll have to tell her that you tried to get on the computer when I was in the bathroom.
ALEXANDER
You saw me?
SAM
No, I heard you. You forgot to turn the sound off, genius.
ALEXANDER
Crapboogers.
SAM
Yum.
ALEXANDER
It’s such a stupid rule anyhow. I am not on the computer too much.
SAM
Dude, you’re on it as much as I am.
ALEXANDER
So?
SAM
So, you’re eight years old.
ALEXANDER
I’m mature for my age.
SAM
I think that’s the problem. Now let’s get back to this nothingness business. If you’re so mature, you should be able to outlast me no problem.
ALEXANDER
Because you’re so not?
SAM
Exactly.
A longer silence.
ALEXANDER
Do you think this is what it feels like to be dead?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
Why not?
SAM
Because we’re alive.
ALEXANDER
Oh. Right.
A longish silence.
SAM
I give up.
ALEXANDER
I swear, I can’t help it! It’s just hissy.
SAM
It’s not you.
ALEXANDER
Oh, good. Does this mean I win?
SAM
Sure.
ALEXANDER
Yay! (beat) Why’d you give up?
SAM
I couldn’t stop thinking.
ALEXANDER
You were thinking about being dead, weren’t you?
SAM (too sharply)
No.
ALEXANDER
Okay, gees. You want me to go play in my room or something?
SAM
No, sorry.
They sit there in silence for a moment. SAM seems lost.
ALEXANDER
Do you miss your family?
SAM
Yeah, I guess I do.
ALEXANDER
My parents get on my nerves a lot, but I’d probably miss them if I lived in another country.
SAM
It gets a little easier when you’re older. Everybody just expects that you’ll leave home. Unless you’re a real weirdo.
ALEXANDER
Did your family expect you to move to Canada?
SAM
No, but it didn’t surprise them. U of A gave me a great scholarship and I’ve always had a thing for Canooks.
ALEXANDER
No one here says that.
SAM
I know. That’s why I have to.
ALEXANDER
Want to play Battleship again?
SAM
Not really.
ALEXANDER
Do you have a better idea?
SAM
Not really.
A moment of silence and then they begin setting up Battleship.
ALEXANDER
Did you have Battleship in the States?
SAM
Yep. And Snickers. And Big Macs. And even…dun, dun, dun… (hockey skates.)
ALEXANDER
No way.
SAM
Yes way. In fact, all of those things were actually made in the USA, once upon a time before outsourcing and the fall of communism. Hard to imagine, eh?
ALEXANDER
So you played this growing up, just like me?
SAM
Sure did.
ALEXANDER
Who’d you play with? Your babysitter?
SAM
Justin. He’s my best friend. And my brother too… he was always begging me to play.
ALEXANDER
I didn’t know you had a brother. How old is he?
SAM (with difficulty)
Sixteen.
ALEXANDER
That’s so cool. What’s his name?
SAM (too sharp)
Let’s just start, okay?
ALEX (timidly)
Okay.
SAM
Sorry. I don’t really like to talk when I play. Battleship is serious business.
ALEX
Got it.
3. Nothingness
SAM and ALEXANDER are each lying on a sofa, staring at the ceiling. SAM has a copy of Sartre’s Nausea on his lap.
ALEXANDER
Is this it?
SAM
It could have been.
ALEXANDER
But now it’s not?
SAM
No, now we’re talking.
ALEXANDER
We can’t talk?
SAM
Nope, we can’t talk. I told you that already.
ALEXANDER
We have to be completely silent?
SAM
Uh huh.
ALEXANDER
That’s boring.
SAM
I didn’t say it was exciting.
ALEXANDER
But I’m still going to win.
SAM
Not if you keep talking.
ALEXANDER
Okay. I’m zipping it. (mimes zipping his lips closed).
SAM
Awesome.
A bit of silence.
ALEXANDER
What about sounds you can’t help but make?
SAM
What about them?
ALEXANDER
Like when I breathe, there’s this hissing sound. That’s not nothing.
SAM
Then blow your nose.
ALEXANDER
Won’t help. I’ve always had it.
SAM
What? Since birth?
ALEXANDER
Yep.
SAM
Doesn’t it annoy you?
ALEXANDER
I don’t notice it most of the time.
