Simple (working title)

(K can be either Keith or Kathryn- gender is insignificant.)

FIRST SEQUENCE:

D- I tried not to, Kathy... I tried... (she mutters softly, slower and slower, without acknowledging Kathy at all)

K-(into a cell phone) I need an ambulance- Please. My wife, she's, uh, she's had an accident, she's bleeding- oh my god (pressing against the wound) Please- please- (the phone slips from her ear) I love you, I'm right here, Dawn. Right here. Dawn? (her eyes close, she goes limp) Dawn, Dawn, look at me. (grabs for the phone) I need an ambulance! (looks at the audience) One of you, get a fucking doctor. (turns to her, pauses, looks back around) Fuck. (turns her attention to Dawn- she grows quieter, eventually freezes. Both actors should remain motionless for a few moments, and then as lights begin to slowly fade...)

D- (sighs) Damn. I did it, again, didn't I? I tried so hard.

K- It can't be helped. We're only so many words.

(Lights out)

I RESET:

Both actors (not characters) rise a few moments later, and replace the gun, phone, clothing, and program where they were originally found [reference 2nd sequence for set-up]. They then exit, and prepare for the second sequence.

SECOND SEQUENCE:

USC Dawn enters, freezing when she sees the audience. She steadies herself, and completes her entrance.

D- (strides to the dresser, and begins removing clothing) Packing. I hate packing. Too much preparation. If I'm going, I'd rather just go and be gone. There's too much time to think. I guess it's a good sign that I can take my own clothes, this time, right? Last time it was just the scrubs, through the whole visit. Pale green against off-white walls, floors, and ceilings for months on end. If you aren't crazy to begin with, you will be shortly. The only things of color are the pills. Yellow, pink, blue... and they are endless. Depending on who's prescribing them, of course. We'll see how this one goes. Doctor Herr. She seemed okay. What did you think? (hesitant) She said that she can make me better. She seemed so sure, too. She looked me in the eye, handed me a bottle, and said that she could make you go away. She said that I should tell you that. That it might help. Does this scare you as much as it does me? To be honest, I don't know what I'd feel if someone could take a pill and make me go away. I've always thought that it would scare me, to be in your situation... at the whim of someone's frightful delusions, never knowing when you'll have a chance to exist again... Does it hurt to pop in and out of existence, like you do? (brief pause) When I don't see you, do you even know you don't exist? (waits, then shrugs off her disappointment at the silence) Well, you never answered before, I guess there's no reason why you should answer me, now. (pauses- looks up sharply) No, there is a reason. You owe it to me. Yes, yes, that's right. You owe it to me. You know you do. After all that you've stolen from my life, it's only right... I should be able to steal some from yours. An image of your childhoods... your parents... your weddings... your children- (chokes to a stop on 'children') There must be some tiny bit you can give- that would make us even... make this fair before you're gone. That would be fair. (singles out audience member) Don't you think so? (singles out another, as Kathryn enters behind her) Don't you think that's fair?

K- Think what's fair?

D- (startled, but responding quickly) That they should share their lives with me. As I've been forced to share with them.

K- (looking around the room, seeing only the walls of their bedroom) Yes, that seems perfectly fair. (pause) Have they answered you?

D- No, they never want to interact with me. No gestures, no words... not a goddamn thing. They're content to stare me down until I'm too mad to-

K- You're not mad.

D- Do you see them, too?

K- (suppressing a cringe) No, I-

D- No, no, no... (affectionately mocking, quietly desperate) I only see masses of silent people watching me as if I were some character upon a stage. No crazy here. None at all. (on the verge of a silent emotion that quickly subsides)

K- But it's not you. You remember... the doctor said-

D- (reciting) ... seeing what isn't there is a flaw in my gray matter, not a reflection of my person and reason... Of course, of course.

K- You are not crazy. (a game between them) You're the sanest, gentlest, most loving person I've ever known.

D- (playing, for her sake) And you are the craziest, meanest, most selfish creature I've ever found.

