I mean.
What does that even look like?
Like how can your brain even see that?
JAY starts to slow down.
The CROWD cheer her on and JAY gains momentum again.
Like how can your brain even comprehend that?
Or even, hold that information…
What would we even do with that information?
If we could really understand it?
Contain it… hold it or… comprehend it…
Would we… try to connect more?
Become realigned…
Because, it’s huge.
The idea that there are seven-point-five, or there are seven billion four hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine others… walking around, holding what I’m holding, trying not to fall down… and with all this, can you ever really know someone?
Know what makes them feel immense joy and excruciating pain?
Can you actually ever really successfully help someone?
Be there for someone, when you’re holding all of this…
It’s like…
You wanna say all these things like…
You plan to say all these things that hold meaning…
But your tongue gets caught on a…
What exactly?
Something… sharp!
Something like…
I guess…
What’s the best way to say…
A hook!!
Yeah! It’s like…
Suspended from the roof of ya mouth…
JAY’s struggling again, she’s running out of air, she’s slowing down.
Sounds uncomfortable.
And that’s what I mean… I think.
No one wants a hook in their mouth…
Blocking their need to speak / and…
And then imagine if your fingers didn’t work and you couldn’t remove it.
And the muscles in your mouth had gone all floppy so you had to make sounds…
In an attempt to communicate…
To convey all of this… [everything-ness].
Move your eyes up and down to convey all of this…
You’d do anything…
To be able to say…
To communicate…
To share… or at least try to share the message…
…your message.
Sent from your brain to your mouth…
JAY comes to a halt, bends down to catch her breath.
To all seven-point-five billion of us…
In an attempt to connect.
An attempt to understand, to help, to save.
She wants to save her friend.
She wants to.
To communicate all of this…
Everything-ness to her friend, to make her feel whole again.
JAY finishes the race, falls to her knees and bursts into a fit of laughter, and the CHORUS do too.
Three
Dusk.
We are in a cul-de sac. It is the stomping ground for the GIRLS and the general setting for the play. There may be movement outside of the main action between the GIRLS during this scene.
BEE, TEE, GEE, JAY and DEE, and the CHORUS run through the cul-de-sac trying not to laugh – and failing. Trying to hide – and failing. Each of them find a really rubbish hiding spot and freeze.
TEE. Your turn!
JAY. No way.
BEE. Yes way!
JAY. What about you?
DEE. Don’t be a spoilsport, Rhino.
JAY. Please!!!
GEE. It’s your turn or it’s a forfeit.
JAY. No!
GEE. It’s a forfeit, you can’t say no!
JAY. I don’t want to do that, it’s stupid.
DEE. You’re being such a brat.
JAY. I’m not, I’m uncomfortable.
DEE. It’s not supposed to be comfortable, you idiot!
JAY. Ergh! Whatever! Which door?
BEE points with excitement.
BEE. That one!
TEE. No way!!!
DEE. Genius!
JAY. I’m not doing that!!!
GEE. Forfeit it is then!!
DEE. Come on! Up you get!
JAY. She’s insane!
DEE. Don’t be ridiculous!
JAY. I’m not doing it!
BEE. Fine, don’t. Two laps round the car park without your school shirt on then!
They laugh.
JAY. You’ve got to be kidding me!
DEE. Let’s not get distracted here!
(To JAY.) You’re gonna knock on that door and then you’re gonna hide behind that bush!
Right? Right?
JAY. Ergh! Fine!
The GIRLS creep around the outskirts of the cul-de-sac trying not to be seen.
JAY arrives at the front door, looks back to her friends. Each of them gesture for her to knock.
JAY knocks.
No answer.
JAY (whispers back to the GIRLS). There’s no one in!
TEE. Knock again!
JAY knocks.
The GIRLS duck back down.
They wait.
JAY. Someone’s coming!!
The door opens.
JAY ducks.
The door closes.
The GIRLS all laugh.
JAY emerges again.
She knocks again.
This time the door opens and the neighbour’s feet are heard walking down the path.
JAY sneaks into the house and slams the door behind her. The neighbour is now locked out and we hear them banging on the door.
The GIRLS emerge from their hiding spots, laughing, they goad the neighbour.
The neighbour begins to chase after the GIRLS. They run in different directions.
TEE. Run!!!
The neighbour continues.
BEE is struck by something.
BEE. OW!!!
GEE. What was that?
DEE. Run for cover!!!
They dive behind a wall.
At a point, TEE’s head emerges.
TEE. I can see Jay!
GEE. Run!!!
TEE. Oh my gosh!
DEE. Run, Jay, run!!!
BEE. Leave her alone!!!
DEE. Get off of her, you loser!!!
GEE. Run, Jay! Run!!
TEE. OVER HERE!!!
JAY dives down next to her friends.
DEE. Sssh!!!
GEE. Are you hurt?
JAY. No!
GEE. You looked like you were dancing!
DEE. She was ducking and diving!
JAY. I fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I gave her Ali!
The GIRLS crack up.
BEE. Did you get anything?
