A b l a z e
an a cappella musical thriller
book, music, and lyrics by
Matthew B. Zrebski
(based on his play)
© 2010-2013
THE LIBRETTO
(for the World Premiere Professional Production at Staged!
Version Two: February 2013)
CHARACTERS
THE TRAPPED
LISSA – female, a rule follower, holds deep secrets
TESS – female, a dark rebel, a broken spirit
RILEY- female, a free spirit, open
VEA – female, a beauty queen, a frustrated object
DAVIN – male, an athlete, wants to be the alpha
CHAZ – male, obsessive / compulsive, lonely
MANNY – male, feels small, bullied
SAUL – male, an intuitive observer, in love
THE WATCHERS
JENNIFER – female, an academic, All-American
CASSIE – female, a quiet skeptic, full of reason
BEN – male, deeply emotional but hides it, in love
ZEEK – male, an underdog, razor sharp mind
THE FIRE
a vocal orchestra of ten to twelve
All characters are between 14 and 18 years old.
TIME
Now. Then. In between.
PLACE
Suburban America, trapped in the ground, watched from all sides…
NOTES
--THE WATCHERS mostly remain outside the main playing space – on the corners, or above, from a place where they can always observe. They also play all percussion.
--THE FIRE is never given specific stage directions. It is an omnipresent chorus, both on and off the stage, always affecting the tone and action…a force of nature…an explosion of the psyche. Sometimes, highly physical. Sometimes, eerily still.
--If strong language is an issue for certain producing organizations, permission is given by the author to devise alternate words and use them. Permission is not, however, given to cut content altogether or to change/alter/subdue story lines.
In 2011, an earlier version of Ablaze, an a cappella musical thriller, was performed by the Wilson High School Drama Department in association with Playwrights West. This amateur production premiered on November 10, 2011 at the Cosgrove Auditorium in Portland, OR, with the following cast and production team.
THE TRAPPED
LISSA Lindsay Spear
TESS Madison Shanley
RILEY Natalie Lyons
VEA Anna Breuer
DAVIN Jacob Orr
CHAZ Nathan Palmrose
MANNY Noah Kaufman
SAUL Ethan Conroy
THE WATCHERS
JENNIFER Sally Loughney
CASSIE Carmen Dant
BEN Colin Scannell
ZEEK Daniel Crumrine
THE FIRE
Shayda Ansari
Tristan Comella
Camille Cote
Nick Diaz-Hui
Francesca Fontana
Ian Magill
Austin Mahar
Alex Metz
Firenze Rodriguez
Carter Wallace
Kevin Zumwalt
PRODUCTION TEAM
Matthew B. Zrebski, Director and Choreographer
Jamie Miller, Producer and Scenic Design
J.D. Sandifer, Lighting Design
Leah Gibbon, Costume Coordinator
Matthew B. Zrebski, Sound Design
Toscane Luckett, Stage Manager
Alex Diaz-Hui, Assistant Stage Manager
Ablaze, an a cappella musical thriller, is based on the play, Ablaze, by Matthew B. Zrebski, which was produced by the Lincoln High School Drama Department in association with Stark Raving Theatre and premiered in February 2004.
ACT ONE
The Igniting
(Lights dim, a pause, then suddenly a plunge into darkness as blood curdling screams, coughs, struggle, and the angry crackle of a fire invades the space. And then… from the darkness…)
FIRE
THE FIRE
The Fire!
THE TRAPPED
It’s coming.
THE FIRE
The smoke!
THE TRAPPED
I’m choking.
THE FIRE
The fire!
THE TRAPPED
It’s everywhere.
THE FIRE
Blocked!
THE TRAPPED
No way out!
(repeating….then…)
LISSA
I can’t see.
MANNY
Smoke in my lungs.
TESS
Be careful.
SAUL
Heat on my tongue.
CHAZ
Oh God!
VEA / LISSA
I’m scared that we’re done for.
DAVIN
Over here!
MANNY
Hurry!
RILEY
Is that a trap door?
TESS
Is that a hole in the floor?
SAUL
Jump on in!
DAVIN
Grab my hand!
THE FIRE
Fire!
Walls are crumbling in!
DAVIN
Give me your hand!
TESS / LISSA
Hurry!
DAVIN
I’ve got you!
CHAZ / MANNY
Have to hurry!
THE FIRE
Ceiling’s cracking,
tumbling down!
RILEY
Anybody left?
CHAZ / MANNY
Look around!
VEA / DAVIN
Do a count!
(A bare, dangling bulb begins to dimly illuminate the lonely, dank space.)
THE FIRE
Fire!
THE TRAPPED
One two…
THE FIRE
Smoke!
THE TRAPPED
Three four…
THE FIRE
Dove into a hole in the floor
as the fire above roars!
THE TRAPPED
Five six…
THE FIRE
Fire!
THE TRAPPED
And seven,
eight of us.
We have all eight,
escaped the fire
before it was too late.
(They all look around and have a deep, nearly paralyzing realization.)
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
VEA
Are we…?
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
MANNY
Where are we?
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
CHAZ
No way out.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
DAVIN
Can’t climb up again.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
LISSA
One way down.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
RILEY
What is this place?
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
SAUL
The darkness hides our faces.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Trapped.
TESS
Or else we’d see each other’s fear…
THE TRAPPED
That no one knows we’re here…
(THE TRAPPED reach up towards the light bulb, as if trying to find help…then collapse in exhaustion. They are engulfed by darkness as THE WATCHERS appear. A time shift. They are calling each other.)
PICK UP
JENNIFER
Pick up.
Pick up.
BEN
Pick up the phone.
JENNIFER
Pick up.
Pick up.
Pick up.
BEN
Pick up the phone.
JENNIFER
Pick up.
Pick up, Cassie.
BEN
Pick up, Zeek.
JENNIFER
Pick up the phone.
BEN
We have to speak.
CASSIE / ZEEK
Hello.
JENNIFER / BEN
It’s me. D’you hear?
CASSIE / ZEEK
Hear what?
JENNIFER
The news.
BEN
It’s everywhere.
ZEEK
Ben! Tell me! What?!
CASSIE / ZEEK
Did they find them?
JENNIFER / BEN
Yeah!
BEN
It’s true.
JENNIFER
No lie.
CASSIE / ZEEK
And where?
BEN
At old McCauley High.
JENNIFER
That abandoned school on the
edge of town.
ZEEK
But I thought it had…
CASSIE
Didn’t it…
ZEEK / CASSIE
just burn down?
ZEEK
Like three weeks ago.
JENNIFER
Yeah.
JENNIFER / BEN
But they didn’t hear a sound.
ZEEK
The firemen?
CASSIE
The police?
BEN
They were deep underground.
JENNIFER
The guy had dug, like, his very own compound.
JENNIFER / BEN
They were found in a hole.
CASSIE / ZEEK
A hole?
JENNIFER / BEN
In a pit.
ZEEK
Shit.
JENNIFER / ZEEK
I can’t wait to hear from him.
BEN / CASSIE
I can’t wait to hear from her.
THE WATCHERS
I hope we can talk to them soon.
BEN / JENNIFER
There’s a press conference.
CASSIE / ZEEK
When?
BEN / JENNIFER
Tomorrow at noon.
ZEEK
Cool.
CASSIE
Wait! Jennifer, did they all survive?
ZEEK
Wait! Did they make it? Are they still alive?
JENNIFER
I…well, they didn’t…they said…
BEN
Yeah, I mean…it was stated…
ZEEK / CASSIE
What?
BEN / JENNIFER
That they were no longer missing.
CASSIE / ZEEK
Not missing…
BEN / JENNIFER
But not that they were living…
(They hang up and sink into worry. They fade as THE TRAPPED are revealed and engage in direct address.)
COUGH
THE FIRE
Nineteen days.
Now in a smoky daze…
SAUL
I haven’t gone back to school.
It may be hard to
face the others.
But now it smothers me.
And all that I can see
is what happened in the end…
playing over and over again.
(SAUL cont.)
And I cough.
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED (no SAUL)
Stuff comes out.
SAUL
And I cough.
THE FIRE
Cough!
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED (no SAUL)
The dark comes out.
THE TRAPPED
Nineteen days.
Now in a smoky daze.
THE FIRE
And nothing’s gonna ever
let you forget.
THE TRAPPED
Never forget.
RILEY
Mama? Mama?
Do I look different today?
LISSA
Today is the first time in court.
The reports all say it’s a
slam dunk case.
MANNY
I pace back and forth,
staring at the ground.
A neighbor pours gas
on an ant mound.
LISSA
Dad says, no needle,
tie a rope around his neck,
RILEY
I suspect…
LISSA
hear the neck snap.
RILEY
I am trapped forever, here
in the mirror with a different face.
MANNY
I pace some more,
staring at the ground,
wonder how far the ants will go down
before they meet their fate
and suffocate.
LISSA / RILEY
And I cough.
THE FIRE
Cough!
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED (no MANNY)
Stuff comes out.
MANNY
And I cough.
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED
The dark comes out.
Nineteen days.
Now in a smoky daze.
THE FIRE
And nothing’s gonna ever
let you forget.
THE TRAPPED
Never forget.
TESS
My tenth interview.
Whatcha wanna ask me?
I doubt that you even care.
CHAZ
It is rare, but I hear sometimes in a
life or death disaster,
a baby’s blood-type can change.
TESS
You’re insane if you really think
that I’m gonna tell you
what you wanna hear.
CHAZ
What’s unclear is
can it happen when you’re
just a little older?
A way for us to survive?
TESS
Like a teen revival where we
live to thrive all high on
drugs and sex and
venom for our teachers.
CHAZ
To be a different creature;
anything but this.
TESS
Now I’m pissed.
You’re missing the point -
we were bored.
(clearly lying…)
We went to hang out,
nothing more.
DAVIN
But then…
don’t forget to tell…
we all got sent to hell…
THE FIRE
Fire. Smoke.
Fire. Trapped.
Fire. Smoke.
Fire. Trapped.
CHAZ
And I cough.
THE FIRE
Cough!
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED (no TESS)
Stuff comes out.
TESS
And I cough.
(All cough.)
THE TRAPPED
The dark comes out.
Nineteen days.
Now in a smoky daze.
THE FIRE
And nothing’s gonna ever
let you forget.
THE TRAPPED
Never forget
as stuff comes out.
So much doubt
and doubt and doubt…
(They collapse in a fit of coughing. VEA rises in her own pool of light, still in direct address.)
FUNERAL
VEA
We were all asked to speak
at the funeral.
(VEA cont.)
But I don’t know what to say,
for what happened to us in those
nineteen days was collective,
of one heart, not separate,
so where would I start
to explain?
It feels like a game,
like a roll of the dice
where one of us was sacrificed.
Could have been anyone.
And now, this pain…
this sacrifice…
What has been gained?
I don’t know what to say…
SAUL / CHAZ / MANNY
I don’t know what to say…
VEA / RILEY / LISSA / TESS
for what happened to us in those
nineteen days…
VEA
…was collective,
of one heart, not separate,
so where would I start to explain?
I’ll try to say something nice,
but I want to scream,
“Why this sacrifice?
Why this sacrifice?”
When that coffin gets lowered,
we’ll stand there all agape,
knowing it lands in the ground
from which seven, not eight…
escaped…
But before…this funeral…
It began as a sort
of a ritual…
(THE TRAPPED begin to circle.)
(VEA cont.)
