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The Moan Grenade

by

Thomas Gabriele Busillo

Cast of Characters*

Scott Greer………………………………………….……sales manager / amateur actor James Ijames……………………………………………..bus driverBen Dibble………………………………………………harmless lunaticJeff Coon………………………………………………..rich hangglider / enemy agent

*A note on the naming of the characters: Two of the characters are named for Scott Greer and James Ijames, the outstanding actors who played the lead roles in the Arden theater’s 2013 production of Endgame. The other 2 characters are named for two other outstanding actors with long ties to the Arden - Ben Dibble (the greatest Batboy ever) and Jeff Coon (who the author’s girlfriend has been threatening to leave him for going on a decade now). Since this play will never be produced, the author felt it would benefit the reader to have the actors who in a ideal world would play the characters in mind as the play is read. Also, since I’m fessing up to things, the title of the play is an anagram of “Another Endgame.”

TIME: The play takes place simultaneously with Samuel Beckett’s Endgame.

SETTING: At the top of an abandoned black metal lighthouse in obvious disrepair. Where there would be a lantern is hung a sheet with a large circle crudely painted on it. A ladder leads up to it. Three characters sit underneath it chair on a very large widows walk with a railing, sit on a lawn chair, a stool and a folding chair. Scattered about are cans of paint, piles of clothes, and various boxes of unknown contents, although one is a case of Jack Daniels

(James and Ben are sitting in chairs playing what appears to be some variation of rock/scissors/paper. Scott is to the right of them leaning over railing.)

JAMESFossils.

BEN

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Neanderthals.

JAMESFossils.

BENNeanderthals.

JAMESEvery gene of your body.

BENEvery gene of your body.

SCOTT(dramatically over-emoting)

So as to not be it. Not to be the rain or but so affected like that.

JAMES(looks over shoulder at Scott, annoyed)

What are you doing?

SCOTTHmmm...?

JAMESWhat are you doing?

SCOTT:(somewhat offended)

Practicing soliloquies. I figured with all this down time –

JAMES(gets up from chair and walks over to Scott)

Soliloquies for what?

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SCOTTFor whenever they're needed.

JAMESI've lived thirty-eight years and I've never found myself in need of a soliloquy.

SCOTTThese are not the usual times. Am I right or am I right? You never know when a good soliloquy may just be your ticket out. Look, I know the rules were we're to know as little about our strike team mates as possible, in case, you know

(mimes an explosion with his hands)but before - you know – out there, down there

(points downward)I was actor.

JAMESReally, an actor?

SCOTTYes. More or less. I mean - for a living -

(over-emoting, with palm of hand on forehead)toiling for my daily bread.

(in normal voice)I'm the sales manager at a very, very successful Honda dealership. A five-time President's Award winner, I'll have you know. But in here

(points to heart, which is blocked by the cellphone he is wearing around his neck at the end of a lanyard. He moves the cellphone, then touches his actual chest)

in here. I'm an actor.

JAMESBeen in anything I'd know. Broadway. Movies. TV.

SCOTTWell, I'm not quite there yet. I but I will be…maybe….it’s a long shot to make it as an actor in normal times let alone…ypu know

(points out to rest of the world)I've done community theatre. I have done a few films, but they’re very specialized.

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JAMESSo you work in porn?

SCOTT(taken aback)

Never! Not to say that there’s anything wrong with it, although, granted, there are certain sub-genres that do seem to be pushing it just a tad

(he brays like a horse)The films I’m in they're films, well, more like videos really that the general public wouldn't typically see. But nevertheless require you to have some degree of acting chops. In fact, I’d argue you need to be more on your toes in these pieces given the audience.

JAMESWhat were they called?

SCOTTWell, I played "Mr. Arm Around the Shoulder" in "Stopping Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Before it Starts"

JAMESCan't say I've heard of it.

SCOTTI also played "Panicked Shift Supervisor" in "What Everyone Should Know about Firee Extinguishers"

(James shakes head)"Victim #2" in "HazMat Training for First-Responders"? That was a very challenging roll. I was in the makeup chair for hours. What we actors go through.