K- Beside me, you must be perfect.

D- And when you're gone?

K- And where would I be going?

D- (nods) I'll just finish packing. (pause) Could I have some time alone, before we go?

K- Of course. If you're sure-

D- (curt) Yes. (pause) Thank you. (Kathryn exits, while Dawn continues packing. She eventually takes an interest in the audience, again.) I remember the first time I saw you... so long ago. I remember sitting alone in the front room... and then you were there with me, where the front window was supposed to be... Well, I don't know if it was YOU, you... but another group like you. What is that? Am I too weak-minded to hold a steady delusion? Or is there more to you than silent expectation? Do you have make-believe families and lives that you go to, when I'm not looking? Could I be so creative, that I'd create an entire community in the back of my mind? A whole world? Huh. Funny thought. Well, I don't think it was you, last time, either. How long has it been? Almost two years, I think... well, until last week, anyway. Why do you come? Does my suffering provide you with some pleasure? Does it fulfill some need in your lives? (reasoning) When I was seven, you were there right before mom and dad's last fight- and when I was thirteen, you watched what happened to me without lifting a finger, to help. At nineteen, you saw what I did myself, and were every bit as silent. I remember crying. Do you remember that? Do you remember me begging you for help? I do. Not that you cared. Or did you? Was it you that called for help? Or was it really mere 'luck' that Kathryn came along when she did? How cliche. (long pause) Do you care about me? Did I give you souls, after all? Souls that could give some comfort in addition to cold stares? Is you interest something tantamount to affection... concern... or love, maybe? It isn't, is it? No, of course not. Love me? ... You were at my wedding. That was awkward... instead of loved ones, silent strangers with blank stares... (chilled) I'm still not sure why you were there. There was no misery on that day, except you. (Kathryn enters, without interrupting) But you showed up when I found her with her ex-husband. Was that why? Was it a prelude? Some buildup, a warning of sorrows to come? Do you get some sort of kick out of watching me break? And then last week- She was- She is- She isn't... Nonsense. What would Kathy say, if she could see me now? Kathy... without Kathryn I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't disappear right along with you. Like some lost thought that leaves you wondering if an answer had been right there, within your grasp... if you'd only been able to take hold of it- (long pause... then begins moving toward the audience) Can I touch you? (asking permission- pause- seizing the perceived right) If I really want to, shouldn't I be able to? If you are in my head- if I can make my eyes see what isn't there, why can't my hands be made to feel it? (stretches out her hand- a mixture of dread and reverence)

K- Dawn, please-

D- I just want to touch them. Just once. I deserve to touch them.

K- Don't.

D- Why not? Where's my return, here? I give them life and they do nothing but watch me hurt.

K- They're not real.

D- Of course they are. (pause) No. No? No, no they're not. I made them, they're in my head. I know. I really do. (continues moving toward the audience- desperate and terrified- she touches someone) Aahu- (noise of surprise and delight) Did you see?! I touched him/her! Hahaha.... I did it! I did it, I did, right there- the one with the (describes audience member). I touched him/her... hahahaha... Kathy, Kathy I did it, I made it happen, they let it happen, we, we touched- (to the audience member) Did you feel it? You must've, if I did- hehehe... hahahah.... Oh, oh my, it's, it's like, umm... like having a third arm you didn't know about turn out to have been asleep all this time- Oh, Kathy- this is so much more-

K- Dawn, Dawn- (moves to her) You touched the wall. See? (slides her hand through the air, as if along a solid wall)

D- But I- (terrified, elated, and now thoroughly confused) No, no- I did touch him/her. I did. I did, just a ;moment ago. Right there- (to the audience member) You remember, don't you? Of course, how could you- I mean, it was just-... (back to Kathy) How could think that- a wall? No, no, I did, my fingers remember... (reaches out, again, but Kathy catches her hand)

K- Dawn, Dawn... look at me. (gently guides Dawn's face toward hers) I'm going to get your medicine.

