31 Plays in 31 Days: #15 - "No Trust Left"

This scene is set within the universe and timeframe of The Tailor of Riddling Way, one that didn't really have a place in the actual script but probably happened behind the scenes. It's Rowan and Emma Loring right after Rowan learns a disturbing truth about their father and his business affairs-- it's a bit spoilery for the full story, just as a warning. It's not all that powerful a scene as it doesn't advance the plot much, nor get into the meat of the revelations, but I do like the idea that Emma and Rowan had different reactions to the revelation, and different instincts about how to handle it.


Day #15 - "No Trust Left" based on The Tailor of Riddling Way

(EMMA LORING, a prim young woman stern beyond her years, sits at a desk sorting through paperwork. Her handsome brother ROWAN LORING storms in.)

EMMA: Rowan?

ROWAN: It’s all been a lie. He holds himself up like… like a decent, enterprising man. But it’s all a lie.

EMMA: Whatever’s gotten into you?

ROWAN: It’s Father, Emma. He… he told me what he’s been up to. He finally told me.

EMMA: Told you what?

ROWAN: He’s a traitor. He’s made a deal, Emma, a deal with the Germans. He’s agreed supply the German army in time of war. He’s a collaborator with the enemy!

(He looks to EMMA for reaction, but she says nothing.)

ROWAN: Don’t you understand, Emma…? My God. You knew.

EMMA: I suspected.

ROWAN: You did?

EMMA: I see the books, Rowan, I see the contracts. After a while it became clear.

ROWAN: And… you said nothing? You did nothing?

EMMA: What could I have done? I have no power over Father.

ROWAN: You could have come to me!

EMMA: I didn’t know that!

ROWAN: You… didn’t know that? What do you take me for, Emma?

EMMA: Rowan, for all I knew you were with Father all along!

ROWAN: Did you really believe that of me? Did you really think I would do such a thing?

EMMA: Rowan—

ROWAN: I see no one in this family trusts anyone else!

EMMA: Rowan! I thought I knew Father, too.

(ROWAN deflates a little. He heaves a sigh.)

EMMA: Well, we’re both in this now. What are we to do?

ROWAN: We’ve got to put a stop to this.

EMMA: Stop it? How can we stop Father’s entire enterprise?

ROWAN: We can’t simply allow him to profit off of supporting an enemy nation!

EMMA: What can we do? Expose him?

ROWAN: It’s no more than he deserves!

EMMA: Rowan, we’ll ruin the whole family then. Is that what you want? To punish ourselves along with him?

ROWAN: I’m not afraid.

EMMA: Oh, no? And what about Constance and Bethany? Will you do that to them, too?

ROWAN: All right, all right. But we must do something. Not just for the principle of it, Emma. There’s… there’s something else to this, I’m sure of it.

EMMA: Whatever do you mean?

ROWAN: He’s kept the truth of this from me for ages. He told me now for a reason. He… he must need something. My help, my support, something. Why? What’s different now?

EMMA: I couldn’t say. But all the more reason why we must not be hasty!

ROWAN: What do you suggest, then?

EMMA: We must… we must find out more. Find out precisely what, if anything, that means. And… perhaps you and I can take action then.

ROWAN: Very well. I’ll wait for now. But just until we’re certain we’ve unraveled all of this.

EMMA: Just so no more damage is done.

ROWAN: Just for that. No longer.

EMMA: That’s all I ask. Please trust me.

ROWAN: It had better be, Emma. I’ve no more trust left.

(He turns on his heel and strides out. EMMA covers her face with her hands.)

Biweekly Theater Writing Challenge #16: The Tailor of Riddling Way, Episode 3: What She Started

So off and on I've been working on back-engineering the script for the Tailor audio drama from the first draft of the Tailor screenplay I wrote for last semester. I think I have finished at least a first draft of the third installment, which I'm calling What She Started. Every installment has been a little bit shorter than the previous one, which I'm a bit concerned about, but maybe it doesn't really matter as long as the break points make sense. There will probably be one more episode after this to conclude the story.

If you read the screenplay, it's very similar but visual things are translated more into dialogue here. Instead of the viewer simply seeing a dusty bookshelf of classical texts in one corner of the bedroom, Tom comments on it here. I confess I am a little dissastisfied that I haven't managed to fix certain things about the story that my teacher pointed out. Like, for example, he thinks I should have Officer Crier appear again before the very end, so this episode would be the one for it. But I still haven't figured out how to make him come back. So this script will likely need editing from the version below. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. This is something I will definitely need for the second draft of the screenplay, and I think it would improve the audio drama as well.

