E A C H T U R N
A radio drama series
Created by
Bill Olson
Episode #1
© 1995 William David Sherman Olson
http://www.oocities.org/iconostar/film.htm
Here the complete radio drama on Video.Google.com:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1478487068931661628
"DREAMS AND REALITY"
By
Bill Olson
THIRD DRAFT: March 30, 1995
(Rev. 3/12, 4/21, 5/14, 5/27, 5/30/95)
_________________________________________________________
Original title: "Careers" (March 12, 1983)
(Rev.) 11/18/92, 12/21/92
_________________________________________________________
ICONOSTAR PRODUCTIONS
Bill Olson
418 Marston Av.
Eau Claire, WI 54701
(715) 835-6446
_________________________________________________________
CAST
JEFF ADAMS John Townsend
REALITY (IIa, c, d, e, IIIa) Mel Jackson
(Ia:)
MOM (RACHEL ADAMS) (IIIb) - Diedre Kaye
DAD (DR. VIC ADAMS) (IIg, IIIa) Mike Kruchten
JUDY ADAMS-SORENSON (IIg, IIIc) Darylee Michlinck
PROFESSOR (IId) Mike Kruchten
(IIb:)
LITTLE GIRL Diedre Kay
1 (Bahamas) Bill Olson
2 (Knife) Mike Kruchten
3 (Watches) Diedre Kay
4 (Neckties) Mike Kruchten
5 (Anti-Nuke) Darylee Michlink
6 (Saint) Mike Kruchten
7 (Anti-Saint) Diedre Kay
8 (Anti-Communism) Mike Kruchten
9 (Pro-Communism) Darylee Michlink
10 (Swearing) Diedre Kay
11 (Navy) Mike Kruchten
ACT I
1 SOUND OF PEOPLE EATING DINNER.
2 DAD: Where the hell is that boy?
3 MOM: (Loudly, calling) Jeff! We're eating!
4 JEFF: (Off mic, distant) I'm coming!
5 JUDY: I'll bet he is, too.
6 MOM: Judy!
7 DAD: Don't talk like that at the table.
8 MOM: He's just studying.
9 DAD: Nobody respects studying more than I do. You wouldn't have a roof over your heads if I hadn't studied in medical school --
10 MOM: You mean, if I hadn't helped you study in medical school.
11 DAD: My point is that you can not study 24 hours a day.
12 MOM: (Calling) Jeff! Your food's getting cold!
13 JEFF: (Off: distant, frustrated) OK.
14 DAD: What's he studying in grad school, anyway?
15 MOM: International Diplomacy.
16 DAD: What the Hell did he get his Bachelors in?
17 MOM: Psychology, wasn't it?
18 DAD: He ought to have his head examined studying crap like that.
19 JUDY: Then let's have him put away.
20 DAD: You just mind your own P's and Q's, Judy. You have nothing to boast about, either. I never ever imagined I'd have a divorced daughter. I never even dreamed of it.
21 JEFF: (Coming on mike) The food smells good, Mom.
22 MOM: It's better hot.
23 JEFF: I can't eat hot food, it burns my mouth. (Beat) Where is it?
24 MOM: (Going off) I'm getting it for you. I put it in the oven to keep it warm..
25 JEFF: (Down-hearted) Oh.
26 JUDY: Hah, hah. You think you're gonna manipulate Mom? She's got things figured out.
27 DAD: Well, I'd like to have some things figured out, like how do you ever expect to make a living?
28 JUDY: There aren't too many opportunities in psychology for people with mental problems.
29 JEFF: I'm studying International Relations.
30 JUDY: Yeah, I'd like to see how long you last when we have Republican presidents, or if you got a job in a "Capitalistic International Conglomerate."
31 MOM: You're so good with kids, Jeff, why don't you do something where you can work with kids?
32 JEFF: Yeah, I like kids. Maybe because I'm still kind of a kid.
33 JUDY: If you only knew how many jokes that opened you up to.
34 JEFF: The only opportunities that interest you, Judy, are the ones where you can put me down.
35 DAD: Jeff, you've done nothing but waste your life. What did you do when you got out of high school? You wanted a career in the Navy, but you just..."