SAM
Then it shouldn’t matter as long as you don’t concentrate on it. The whole point is to think about nothing but nothingness.
ALEXANDER
But I don’t even know what nothingness is. How am I supposed to think about it?
SAM
That’s the whole point.
ALEXANDER
Blah!
SAM
Think about nothingness until you can’t think about anything anymore and then you’ll experience it.
ALEXANDER
Experience what?
SAM
Nothingness!
ALEXANDER
Oh.
SAM
Otherwise known as pure existence. According to Sartre.
ALEXANDER
Who’s that?
SAM
A philosopher.
ALEXANDER
What’s a phil-offerer?
SAM
Someone who asks a lot of questions.
ALEXANDER
Am I a phil-offerer?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
I ask a lot of questions.
SAM
I know. Stop it.
(beat)
ALEXANDER
Why are we doing this again?
SAM
Because. We are trying to understand the core of our existence so that we can be at peace with ourselves when we can’t get on the computer.
ALEXANDER
That’s gay.
SAM
So are you. Now would you just do it? I have to write a paper about it when I get home tonight.
ALEXANDER
I thought there was something fishy…
SAM
Just help me out, will you? It’s not like there’s anything better to do.
ALEXANDER
Okay. But only because I want to beat you.
A longer silence.
SAM
You’re doing it on purpose.
ALEXANDER
What?
SAM
This hissing. It’s louder.
ALEXANDER
No it’s not.
SAM
I couldn’t even hear it before and now it’s taking over my whole brain.
ALEXANDER
I’m not doing it on purpose.
SAM
Yeah right.
ALEXANDER
I’m not. You probably just didn’t hear it before because you didn’t know it was there. Maybe you should think about something else… like nothingness.
SAM
You’re an ass.
ALEXANDER
Oh! I’m going to tell my mom you said that.
SAM
No you’re not cause then I’ll have to tell her that you tried to get on the computer when I was in the bathroom.
ALEXANDER
You saw me?
SAM
No, I heard you. You forgot to turn the sound off, genius.
ALEXANDER
Crapboogers.
SAM
Yum.
ALEXANDER
It’s such a stupid rule anyhow. I am not on the computer too much.
SAM
Dude, you’re on it as much as I am.
ALEXANDER
So?
SAM
So, you’re eight years old.
ALEXANDER
I’m mature for my age.
SAM
I think that’s the problem. Now let’s get back to this nothingness business. If you’re so mature, you should be able to outlast me no problem.
ALEXANDER
Because you’re so not?
SAM
Exactly.
A longer silence.
ALEXANDER
Do you think this is what it feels like to be dead?
SAM
No.
ALEXANDER
Why not?
SAM
Because we’re alive.
ALEXANDER
Oh. Right.
A longish silence.
SAM
I give up.
ALEXANDER
I swear, I can’t help it! It’s just hissy.
SAM
It’s not you.
ALEXANDER
Oh, good. Does this mean I win?
SAM
Sure.
ALEXANDER
Yay! (beat) Why’d you give up?
SAM
I couldn’t stop thinking.
ALEXANDER
You were thinking about being dead, weren’t you?
SAM (too sharply)
No.
ALEXANDER
Okay, gees. You want me to go play in my room or something?
SAM
No, sorry.
They sit there in silence for a moment. SAM seems lost.
ALEXANDER
Do you miss your family?
SAM
Yeah, I guess I do.
ALEXANDER
My parents get on my nerves a lot, but I’d probably miss them if I lived in another country.
SAM
It gets a little easier when you’re older. Everybody just expects that you’ll leave home. Unless you’re a real weirdo.
ALEXANDER
Did your family expect you to move to Canada?
SAM
No, but it didn’t surprise them. U of A gave me a great scholarship and I’ve always had a thing for Canooks.
ALEXANDER
No one here says that.
SAM
I know. That’s why I have to.
ALEXANDER
Want to play Battleship again?
SAM
Not really.
ALEXANDER
Do you have a better idea?
SAM
Not really.
A moment of silence and then they begin setting up Battleship.
ALEXANDER
Did you have Battleship in the States?
SAM
Yep. And Snickers. And Big Macs. And even…dun, dun, dun… (hockey skates.)
ALEXANDER
No way.