THE TAILOR OF RIDDLING WAY
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
Episode 3:
What She Started
~~~

SCENE 3.1

SETTING: Loring’s End

CONSTANCE: Are you quite finished yet?

TOM: Just about, ma’am. I just want to be sure I have your measurements precisely.

CONSTANCE: Any color but yellow. It battles with my complexion.

TOM: Yes, I have that down.

CONSTANCE: Or blue, I will not have blue. And I can’t abide blackwork, it’s very provincial.

TOM: Not to worry, ma’am.

ALICE: Mr. Barrows knows all this, Auntie. He’s going to make lovely dresses for us, don’t you worry.

CONSTANCE: I should hope so. He is being paid well enough for it.

(Exit CONSTANCE.)

ALICE: Sorry about that, Tom. Aunt Constance can be very… particular, when she cares to be.

TOM: Oh, not at all. That’s little enough, believe me. Nothing at all compared to exactly recreating a twenty-year-old ball gown from a newspaper picture.

ALICE: I can’t imagine why Emma was so particular about it.

TOM: It had to be exact, she was very clear about that. But the picture was all she had to give me.

(Pause.)

TOM: Alice? Is there something wrong?

ALICE: Then… why did she ask you to come here?

TOM: I… told her I didn’t think I had enough to go on. That was when she asked me to come, she said she had something that might… help?

ALICE: What might help?

TOM: She never said.

ALICE: What if… she had something else to show you?

TOM: Like what?

ALICE: Tom… what if it was the original dress?

TOM: Do you think she still had it?

ALICE: I don’t know… but I think we can find out.

SCENE 3.2

SETTING: Loring’s End master bedroom

TOM: Alice, why are we here? We shouldn’t be doing this.

ALICE: There’s nowhere else to look. I’ve been in the attic and the basement and I’ve never seen it there. If that dress is still in this house, it’s got to be in here.

TOM: If your aunt and uncle catch us poking around in their bedroom—

ALICE: Then we’ll have to be quick.

(The door creaks open.)

ALICE: As long as we don’t touch Aunt Constance’s medicines, she’ll never know we were here.

TOM: Who reads Latin? And Greek?

ALICE: I’m sorry?

TOM: All those books on the shelf… whose are they?

ALICE: I don’t know.

TOM: They’re all dusty. Looks like no one’s touched them in years.

ALICE: Tom! This way!

TOM: What is it?

ALICE: In the closet. I saw something in here once… a curtain in the back. I didn’t think much of it then, but now…

(The curtain is pulled aside. ALICE draws in a breath.)

ALICE: Ohhhhhh! Tom... that’s it. That’s the dress. It’s beautiful. It’s...

TOM: No.

ALICE: Tom? What is it?

TOM: It’s wrong.

ALICE: What’s wrong?

TOM: The gown. It’s… made all wrong.

ALICE: What do you mean?

TOM: Look at it! Look at the pulls in the weave!

ALICE: It’s seen some rough handling, Tom, Bethany was murdered in it.

TOM: You don’t understand. It’s not draped properly. My mother was an artist, she never would have handed off something so flawed.

ALICE: I’m sure she never—

TOM: Alice, look at this!

ALICE: Tom, be careful with that!

TOM: Satin should flow like water, but this hangs so heavy it left pulls in that perfect Chinese weave.

ALICE: If my aunt sees—

TOM: And look at the bulk in the seams! My mother’s seams were crisp, not thick like these! Feel that!

(There is a papery crackling sound as Tom compresses the seams with his fingers.)

ALICE: What is that?

TOM: I don’t… where’s my pocket knife?

ALICE: What are you doing? If my aunt sees this—

(There is a slicing sound as the knife slides through the fabric.)

ALICE: Tom! You’re destroying it! Stop!

TOM: Alice… look…

ALICE: How could you do that—?

TOM: Look!

ALICE: Is that… paper?

TOM: It’s… lots of papers. Sewn up inside here.

(The papers crinkle as they pull them out and unfold them.)

ALICE: They’re documents! “…this agreement does hereby affirm that Loring Incorporated Textiles shall provide material supplies in the amount of twenty thousand bolts of uniform-rated twill to the… Gesellschaft Donner… until such time as the martial requirements are fulfilled.” There’s more written here, but I think it’s in German.

TOM: German? Uniform-rated twill… does it have a date on it?

ALICE: It was signed on May 14th, 1915… by Herr Freidrich Donner and Mr. Reginald Loring. A deal with a German, in 1915… selling them cloth…

TOM: He was outfitting the army.

ALICE: No. No. My father was a soldier, he died fighting the Germans.

TOM: He was a collaborator.

ALICE: This what he was doing! This is what Emma found, what my father hated him for!

TOM: Stay calm, Alice.

ALICE: Remember what Father said in his letter— Bethany was being married off to secure his devil’s bargain! This was the bargain, and Grandfather was selling Bethany to that devil!

TOM: Alice, please—

ALICE: He made everyone think he was such a pillar of the town, a patriot and a— a decent man!

TOM: Keep your voice down!

ALICE: This is treason! He was a traitor! And here’s the proof, hidden in Bethany’s dress! Why? Why is it here?

TOM: I don’t know. But… Emma must have.

(Flashback effect.)

SCENE 3.3

SETTING: Loring’s End, 1917

BETHANY: Hello. Are you the seamstress?

ABIGAIL: I am. My name is Abigail Barrows. I hope you’ll find my work to your liking.

EMMA: Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Barrows. I trust you’ve been told Bethany here is soon to have her coming out ball?

ABIGAIL: Yes, indeed.

EMMA: She’ll be needing something special to wear. Something suitable for the event.

ABIGAIL: I very much understand. Something to make her seem more a woman than a girl.

EMMA: Exactly, thank you, madam.

ABIGAIL: I’ll just take your measurements, then, miss. Lift your arms, please.

BETHANY: Oh. Like this?

ABIGAIL: Thank you. I know just the thing. A straight skirt to lengthen the leg, a close-fitting bodice to flatter a delicate figure. The material will come dear, though, with the rationing…

EMMA: Not to worry. We have secured it already. Please, have a look at this bolt.

BETHANY: Do you think you can use it?

ABIGAIL: Oh, my! I haven’t seen so much fine silk since before the war!

BETHANY: Most decent people haven’t.

ABIGAIL: However did you get it?

EMMA: Our family deals in textiles of all varieties. Such are our spoils.

ABIGAIL: You have lovely taste. It will suit you well, Miss Bethany. I would suggest beading it in dark blue and ivory, to best set off the color. Beadwork is my specialty, you see.

BETHANY: That does sounds beautiful.

ABIGAIL: I’m very glad you think so. I will make sketches of the design for you and send them over. Did you want to talk about your wedding gown in this visit as well?

BETHANY: My what?

EMMA: I beg your pardon, Mrs. Barrows?

ABIGAIL: I’m sorry, it was something Mr. Loring said…

EMMA: What did our father say, Mrs. Barrows?

ABIGAIL: He said he wanted to engage me for more than just the ball gown. He wanted me to make Miss Bethany’s wedding dress as well.

BETHANY: Why would he tell you that? Emma, why would I need a wedding dress?