36 JEFF: (Overlapping) I did not want a career in the Navy, just a six-year hitch.
37 DAD: Well, whatever happened to that? I think it would've been good for you.
38 JEFF: I used to think that, too.
39 MOM: Jeff, you're twenty-four. You've never worked a day in your life.
40 DAD: You've got it too good.
41 JEFF: Only because I've got the world's best parents.
42 DAD: Well, they aren't going to be here forever.
43 JUDY: He's obviously gonna be a professional student.
44 JEFF: Most honorable job in the world, Judy; it's called a "College Professor."
45 DAD: College professors are a bunch of idiots.
46 JUDY: Then he's already prepared.
47 DAD: Bunch of Democrats.
48 JEFF: Judy?
49 JUDY: What?
50 JEFF: At least I'm fully developed for my age.
51 JUDY: At least I use what I have --
52 DAD: (Cutting her off) Listen, you can NOT expect to live here forever, mooching off your mother and I.
53 MOM: Of course, you're welcome to.
54 DAD: Of course, you're welcome to.
55 MOM: (Pause) You've been getting good grades, Jeff, but what are you going to do with them?
56 JEFF: Maybe try to be an international diplomat. I really got turned on to that from studying in Mexico.
57 MOM: All the young students think they're going to advance to the post of ambassador, but the only people who become ambassadors are the ones who give the winning presidential candidate the most money.
58 JEFF: It still seems more realistic than what I'd really like to do. Actually, I hope to be a writer and a filmmaker.
59 JUDY: Good solid jobs with a wide open opportunity.
60 JEFF: I have no illusions about it, Judy.
61 MOM: Just keep your mind on your studies.
62 JEFF: I keep my mind on my studies, Mom.
63 JUDY: I know what he can write, Mom.
64 JEFF: What?!
65 JUDY: Romance Novels.
66 JEFF: I'm not writing junk like that.
67 JUDY: But it'd be perfect. Nobody writes them who knows about real romance.
68 JEFF: You must have a pretty lose body if all your orifices are as big as your mouth.
69 MOM & DAD: (In unison) Jeff!
70 JUDY: You wanna step outside, little brother?
71 JEFF: If I tried to hit you in the nose, you'd only open your mouth and swallow my hand. And me. And the neighborhood.
72 DAD: Jeff! I don't care if you are twenty-Five, if you're...
73 JEFF: (Overlapping) Twenty-four.
74 DAD: Twenty-four, then. If you're going to be acting like that, you can finish your meal in the other room.
75 JEFF: No thanks. I think I'll leave my meal for a while. But it is really good, Mom.
76 MOM: At least SOMEbody noticed.
77 JEFF: If you'll excuse me, please.
78 SOUND of Jeff leaving the room.
79 MUSIC.
ACT II a
80 JEFF: So shoot me; I have my dreams. I also have Reality looking me in the face. Reality is like an ancient dragon who's been terrorizing mankind since leaving Eden. He's old and ugly --
81 REALITY: Hey, watch it!
82 JEFF: -- (Chuckles) And he's content just to boldly go about his business. He'll scare you half to death if you look at him. But sometimes he'll laugh a little, lean back in his big old chair, and hand you a rose. And you kind of appreciate Reality for a minute there, while you're smelling the scent -- OU-U-U! Damn thorns!
83 (In pain) But one thing you can count on: When Old Man Reality smiles, there's nothing but honesty beneath it.
84 You see him over there? Take a long hard look. Many people try to avoid him. He kind of laughs at that. He's always watching me from somewhere. Sometimes from around corners of buildings, or he peeks from behind a lamppost. I've come to be downright scared of him.
85 I fear being confident and taking chances:
Who am I, after all?
86 I fear thinking I can do something that someone else maybe can't:
How could I be so bold, after all?
87 I fear trying to do things I've never done before:
What do I know about doing this or that, after all?
88 I fear daring to dream and thinking the dream can become reality --
That's a sin because it might question the ultimate authority of the Great King: Reality the First.
89 Damn you, Old Man! You've slapped me in the face every time I've wanted something. Other people can have their dreams, why can't I?
90 Over the years I've wanted to be an astronaut, an astronomer, an airline pilot -- But I didn't have the math proficiency.
91 A fire fighter, a law enforcement officer...
92 When I went to college, it was with the hopes of fulfilling my TRUE dream... of becoming a novelist and filmmaker.
93 But eventually, I tried to settle with realistic goals like clinical psychology, space psychology, forensic psychology.... Then international diplomacy.
94 But writing has always my first-stage booster waiting for the opportunity to launch me on a successful career. Imagine: the first Nobel Prize-winning science-fiction novelist.
95 (Pause as he sighs and basks in this dream)
96 I wish you wouldn't gaze through my skin like that, Mr. Reality; I feel like I'm being X-
rayed.
