*First prompt- Beginnings.
DUE Nov 2nd at 8am CST*
FACT: The start of every
play sets up expectations about the given circumstances, performance style,
pace, etc.
*CHALLENGE*: Start a play
with one of your fantasies. A real one, but add magic. Maybe use romantic
comedy structure and be sure fantastically impossible things are happening (a
new normal) and then crash it with the problems, issues, or concerns of the
real world. The given circumstances of the fantasy and the real world IS the
play.
Example- One of the
unicorns dies- no really it's corpse is stuck on stage and making problems. We
have to stop the show. Actors quit. People get arrested. Audience members are
recruited to drag it off stage? SOME OF THE MAGIC THINGS KEEP HAPPENING. The
boy does still somehow get the girl- or the villain still gets got.
Don't explain yourself.
Don't over think it. Throw everything out you don't like.
LOVE POTION #9 by Matthew A. Everett
Knocking at the door.
JEFFREY, bleary-eyed, answers it.
MICAH stands there, AUGGIE close by his side.
JEFFREY
Hey,
Micah.
Hey,
Auggie.
MICAH
We
have a problem.
JEFFREY
Does
it have to do with how late and/or early it is for you to be knocking at my
door?
MICAH
Different
problem, but related.
JEFFREY
You
guys got so drunk you could only remember my address to give the driver, rather
than your own?
MICAH
Remember
that love potion you jokingly gave me?
JEFFREY
The
one I told you to slip in Auggie's drink?
MICAH
Yup. That's the one.
JEFFREY
I
do remember that, yes.
MICAH
Well,
it worked.
JEFFREY
It
did?
MICAH holds up his hand.
AUGGIE's fingers are threaded through Micah's,
holding on tightly.
MICAH
It
did.
JEFFREY
Aw,
that's so cute.
MICAH
Well,
it would be cute -
JEFFREY
-
if he wasn't straight and married.
MICAH
News
flash: his wife's pregnant.
JEFFREY
Since
when?
MICAH
A
couple of weeks ago.
AUGGIE
We
were waiting to tell people til she was farther along. Didn't want to jinx anything.
JEFFREY
But
he told you.
MICAH
Yes,
since he is now in love with me, he feels we should have no secrets from one
another.
JEFFREY
Always
a good policy.
MICAH
Help.
JEFFREY
How?
MICAH
Well,
you're the one that came up with the love potion.
JEFFREY
I
didn't think it'd work.
MICAH
There's
an antidote, right.
JEFFREY
Probably.
MICAH
Probably?
JEFFREY
I
haven't read that far in the book yet, I'm just getting started. I thought a love potion sounded like a fun
place to start. I didn't think I'd get
it right on the first try.
MICAH
Apparently
you're a natural.
So,
you know, just whip up the antidote, we set Auggie here loose, back to the
missus, and all is forgiven.
JEFFREY
It
took me a few days to get all the ingredients together for the first potion.
MICAH
Days?
JEFFREY
Days.
AUGGIE
That's
OK, babe. I'm in no hurry.
MICAH
I'm
not sure I can hold out for days.
JEFFREY
Why
do you want to hold out at all?
MICAH
Straight. Married.
Wife. Pregnant.
JEFFREY
Aside
from that.
MICAH
There's
an aside from that?
JEFFREY
C'mon. Don't you wanna hit that? Just a little?
MICAH
That's
not the point.
JEFFREY
Uh-huh,
so you do.
MICAH
I'm
a little weirded out by the consent issues here.
JEFFREY
Because
you roofied him.
MICAH
I
didn't roofy him.
JEFFREY
You
put a chemical in his drink that was designed to make it easier for you to
sleep with him. That's a roofy.
MICAH
Do
magic potions count as roofies?
JEFFREY
They
do if they work.
MICAH
I
wasn't expecting it to work.
JEFFREY
Yeah,
I don't think that matters.
MICAH
Why
didn't you warn me?
JEFFREY
Hello. Rewind.
I did. Even though I thought it
wasn't going to work, I very clearly told you what it was supposed to do.
AUGGIE has been letting his hands wander over
MICAH's body.
MICAH
August.
AUGGIE
Sorry.
JEFFREY
Wow,
you've got him well-trained already.
MICAH
Sarah
said Auggie's mom told her before the wedding to use the formal name and he'd
know she meant business.
JEFFREY
So
you and Sarah are friends?
MICAH
Well,
I think this is pretty much going to torpedo that.
JEFFREY
You
don't actually mind him getting handsy, do you?
MICAH
No. But if I'm going to keep my hands off him -
JEFFREY
So
send him home.
AUGGIE
If
he sends me home, I'm just going to ask Sarah for a divorce.
MICAH
Naturally,
I want to avoid that.
JEFFREY
So
he's insisting on a sleepover.
MICAH
Yup.
JEFFREY
I'm
still failing to see the problem.
MICAH
Jeffrey.
JEFFREY
You
have wanted this, exactly this, for, I don't know, how many years have you two
known each other?
AUGGIE
Since
college.
JEFFREY
Exactly.
It's
not just taking what you want if he wants to give it to you.
AUGGIE
And
I do. Want to give it to you.
MICAH
Auggie,
you're killing me here.
AUGGIE
However
you want it.
JEFFREY
I
wish I'd known that it worked before I gave it to you to use on Auggie.
MICAH
Because
you wouldn't have given it to me?
JEFFREY
I
would. Just in a different way. I would have used it on you instead.
MICAH
Jeffrey.
JEFFREY
Hey,
we're all being honest here tonight, right?