JAY. Maybe!!!
TEE. She didn’t!
JAY. So what’s this then?!
JAY pulls out a small framed painting. They all gasp.
TEE. What the hell!
GEE. You were in there for like a second!
JAY. It’s Muhammad Ali to you.
DEE. Hands down, the best that ever did it!!!
BEE. How did you manage that?
JAY. First thing I saw on the wall!
DEE. What is it?
JAY. I dunno, a woman walking towards the sea.
GEE. Towards the sky more like.
JAY. See, that’s the thing, the sky and the sea look the same.
TEE. She’s walking towards something.
JAY. She’s not walking, she’s running.
DEE. Towards what, though?
GEE. She looks bonkers if you ask me.
TEE. She looks serene.
BEE. She looks lost.
JAY. Maybe she just got up one day and decided she wanted to leave.
TEE. That’s a bit deep, but whatever.
JAY. I really like it.
DEE. Me too.
Four
Night.
CHORUS. So there’s this game, and it’s a bit weird.
Wel
l, it’s not weird, it’s just… perhaps a bit dangerous.
Has the capacity to be dangerous…
If you were to, like… lose sense of where you are, or time or something.
Like… if you got confused by what was a game and what was actually real, then perhaps then, someone could be forgiven for referring to it as dangerous.
I don’t really wanna say any more…
Well, it’s just a bit…
Weird…
It’s awkward not weird… she’s not weird… she’s struggling, I guess.
We’re all struggling but, I guess.
This is how she copes.
How she needs to cope.
I’ve said too much…
Gotta go!
Five
Dusk.
The cul-de sac. We see the community surrounding this space: everyone knows each other, and nobody minds their own business. Sometimes the murmur of several televisions can be heard.
Perhaps everyone is arriving back home from work. Perhaps some greet each other. Perhaps there’s a nosey or overfamiliar neighbour stopping a grumpy neighbour from getting in to watch the news. Perhaps we see who the families are and what corners of the stage their homes are set. Maybe the stage is empty apart from DEE and JAY. Maybe the entire company is on stage watching them, or at least passing by as the scene goes on.
JAY pushes DEE around in a trolley. They are full of joy.
The CHORUS watch on.
DEE. I want to go faster!!!
JAY. I’m trying!!
DEE. Try harder!!
JAY. I am!!!
DEE. Move your feet faster then!!
JAY. I am!
DEE. Even faster!
JAY. What if they fall off?!
DEE. They can’t fall off.
JAY. But what if they do?
DEE. Then you have mankier feet than I thought!
JAY. My feet are beautiful!
DEE. They’re dry like rhinoceros skin!
JAY. Shut ya face!
DEE. As dry as the Sahara!
JAY. You haven’t even been to the Sahara!
DEE. Doesn’t stop your feet being as dry as it!
JAY. Like your breath!
DEE. Like your foot!!
JAY. Like your lip in the winter!
DEE. LIKE YOUR RHINO FOOT! Spin me, Rhinoceros! Spin me round and round until my head rolls away from my neck!
JAY. You’re so stupid!!!
JAY spins the trolley round.
DEE. You’re moving too slow!
JAY. Alright!
DEE. FASTER!!!
JAY. Shut up!
DEE. FASTER!
JAY. ALRIGHT!!!
DEE. And…
JAY. I can’t go faster…
DEE.…And stop!!!
JAY stops.
I HEREBY…
JAY. Ssssh! You’re gonna get us caught!
DEE. No rations for you this week! Guards! Guards, take her away!!!
JAY. Seriously!!!
DEE. BOTHERED!!!
JAY. You’re a clown!
DEE. I beg your pardon?
JAY. Dearest Merciful One…
DEE. Yes, dear?
JAY. May I possibly have the chance to spineth liketh no oneth haseth evereth doneth beforeth?
They burst into laughter.
DEE. What was that?
JAY. Shakespeare / obviously…
DEE. It’s not bloody Shakes/peare…
JAY. It’s SHAKESPEEEEARE…
DEE. You can’t just talk in gibberish and…
JAY. SHAKESPEEEEEEARE!!!
DEE. You can’t call it Shakespeare, it’s barely even English.
JAY. I’m calling it Shakespeare.
DEE. It’s not a language!
JAY. Shakespearean.
DEE. Shakespearean language?
JAY. Yes!
DEE. That’s just stupid!
JAY. Shakespearean!
Like Egyptian! Like… Latin!
DEE. I can’t even be bothered!
JAY. ’Cause I’m right.
DEE. ’Cause it’s literally up there with the top-five dumbest things I have ever heard come out of your mouth!
JAY. I’m right, though!
DEE. You’re not right!
JAY. My turn!!
DEE. No! You’ve barely pushed me.
JAY. What?
DEE. And I didn’t finish my queen speech.
JAY. It was crap anyway!
DEE. Maybe I’ll turn her into a character.
JAY. A character?
DEE. Yep! Next time Ms Darcy asks us who we’ve observed in our communities, maybe I’ll say, ‘A queen, Ms Darcy, I observed a queen, who walks amongst the peasants of the land, a graceful queen who takes pity on stupid friends who says stupid things!’