JAMESIf you’re an actor, then what’s the plot?

SCOTTI’m sorry?

JAMESAn actor has to know the plot. So what’s the plot. To this?

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SCOTTWell, what you said is not entirely true. An actor need not know the plot. I mean in theory, one could be in an improve troupe where one has the basic theme to work with but then must -

JAMESI think we have the basic theme established. So again, what's the plot? Humor me DeNiro.

SCOTTFirst, I see myself more as a young Orsen Welles. Only with broader range. But I do appreciate the compliment. Look friend, I'm not privy to any more than you. Yes I'm the team leader and I get to have this gizmo around my neck But really truth be told I know as much as you do. But, heck you want to know, so “spoiler alert” - this will either end very badly or very well.

JAMESVery badly or very well? That’s quite an specific answer. Well, are you leaning one way or the other.

SCOTTWell, I mean, that is to say, I think we know how this is going to end, I'm just saying the your characterization, of the end. It's meaning. Whether you're charging into it like a cannon-ball or being dragged into it like a stray dog on the choke-chain of dogcatcher - that would depend on your philosophy. Your outlook on life. This world. What lies beyond. Let me ask you, are you a glass half full or glass half-empty kind of person?

JAMESI’m a bus driver. I like my glass clear so I can know what’s coming at me and whether or not I need to avoid it or can just drive through or over it and in the case of the latter whether or not what it can just be left as it is or requires medical attention.

SCOTTAh. Pardon me, I feel a soliloquy that needs to get out.

(clears throat and over-emotes)There is a moment when the tide prepares for what comes after the clues the future retrieving I am apt to think, can be a tad polarizing and even frightening characters can

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see their forms sometimes keep in mind that many threads of the plot are all about the symptoms of being uncategorized.

JAMESHad to get out?

SCOTTIt’s like really bad gas. You just need to kind of

(rubs hands up from stomach, through lungs, then out away from body)

…you know.

JAMESUh huh. So where are we now?

SCOTTThe very beginning waiting for an act without words? The very end waiting for words for an act?

BEN(gets off of chair and comes over to the two of them)

I couldn’t help but overhearing. The very beginning? Now would that be before the fall of the angels? Or after?

JAMES(shakes head in disgust)

Again with the angels.(James passes by Ben and takes a seat)

SCOTTYou look like a somewhat rational fellow.

BEN(brightening up)

That’s not a word generally associated with me, but if you insist.

SCOTTWell, perhaps I should have place more emphasis on the somewhat. In either case,

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(puts hands on Ben’s shoulder and leads him to railing)

come look around you. Do we look like we are in the time before or the time after angels have fallen?

(Ben looks out over the railings of the lighthouse out into the distance then scanning down)

Take your time. All you need. (Ben continues to look. Scott seems to grow impatient)

I assure you, this is not a trick question.

BENThere certainly does seem to be quite a bit of smoke and fire.

SCOTT(claps hands and exclaims)

Smoke and fire! Yes! Yes!

BENI do have a knack for observation.

SCOTTSo, there you have it. Smoke and fire. There certainly does seem to be quite a bit of smoke and fire. Now, you're halfway home. No more - more than that, your in the homestretch. You’re rounding third. You’re inches from the goaline. Let’s set if you can put the biscuit in the basket. Now do you think a preponderance of smoke and fire would indicate the pristine, heavenly, generally, shall we say smoke and fire-free version of what we imagine the time before the so-called fall of the angels to be or given the vast amount of misery, ruin, devastation we have had for millennia even before recent events and then adding in the misery, ruin, devastation of recent events, where would you place you money – before the fall or after.

BENOh, I don’t gamble. Fr. Finnegan says that’s one of the sinful ways.

(Scott’s shoulder’s slump down. He points to a bottle of Jack Daniels. Motions of James to throw it to him. He downs half of it.)

SCOTT(gives Ben a friendly punch to the shoulder)

I’m really glad to have you on the team.

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BEN(taking it as a compliment)

Why thank you.

(Scott holds whiskey bottle toward Ben, then pauses).

SCOTTI don’t know why I’m even bothering to ask, but - you don’t do you?

