SNAPSHOT A Play in One Act by JOHN MONTELEONE CONTACT: e-mail: writing@johnmonteleone.com PO Box 2723 Sag Harbor, NY 11963 IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING PRODUCTIONS STUDENT CLASS PROJECTS If this is for a student class project you may use this text or sections of it free of charge but I want to know that you're doing it for my resume and would love a video tape of the production, and/or quality rehearsals. PRODUCTIONS OF ANY KIND OR LEVEL You may read and use this text-based script for considering work but if you want to produce my work as a student, amateur or professional production you must purchase scripts from me online and pay royalties per performance. __________________________________ Copyright 1997 by John Monteleone All Rights Reserved Registered with WGAE CHARACTERS: WOMAN MAN CHILD (MALE OR FEMALE) THE SET: An empty space. Black boxes to sit on. Black floor. Black vast walls, a feeling of eternity. TIME: The present. NOTE: The play takes place in the memory of Child. A blue spot comes up on the bare stage left area. Child, about twenty five to thirty five years old enters and slowly walks into the spot. Child looks at the space around him, then speaks to the audience. CHILD It's like a mirror. You see yourself in them. You see yourself tomorrow. You see your mortality in theirs. It becomes one thing. One whole, on-going thing. Nothings separate. Though you try to separate. And you feel their fear. Their passion. Their frustration. Their inner beings. Their whole lives. Hidden behind their eyes. Trying to avoid the inevitable. A Woman seventy five enters in a wheel chair. She wears a white bath cap, blue robe, oversized slippers and dark sunglasses. There is a sense of hiding out in her. She simply sits, looking out. CHILD You try not to think about it. You try not to say it.You try to forget. But it creeps back in, like a maggot. It stares you in the face. Hangs over you. It won't let go. MAN (directing to Man off stage left) I REMEMBER NOW. I remember it all. Right from the beginning. Strait back to the first day I knew. It was then. Then when I remembered. Don't go accusing me of not being able to remember. Don't go on saying I'm losing my memory. They're there. Steady as a heartbeat. Right inside my head. Here (points to her head) And it's mine. All mine. Not yours or his or anybody's. Mine. I earned it. I lived. And it's all right here. Even if my toes have been chopped off and I can't walk so good anymore. I can remember. DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? HUN?! DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID? MAN (offstage) YEAH I HEARD I HEARD. WOMAN What time is it? MAN TIME TO DIE. WOMAN WHAT? MAN YOU HEARD ME. WOMAN What? MAN I SAID YOU HEARD ME. WOMAN COME IN HERE FOR GOD'S SAKE AND STOP TORTURING ME. MAN (poking his head in) Are you alright? Woman coughs. MAN HUN? Woman coughs louder. MAN I can't come in there now I'm listening to tapes. WOMAN To hell with the tapes. MAN What? WOMAN I said "TO HELL WITH THE TAPES". COME SIT. MAN What do you mean to hell with the tapes? How can you say a thing like that? It's us. WOMAN Bring me my feet. MAN Not now. WOMAN I want my feet. MAN For chrissakes will you please leave me alone. WOMAN DAMN YOU. (silence) I SAID "DAMN YOU"!!! MAN WHAT? Opera music comes on, a Woman singing. She pulls out a teddy bear from the wheel chair seat. Winds it and holds it up to her making it dance. It speaks to her. WOMAN (to the bear) I love you. I love you. (throws a kiss) MMMMMwhaaaa I'm your friend. We'll always be together. Right up to the last moment. She hugs it and laughs in a high hysterical laugh. WOMAN Isn't that the cutest thing you ever saw in your life. I SAID " ISN'T THAT THE ...Oh never mind. The tape stop. WOMAN (to the bear) I love you. I love you. (throws a kiss) MMMMMwhaaaa I'm your friend. We'll always be together. Right up to the last moment. (laughing) COULD YOU DIE? MAN (off) NO! WOMAN (to herself) Oh, who asked you? She sticks her tongue out at the old Man off stage. MAN HEY HUN, REMEMBER THIS ONE? An opera is heard. Then off. MAN REMEMBER THAT? She looks out trying to