Divided We

by Mary Alice Mark

cast

SARGE: A Sergeant in the Miami Police force. Mid forties, In City Police Uniform.

MAB: 16, jeans and a pink pull over with a large, delicate rose front and center. Exhausted

when we meet her. MAB is a clarinetist and carries a clarinet case. She knows most of

the others, at least, “in passing.” And acknowledges that to each in some way, often with

a hug. Bright lights cause her pain as well as temporary blindness, and it takes time for

her eyes to adjust to the lighting changes.

TOM: A writer from New York, dark and handsome, well dressed, well spoken, playing, with a

Southern Accent , in his 50s.

HY: Senior Partner in The Shire. Handsome and elegant, in evening wear. Co-host of the

meeting and erstwhile actor/performer.

JON: Junior partner in The Shire. Handsome and elegant, in evening wear. Co-host of the meeting and erstwhile actor/performer.

JERSEY: Small and bouncy, in flowing slacks and blouse. A guest at the meeting and erstwhile

actor/performer

DIVA: 50'S. Costumed in gaudy multi-colored sequence complete with tiara and tons of make

up. DIVA has been celebrating with liquids and powders for roughly twelve hours. She

nods off, often, or so it seems .

GEORGIE: Dark, bouncy beauty. Late twenties. Serving wench at the meeting and

erstwhile actor/performer. GEORGIE is a “stage” name. As serving wench she wears

an apron, she does take it off to see and show herself in various poses and

costumes in the changing light.

AL: Erstwhile actor/performer in his fifties, AL is his “stage” name. Well and expensively

dressed, the "self made businessman," and quite powerful, AL has also been celebrating.

MRS. O’KEIRAN: Late forties, live in the neighborhood, vibrant, articulate and looking for

employment.

AUBRY: Late thirties, handsome, stylish, an attorney.

LORETTA: Early Forties, well accoutered, erstwhile actor/performer.

PASTOR: Handsome, well dressed, late forties.

LIGHTS: Changing. Flowing, continuously following, enhancing and leading the action.

SOUND: A piano often plays relevantly or irreverently , seeming to be in the background.

HOUSE MUSIC: Jacques Brell, “Carousel.”

TIME: A Late Summer Late Night, 1965

SETTING: One room of a restaurant and a hint of the area directly outside. There is a

constant buzz of conversation. Lines of dialogue delivered with random disregard for

subject, or; whoever else may be speaking at the same time. The room has been built as a

“black box” theatre. “Walls” of the room are defined by sections of very low flats, easily

moved as members of the cast wander into and out of scenes, to and from the restrooms,

to chat with friends, prep tables, get drinks, retrieve an ashtray, or; simply rearrange the

set and request changes in lighting. HY and JON carry set pieces in and constantly

rearrange them. Cut outs of life sized revelers are vaguely seen here and there at tables or

in tableau. There is also a cut out of a unicorn, moved, petted and adored. Two or more

people, unseen and unheard, are “above” on the grid, constantly playing with the color,

intensity and angle of the lights. When MAB is not speaking she finds ways out of the

light. Costume changes happen on stage and all of the “erstwhile actors,” change

costumes, primp and pose for us continuously. It would be very interesting if members

of the audience could also be seated on stage. The CAST, often dances in the areas

adjacent to the action, and could dance with members of the audience. SOUND: A piano

plays quite often in the background.

A row of 3 – 4 small circular tables to one side is set for/with couples, (AL MRS. O’KEIRAN and AUBRY often sit in this section). 3 or 4 tables in a row near center are each set with one single woman (cut out silhouettes, perhaps).

A large throne-like chair is set before a long, low table is on the opposite side of the “singles” tables. The throne, the two table and the area around them are TOM’S, he defines his space and he works it intensely.

AT RISE: SOUND: MUSIC fades as LIGHTS from a police car swirl through the auditorium

mingling with the changing lights onstage. GEORGIE, HY and JON set up cut outs

and preset tables. LIGHTS: from the police car fade as a search light comes up, abrupt

and furious outside. The searchlight illuminates MAB and SARGE.

SARGE: Freeze! Get your hands up!

MAB: Turn the light out!

SARGE: Freeze! Get your hands up and walk towards me!

MAB: Oh Good God! Would you just go ahead and shoot me!

SARGE: What the hell-!?

MAB: Can you guys follow your own orders!? I can’t do all of that at the same time. I can’t

even see!

SARGE: Is that you?

MAB: What do you expect me to say? No matter who you ask, the answer has to be yes!

(LIGHTS: SEARCHLIGHT out abruptly. MAB and SARGE

become slowly more visible.)

SARGE: Why can’t you see?

MAB: Someone is shining a spotlight in my face.

SARGE: Not any more. Don’t you ever look at what’s going on around you?

MAB: Sometimes. When I can see.

SARGE: I turned it off. Maybe if you move your hands?

MAB: It takes a long time for my eyes to adjust-.

SARGE: -Okay, steady. Take whatever time you need. Aren’t you afraid to be walking through

a dark alley, alone at this time of night?

MAB: It’s not a alley. It’s a parking lot. There just aren’t any cars here yet.

SARGE: And you don’t understand why people think you’re high all the time.

MAB: This is a restaurant. They open tomorrow. They’re having a meeting tonight-.

SARGE: -Believe it or not, that is the kind of information we have at the station. What are you

doing here?

MAB: I had to pee.

(LIGHTS: change, SARGE and MAB fade as a SPOT LIGHT moves

through the room, settling on the stage just after MAB starts across it.

DIVA is as still as the cut outs until just before her line.)

SARGE: And at your house, which is approximately five miles almost due West of where we

stand, when someone wakes up in the middle of the night- -and that someone has to pee-

-what is it the third hibiscus passed the fifth banyan after the Palmetto Expressway?

MAB: That would be silly.

SARGE (Voice off?): So, you were actually inside?

MAB: Yes. I stayed a long time with the family and friends of one of my students. Hy and Jon

were out here on a break when I arrived. They let me use the bathroom. One whole room

is set up as a theatre, they invited me to take a look around.

LORETTA: Shut up, pervert, remember, you’re a guest here.

GEORGIE: That’s not going to help anything.

JERSEY: Who asked your opinion?

GEORGIE: Come on, I work here, all right!?

LORETTA: They’re actually paying you for tonight?

GEORGIE: They better be, they asked me to wear the apron. And, for your information, I am

expecting tips.

JERSEY: They told us nobody was getting paid.

GEORGIE: You aren’t expected to help with prep, serving or clean up, are you?

LORETTA: I wasn’t planning on it.

DIVA: I can’t believe he didn’t budget anything for us.

LORETTA: Where is he anyway?

GEORGIE: Over there, with Jon, evidently trying to feed the unicorn. Can I bring you another

drink?

JERSEY: Yeah, sure! “The unicorn is a mythical beast.”

TOM (From the shadows.): James Thurber-.

LORETTA: -Shut up, you faggot! Who invited you here anyway-?

GEORGIE (Moving towards exit for “drinks.”): -Just don’t count them before they’re hatched.

LORETTA: What’s this?

(SOUND: MUSIC; piano, Right Field ala Peter, Paul and Mary.

Audible background.)

TOM: Please, take a few steps down, darling, let us have a look at you.

GEORGIE: What are you doing here?

HY: We told her she could come in and look around.

MAB: I can’t see a thing, can somebody turn that light out!

JERSEY: With the light out no one will be able to see you.

MAB: Why would anyone want to see me?

TOM: You are on the stage, darling. This is a theatre.