D- Might as well. I obviously can't fix me.

K- It's okay. (pause) It will be okay.

D- Will it? That's good to know. Did you hear her? She said it's going to be okay. Good, good. I wonder when. (inspects her hand, distractedly)

K- (guides Dawn to the bed, brushes the side of her face) I'll be right back.

D- (touches her hand to her cheek, experimentally- turns to the audience member) I did touch you, didn't I? Please give me some response, one way or the other... I can take it, it's okay. Or (gestures after K) it will be. Did I touch you, or didn't I? (whispering) Please answer me, this once. Just a word. That's all I want. I- I know that I touched you, right there. You cannot take that away from me, not now. I've seen you, smelled you for years... and now I've felt you, I've finally, finally touched you. What I would give to- (notices a program- picks it up) to... to... what a strange... Kathryn? (reading) Simple... by Sarah Scott. Why- (looks up at the audience member, from whom she's taken the program, then back to the program) Characters... Dawn... (actor's name). Who's (actor's name)? Kathryn- that's my wife, she's just left... who's (actor's name)? (whispered) No. No. That's not, that's not possible. You're in MY head. Mine. Yes? Yes. Right? I'm real, I made you up in my chemically imbalanced head. I couldn't- I mean, now could I be... NO. You're in my head. I'm not in yours. (loaded pause) Am I? (her eyes glaze a bit, and she turns from the audience, feeling her body out, sorting sense information supporting both possibilities... growing angrily confused, she moves quickly toward the audience member)

K- (enters, finding Dawn about to throw herself into the wall, rushes to catch her) Dawn. Please Dawn. (near panic- it's never been this bad) Please... oh, please, Dawn... Dawn... look at me. Focus. Focus on me. I'm here. Look at me, I'm right here... (holds her cheeks, forcing their eyes to meet)

D- (matter-of-fact, slightly amused) No. You aren't.

K- Shh... (rocking her) I love you. I AM here, Dawn. I will not leave you. Not ever. You and me. It's just you and me. (K's eyes search the walls, vainly seeking the people D insists are there)

D- (babbling) Whoah, I just- I, uh... hahaha... I don't know how- I, found a, um, a program, and it, it had us in it, me and you, I mean- and I don't- I mean, is that possible? No, no, it isn't, we aren't, they aren't... I- I... I'm lost, Kathy. So long, so long I could see them... smell them... and now, now I've touched them, they let me touch them, just in time for this, for this, this charade, this game. It's over, I can't, I can't- I'm lost...

K- No, no you're not I've got you right here. As long as we're together-

D- (sick, gently maniacal giggle) But you're lost, too.

K- What?

D- Lost, complete limbo, without a place, devoid of origin, empty- you're lost, lost... just like me. Everybody... we all are, the doctors, you, me, our daughter- (nearly choking) She's lost, lost... but if we are, then maybe, maybe it's for the best, maybe it's better, better for her... not some name on a  page.. but- (turning to audience) What about you? Are you lost? Are you watched? Do you think as much, feel as much, do you HURT as much? How could you, I, I don't, how, why, do you even know? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU DO? (violently pushes away from K) I HATE YOU. Damn you, and your twisted, broken creations. (deep breath) Is this it? IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE IN YOU?

K- Dawn... (runs from the room)