remember. Very serious face. She strains and twitches her head slightly. MAN REMEMMMMMMBER? WOMAN (not remembering. disgustedly) How could I forget? MAN I'll play it again. WOMAN NO. An opera is heard. Then applause. Then off. MAN REMEMBER HOW THEY USED TO APPLAUD? WOMAN BRING ME MY FEET. MAN HOW ABOUT THIS ONE? Opera blasts again. MAN HUN? She looks out trying to remember. Very serious face. She strains and twitches her head slightly. MAN (screams. very annoyed) HUUUUUN!!! WOMAN WHAT? MAN YOU REMEMBER? WOMAN (not remembering) Yeah. MAN You do? WOMAN I remember everything. (pause) What day is it? MAN Tuesday. WOMAN Monday? MAN Tuesday. WOMAN Monday? MAN Oh for chrissakes almighty god save us TUESDAY I said... WOMAN No. It can't be. MAN Why not? WOMAN It was Sunday yesterday. Or was it the day before? MAN It's Tuesday. WOMAN It is? MAN That's what I said. WOMAN What did you say? MAN I said it was Tuesday. Now listen to this one. WOMAN I don't want to listen I've heard it all before. I want my feet. Music off. Pause. WOMAN What time is it? MAN Twelve o'clock. WOMAN Twelve? MAN Yes. Music comes on. Opera. WOMAN FEET!! MAN Listen 1952.... Opera and applause. Off. WOMAN FEET. FEET. MAN Listen 1956.... Opera and applause. Off. WOMAN FEET FEET FEET. MAN Nineteen sixty three. Opera and applause. Fade out. WOMAN Did I eat lunch yet? MAN No. In a minute. WOMAN Was the nurse here? MAN She left two hours ago. WOMAN She wasn't here was she? MAN She just left. WOMAN (surprised) No? MAN This is you coming on.... Woman's voice. Soft, very beautiful. WOMAN (a moment of memory) That was me... Me... 19.. 19... They applauded..... (she stares out in joyous memory) MAN That was you. WOMAN What year...? MAN Nineteen ... (he forgets) WOMAN TURN THAT DAMNED THING OFF! Music gets louder. WOMAN GO TO HELL. She sticks her tongue out at him offstage and violently winds the teddy bear and makes it dance in her face. WOMAN (to the bear) I love you. I love you. (throws a kiss) MMMMMwhaaaa I'm your friend. We'll always be together. Right up to the last moment. MAN You were wonderful in this one. WOMAN BRING THE FEET. MAN OH SHUT UP WITH THOSE FEET. WOMAN FOOD. MAN NOT YET. WOMAN PILLS. Music off abruptly. MAN O.K. , O.K. Woman coughs. An old Man enters with a tray of medicine and pills. WOMAN (playing innocent. smiles flirtatiously) Oh, that you hun? He gives her the pills. She takes a dixie cup and pills, swallows them, burps, looks up at old Man in disgust then swallows another and another. We watch. They stand looking at one another. He down at her. She up at him, almost as if they don't know who the other is. This goes on for a very long, awkward moment. WOMAN (almost in tears, begging) Please, bring the feet? They make me laugh. MAN (just looks at her for a long moment) My baby. (he pinches her cheek, then exits) Woman begins jumping up and down in her seat, clapping her hands like a Child about to receive ice cream. WOMAN The feet the feet. The old Man enters carrying a large pair of yellow plastic shoes with orange soles. He places them down, smiling, in front of her and winds them up. Then the feet begin to walk across the stage bythemselves. They watch as the feet cross the stage, stopping center. An amber spot lights them. The Woman winds the teddy bear up as the feet stop and holds it up to the old Man who looks at it. He sits on a black box and faces off stage right. As the teddy bear stops talking, she looks off stage left. There is a long pause. WOMAN I gotta go. MAN Again? WOMAN Oh shut up. He watches her roll herself off stage. MAN (to himself) My baby. (pause) Lunch. He exits off stage in the opposite direction she did. Pause as the audience looks at the feet, alone in amber pin spot, center stage. The lights surrounding the pin spot fade out, leaving a low, amber light on the feet only. Child enters the dark. We can hardly see him. CHILD Hello? (pause) Hello? (pause) It's me you're loving son. You remember, the one with the destiny. I'm here. Hello? Child sees the feet. Stops at the edge of the spot on the feet. Looks at them. Picks them up and moves into the full spot. Bewildered, puts them down again. WOMAN (off) HELLO? CHILD MOM? WOMAN (off) I'M IN THE BATHROOM. CHILD OH. DON'T PUSH. WOMAN (off) WHY WOULD I PUSH? PUSH WHAT? CHILD YOU COULD HURT YOURSELF IF YOU FORCE. DON'T FORCE. YOU'RE FRAIL. WOMAN (off) I'VE BEEN SHITTING SINCE I'M ONE DAY OLD NOW LEAVE ME ALONE. MAN (off) THAT YOU? CHILD DAD? MAN (off) I'M COOKING LUNCH FOR YOUR MOTHER. CHILD USE BRAN. MAN (off) DID YOU SEE THE FEET? CHILD WHAT? MAN (off) THE FEET THE FEET. CHILD I SAW THEM. UH ... CUTE. MAN (off) YOUR MOTHER LOVES THEM. CHILD I bet. Pause. Child moves to the stage left area and a blue light engulfs him. The feet remain amber. CHILD It seemed almost... unreal... this home I'd grown up in? There was an air of vacancy... a waiting... for... I'd see them and hear other voices... voices from the past. Sounds, images, memories, whole scenes from the past... the sounds that used to emerge from their lips had now transformed into some kind of echo. A new world that had emerged from age. A lost helplessness. Loss. Loss. Waiting. Holding onto life for its breath ... only its breath. Woman enters rolling herself in the wheelchair as the lights raise to normal. CHILD MOM. He gives her a gentle big hug and kisses her on the forehead. CHILD How are you feeling beautiful? WOMAN Ah, what can I say? Like Myron Cohen used to say... you remember Myron Cohen? CHILD No. WOMAN A comic. A funny Man. CHILD Oh. WOMAN You remember what he said? CHILD No. WOMAN Yes? CHILD No mom... WOMAN You don't remember? CHILD I don't think so. WOMAN (hurt) You don't remember do you? CHILD (pause) Yes. WOMAN Funny eh? CHILD Yeah, a riot. Wha'd he say? WOMAN (pause) Funny things. Made ya laugh... CHILD (gently) But you were saying he said something in relation to your feeling.... uh... WOMAN Huh? CHILD (pause) How are you feeling mom? WOMAN Ah, what can I say? Like Myron Cohen used to say.... "umpht what's the use of talkin'! (laughs) CHILD (to himself, sadly, regretfully) What's the use? WOMAN So how are you? CHILD Fine fine. WOMAN That's nice. I love my son. CHILD I love you too mom. WOMAN I love you too, you know that. CHILD I know. Pause. WOMAN You know what? CHILD That... I love you. WOMAN Oh yeeeaaaaaahhh. You're my son of course I love you. You know that why are you repeating yourself so much? CHILD I... Thanks mom. (yells) DAD? WOMAN Thanks for what? CHILD DAD? MAN (off) I'll be right in. Did you see the feet? WOMAN Oh yeaaaah. TURN THEM ON. TURN THEM ON. CHILD Not now o.k. mom... WOMAN TURN THEM ON. CHILD How? WOMAN Wind. Child winds up the feet and they walk offstage. They laugh. Pause. WOMAN So how are you? CHILD I'm ... fine... really great... DAD? The old Man enters with imaginary food on a tray. WOMAN Wha'd ya make hun? MAN Spaghetti. WOMAN Oh Yummmy. He places it down and she eats ravenously. CHILD Hi dad. Child kisses Man. Sits stage left on a box. MAN Hello. How are you? CHILD Fine! WOMAN YUM YUM. MAN That's good. CHILD What do you want, mom? Beat. Woman looks at Child for a long moment. WOMAN Feet! I want to do it all over again. Child looks lovingly at mother. CHILD Time. It passes quickly. Like a shadow. Moves by and you try to reach out and grab it but it slips through your fingers, never touching them. And you wonder back into the past, before you were born. Before they were born. You stand in a place and realize that someone, sometime saw, the same exact image as you. In the same spot. There is a connection there. It's a connection, like the connection between your body and your soul. Like the connection between your grandparents and your Child. A connection that bears the same face on your face, yet the outer structure has changed. Like an era passing to an era. Child looks at parents. The lights fade out on Woman and Man. CHILD Time. How it moves by and stands still in the same moment. \ (pause) Time ... its eternity entering your life, your one life, here in this one, beautiful, perfect, gorgeous moment of breath. Music fades. Lights fade out on Child and up on the Woman and Man. They transform into thirty years old without costume changes. They stand far stage right in a tarantella pose. One arm extended out toward stage left, heads back in a