Monologue, gender neutral, with background actors (3: 2 female, one male) 

and crazy ensemble things, improvisation, audience participation, and so 

on... read the script(s)...


---------


In Situ

by James Horak



NARRATOR, MAN, FIRST WOMAN

(Everyone is on stage, including the audience.  The CROWD have various quiet 

conversations and move about through the onstage audience.  The MAN is 

upstage left.  He must improvise a conversation with a friend while paying 

attention to the NARRATOR.  The FIRST WOMAN is downstage left.  She will 

listen intently to others' conversations until the cue "their eyes meet."  

After that she will pay attention to the MAN.  Both the MAN and the FIRST 

WOMAN follow the obvious cues from the NARRATOR, who is the only person to 

read aloud from the script)



The Scene.  A social gathering, a party where almost everyone knows almost 

everyone.  The room is sweaty, loud, enveloping.  Varicose veins of smoke 

and cologne penetrate every corner, every smell, every breath.  The yellow 

shag carpet has imbibed more than any one guest, and gives way, in spots, 

with a muddy squish.  It's been a while since our party started.


The story. A man and a woman will share an understanding tonight.  We must 

know them, for we must share with them.  Everyone is important here.


The man.


(MAN laughs loudly)


He is underdressed & proud of it.  Left hand, vodka tonic, right hand, 

rolled cigarette with musty French tobacco (Mime it).  He forgot to shave.


The woman.


(FIRST WOMAN walks across from stage left to stage right, finds another 

conversation to join).


Sullen & cynical. She is wearing the usual black dress, drinking 

screwdrivers (Mime it), hating the music.  She would rather be someplace 

else.


They have not met.  They will not meet.  This is a story about love.


Hours pass like frightened doves, sobriety and modesty deliberately bartered 

for emancipation.  And then: He notices her from across the room.  

Dumbfounded, he cannot look away.  Their eyes meet, a smile, a moment.  

There is glitter on her face.  He has keen blue eyes.   An unvoiced whisper 

drifts through the air: "I love you."  Grand truths can never be spoken, 

only understood.


Without warning,


(2ND WOMAN stumbles and falls, and THE MAN catches her)


someone else stumbles, falls drunk and sack-like into his arms. Serendipity, 

it appears, wasn't paying attention.  This new woman, this interloper, tries 

to look into his eyes.  She cannot focus.  His head is transparent, and she 

is looking at the ceiling above him.  He offers her a seat next to a green 

pillow shaped like a catfish.


(MAN and 2ND WOMAN sit in 1st row)


He tells a joke.  They both laugh.  The woman surveys them from across the 

room.  Her eyes flicker for a moment, and then she looks away.  She is 

weary, and she has lost interest.


This is a story about beauty.


(the CROWD, MAN, and 2ND WOMAN begin to return to their seats.  Hopefully, 

the audience will take the hint.)


The night begins to fade, oppressive gloom gives way to the chirps and 

squawks that denote a new day, and everything seems like it will be over 

soon.  We, the revelers, begin to disperse, ready for shared beds or 

solitary contemplations.   An eerie calm drowns out the exuberant chaos of 

merrymaking.  Wishful and exhausted, the woman lingers defiantly, harboring 

a vague suspicion that love is just a dream and life is meant to be lived 

alone.


(1ST WOMAN slowly falls asleep)


As the horizon begins to burn with imminent daybreak, a scarlet bird alights 

on the window pane behind her.  She has fallen asleep, her head in her 

hands.  A breeze brushes her cheek.


And now, the party is over, our tale is finished, and the world will go 

about its business.


This was a story about nothing at all.


The lights fall...


LIGHTS DOWN


And you were never there.



THE END


====

These little "scripts" are for the other actors (CROWDs) in the piece.  The 

point is to have a constant buzzing around the audience so that they feel 

like they're at a party.  This may lead to the audience participating in the 

conversation, which is not an undesirable outcome.


Not all CROWD parts must be played, but the 2ND WOMAN is essential.

====


CROWD 1 & 2


When the piece begins, talk quietly about movies, or a movie in particular.  

Have a normal, honest conversation, let the topic wander.


Exit and return to your seats at the cue "This is a story about beauty."


========


CROWD 3 & 4


When the piece begins, talk quietly about music, or a musical group in 

particular.  Have a normal, honest conversation, let the topic wander.


Exit and return to your seats at the cue "This is a story about beauty."


=======


CROWD 5 & 6


When the piece begins, talk quietly about what you did last night.  Have a 

normal, honest conversation, let the topic wander.


Exit and return to your seats at the cue "This is a story about beauty."


=======


CROWD 7 & 8


When the piece begins, talk quietly about last weekÔs No Shame, or theater 

in general.  Have a normal, honest conversation, let the topic wander, etc.


Exit and return to your seats at the cue "This is a story about beauty."


=======


CROWD 9 & 10


When the piece begins, talk quietly about your most recent significant 

other(s).  Compare notes.  Have a normal, honest conversation, let the topic 

wander, etc.


Exit and return to your seats at the cue "This is a story about beauty."


=======


2ND WOMAN


Act drunk.  You're pretty wasted.  *hic*  We're at an AWESOME  *hic* party!


On the cue "Without warning, someone else stumbles..." Stumble and fall into 

the MAN's arms.  Follow the actions narrated by the narrator after that.

"In Situ" debuted November 22, 2002, with the following cast:

NARRATOR - James Horak
MAN - Chris Stangl
1ST WOMAN - Aprille Clarke
2ND WOMAN - Michele Thompson

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