BENOh, I don’t drink. Fr. Finnegan says that’s not only one of the sinful ways, but can lead to even more sinful ways.

JAMESLike gambling.

BENWhy you’re right! You’re a Catholic?

JAMESI was raised in a Jehovah’s Witness household.

(pulls out a fresh bottle of Jack Daniels out of a case)

But then I ran into some sinful ways, and they became habits.

(he and Scott laugh)

BEN(pointing to cellphone)

The men who gave you that, are you saying they are or are not angels then?

SCOTTI’m not sure I said either, but I will now. The men on the other end of this are no angels in more ways that one let me assure you of that.

(cellphone goes off)

SCOTTSpeak of the devil.

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BEN(frightened)

Is that who we’re mixed up with?

SCOTTIt’s just an expression.

(looks at cellphone readout, somewhat puzzled)

JAMESWhat now?

SCOTTThey want it orange.

JAMESWe just made it yellow.

SCOTTWhat can I say friend? These are fast-moving times. They wanted it yellow then. They want it orange now. The have their reasons.

(to Ben)You, my young friend of temperance, climb up there

(points to ladder leading to painted sheet)and change it to orange.

BENBut I did it last time. It’s not my turn.?

SCOTTOh, it’s your turn.

BENHow is it my turn when I did that last one?

SCOTTBecause it’s whoever’s turn it is whose closet to the can of paint. You were closet to yellow. Now you’re the one closest to orange.

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BENThat’s not a really turn, that’s more like proximity.

JAMESThere’s no law that says turns can’t be based on proximity.

SCOTTThere’s no law that says anything!

(claps hands)There’s only unfolding action and we are a part of it and action is what we need. Haste! Many lives may be at stake.

(Scott sits down with his whiskey bottle. Toasts James as Ben goes to the cans of paint. Ben puts on a white painters jumpsuit and cap, climbs a ladder with a can of orange paint and begins to paint the sheet orange. He continues painting during the next section of dialogue.)

JAMES(mocking Scott in an imitation of Scott’s voice)

Many lives may be at stake.

SCOTTExcuse me?

JAMES(same mocking tone)

Many lives may be at stake. Few lives may be at stake. Anywhere from four to four billion lives may be at stake. And let’s not forget the kittens and puppies.

(back to normal voice)What do we even know at this point?

(points to cellphone around Scott’s neck)Who even gave that to you?

SCOTTAs I indicated before, these are people you do not want to mess with. They make the Russian Mob look like the current state of the Italian mob, if you know what I mean. This came from a highly reliable source. Highly reliable and I mean big cheese reliable. With strict instructions to follow the instructions. It hasn’t failed us yet has it?

JAMES

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Yet.

SCOTTWe all took an oath.

JAMESI said a few words once and now look where I am. High and –

SCOTT(raising bottle of whiskey)

At least not dry.

SCOTTLook around you. This doesn’t phase me and this shouldn’t phase you. We’re involved in big things. We’re in on the plan. You could be out there - down there - and not up here. You say you only uttered words, but many a man’s neck has been saved by its ability to produce words - the right words at the right time to the right people in the right circumstances. That’s what drives fate.... words are actions. This is destiny.

JAMESThere really is no plan is there? This is all one of those improvisational theatre pieces.

SCOTTOh there’s a plan. There's more than I tell you. There's more than I can’t tell you I can tell you which you don't know which I don't know.

(sitting back)You really are one of those glass half-empty characters.

JAMESI told you before I’m a I want a clear glass I can see through type of character. And it’s served me well so far.

(takes another swig)What have we?

SCOTTWe’ve still got the world. We’ve still got the moments to fill. I know, yes, there’s a great temptation to look around and feel you've reached the end, that it’s all a game, and the pieces are about to be scattered to the floor left to be swept up, boxed, put away, or worse gather dust. But it continues. We continue.

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JAMESWe continue along with our suffering.

SCOTTWe're all suffering. There are going to be glitches. There’s going to be devastation. but this is how things are worked out, tweaked, sometimes first on an individual level, sometimes on a collective level that forces individual change, adaptation. But then over time, you’ve got it nailed down

JAMESWhat’s you’re idea of time?