ABIGAIL: Perhaps I misunderstood…?

EMMA: No, I don’t think you did. Bethany, dear, I believe Father’s plans for you have become entirely clear.

BETHANY: Oh… oh, no. It’s that man, isn’t it? That man with the accent… Father is going to make me… oh, no.

EMMA: Heaven help us.

ABIGAIL: Did I speak out of turn?

BETHANY: (Breaks down sobbing.)

ABIGAIL: Oh, my… miss, whatever is the matter?

BETHANY: So it is true! He is selling me like a sheep.

ABIGAIL: Oh, miss, I… I don’t know what to—

BETHANY: Emma, what am I going to do?

EMMA: Our brother warned me of this, but—

BETHANY: Rowan knew? Why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t you tell me?

EMMA: Please, Bethany, it doesn’t matter now.

BETHANY: How could you keep this from me?

EMMA: I was waiting until the time was right! I was going to help you!

BETHANY: How?

EMMA: I— I don’t know yet. But not now, Bethany, this is a family matter.

BETHANY: Bother family matters, Emma! You all say family matters when you mean lies and secrets! I won’t have any more of it! I… I’m sorry, Mrs. Barrows. But I don’t know what to do.

ABIGAIL: Not at all, child. If you’d like, you can tell me your troubles. There may be something I can do.

EMMA: Mrs. Barrows…

BETHANY: We must have help from somewhere, Emma.

EMMA: (Sighing) Yes. Yes, we must.

ABIGAIL: Please, tell me. Perhaps… perhaps I can help.

(End flashback.)

SCENE 3.4

SETTING: Loring’s End, 1934

TOM: They put these here to steal away the evidence against Reginald. Emma… and my mother. She sewed them in here to help Bethany.

ALICE: Did Emma know this was still here?

TOM: She must have.

ALICE: But she wanted you to make her another one!

TOM: Yes, a perfect copy— not something close, but a perfect copy! Because only a perfect copy could replace the original.

ALICE: She was going to swap them? So she could get the documents without anyone knowing they were gone. My God. It was Grandfather, wasn’t it!? He must have found them out and tried to stop her! The monster killed Bethany to keep his secret! His own daughter!

TOM: Alice, please—!

(Footsteps as CONSTANCE approaches.)

CONSTANCE: Alice? Is that you?

ALICE: Oh, no. Aunt Constance! She’s coming in! Tom, you have to hide, she can’t see you in here! Quick— into the clothes! We have to—

CONSTANCE: Alice?

ALICE: Auntie!

CONSTANCE: What are you doing in my wardrobe?

ALICE: I— I was looking for you, Aunt. I wanted to ask you— about my dress. For the coming out ball.

(Pause.)

ALICE: Then I… I found this.

CONSTANCE: Bethany’s dress. I see.

ALICE: It’s beautiful.

CONSTANCE: As beautiful as she was. That clipping didn’t do her justice. I thought they would bury her in it, but Father saved it.

ALICE: He did?

(Pause.)

ALICE: Aunt Constance, I want to ask you something.

CONSTANCE: She would have only ruined it if she’d gone out into the garden.

ALICE: Aunt Constance. Do you know… anything about what Grandfather was doing?

CONSTANCE: Of course, dear.

ALICE: You… you did?

CONSTANCE: He arranged marriages for all of us. For Bethany… then for me… you mustn’t think we were all to end up like Emma… But you must forgive me, Alice. We are a little behind schedule, I suppose.

ALICE: Behind schedule? For what?

CONSTANCE: You didn’t think I’d let you become an old maid too, did you? Whatever would people say?

ALICE: Aunt Constance, what are you talking about?

CONSTANCE: Bethany had already been taken care of by the time of her coming out, but no matter, there will be plenty of fine young men to meet at yours. We’ll find someone for you, don’t you worry.

ALICE: You’re going to arrange a marriage for me?

CONSTANCE: Of course your uncle and I want to see to your future.

ALICE: But why!?

CONSTANCE: Because that’s how things are done.

ALICE: But… but I don’t want to get married!

CONSTANCE: You don’t? My poor dear. I fear that in this life we seldom find things go the way we want.

SCENE 3.5

TOM: What are we going to do?

ALICE: What do you mean?

TOM: How are we going to stop this?

ALICE: I don’t know if we can!

TOM: So you’re just going to go along with it?

ALICE: Tom!

TOM: Hasn’t your family done enough damage that way?

ALICE: I can’t just tell them no!

TOM: We have to! Or else you’ll be married off! Or else we can’t—!

(Pause.)

ALICE: Or else we can’t what?

(Pause.)

ALICE: What, Tom!?

TOM: Because I— care about you, Alice! I feel… quite strongly for you.

ALICE: Oh, Tom.

TOM: Yes, Alice! Is that so wrong?

ALICE: Oh, my God.

TOM: I thought… I thought you might too. For me.

ALICE: Don’t say it, Tom!

TOM: Alice!

ALICE: I can’t. I— I can’t. I’ve never—

TOM: Jesus Christ.

ALICE: Tom, I’m a Loring! I can’t just… be with anybody!

TOM: Anybody? Or a tradesman like me.

ALICE: Tom!

TOM: I’m sorry to have presumed on you.

ALICE: I can’t talk about this!

TOM: You don’t have to.

(He turns to leave.)

ALICE: Tom, wait! I need you.

TOM: Don’t worry. I’m still going to help you. And I haven’t asked you for anything.

(He exits. ALICE begins to cry.)

SCENE 3.6

Setting: Della’s pub

DELLA: Tom! Evening there, dear. Were you up with Miss Loring again? How are things there?

(Pause.)

DELLA: What’s happened?

TOM: You were right, Del. About Alice.

DELLA: Aw, Tom. I’m real sorry. Really I am.

TOM: Thanks.

DELLA: At least now you can get back to your own life. You’ve sure got enough on your plate already.

TOM: Can’t do that, Del.

DELLA: Honey! Why would you put yourself through that?

TOM: I made her a promise. I mean to keep it, whatever else.

DELLA: I’ll bring you a little something. It’ll make you feel better.

(DELLA moves off. TOM sighs. He is jostled by KENNETH as he tries to walk by.)

KENNETH: ‘Scuse me.

TOM: Kenneth?

KENNETH: God damn it. You.

TOM: What’s wrong?

KENNETH: Nothing. Just on my way out.

TOM: Hey, wait a minute.

KENNETH: Leave me alone, kid!

TOM: I said wait!

DELLA: Tom! What’s got into you?

TOM: I have to run, Del.

DELLA: Tom!

TOM: It’s something I have to do.

SCENE 3.7

(KENNETH breathes heavily as his steps crunch over gravel. Suddenly he grunts and stumbles, thumping against the alley wall.)

KENNETH: Jesus Christ! You!

TOM: What were you doing out that other night?

KENNETH: What? Let me go!

TOM: Not until you talk to me! When I ran into you on the road, what were you doing?

KENNETH: None of your business!

TOM: I was up at the Lorings’ place, just like you said. And I think you were too.

KENNETH: What are you talking about?

TOM: You were the one who broke in, weren’t you?

KENNETH: Screw off!

TOM: You had your arm hurt just like the burglar. You were hanging around just outside the grounds. And you’re too hot after anything to do with that family.

KENNETH: Oh, you got no idea!

TOM: What do you have against the Lorings?

KENNETH: Plenty, boy!

TOM: Do you want something from them? Money? What did they ever do to you?

KENNETH: More than you’ll ever know! So leave me to my own business!

TOM: Tell me what you’re up to.

KENNETH: No!