In the midst of someone
deranged…
We have all been forever…
changed…
(They breathe together. Time shifts, and they are back in the pit. Impatience begins to rear its head. TESS begins to wiggle. Looks shoot her way. She is still. Impatience. She wiggles some more. More looks, then…)
INITIATION
TESS
How much longer?
CHAZ
Don’t talk.
TESS
Why?
DAVIN
He didn’t say we couldn’t talk.
LISSA
He’s right, be quiet.
TESS
Start a riot! Fucking asshole!
CHAZ
Stop!
MANNY
It might put all of us in danger.
Let’s take some deep breaths.
TESS
If he’s gonna hurt us anyway—
CHAZ
Let’s not make any bets.
If he is spying, we don’t
(CHAZ cont.)
want to be heard.
TESS
Who cares?
DAVIN
Don’t start.
VEA
Let’s all stay focused just to make sure.
TESS
Who ask you?
DAVIN
Tess!
TESS
Go screw a pig!
SAUL
Can’t we all just get along?
TESS
Wait! You do that with your girlfriend.
LISSA
Now that is just wrong.
DAVIN
Don’t worry.
Not about Tess;
she’s trash.
TESS
You wanna start!?
DAVIN
Last I heard, she even takes cash.
(TESS charges DAVIN.)
SAUL
Please don’t fight.
CHAZ
You can’t fight.
LISSA
Let’s not fight.
MANNY
Don’t start—
TESS
I’ll do what ever I want!
SAUL
But you don’t now.
None of us can…now…
(They look around. A realization and fear hits TESS. She sits.)
VEA
Read it again.
(DAVIN pulls out a crumpled note.)
DAVIN
“Circle up. Sit there. Be still. If you care about anyone, be still...or I might be forced to…”
LISSA
Forced to what?
TESS
Empty threats.
CHAZ
Like I said before,
let’s not make any bets.
MANNY
Deep breaths.
VEA
Deep breaths.
RILEY
(beginning to struggle)
But I can’t…and it hurts…
When I try…it burns…
MANNY
Does it help to cough?
LISSA
All that smoke and dust…
VEA
It might help to clear your lungs.
RILEY
My chest is gonna bust.
MANNY
Give it a try.
LISSA
Give it a try.
VEA
Give it a try…
(RILEY manages a wheezing deep breath and coughs. It goes out of control and her breathing becomes more labored. She starts to panic. Total freak out!)
ATTACK
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
Oh, my God!
RILEY
No air!
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
She can’t get any air!
Staring!
He’s staring!
Watching!
He’s looking!
CHAZ / MANNY
Oh, my God!
TESS
Someone help her!
LISSA
Oh, my God!
DAVIN
Try and pound her back!
(VEA does – twice.)
MANNY
Nothing?
DAVIN
Again!
(VEA pounds twice.)
VEA
Something?
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
Oh, my God!
RILEY
No air!
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
She can’t get any air!
SAUL
Staring!
He’s staring!
Watching!
He’s looking!
DAVIN
Why do you say that?
SAUL
A plan has been cooking.
DAVIN
That’s all in your head.
TESS
Your stupid imagination!
VEA
What if he’s right?
SAUL
A careful calculation.
(RILEY begins to really struggle.)
DAVIN
Shit!
(VEA pounds four times.)
LISSA / CHAZ
What?!
(VEA pounds four times.)
DAVIN
Does she have asthma?!
SAUL
A deadly calculation.
(THE TRAPPED surround RILEY, helplessly trying to assist her.)
THE FIRE /
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
Oh, my God!
No air!
Can’t get any air!
Staring!
He’s staring!
Watching!
He’s looking!
Pacing and peering,
a plan long time cooking!
LISSA
Maybe an inhaler.
TESS
(looking up)
Do you want to kill her?!
THE FIRE
Staring, enjoying,
licking these moments,
tasting the fear!
MANNY
Vea, check her pockets!
RILEY
(struggling for words)
In my…
(VEA pounds three times.)
Jacket!
(VEA pounds three times.)
LISSA
We don’t…
(VEA pounds two times.)
TESS
Goddamn it…
(VEA pounds two times.)
MANNY
He took all our clothes!
CHAZ
We don’t have it!
(RILEY gasps desperately again.)
THE FIRE
Oh, my God!
No air!
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
She can’t get any air!
THE FIRE /
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
Staring!
He’s staring!
Watching!
He’s looking!
Pacing and peering,
a plan long time cooking!
SAUL
All of his making.
DAVIN
Pound her back harder!
LISSA
Yeah, don’t stop trying…
(VEA keeps pounding as TESS looks up again.)
TESS
You son of a bitch!
She could be dying!
VEA
What do you want?
MANNY
What do you want?
LISSA
What do you want?
DAVIN
Why are doing this?
TESS
Why are you doing this?
THE FIRE
All of the reasons…
SAUL
There is no reason…
THE FIRE
…will come up short.
SAUL
This is sport!
(The lights go out. They scream. Blackness.)
CHAZ
Don’t anyone panic.
VEA
Riley, keep trying to breathe.
LISSA
What are we going to do?
(TESS gasps.)
TESS
Someone touched me.
DAVIN
It wasn’t me.
TESS
Someone just brushed by me.
MANNY
Is Riley breathing?
(The lights go on. In the center of the circle is RILEY’s inhaler. They look around, stunned. VEA hands it to RILEY.)
SAUL
Any reasoning
will fall short.
Like I said…
this is just sport.
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
Breathe, Riley, breathe…
Breathe, Riley, breathe…
(They settle around her, terrified. SAUL rises in his own pool of light. Time shift. Direct address.)
BAPTISM
SAUL
A note appeared,
stuck to the wall,
soon after we took our fall
into hell.
I’ve kept it on me
at all times,
like on that wall,
stuck on my mind
with a nail.
(He takes a crumpled note from his pocket and reads.)
It said:
“Hello children.
Remove your outwear.
Remove your shoes and socks.”
THE TRAPPED (no SAUL)
We are stripped.
We are bare.
SAUL
“Remove all jewelry.
Hand over what you own.
All that’s in your pockets.”
THE TRAPPED (no SAUL)
We are taken.
We are stolen.
SAUL
“I’ll know if you deceive.
I’ll know if you lie.”
DAVIN / CHAZ / MANNY
He sees all…
VEA / RILEY / LISSA / TESS
He knows all…
SAUL
All by his design…
A second note
stuck to the wall,
soon after we took our fall
into hell.
The lights went out,
then back on.
Left was a basin of water,
our own little well.
(He removes another note and reads.)
He said:
“Wash each other’s feet and hands.
Run water through your hair.
Rid the smoke from your face and eyes.
THE TRAPPED (no SAUL)
We were being baptized.
(THE TRAPPED engage in an almost religious ritual of memory.)
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Welcome to his lair.
THE TRAPPED
We’re caught in his lair.
THE FIRE
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Feel his fiery stare.
THE TRAPPED
We feel his fiery stare.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
THE FIRE
You belong to him!
THE TRAPPED
We belong to him.
Save us from this man!
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Alleluia.
Alleluia
THE FIRE
He will taste your sins.
THE TRAPPED
He…will…
He will taste our sins.
THE FIRE
He will eat you.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Alleluia.
THE FIRE
Now that you’re clean.
THE FIRE /
SAUL / MANNY / RILEY / TESS
Alleluia.
DAVIN / CHAZ / VEA / LISSA
God help us!
THE FIRE
And in his belly.
THE FIRE /
SAUL / MANNY / RILEY / TESS
Alleluia.
DAVIN / CHAZ / VEA / LISSA
God save us!
THE FIRE
Nothing’s as it seems.
THE FIRE /
SAUL / MANNY / RILEY / TESS
Alleluia.
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
Nothing’s as it seems.
THE FIRE
Alleluia.
THE TRAPPED
Alleluia.
(THE TRAPPED return to their circle. Time shift. They are back in the pit. They sit and wait and contemplate…)
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
DAVIN
What do you think he wants?
TESS
How do you know it’s a “he”?
CHAZ
It probably is.
Studies have shown that
ninety percent are a
“he” not a “she”?
TESS
Ninety percent of what?
MANNY
What are you trying to say?
CHAZ
Of kidnappers, murderers,
serial killers.
LISSA
Shut up!
That’s enough for today.
SAUL
He wants us on edge,
scared and raw,
to toy, to play with us.
CHAZ
But will he kill us?
SAUL
He wants to wait,
to sharpen his claw,
so he gave the inhaler back just in time...
keep us alive and in our prime.
He wants to read us like a book,
a drama where only he can look.
LISSA
You’re scaring me.
DAVIN
Saul, that’s enough.
MANNY
Stop sharing!
DAVIN
We have to stay tough and strong!
CHAZ
But…
for how long?
(They look around with dread. VEA goes to RILEY.)
VEA
Riley, you doing okay?
RILEY
I’m better.
And you’ve been so nice.
DAVIN
Well, he’s lucky this time,
lucky you’re better,
or I would make him
pay the price.
TESS
Oh really, big guy?
You’re so full of shit.
MANNY
Tess, put a lid on it.
TESS
Eat me, you shrimp.
And what are you doing here, anyway?
Davin, don’t you have something to say?
DAVIN
Wait, what you doing here, anyway?
For a moment, Vea, let’s steal away.
VEA
Wait, what are you doing here, anyway?
I’m waiting for Manny.
MANNY
Waiting for what?
Wait, what are you doing here, anyway?
Lissa had written me.
LISSA
Written you what?
Wait, what are you doing here, anyway?
MANNY
The note in my locker.
LISSA
Chaz, needed to talk.
CHAZ
Wait, what are you doing here, anyway?
I came for Saul.
SAUL
No, not at all.
CHAZ
No?
SAUL
No.
CHAZ / LISSA
Oh.
MANNY
Oh, my God.
SAUL
This wasn’t random.
We were chosen.
TESS/DAVIN
What?
VEA
He chose us?
SAUL
He knows us.
DAVIN
Shit.
SAUL
He wanted us,
hunted us!
TESS/MANNY
How do we get out of here?!
LISSA/CHAZ
How do we get out of here?!
VEA/DAVIN
We have to get out of here?!
THE FIRE
Never. Never. Never. Never.
Never. Never.
DAVIN / VEA
What are we doing here?!
How did we get us here?!
We’re terrified!
SAUL / CHAZ / RILEY
What are we doing here?!
How did we get us here?!
How did he find us?
We’re terrified!
MANNY / TESS
What are we doing here?!
How did he find us?
We’re terrified!
THE TRAPPED
What do you want?
What do you want?
What do you want?
What do you,
what do you want from us?!!!
(The lights go off. They scream. They come back on quickly and a note is crumpled on the floor. DAVIN picks it up and reads.)
DAVIN
“I love you.
I really love you.
I want to know you.
Through and through.
So I chose you, except Riley.”
VEA
What?
RILEY
I heard the stories of the kids,
the hanging out, the fun,
I came to see.
DAVIN
“But I’m glad she’s here.
Of this I’m sure.
She seems so beautiful.
And pure…”
THE FIRE
He loves you.
He loves you.
(They freeze with fear, then are engulfed by darkness as CASSIE and ZEEK appear. A time shift.)
GHOSTS
CASSIE
It could have been me.
ZEEK
But it wasn’t.
CASSIE
But see, I got a fake message too.
ZEEK
From who?
CASSIE
Supposedly from Vea.
(clearly enamored)
It even smelled of her perfume.
Not a text, handwritten;
McCauley High’s forbidden,
so nothing should be traceable…
I wish this was all erasable.
The death. The lies.
But no, not at all…
ZEEK
Just like Saul.
His note was from Davin.
You and Saul had that in common.