SCOTTYears, centuries, millennia. The point is what’s broken is being fixed. Yes, things are broken, but they are improving. Our great ancestors, they wriggled in the ooze of the primordial pond, they crawled out of the swamp, they dragged themselves to land and flopped around. That’s suffering. Suffering is progress. Do we miss the mark? Yes. Violently. The point isn’t being comfortable. The point is being part of the story, the continuing story, even when it looks like the book is ending, it’s only the chapter. Who knows where were are? The table of contents. The prologue. The author’s note. The acknowledgment? The appendices?

BEN(Is finished painting and has climbed down ladder. He begins to take off painters outfit)

We all had ours removed.

SCOTT(to James)

Should I take this?

JAMESI would greatly prefer it if you would.

SCOTTFine, but that’s one that you owe me.

(to Ben)Who all had what all removed?

BEN

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Our appendices. We had them removed. When we were only eight.

SCOTT(looks him over slowly)

We? Is there a conjoined twin I am missing?

BENOh, fraternal triplets. Everything hit at the same time. The doctor said we don't even really use them. It's some type of anacondaism.

SCOTTAh yes. The human appendix. A charming “anacondaism”. Some would say that in some cases the brain – in some mind you, not all – is also a charming “anacondaism”

BENWhat would you think with?

SCOTTYes. That’s does seem to be the question on the table at the moment.

(James sees something in the distance. Tracking it with his eyes he moves up to the rail. The others follow. The grow more and more excited and their reactions indicate that whatever it is coming closer. When it is almost on top of them Scott cries out.)

SCOTTHoly mother of Jesus! Get down, get down! Crash formation!

(suddenly, Jeff Coon crashes into the top the lighthouse while piloting a hang-glider. The other three characters are speechless and approach him warily. James lifts up the back of his shirt to reveal a gun seen by the audience, but Scott motions to him to wait before drawing it.)

SCOTTGood god man! Where did you come from?

JEFF

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(Looking around. Puts up finger to the wind. Inspects wrecked hang-glider. Mimes various calculation. The director is encouraged to have the actor milk this for as long a duration as he/she sees fit.)

From over there.

JAMES(skeptically)

And now the cavalry has arrived.

JEFFWhat?

BENAre you some type of wayward angel?

JEFFA what?

SCOTT(very seriously)

Are you a counter-element?

JEFFA what?

SCOTTA counter-element sent to infiltrate us – to delay us from our mission?

JAMESHe is wearing a uniform.

BENAnd he does have a helmet.

(Stops to think)Angels do not have helmets.

(Thinks some more).But soldiers do!

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SCOTTWe were warned! We were warned. There would be false prophets!

JEFFI’m not a prophet. I’m a psychiatrist.

SCOTT(angrily)

Seize him!

(Ben and James grab him)

JEFFStop! Stop! I’ll give you anything you want. Anything. Name it.

JAMESWe’d like a way out that includes a soft landing.

BENWe’d like a way out that includes a soft landing in heaven. A good spot up there. a comfy chair by the fire. With tea and a good book…read to us by angels of course.

SCOTTCan you give us that? Mr. Deus ex Machina? Hmmm...Mr. human bird? Mr. well it’s the end of everything, the shit has hit the fan, so why not do a little hang-gliding. Can you give us that? A way out? A way to heaven? A path to truth?

JAMESAt this point indoor plumbing would do nicely.

BENAnd a rotisserie chicken would not be unwelcome. I’m getting tired of beans.

SCOTTWell, can you give us anything?

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JEFFI can’t give you that. But I what I can give you is money. I’m rich.

SCOTT(feigning surprise)

Oh, you’re rich!(to the others)

Did you hear that, we have a rich man with us. Oh lord or whatever(he starts to bless himself...and halfway through the sign of the cross gives a dismissive wave/shrug)

oh how bountiful you are. In our darkest hours....ff all things ...To have sent us a rich man with, of all things, money! Money!

JAMES I bet you drive a fancy car, don’t you?

