A script of mine

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Hi, I just wrote this script, and I'm just posting it for critiquing.

NEIGHBORS
By Tim Lam
Inspired from “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Setting: The Parker’s living room

Time: Early evening, around 5 pm

Characters: John Parker-45 year old English teacher
Michelle Parker-42 year old children’s author
Taylor Russell-29 year old journalist
Anne Russell-28 year old psychology major

As the play opens, it shows Michelle sitting down on one of the couches. There is a coffee table in the middle the room, with several small plates of tidbits littering the table. The stage is set so that the couches are slightly cheated, so it opens up as a ‘V’ towards the audience with the table in the middle.

As the curtains open, we here door slam offstage.

Ent. John

JOHN: Damn that insufferable fool!


MICHELLE: It’s nice to see you too.


JOHN: (sitting down opposite from Michelle) You know what he did? First day he arrives. First day! And he’s already…


MICHELLE: (interrupting) Speaking of that “insufferable fool” I invited them to dinner tonight.


JOHN: What? Why? Why would you do something like that?


MICHELLE: I admit, I dislike him too; he has that personality that begs to be hated, and his wife…let’s just say she’s better endowed in other places. Besides, I feel it lets us know our new neighbors a bit better.


JOHN: (smiling) Ah yes, we won’t be much neighbors then.

(The doorbell rings, and Michelle ‘skips’ off the couch and exits the stage/answer the door. Later she reenters the stage with Taylor and Anne. John stands up and signals for them to take a seat. Taylor sits down opposite from John, and Anne sit next to Taylor, while Michelle takes a seat next to John.)


JOHN: Hello there, and welcome to our humble abode…please help yourselves to anything you see here.


TAYLOR: Thanks for inviting us, not knowing anyone here is murder. Speaking of which, where’s your restroom?

MICHELLE: Down the hall, and around the corner.


TAYLOR: (standing up) Thanks.

Ex. Taylor


MICHELLE: So, Anne, is it? What exactly do you do for a living?


ANNE: Well I am currently unemployed…


JOHN: (interrupting) Unemployed? A modern woman such as yourself unemployed? So you don’t do anything?


ANNE: Well there…


MICHELLE: (interrupting) Idle hands maketh the Devil’s tools. So says in the good book.


JOHN: And there is truth in those words.


ANNE: (looks around confused) Yes, well


JOHN: (interrupting) Tell me Ms. Russell. Are you a religious person?


ANNE: Well no not…

MICHELLE: (interrupting) No? My, my, such a pretty face with idle hands, and a faithless heart? I think it is towards the first level of hell in Dante’s for you…


JOHN: No, no. She can always go to limbo with all the unsaved babies.


MICHELLE: Hmm…you have a point. But then she would have to be…


Ent. Taylor

(All conversation seems to stop immediately as Taylor enters the room and sits down. Anne seems to be confused and on the brink of tears. She leans towards Taylor and whispers something into his ear. Taylor pulls Anne up and takes her to one side of the room. They whisper for a while before sitting down. John and Michelle are smiling at each other.)

TAYLOR: Sorry about that


JOHN: (smiling) That’s…all right.


ANNE: (grips Taylor’s hand) Y-you have a very nice house.


JOHN: Why thank you, it took a lot of time for us to make it as it is.


MICHELLE: Yes plenty of energy was put in to make it look like this.


ANNE: (Tightens her grip) Y-yes, I’m sure it did.


JOHN: Yes, yes, yes, now, away from our house. Tell me Taylor, what do you do?


TAYLOR: Me? Well I’m in journalism.


JOHN: Ah. Journalism, the art of writing just what you see. Where imagination is…lacking.


TAYLOR: Well that is not exactly true…

MICHELLE: (interrupting) Well I must check up on you dinner. Have fun you three.

Ex. Michelle


TAYLOR: (pointing at frame) What’s that?


JOHN: This? Oh this is an article about how I was the youngest Dean of the English department back in my heyday.


TAYLOR: (picks up the picture) Hmm. Anne can you look at this picture? (Anne leans in) If you look closely, you can see Mrs. Parker with her body completely turned away from Mr. Parker. Look at her hand, and, now look at the grip, it seems like she is twisting away as well. Now look at her gaze and her smile. I think it’s directed to…well.

(John frowns.)


ANNE: I know, I see. The body position acts like a shield, or a barrier, and is completely blocking out the one who is facing her back (looks up at John). Now the twisted arm shows her trying to break his grip, as if twisting or shrinking away. The gaze, is almost doting, to…who’s this? (leans towards picture) the president of the board. Anyway she looks like she’s sucking up to him, or trying to impress him. (looks up one last time at John)

(John opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, his eyebrows furrowing, as if to comeback with a retort. Anne and Taylor smile at John, and Taylor places the frame back on the table, to have it immediately snatched up and examined by John. Anne and Taylor smile at each other.)


