The Philosophy of Waiting. Ben Tremillo. Ben Tremillo 127 W. Craig Pl. #5 San Antonio, TX

Transcription

1 ! The Philosophy of Waiting by Ben Tremillo Ben Tremillo 127 W. Craig Pl. #5 San Antonio, TX

2 ! 1! EXTERIOR - DESCRIPTION Play is set in the downtown of a modern day large city. It is about 3am. There is little background noise, if any. Lighting is what yo would get from a streetlight, dim and fairly limited in size. Two men are standing beneath the light and are dressed about the same: dark clothes, nondescript, perhaps jackets. Mr. B is around 26, slightly nervous and fidgety. Mr. C is around 32, slightly pompous and aloof. What time is it? I don t know. It s getting late. I don t know. That wasn t a question. It was a statement. I was making a statement. It s getting late. And I said, I don t know. Well, he should have been here by now. We don t have a lot of time. You know that. We don t have but a small window here. Don t talk anymore. What? Shut up. I don t want to hear another word. I was just...

3 ! 2! Don t. Mr. C pulls out a cigarette and lights it. Mr. B looks down the street. Is that him? I don t know. That might be him. What do you think? Is it him? It looks like him. I don t know. (pause) No. It s not him. No. You re right. It s not him. He kind of walks like him, though. You know, that sort of shuffle of his (mimics a shuffle), like he s trying to avoid looking conspicuous but it only makes him look more conspicuous. Like he s overcompensating. It s not him. Yeah, I know. But they have the same walk, right? I mean, they re real similar, huh? Look. I wasn t trying to make fun of him with the shuffle and all, I was only making an observation. You know? I know. You re not going to say anything, are you? I was just, I thought it was him cause of the walk and when it wasn t him I just wanted to...

4 ! 3! I m not going to say anything. Are you sure? Cause I didn t mean anything by it, I was just, observing. Mr. C looks at Mr. B and shakes his head. Mr. B seems relieved. Ok. Alright. So, it s cool, right? Yeah. It s cool. You re not going to say anything. Alright. Cool. (pause) Hey, can I have a smoke? Mr. C rubs eyes, slightly agitated. Gets cigarette. Hands it to Mr. B. Mobile phone rings. Mr. C takes phone out of his pocket and answers it. Yeah. No, we re here. At the place you wanted to meet. Oh. Ok. I understand. How long? Well, no, I don t...i was just...ok. Ok. I m sorry. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Of course. We ll just...hello? Mr. C hangs up phone and puts it back in his pocket. Who was that? That was him. What d he say? He s running late. Running late?! What do you mean? How late?! We don t have a lot of time! You know that. And he s running late? I knew it! This is going to ruin us. Do you have any idea? This is it. We re dead.

5 ! 4! Just relax! Ok? You re giving me a headache. He s on the way. He s just a little late. Take it easy. I can t take it easy. We re about to be dead men! How can I take it easy with death looking over my shoulder? It s ridiculous. It s a ridiculous situation. I can t believe this is happening. I can t. There s nothing ridiculous about it. You re in this situation because you chose to be. The decisions you ve made in your life have all led to this point in time. Same for me. You could be at home knitting a sweater for your dog or baking a pie but instead, you re here with me, on a parallel path that leads to who knows where. But we are both here because it s what we chose. Deal with it! I don t need your philosophy. I don t want it! Ok? It s all this abstract conjecturing. Well, I m sorry but we re in a very concrete situation here. And if, for some reason, this guy doesn t even show up, we re going to come face to face with the darker aspects of the human condition. They stand silent for a beat. Do you have a light? Mr. C lights cigarette for Mr. B. I guess you read that book I gave you, huh? You know, talking about the human condition and all.

6 ! 5! Yeah. I guess. What d you think? I don t know. What do you mean? I don t know. I mean, I don t think I understood it. It was sort of complicated. MR.C Life is complicated. This situation here is a prime example. Who d have thought this would happen? MR.B Yeah. I guess. I don t know. The story just seemed a little far-fetched. Far-fetched? Wait. Did you think it was complicated or far-fetched? Those are two very different things. You know, you don t have to like it just because I recommended it. I know that. I realize that I m responsible for my own likes and dislikes. I don t need your approval. Well then? Look. It was mildly complicated but mostly, and this is just my opinion, a little far fetched. I mean, what was the whole thing with the frog? It came from out of nowhere and then took up all this space and, in the end, made no

7 ! 6! real impact to the story. It just seemed...forced. The frog was symbolic. You know? It represents renewal. Adaptation. The frog is regenerative and adaptive. It s a very symbolic creature. Yeah but you can show renewal and adaptation without turning the story into some sort of ridiculous farce. I mean, when you told me about this book, I thought it was going to be a serious masterwork. Oh, and it wasn t? Not to me. But what do I know? Enough to call it a ridiculous farce. It happens to be a highly acclaimed piece, you know? I thoroughly enjoyed it and after all our talks, I thought it would be something you would surely appreciate. I guess not. It s not a personal affront because I didn t fully appreciate the book. I m sure a lot of the subtlety and complexity were lost on me. It just wasn t to my liking. I mean, it s entitled The Broom, right? There isn t any mention at all, in the ENTIRE BOOK, about a broom! What s up with that? It is what it is. It is what it is. It s a piece of crap is what it is.