D- (turns toward his exit) Kathy, wait- no. Don't leave me alone. Not with them. Not with them. You. You have made me. To suffer- Why? Is there a reason? Some purpose I don't understand, some meaning behind what I, what we go through? Why are your tongues still? Is there some book that holds your answers? Some prayer to earn your words? Is all I am nothing more than your words? No, no- I am more. I am MORE. I AM MORE. (whispers, to herself) I am only painful words. Your. Painful. Words. Can you hurt so much? And still have so much left to share? Or do you feel so little that you must hurt through me to live at all? I am not here for your pain, or, or, your pleasure. But if your words create me, dictate my every action... what is left to me?... death? (half-hearted giggle, pauses, moves to the gun safe in the bottom dresser drawer)... but even that's yours, isn't it? And you know, of course you do. You know it all too well. "To be or not to be..." Is that the question you want me to answer for you? Or is it Kathy who's to die? (holding the gun before her, delicately inspecting) Would you rather I "Put out the light, and then put out the light?" hahaha... pretty good, huh? Nothing like a good, old-fashioned homicide to titillate the fucked up masses. (a thought) How many times has this dance been performed? Is my breakdown popular, well-received? Or no, no- let me guess- will Kathy run in and save me from myself? Are you such fans of the last-minute melodrama? Perhaps I'm tragic, with this self-awareness that carries me to my inevitable, self-inflicted doom?... Or does this dark comedy move you to self-satisfied smirks Do I comment on your own theatrical scene, as you recline and slumber? Which role do I play for you? Which one?! Which fucking role do you want from me? (begins rambling toward incoherency) What role, what role, to play, a stupid play, a stupid play on a stupid, fucking stage. (giggle) Whose stage? Whose head? Mine? Yours? (actor's name)'s? So many, too many stages... too many heads... I can't... I don't... I... (cradles the gun toward her left breast, like a child- looks up) How many times must I die for you? (crying, pulls the trigger- falls)

K- (offstage) Dawn?! Dawn!! (reenters holding a mobile phone) Oh, no baby. (into the phone) Doctor, send help- there's been an accident. (ends call, dials 911)

D- I tried not to, Kathy... I tried... (she mutters softly, slower and slower, without acknowledging K at all)

K- I need an ambulance- please. My wife, she's, uh, she's had an accident, she's bleeding, oh my god- (pressing against the wound) Please- please- (the phone slips from his ear) I love you. I'm right here, Dawn. Right here. Dawn? (Dawn's eyes close, she goes limp) Dawn, Dawn, look at me. (grabs for the phone) I need an ambulance! (looks directly at the audience) One of you, get a fucking doctor. (turns to Dawn, pauses- looks back around) Fuck. (turns her attention to Dawn- grows quieter, and eventually freezes. Both actors should remain motionless for a few moments, and then as lights begin to slowly fade...)

D- (sighs) Damn. I did it again, didn't I? I tried so hard.

K- (running a hand through her hair) It can't be helped. We're only so many words.

II RESET:

Actors replace items, as before.

THIRD SEQUENCE:

(USC Dawn enters, freezing when she sees the audience. She steadies herself, and completes her entrance.)

D- (strides to the dresser, begins removing clothing) Packing. I hate packing. Too much preparation. If I'm going, I'd rather just go and be gone. (pause, as she considers her words, the audience, the space- she then heads immediately for the gun- removes it, considers it, glances at the audience) There's too much time to think. (puts the gun to her head and pulls the trigger- no shot- begins inspecting the weapon for damage- keeps gun and incorporates it from now on- every action knows the blind path of her words) I guess it's a good sign that I can take my own clothes this time, right? Last time it was just the scrubs, through the whole visit. Pale green against off-white walls, floors, and ceilings for months on end. If you aren't crazy to begin with, you will be shortly. The only things of color are the pills. Yellow, pink, blue... and they are endless. Depending on who's prescribing them, of course. We'll see how this one goes. Doctor Herr. She seemed okay. What do you think? She said that she can make me better. She seemed so sure, too. She looked me in the eye, handed me a bottle, and said that she could make you go away. She said that I should tell you that. That it might help. Does this scare you as much as it does me? To be honest, I don't know what I'd feel if someone could take a pill and make me go away. I've always thought that it would scare me, to be in your situation... at the whim of someone's frightful delusions, never knowing when you'll have a chance to exist again... Does it hurt to pop in and out of existence, like you do? When I don't see you, do you even know you don't exist? Well, you never answered before. I guess there's no reason why you should answer now. (pauses, looks up sharply- aims the gun at the nearest audience member) No, there is a reason. You owe it to me. Yes, yes, that's right. You owe it to me. You know you do. After all that you've stolen from my life, it's only right... I should be able to steal some from yours. An image of your childhoods... your parents... your weddings... your children- (still chokes to a stop on children) There must be some tiny bit you can give- that would make us even.. make this fair before you're gone. That would be fair. (singles out audience member with gun) Don't you think so? (singles out another, turning the gun on them, as K enters) Don't you think that's fair?