Ent. Michelle

MICHELLE: Well, everything seems to be well underway. We can start eating in around an hour.


JOHN: (placing the picture down and eying Michelle suspiciously) That’s good to hear, I’m famished.


(Michelle turns away clean up some things, and John looks at her accusingly, Michelle spins around, and John puts on a false and unconvincing smile just as she looks at him.)

MICHELLE: (sitting down) What?


JOHN: Oh, nothing. I was just thinking how happy we are together…right?

(Taylor and Anne smile, and turns towards Michelle intently waiting for an answer. John leans forward, to hear as well.)


MICHELLE: Of course we are, why do you ask?


JOHN: Oh, nothing.


ANNE: So, Michelle, what do you do for a living?


MICHELLE: Well, I’m a children’s book author.


TAYLOR: Really? What books have you written?


MICHELLE: Well, I have written a book called “Fredrick”.


JOHN: It is quite popular among some circles.


TAYLOR: Well I haven’t heard of it before. What circles is it popular in?


MICHELLE: (shoots John an angry glance) Obscure ones.


JOHN: Don’t be modest; your book must be popular…shouldn’t they?

(Michelle once again glares at John, silently mouthing the words “Shut up” at him. John stares meekly and bobs his head slightly as if in a nod.)


JOHN: (glancing at Michelle, then gets up) Um…I must, uh…facilitate the restroom now. Don’t have too much fun…uh…without me.

Ex. John


MICHELLE: I must apologize for that…


TAYLOR: Nonsense there is no need to apologize for another spouse’s…


MICHELLE: Pardon? I couldn’t here what you just said.


ANNE: Oh, Taylor meant nothing. Tell us; is anything in the works for you right now?


MICHELLE: Actually, no, I’ve been having quite a writer’s block for a while. And truth be told, “Fredrick” is not selling well either.


TAYLOR: My, my, writer’s block, and an unmarketable book. What a fix. And one would believe with all the talk of popularity and circles, that it was a successful book…


MICHELLE: (shifts uncomfortably) Well…


ANNE: (interrupting) Yes it seems that poor John is living within a fantasy, of you being a successful author, pumping out books one at a time. Or is it, in fact I’ve seen it done, you remember the Burrhams right Taylor?


TAYLOR: (frowning, as in remembering something) Oh yes. Poor folk. We had them over for dinner one time. The husband acted much like John. Pouring out praises left and right. And it turns out, he was…


ANNE: (interrupting) Having an affair.


TAYLOR: Yes it was all a façade


ANNE: A masquerade


MICHELLE: I don’t think…


TAYLOR: (interrupting) Playing a game with her.


MICHELLE: P-please…


ANNE: (interrupting) Sad really.


MICHELLE: N-no…


TAYLOR: (interrupting) Tore her up, she didn’t take it well I think she…

Ent. John


MICHELLE: (close to tears) SHUT UP!


JOHN: What? What’s wrong?


MICHELLE: (wiping her eyes) Can I see you in the kitchen, now.

(Michelle stands up, and tries to walk confidently and calmly off stage. John shrugs apologetically at Taylor and Anne, and walks offstage. Taylor and Anne smile at each other. Taylor then takes out a piece of paper from his pocket and starts writing on it. NOTE: THE REST OF THE SPEAKING PARTS FOR JOHN AND MICHELLE SHALL BE OFFSTAGE. )


JOHN: (irritated) What the hell was that about?


MICHELLE: (accusingly) I’ll tell you, it’s about you cheating on me!


JOHN: Me? What do you mean me cheating on you? What about you and that goddamn president? Don’t think I don’t know!


MICHELLE: Oh. Don’t try to make up stories! You’re ashamed of me, and how badly my writing is coming along!


JOHN: What? Who’s making up stories now? Who? And what about this crap? Why the hell have you been spending so much?


MICHELLE: What the hell were you doing in my things? I had them under control!


JOHN: Under control? Under control? You’ve never had anything under control! I’m already stretched with this house and everything! And now you start spending the money we need on crap?


MICHELLE: I could’ve paid them off with the revenues from my…


JOHN: Your what? Your book? They’re not worth diddly right now! So don’t talk to me about money. You were only able to right those books with my help, you ungrateful…


MICHELLE: Your help? You tried to bring me down the entire time I was writing them!

(Taylor finishes what he is writing and pockets his pen, but leaves the paper on the table. He smiles, stands up and helps Anne up. They smile once again at each other. The Parkers are still arguing.)


TAYLOR: I think its well past the time for us to leave.


ANNE: You’re right, we can always see them in some less inopportune time.


Ex. Anne and Taylor (The Parkers are still arguing)