TOM: I could have the police after you in a minute! You were real sore against Miss Emma, weren’t you?

KENNETH: So what if I was?

TOM: Because she’s dead, that’s what! Because somebody killed her, and I think it was you!

KENNETH: Me? I didn’t do anything to her!

TOM: You broke into your house and went digging through her things. We know what you were after, Kenneth. We found Emma’s papers. She was looking into the death of Bethany Loring.

KENNETH: I know that!

TOM: What did you want with those papers? Did you have something to do with that too?

KENNETH: You don’t know what you’re on about!

TOM: Did you want to hurt that girl too?

KENNETH: (yelling over TOM) I never! I wanted to marry her!

TOM: What?

KENNETH: You think you know everything just because that ;ittle niece let you in? Think you’re so damn clever? You don’t know a bit of what went on in that house! I never would have hurt that girl in a thousand years! Bethany and me… we were… we loved each other.

TOM: How did you know her?

KENNETH: Why the hell should I tell you?

TOM: So I understand! So I believe you when you say you didn’t hurt anyone!

KENNETH: Augh!

TOM: Because I’m not going to let you alone until you do!

(KENNETH sighs.)

KENNETH: We worked there. At the Lorings’. My old man was Loring’s valet. I was a stable boy.

TOM: Yeah?

KENNETH: Her father had me give Bethany her riding lessons, and we got to talking. She was about my age, and such a nice girl… we fell in love.

TOM: Nobody ever told me about Bethany having a sweetheart.

KENNETH: We kept it secret! We had to! Her father never would have stood for it. He had bigger plans for his baby girl than some ruffian minding horses. We didn’t know how we were going to be together, but…

TOM: Did something change?

KENNETH: Emma found us out.

(Flashback effect.)

SCENE 3.8

SETTING: Loring’s End, 1917

EMMA: Bethany? Mrs. Warren told me you’d gone out to the stables. Bethany?

(Sound of footsteps. Pause.)

BETHANY: Emma!

EMMA: Oh, Bethany…

BETHANY: What are you doing here?

EMMA: Looking for you. I wondered why you were suddenly so devoted to your riding lessons.

KENNETH: Oh, please, miss…

BETHANY: Emma, you can’t tell anyone.

EMMA: Bethany, what are you doing?

KENNETH: Miss, you don’t understand.

BETHANY: I love him, and he loves me.

EMMA: I see. How long has this been going on?

KENNETH: Since last spring, miss.

EMMA: Oh, good heavens. I see we’re all such practiced secret keepers.

BETHANY: Father would never understand. He’d just try to keep us apart!

KENNETH: I swear, miss, I only mean to be good to your sister. I’d never bring her to any harm. I love her, miss.

BETHANY: Please, Emma.

EMMA: (Sighing.) Very well, dear.

(Flashback effect.)

SCENE 3.9

SETTING: Alley outside Della’s Pub, 1934

KENNETH: I kept waiting for her old man or her big brother to come down on us, but they never did, so I suppose she kept her promise. She never spoke to us about it again until we found out about what Mr. Loring was planning.

TOM: The arranged marriage.

KENNETH: Yes. How do you know that?

TOM: It was in Emma’s papers.

KENNETH: She said she was going to help us. She hatched the plan, it was her idea!

TOM: What plan?

KENNETH: To get away! For me to whisk Bethany away from her coming out ball and slip off into the night. She said she had something.

TOM: Had something?

KENNETH: Something that if Loring ever came after us, we could make sure he’d stay away. I don’t know what, she never told me. But I trusted her, that cold bitch, for all the good it did.

TOM: The papers. The papers my mother sewed into the dress. They could have exposed him as a collaborator with the Germans.

KENNETH: The old man was collaborating? Oh, that self-righteous old bastard! Damn shame he never got what he deserved.

TOM: So what happened?

KENNETH: I did what she said. I waited for Bethany just outside the party. I waited for hours, it felt like .All night. Then I heard how they found her, all broken like that… I never got to see her again.

TOM: What went wrong?

KENNETH: That’s the devil of it! I don’t know! I was there are the garden gate just like we planned, but she never came to meet me.

TOM: And Emma blamed you.

KENNETH: For letting it happen. Afterward she chased me off. Dismissed me from my job and told me never to show my face at Loring’s End again. The hag wanted someone to blame, so she settled on me.

TOM: And you swear you didn’t have anything to do with it?

KENNETH: I was a stupid boy, Tom! Just like you are. But I loved her, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to keep her safe.

TOM: And not Miss Emma either?

KENNETH: I didn’t kill her. More like she killed me. Swear on poor Bethany’s grave.

TOM: Then… help me.

KENNETH: Help you?

TOM: Yes. Help me figure out what’s going on herer. It may be the only way to ever know what really happned to Bethany.

KENNETH: And… you won’t turn me in to the cops?

TOM: If what you say is true, no, I won’t. Just work with me.

(Pause.)

TOM: We’ve got almost twenty years of secrets to dig through here. I need all the help I can get.

(Pause.)

TOM: And then there’s Miss Alice. She’s… she’s a real nice girl, Kenneth. She needs all the help she can get too.

KENNETH: For all the good a drunk like me can do you… I’ll help you how I can.

TOM: Thank you. Listen, I’m sorry about how Miss Emma treated you. But I think she hurt just like you do. Whatever she was doing, I think she just wanted to know what happened too.

KENNETH: Might be.

TOM: She must have thought about her a lot. When she came to me, she wanted me to make a copy of Bethany’s gown. She gave me this picture of her.

KENNETH: Picture? Could I… could I see it?

(Crinkling as TOM produces the clipping and hands it to KENNETH.)

KENNETH: Haven’t seen her in years. Didn’t have no pictures of her. Afraid I was going to forget what she looked like. (Pause.) My God, she was beautiful.

TOM: I’m sorry.

KENNETH: Not as sorry as I am. Go on now, Tom. I’ll be seeing you around. Let’s make it in the daylight next time, with no more shoving.

SCENE 3.10

Setting: Della’s pub

ALICE: Excuse me. Are you Miss Carruthers?

DELLA: Call me Della.

ALICE: My name is Alice Loring.

DELLA: Oh. So you’re Miss Alice.

ALICE: Yes. It’s nice to meet you. Tom Barrows has told me a lot about you.

DELLA: Likewise. What brings you down here, miss?

ALICE: I— I, um, was hoping to talk to Tom. He’s not at his shop, so I thought I might find him here.

DELLA: Afraid he just left, miss. Couldn’t tell you where he went.

ALICE: Oh. Well, I said some awful things to him that I never should have said. So if you see him, could you tell him how sorry I am? And that… I didn’t mean it? Would you tell him that for me?

DELLA: Sure I will, miss.

ALICE: Thank you. I suppose I’ll be on my way.

DELLA: All right, then. Stay safe now.

(ALICE turns to go.)

DELLA: Miss, wait. If you wait a moment, I think he might be back soon.

ALICE: Oh. All right. I… I think I will.

(Pause. TOM comes up behind them.)

TOM: Alice? What are you doing here?