97 REAL: Oh, Jeff, I'm just giving you my undivided attention.
98 JEFF: I wish you'd divide it a little more equally between good fortune and bad. Or is your math as bad as mine?
99 REAL: It's not a question of math, it's a question of possibilities. I allow all that happens in life: the rose's sweet scent as well as its thorns.
100 JEFF: I suppose a person just isn't realistic if he tries to argue with Reality.
II b
101 1: (Coming on mic) There he is! Sir, you're just the person I've been looking for. You feel a little down and out right now? A little sad? Feel like the world's a heavy bag on your shoulders? Then, I have just the solution. Get away on a beautiful holiday in the Bahamas. I represent a travel agency that can offer you the best deal...
102 JEFF: Thanks, not interested.
103 2: I agree with you completely; save your money. What I have is something real fantastic. I have a knife here that cuts through wood...
104 JEFF: How much?
105 2: Why, it's free for purchasing one of these beautiful collector edition plates for just $9.95. Send it to Post Office box 743...
106 JEFF: Thanks, not interested.
107 3: I have wrist watches...
108 4: I have neckties...
109 5: Join the Midwest Anti-Nuclear Proliferation Rally...
110 6: Join the National Association of Saintly Americans...
111 7: Join the National Association Against Saintly Americans...
112 8: Anti-Communism...
113 9: Pro-Communism...
114 10: Swear to your heart's desire, dammit!
115 11: Join the Navy....
116 SILENCE.
117 SILENCE.
118 JEFF: All right, everyone -- get out of here!
119 FOOTSTEPS OF 11 PEOPLE FADE OUT TO DISTANCE.
120 SOUND: A LITTLE GIRL CLEARS HER THROAT.
121 GIRL: Girl scout cookies?
122 JEFF: How much?
123 GIRL: Just $9.95 for a box of fresh homemade Girl Scout cookies. You can have chocolate, cream-filled, ginger bread, peanut butter, vanilla...
124 JEFF: Diabetes runs on my dad's side of the family.
125 SOUND: LITTLE GIRL SIGHING.
126 FOOTSTEPS FADE OUT TO DISTANCE.
II c
127 JEFF: All I want is to be a writer.
128 REALITY: And a filmmaker.
129 JEFF: I could give the world so much.
130 REALITY: Even if you have the talent, you don't know the system: you're too intellectual. They don't want "2001: A Space Odyssey," they want "Star Wars." The industry will laugh at you if you come to them with your ideas: the movie "Ordinary People" -- in space.
131 JEFF: There's an audience for quality science fiction movies.
132 REALITY: But how often do quality films of any kind ever make money? What ever happened to "The Great Santini"?
133 JEFF: What about "A Room with a View," "Ghandi"... in fact, "Ordinary People"....
134 REALITY: Remember, most of the best films are the small independent ones that nobody knows about, like "The Europeans."
135 JEFF: You stink.
136 FOOTSTEPS OFF, GETTING FARTHER AWAY.
137 REALITY: Where are you going?
138 JEFF: (Going off) What do you care?
139 TRANSITION MUSIC AS FOOTSTEPS FADE OUT.
II d
140 PROFESSOR: May I help you?
141 JEFF: (Nervous) Yes, Professor Lemura, I'm Jeff Adams. I understand the UW-Eau Claire has a creative writing minor.
142 PROF: Ah, yes! -- Have a seat, please. What do you want tto know?
143 JEFF: Well, I'm not... this is... it's rather... I'm not too sure if I have any... any potential... maybe... I mean if you... if there's anything... if there's something you can tell me about it.
144 PROF: Well, we teach some expository classes, and creative writing -- In a creative writing course I'm teaching right now, it's very interesting to see how the students can be drawn out into making good use of imagery and such. They're starting to do that, now.
145 JEFF: I'm... I'm... well, you see, I'm... I'm actually ... I'm-I'm inter -- well... I mean it's... it's that... I would... I hope to be... well... a novelist and... a-a filmmaker. One day.
146 PROF: Mmm, hmm.
147 JEFF: Is-is there any record that -- I mean, that some students went and... accomplished anything with this?
148 PROF: Let me see now....
149 REALITY SPEAKS VERY QUIETLY, ALMOST WHISPERING, BUT WE CAN RECOGNIZE THE VOICE.
150 REALITY: Tell him about technical writing.
151 PROF: Yes... it's possible you could get a job doing technical writing. What's your major?
152 JEFF: Actually, I graduated. I'm studying International Relations at Tintagle Institute, but I might come back and take a few classes during the summer.
153 PROF: Oh, you'll certainly be able to do technical writing in that field. You know, I think having a writing minor makes you more hirable. Writing really is a necessary part of any job.