K- Think what's fair?

D- (startled, turns the gun on him- then goes back and forth from audience to K) That they should share their lives with me. As I've been forced to share with them.

K- (looking around the room, seeing only the bare walls of their bedroom- taking in and considering the gun) Yes, that seems perfectly fair. (pausing) Have they answered you?

D- No, (turns to the audience) they never want to interact with me. No gestures, no words... not a goddamn thing. They're content to stare me down until I'm too mad to-

K- (slowly approaching) You're not mad.

D- (glancing over her shoulder) Do you see them, too?

K- (cringing) No, I-

D- No, no, no... (bitter, angry, gesticulating with the gun) I only see masses of silent people watching me as if I were some character upon a stage. No crazy here. (puts the gun to her head- K puts out her arms- D pulls the trigger- no shot) None at all. (resignedly points the gun at the audience)

K- But it's not you. You remember... the doctor said that-

D- (reciting)... seeing what isn't there is a flaw in my gray matter, not a reflection of my person and reason... Of course, of course.

K- You are not crazy. (a now nervous game between them, as she attempts to get close enough to disarm her) You're one of the sanest, gentlest, most loving people I've ever known-

D- (returning, without playfulness) And you are the craziest, meanest, most selfish person I've ever found.

K- Beside me, you must be perfect.

D- (grins, half-heartedly, turns and sees how close K's come- puts the gun between them- warning) And when you're gone?

K- (raises hands, freezing in place) And where would I be going?

D- (nods to herself) I'll just finish packing. (indicates exit with the gun) Could I have some time alone before we go?

K- Of course. (backing quickly, then pausing- takes a small step in her direction, arm outstretched) If you're sure-

D- (curt) Yes. (pauses- now irritated by his presence) Thank you. (K exits. She briefly resumes packing, before returning her attention to the audience.) I remember the first time I saw you... so long ago. I remember sitting alone in the front room... and then you were there with me, where the front window was supposed to be... Well, I don't know if it was YOU, you... but another group like you. What is that? Am I too weak-minded to hold onto a steady delusion? Or is there more to you than silent expectation? Do you have make-believe families and lives that you go to when I'm not looking? Could I be so creative, that I'd create an entire community in the back of my mind? A whole world? Huh. Funny thought. Well, I don't think it was you last time, either. How long has it been? A couple of years, I think... well, until last week, anyway. Why do you come? Does my suffering provide you with some pleasure? Does it fulfill some need in your lives? (reasoning) When I was seven, you were there right before mom and dad's last fight- and when I was thirteen, you watched what happened to me without lifting a finger to help. And at nineteen, you saw what I did myself and were every it as silent. I remember crying. Do you remember that? Do you remember me begging your for help? I do. Not that you cared. Or did you? Was it you that called for help? Or was it really mere "luck" that Kathryn came along when she did? How cliche. (long pause) Do you care about me? Did I give you souls after all, souls that could give some comfort in addition to cold stares? Is your interest something tantamount to affection... concern... or love, maybe? It's not, is it. No, of course not. Love me?... You were at my wedding. That was awkward... instead of loved ones, silent strangers with blank stares... (chilled)... I'm still not sure why you were there- there was no misery on that day, except you. (K enters without interrupting) But you showed up when I found her with her ex-husband. Was that why? Was it a prelude?  Some buildup, a warning of sorrows to come? Do you get some sort of kick out of watching me break? And then last week- She was- She is- She isn't... Nonsense. What would Kathy say if she could see me now? Kathy... without Kathy I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't disappear right along with you. Like some lost thought that leaves you wondering if an answer had been right there, within your grasp... if you'd only been able to take hold of it- (long pause... then begins moving toward the audience) Can I touch you? (asking permission, pause, then seizing the perceived right) If I really want to, shouldn't I be able to? If you are in my head- if I can make my eyes see what isn't there, why can't my hands be made to feel it? (she stretches out her hand with some difficult mixture of reverence and hatred)

K- Dawn, please-

D- (points gun in K's direction without altering her attention or path) I just want to touch them, just once. I deserve to touch them.