JAY. Could you imagine? ‘Oh darling, such fine character work, such graciousness in your stage presence, oh darling!’
DEE. Move like a tree, darling!
JAY. Think of your Laban, darling!
DEE. More fluid, darling!!
JAY. What’s her ‘want’, darling?
DEE. What does the Queen want, darling?
JAY. Does she fall in love with a peasant, darling?
DEE. Oh yes, darling!
JAY. She falls in love, darling!
DEE. Perhaps you should move like the wind!
Yes! Let’s all move like the wind! Let’s do it with her! Come on, schweeties! Let’s all move like the wind! Roar like the wind! I am the wind! I am the roar in the wind! I am Earth Mother! Empress of the Clouds! Goddess of the Sea! I am Ms Darcy of the Darconians! One generation removed from God!
JAY. She wouldn’t go that far!
DEE. Yeah, she would, she’s a failed actress desperate for the limelight!
JAY. A bit harsh.
DEE. Not really.
JAY. I like her.
DEE. Me too, but come on!
JAY. She’s alright!
DEE. She’s weird!
JAY. She’s not that weird!
DEE. If you say so. JAY. She cares about people.
DEE. Please! She cares about herself.
JAY. That’s not true.
DEE. Well… whatever!
JAY. She wrote me a letter one time.
DEE. For what?
JAY.…Just did.
DEE. Why?
JAY. Well… That time I was off school…
DEE. What like every other week?
JAY. No.
DEE. So what did this mystery letter say then?
JAY. Nothing.
DEE. What?
JAY. I dunno.
DEE. What do you mean, ‘dunno’?
JAY. I can’t remember.
DEE. You’re lying.
JAY. Fine. Are you gonna let me in there or not?
DEE. Don’t change / the subject.
JAY. It doesn’t matter.
DEE. Well, then why did you mention it?
JAY. I just did.
DEE. So then why / stop?
JAY. Because I did, and that’s that.
DEE. We tell each other everything.
JAY. Do we?
DEE. Yeah.
Beat.
JAY. Boring!
DEE. You’re being really annoying.
JAY jumps in the trolley with DEE.
JAY. Spin me, peasant one!
DEE. Stop being a weirdo, come on!
JAY. SPIN ME!
DEE. We’re in the middle of a conversation.
DEE jumps out of the trolley.
JAY. You were. Now you’re spinning me!
DEE starts spinning JAY.
DEE. You’re acting strange.
JAY. Am not.
DEE. What was I supposed to have known?
JAY. Faster!
DEE. I missed something, wasn’t paying attention.
JAY. SPIIIIIN MEEEE!
DEE. Stop shouting in my ear!
JAY. You’re moving too slow!!!
<
br /> DEE. Faster than you did!!!
DEE picks up the pace.
JAY. FASTER!!!
JAY loses her balance.
FASTER!!!
FASTER!!!
FASTER!!!
DEE lets go of the trolley and JAY spirals away, screaming with joy.
DEE. BLAST OFF!!!
Both of them crash into a heap of laughter.
JAY. See you tomorrow, Rhinoceros.
DEE. See you tomorrow.
JAY. Don’t forget the tent.
DEE. Jay.
JAY. What?
DEE. Did I miss something?
JAY. Goodnight, babe.
DEE. Goodnight, Rhinoceros.
JAY. Look at the sky!! It’s mental!!!
Six
Dusk.
The Tent.
DEE takes off her trainers, and undoes her school tie. She lays down on the grass and runs her hands and feet through it and looks up at the sky.
JAY enters.
JAY. Pssst! Psst!
Come on!
DEE. Where have you been?
Lights out.
Seven
Day.
BEE, TEE and GEE are outside the tent. DEE is visible sitting in it.
TEE. She’s not saying it’s a problem.
DEE. Well, evidently she is.
TEE. No she’s not.
GEE. She’s just saying that we have all gone through something huge and we should talk about it.
DEE. There’s nothing to talk about.
BEE. See!
TEE. You can’t stay out here.
BEE. She doesn’t care.
GEE. You’re freaking your mum out, and you’re freaking everybody out.
CHORUS. Stop!
What are you doing?
She’s not ready yet.
You can’t just stop the story.
I can.
You have to allow the story to unravel as it’s supposed to.
Allow her to join the dots the way she needs to.
Yes but…
Yes but nothing! Let her go back! Let her trace her own steps. It’s the only way she’ll move forward.
She’s drifting outside the realms of reality.
That’s up for discussion.
But her memories are all over the place.
That’s how memories work, there’s no order to our memories.
Let’s carry on.
Let her go through her own process.
Fine.
Fine.
Great.
Start them again.
It’s dusk.
We know that!
Start them again.
Erm…
Where were we?
You’re freaking everybody out?
Yeah!
GEE. You’re freaking everybody out.
DEE. Well, everybody doesn’t have to be around me, do they?
TEE. You have nothing to feel guilty about.
BEE. You really don’t.
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