roMantic stare. Check to cheek. Music begins and they cross in step stage left. Then turn quickly and repeat the same thing to stage right. Again they change and cross the stage and then he stops. WOMAN It was a lovely evening. MAN Yes it was. (pause) You're so very beautiful. WOMAN Thank you. MAN I love you ... WOMAN I .. MAN I want you. WOMAN I love you... too... They do the following looking at each other, vocally connected to their experience but not physically. Red lights silhouette them from behind creating a dark shadow for the audience. MAN I want you. WOMAN I want you. WOMAN In me... MAN In you... WOMAN In you... They both begin to groan and as the lights fade out on them, they orgasm loudly. Children's music plays. Lights up on Child up stage left on all fours in a baby position. Child is one year old. CHILD Goo goo ga ga... Waba baba dooble dee. Lights up on Man and Woman who break from their embrace and turn quickly to Child. WOMAN DID YOU HEAR THAT? MAN YEP! YEP! MY SON, THE COLLEGE GRADUATE. CHILD Ba be do po PA PA. MAN DID YOU HEAR THAT? DID YOU HEAR THAT? HE SAID PA! HE JUST SAID PA! HE MEANT DAD. IT'S THE FIRST TIME HE SAID DAD. WOMAN He said pa. Not dad. You twisted it. That's cheating. MAN No he meant dad. He'll be a doctor for sure. QWOMAN He probably meant poops. CHILD DA DA. DAD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.... WHERE'S THE CAMERA WHERE'S THE CAMERA GET THE CAMERA QUICK. WOMAN I DON'T KNOW WHERE'D YOU PUT IT? DAD THE CHINA CLOSET IT'S IN THE TOP DRAWER NO THE SECOND DRAW... NO... NO.. THE TOP DRAWER OF THE CHINA CLOSET QUICK QUICK... WOMAN TOP? MAN YES YES... (to Child) O.K. NOW DON'T PANIC, DON'T GET TENSE... STAY LOOSE I MEAN... UH... STAY YOUNG... NO... UH... Man is on all fours in, profile with Child. CHILD Da da pe po ba ba beep boop. MAN (Man's voice) De pa poo pa pee pee? Woman gets down on all fours with Man, and hands him the imaginary camera. WOMAN (baby voice) Pe pe pa pa poo poo ba. MAN Camera... Camera, say DA DA DA DA. CHILD Pe poo. MAN DA DA. CHILD Ba Boo. WOMAN (baby voice) DA DA, MA MA. CHILD Da peee... MAN (baby voice) DAAAAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAA. WOMAN (baby voice) MAAAAAAAAAA MAAAAAAAAAAAA. CHILD (turns away) NAAAA kaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... Child begins crying like a baby. Man and Woman roll over onto their backs like infants. Child rises, moves off and watches them transform through a lifetime of quick snapshots. Each living moment ends in a snapshot pose. A flash ends the moment frozen in time. flash. Man on back, infant. Flash. Woman on back, infant. Flash. Man making inaudible sounds. Flash. Woman making inaudible sounds. Flash. Man on fours trying to stand. Flash. Woman on all fours trying to stand. Flash. Man walking wobbling. Flash. Woman walking wobbling. Flash. Man running and jumping like a Child. Flash. Woman running and jumping like a Child. Flash. MAN (making machine gun sounds) Gotchya! (sounds) You're dead. Ugh! YOU GOT ME! (sounds) Flash. WOMAN SEE MY DOLLY? I'm gonna be a Princess when I grow up. Flash. MAN FIREMAN! Flash. WOMAN NURSE! Flash. MAN YOUR IT! Flash. WOMAN GOTCHYA GOTCHYA! Flash. MAN Girls ... yuk. Flash. WOMAN Yuk. Flash. MAN Look at that beautiful... Wow... Hey guys? Guys? Let's go... Flash. WOMAN Is that all you want from me? Flash. MAN We won the game, Man. We won, we're the champs. Flash. WOMAN Please dad? Please let me go with him? Flash. MAN I don't feel the same way you do that's all, sorry. Flash. WOMAN love you. How can you say you don't love me. Flash. MAN We lost. Shit. Life sucks. Flash. WOMAN (to mother in coffin) Mom. I love you. You look proud... It wasn't a bad life. Flash. ----------------------------------------------------- TO READ THE REST OF THIS PLAY CONTACT THE PLAYWRIGHT CONTACT INFORMATION IS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. I used to have the full text on the site but too many people used them without paying fair royalties etc. MS Word Fully Formatted version of this play is available for production after payment for scripts and royalties are made. Student Productions can purchase the script.