154 REALITY: Tell him there is actually a chance that he will become a novelist.
155 PROF: Listen, I've really got to run to my class now.
156 REALITY: Tell him, dammit!
157 PROF: It was very nice meeting you. Bill, is it?
158 JEFF: No, Jeff, Jeff Adams.
II e
159 MUSIC IN.
160 JEFF: Oh, man, I was really nervous.
161 REALITY: Non-sense. You were a trooper.
162 JEFF: A paratrooper -- without a chute. And you didn't raise one finger to keep me from making a fool of myself.
163 REALITY: And what was I to do, Jeff?
164 JEFF: I don't know. Maybe if I'd had to rush off to the bathroom before I'd opened my stupid mouth -- that sure would've helped, Mr. Reality.
165 REALITY: Next time, drink more water before hand.
166 JEFF: Huh! What next time?
167 REALITY: Look, I read someplace that writers write.
168 JEFF: Really! I've never heard that one before. You probably read it in Webster's.
169 REALITY: Remember, Jeff, I never wouldn've read it any place if everyone felt as confident about their writing as you. Have you ever actually written anything?
170 JEFF: I'm working on a few ideas.
171 REALITY: Hmmmm. How long do you spend writing in a day?
172 JEFF: Not much...
173 REALITY: Ah-ha! --
174 JEFF: --I've got school every day!
175 REALITY: Surely, Jeff, you have hours where you don't do anything productive. You can write then.
176 JEFF: (Beat, then defeated:) Maybe I'm not good
enough to be a writer.
177 REALITY: Would Shakespeare, Hemingway, or Woody Allen be any good if they only talked about writing?
178 JEFF: I said I've done some writing. (Beat) Hey, maybe if you take a look at some of my works and told...
179 REALITY: (Overlapping) Every critic in the world is a part of me. I am Reality, after all. You're forgetting how well you know me. I'm the guy who told Harlan Ellison he'd make more money selling his typewriter to a vagabond.
180 JEFF: And you were wrong.
181 REALITY: Which goes to show you: Don't listen to anyone but yourself. And if you only listen to yourself, you'd better be positive. And daring.
182 MUSIC OUT.
183 FADE IN: THE SOUND OF A TYPWRITER.
184 JEFF: Reality was right, I did have spare time between studies. I began writing short things I call "writing doodles." Some had potential for longer stories. Many were just dialogs that ran from a few lines to a few pages. They were like radio dramas; unfortunately, radio drama is dead. But the practice might lead to something.
185 Eventually, I wrote a story about future spies getting injected with a chemical that turns them to dust if they die. A guy's in the desert, sick to his stomach as the wind blows this pink dust into his face, his eyes, his throat. The dust turns out to be his wife -- a spy who'd died.
II g
186 DAD: That's not a bad article, Jeff. Where did you steal it from?
187 JEFF: It's a story, Dad, not an article, but I'll take that as a compliment.
188 JUDY: Why did that guy in your ARTICLE throw-up so much?
189 JEFF: Because, Judy, he knew you were reading about him.
190 JUDY: You make me sick.
191 JEFF: You gonna throw-up?
192 JUDY: Yeah -- right on your story.
193 JEFF: Good. It'll increase the realism.
ACT III a
194 MUSIC IN.
195 REALITY: Jeff finally got the courage to send a story to a magazine. He won't get published --at least not this time. But he needs to try, because failure is rarely 100% -- especially when you work hard to succeed.
196 Jeff's fear of failure is a handicap he'll always have to deal with. But Im Reality, I'm the one everyone blames.
197 OK -- it is my fault; I deal the cards. I don't laugh if you get the ace of spades, neither do I cry. I simply go about my business, dealing cards. I have no hopes or dreams of my own, but Jeff's family does. Dr. Adams, Jeff's dad, for instance.
198 Tell me, Doctor Adams, what are your dreams as you face Reality?
199 MUSIC OUT.
200 ADAMS: I just wish lawyers would try to put themselves out of business, the way dentists do. Dentists go to elementary schools and teach children how to care for their teeth. If the children listen, the dentists will go broke -- and they know this.
201 But lawyers perpetuate their profession... for example, by deciding the language of law. So, a basic concept like "intent" is perverted FROM implicit clarity TO a complicated system of preventing loopholes.
202 The loophole is a lawyer-invention to keep themselves in business by using language only a lawyer can write, only a lawyer can decipher, justified by the lawyer-perpetuated custom that some other lawyer will find and exploit a loophole.
