Writerly Goodness

Here's a new thing for you, dear reader, and maybe I'm inspired by George's bravery at posting a short play of his less than halfway through the revision process (And bravo, George, for that!)... I've decided I'm going to post something I just wrote for the Rapid Response Team. When I say just wrote, I mean I just wrote it. Like finished it a minute ago.

It's a departure from my usual stuff for the RRT (which comes in two varieties: fairly ascerbic media/politics satire or love songs to Anne disguised as songs about the apocalypse) but I'm on a writing tear this month and didn't want to censor the impulse to to write something different from what I usually do. This being different, tho, I am both (A) afraid of it and (B) unsure what to make of it. And (i'll be honest) my gut impulse is to never show it to anyone. Which is exactly why I've decided to show it to everyone here, on the blog. That way, if the Team hates it and I hate it and it doesn't make it into the show, I still had the I-don't-know-what to show it to people.

Enjoy. Or not. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. And don't forget, Saturday we have our first podcasted interview!

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LIFE AFTER DEATH
By Isaac Butler

(note: a dash “-“ is meant to indicate someone stopping and starting, almost like interrupting themselves… the scene should have an improvisatory rhythm to it. Meanwhile an ellipse “…” is a trailing off of an idea… and of course, always feel free to shrug those off whenever it gets in the way of clarity, a good performance, a productive rehearsal, or people giving you money)

MIKE: Oh god. thank god you’re here.

LEIGH: I- yes- of course- you said- yes, on the phone, you said-

MIKE: Yeah… He’s not- he hasn’t gone outside in-

LEIGH: He- oh- is that-

MIKE: You’re his…

LEIGH: Yeah….

MIKE: So I thought maybe you could-

LEIGH: Get him to-

MIKE: Yeah.

LEIGH: He’s not going outside?

MIKE: He’s not leaving his chair

LEIGH: Oh. (beat) Oh Christ.

MIKE + LEIGH: Has he ever done anything like this before?

LEIGH: (chuckle) Um. No.

MIKE: Yeah, obviously, um. No,

(beat)

LEIGH: Can I?

MIKE: Yeah.

LEIGH: Okay. (crosses into space). Brian?

BRIAN: (not looking at her until it says to) Hm?

LEIGH: It’s me. It’s uh- yeah- it’s me.

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: Brian, you wanna get up and say hi to your sister?

BRIAN: Hm?

LEIGH: Brian, do you-

BRIAN: Not particularly, no.

LEIGH: What? What is it?

BRIAN: Look I don’t really. I don’t know if... I can’t imagine that you’d…

LEIGH: Look if this is-

BRIAN: -This isn’t about-

LEIGH: If you’re still mad about the-

BRIAN: No.

LEIGH: (insistent) Don’t do that bullshit thing where you’re "not mad", Bri, if you’re still mad about the-

BRIAN: I’m not.

LEIGH: Look if you-

BRIAN: Will you stop being so fucking selfcentered? (beat) Will you just-

LEIGH: I-

BRIAN: It’s not like I get up when Mike asks me to either, okay, I just- I don’t feel like it. “I’d prefer not to.”

LEIGH: Oh, so now you’re like a fucking Bartleby or something?

BRIAN: I just- I like this chair. It’s a very nice- it’s a- it's a great chair.

LEIGH: Bri, this is ridiculous. (beat) Can you look at me?

BRIAN: I’d pre-

LEIGH: Fuck this.

BRIAN: They hung themselves, Leigh.

LEIGH: I know.

BRIAN: They. They fucking hung themselves. We put them in a legal black hole and they fucking hung themselves. We condemned I don’t what a like a sheep hearder, a student and a whatever a baklava salesman to death and they’ll never- they’ll never know- they never knew- we’ll never know why they were even-

LEIGH: I know, Bri.

BRIAN: So no. I do not feel like looking at people. And no, I do not feel like getting up.

(beat)

LEIGH: Brian, don’t you feel this is a little- dramatic? A little, I don’t know, a little ridiculous?

BRIAN: No.

LEIGH: I just don’t understand what you’re… look, is this a protest or something? Is this a- what is this?

BRIAN: Are you asking?

LEIGH: Am I ask- Yes! Yes I am asking! It’s not like you knew them. It’s not like you’re their lawyer or- it’s not like you sent them to-

BRIAN: It was done for me, Leigh. It was done for you and for me and for I don’t know supposedly done for three hundred million… it was. Done. It’s done. They did this. They sold it to us, we bought it and now there are a few hundred most likely innocent people getting tortured and degraded and (looks at her) and I just don’t understand how anyone could go through their day until that’s over with, until it’s gone, until we’ve apologized, as a people until we’ve said NO. That was wrong and the insanity stops. I think going about your day is what’s fucking insane, Leigh, not sitting in a goddamn chair and trying to not participate. I just don’t want to- I want- I don’t want to- I want- I just- GOD DAMN IT I just can’t. Okay.

LEIGH: Brian, you think you sitting here is going to shut it down?

BRIAN: I think a few million of us sitting here might. Don’t you just think… what are they going to say?

LEIGH: Who?

BRIAN: What are they gonna say, Leigh? Your grandchildren. What are they gonna say about us? Do you think they’ll say Christ, how did they get through that? Or do you think they’ll say How could they let that happen? That a bastion of freedom would round people up and put them into camps? How could they go about their very expensive lives while people died all over the world, innocent people to support that?

LEIGH: I know.

BRIAN: It’s just-

LEIGH: I know.

BRIAN: (rueful chuckle) And meanwhile Mike and I can’t even…

LEIGH: I know. And it’s insane. The world is insane, Bri. What are we supposed to do? We sit here and do nothing, and we’re condemning ourselves to death, we’re just choosing to die inside first. Or we go through our day and block it all out and that’s a different kind of death. A constant choosing to be dead.

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: Brian, there’s gotta- I don’t know but there- there has to be something we can… you know?

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: I think we just haven’t- maybe we just haven’t done it yet.

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: It’s like when mom- you know when mom- anyway, she- we helped her live while she was... and that- we helped give her a life. She could’ve died months before she- and just walked around a- a fucking zombie or something. We could’ve done that with her. We did something else. We gave her life.

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: So maybe...

BRIAN: Yeah.

LEIGH: Yeah.

(they look at each other. Lights fade.)

Comments

[Yaron]

Well, I disagree with the politics 100% but I like the rhythm of it, the energy. I really like it. It reminds me a little of dialogue in a Coen Brothers movie, true-to-life yet stylized.

[freeman]

This is so ambivalent and angry. Dig it. Thanks for sharing it.

[Lucas Krech]

It makes me want to scream. In a good way.

[Anonymous]

I suggest we watch this CAREFULLY:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/theater/16zino.html

DAVID VS. GOLIATH - this is the crux of the theatrical problem. Mainstream meaningless or Underdog Originality.

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