JEFFWell, it’s not that fancy. It’s just a BMW

SCOTTA rich man who drives a BMW. Lord. Lord. Lord.

(blesses himself halfway with same dismissive gesture)

How you do work in such mysterious ways.

BENIf I may ask, what series?

JEFF(warily)

A seven series.

SCOTTA seven series? Did you hear that?

JAMESTruly impressive. Let me guess, it’s black.

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JEFFYes.

SCOTTLet us regale thee with adoration. Worship formation!

(All three characters get down on there knees and bows head to the floor and kiss his feet)

JEFFReally, it’s nothing...

SCOTT(after the three have gotten up)

Oh I do not think it is nothing. Oh no, not nothing.

JAMESIt is something.

BENThat is what not nothing is. Something.

SCOTTThat or a vacuum. So, Herr Doctor Hang Glider what is it you think ails us?

JEFFUs?

SCOTTUs.

(pointing out over the railing to the world)Everything. Everything that’s left. What’s left us in this state we are in? Did we all love our mother’s too much? Did we breast-feed a little too long? Were we potty-trained too early? Too late? Is our present state some kind of unconscious wish being fulfilled? Is it that we wish to crawl back, back, back up inside our mothers womb? Is that what this group hysteria, mania and violence are about?

JEFF I don’t know.

SCOTT

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(pretends to see something on the ground 100 feet from the assumed base of the lighthouse)

Did you say that you drove a black BMW seven series?

JEFFYes.

SCOTTWhy look over there?

(points to down)See right there. I  think it’s on fire.

JEFFNo! I just paid five-hundred dollars to have it detailed!

(Jeff moves to railing and look over. SCOTT nods to other two. They throw him off)

SCOTTOh, that was a tree! My mistake.

(to others)Well, there’s one less rich man in what’s left of  the world.

(pointed to hang glider remnants)Get that out of here too.

(They throw hang glider remnants from the top of lighthouse. Ben looks at the helmet and when the others aren’t looking stuffs it behind some boxes).

JAMESWhat next?

SCOTTWe wait.

JAMESFor what?

SCOTTFor one moment to succeed another.

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(cell phone alarm goes off)

SCOTTSee. One moment always succeeds another.

(looks down at the cellphone)We are to be commended.

JAMESCommended?

SCOTTFor our quick dispatch of a certain problem.

(to James)You're not one for improvisation are you friend? No. You're the kind, you want it all laid out in advance. You want a fixed route. Right turn onto Maple and then stopping every block to let off a passenger.

JAMESIf there is no route, no set route that you can know in advance, what is the purpose of the bus? Who's going to get on a bus when they have no idea where it's going?

SCOTTAnd yet you wake up every day.

JAMESWhere's that bottle?

SCOTTI‘ve seen worse. Understand friend, the chaos and turbulence we are now experiencing are that of conservation. the big conversation. We are its words. We are it’s grunts. We are it’s half-sighs. it’s huff and puffs at the top of a hill. Soliloquy!

(assumes dramatic persona)Skip the year! No one cares about the ways we act look distant see ourselves as abundant similarities forms of which have had likeness not one of us but many The Word the other half a normal life with problems some things relaxed far more than would be well think again with the differences in the sounds the shown similarities all multiple branches of good people.

BEN

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The good people like in the Christmas cease-fire?

SCOTT(gives a scowl, but continues)

Eden can't help crying the ratio by which we enjoy exhaustion. We're glad it's not just us, though, and that there's plenty more too, there's dancing again, there's plenty more to it. Why are we supposed to be surprised about the fall from grace again wrapped up with a question incomplete.

(cellphone goes off)Damn it! I was on a roll! Hold on. New instructions coming in.

(James maneuvers himself on the other side of Ben so he will not be near the cans of paint)

SCOTTThey want the color changed.

JAMESLet me guess - red perhaps?

SCOTTIt says “moose mouse”

(hits the cell phone as if to correct it)

BENMoose mouse?

JAMESAre you sure?

SCOTT(looks worried)

Moose mouse?

JAMESIf it was “spring glimmer” or “seashore sunrise” I could help you. Those are my bathroom colors. But I do not recall seeing any moose mouse in the racks at Lowes.

