© 2017 by Warren John Deacon. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Cast of Characters
MOBEY...................a man in his late sixties.
LYLE...............a boy of about l7, handsome.
GREG............30's, thin, pale and unshaven.
MIRIAM......an
attractive woman in her 50's,
graceful, deep-voiced.
Photos: Odyssey Theatre production, Los Angeles.
The action of the play takes place on the stage of The Bijou Theatre, an old building which has been converted into a pornographic movie house.
The Time is the present.
Act I
Scene l - Late
evening.
Scene 2 - Early
the next morning.
Scene 3 - Several
days later. Evening
Act II
Scene l - A
few minutes later.
Scene 2 - Several
days later. Late evening.
Scene 3 - Several
months later. Christmas Eve.
"Any group of people who love each other can be a family."
--Richard Marin
"All buildings are caves... and the theatre is the cave at its
best, the last arena in which all is always possible.
-- William Saroyan
THE SETTING
The stage housing of an ancient theatre.
The building was once an opulent palace housing films in the 50's and 60's, and legitimate theatre and vaudeville in earlier days. The set is an archeological time capsule crowded with the discards of production and activity: scenery flats, popcorn machine, stacks of empty soft drink bottles, ushers uniforms, pipe racks of tattered costumes, old props and rusting lights.
The audience is actually seated behind the stage, looking across it and through the proscenium arch to face the imaginary movie audience. When the lighting is right, we can see perhaps the first three rows of seating in the movie house. When the screen is down, reversed images from the projector play upon it and live action on the apron in front can be partially seen through its opaqueness.
The stage is equipped for live production. The screen flies and there is a complete fly gallery on one wall, wings, catwalks above, and light pipes. The stage floor is slightly raked so that we can see the pairs of footprints painted everywhere. When MOBEY turns on the overhead ultraviolet lights, the footprints are accentuated.
The stage itself is mostly empty except for some scattered items, an armchair, rug, lamp and phonograph which are clustered center stage as though seeking companionship in this vast, empty space. There is a large trunk and cupboards under the stairs. A single bed, sink, stove, refrigerator and shelves line one wall.
Railed metal stairs lead up from the dressing rooms below to an elevated landing containing a pay telephone, a door to the roof and fire escape, and a lighting control booth enclosed by a wire cage. From the landing, a metal ladder continues up the wall and disappears into the darkness above. Above the landing is a skylight which can be opened and closed with a rope on the fly rail.
The design should incorporate whatever equipment or architecture that
exists in the actual theatre where the
play is to be performed, including raw walls if possible.
ACT I, Scene l.
Late Evening.
A film is in progress. The light
from the projector filters through
the screen and onto the stage,
revealing MOBEY seated in the
armchair.
The images on the screen are too
close to make visual sense, but the
sound is extremely loud. The bodies
of a man and woman roll around:
flashes of faces, limbs, hair,
genitalia.
MALE
(screams)
Please, Linda--more!
More!
FEMALE
Alright, Robert,
I'm trying!
MALE
More, more!!
FEMALE
You really want
it, don't you baby. So much, so much!
MOBEY turns to look at the screen.
MALE
More!
FEMALE
Oooh!!!
More and more and more and more!
MALE
(a long scream)
Jesus, Linda--
FEMALE
Yes, Robert,
I know.
With a cry of rage, MOBEY rushes at
the screen and waves at the images.
Then he returns to the chair.
MALE
This is the
best, Linda. Really, the best it's ever been.
FEMALE
I know.
For me too.
MALE
As long as I
live, I want it this way. Always this way. I've
wanted it so
long.
FEMALE
Yes, Robert.
Yes.
MUSIC fades up under the dialogue.
MALE
I've always
wanted someone -- someone who could take --
charge!
Could find it within themselves to --
(a long animal
scream)
FEMALE
Oh, baby--
MALE
--to control
this -- to control ME!!! -- in this lifetime of
--
Another shriek. The music
concludes and the letters 'The End'
appear in reverse on the screen.
The projector goes dark and
multi-colored footlights fade up on
the other side.
MOBEY turns slightly in his chair.
MOBEY
(quietly)
Go home. Go
on. Take your filth with you in your picture
heads.
We don't want you here.
He walks to the wings and drags out
a worklight: a single bulb on a
stand, protected by a wire cover.
He places it left of center and
turns it on. The light throws a
flat wash over the stage area,
creating long, grotesque shadows on
the screen.
The additional light shows MOBEY to
be quite old. His hands shake a bit
and his breathing is unsteady. Yet,
when he walks, there is a grace
which is inconsistent with his age.
He still has all of his hair which
stands out in great white stalks
about his small face. He wears
faded coveralls with the insignia
of the Bijou Theatre on the back.
The light reveals something else,
too. Scattered about the stage are
pairs of painted footprints.
MOBEY walks to the hotplate, right
and puts on the kettle.
In a moment, the voice of GREG is
heard far away behind the screen.
GREG (off)
Night, Mobey.
MOBEY
Goodnight.
GREG (off)
I'll lock up
front. Don't forget garbage day in the morning.
MOBEY
Garbage in the
night.
GREG (off)
What?
MOBEY
Thank you. I'll
remember.
GREG (off)
The men's john
is plugged up again.
MOBEY
(mumbling)
Thank you. I'll
fix it.
GREG (off)
What?
MOBEY
I said, thank
you, I'll fix it right up.
MOBEY makes tea. GREG's shadow
appears on the screen. But he does
not come on to the stage.
GREG
Did you watch
tonight?
MOBEY
No.
GREG
That girl was
good. Big knockers. You a tit man or an ass
man, Mobey?
MOBEY
I beg your pardon?
GREG
Boy he really
gave it to her. Whoo-ee! Did you see the size
of the dildoe?
MOBEY
What?
GREG
The dil --
MOBEY
What?
GREG
Doe.
MOBEY
Oh. Pause. No.
GREG
Oh.
MOBEY
(to himself)
Pause. I feel
as though I'm trapped in a Pinter play.
GREG
Not many in
tonight. Been falling off lately. Larry denies
it, but I know
he's thinking about bringing in them fag
movies.
MOBEY gathers papers around him and
sits at the typewriter.
MOBEY
Stag? Pause.
GREG
Fag.
MOBEY
Pause.
GREG
I guess I don't
care. Hell, it's a living. All those guys
sitting down
at the union hall, waiting around for
legitimate jobs.
Hell, I said, you guys are waiting for the
god damn "Sound
of Music" to come back. "Legitimate."
That's such
a snobby word, you know?
MOBEY
Not always.
What?
MOBEY
Legitimate.
It wasn't always snobby.
GREG
What? Live theatre?
MOBEY
With live actors.
GREG
(giggles)
They got 'em
live now, Mobey. Live sex acts, right on the
stage.
Ralph, down at the Kit Kat Club? He works those
shows. Something
-- whee!!! -- must be something. I said,
"hell, Ralph,
how many shows can you expect a guy to do in night?"
END © 2017 by Warren John Deacon. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