K- Don't.

D- Why not? Where's my return, here? I give them life and they do nothing but watch me hurt.

K- They're not real.

D- (screams) Of course they are. (pause, fighting words as they come out) No. No? No, no they're not. I made them, they're in my head. I know. I really do. (continues moving toward the audience- desperate, terrified- she successfully touches someone) Aahu- (noises of surprise, dismay) Did you see?! I touched him/her! Hahaha... I did it! I did it, I did, right there- the one with the (describes audience member). I touched him/her... hahahaha... Kathy, Kathy I did it, I made it happen, they let it happen, we, we touched- (to the audience member) Did you feel it? You must've, if I did- hehehe... hahaha... Oh, oh my, it's, it's like, umm... like having a third arm you didn't know about turn out to have been asleep all this time- Oh Kathy- this is so much more-

K- Dawn, Dawn- (moves near her, quickly) You touched the wall. See? (slides her hand through the air as if along a solid wall)

D- But I- (terrified, elated, ever more confused) No, no- I did touch him/her. I did. I did, just a moment ago. Right there- (to the audience member) You remember, don't you? Of course, how could you- I mean, it was just-... (back to K) How could you think that- a wall? No, no, I did, my fingers remember... (aims the gun at an audience member and fires- no shot- aims at herself again, fires- no shot)

K- Dawn, Dawn... look at me. (moves her hand to catch D's attention, without getting too close) I'm going to get your medicine.

D- Might as well. I obviously can't fix me.

K- It's okay. (realizing it's anything but) It will be okay.

D- Will it? That's good to know. Did you hear her? She said it's going to be okay. Good, good. I wonder when.

K- I'll be right back. (exits)

D- (inspects her hand, smells it... touches her cheek to see if it registers... to the audience member she touched) I did touch you, didn't I? Please give me some response, one way or the other... I can take it, it's okay. Or (gestures after K with the gun) it will be. (demanding) Did I touch you, or didn't I? (increasingly short-tempered) Please answer me, this once. Just a word, that's all I want. I- I know that I touched you, right there. You cannot take that away from me, not now. I've seen you, smelled you for years... and now I've felt you, I've finally, finally touched you. What I would give to- (notices a program and picks it up) to... to... what a strange... (giddy, a bit nauseous) Simple... by Sarah Scott. Why- (looks up at the audience member from whom she's taken the program, then back to the program itself) Characters... Dawn... (actor's name). Who's (actor's name)? Kathryn- that's my wife, she's just left... who's (actor's name)? (whispered) No. No. That's not- that's not possible. You're in MY head. Mine. Yes? Yes. Right? I'm real, I made you up in my chemically imbalanced head. I couldn't, I mean, how could I be... No. You're in my head. I'm not in yours. (loaded pause) Am I? (her eyes glaze a bit, and she turns from the audience, feeling her body out, sorting sense information supporting both possibilities... after a few moments, she turns to look at the audience, growing angrily confused until she begins to rush an audience member- K enters, seeing her wife about to throw herself into a wall, rushes to catch her- K throws her off-balance, they briefly fight for the gun, which D keeps. Dawn holds it between them, again, with both hands- now completely distrustful.)

K- Please, Dawn. (near panic) Please... oh, please, Dawn... Dawn, Dawn- look at me. Focus. Focus on me, I'm here. Look at me. I'm right here... (tries to catch Dawn's eyes, hold her focus)

D- (how many times has she said this?) No. You aren't.