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BENCan you spell it out?

SCOTT(as if talking to a baby, then getting angry)

They want us to change the color to moose mouse which is a color of questionable hue, so questionable to be unknown to us at this time!

BENNo. I mean, the letters.

SCOTT(worried)

M. O. O. S. E. Space. M. O. U. S. S. E.

JAMESThere’s your problem. It’s moose mousse, not moose mouse.

SCOTTWhat is a mousse?

BEN:A woodland creature, similar to an elk –

SCOTT(angrily)

No. Not moose. Mousse. One “O” two “S”’s.

BEN:Ah. The dessert. Generally a type of whipped, fluffy, creamy pudding.

JAMESSoliloquy. Alas, chocolate mocha mousse. I knew it well. A desert of infinite deliciousness.

SCOTTStipulated. Mousse is delicious. Mousse is whipped creamy goodness. But what color is it?

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BENIt really depends on what type of mousse. You have your Chocolate mousse. You have you salmon mousse. You have your -

SCOTT(angrily)

We have moose – that’s M.O.O.S.E – mousee. What is the color of moose mousse?

(Ben and James look at each other then say together)

BEN & JAMESA brown.

SCOTTDo we even have brown?

(James nudges to Ben to investigate. Ben looks over cans of paint)

BENNo. We have green, blue, yellow, orange and red.

SCOTTDoes anyone know how to make brown out of some combination of those?

(turn to James)Do you?

JAMESOut of white, yellow, green, orange and red? Don’t look at me expecting Mark Rothko. I drive a bus.

SCOTTWe have no time. Let me think

(puts hand to head)We’ll have to make doo.

(as an aside to audience)That’s with two O’s, and I’m afraid that where you think this is going, oh, it’s going there alright.

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(back to others)I have a plan.

JAMESYou seem to always do.

SCOTT(holds hands to instestines)

Actually, I've been a little shall we say "irregular" lately. But that will all be explained in the plan. Huddle Formation!

(They huddle. At one point Ben and James recoil, but Scott draws them in. They determine something by all throwing their hands as if playing rock/paper/scissors. It’s obvious that Scott has lost. However, he waves his hands and points to his intestines and shakes his head. They throw again and Ben is chosen. Ben sheepishly takes a can of paint and goes behind the lighthouse where the audience cannot see him.)

SCOTTNice fellow really.

JAMESAs lunatics go, I’d say I’d agree.

(Some length of time goes by. Scott and James fidget and look at their watches)

SCOTTIn case the situation did not make itself abundantly clear to you, this is no time to be reading the sports page.

(Ben bounds out proudly. Holding can up. Scott gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up, but starts to recoil, as does James, when he starts to bring it a little too close.)

SCOTTUp there with that.

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(BEN climbs the ladder to the sheet. He attempts to use the brush on what is in the can, but the substance will not stick to the brush.)

BENIt won’t stick to the brush. What should I do?

SCOTT(to audience)

Look, I know if there’s a hell, I’ve already got my ticket punched, but I’ll admit, this may be pushing it a little too far even for me.

(to Ben)Do you like monkeys?

BENLike in the jungle monkeys?

JAMES(to Scott, waving arms)

As opposed to the kind you’d find?

SCOTTI want you to imagine you are a monkey. An angry monkey. I want you to do what monkeys do when they are very, very angry. When they are very, very angry they…um…

BEN(happily using hands)

Like this?

SCOTTYes! That’s it exactly! You make an excellent angry monkey.

BENI’ve actually always wanted to do this. I’m a big fan of Fluxus art.

JAMESOf course he is.

(another cellphone message comes in)

SCOTT Silence!

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(Looks worried as he reads message. He moves to sit in one of the chairs, visibly shaken)

JAMESWhat is it?

SCOTT(to Ben)

You can stop. Come down.

JAMESWhat is it?

BEN:Perhaps you can break it down into good new and bad news?

SCOTT:Well, the

(sarcastically w/ airquotes)good news, ne, the great news is that we won’t be spending another night up here.

BENThank god. I’m so sick of beans.

JAMESAnd the bad news?