CASSIE
Had what in common?
ZEEK
Come on, don’t pretend.
CASSIE
Shut up, be my friend.
ZEEK
Well, why didn’t you go?
CASSIE
I always get caught
when I try to sneak out…
do anything wrong…
or break the rules.
ZEEK
Well this time, that’s good.
You weren’t one of his fools.
Did you tell the police
about your note?
CASSIE
I won’t be another media quote.
I won’t become a ghost
like the rest of them.
Seven may have escaped…
ZEEK
But he still got the best of them.
(Beat.)
CASSIE
Have you seen them?
Walking dazed and pale
and mumbling mostly.
ZEEK
I want to help,
and I watch them closely,
but they’re all so different
now that they’re out.
Like scabs ripped off.
But I have my doubts
of how I can support.
With Saul,
(ZEEK cont.)
I know I’d pull up short.
CASSIE
Lissa grabbed me,
pulled me,
begged me
wanted me to listen to her.
ZEEK
Well, what’d she say?
CASSIE
I’m not quite sure.
ZEEK
What do you mean?
CASSIE
She talked of a cure.
ZEEK
A cure for what?
CASSIE
What’s dead inside.
ZEEK
That’s what she said?
CASSIE
She tried to confide.
Desperate and hoping
to find purpose for the fire.
ZEEK
I’d share that desire…
to understand why…
CASSIE
and what…
ZEEK
and who…
CASSIE
and where…
ZEEK
I can’t imagine being
in that lair.
CASSIE
Forever changed.
ZEEK
Different minds.
CASSIE
I miss my friend.
I wish I could find
a way to make her
see me again.
But Lissa’s gone.
ZEEK
They’re ghosts…
CASSIE
She’s nothing but a host for
fear and anger and pain.
It’s like she’s opened a vein.
ZEEK
There must be something to gain…
something to set them free…
CASSIE
She tried to make me see…
her new found wisdom…
The story…of a dragon…
(ZEEK fades into darkness… A light hits LISSA. She connects with CASSIE and tells her story...)
ORANGE
LISSA
On any given day,
if you were to walk up my driveway…
(LISSA cont.)
say it was a Sunday,
maybe a Thursday,
a time when the sun hangs low
if you look through my window…
Mother likes the curtains slightly drawn.
Shadows are stretching over the lawn.
As the day is dying,
we are always lying,
‘cause we have to pretend,
and the rules will never bend.
And the orange from
the sunset slices right
into our dining room.
Mother says orange
erases any thoughts of
gloom and doom.
Mother likes orange.
It stimulates happy thoughts.
Mother likes orange.
It blinds us from the rotting.
Does she know that I’m rotting?
Does she care that I’m rotting?
On any given day,
if you were to walk up my driveway…
say it was a Monday,
maybe a Friday,
a time when the sun hangs low,
if you look through my window…
The image is always the same…
THE FIRE
Like a painting…
LISSA
a family, calm and tame.
THE FIRE
We are feigning…
LISSA
Father in mid laugh at
what Brother said.
Mother making sure that
we are properly fed.
And all the while we wear a smile
or else we crimp her style.
She’ll part the curtains wider,
so our lives will be worthwhile
from the orange.
It stimulates happy thoughts.
Mother likes orange.
It blinds us from the rotting.
Does she know that I’m rotting?
Does she care that I’m rotting?
THE FIRE
Doesn’t care that you’re rotting!
Doesn’t care that you’re rotting!
No one cares that you’re rotting!
No one cares that you’re rotting!
LISSA
When Mother parts those drapes
and the sinking sun starts to harass.
I feel like an ant trapped under the hand of an angry child,
holding a magnifying glass.
And how long will I survive
‘til the heat overtakes me?
Do I even want to survive?
Would the catching fire cure me…
save me from the rot
of Mother’s happy thoughts?
I’m forever torn,
caught in a red, hot net.
THE TRAPPED (no LISSA)
(waking up – a memory)
Never forget.
CASSIE
Try to turn back time
(CASSIE cont.)
as though this never happened.
And what about your Mother?
Sure, mine can sometimes smother,
but what exactly did she do?
I want to know.
I’ll help you push through.
But you have to tell me.
Lissa, where are you?
Where’d you go?
LISSA
To the orange.
I’ve traveled to the end
in the orange…
THE TRAPPED (no LISSA)
We’ve all been to the end.
LISSA
where for me, the burning sun
is controlled by my mother
the dragon…
THE FIRE / THE TRAPPED
For nineteen days…
trapped in a smoky daze.
THE FIRE
And nothing’s gonna ever
let you forget.
(THE TRAPPED go to sleep except for LISSA. Time shift – the pit. LISSA realizes MANNY is awake and slowly approaches him.)
LITTLE MANNY
LISSA
Manny?
Manny?
MANNY
Yes, I’m awake.
LISSA
The others, so quiet.
MANNY
Sleep is an escape.
LISSA
I can’t hear them at all.
Like they’re home in their beds…
dreaming sweet thoughts.
MANNY
Or like they’re already dead.
LISSA
What?
MANNY
It must be said.
LISSA
No, it mustn’t.
Get that out of your head.
THE FIRE
But it’s in all of your heads…
(LISSA and MANNY stare at the others as they sleep. CASSIE and BEN appear. Time shift.)
BEN
…Manny’s first day back
to walk the halls.
And it was like nothing
had changed at all.
CASSIE
I heard they tripped him,
knocked him down.
BEN
They smashed his head
into the ground.
And then the fists,
and then the spit.
CASSIE
Did you try to stop it?
BEN
Yeah, but they wouldn’t quit.
And as they kicked
and slapped and shoved,
I thought, he just wants
to be loved.
Cheesy, I know.
CASSIE
But true.
BEN
I didn’t know what to do…
to protect him…
to help him feel strong…
to give him a place to belong…
CASSIE
Why are they all so mean?
BEN
But then…
CASSIE
What?
BEN
It changed - the scene.
I’ve seen nothing like it, I swear.
I think something happened,
transformed him down there.
(CASSIE and BEN fade into darkness as time shifts back to the pit. MANNY awkwardly moves closer to LISSA.)
MANNY
You called to me.
LISSA
I did?
MANNY
You said Manny…Manny…
LISSA
Yeah…
MANNY
You hoped that I would answer.
LISSA
So?
MANNY
Admit it, you want me.
LISSA
I called to you.
MANNY
You did.
LISSA
I said, “Manny…Manny…”
MANNY
Right.
LISSA
Because your eyes were open.
MANNY
Oh.
LISSA
Get over your fantasy.
(MANNY looks down.)
You were serious?
MANNY
No way.
LISSA
I think maybe…maybe…
MANNY
No.
LISSA
I get it now. You like me.
MANNY
Please.
LISSA
Wow. Yes, definitely.
MANNY
You called to me.
LISSA
You’ve said that.
MANNY
‘Cause you’re mired in desire!
LISSA
Don’t think because we’re trapped,
I’ll fall for a guy so full of crap.
(He looks down.)
I was kidding,
sort of joking.
MANNY
It’s okay,
I’m used to all the
endless poking fun everyday.
LISSA
It’s just I never really thought,
you know…
MANNY
You never really thought about me
in that way.
THE FIRE
Little Manny, small!
Little Manny, nothing!
(THE FIRE cont.)
Really not a man at all!
Hiding in a bathroom stall!
Dodging sharpened tongues!
Dodging punching fists!
Hiding where the boys all piss!
‘Cause that’s all that you’re good for,
you’ll never be kissed!
‘Cause that’s all that you’re good for,
you’ll never be kissed!
Never standing up, not tall,
but small, so small!
Little man, sissy man!
Not-a-not-a not a man!
Little man, sissy man!
Not-a-not-a not a man at all!
Not a man at all!
MANNY
It’s like I fell forever in the dirt…
THE FIRE
Little squirt!
You’re gonna hurt!
MANNY
a bully’s toy, always a boy.
Even if you
couldn’t ever like,
you know…
LISSA
I’m not sure what I
like or not ‘til Mother says it’s so.
MANNY
Oh,
well, while all of them are sleeping…
let me think it’s possible.
Lissa, will you hold me?
(She opens her arms; he falls into them.)
THE FIRE
Little Manny, small.
Little Manny, nothing.
(THE FIRE cont.)
Really not a man at all.
LISSA
Your name…
THE FIRE
Little Manny.
MANNY
It was Emmanuel.
LISSA
Don’t you mean “is”?
MANNY
No, I am just a shell.
I’m not a man.
THE FIRE
Little Manny.
LISSA
Emmanuel, that’s crazy, because
I can feel your heart…
against the palm of my hand.
Oh, your heart is
determined and strong…
declaring you have been
Emmanuel all along…
(CASSIE and BEN appear. Time shift. As they speak, MANNY is back on the ground after having been beat up. Through the following, he slowly gets to his feet and stands tall, a new identity…)
BEN
He was crumpled on the ground,
blood running from his eye.
As he crawled, he said,
“do not tell a lie.”
CASSIE
Wow, he busted through his cell.
BEN
He stood and said,
“My name is not Manny.
I’m Emmanuel.”
(They fade again into darkness. Time shift. The pit. MANNY turns to LISSA.)
MANNY
You called to me.
LISSA
I did.
MANNY
You said Manny…Manny…
LISSA
And I’m glad you answered.
MANNY
I’m thankful.
LISSA
Please hold me, ‘cause I’m scared,
my mother and the sun.
I’m scared my mother is a dragon.
I’m barely aware
of the day or time.
I swear… everything’s askew,
my thoughts, old and new…
MANNY
(taking her into his arms)
I’d do anything for you…
(A moment of gentle comfort, then VEA bolts awake, screaming a bloodcurdling scream. The rest bolt awake in terror and scatter to see what’s wrong.)
BELLY OF GLASS
THE FIRE
Nightmares from a gnawing gut!
VEA
I dreamed that I was
eating broken glass.
THE FIRE
Tearing like a belly cut!
SAUL
How long since we ate?
RILEY
How many hours passed?
THE FIRE
Nightmares from a gnawing gut!
CHAZ
It’s been at least two days
since we’ve seen any scraps.
THE FIRE
Tearing like a belly cut!
TESS
(looking up)
Look, you shithead,
we’re starving!
VEA
(also up)
About to collapse!
THE FIRE
Nightmares from a gnawing gut!
The tearing like a belly cut!
TESS
But aren’t you
used to it, Vea?
You don’t eat,
don’t dare to display a
bit of fat where you sat!
Admit that your mirror wouldn’t
know what to say
if you gained a pound one day.
DAVIN
(to TESS)
It would say that you are a bitch.
SAUL
Be nice!
DAVIN
But she’s not!
She’s a bitch!
SAUL
There’s a price
if we turn on each other!
TESS
Too late!
LISSA / MANNY
We need one another!
TESS
(to DAVIN)
I HATE YOU!!!
THE FIRE
Nightmares from a gnawing gut!
The tearing like a belly cut!
(CHAZ rises to hold court.)
COPING
CHAZ
I have an idea!
(They glare at him. He does not give up.)
I have an idea!
TESS
You’re such a tool!
MANNY
Chaz, what is it?
CHAZ
Here’s what we should do!
RILEY
What’s that?
CHAZ
Let’s all think of something happy!
TESS
You’ve gotta be kidding!
CHAZ
I know we all feel crappy,
but focus on a positive.
VEA
Tess, it doesn’t hurt to give
Chaz a chance.
RILEY
(dancing in her own unique way)
I could use a little happy dance.
DAVIN
That sounds really lame.
SAUL
It does, but we could
use a little hope.