ALICE: I’m sorry, Tom. And I want to try.

SCENE 3.11

SETTING: Della’s pub

DELLA: Sure it’s all right that you’re out this late on your own, miss?

ALICE: I sneaked out. They don’t know I’m gone. I couldn’t stand to stay in that house anymore. Not knowing what grandfather did.

TOM: Maybe so, Alice, but he died before any of this happened to Emma. He couldn’t have done that.

DELLA: And now you’re sure old Kenneth isn’t responsible.

TOM: He seemed genuine to me. Like a poor old guy with a lost love.

DELLA: Never knew that about him. Poor old guy.

TOM: And whoever did kill Emma didn’t want her to dig up the secrets she was after. Kenneth would hardly want to protect Reginald Loring from anything.

ALICE: So what’s to be done? It’s as if we’ve learned everything except who did it.

TOM: I think we should keep on with Emma’s plan.

ALICE: What?

TOM: Emma was on the trail of what really happened. She must have found what she was looking for.

DELLA: And look what happened! Seems you’re like as not to bring a killer down on your heads just like Miss Loring did.

TOM: Maybe so. But I can’t think of any other way to find this out.

ALICE: What was Emma going to do now?

TOM: Well, the last thing she did was come to me. I’m going to do her commission.

ALICE: Bethany’s dress?

DELLA: Tom! You’ve hardly had the time as it is!

TOM: You could help me! Both of you!

ALICE: Could we?

DELLA: Tom, you know I’d do anything for you, but I’m no good with a needle.

TOM: Might be, but you’ve got two hands, you can help with other things.

DELLA: And what’s going to happen when it’s made?

ALICE: We could switch it out, like she planned. And bring the documents to light, like she was going to.

TOM: If that doesn’t draw them out, nothing will.

DELLA: So you’re set on doing this, Tom?

TOM: I am.

DELLA: Well, then, you’re going to need help getting through it. I’m in.

TOM: Thank you, Del.

ALICE: Yes, thank you.

DELLA: No trouble for this one, dear. You won’t meet a better man than this one. Well, it’s getting late. I should be getting home to my husband. I’ll be seeing the two of you soon.

TOM: Goodnight, Della.

(DELLA walks off. TOM and ALICE start off as well.)

ALICE: So Bethany loved this stable boy.

TOM: Yeah. And look how well that turned out.

ALICE: She must have seen something in him to make it worth it. Like… if he were the best man she knew.

TOM: Emma trusted my mother to help her save Bethany.

ALICE: It was brave of her.

TOM: I can’t do any less.

(TOM kisses ALICE’s hand.)

ALICE: Tom…

TOM: We have to finish what Emma started. We have to make that dress.

End of Episode 3: What She Started

The knockoff Atonement dress

You may remember that this past April, to console myself upon aging out of the best years of my life, I purchased a dress off of eBay that was designed to resemble the gorgeous green silk charmeuse gown worn by Keira Knightley in the film Atonement. I've had it for some time now, but have yet to have an occasion to wear it. But one thing I've been meaning to do is take pictures of myself in it to post here.

The dress is not a perfect fit. It's actually cut for someone less curvy than I, if you can believe that. It's a bit tight in the hips, so it has to ride up to lay right, which makes it rumple in the waist. I like how the bust shaping gives me definition. There's just same old problem I have regarding my boxy, massively oversized ribcage that means the zipper in the back only mostly closes. I think that also means the straps are not pulled as taut as they should be, and are prone to slipping. I may shorten them a bit because of that. Fortunately the back shape camaflauges the slightly gaping top of the zipper. I've always found a bare back very sexy, particularly my own.

If I remade it, which I'd like to do someday, I may copy the original, but I also would love to make it as the Tailor dress. Cornflower blue, slight cowl neck over a close-fitting beaded bodice with a straight skirt. And of course, sized to my proportions. Or possibly someone else's-- niobien* not only plays Bethany Loring, the wearer of the famous dress, she is the one cast member who I actually think physically resembles what I picture for her character. It sure would be fun to dress her up in such a gown and take her portrait in character.

But even if this dress is not perfect on me, I still like it. It has a long train and is very hot, which makes it not the easiest dress to wear, but it is a fabulous, flattering, striking color and I love the drama of it. And at the very least, it will be good inspiration for future dressmaking efforts. 

 

A few days into residency

Residency underway. Not too bad so far. It's rather the way of this whole process that I alternate about every two hours between a feeling of energization for the craft and of despondency over how hard it is to make it as a playwright. Residency does not at all suit my temperament, as I harp on every time, but I'm trying to take the parts of it that do work for me away for my development. It does feel nice to be in school again, to walk down the street to class with a bite of breakfast in hand. Wish I could start every day that way.




We workshopped the first fifteen or so pages of the screenplay for The Tailor of Riddling Way, and I was pleased to find the response was quite positive, even enthusiastic. My classmates found Tom to be engaging and likable, they were intrigued by the mystery of Emma ordering the dress, and wanted to see what was going to happen-- three markers of a solid script right there. The largest issue it had was that my descriptions of the action were overly detailed and novelistic, which in the screenplay form is considered excessive and slows down the reading. That's the cinematographer's job, not mine. But I want a huge part of the theoretical movie's appeal to be, to use a term my cool teacher this semester latched onto, the dressmaking porn, the lush visuals of the couture garment making process. So my urge is to write all the details of that in. But it would make a reader feel bogged down, so I have to find a way to convey the notions without all that text.
As a side note, some other majors issues of the script, which I hope to revise at some point:

1. Alice needs to seem lonelier at the outset, so that it makes sense that Tom's entrance into her life makes her reach out and want to let him in

2. Officer Crier disappears from the middle of the script, and so must be woven in more consistently, since he's one of the three allies Tom makes by the end

3. The last scene needs to have something at stake in order to create tension. Tom has to have something to "pull out of the fire."

Now that I've had a bit of distance from the script, I'd like to work on this stuff.



Grumble grumble grouch grouch