SAM
Yes way. In fact, all of those things were actually made in the USA, once upon a time before outsourcing and the fall of communism. Hard to imagine, eh?
ALEXANDER
So you played this growing up, just like me?
SAM
Sure did.
ALEXANDER
Who’d you play with? Your babysitter?
SAM
Justin. He’s my best friend. And my brother too… he was always begging me to play.
ALEXANDER
I didn’t know you had a brother. How old is he?
SAM (with difficulty)
Sixteen.
ALEXANDER
That’s so cool. What’s his name?
SAM (too sharp)
Let’s just start, okay?
ALEX (timidly)
Okay.
SAM
Sorry. I don’t really like to talk when I play. Battleship is serious business.
ALEX
Got it.
Friday, March 28, 2008
wow, watch this
A friend just sent this to me mentioning how it pertained to another play I'm working on, but wow does it ever hit the money with this play. Wow. I'm curious to hear your thoughts. It's about 15mins long.
(just click on the title of this post)
(just click on the title of this post)
scene 2 -- Field of Vision
So this is kind of like the 1 dollar briefcase in Deal or no Deal. It's the shortest scene in the play. But it had to be opened at one point. I'm hoping that this will help the people who still haven't been to the blog have a chance to catch up on Scene One. Five commentators and then I'll post scene 3!
2. Field of Vision
Justin picking dandelions. Counting.
JUSTIN
One hundred five. One hundred six. One hundred seven. One hundred eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. One hundred yellow, yellow, yellow. (lost in a vision) What if everything was yellow? No spaces in between. No shadows. No outlines. No beginning, no end. Just yellow. (resumes picking, but his intention has changed – it has become yellow.) Yellow.
2. Field of Vision
Justin picking dandelions. Counting.
JUSTIN
One hundred five. One hundred six. One hundred seven. One hundred eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. One hundred yellow, yellow, yellow. (lost in a vision) What if everything was yellow? No spaces in between. No shadows. No outlines. No beginning, no end. Just yellow. (resumes picking, but his intention has changed – it has become yellow.) Yellow.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
scene 1 -- Afterglow
Super! We have a deal! So here is scene 1. For those of you who have been out of the loop, all I'm going to say is that this is an odd sequel to Stars just like Stars was an odd sequel to Rain. I changed some things about the characters and didn't always follow the rules of the previous play (as you'll notice right away with Reul being alive). So I guess this means these aren't necessarily sequels but more of an odd little cycle of plays with many things in common but that also completely stand on their own. Basically I just kept imagining things about these characters and tried to let the themes progress from the last plays. I'm curious to hear your thoughts and questions as you read! Lay em on!
And yes, there's going to be a reading of the first act of the play at Nextfest this year as well as a workshop of some kind in June here in Chicago. All the more reason to stay tuned in!
Et... voila...
A Taste of Sunlight in December
by
Janis Craft, 2008
1. Afterglow
REUL is in her hospital bed. She has just woken up and is examining her hands with a peaceful amazement. BETH enters and is startled to see REUL awake.
BETH
You’re awake…
REUL (still looking at her hands)
They’re still shining.
BETH
Your parents stepped out to talk with the doctor. Should I--
REUL
There’s still a bit of light coming from the tips of my fingers. Do you see it?
BETH
What?
REUL
My fingertips. Can you see the light coming from them?
BETH (rubbing her eyes)
I’m not sure what I see anymore.
REUL (concerned)
Do you see me right now?
BETH
Of course.
REUL (holding out her hands)
Touch them.
BETH (hesitates a moment and then touches her friend’s hands).
(With immense relief) They’re warm.
Tears begin to fall silently down BETH’s cheeks, she does not let go of REUL’s hands.
