The Play

Cast

A: A theatre patron
B: A theatre patron
C: A theatre patron
Martin: An old character in a play.
David: Martin’s son
Lisa: Martin’s daughter
Lesley: Lisa’s partner

Location: Late at night, on a street, outside a theatre. A stage can be seen not too far from the characters.

A, B and C are leaving the theatre late at night; they seem to be in the middle of a conversation.

A:
Can you believe what happened up there? Such a respectable actress forced to such lowly roles. She was much better in that production of… what was that play’s name again…

A looks at B.

A:
You would know; you were there. She played that lady who was married to that horrible man.

B:
What are you talking about, she was incredible tonight on that stage. Such courage to play a lesbian after all these things newspapers said about her and her husband.

A:
But did she need to be a lesbian for the plot to progress, she could have played something more sensible. What was the author thinking, he did not need to have these girls be a couple.

C:
Did we even watch the same play? That scene where Martin and Lisa are confronting David and his reluctance to accept Lesley was incredible.

In the background, Martin, David, Lisa and Lesley walk in on the stage. David is holding a piece of paper, and is obviously agitated and angry at his father.

David:
What the hell is this? You’re giving more money to Lisa than me in your will? After she broke mom’s heart by being… being…

Lisa:
A lesbian? Say it David, I want to hear you say it. If you’re gonna be angry, you better be ready to say it.

Lesley:
Please, Lisa, don’t make a scene. We both knew we wouldn’t have it easy all the time, at least your father has been kind to us.

B:
Wait a second.

Martin, David, Lisa and Lesley stop moving.

B:
Did we even see the same play?

As he is speaking, B goes on the stage and adjusts the people according to what he says.

B:
First of all, Lesley was the one who was in David’s face, Lisa was the meek one. Lisa was holding Martin’s will; it was just after she read it and found out that Martin was leaving them the house.

Lisa:
Dad, I don’t know what to say, the house where we grew up, this is incredible. Lesley and I can never thank you enough.

Martin:
Well, it’s not like I am giving it to you right now. I’ll still see a few years hopefully, but I know it’s been hard on you lately, with you losing your job.

A:
Actually, I think Lesley is the one that lost her job, wasn’t she a teacher?

B:
No, Lisa was the teacher.

A:
Right, and Lesley was the dentist, and Lisa was her patient.

C:
Orthodentist.

A:
Whatever.

Martin:
…but I know it’s been hard on you two lately, with Lesley losing her job at the clinic.

David appears to be eavesdropping.

Martin:
And David just got a promotion at his job at the newspaper. He’s living two hours away, he can’t really want this house, he has one closer to his job in Ottawa.

A:
Toronto

Martin:
Toronto. He’s supposed to visit me this week-end too. If we want to avoid him making a scene like last Christmas, maybe you should leave.

Lisa and Lesley get ready to leave and run into David.

C:
I think Lesley wasn’t quite ok with leaving.

A:
No, she got mad when David tried to get them to leave what he called “his house.”

B:
Are you sure? I think she did mention something about trying to spare Martin’s weak heart.

Lesley, back to facing Martin:
Yeah, we wouldn’t want another one of his scenes to angry up your heart. We don’t want another celebration moved to a hospital.

Lesley and Lisa run into David.

David:
Leaving so soon? And after receiving such a generous gift too. Dad, you could have told me on the phone you didn’t love me, you would have saved me the trip.

Martin:
David, it’s not that, Lisa and Lesley have been having a hard time, but it’s not because I love them more than you, you’re still in my will.

David:
What the hell is this? You’re giving more money to Lisa than me in your will? After she broke mom’s heart by being… being…

Lesley:
A lesbian? Say it David, I want to hear you say it. If you’re gonna be angry, you better be ready to say it.

Lisa:
Please, Lesley, don’t make a scene. We both knew we wouldn’t have it easy all the time, at least dad has been kind to us. We shouldn’t be yelling in front of him like that. If David can’t make peace with it, we better leave.



[So, this is another new territory for me. First of all, I never really wrote plays (except that one time in high school, but there's a reason I don't talk about it anymore). Also, this is the first time I stop myself in the middle of writing to just post it here. There's a few reasons for that, I think the gist of the idea was there, and I was better off stopping it because the experimental nature of the text was well done and over with. Also, while the text was not complete, I realized that it could take a while to complete, and that I had not taken a necessary step: As I was writing, I had no clue what really happened with David, Martin, Lesley and Lisa. While I could wing it, I realized that once my "proof of concept" was done, if I wanted a more complete text to come out, I needed the full story. So, this "play" is an incomplete project, and I will need to invest a lot more time in it to have it reach a better state. Time I do not have right now. However, I wanted to experiment with theatre and I am kinda happy with the result. Obviously I will wait and see what my one or two readers have to say about it.

I also managed to break away from most of my labels for this post, and it makes me glad.]