Grouchy. I wanted to finish recording Gigi's parts in the first and second episodes of Tailor of Riddling Way last night, but there was an unaccountable buzz being recorded by the headset. This is a new thing and we couldn't figure out where the hell it was coming from. It was very consistent, so Bernie could edit it out mostly, but it was very hard to get it so there wasn't any distortion remaining in the line. We managed to get all her lines for episode one done, which means we could focus on producing that for release in the meantime, but I wanted to get the couple of remaining pieces of episode two as well. Gigi is going home for the summer at least, and though there is a strong chance she will be attending Boston College Law School this coming semester and will be accessible then, at least for the meantime she will not be readily available. I hate when this sort of technical error happens, because I hate anything in my projects happening that is beyond my personal ability to fix. Also, chances are I'll have to spend money on new equipment to deal with this, which I really, really don't want to do, and I'll have to make sure any new equipment records a sound that isn't radically different from the recordings we've already got.

Also, I hurt my ankle a few days ago and it is getting in my way. It feel fine as long as I'm sitting on my ASS being USELESS, but I have too many things to do and I do enough sitting as it is. Unfortunately the more I walk on it, the more painful it becomes, not all that much but just enough to be really, really irritating. I have dance I want to work on, and this is not helping at all.

The Tailor of Riddling Way - the screenplay

All right, it's looking like the Tailor film script is about ten times too long to be posted here in LJ, so I am trying a different tack. I am posting the script in its entirety on Blogger and linking to it here.

Click to read the film version of The Tailor of Riddling Way!

Also, check out this neat little title graphic I made by turning a sketch of the Atonement dress blue! ;-)

Finished my first screenplay!

I have finally finished the screenplay version of The Tailor of Riddling Way! I handed it in yesterday to my awesome teacher. It's rough, and this is just the first draft of likely many, but I finished it! Given how often screenplays end up partially done bits of debris on a writer's hard drive, this is kind of a big deal.

It will need a lot of fixing. I could feel my brain burning out and not being sure how to edit it. But for now I'm just going to enjoy the feeling of having a complete first draft. When I recover a little I will be back-engineering the second half to finish the audio drama, as I had to adapt the first half from audio drama to screenplay. But if you care to read my little film, my very first complete screenplay, I am posting it on LJ for your pleasure. It will have to be in chunks due to length, so I guess I'll cut it into four pieces like I was planning with the audio drama.

I am really proud of myself for doing it. :-)

What I'm working on right now

In an effort to refocus myself on the projects that are important to me, I thought I'd give a rundown of, if not ALL the projects I have in the works, the ones that currently in the forefront of my mind.

The Tailor of Riddling Way, in two forms. There is of course the original audio drama form, but lately I have been working more on the film version that I am making for my Screenwriting grad school class. The story is translating pretty nicely, even working better in some ways because I can show in a visual medium rather than tell everything, and my teacher has given me both positive feedback and very useful constructive criticism. I haven't been posting my film script pieces here because they're not completely different from the audio drama stuff I've already showed you, but when I finish it I think I will post it here in its entirety. It's kind of cool to think that by the end of the next month I will have finished an entire screenplay, even if only the first draft.

I'm also working on my fantasy novel idea, Fallen. I've had this idea since senior year of high school to tell the story of a demon found and raised by a Catholic organization to fight on their side against the forces of hell while struggling to cope with what seems to be the inherent evil in his nature. I've been working on scenes here and there to submit to my Science Fiction and Fantasy study. What I've done has been posted here if you'd care to read it.

Those are the major ones I need to focus on. But there's some other stuff that I've been thinking about lately too.

I would like the first full-length play I write to be Mrs. Hawking. This piece is set in the Victorian era and about a sort of female Sherlock Holmes whose withdrawal from the world and growing distrust for humanity seems to be getting in the way of her good work until she is forced by her well-meaning nephew to take on a young lady housekeeper, Mary Stone, who turns out to be the companion she's been lacking. I love mysteries, I love that period setting, and I love the dynamic between the embittered middle-aged lady and the young woman whose perseverance through her hard luck begins to draw Mrs. Hawking out of her shell. And perhaps it's naughty of me to cast already, but it helps that I am totally imagining crearespero* as Mrs. Hawking and nennivian* as Mary. <3 There are a couple of scenes from this piece posted here.

There's also my short humorous larp idea, Break a Leg. My fourth (FOURTH!) metatheatrical piece to date, this humorous two-hour larp will have eight players as members of a dysfunctional theater troupe whose leading lady has been found suddenly dead two hours before the curtain is supposed to go up. I have already bid it for SLAW in November and Intercon in March, but I am planning on finishing it way before then. It's small enough that I could probably get several runs in beforehand. It will involve an interactive environment and sides for in-game performance opportunities... which I will have to write. :-)

Those are the majors ones. There's other things I plan on working on eventually, and though they are not currently at my mind's forefront, sometimes I noodle on them as well. Imperium, my Ancient Roman larp. Sundan, my Shakespearean-style epic tragedy about a man who destroys himself and everyone around him when the woman he loves marries another man. And a possible project for the next semester of school that is percolating in the dark recesses of my mind...

But these are the ones you can expect to see more of in the near future.

Atonement dress

As some of you may have noticed, Tuesday was my twenty-fifth birthday. I am officially on the wrong side of twenty-five. I really don't like celebrating birthdays, but to console myself I decided I could get myself a little present. So I wandered around on eBay, my retail poison of choice.

Though I haven't seen the movie, in my opinion probably the most gorgeous dress to come out of film in the last ten years is the one worn by Keira Knightley in Atonement. It is green, bias-cut silk charmeuse with gorgeous details like a hip swag in front, complicated braiding effect in the rear, with an unusual mostly-bare back but with slim straps.