K- Shh... (trying to cozy up to her, again) Shh.. I love you. I AM here, Dawn. I will not leave you. Not ever. (D points the gun at K, fires- no shot)

D- (babbling this whole time) Whoah, I just- I, uh... hahaha... I don't know how- I, found a, um, a program, and it, it had us in it, me, and you, I mean- and I don't- I mean, is that possible? No, no, it's not, we're not- they're not... I- I... I'm lost, Kathy. So long, so long I could see them... smell them... and now, now I've touched them, they let me touch them, just in time for this, for this, this charade, this game. It's over, I can't, I can't- I'm lost... (points gun at herself, fires- no shot)

K- No, no you're not- I've got you right here. As long as we're together-

D- (sick, maniacal giggle) But you're lost, too.

K- What?

D- Lost, complete limbo, without a place, devoid of origin, empty- You're lost, lost... just like me. Everybody... we all are, the doctors, you, me, our daughter- (nearly choking) She's lost, lost... but if we are, then maybe, maybe it's for the best, maybe it's better, better for her... not some name on a page... but- (turning on audience) What about you? Are you lost? Are you watched? Do you think as much, feel as much, do you HURT as much? How could you, I, I don't, how, why, do you even know? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU DO? I HATE YOU! Damn you and your twisted, broken creations. (deep breath) Is this it? IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE IN YOU?

K- Dawn! (runs from the room)

D- (turning toward K's exit) Kathy, wait!... No... Don't leave me alone. Not with them. Not with them. You. You have made me, to suffer- Why? Is there a reason? Some purpose I don't understand, some meaning behind what I, what we go through? Why are your tongues still? Is there some book that holds your answers? Some prayer to earn your words? Is all I am nothing more than our words? No, no- I am more. I am MORE. I AM MORE. (whispers) I am only painful words. Your. Painful. Words. Can you hurt so much? And still have so much left to share? Or do you feel so little that you must hurt through me to live at all? I am not here for your pain, or, or your pleasure. But if your words create me, dictate my every action... what is left to me?... death? (waves the gun about, fires it at herself a couple times- no shots- bitter and rhetorical)... but even that's yours, isn't it? And you know, of course you do. You know all too well. "To be or not to be..." Is that the question you want me to answer for you? Or is it Kathy who's to die? (turns to attempt to exit- invisible barriers prevent her leaving- she turns violently) Would you rather I "Put out the light, and then put out the light"? hahahah... Pretty good, huh? Nothing like a good, old-fashioned homicide to titillate the fucked up masses. (a thought) How many times has this dance been performed? Is my breakdown popular? Or no, no- let me guess- (hopelessly hopeful) will Kathy run in and save me from myself? Are you such fans of the last-minute melodrama? (she knows this) Perhaps I'm tragic, with this self-awareness that carries me to my inevitable, self-inflicted doom?... Or does this dark comedy move you o self-satisfied smirks? Do I comment on your own theatrical scene, as you recline and slumber? Which role do I play for you? Which one?! Which fucking role do you want from me? What role, what role, to play, a stupid play, a stupid goddamn play on a stupid, fucking stage. (giggle) Whose stage? Whose head? Mine? Yours? (Actor's name)'s? So many, too many stages... too many heads... (begins trying to point the gun at herself for the actual shot, trying to fight it) I can't... I don't... I... (places the gun to her chest, asking softly, without any hysteria) How many times must I die for you? (throws the gun to the ground- shot fires- she falls)

K- Dawn?! Dawn? (enters holding a mobile phone) Oh, no baby. (into the phone) Doctor, send help- there's been an accident. (ends call, dials 911)

D- I tried not to, Kathy... I tried... (she mutters softly, slower and slower, without acknowledging K at all)

K- I need an ambulance- please. My wife, she's, uh, she's had an accident, she's bleeding- oh my god. (trying to find the wound) Please- please- (the phone slips to the floor) I love you. I'm right here, Dawn. Right here. Dawn? (D's eyes close, she goes limp) Dawn, Dawn, look at me. (grabs for the phone) I need an ambulance! (looks to the audience) One of you, get a fucking doctor! (turns to D, pauses- looks back around. Now K remembers.) Fuck. (turns her attention to Dawn- K grows quieter, and eventually freezes. Both actors remain motionless for a few moments, and then as the lights begin to fade...)