CHAZ
It will help us all cope!
Nope?
(They sigh and concede.)
We came here on a Friday, right?
THE TRAPPED (no CHAZ)
That’s right.
CHAZ
Go back to that day in your minds…
Name something that was fun,
a little ray of sunshine.
TESS
“a little ray of”—
DAVIN
Tess!
TESS
Fine!
CHAZ
Something sublime!
THE FIRE
Back in a time
before this time
when you were free from
smoke and grime.
Back in a time
before this time
when you were free from
smoke and grime.
CHAZ
Davin?
DAVIN
My coach says my serve is the
best in the state,
that many a scholarship will
fill my plate.
SAUL
That’s great!
TESS
Who cares?!
SAUL
I care.
TESS
(referencing DAVIN)
Oh we know.
We’ve seen you stare.
CHAZ
(avoiding the awkward moment)
Lissa?
LISSA
Mr. Todd found it in the cafeteria,
my purse!
Not stolen,
so no need for my hysteria.
MANNY
Nice!
TESS
Big cheer!
MANNY
Don’t mock.
TESS
Who needs a purse
when we’re down here?
CHAZ
Manny.
MANNY
English paper, got a B!
CHAZ
Vea.
VEA
On the ballot for Prom Queen.
CHAZ
Saul.
SAUL
Getting published in a local journal.
CHAZ
Riley.
RILEY
I finally named my pet turtle.
THE TRAPPED (no RILEY)
What?
RILEY
Colonel.
Colonel Turtle!
CHAZ
See!
Better to cope than mope
so we have some hope,
surrounded by our normal lives.
Stay grounded ‘til the help arrives,
sharp in our minds.
Keep away the panic.
Stay calm and kind.
No need to be manic.
THE TRAPPED (no TESS)
They will find us!
Better to cope than mope
so we have some hope,
surrounded by our normal lives.
Stay grounded ‘til the help arrives,
sharp in our minds.
Keep away the panic.
Stay calm and kind.
No need to be manic.
TESS
STOP!!!
I’d like to tie ropes
around your necks!
You need to get your
heads all checked!
Wake up to reality.
SAUL
She’s right.
In actuality,
I doubt that he’s done.
(The lights go out. They scream.)
THE FIRE
This has just begun.
(THE FIRE cont.)
Hearts ramping up.
Beat-beat. Thump-thump.
Beat-beat. Thump-thump.
Hearts feeling heat.
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
(repeating)
MANNY
Fingers just ran
through my hair…
LISSA
The smell of his breath
in the air…
CHAZ
Stay surrounded by our lives…
SAUL
We’re caught in his hive…
(VEA screams.)
VEA
A slimy tongue
just licked and stung…
TESS
Wake up to reality…
We can’t cope with this…
MANNY / LISSA
There is no hope.
CHAZ / VEA
I cannot cope.
DAVIN
Is there any hope?
SAUL
He’ll never be done.
This has just begun.
(The lights go on. RILEY is curled up, stunned and frightened.)
RILEY
What else will he demand?
TESS
Riley?
LISSA
What is it?
VEA
Riley?
RILEY
He slid between…
SAUL
Oh, my God.
RILEY
I felt his hand…
(VEA, LISSA, and TESS surround her.)
THE FIRE
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
(THE TRAPPED fade into darkness as THE WATCHERS appear. Time shift.)
INTERVIEW
CASSIE
Hey, Jen.
BEN
What’s up?
ZEEK
How are ya?
JENNIFER
(clearly upset)
Hey.
CASSIE
Is it true?
JENNIFER
What’s true?
BEN
Did they call you
for an interview?
JENNIFER
That’s right, from KVU.
ZEEK
What did they ask you?
JENNIFER
Just what I knew.
CASSIE
About what?
JENNIFER
Mostly smut.
BEN
Did they ask you about
how they’ve all gone nuts?
JENNIFER
That and…
CASSIE
And what?
JENNIFER
And “Would you have described
Tess as a slut?”
ZEEK
Shit. What a cheap cut.
JENNIFER
Straight into my gut.
CASSIE
So they only wanted dirt.
JENNIFER
Just dirt.
ZEEK
Did they care that maybe
that would hurt?
JENNIFER
To them it’s all dessert.
BEN
We can’t let them pervert
everything!
JENNIFER
I just want to cling
to a better time.
BEN
What they do is a crime.
CASSIE
All these stupid reporters.
ZEEK
The mindless news.
BEN
They feed the heartless supporters
all that skews our memories.
CASSIE
They wanna destroy
our memories of our friends.
JENNIFER
(pointed)
Of my friend.
Of my boyfriend.
CASSIE
Oh, Jen, we know—
JENNIFER
Do you?!
Do any of you?!
(Beat.)
BEN
Well, do you-
JENNIFER
Do I what?!
ZEEK
Believe it’s true.
JENNIFER
Who’s gonna tell me the truth?
Are you, Zeek?!
Did you know, Cassie?!
CASSIE
No!
JENNIFER
You, Ben?!
BEN
Whoa, I—
JENNIFER
Or Tess?!!!
Or Davin?!!!
Who should I be believing?
It’s all lies now, and deceiving.
And all I know is grieving and
the media and their thieving of
WHAT WAS MINE!!!
(She begins to weep.)
BEN
We don’t…
CASSIE
We don’t know what to say.
JENNIFER
I’m sorry, guys.
ZEEK
Don’t be.
We were being insensitive.
JENNIFER
And in my sleep I have to relive…
BEN
Relive what?
JENNIFER
This nightmare; it’s on repeat.
But the puzzle?
It may be complete.
For in the back of my mind,
I know...I knew.
I’m sure there was many a clue.
I see him in that pit
as he rambles on,
all guilty and torn.
CASSIE
Rambles on about what?
(CASSIE, BEN, and ZEEK go dark. JENNIFER stares at DAVIN as he stands.)
JENNIFER
Of all things…popcorn.
(DAVIN looks at JENNIFER and addresses her. The rest of THE TRAPPED are frozen in a sleep.)
POPCORN
DAVIN
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All I think about is popcorn.
(DAVIN cont.)
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All I think about is popcorn.
It’s irrational,
maybe unnatural,
due to the stress.
I must confess,
I think it’s all about Tess.
Been a year since I
broke up with her.
Now I am with Jennifer.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
That’s you.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
I love you.
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All I think about is popcorn.
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All I think about is popcorn.
It’s bizarre.
But so far…
Tess can’t handle that
she doesn’t light my candle
with her scandal.
I broke up with her.
Now I am with Jennifer.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
That’s you.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
Should I have told you?
(THE TRAPPED awake and taunt DAVIN.)
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All you think about is popcorn!
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All you think about is popcorn!
THE FIRE
Popcorn!
All you think about is popcorn!
All you think about is popcorn!
(THE TRAPPED go back to sleep.)
Popping, popping, about to pop.
Pop-pop-popping in the popping pot.
(repeating)
DAVIN
There’s water in the kernel.
That’s what makes it puff
when heated, it gets exploded,
and what if I cheated?
Would our love be eroded?
Been a year since I
broke up with her.
Now I am with Jennifer.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
That’s you,
and I miss you down here.
JENNIFER
Tell the truth!
Tell me what I am owed!
(THE TRAPPED awake and taunt DAVIN.)
DAVIN
Will I explode like popcorn?! Popcorn!
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All you think about is popcorn!
Pop-pop-popcorn.
All you think about is popcorn!
THE FIRE
Popcorn!
All you think about is popcorn!
All you think about is popcorn!
(THE TRAPPED go back to sleep.)
DAVIN
It’s nonsensical,
purely whimsical.
but water’s in me,
and could it be
the fire will set me free?!
THE FIRE
Popping, popping, about to pop.
Pop-pop-popping in the popping pot.
(repeating)
DAVIN
Put me in the pot,
set me aflame.
It’s worth a shot
to kill the shame.
I dumped her…
Now I am with Jennifer.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
That’s you.
JENNIFER
That’s me.
DAVIN
I wronged you.
(DAVIN rejoins the others and sleeps. JENNIFER weeps all alone.)
JENNIFER
I don’t know what to do.
(Her light goes out. Time shift. The pit. TESS wakes. She stands and makes a decision. She goes to a sleeping DAVIN and nudges him with her foot. He stirs, but does not awake. She kicks him. He bolts up.)
EASY
TESS
You told everyone
that I lied.
DAVIN
Don’t go there,
not down here!
TESS
You mocked and you shunned,
‘til I died inside.
DAVIN
Don’t pretend you didn’t
know the deal.
TESS
Don’t go there,
not down here!
DAVIN
You freaked and you squealed.
I don’t care how you feel!
TESS
It’s easy to get down when the
the girlfriend’s out of town.
It’s easy; call the ex
(TESS cont.)
when you wanna little sex!
Pop some popcorn,
watch a movie
on the couch,
then baby, “soothe me”.
DAVIN
I was there,
and I regret it.
Won’t you shut it,
just forget it?
TESS
That’d be easy,
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
‘cause you think I’m easy,
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
and a little bit sleazy.
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
You can’t say…
“please me”
then leave me all alone…
bare to the bone.
DAVIN
Don’t even act like
you complained.
TESS
Don’t go there,
not down here!
DAVIN
You moaned and you wanted.
Now this pain?
You’re insane!
TESS
You knew I still loved you,
wanted more.
DAVIN
Don’t go there,
not down here!
TESS
But you left me like a rag,
wadded up on the floor.
DAVIN
It’s easy to play victim once you’ve
done your part and then some.
It’s easy to make drama,
but it’s your fault you’re a dirty slut!
Popcorn and a movie,
then your shirt came off
to tease me.
TESS
I was there,
and I regret it.
DAVIN
Shut your hole
and just forget it.
TESS
That’d be easy,
THE FIRE
Easy.
DAVIN
You seduced me!
TESS
‘cause you think I’m easy,
THE FIRE
Easy.
DAVIN
I know you’re easy!
TESS
and a little bit sleazy.
THE FIRE
Easy
DAVIN
You wanted the chance
to please me!
TESS
You can’t say…
“please me”
then leave me all alone…
DAVIN
You deserve to be alone!
TESS
…bare to the bone…
DAVIN
This shit is your own…
THE FIRE
Popping, popping, about to pop.
Pop-pop-popping in the popping pot.
(repeating)
TESS
Would you believe me
if I told you
there had been a kernel
in my belly
about to pop?
Would you believe me
if I told you
I had them take it out,
(TESS cont.)
that baby kernel…
I had it stopped?
It was too easy,
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
but not at all easy.
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
It made me feel sleazy.
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
My actions disease me.
THE FIRE
Easy.
TESS
Davin, don’t make me own
this burden alone.
(DAVIN spits on her.)
DAVIN
You’re a drama queen,
gross and obscene,
and you lie about
absolutely everything!
Maybe you lied about being on the pill!
Maybe you didn’t. Who knows?!
But still you make it easy to swear,
you’re not fat and pregnant now,
so I really don’t care.
(TESS crumbles and weeps.)
(DAVIN cont.)
You’re not fat
and pregnant now
so I really don’t…
care.
(He walks away as she cries…lights fade away...)
END OF ACT ONE
INTERMISSION
ACT TWO
The Reaching
(Darkness. A wailing, crying, breathing. It is SAUL. Lights reveal him huddled on the ground. ZEEK watches, helpless, but trying…)
NO ONE KNOWS ME
ZEEK
I can’t--
I can’t--
Saul…if you won’t tell me--
How can I--?
What can I--?
I know it’s been hell, we
have to get on top of this.
