I first came up with this story idea when I was 14 in literature class and could never figure out a way to do it. So I've decided to have my first shot at play writing. This scene is shorter than the other too, it's just an introduction to the idea of the play more than anything else.
Characters –
Tony – Middle class misery. Early 30s aged more by vice, with little regard for anything other than his own fulfilment. Journeying to Scotland to attend his Uncle’s funeral. He’s a journalist with a general disdain for life, stuck on a crappy local newspaper and watching what shadow of a life he has slip away. Dressed in a loose white shirt and a pair of stone washed jeans. Is thumbing through a piece of trashy pulp fiction.
Luc – A surly youth. Dressed in dark combat fatigues, and a torn flak jacket, and bearing visible signs of battle. He is in his late teens by the look of him; his face covered half in bandages the rest flecked in dirt and blood. He holds a long dark feather in his hands all the time and smiles with an insidious nature.
Robert/Robbie/Rubina – Three different guises of the same character, each guise is in one of the scenes. Robert in scene 1, Robbie in scene 2, Rubina in scene 3. The character is dressed exactly the same throughout, a white suit with a light blue tie and a Panama Hat with a white feather stuck in the band. Robert is a middle aged gentleman with a healthy tan and a genial laugh, kinda snobby but well meaning. Robbie is a young black man, more serious than Robert, but more accepting. He smiles devilishly after every sentence, as if nothing he says is serious. Rubina is a teenage Asian girl, furious and righteous, terrifying and incredible.
Susan: A ticket inspector, loves her job, never allows for fare dodgers. Devout catholic.
The Set
The inside of a train car, there should at least be a back wall with windows. The windows should have images either painted or projected on them to indicate the outside world. This image needs to change each scene. Against the wall are three tables with two sets of chairs around each. It is just a cross section of a standard express train carriage.
Scene 1
<Robert and Susan stand on the left side of the train, Susan is trying to get her ticket machine to work while Robert amiably looks at a pocket watch. He passes a glance to Luc who is sat on the furthest to the right set of seats. His hands are bound together as if he were praying. His head is resting on the table. Tony is sat in the middle, reading his book and taking an occasional sip from a Styrofoam cup, he winces with each sip as if he was drinking pure filth.>
SFX: Low general train sounds
V/O [LOUDSPEAKER]: Attention, due to an error on the line we expect minor delays 10 miles out of Inverness. Have a pleasant trip
<Tony glares at the ticket inspector with unparalleled menace, catching the attention of Robert who smiles genially at him. The lights flicker and Susan walks off stage>
Susan (walking off): I’ll be back with your change sir.
<Robert nods his head before walking over to Tony and sitting opposite him>
Robert: Hey friend looks like we’re in this together. You and me stuck out here.
<Tony lifts his eyes from his book and sneers at Robert before returning his attention to the page>
Robert: My name’s Robert, Robert Foster.
<Robert extends a hand and with an audible sigh Tony shakes it quickly before drawing it back to his side of the table>
Robert: We’re all the same us Brits. Bound by politeness to do things we’re loathe to.
Tony: Yeah
Robert: My name’s Robert by the way, Robert…
Tony (interrupting grumpily): Foster, I know you just told me. I’m just trying to read, I don’t want to chat. So why don’t you just look out of the window and amuse yourself.
<Robert nods his head and looks out of the window. Every ten seconds or so he remarks on some inane detail he sees until Tony is finally forced into conversation>
Tony (getting quite irate): Fine, my names Tony Middleton, I’m a boring journalist, LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION.
Robert: Don’t you like Cows?
Tony: I like Milk and Beef, the rest of it can fuck off for all I care.
Robert: A pragmatist?
Tony: No, I just don’t care about cows.
Robert: What about Sheep?
Tony: Sheep, Cows, Pigs, whatever. They’re all the same to me. Animals which I either see on the TV or on my plate.
Robert: They’re fascinating creatures. Sheep especially, I had a lot of fun with those.