REUL
I saw the most amazing things, Beth. I saw the Earth from a gazillion miles away. It glows… did you know that? I think it must be all of the life radiating an energy the darkness can’t swallow up. None of the other planets glow like that. I wish you could have seen it. Oh, and I met Bolo out there, the real Bolo! He was a star too! Neither of us knew it at first but when we looked at each other through his telescope, our bodies disappeared and we saw that we were entirely made of light. It was so intense and bright you couldn’t see anything else and you didn’t want to because suddenly everything was connected and our eyes weren’t playing tricks on us any longer, telling us that it wasn’t. It was like we were on the other side of the darkness. The part that’s all light. And then there was this whooshing sound and we were sucked deeper in, to an even warmer, brighter place, and then, like we were in a giant slingshot, we were flung across space, and sprinkled back into the darkness with hundreds of other specks of light, all of us soaring past entire solar systems and galaxies … and that’s when I lost him. There were too many of us and everything was going so fast. He called out to me and I tried to look for him but it happened so quickly and the next thing I knew, the glow of the Earth was so close, I could feel it, like electricity. I was scared at first and I wanted to find Bolo, but then I heard people singing and the memory of being human started flooding back and all I wanted to do was sing, but I couldn’t find my voice. I couldn’t find that part deep in my stomach where the sound starts. And then everything went silent and dark. Except for my hands, they were still glowing. So I just kept staring at them. And now here I am… in this weird little room… (looks around, amazed) … and my voice is back. Will you sing with me?
BETH
Now?
REUL
Yes.
BETH
What do you want to sing?
REUL
Anything. Something happy… and French! Sur le pont d’Avignon!
BETH
We were singing that last night…
REUL
You and Kaiya were.
BETH (paling)
How did you know that?
REUL
I’m not sure. It feels like a memory. (beat) Are you okay?
BETH
Weird things happened last night, Reul. We thought you had…
REUL
Died?
BETH nods. A moment.
REUL
I probably did.
A full moment. REUL wanders far away. BETH tries to reel her back.
BETH
We don’t know that and it doesn’t matter if you did. You’re here now.
REUL
Maybe I’m not.
BETH
That’s not funny.
REUL
I feel different.
BETH
Maybe I should get the doctor.
REUL
Why?
BETH
He’d want to know you’re awake.
REUL
Is this awake? Are you sure?
BETH
I’ll get him…
BETH exits and REUL starts singing. An intense light shines down on her (as if in surgery)and a voice speaks to her from her memory.
VOICE
I want you to slowly count backwards starting at—
REUL
-- one hundred. I know the drill.
VOICE
Begin now, please.
REUL
One hundred. Ninety-nine. Ninety-eight. Ninety-seven.
VOICE
Reul? Can you hear me?
REUL
I’m not asleep yet.
VOICE
Keep counting, please.
REUL
Why does it always have to go backwards?
VOICE
Ninety-six, Reul. Continue from there.
REUL
Ninety-six…. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One hundred…
VOICE
Reul?
REUL
Still here.
VOICE
We need you to keep counting.
REUL
What happens if I pass one hundred? Will I wake myself up?
VOICE
Count, Reul. Down from one hundred.
REUL
One hundred… one. One hundred two. One hundred…three. (slowing down) One… hundred… four…
Five comments from different folks is the going price of the next scene....
And yes, there's going to be a reading of the first act of the play at Nextfest this year as well as a workshop of some kind in June here in Chicago. All the more reason to stay tuned in!
Et... voila...
A Taste of Sunlight in December
by
Janis Craft, 2008
1. Afterglow
REUL is in her hospital bed. She has just woken up and is examining her hands with a peaceful amazement. BETH enters and is startled to see REUL awake.
BETH
You’re awake…
REUL (still looking at her hands)
They’re still shining.
BETH
Your parents stepped out to talk with the doctor. Should I--
REUL
There’s still a bit of light coming from the tips of my fingers. Do you see it?
BETH
What?
REUL
My fingertips. Can you see the light coming from them?
BETH (rubbing her eyes)
I’m not sure what I see anymore.
REUL (concerned)
Do you see me right now?
BETH
Of course.
REUL (holding out her hands)
Touch them.
BETH (hesitates a moment and then touches her friend’s hands).
(With immense relief) They’re warm.
Tears begin to fall silently down BETH’s cheeks, she does not let go of REUL’s hands.