At least give me the gist.
Help me understand.
Help me lend you a hand.
SAUL
You can’t empathize.
You don’t even recognize
who I am.
ZEEK
You’re my friend.
SAUL
What I am.
ZEEK
You must try to mend.
SAUL
You cannot defend…
You cannot pretend
I’m not like him.
ZEEK
Stop with the riddles.
SAUL
I’m just like him!
ZEEK
Help me a little!
SAUL
Help you what?
To see that my
heart was cut?!
To see that my
soul was shut?!
To see that my
light went dim.
That I became just like him.
ZEEK
What are you talking about, Saul?
You’re nothing
like him at all.
SAUL
Yes!
From the beginning,
I knew him so well,
his motives and his planning.
The moment we fell,
something was granting me a
window into his mind.
And now you can see
I’m losing mine.
ZEEK
You’re brilliant, so smart.
It’s no surprise you could chart
his every move.
You’re an empath,
not a psychopath.
SAUL
You don’t know me.
No one knows me anymore.
You don’t know me.
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
(ZEEK fades into darkness as SAUL begins wanders away. As he does, CHAZ wanders in.)
SAUL
You don’t know me.
CHAZ
Someone talk to me.
SAUL
No one knows me anymore.
CHAZ
Someone, try to know me.
SAUL
You don’t know me.
CHAZ
Will you know me?
SAUL
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
CHAZ
Tell me, what am I for?
(SAUL is gone. JENNIFER is suddenly watching CHAZ.)
JENNIFER
Oh…hey Chaz.
I’d love to chat sometime.
It’s just where I’m at…
Since the crime
I’ve been so thrown,
I need to be alone.
CHAZ
Another time.
(She is gone. CHAZ has a realization.)
I’m running out of time.
Only eight minutes before the test.
I must do my best.
No time to rest.
(His legs begin to go out from under him.)
No time for talking.
No time for thinking.
But I think I’m sinking.
(He slaps himself hard in the face.)
Get up!
(He slaps himself again. Twice.)
YOU FUCK UP!!!
(He bolts out as CASSIE is revealed trying to get VEA’s attention as VEA dashes away from her.)
CASSIE
Please don’t walk away from me.
VEA
You can’t empathize.
You don’t even recognize
who I am.
CASSIE
I wanna help you.
VEA
What I am.
CASSIE
What can I do?
VEA
Come on, last I checked.
Girls like you just want me wrecked.
I’m an object.
CASSIE
Stop with the riddles.
VEA
I’m your object.
CASSIE
Help me a little!
VEA
Help you chase
dreams that you’ll
break my face?
Dreams that I’ll
be displaced?
Dreams that I’ll
lose my value…
as you tear down this statue?
CASSIE
I would never hurt you.
I…like you.
VEA
Oh!
Well, I’ve always been beautiful,
it’s been my claim to fame.
“Stunning” and “Desirable”
aligned with my name.
Whether boy or girl, you’re terrible.
Don’t you see?
With lust or with your jealousy,
you all wanna screw me!
CASSIE
You’re so brilliant and smart.
And I know you have a heart.
Yeah, there was a time when I hated,
but you, I’d never reject.
You’re not just an object.
VEA
You don’t know me.
No one knows me anymore.
You don’t know me.
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
(CASSIE fades into darkness as VEA begins wanders away. As she does, CHAZ wanders back in.)
You don’t know me.
CHAZ
Someone talk to me.
VEA
No one knows me anymore.
CHAZ
Someone, try to know me.
VEA
You don’t know me.
CHAZ
Will you know me?
VEA
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
CHAZ
Tell me, what am I for?
(VEA is gone. BEN is suddenly watching CHAZ.)
BEN
Oh…hey Chaz.
I’d love to chat sometime.
It’s just where I’m at…
Since the crime
All I hope…and I know it’s not likely…
But I’m dying to hear from Riley…
(He is gone. SAUL and VEA wander back in as CHAZ sinks to the ground.)
SAUL / VEA
No one knows me…
CHAZ
No one talks to me.
SAUL / VEA
It’s all different than before.
CHAZ
No one wants to know me.
SAUL / VEA
No one can know me…
CHAZ
No one knows me.
SAUL
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
VEA
I’m an object, nothing more.
CHAZ
And what is living for?
SAUL
There’s a truth I can’t ignore.
VEA
I’m an object, nothing more.
CHAZ
And what is living for?
SAUL / CHAZ / VEA
No one knows me anymore…
(Time shifts. The pit. THE TRAPPED all wander in and sink to sleep, except SAUL.)
THE FIRE
Alleluia.
Let him enter
into you.
You must surrender.
SAUL
(looking up)
I know you’re listening.
You’re sweaty and glistening
from getting off
on watching us cough
our shit out.
What we’re about.
You wanna be a God,
(SAUL cont.)
but you’re a fraud!
You’re no leader,
but a feeder,
getting fat from our fear,
fat from our lives,
fat from our hopes.
That’s what drives and drives you.
You need us to feel alive…
Fuel so you can thrive!
(DAVIN stirs.)
DAVIN
Dude, we’re trying to get some
shut eye…
SAUL
I apologize…
(DAVIN goes back to sleep. SAUL looks at him longingly and approaches, staring down at him.)
ARM’S LENGTH
SAUL
My love for you
is more than I can bear.
The view of you
blurs anything else
that might be there for me.
But how do I let go?
THE FIRE
How do you let go?
SAUL
Because I do not know…
THE FIRE
How do you know?
SAUL
if you’ll ever be
more than half there,
(SAUL cont.)
less than an arm’s length away,
and it seems I still want to stare
into my fantasy.
And when I catch your sweet eyes
piercing through me gently…
I wonder if you see
what I see in you…
in me.
And how do I let go?
THE FIRE
How do you let go?
SAUL
Oh, do I wanna know?
THE FIRE
How do you know?
SAUL
I don’t think so.
Let me wonder about you…
Let me wonder…
today…
Let me wonder…about you.
Let me kiss you in my dreams
anyway.
(VEA stirs and watches him.)
But how do I let go?
THE FIRE
How do you let go?
SAUL
Because I do not know…
THE FIRE
How do you know?
(SAUL kneels and puts his hand in DAVIN’s. DAVIN remains asleep.)
SAUL
if you’ll ever be…
more than half there,
less than an arm’s length away.
My love for you…
should it stay?
Let me wonder about you…
Let me wonder…today…
(DAVIN stirs and rolls over, his hand leaving SAUL’s. SAUL rises and looks up.)
OBJECT
SAUL
You get fat from that?
You get off on that?
You’re not empowered.
Like me, you’re a coward.
(VEA approaches him.)
VEA
What about me?
SAUL
You were awake?
VEA
I’m used to it.
SAUL
You heard?
VEA
I don’t object to
being his object.
THE FIRE
A statue!
VEA
Somewhere down the line,
I became that and it’s fine.
(VEA cont.)
I don’t object to
being his object.
THE FIRE
A statue!
SAUL
And me.
VEA
I was awake.
SAUL
I’m not used to it.
VEA
I heard.
SAUL
(referring to DAVIN)
I’d not object
to being his object.
THE FIRE
They hate you!
SAUL
Somewhere down the line,
I became this, it’s not fine.
I’d not object
to being his object.
THE FIRE
They hate you!
VEA
That’s not true.
Be you for you.
SAUL / VEA
If you only knew
what I go through.
SAUL
Are you serious?
(SAUL cont.)
You’re complaining
that at school you’re always
on the red carpet?
THE FIRE
A statue!
VEA
And you’re pretending that it’s
still a secret?
Do you really think you’re still
in the closet?
THE FIRE
They hate you!
(A moment of silent tension, then they laugh at themselves – a tender. light moment. And then suddenly are both overtaken with deep sadness.)
VEA
But see...
You have to know…
SAUL
I’m sure I know.
And I see that you’re
lonely, so lonely,
performing your one woman show.
VEA
You’re lonely, so lonely, and
(referring to DAVIN)
praying that no one will know.
You’re lonely, so lonely.
Whether out there or deep down here.
SAUL
Whether out there
or deep down here.
VEA
I am lonely.
SAUL
I’m lonely, so lonely,
VEA / SAUL
I wish someone could know me….
(She looks up.)
VEA
I bet he’s lonely too.
I wonder what he will do?
SAUL
I think he wants us to survive,
‘cause he needs us to feel alive.
SAUL / VEA
He watches from his own heaven,
from his own created star.
VEA
It’s been a while since we’ve had water.
Does he know how thirsty we are…?
SAFE TO DRINK?
THE FIRE
Swallowing sand!
His giant hand!
Your mouth, it pries!
Scrapes your tongue dry!
VEA
Is he here?
SAUL
Yeah, his breath is near me,
like he wants to whisper to me.
THE FIRE
Stuffing your mouth with dust!
Making you lust for water!
Hard to swallow!
Hard to speak!
VEA
You’re hard to follow.
Your voice is weak…
Saul?
Saul?
THE FIRE
Don’t test him,
not at all!
(The lights go on. There are a few bottles of liquid on the floor. The liquid is blue. SAUL is crumpled on the ground, a piece of paper stuffed into his mouth. VEA rushes to him.)
VEA
Oh, my God.
Did he hurt you?
(She pulls the paper from his mouth.)
SAUL
Read the letter.
What’s he want us to do?
VEA
(reading)
“You don’t know me.
You’ve no idea what’s in my cup.
Here’s some water.
Drink it and shut up
or else you’ll find out who I am”
SAUL
(looking up)
Will we anyway?
VEA
Be quiet!
SAUL
(still looking up)
Is it time to slaughter your lambs?
(The others stir and wake up, seeing the bottles.)
THE FIRE
So thirsty.
So thirsty.
(repeating)
CHAZ
Is that…?
LISSA
Is that…?
RILEY
Oh, my God,
I’m so thirsty.
DAVIN
Blue.
MANNY
It’s blue.
TESS
That’s new.
LISSA
Maybe someone test it first.
He may have done something…
RILEY
Tainted!
CHAZ
Who would test it?
MANNY
If they fainted,
then we’d know it’s poison.
TESS
He’ll moisten our throats…
just before he cuts ‘em.
CHAZ
Tess!
DAVIN
I’m sure that it’s fine.
TESS
Then show a little spine.
Have a drink of his wine!
THE TRAPPED
Our mouths full with dust, like
swallowing nails covered in rust.
He scrapes his nails
over our tongues.
But if we drink…?
THE FIRE
Will you be hung?
DAVIN
Saul?
SAUL
I’m not sure.
VEA
Tell him.
DAVIN
Tell me what?
SAUL
It might not be pure,
but no difference.
He shoved a note in my throat,
and it makes it pretty clear
we must do what he wrote.
TESS
What? No vote?
DAVIN
What’s it say?
VEA
(reading)
“Drink it and shut up
or else you’ll find out who I am.”
TESS
(looking up)
And who’s that?
RILEY
The one who showed me his hand…
SAUL
We’re not getting anything
unless we drink.
Nothing more is gonna pour.
RILEY
Will you Davin?
DAVIN
Test it out?
TESS
Go ahead, Davin,
don’t make me doubt
your manhood.
DAVIN
Should we make it the plan?
CHAZ
Maybe we should wait.
LISSA
Don’t jump right out the gate.
MANNY
This could seal our fate.
DAVIN
Just mine.
I’ll walk this line.
SAUL
(grabbing DAVIN)
Davin, I don’t know.
DAVIN
It’s cool,
let’s do this.
(shrugging him off)
Let me go!
SAUL
But if it’s poison…
DAVIN
Then we’ll know.