<Tony raises his eyebrow and almost smirks>
Robert: Don’t worry, I’m not that way inclined. I mean they were fun to design.
Tony: Design?
Robert: Yeah, I only gave them wool at the last minute. They were awful looking creatures before that stroke of genius; it always upsets me to see them sheered.
Tony: You designed sheep?
Robert: Well I finished the design; my employer did all the good stuff. I just neatened the edges.
Tony: Your employer?
Robert: The editor in chief of the whole cosmos.
Tony: God?
Robert: Yes and no. More like a pulse of unbridled consciousness which runs throughout all of creation. It creates and we mould.
<Tony looks at Robert incredulously>
Robert: It’s like a machine which constantly makes play dough. The dough itself is impossible for us to make, but possible for us to shape. We take the basic stuff and make something incredible out of it.
Tony: So you’re a god?
Robert: In the Norse sense yes, in the Catholic sense, no.
Tony (his sneer returned): Prove it!
Robert: Fine
<Robert clicks his fingers 6 times, he does this slowly waiting a beat with each click, with each click a boom of thunder sounds>
Tony: The hell…
Robert: Still not convinced?
<Robert clicks his fingers again and suddenly the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah blares across the loudspeaker>
Tony: Christ
Robert: We’ve already ruled out catholic deities. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to arrange a date with destiny.
<Robert stands up, and puts his watch onto the table>
Robert: Luc, come here and I’ll untie you. I want you to keep our friend company.
<Luc gets up from his chair and sits down where Robert was sat. He pulls his hands apart and the bonds fall off>
Robert: I’ll warn you now, our mutual friend is more in line with catholic viewpoints.
SFX: The theme from the Omen, or some other piece of demonic music.
Tony: You’re leaving me to chat with the devil?
Robert: I don’t expect conversation, just keep yourselves out of trouble for the next five minutes.
Tony: Yeah, but the devil. Does he bite? Should I have had shots?
Robert: Luc doesn’t bite, and if he did I’m sure your doctors couldn’t even imagine the ways to cure the diseases you’d catch.
Fade to Black on Scene 1
Characters –
Tony – Middle class misery. Early 30s aged more by vice, with little regard for anything other than his own fulfilment. Journeying to Scotland to attend his Uncle’s funeral. He’s a journalist with a general disdain for life, stuck on a crappy local newspaper and watching what shadow of a life he has slip away. Dressed in a loose white shirt and a pair of stone washed jeans. Is thumbing through a piece of trashy pulp fiction.
Luc – A surly youth. Dressed in dark combat fatigues, and a torn flak jacket, and bearing visible signs of battle. He is in his late teens by the look of him; his face covered half in bandages the rest flecked in dirt and blood. He holds a long dark feather in his hands all the time and smiles with an insidious nature.
Robert/Robbie/Rubina – Three different guises of the same character, each guise is in one of the scenes. Robert in scene 1, Robbie in scene 2, Rubina in scene 3. The character is dressed exactly the same throughout, a white suit with a light blue tie and a Panama Hat with a white feather stuck in the band. Robert is a middle aged gentleman with a healthy tan and a genial laugh, kinda snobby but well meaning. Robbie is a young black man, more serious than Robert, but more accepting. He smiles devilishly after every sentence, as if nothing he says is serious. Rubina is a teenage Asian girl, furious and righteous, terrifying and incredible.
Susan: A ticket inspector, loves her job, never allows for fare dodgers. Devout catholic.
The Set
The inside of a train car, there should at least be a back wall with windows. The windows should have images either painted or projected on them to indicate the outside world. This image needs to change each scene. Against the wall are three tables with two sets of chairs around each. It is just a cross section of a standard express train carriage.