I'm crazy about it. I would say this dress is the primary inspiration for the design of Bethany's gown in Tailor of Riddling Way. Though since I have moved its creation to 1917 or so, it's even less period-appropriate, but I don't care.

Surfing around, I came across a listing for a prom dress that someone had commissioned but didn't want to keep anymore that had been styled after the Atonement dress. It was not very expensive and it was in my size, so what the hell, I decided to go for it. Here is what it looked like on the listing.

As you can see, far from a perfect copy. The color's not quite that vivid poison green (though that could be the camera) and that awesome strange randomly intertwining fabric effect on the rear is simplified to what appears to be rouching. Still, it captures a lot of what I like about the dress and even fixes the one thing I don't-- the bodice is kind of whatever on the original. I don't know why they went with laser cutting instead of beading on it, and emphasizes the boniness of Keira Knightley's chest. I have more going on up top anyway, so the more structured bodice of the version I bought will look better on me.

Probably someday, once my sewing skills are adequate to the task, I will make my own version of the dress. Charmeuse is a difficult, slippery material to sew with. But I bought the pattern that Gertie recommended as a good base for emulating it, Vintage Vogue 2859, just to have it for when that time comes.

 

Though it occurs to me that when I get to that point, what I may really want to do would be to make the Bethany dress, something similar except in cornflower blue with a nicer bodice. ;-) That would be a lot of fun.

Anyway, the dress I bought is scheduled to be mailed on Friday, so I expect it will arrive in the middle of next week. If so, it might be an option for my costume for Jesriah at Festival. It's ostensibly from the period I was told to emulate with my look. :-)

Productivity machine

I was a productive little worker Bee over the last few days. I set several goals for myself to accomplish this weekend and I believe I managed every one of them. What I have done includes:

- Finishing my first assignment for screenwriting
- Writing an additional scene for Tailor
- Incorporating ten thousand steps of walking into my routine
- Making headway into my sewing text
- Starting the first Hipster Feminist plot line
- Cleaning my room

I have also consumed several gallons of apple cider in an effort to stave off my chronic dehydration, but that's probably not an accomplishment so much.

Still that leaves a number of things. First and foremost, I need to do my first assignment for science fiction and fantasy. Unfortunately I put this off a lot in favor of the screenwriting assignment, so I don't have a ton of time left for this. I'll chunk this out better for the second round of assignments.

I also really have to edit that additional scene for Tailor. In my desire to just get it done, I broke with my usual pattern of tweaking as I go and instead just banged out the scene from start to finish. Jared and Kindness were the first to read it, and they both gave the extremely spot-on criticism that there isn't enough conflict in the scene. There needs to be more of a struggle for the information to come out, as it is information Kenneth would want to conceal. Plus, conflict raises tension, always necessary for drama. Kenneth is the character Jared is playing, and in the course of developing his performance he tends to internalize a very well-defined idea of who his character is, and Kenneth just spilling his guts wasn't in the conception he'd gotten of the man. Kindness is a man of excellent artistic taste, who I thank for being Palamon-like enough to give it to me straight, both on the positives and the negatives of what he sees in my pieces. I was lucky they were my first responders to the scene, because now I know what I have to do to fix it.

Now that I've taken the plunge and begun the first-ever tweet chain plot for Hipster Feminist, I need to be on top of where the action's going. I am now two tweets in, so there's no going back. ;-) I haven't done as much working out of the storyline or the tweets illustrating thereof as I would have liked, so I have to get on it. They tend to come out funnier when I come up with them in advance and I can tweak them into optimum shape.

Biweekly Theater Writing Challenge #13.10 - Tom confronts Kenneth and learns who he really is

This is a scene for Tailor that I've had in my head for a while now, of Tom confronting Kenneth about his part in the mystery and learning who the poor old drunk really is. It's in very rough form right now, as I just wrote it last night and haven't edited it at all, but I'm glad I banged it out.

As I mentioned, the other night I recorded Plesser and Jared in their respective roles of Tom and Kenneth. They were so great I wanted to work on more of their interaction, so this long-awaited scene came into being. I am working on setting up a strong parallelism in the story between Alice and Bethany, and I want to echo it to a slightly lesser extent with Tom and Kenneth, that the older, broken man sees some of who he used to be in the intrepid younger man. I'm also glad to get a little more dialogue for Emma and Bethany in by way of the flashback. I loved the slightly sad, carefully controlled, weight-of-the-world tone rigel* used when playing Emma, so I think knowing about the style she was going to use informed how I wrote her here. Also, I am just excited to have more acting opportunity for Carolyn, who is shaping up so nicely and putting such amazing sincerity and passion into the part.

KENNETH: Jesus Christ! You!

TOM: What were you doing out that other night?

KENNETH: What? Let me go!

TOM: Not until you talk to me! When I ran into you on the road, what were you doing?

KENNETH: None of your business!

TOM: I was up at the Loring’s place, just like you said. And I think you were too.

KENNETH: What are you talking about?

TOM: You were the one who broke in, weren’t you?

KENNETH: Screw off!

TOM: You had your arm hurt just like the burglar. You were hanging around just outside the grounds. And you’re too hot after anything to do with that family.

KENNETH: Oh, you got no idea!

TOM: What do you have against the Lorings?

KENNETH: Plenty, boy!

TOM: Did you want something from them? Money? What did they ever do to you?

KENNETH: More than you’ll ever know! So leave me to my own business!

TOM: Tell me what you’re up to.

KENNETH: No!

TOM: I could have the police after you in a minute! You were real sore against Miss Emma, weren’t you?

KENNETH: So what if I was?

TOM: Because she’s dead, that’s what! Because somebody killed her, and I think it was you!

KENNETH: Me? I didn’t do nothing to her!