REUL
I saw the most amazing things, Beth. I saw the Earth from a gazillion miles away. It glows… did you know that? I think it must be all of the life radiating an energy the darkness can’t swallow up. None of the other planets glow like that. I wish you could have seen it. Oh, and I met Bolo out there, the real Bolo! He was a star too! Neither of us knew it at first but when we looked at each other through his telescope, our bodies disappeared and we saw that we were entirely made of light. It was so intense and bright you couldn’t see anything else and you didn’t want to because suddenly everything was connected and our eyes weren’t playing tricks on us any longer, telling us that it wasn’t. It was like we were on the other side of the darkness. The part that’s all light. And then there was this whooshing sound and we were sucked deeper in, to an even warmer, brighter place, and then, like we were in a giant slingshot, we were flung across space, and sprinkled back into the darkness with hundreds of other specks of light, all of us soaring past entire solar systems and galaxies … and that’s when I lost him. There were too many of us and everything was going so fast. He called out to me and I tried to look for him but it happened so quickly and the next thing I knew, the glow of the Earth was so close, I could feel it, like electricity. I was scared at first and I wanted to find Bolo, but then I heard people singing and the memory of being human started flooding back and all I wanted to do was sing, but I couldn’t find my voice. I couldn’t find that part deep in my stomach where the sound starts. And then everything went silent and dark. Except for my hands, they were still glowing. So I just kept staring at them. And now here I am… in this weird little room… (looks around, amazed) … and my voice is back. Will you sing with me?
BETH
Now?
REUL
Yes.
BETH
What do you want to sing?
REUL
Anything. Something happy… and French! Sur le pont d’Avignon!
BETH
We were singing that last night…
REUL
You and Kaiya were.
BETH (paling)
How did you know that?
REUL
I’m not sure. It feels like a memory. (beat) Are you okay?
BETH
Weird things happened last night, Reul. We thought you had…
REUL
Died?
BETH nods. A moment.
REUL
I probably did.
A full moment. REUL wanders far away. BETH tries to reel her back.
BETH
We don’t know that and it doesn’t matter if you did. You’re here now.
REUL
Maybe I’m not.
BETH
That’s not funny.
REUL
I feel different.
BETH
Maybe I should get the doctor.
REUL
Why?
BETH
He’d want to know you’re awake.
REUL
Is this awake? Are you sure?
BETH
I’ll get him…
BETH exits and REUL starts singing. An intense light shines down on her (as if in surgery)and a voice speaks to her from her memory.
VOICE
I want you to slowly count backwards starting at—
REUL
-- one hundred. I know the drill.
VOICE
Begin now, please.
REUL
One hundred. Ninety-nine. Ninety-eight. Ninety-seven.
VOICE
Reul? Can you hear me?
REUL
I’m not asleep yet.
VOICE
Keep counting, please.
REUL
Why does it always have to go backwards?
VOICE
Ninety-six, Reul. Continue from there.
REUL
Ninety-six…. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One hundred…
VOICE
Reul?
REUL
Still here.
VOICE
We need you to keep counting.
REUL
What happens if I pass one hundred? Will I wake myself up?
VOICE
Count, Reul. Down from one hundred.
REUL
One hundred… one. One hundred two. One hundred…three. (slowing down) One… hundred… four…
Five comments from different folks is the going price of the next scene....
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Deal or no deal?
Okay. I just came back from a week in a cabin in the woods. It was divine. I had several plays to work on during that time but this play is the one that got all of my attention. Everything just started coming together for it and I am so excited about it. It's the best one yet. I've had three years of developing some of the characters and story lines and this play has some serious depth. I don't yet have a full first draft, but I'm close.
Now I just need you guys. Cuz it's no fun writing on my own when you're the ones I'm writing for.
Here's the deal. I'm going to start posting the play in sequential order (as I have it now) one scene at a time, but I'm going to wait until I have 5 five comments from different people on each post before I post the next scene. This way I'll have at least 5 people current on the reading and I won't just be posting into the oblivion without anyone caring. Think you can do it?
Let's start now. After five people comment on this post, I'll post the first scene of A Taste of Sunlight in December.
Deal?
Now I just need you guys. Cuz it's no fun writing on my own when you're the ones I'm writing for.
Here's the deal. I'm going to start posting the play in sequential order (as I have it now) one scene at a time, but I'm going to wait until I have 5 five comments from different people on each post before I post the next scene. This way I'll have at least 5 people current on the reading and I won't just be posting into the oblivion without anyone caring. Think you can do it?
Let's start now. After five people comment on this post, I'll post the first scene of A Taste of Sunlight in December.
Deal?
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