| 3-07 CHAOS THEORY Written by: Liberty Godshall Directed by: James Eckhouse 1) MR. DIMITRI POSTPONES REHEARSAL 2) JESSIE FORGETS HER LINES 3) THE CAST PRACTICES AT GRACE’S HOUSE |
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| 1) MR. DIMITRI POSTPONES REHEARSAL The dressing room at school is full of cast members talking and standing or sitting. Alexa is standing up, facing cast members sitting in front of lighted mirrors. “Okay, people! People! Listen up! The lighting board just blew up.” Students moan. “We’re gonna have to wait until they fix it.” Mr. Dimitri walks in, holding a clipboard and running his fingers through his hair. “Alright, thespians. You’ve already heard about our latest debacle. Which means we’ll have to postpone our tech run-through until tonight.” Alexa pulls out a sheet of paper from her binder and hands it to Mr. Dimitri. “Thanks,” he tells her. Grace leans back in her chair and shares a put-upon look with Cynthia, who is seated right next to her. Another friend stands to the left of Grace, leaning against the built-in dressing table. Mr. Dimitri continues addressing the cast. “I don’t have to remind you that we open in exactly ni-ine days. So if you don’t want to embarrass yourselves in front of your parents, your grandparents, and (turning and pulling off a long blond wig from a boy, seated) everyone you’ve ever known on the planet, may I suggest we get our collective body parts in gear.” Jessie, standing in the back near the wardrobe, rolls her eyes and smiles. Mr. Dimitri faces Grace and Jessie’s direction again and puts his palms up. “No pressure.” He smiles. “Everybody just go home, do your homework, and get your collective butts back here by 7 o’clock tonight, IN COSTUME!” Mr. Dimitri walks away. Grace and her two friends stand. Jessie walks up to them and asks “Grace, are you giving me a ride?” Grace answers somewhat abruptly “Yeah sure, in a minute. Okay?” Grace flips her ponytail back around. She asks her friend “So what did he say?” as they walk away laughing. Her friend answers “Only if you do it first.” Jessie sinks into a chair. 2) JESSIE FORGETS HER LINES Jessie as Phoebe, holding a basket, stands onstage with a boy holding a staff. Grace and Cynthia wait on the side of the stage. Jessie recites her lines. The boy recites his. Mr. Dimitri and Alexa are sitting at a table facing the stage. Mr. Dimitri leans to whisper something to Alexa. She then adjusts the lighting from a console in front of her. While the boy is reciting his lines Grace whispers something to Cynthia and grabbing her arm, they creep up the side of the stage to the front. Jessie looks back at the boy but no words come out. “Oh my God. I’m totally blanking,” she says, turning toward Mr. Dimitri. Kids in the theatre seats giggle and Mr. Dimitri turns to shush them up. He snaps his fingers twice and they stop. Mr. Dimitri turns back around and says to Alexa “Line.” Alexa obeys and tells Jessie “Come not thou near me.” Jessie picks up there. “Uh! Come not thou near me, and when the time comes affect me—.” She mouths to herself “Wait,” then continues “--afflict me.” She stops, forgetting the rest of the line. Cynthia and Grace roll their eyes. Jessie slaps her hands against her body and turns toward the front, asking “What’s wrong with me?” Alexa provides the line while Grace mouths the words mockingly “Afflict me with the mox, pity me not, until that time I shall not pity you.” Jessie sees Grace mouthing her lines. Grace looks back at her uncertainly. Jessie repeats the line back. Grace then begins her lines as if she owns the stage. “And why, I pray you?” Jessie looks up, down, and to the side, uncomfortably, while listening. “Who might be your mother that you insult, exult, and all at once over the wretched?” 3) THE CAST PRACTICES AT GRACE’S HOUSE Lily and Zoe are setting the table. Lily says something to the plumber in the kitchen. The front door opens and Grace marches in with a group of people behind her. “Mom!” She looks around. Lily walks through the open doorway to the entryway, yellow post-it notes attached to her unbuttoned green shirt. “Mom, it’s a nightmare. They closed the theatre on us and we were only on Act 3. They wouldn’t even let us change.” Lily asks, “Why would they do a thing like that?” Grace answers, “The janitor wanted to be with his family or something.” She looks toward her friend. The people in back groan. Lily puts her hands on her hips and says, “Really? Where’s