D- (sobs) Damn. I did it again, didn't I? I tried so hard

K- (holding Dawn's face in her hands, trying to hold her together) It can't be helped. We're only so many words.

III RESET

Actors reset, as before.

FOURTH SEQUENCE

Dawn enters, appearing stricken. After entrance, she immediately attempts to exit again, but invisible barriers prevent her leaving.)

D- Packing. I hate packing. (covers her mouth with her hands, but words continue coming as she looks about desperately. She becomes aware of the booth. She finds a piece of clothing to gag herself, the lines still pouring out of her, and goes to get the gun, threatening the stage manager and board ops, firing repeatedly into the booth from the stage- no shots. When this fails, she then sets out to stack furniture to climb into the booth. During this, K enters on cue, responding to lines even through her gag.)

K- (taken aback) Think what's fair?

D- (she shoots at K from her perch- no shots- she throws the gun at K. Coming down from her perch, she removes her gag, and then rushes K as she speaks) That they should share their lives with me. As I've been forced to share with them.

K- (attempts to exit when D rushes her, but invisible barriers prevent K's exit, as well) Yes, that seems perfectly fair. Have they answered you?

D- No, (she wrestles K to the ground, hard) they never want to interact with me. No gestures, no words... not a goddamn thing. They're content to stare me down until I'm too mad to-

K- (obviously fighting her own lines, at this point) You're not mad.

D- (pauses for a moment) You see them, too?

K- (nodding her head, yes) No, I-

D- No, no, no... (bitter, angry, sad- she fights her way atop K) I only see masses of silent people watching me as if I were some character upon a stage. No crazy here. None at all.

K- But it's not you. (torn between understanding the situation, and terror at D's actions) You remember... the doctor said that-

D- (reciting, monotone) ... seeing what isn't there is a flaw in my gray matter, not a reflection of my person and reason... of course, of course.

K- You are not crazy. (a now desperate struggle as they've both spotted the gun beside a pillow on the floor- they go for it, D reaches it first, beats K over the head with it until she's nearly limp, fighting to remain conscious even more than she's fighting D at this point) You're one of the sanest, gentlest, most loving people I've ever known.

D- (without any playfulness, placing the pillow over K face, pushing hard and desperately, even as she begins crying) And you are the craziest, meanest, most selfish person I've ever found.

K- (struggling weakly for a few moments [take the time], using the last of her breath to cry through the pillow) Beside me, you must be perfect.

D- (openly weeping, as K's struggles stop) And when you're gone? (she pauses, then prompts again, even as she pushes down on the pillow to be sure) And when you're gone? (pause- she removes the pillow, uncovering K's lifeless face, eyes open and unseeing- she falls to kissing K, as she cries. She then dries her face on the same pillow. She considers the pillow, holds it briefly against her face until she realizes that she can't hold it hard enough or long enough to complete the act herself. She stands, attempts to exit, but she isn't allowed. She kneels beside K, caresses her face.) And when you're gone? (stares hard at the booth) And when you're gone? (takes a long moment looking about the audience, then lies down beside K, allowing her eyes to glaze over. She should be beside K, in reverse, with her feet beside K's head- equally unresponsive- both sets of eyes open and unblinking.)

Stage Manager: (from booth, attempting to prompt them) And where would I be going? (pause) And where would I be going? (pause) And where would I be going? (this continues, as lights slowly fade- the final line of "And where would I be going?" spoken in complete darkness)

Houselights up.

Run crew should begin tear down after audience begins exit, including removal of the catatonic actors. If house fails to begin exit within two minutes, clear set anyway.