AUGGIE
Right.
MICAH
So
you have a vested interest in helping me undo this.
JEFFREY
If
I thought it would actually lead to me getting what I want, sure.
MICAH
Let's
say it does.
JEFFREY
Don't
be mean.
MICAH
I
can't leave him alone. He'll go right to
Sarah and divorce her.
JEFFREY
So
take him home.
MICAH
She
wasn't expecting him to be gone this long.
She's probably starting to worry.
JEFFREY
Has
she called you?
MICAH
No.
JEFFREY
So
call her first.
MICAH
And
say what?
JEFFREY
Auggie
tells her he had a little too much and didn't want to risk driving home.
MICAH
Which
is what taxis and other rent-a-drivers are for.
JEFFREY
You
also had too much to drink, and he's afraid of leaving you alone, so he's going
to stay and hold your hair back while you vomit into the toilet. That's why you can't come to the phone.
MICAH
You're
a little too good at cover stories.
JEFFREY
We
can discuss that after we're done dealing with your straight boyfriend.
Have
you kissed him yet?
MICAH
What?
JEFFREY
You
heard me.
MICAH
I
don't see how that's at all relevant to the situation at the moment.
JEFFREY
I'll
take that as a "no."
MICAH
No,
of course I haven't kissed him.
JEFFREY
Why
the hell not?
AUGGIE
Yeah,
why the hell not?
MICAH
Because
if I started kissing him, I'd still be kissing him and we would not be here
talking to you right now.
AUGGIE
Good
answer.
AUGGIE's hands have been wandering again.
MICAH
August.
AUGGIE
Sorry.
MICAH
Frankly,
just holding hands, dealing with the hands, has been freaking me out on a level
I was not anticipating. If he got
anywhere near my face -
JEFFREY
You're
stalling.
MICAH
What?
JEFFREY
You're
afraid to take him home.
MICAH
Of
course I'm afraid to take him home.
JEFFREY
But
you know you have to take him home.
MICAH
If
I want to avoid being named in divorce papers as the other woman, yeah, I think
we've established that.
JEFFREY
He's
not going to want to sleep on the couch.
MICAH
I'm
aware of that.
AUGGIE
I'll
just go home and ask Sarah for a divorce so you feel more comfortable about
being with me.
MICAH
You're
sweet, Auggie, but I'm not sure that's gonna solve the problem the way you
think it will.
JEFFREY
He's
probably not going to be willing to just sleep on the floor nearby while you
sleep on the bed.
AUGGIE
Or
vice versa.
MICAH
I've
gathered that.
JEFFREY
Which
means you're going to need to sleep together.
Fist pump by AUGGIE.
AUGGIE
Yes!
MICAH
Actually
sleeping. There will be sleep. Lots of sleep. And the clothes stay on.
AUGGIE
Aawww.
JEFFREY
You
don't want to see that naked?
MICAH
You're
objectifying him again.
JEFFREY
A
guy who dresses like that wants to be objectified.
MICAH
So
we've already roofied him, and now you're saying the way he dresses is an open
invitation to sex. Not cool, Jeffrey.
AUGGIE
Thanks
for defending me, babe.
MICAH
You're
not just a piece of meat.
AUGGIE
I'll
be your piece of meat.
MICAH
Auggie...
JEFFREY
C'mon. Admit it.
You've imagined him naked.
MICAH
Of
course I've imagined him naked.
AUGGIE
I
like where this conversation is headed.
MICAH
And
you're right, the way he dresses, with that body, doesn't leave a whole lot to
the imagination anyway. Then you get to
summer, and there's tank tops, and shorts, and I'm about ready to lose my mind.
AUGGIE
Thanks,
babe.
JEFFREY
So
what's the problem?
MICAH
The
natural extension of the "I get to see him naked" scenario is
"he gets to see me naked."
JEFFREY
And
- ?
MICAH
And,
I do not look like Auggie with my clothes off.
JEFFREY
You've
got nothing to worry about in that department.
MICAH
Jeffrey
-
JEFFREY
I'm
not just saying that because - look, you take care of yourself. You're gonna look great. And honestly, he's not going to care. Because he loves you.
MICAH
He
*thinks* he loves me.
JEFFREY
It's
the same thing.
MICAH
Is
it?
JEFFREY
You're
in a "no secrets now" kind of place, right?
AUGGIE
Right.
JEFFREY
So
you've told him you put a love potion in his drink.
AUGGIE
Yes.
JEFFREY
And
he doesn't care.
AUGGIE
No.
MICAH
Because
he's convinced himself he always felt this way and that the potion just made
that clear, stripped away all pretense to the contrary. It's rewiring his brain retroactively to
believe he's always been in love with me.
It's scary.
JEFFREY
What's
to say he hasn't felt this way?
MICAH
Because
he's straight.
JEFFREY
Hey,
we're all a little bisexual whether we act on it or not. You and I appreciate a good looking woman.
MICAH
He's
happily married. Before that he was
happily engaged. Before that he was
happily in a relationship. All of them
with a woman. The same woman. Who is now carrying their child inside
her. And is probably starting to wonder
why I haven't brought her husband home to her yet, since we were just heading out
to have a little drink together.
JEFFREY
You're
going to kick yourself if you don't do this.
MICAH
I'm
going to kick myself if I do.
JEFFREY
The
herbal remedy places I need to collect ingredients from don't open for another
eight hours. And I need to do some
reading. And some sleeping. There's nothing more either of us can do here
right now. You need to go home. And you need to take him with you.
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