(DAVIN grabs one of the bottles and slowly opens it.)
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
Is it safe, safe to drink?
We can’t face it, bear to think:
he will test it just for us,
then he might…
TESS
That’d be a plus!
THE TRAPPED (no TESS)
Tess!
DAVIN
Ignore her.
Bottoms up.
It’s anybody’s guess.
(He drinks the water. DAVIN then freezes. A time shift. The others go into direct address.)
COUGH (2)
MANNY / LISSA
We stood there waiting…
SAUL
hoping, praying…
RILEY
that nothing really bad would happen…
VEA
And for a while it seemed
he hadn’t schemed
to poison us after all…
CHAZ / TESS
We drank and stood up tall…
RILEY
And we sighed.
(DAVIN and the others intermingle, friendly, grabbing bottles and drinking.)
THE TRAPPED
Relief came out.
MANNY/LISSA
And we laughed.
THE TRAPPED
Some joy came out.
Ten days in, alive,
not meeting our end.
SAUL
So for a while it seemed
he hadn’t schemed
to poison us after all…
(CHAZ curls up crying.)
MANNY / LISSA
Then Chaz began to bawl and shake.
VEA
For all of us,
the ground seemed to quake.
SAUL
Our vision blurred.
Our eyes dilated.
RILEY / TESS
We’d had the water,
taken his bait.
THE TRAPPED
Fed into the mouth of the beast,
we waited and coughed.
THE FIRE
Cough!
CHAZ
The dark came out.
THE TRAPPED
How we coughed…
our souls ripped out
for him to see,
THE FIRE
He will see!
THE TRAPPED
drugged and playing out his fantasy…
THE FIRE
You’re his fantasy!
And nothing’s gonna
ever let you forget….
(Time shifts. The pit. All begin to hallucinate…focused on their own worlds…their own nightmares. CHAZ’s vision reveals itself to him.)
CLOCK
THE FIRE
Tick tock
Tick tock
(repeating)
CHAZ
Why are you staring,
the face of a clock?
Why are you glaring?
Riley, help me block it!
RILEY
(backing away from her own vision)
Chaz, I can’t,
its jaws want to snap…
my angry plant,
my pet Venus Fly Trap.
CHAZ
Someone!
THE FIRE
No one!
All in your cells…
All fighting demons
in your personal hells!
TESS
Something’s coming!
LISSA / MANNY
The floor is moving!
DAVIN / VEA
The air is swimming!
SAUL
Our bodies, he’s juicing!
THE FIRE
Blood, he drinks
as you float on the brink.
He’s peering, leering!
THE TRAPPED (no CHAZ)
Now we can’t think!
CHAZ
Why are you staring,
A melting clock?
I need my time.
(CHAZ cont.)
Don’t hand me the shock of
missing minutes,
seconds dissolving,
hour hands bending!
My world is devolving!
Riley, help now!
RILEY
I can’t be your provider.
I’m caught in the web
of my angry pet spider.
CHAZ
I must cling to my day, my routine;
it brings stability and tranquility.
Without it I’m lost
Without it, I’m tossed into chaos…
Time is my boss!
THE FIRE
Now he’s your boss!
CHAZ
I’m always on time,
get out of bed on time.
I study in a timely manner.
THE FIRE
Tick tock.
CHAZ
Make the bed: twenty seconds,
eat breakfast: nine minutes.
I’m nothing if not a perfect planner.
THE FIRE
Knock. Knock.
CHAZ
Trek to school: eighteen minutes
test review: seven minutes
twelve minutes to eat my lunch.
THE FIRE
Time calling.
CHAZ
Maybe I should eat more slowly,
but I have to catch a lowly power nap,
or else my brain will crunch!
THE FIRE
You’re falling!
Falling behind!
CHAZ
Where’s my time?!
THE FIRE
Melting into the grime;
he’s laughing at you!
CHAZ
No, I can do this!
THE FIRE
Tick
CHAZ
I can—
THE FIRE
tock!
CHAZ
I can—
THE FIRE
Tick
CHAZ
I can—
THE FIRE
tock!
CHAZ
I can do—
THE FIRE
Tick
CHAZ
this!
THE FIRE
tock!
Tick tock!
Melting.
Ticking tocking
melting melting.
CHAZ
No! I can do this!
THE TRAPPED (no CHAZ)
Tick tock tick tock
tick tock tick tock!
CHAZ
Journal time: half an hour.
Homework time: three hours.
Ten minutes to prep for bed.
THE FIRE
Heart knocks!
CHAZ
Then staring at the ceiling,
my mind is always reeling.
I wonder if I’d like being dead!
THE FIRE
You said it!
CHAZ
Nothing more would be said.
Just silence.
The clock and I’d be dead…
(Time shifts. CHAZ is alone and begins to reenact his suicide attempt – by hanging.)
THE FIRE
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
CHAZ
Melt away…
THE FIRE
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
CHAZ
Far away…
(CHAZ “steps off” and “falls”. He gasps for air and sways. THE WATCHERS appear.)
ZEEK
The news said
the face of his watch was bashed in,
every clock smashed when
they found him.
BEN
His dad came in
just in time,
his face about to burst,
all red.
CASSIE
My mom said
the rope had been cleaned, polished,
that it, like, gleamed all white,
reflecting the light all the way
up to the beam at the ceiling.
JENNIFER
Like his only healing would be led
by this pure thread up to the sky.
Dead, he’d no longer have to
privately cry.
BEN
It makes no sense.
He escapes the pit,
makes it out alive,
but then devises his own end?
JENNIFER
Well, tell me,
are you really his friend?
BEN
Sure, I…
JENNIFER
Really.
BEN
Uh…no.
JENNIFER
Cassie?
CASSIE
No.
ZEEK
Me either.
JENNIFER
And I’m not.
I always swatted him away like a fly.
BEN
It’s no wonder he wanted to…
(The all look at each other…)
CASSIE
What hospital is he in?
(THE WATCHERS fade into darkness. CHAZ gasps as “the rope” disappears.)
CHAZ
Alone in the silence
is better than the ticking clock,
or my heart that bangs and knocks…
When perfection is your only friend,
who wouldn’t want to meet his end?
(Time shifts. The pit. CHAZ looks around at the rest who are sleeping. He curls up, alone… Time shifts again. BEN and CASSIE appear. RILEY stands alone, staring at BEN.)
TOO OLD FOR YOU
BEN
I’d gently approach her.
CASSIE
Her response?
BEN
None.
CASSIE
And when you’d show up at lunch?
BEN
She’d run.
I finally tried chasing her,
but the girl is fast.
CASSIE
Get to the point.
Tell me!
BEN
Chill.
CASSIE
Well?
BEN
Last night…at last...
CASSIE
Riley talked to you?
No one’s had a clue how to
get her to open up.
BEN
She showed up late,
threw a rock at the glass.
I woke up, and she was
staring up at my window,
(BEN cont.)
barefoot, feet all wet from the dew on the grass.
CASSIE
Were you able to tell her
how you really feel?
BEN
I would always conceal that –
before the pit –
never had the guts,
could never admit to her that I--
CASSIE
And now?
(Beat.)
BEN
She already knew.
I mean I had been chasing her
like some puppy.
It’s why she’d run from me.
She didn’t want to do
what she had to do.
CASSIE
What’s that?
(Beat.)
Ben? You okay?
(CASSIE fades into darkness. RILEY and BEN lock eyes.)
RILEY
Your eyes are wide,
and I wonder, what do you see?
As I stand at your window,
what’s your image of me?
BEN
You’re beautiful.
RILEY
“Mama”, I say,
“am different today?”
She says, “No.”
but I know anyway.
The woman in the mirror,
hair all white,
a ghost crying in the night.
And hey, Ben,
I wish you’d send me
back to a time, before this time.
We’d have time for our lights to shine
on each other…
BEN
We still can.
RILEY
And hey, Ben,
what could have been
if we’d had the time before this time, your hand in mine? Our lips might have
found each other…
BEN
I don’t understand.
RILEY
But I’m no longer new.
I wish I never knew
that moment in his private cage…
BEN
What do you mean?
RILEY
I’m a different age.
I wish it wasn’t true…
I’m too old for you…
BEN
That doesn’t make any sense.
Please let down your defenses.
What happened to you?
I’m here for you.
RILEY
Like cobwebs in my blood,
why can’t you see?
The fire, it charred
and made an antique of me…
BEN
No it didn’t.
RILEY
Ben, I say,
am I different today?
You say, no,
but I know anyway.
The woman in the mirror,
face all cracked,
like shattered glass,
and I can’t go back.
And hey, Ben,
I wish you’d send me
back to a time, before this time.
We’d have time for our lights to shine
on each other…
BEN
We still can!
RILEY
And hey, Ben,
what could have been
if we’d had the time before this time, your hand in mine? Our lips might have
found each other…
BEN
Help me understand…
RILEY
We’re at different stages,
turned to different pages.
I wish it wasn’t true.
I’m too old for you…
I’m too old for you….
But I wish I could know
if I’d have loved you…
(RILEY fades into the dark. CASSIE reappears.)
CASSIE
Sounds intense.
But, you know…
We may have to let them all go.
BEN
Oh, really?
You ready to give up on Lissa?
Or…how about Vea?
CASSIE
Don’t be an asshole.
BEN
We all walked away from Chaz,
played an awesome role for him.
Turned out great!
CASSIE
Stop it!
You’re being hateful.
You know what I meant.
BEN
I’m…I’m just so spent.
She called herself old.
And when she walked away,
I have to say it looked that way.
Her face all drawn.
And our chance to be together…
gone…
But why…?
(They fade into darkness as ZEEK and JENNIFER appear.)
STATUE
ZEEK
Did you read that blog?
JENNIFER
I don’t have time to slog through
(JENNIFER cont.)
some fan page for Vea.
ZEEK
Well, I asked her.
She said most of it was true.
When he drugged them,
Tess flew into a fury, came after her.
Vea worried she’d kill her.
JENNIFER
Tragic.
ZEEK
She didn’t want that public,
was protecting Tess for some reason,
but the blogger stole her journal
from her purse.
JENNIFER
It’s a curse being so popular.
ZEEK
Evidently that’s what Tess thought.
JENNIFER
What?!
Are you comparing me to Tess?!
ZEEK
No, I--
JENNIFER
And I love how you
follow Vea’s fan page and all.
Your blatant crush on her is the
only thing stopping rumors about
you and Saul.
ZEEK
You know…
You’re turning into a real bitch.
JENNIFER
Ohhhh, that is rich!
ZEEK
The comparison is perfect!
I know this has been hard for you,
but you project your shit onto me
and everyone.
JENNIFER
Screw you! I’M DONE!!!
(She goes dark. ZEEK yells after her.)
ZEEK
Oh yeah, wallow in it! Walk away!
But we’re lucky!
We weren’t the ones
down there for nineteen days!!!
(ZEEK fade into darkness. Time shifts. The pit. THE TRAPPED continue to hallucinate.)
THE TRAPPED
Mouths stuffed with dust like
swallowing nails covered in rust!
SAUL
Maybe we shouldn’t…
Maybe we shouldn’t…
VEA
Saul, is that you?
SAUL
I can’t think…
Maybe we shouldn’t…
DAVIN
What is he saying?
SAUL
Maybe we shouldn’t keep drinking.
VEA
But thirsty, so thirsty…
DAVIN
(grabbing a bottle)
Don’t worry I’ll get you more.
(TESS begins approaching VEA and DAVIN.)
VEA
My mouth is dry and sore.