203 REALITY: But the wording chosen by the lawyer writing the contract protects you.
204 ADAMS: You have not been listening. Lawyers are like children whose clients are children -- children who do not want to go to bed at 10 PM, or who do not want to eat their peas, or study their math. It signifies a decay of responsibility and mutual respect.
205 REALITY: If there's a breakdown in responsibility and mutual respect, Dr. Adams, the lawyers are needed to protect people from that.
206 ADAMS: That's a bunch of bull sh-(BEEP) (!), because lawyers make the rules.
207 Rules that say we have to be precise or we invite attack.
208 Rules that say attacking to exploit loopholes -- despite obvious intent -- is acceptable.
209 Rules that say we have to have lawyers -- and this means they can charge us whatever they'd like because they have us by the b-(BEEP). It should not be like that.
210 TRANSITIONAL MUSIC.
III b
211 REALITY: Jeff's mom, Rachel, has her dreams, too.
212 RACHEL: I sure do. Vic and I are getting on in years, and I'd like him to retire so we can travel to all the places we'd talked about when we were young, dumb, and in love. I've told him many times, "Vic, if you retire, I'll retire." I'm a journalist, you see.
213 REALITY: Ah! -- And how do you feel about your son, Jeff, wanting to follow in your footsteps to become a writer?
214 RACHEL: Jeff is more idealistic than I am. Journalism is a relatively practical approach to career writing, but Jeff wants to be a novelist. Very few novelists can live off their writing. But that's the way Jeff is: He's very idealistic, and I know he thinks his writing is gonna change the world, make a difference. But such dreamers don't see how big Reality is -- oh, no offense!
215 REALITY: Quite all right; people often comment about my weight.
216 RACHEL: (Laughs) Anyway, so many people give up everything for their chance at stardom: They're writers, actors, musicians. They work odd jobs, never able to afford health insurance or a nest-egg. I'm afraid that's what Jeff is setting himself up for.
217 TRANSITIONAL MUSIC.
III c
218 REALITY: Judy is the last member of the family, the only daughter, the oldest child. What are your dreams, Judy?
219 JUDY: I wish people would respect me. Maybe it's that I'm a woman. No one respects women.
220 REALITY: Well... Listen, I have to go now.
221 JUDY: But I'm not finished! No one respects me -- NO ONE...
222 REALITY: I'm sorry, but I really have to leave.
223 SOUND: THEY STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF THE MICROPHONE.
224 JUDY: No you're not, dammit! Give me that microphone -- Give it here!
225 REALITY: (Off) OK, you have the microphone.
226 OVER HER NEXT 2 LINES, JUDY, OUT OF BREATH, BREATHS AGAINST THE MIC, TRYING TO CATCH HER BREATH.
227 JUDY: You see? -- I have to fight -- to fight to get resppect. -- That's the way life is. I have this fear that one day I'll get too tired, too frustrated, or too frail to fight back. I'd rather kill myself than be weak, be unable to defend myself. People will walk right over you; they'll never look back --except to gloat. And women are easy targets because we're physically weaker.
229 My big dream -- my really big dream, is to be in charge of my life, like to run my own business or something, and to make it a success so nobody can question me. Then I could be less defensive. I would love to let my femininity show; I'd smile more. All I need is to be in charge so I can relax and not be on the defensive.
230 REALITY: (Off) I think I'm beginning to respect you.
231 JUDY: Me? Really?
232 REALITY: (Off) Most certainly. (Pause, coming on) A note to the audience, I'd lied when I told Judy I respected her. I'm Reality; I neither respect nor disrespect anyone. I just deal out my cards. But I thought she needed to hear something nice.
III d
233 JEFF: (Pause) Hey, look, I got my story back from the magazine! I wonder if they liked it.
234 REALITY: Open it, Jeff, and let's see.
235 JEFF (Reads): We regret that we cannot use your material at his time. This in no way reflects upon the qual...
236 (Takes a deep breath) Hell with it! Maybe I'm not cut out to be a writer, or a filmmaker, or an International Diplomat, or a respectable human being... Maybe I'll pursue psychology again. I already have a degree in it. People out there in the field helping those with problems... Behavioral treatment programs, clinical evaluations, counseling, therapy, legal hassles, challenge, drama, commitment, turmoil... Man! What a story that would make. I'd better go write this down.
237 FOOTSTEPS FADE OUT.
238 REALITY: Well, I'm glad he didn't ask my opinion.
-- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
March 12, 1983
-- Minneapolis, Minnesota
March 30, 1995