Jessie?” Grace hurriedly tells her “She’s coming, with someone—hey”, then reaches her arm out to touch a boy behind her. “This is Josh.” She points to another girl. “This is Sue.” They say hi. Lily shakes hands and says, “Hi, hi, how are you?” Grace spots Tiffany who’s come to stand behind Lily. Grace points Tiffany out and tries to introduce her. “And this is my, my, huh, Tiffany.” Tiffany laughs. “Oh, and uh, this is” Grace starts to point, but Mr. Dimitri leans past Grace to shake hands with Lily. “Hi, I’m the evil August Dimitri.” “Oh, hello!” “I’m so sorry for this inconvenience,” he apologizes. “No, no, no, it’s fine,” Lily lies. Mr. Dimitri says, “If we could just uh, use your living room? And when you’re ready to sit down to dinner just kick us out.” He points right and waves his hand. “Yeah, fine,” Lily answers. “Sure? Thank you.” Mr. Dimitri looks at Grace. She points with both hands at the living room, says “Go ahead,” and the group starts moving. Lily watches this procession and stops Grace. “Grace! How could you not make sure that Jessie had a ride? What if she’s stranded somewhere?” Grace huffs “Mom, she’s fine. I’m not the tour director of her life, okay?” Grace turns to see Eli and his band enter the house, carrying their instruments. Eli sees Grace’s group and announces that they will be in the garage. Grace turns and heads for the living room. Lily just stares at the crowd forming in her house. The cast is setting up in the living room. Lily grabs a lamp and moves it before going to the kitchen. Later Grace enters the kitchen. “Uh, Mom, we need you for just one scene. Michael Schwartz had to leave.” Lily picks up a bag and starts walking around the kitchen, her mind filled with all the things she has to do, along with the fact that she just accidentally burned the plumber. “What?” she asks absent-mindedly. Grace rushes, “Then everyone is leaving, I swear.” “Oh sweetie, I don’t have time to do that right now.” “Please, it’s just a few lines.” The plumber offers to help take over sprinkling the food and Tiffany puts a reminder post-it note on Lily’s shirt. Grace drags Lily to the living room. “Come on!” In the living room Dimitri takes a script from Alexa, seated, and hands it to Lily. “Act Five, Scene Fo-our. Big finish. Lily, if you wouldn’t mind reading Phoebe until Jessie gets here. Right here.” He indicates the starting point. She says “Okay” and looks at her watch. Dimitri announces “I’ll be Orlando” and then nods at Grace. “Begin.” Grace looks at Dimitri and smiles. “To you I give myself, for I am yours.” Dimitri responds, “If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind.” He kneels and kisses Grace’s hand. Grace looks at Lily, waiting for her to recite her line. “Mom,” she prompts. Lily, stressed, starts, “If, if, side and shape be true, why then my love adieu?” She looks up, slightly pleased. Dimitri remains kneeling, still holding Grace’s hand. Grace turns away to a cast member. “Uh, I’ll have no father, if you be not he.” She turns and lifts Dimitri off the ground. “I’ll have no husband, if you be not he.” Dimitri stops chewing gum and continues smiling. Grace lets go of Dimitri’s hand to grab Lily’s. “Nor ne’er wed woman, if you be not she.” Dimitri interjects and tries to gently guide Lily to another position. “And then Hymen’s speech, blah, blah, blah. And then Phoebe.” Lily recites Phoebe’s line as Jessie walks in the front door. “I will not eat my word, nor thou are mine.” Jessie’s face falls. “Lily corrects herself. “Now thou art mine. Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine.” Dimitri takes Lily’s proferred script, saying “And off you go, Lily. Thank you very much.” He spots Jessie. “Oh, Jessie, glad you could join us.” Lily walks up to Jessie and asks, “What happened, sweetie?” “I walked,” Jessie answers unhappily, while Grace looks over guiltily. “Oh, you’re kidding! But Grace said she thought that you—" “It’s okay, I’m here.” Jessie cuts her off. Lily looks over at Grace while Jessie walks into the living room. Later the cast is nibbling at the food on the dinner table. Mr. Dimitri walks in to shoo them away. Zoe asks, “Where’s Rick?” Lily, setting down a turkey, answers “Rick who?” Mr. Dimitri tells the cast “Okay, come on. We’re not invited here.” He smiles at Lily as he walks out. “Thank you so much.” Lily says, “Oh, you’re welcome. Bye.” The cast files out. Home |
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