DAVIN
(handing her the bottle)
Drink it all down.
(She drinks. He stares at her.)
I could drown
in your beauty.
Do you want to kiss me?
TESS
I don’t mean to be nosy,
but you two look kind of cozy.
Don’t forget I’m the whore.
She’s cold to her core.
DAVIN
Are you done?
You’re such a bore.
(TESS slaps him in the face. He recoils. VEA stands, frozen, scared.)
TESS
I can see my handprint
spreading on your face,
reaching through your teeth,
to replace your air…
Stealing your air…
(DAVIN begins to choke, as if he can’t breathe.)
That seems only…fair…
SAUL
Davin, is that you?
DAVIN
I can’t…
SAUL
Davin?
DAVIN
breathe!
SAUL
(going to him)
I got you.
(SAUL takes him in his arms. DAVIN calms. VEA remains frozen, terrified. TESS turns her attention to VEA.)
TESS
And you,
I see you as a statue.
What if I could
preserve your beauty?
Oh, wouldn’t that be delish?
The boys would kneel at your feet and make a dirty wish.
And the girls like me
would be free from the “V”
that’s sealed on the
flesh of your followers,
blinded by your beauty
and failing to see
that you’re icy and vain.
You’re a borrower!
There’s nothing in you that’s true,
because you’re a statue!
(A ritualized processional commences, ending with VEA being presented to TESS as a sacrifice.)
I wanna take a hammer
and crush your bones into dust,
(TESS cont.)
then mix it with water and fire.
Pour your essence into a mold,
forever hold the face of their desire!
Beautiful. Exquisite.
Standing there forever.
But I’ll have one consolation
as I watch the boys all gather.
You will only be statue,
and your followers will be fed,
but in truth I will have killed you.
The real Vea will be dead!
(TESS begins to go mad.)
The real Vea will be dead.
You’ll finally be dead.
(going to DAVIN)
Do you know what he said?!
Have you heard what he’s said?!
(to SAUL)
Don’t even think he’ll lie in your bed!
(to VEA)
I want you and Jennifer dead!
All of you, all of you,
all of you dead!
VEA
STOP!
I don’t believe what he said.
(TESS is stunned.)
And I heard you before
when you were fighting.
I heard you say you were pregnant.
And I believe you...if you said it…
(TESS sinks to the ground and cradles her lost child…)
LULLABY
TESS
Lullaby.
(TESS cont.)
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Sweet baby, good-bye.
TESS / VEA
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Sweet baby, good-bye.
(The others join – DAVIN is genuinely realizing the devastation.)
THE TRAPPED
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Sweet baby, good-bye.
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Lullaby.
Sweet baby, good-bye.
TESS
(releasing her baby to the ether)
Sweet baby, good-bye.
VEA
(taking TESS into her arms)
Go ahead…and cry.
(VEA hugs TESS as if to save her very life, kissing her head with love and compassion. DAVIN collapses into tears as well. And then…the lights go out.)
THE FIRE
Soon, you will all cry…
(Time shifts. BEN and JENNIFER are on the phone with each other.)
JEALOUS
BEN
What if I’m jealous,
wish I was them?
JENNIFER
I think you just miss Riley.
BEN
But would we find we
have a better story?
JENNIFER
What?
To bask in the glory of
forced celebrity,
to drown in the gory
details, collectively
walk around lost.
(ZEEK and CASSIE appear on the phone with each other.)
BEN / CASSIE
But there’s some line they have crossed.
(BEN and JENNIFER fade into darkness.)
CASSIE
And I think I’m jealous.
They have a “before and after”.
But we’re in the middle.
I’m caught with no answer.
ZEEK
You think they have the answer?
They have scars and death;
it’s like poison, like a cancer.
I think you just miss Vea.
CASSIE
And you don’t?
ZEEK
Fine - I like her too, but I won’t—
CASSIE
And Saul?
ZEEK
But I won’t hit my head against a wall
trying to break through.
This is theirs.
(BEN and JENNIFER appear.)
CASSIE / BEN
But no one cares about us.
(ZEEK and CASSIE fade into darkness.)
BEN
And I think I’m jealous.
JENNIFER
You’re really envious?
BEN
All we can do is watch.
But in their lives,
they now have this notch, this mark on their timeline that matters.
JENNIFER
Yeah, but it shatters.
BEN
At least some attention’s
been on you.
JENNIFER
Ben. Grow up.
If you only knew.
You want this crap?
(ZEEK and CASSIE appear.)
JENNIFER / ZEEK
You wanna be strapped
(JENNIFER / ZEEK cont.)
by the grief, be trapped?
(JENNIFER and BEN fade into darkness.)
ZEEK
Maybe you don’t feel jealousy.
I think…I think you feel guilty.
CASSIE
He chose me.
I had that note from Vea.
ZEEK
From him, Cassie.
Not Vea. He stalked you.
CASSIE
But I was supposed to be there too.
He chose me.
ZEEK
We don’t want to know their journey.
We don’t need to envy.
And you don’t need to feel guilty.
CASSIE
I…I know.
ZEEK
And besides haven’t you been preaching
we “have let to them go”?
CASSIE
Maybe I lied.
ZEEK
Cassie, we tried.
(BEN and JENNIFER appear.)
JENNIFER / ZEEK
And we’re alive.
None of us died.
(ZEEK and CASSIE fade into darkness.)
BEN
I’m sorry.
You’re right.
Of course, you’re right.
But I can’t stop thinking about Riley…
that night…
(ZEEK and CASSIE appear. JENNIFER and BEN fade into darkness.)
CASSIE
You’re right.
Of course, you’re right.
ZEEK
It will all take time to play out.
There’s no need to be jealous
or overzealous to figure out
what this is all about.
CASSIE
And it has been wonderful to watch
Manny stand up, to fight for a place.
And Lissa seems better,
there’s less fear on her face.
(BEN and JENNIFER appear.)
JENNIFER / ZEEK
We all need to breathe.
(A collective breath.)
CASSIE / BEN
Thanks for the call.
I was so stressed.
JENNIFER / ZEEK
No trouble at all.
Try to get some rest.
(THE WATCHERS fade into darkness. Time shifts. The pit. THE TRAPPED
are sleeping, except for MANNY who looks at LISSA.)
FIRST KISS
MANNY
Lissa?
Lissa?
Can you hear me?
(She begins to wake and listen.)
Lissa,
Lissa,
You’re so near me.
I wonder if the fire that we all fear…
is also here to help us all appear…
so clear to each other.
I want to kiss you…
I’ve never kissed a girl before…
If we should die right here on this floor,
I will have kissed you…
Let me drown that orange burning sun.
Let’s toss our fears and be done
as I kiss you.
And if this is the time
when we should die…
I’ll have seen my eyes in yours
reflected back…to mine…
as I kiss you…
THE FIRE
Little Manny, tall.
Little Manny, something.
Never again is he small…
(They move in to kiss each other when SAUL lays a hand on his shoulder and stops him.)
SAUL
Manny.
MANNY
What?!
SAUL
Don’t, Manny.
He’s watching all of this.
LISSA
He’s right.
Manny, we shouldn’t
share our very first kiss…
Not with him…
(A horrifying scream pierces the space from somewhere outside the pit. They jump and look around and realize…)
VEA
Oh, My God.
Where is, Riley?
(Another scream and then the lights go dim. The screams become muffled. RILEY is heard sobbing from the darkness. Time shifts. Split time. ZEEK and BEN appear. BEN is visible upset. The sounds of RILEY’s crying continue throughout as THE TRAPPED watch the walls, following her weeping.)
FIRST KISS (2)
ZEEK
I can’t believe she kept it in,
that she actually lied.
The paper says the others
tried to tell, but she denied it
in her police interviews,
in the statements she’d written,
that she kept this hidden…
BEN
So much shame…
she’ll never be the same…
ZEEK
Ben…will you be okay?
BEN
All I can say
is I wanna make him pay…
make him scream and cry
and finally die
as I rip off his limbs
one by one…
for what he put her through…
for what he’s done.
ZEEK
I’d help you…
(BEN begins to weep.)
BEN
Really though…
I just want to wrap around her…
give her someone safe to hold.
No wonder she feels so old…
(All lights go out. Time shifts. The pitch black pit. RILEY continues to cry.)
THE FIRE
He loves you.
He loves you,
how he loves you.
He loves you so much.
He kisses you,
and kisses you,
how he kisses you…
(The lights come on. RILEY stands there in shock. She stumbles forward, step by step…not in her right mind.)
RILEY
Someone…
anyone…
can you hear me?
(VEA goes to her. RILEY screams, throwing her off.)
GET AWAY!!!
(No one knows what to do. They stand in horror.)
(RILEY cont.)
Can you...see him?
He’s still on me…
I wonder if forever I’m his bouquet…
his skin like rotting tissue paper,
wrapping me as I decay.
He said, “I will kiss you...”
But I’d never kissed a boy before…
He took me down to his floor
and said, “I will kiss you…”
And his breath, it blistered my skin.
Then I felt the pain of his sin
as he said, “I will kiss you...”
And now that I have had
my very first kiss…
I wonder what the fire has stolen.
What will I miss from his saying,
“I will kiss you…”?
(RILEY collapses. All go to her. DAVIN pulls SAUL aside.)
THAT GUY
DAVIN
I’m supposed to be the one.
I’m the one who takes the fight,
finds the monster in the night,
takes his head off with my might.
How’d this happen on my watch?
How’d I let him steal her out?
I can’t let him make me doubt
who I am, what I’m about.
SAUL
We were drugged and seeing things.
He’s the master of his game.
You are not the one to blame.
You don’t need to feel ashamed.
DAVIN
I don’t feel a thing at all.
All I’m good for is the fight.
I know how to use my might.
Act don’t feel, my fists in flight.
SAUL
But you do feel!
Herein my sight,
someone caring is standing there…
DAVIN
Let it lie.
SAUL
Show something else…
You’re more than fists.
DAVIN
I’m not.
SAUL
You’re the guy I hope …
DAVIN
Don’t.
SAUL
…one day might share…
DAVIN
I’m not that guy.
SAUL
What guy is that?
You made me your friend…
DAVIN
It’s fun to hang, but Saul…
SAUL
I’m tired of hitting your wall,
‘cause how do I let go..
if I do not know
if you’ll ever be…
more than half there?
DAVIN
I’ve never been there…
SAUL
…less than an arm’s length away?
DAVIN
not that way…
SAUL
My love for you…
DAVIN
Don’t say it.
SAUL
…should it stay?
DAVIN
Saul, walk away.
SAUL
But I wonder…
DAVIN
Wonder nothing…
SAUL
about you…
DAVIN
Do you know who I am?
SAUL
I wonder…
DAVIN
Shut it, just forget it.
SAUL
Davin, Davin, Davin, please!!!
DAVIN
I’m the guy that beats up FAGGOTS!!!
(DAVIN shoves him to the ground. SAUL is stunned.)
I also knock up my ex-girlfriend,
tell everyone she lied.
So don’t you play the victim.
All I’ll do is shrug and sigh.
‘Cause I don’t feel a thing at all.
All I’m good for is the fight.
I know how to use my might,
act don’t feel, my fists in flight.
(He looks ups.)
Next time I’ll be ready.
And I’ll hunt you like a shark.
(sotto voce)
If I knew when he was coming…
If I could see in the dark…
(The lights go out. Screams.)
RILEY
Don’t let him touch me again…
THE FIRE
He loves you…
He loves you…
He’d never harm you…
He wants to hold and kiss and keep you.