SCOTT(looks at him and nods. JAMES sits down)

So it’s time.

SCOTTSo it’s time.

BENSo it’s time?

SCOTT

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So it’s time.(sadly)

Soliloquy. We think we can touch every corner of the world. Be in all places at once.... (angrily)

FUCK!(Composes himself, then says with a commanding presence)

Like we practiced. Our best time ever. No mistakes. I want us up and going in under 2 minutes.

(The three characters take explosives out of the various sacks and bags lying around and wire the lighthouse. There is a timer visible to the audience set to 5 minutes that begins to tick down.)

SCOTTThere’s still time for the finale before

(nods to the explosives)you know.

(all three comes to the front of the lighthouse railing and lean on it looking out into audience)

Group soliloquy!

JAMESClear the board, the end is nigh.

SCOTTClearly bored, the end as night.

BENThere's got to be a morning after?

JAMES They paved Paradise and put up a new Paradise, but this time it was all luxury condos with underground parking and two floors of retail, including a Jimmy Choo.

SCOTTLike a bird in a fryer. Like a trunk borne on thin white tires. I have tripped in my waves to the sea.

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JAMESnow the waves strike but they are too

SCOTTno longer walking

BENwhat comes after they

JAMESwho are the ones

BENwhere there is a place that we know

SCOTTby the first civilization finished up

JAMESlast night following through

BENthe epilogue

SCOTTso a similar directive was given

JAMESsomewhere between the real

BENand the excluded from this

SCOTTor chewing the words of uncertain meaning

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JAMESwe link to something

BENthe obsessive

SCOTTthe early

JAMESwhat comes after forgetting

BENwhen fair and but idea

SCOTTrelating sounds to everywhere

JAMESI sees in these What I’ve been

BENour before

SCOTTI could only question

JAMESI wouldn’t return that judgment

BENchagrin

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SCOTTsurvival

JAMESground work

BENall

SCOTTpossibly

JAMESfluent in what breaks

BENwere in you in my velocity

SCOTTI and who were relating to light

JAMEScertain structures for silence

BENthings by breaks

SCOTTas possibility or afterthoughts

JAMESwhat life there

SCOTTnow after, what changes

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BENwhat changes

JAMESwhat changes

SCOTTis I

BENis I

JAMESis I

SCOTTruling that recovery

BENfilling the underscores

JAMESyou get to torpor

SCOTTyou get corporeal

BENyou get to the figuring slip

JAMESwhat works are

SCOTT

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possibly elements known

BENa modulation

JAMESisolated

SCOTTparts together

BENin sections

JAMESthat tried certain

SCOTTamong sound then is found remitting music

BENthat which needs its absence

JAMESas that then surrounding

SCOTTthat's the stuff I’d say

JAMESact

BENsound

32

SCOTTwork

JAMESbuild

BENlook about

SCOTTI answer I

JAMESwhat could ask

BENas nothing

SCOTTbut stasis

JAMESone breath

BENof inception to what playground

SCOTTI’m lightly

JAMESstately

BEN

33

off detail

SCOTThow I spiral

JAMESripple in expression

BENa while

SCOTToften or interplay

JAMEScomposed

BENin the obsessive

SCOTTin outbursting

JAMESlong long now I moved from surprise

BENthe changes interpreting

SCOTTthe drenched wants

JAMESit’s when

34

BENit’s always for

SCOTTsolitude

JAMESstories

(Lights start to fade. The actors voices get softer and softer with the darkness.)

BENit's almost our life reciting the morning to a mirror

SCOTTit’s I too if goodnight

JAMESthink for breath to breathe

BENbreathe up always acts of secrecy

SCOTThow something to solve

JAMESwith a kind of cold talking

BENwhat of I in and out of I

SCOTTconfronting

35

JAMEShave a world

BENamong them and us

SCOTTand love teach us delight

(by this time the stage is pitch black except for the timer, which when reaching zero, itself turns black. At this moment, the audience should expect a thundering explosion, but one does not occur, in keeping w/ one of Scott’s very first lines in the play “You never know when a good soliloquy may just be your ticket out.”)

THE END