8 ! 7! Hey! You don t have to insult me! I m not insulting you! Just because I didn t see the genius in some obscure work you recommended does not mean I m insulting you. Do you remember when I took you to that restaurant one time? The Vietnamese one? You didn t exactly praise the cuisine as I might have expected. You know I like that place and I could have been easily offended but I wasn t. I just didn t like it. Riiight. You said you felt poisoned. You were afraid you were hallucinating. Ok? It s one of my favorite restaurants. I m just saying. Alright. I m sorry. I really am. But a restaurant is one thing. This book represents a significant aspect of my philosophical leanings. I consider the author an intellectual and emotional kindred spirit. This is one of the few books that literally changed my life and to hear you call it a piece of crap, just...you know? What? Nothing. Oh, don t be that way. Look, I m sorry. It s not a piece of crap. I just didn t get it, ok? I m not as smart as you.

9 ! 8! MR.C That s bull, man, and you know it. You re smarter than most everyone else I meet. Especially in this line of work. I have the same amount of respect for you. You re one of the few people I can really talk to. I think you know that. Yeah, so? So, tell me what you were going to say. Nothing. Nothing. It s just that, that s the last book I m going to recommend to you. Oooooh, come on. Hey, don t worry about it. It s just a book. One of the most important and influential books of my life but so what? Right? Maybe it is a piece of crap. Perhaps my ideas about life are seriously flawed and this book is a big reason why. I mean, it s 3:00 in the morning. We re waiting around for some very bad people who do some very bad things. And for what? Can you tell me why? Why? Oh, you don t remember what precipitated this entire chain of events? What lofty goal we had set for ourselves, even if it meant putting our

10 ! 9! lives in danger, which is exactly, by the way, what has happened? Well, I guess, we wanted to go to Vegas? Right? Right. Exactly. Las Vegas. Sin City. The morally corrupt center of the known universe. That s what this big deal is all about. Las Vegas stands as the pinnacle of all our dreams. The nirvana that we are striving for. Our Shangri La. Our Rosebud. Viva Las Vegas! Fat Elvis and drunk Sinatra. Show girls and dollar slots. Legalized prostitution, man! Not only a city that never sleeps but one that never wakes up, either. It s dreamlike and euphoric. It s Rome and Gotham merged with an alien landscape, all wrapped up in one glittery, neon, bells and whistles, New Years Eve birthday cake. THAT S why we re here at 3:00 in the morning. That s where my philosophy has gotten me. And if this guy doesn t show up soon, you and I are better than dead! And ghosts don t wax poetic about life and it s symbols and myths. Ghosts just moan and drag chains around like freakin idiots. OooOOoo! Hey, man! Take it easy. I m the one who s usually freaking out. Yeah? Well, things change. How s that for a philosophy? OOoooOOOoooOOO! Dude. You re losing it. What am I losing? My life has been based on the thinnest of premises, on books and ideas, on the ideal that a

11 ! 10! philosophy can have all the answers, completely unafraid of the outcome. But it s experience that proves to be the usurper of intellectual theory. What I m losing is my innocence. My naivete. What I m gaining, here, tonight, right now, is an education. I think you re being a bit overdramatic. Yes, we re in a seemingly dire situation. Yes, we re in it for all the wrong reasons. Yes, yes, yes. And maybe your philosophy is slightly imperfect. So what? We still have a chance that things will turn out all right. But more importantly than that, you ve opened up. And maybe you were being naive but at least you were being honest about who you are and what you believe in. That s more than I can say for most people. For them, there is no philosophy that can explain the things they do. Especially in this type of work. They have nothing that binds them to humanity. That s why I don t work with anyone else but you. You notice that? Yeah. I guess. Yeah. It s because, despite all that happens or can happen, I trust you. In this world, that s a rarity. And it s not your philosophy that I trust. It s you. Something inside of you. You can t learn that from a book. Beat. Thanks. That means a lot. I guess this whole situation just has me out of sorts. I ve been thinking of getting out. Finding something else to do. Something meaningful. Maybe now s the time.

12 ! 11! Lights down. Yeah? Like what? I don t know. Maybe working with kids. Maybe going back to school. Maybe I ll write a book. (chuckles) Oh yeah? What s it going to be about? It doesn t matter. It s just dreams. We re stuck in the here and now. I was just thinking out loud. Well, it makes sense to me. We should both get out of this. I mean, look, he s not coming. And now we re caught in the middle. If we leave now, just get out, what can they do? Nothing. It s not our fault he s not here yet. Right? We waited a long time. Long enough, right? I mean, what time is it? Shut up. He s here.