He wants to know you…
through and through…
He’ll never leave you…
(LISSA screams. After a moment, the lights come back up. A single bottle of red water is now in the pit...)
LISSA
(note in hand)
He handed me a note.
“Again, you are thirsty.
I see your thirst with my eyes.
The first to sip gets a prize!”
THE TRAPPED
The water is red like blood.
He wants us dead!
(SAUL rushes and grabs it.)
THE TRAPPED
NO!
SAUL
Bottoms up.
It’s anybody’s guess.
(SAUL drinks. They stare, frozen, waiting…)
ATTACK (2)
THE FIRE
Hearts ramping up.
Beat-beat. Thump-thump.
Beat-beat. Thump-thump.
DAVIN
Saul?
THE FIRE
Hearts feeling heat.
VEA
Saul?
THE FIRE
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
LISSA / MANNY
Saul?
THE FIRE
Thump-thump. Beat-beat.
RILEY / CHAZ
Are you okay?
(SAUL grabs his throat and collapses on the ground, gasping for air.)
THE TRAPPED
Oh, my God! No air!
Oh, my God! No air!
Oh, my God! No air!
SAUL
I can’t get any air!
(They rush to help him. DAVIN runs around the perimeter looking for a way to break out.)
THE FIRE
The blood!
THE TRAPPED
It’s starting!
THE FIRE
His game!
THE TRAPPED
He’s choking!
THE FIRE
Your death!
THE TRAPPED
He’s killing us!
THE FIRE
You’re trapped!
THE TRAPPED
No way out!
(repeating, growing…)
SAUL
Davin!
DAVIN
Yeah?
(SAUL grabs DAVIN and pulls him close to him.)
SAUL
Be ready.
DAVIN
What?
(They all freeze as TESS breaks out and approaches JENNIFER who appears. Time shift.)
TESS
(quite intoxicated)
And he was ready,
determined to be steady,
and do what he knew to be true.
He doesn’t feel a thing at all.
What he’s good for is the fight.
He knows how to use his might.
JENNIFER
But he didn’t win this fight.
TESS
But he tried to make it right,
fix all that he’d done to us.
You, me, Saul – to win our trust.
Take a stand and be the man.
JENNIFER
But he’ll never be a man.
Tess, have you been drinking?
TESS
Yes, and I’ve been thinking
that I need to say
I’m sorry for my part,
sorry for my stupid heart…
JENNIFER
I forgive you.
And I’m sorry for
all you’ve been through.
TESS
(wandering away)
He was ready to do
what he knew to be true…
(JENNIFER fades into darkness. Time shifts back to the pit..)
SAUL
Stay steady.
Be ready to fight him
when the lights go out.
(The lights go out.)
GET HIM!!!
THE FIRE
The blood!
THE TRAPPED
Get him, Davin!
(Sounds of fighting, scuffling break out.)
THE FIRE
His game!
THE TRAPPED
Fight him, Davin!
THE FIRE
Your death!
THE TRAPPED
Kill him, Davin!
THE FIRE
You’re trapped!
THE TRAPPED
We’ll get out!
(repeating, growing…)
(DAVIN lets out a scream. All stops. Sounds of his suffering; crashing debris from the darkness. Then silence. The lights come on. DAVIN’s shirt is in the pit, soaked in blood. SAUL goes to it and picks it up, shaking. The others collapse into tears and devastation. Time shifts. SAUL looks out in direct address.)
ALLELUIA
SAUL
(direct address)
A note appeared
stuck to the wall,
soon after he took his fall into hell.
This note I threw away,
but in my head
forever, his voice will stay…
This letter said:
THE TRAPPED
(no DAVIN, SAUL)
“Your water wasn’t poison.
They’ll all know that you lied.”
SAUL
I lied, and as a result I killed my friend.
THE TRAPPED
(no DAVIN, SAUL)
“He died, he met a bloody end.”
SAUL
By faking, I thought I could lure him.
And I thought Davin could take him.
But now I question my motives.
(looking down at the bloody shirt)
In that moment I really did hate him.
I hated Davin.
But I loved Davin…
(RILEY goes to him.)
RILEY
Saul, no.
We all know…
You must let it go…
(SAUL lets the shirt go…)
Now that we’re here
a year after the fear,
we have to show that we sing:
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
We escaped his lair.
Alleluia
Alleluia.
Now we can share…
that although he had us
under his eye for nineteen smoky days,
we’ll move on with a different fire,
for we’ve been set ablaze
from the inside.
Never again will we have to hide.
There’s always an eye
watching, hunting,
someone protecting,
strangers expecting.
But we’ve cut through the haze…
We’ve all been set ablaze…
Set ablaze…
(The sit in a circle. They are silent. They meditate. They fade into the darkness.)
END OF ACT TWO
TRANSITION TO EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
Friends
(THE WATCHERS appear.)
A YEAR
ZEEK
A year…
BEN
Yeah…
JENNIFER
To the day.
CASSIE
Do you think things are better?
BEN
I think they’ve begun to find their way.
ZEEK
And us?
BEN
Maybe…
CASSIE
We’ll see…
JENNIFER
I have started feeling
a bit more like “me”.
Whatever that is.
(They laugh.)
ZEEK
Have you been online?
It came out.
JENNIFER
Yeah, for the anniversary,
the “tell all” book.
BEN
Did you get a look?
ZEEK
(searching on his smart phone)
There’s that excerpt.
CASSIE
It’s been all over the news.
JENNIFER
And all the “talking head” views
of what really happened…
BEN
How it all went down.
ZEEK
Do you think it’s possible?
CASSIE
The way they were found?
ZEEK
Here…the summary…
“An evil like no other
set out to smother
his victims in a well
planned horror show…”
blah blah
“No one would know
where they were.
Using a GPS scrambler and
well placed sound baffling…”
blah blah
“…phones destroyed.
His laughing
rang through their heads.”
CASSIE
That’s not what any of them said.
He never laughed, but claimed to love.
BEN
He wanted their devotion.
JENNIFER
But you gotta make it a sensation,
change the facts.
BEN
Yeah, take a look at the end.
JENNIFER
It lacks credibility.
BEN
You don’t believe the new claim?
JENNIFER
The author just wants fame, visibility.
CASSIE
The defense claimed he made the call…
turned himself in.
ZEEK
After he killed Davin,
he chose to face his sins.
BEN
But it didn’t really sound like him,
that 911call.
CASSIE
The experts couldn’t make the call
if it was really him at all.
ZEEK
The voice did seem younger, like Davin,
not at all older.
BEN
The voice also seemed injured,
but also somehow bolder.
JENNIFER
So you think somehow Davin
got to a phone
before he bled out?
His last moment, alone,
was righting his wrongs,
was rescuing his friends?
(Beat.)
BEN
I’d like that end.
ZEEK
Me too.
CASSIE
(to JENNIFER)
And you?
(Beat.)
JENNIFER
Yeah.
I’d…I’d be all right with that.
CASSIE
Both Lissa and Vea called to tell me
they’re breaking the rules.
BEN
Emmanuel and Riley told me
they’re going to the school.
ZEEK
What?
JENNIFER
McCauley High?
CASSIE
Yeah. Before they tear it down.
BEN
To take a last look around.
THE WATCHERS
(a deep understanding)
To claim it as their own ground.
(Silence.)
BEN
Why the silence?
CASSIE
Are you thinking…?
ZEEK
Just…contemplating…
Maybe.
JENNIFER
Yeah…?
Going to their gathering?
(The fall silent…slowly, they each leave as THE TRAPPED looks around…)
WE GATHER
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
We gather
on this ground,
take one more
look around
in our burned clothes,
claim this story as our own,
but only seven of us gather.
DAVIN
(entering)
It doesn’t matter, because
I can feel your heart
in the palm of my hand.
Oh, I’m sorry
for all of my wrongs.
But in this year I’ve been
with you all along…
FRIEND
DAVIN
So hand me countless smiles.
Catch me until the end.
THE TRAPPED
And I promise I’ll
be there, your forever friend.
(THE WATCHERS come in, beating their drums…witnessing the ritual.)
Go ahead and beat your drum.
I have got you all the way.
March into the darkness
until the light of day.
Anybody harms you,
there’s gonna be hell to pay.
I’m at your shoulder.
Listen!
We all say:
forever is a long, long time
but it’s something you can count on.
Bet every dime,
‘cause I’ll recognize you.
Not just your face,
but by the grace
of somethin’ unspoken,
not to be broken.
So hand me countless smiles.
Catch me until the end.
And I promise I’ll
be there, your forever friend.
VEA / RILEY / DAVIN / SAUL
I’m your friend.
LISSA / TESS / CHAZ / MANNY
Your forever friend.
VEA / RILEY / DAVIN / SAUL
I’m your friend.
(JENNIFER approaches DAVIN and they embrace. Forgiveness. TESS approaches DAVIN and they embrace. Forgiveness. SAUL approaches DAVIN and they embrace. Forgiveness.)
THE TRAPPED
Go ahead and beat your drum.
Go ahead and beat your drum.
Go ahead and beat your drum.
Go ahead and beat your drum.
I have got you all the way…
(THE TRAPPED cont.)
I have got you…
I have got you all the way.
Oh…
THE FIRE
Oh, let me wrap around you.
Oh, let me hold you.
God, I love you.
(repeating…)
VEA / RILEY / CHAZ / MANNY
Let me wrap around you.
Let me wrap around you,
like a blanket in the night.
LISSA / TESS / DAVIN / SAUL
Let me wrap around you,
like a blanket in the night,
cover your fright.
Hold tight!
‘Cause I’m never gonna let go.
Oh, no!
VEA / RILEY / CHAZ / MANNY
I’ll wipe your tears with laughter!
Gone with laughter!
LISSA / TESS / DAVIN / SAUL
I’ll wipe your tears with laughter,
even in the midst of disaster.
THE TRAPPED
‘Cause I’ve got your back,
and you’re never gonna lack
the feelin’ in my heart!
Oh, the feelin’ in my heart!
You are beatin’ in my heart!
No, this feelin’ won’t depart,
whether if miles away,
or sitting beside you on a
sunny or rainy day!
THE FIRE
Go ahead and beat your drum.
(repeating…)
LISSA / TESS / CHAZ / MANNY
Go ahead and beat your drum.
I have got you all the way.
March into the darkness
until the light of day.
Anybody harms you,
there’s gonna be hell to pay.
I’m at your shoulder.
Listen!
We all say:
forever is a long, long time
but it’s something you can count on.
Bet every dime,
‘cause I’ll recognize you.
Not just your face,
but by the grace
of somethin’ unspoken,
not to be broken!
VEA / RILEY / DAVIN / SAUL
Go ahead and beat your drum.
I have got you all the way.
March into the darkness
until the light of day.
Anybody harms you,
there’s gonna be hell to pay.
Listen!
We all say:
forever is a long, long time
but it’s something you can count on.
Bet every dime.
I’ll recognize you.
Somethin’ unspoken,
not to be broken!
THE TRAPPED
So hand me countless smiles.
Catch me until the end.
And I promise I’ll
be there.
I’ll be there, because
in your heart, I’m inside.
And you won’t have to hide.
‘Cause I am forever and ever
your forever friend!
(THE WATCHERS begin to leave, a silent understanding to allow THE TRAPPED to close their ritual. DAVIN begins walking out.)
THE FIRE
And nothing…
And nothing…
And nothing…
And nothing…
And nothing’s gonna
ever let you forget…
THE TRAPPED (no DAVIN)
Never forget…
(DAVIN is gone. They stare up and after him….forever…)
END OF PLAY