Scene 1
<Robert and Susan stand on the left side of the train, Susan is trying to get her ticket machine to work while Robert amiably looks at a pocket watch. He passes a glance to Luc who is sat on the furthest to the right set of seats. His hands are bound together as if he were praying. His head is resting on the table. Tony is sat in the middle, reading his book and taking an occasional sip from a Styrofoam cup, he winces with each sip as if he was drinking pure filth.>
SFX: Low general train sounds
V/O [LOUDSPEAKER]: Attention, due to an error on the line we expect minor delays 10 miles out of Inverness. Have a pleasant trip
<Tony glares at the ticket inspector with unparalleled menace, catching the attention of Robert who smiles genially at him. The lights flicker and Susan walks off stage>
Susan (walking off): I’ll be back with your change sir.
<Robert nods his head before walking over to Tony and sitting opposite him>
Robert: Hey friend looks like we’re in this together. You and me stuck out here.
<Tony lifts his eyes from his book and sneers at Robert before returning his attention to the page>
Robert: My name’s Robert, Robert Foster.
<Robert extends a hand and with an audible sigh Tony shakes it quickly before drawing it back to his side of the table>
Robert: We’re all the same us Brits. Bound by politeness to do things we’re loathe to.
Tony: Yeah
Robert: My name’s Robert by the way, Robert…
Tony (interrupting grumpily): Foster, I know you just told me. I’m just trying to read, I don’t want to chat. So why don’t you just look out of the window and amuse yourself.
<Robert nods his head and looks out of the window. Every ten seconds or so he remarks on some inane detail he sees until Tony is finally forced into conversation>
Tony (getting quite irate): Fine, my names Tony Middleton, I’m a boring journalist, LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION.
Robert: Don’t you like Cows?
Tony: I like Milk and Beef, the rest of it can fuck off for all I care.
Robert: A pragmatist?
Tony: No, I just don’t care about cows.
Robert: What about Sheep?
Tony: Sheep, Cows, Pigs, whatever. They’re all the same to me. Animals which I either see on the TV or on my plate.
Robert: They’re fascinating creatures. Sheep especially, I had a lot of fun with those.
<Tony raises his eyebrow and almost smirks>
Robert: Don’t worry, I’m not that way inclined. I mean they were fun to design.
Tony: Design?
Robert: Yeah, I only gave them wool at the last minute. They were awful looking creatures before that stroke of genius; it always upsets me to see them sheered.
Tony: You designed sheep?
Robert: Well I finished the design; my employer did all the good stuff. I just neatened the edges.
Tony: Your employer?
Robert: The editor in chief of the whole cosmos.
Tony: God?
Robert: Yes and no. More like a pulse of unbridled consciousness which runs throughout all of creation. It creates and we mould.
<Tony looks at Robert incredulously>
Robert: It’s like a machine which constantly makes play dough. The dough itself is impossible for us to make, but possible for us to shape. We take the basic stuff and make something incredible out of it.
Tony: So you’re a god?
Robert: In the Norse sense yes, in the Catholic sense, no.
Tony (his sneer returned): Prove it!
Robert: Fine
<Robert clicks his fingers 6 times, he does this slowly waiting a beat with each click, with each click a boom of thunder sounds>
Tony: The hell…
Robert: Still not convinced?
<Robert clicks his fingers again and suddenly the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah blares across the loudspeaker>
Tony: Christ
Robert: We’ve already ruled out catholic deities. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to arrange a date with destiny.
<Robert stands up, and puts his watch onto the table>
Robert: Luc, come here and I’ll untie you. I want you to keep our friend company.
<Luc gets up from his chair and sits down where Robert was sat. He pulls his hands apart and the bonds fall off>
Robert: I’ll warn you now, our mutual friend is more in line with catholic viewpoints.
SFX: The theme from the Omen, or some other piece of demonic music.
Tony: You’re leaving me to chat with the devil?
Robert: I don’t expect conversation, just keep yourselves out of trouble for the next five minutes.
Tony: Yeah, but the devil. Does he bite? Should I have had shots?
Robert: Luc doesn’t bite, and if he did I’m sure your doctors couldn’t even imagine the ways to cure the diseases you’d catch.
Fade to Black on Scene 1