TOM: You broke into her house and went digging through her things. We know what you were after, Kenneth. We found Emma’s papers. She was looking into the death of Bethany Loring.

KENNETH: I know that!

TOM: What did you want with those papers? Did you have something to do with that too?

KENNETH: You don’t know what you’re on about!

TOM: Did you want to hurt that girl too?

KENNETH: I never! I wanted to marry her!

TOM: What?

KENNETH: You think you know everything just because that little niece let you in? Think you’re so damn clever! You don’t know a bit of what went on in that house! I never would have hurt that girl in a thousand years. Bethany and me… we were… we loved each other.

TOM: How did you know her?

KENNETH: We worked there. My old man was Loring’s valet. I was a stable boy. Her father had me give Bethany her riding lessons, and we got to talking. She was about my age, and such a nice girl… we fell in love.

TOM: Nobody ever told me about Bethany having a sweetheart.

KENNETH: We kept it secret of, course. We had to! Her father never would have stood for it. He had bigger plans for his baby girl than some ruffian minding horses. We didn’t know how we were going to be together, but then...

TOM: What changed?

KENNETH: Emma found us out.

(Flashback effect.)

EMMA: Bethany? Mrs. Warren told me you’d gone out to the stables. Bethany?

(Sound of footsteps. Pause.)

BETHANY: Emma!

EMMA: Oh, Bethany…

BETHANY: What are you doing here?

EMMA: Looking for you. I wondered why you were suddenly so devoted to your riding lessons.

KENNETH: Oh, please, miss…

BETHANY: Emma, you can’t tell anyone.

EMMA: Bethany, what are you doing?

KENNETH: Miss, you don’t understand.

BETHANY: I love him, and he loves me.

EMMA: I see. How long has this been going on?

KENNETH: Since last spring, miss.

EMMA: Oh, good heavens. I see we’re all such practiced secret keepers.

BETHANY: Father would never understand. He’d only separate us!

KENNETH: I swear, miss, I only mean to be good to your sister. I’d never bring her to any harm. I love her, miss.

BETHANY: Please, Emma.

EMMA: (Sighing.) Very well, dear.

(Flashback effect.)

KENNETH: I kept waiting for her old man or her big brother to come down on us, but they never did, so I suppose she kept her promise. She never spoke to us about it again until we found out about what Mr. Loring was planning.

TOM: The arranged marriage.

KENNETH: Yes. How do you know that?

TOM: It was in Emma’s papers.

KENNETH: She said she was going to help us. Help us get away, so we could be together. She hatched this plan for me to whisk Bethany away from her coming out ball and slip away into the night. She said she had something that if Loring ever came after us, we could make sure he’d stay away.

TOM: What was that?

KENNETH: I don’t know, Emma never told me. But I trusted her, that cold bitch, for all the good it did. So I did what she said, and waited for Bethany just outside the party. I waited for hours, it felt like. All night. Then I heard how they found her, all broken like that… I never got to see her again.

TOM: What went wrong?

KENNETH: That’s the devil of it! I don’t know! I was there at the garden gate just like we planned, but she never came to meet me.

TOM: Emma still blamed you.

KENNETH: For letting it happen. Afterward she chased me off. Dismissed me from my job and told me never to show my face at Loring’s End again. The hag didn’t know who to blame so she settled on me.

TOM: And you swear you didn’t have anything to do with it?

KENNETH: I was a stupid boy, Tom, just like you are. But I loved her, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to keep her safe.

TOM: And not Miss Emma either?

KENNETH: I didn’t kill her. More like she killed me. Swear on poor Bethany’s grave.

TOM: Then… help me.

KENNETH: Help you?

TOM: Yes. Help me figure out what’s going on here. It may be the only way to ever know what really happened to Bethany.

KENNETH: And… you won’t turn me in to the cops?

TOM: If what you say is true, no, I won’t. Just work with me. We’ve got almost twenty years of secrets to dig through here. I need all the help I can get.

(Pause.)

TOM: And then there’s Miss Alice. She’s a real nice girl, Kenneth. She needs all the help she can get too.

KENNETH: For all the good an old drunk like me can do you… I’ll help you how I can.

TOM: Thank you. Listen, I’m sorry about how Miss Emma treated you. But I think she hurt just like you do. Whatever she was doing, I think she just wanted to know what happened too.

KENNETH: Might be.

TOM: She must have thought about her a lot. When she came to me, she wanted me to make a copy of Bethany’s gown. She gave me this picture of her.

KENNETH: Picture? Could I… could I see it?

(Crinkling as TOM produces the clipping and hands it to KENNETH.)

KENNETH: Haven’t seen her in years. Didn’t have no pictures of her. Afraid I was going to forget what she looked like. (Pause.) My God, she was beautiful.

TOM: I’m sorry.

KENNETH: Not as sorry as I am. Go on now, Tom. I’ll be seeing you around. Let’s make it in the daylight next time, with no more shoving.

Free on a Friday

For the second round of Festival I got into Folding the River. I was torn very much between it and High Rollers, but I'd already told the GMs I would be signing up, so I decided to let that decide for me. Neither Paranoia or The Stand have filled yet, but neither are in the time slots that people tend to prioritize, so I am hoping that once signups go open on Monday night we will get our full complements. Paranoia was in theory supposed to be modular, so it might be able to work if we have to excise parts, but frankly I think that fell by the wayside enough that we'd have to do a lot of fixing to make it work. The Stand is not really able to work without pretty much the entire cast-- I could maybe cut out two roles, max, without having to do major surgery --so I really really want it to fill.

In other news, I have finished my first screenwriting assignment and have decided to declare my afternoon and evening free. I am now making a list of things I'd like to do with that open time. I would like to take a walk into town, maybe run an errand or two, maybe just walk. It occurred to me recently that even if I get back to going to the gym as often as I did in undergrad, back then I was also walking across campus three or four times a day in addition, which I am definitely not getting now. So I am determined not only to make time for workouts, but also just get off my lazy ass and walk during the day. It means a significantly greater time commitment, unfortunately, but I think if I schedule correctly I can make it work. It would be worth it to shape up a little.

I want to finish another scene for Tailor that I've started but not yet made much progress on. It's the confrontation between Tom and Kenneth where we finally learn why Kenneth's been hanging around with so much interest in the Lorings. We recorded a scene between Plesser and Jared this week, which has inspired me. I would also like to have it for the Artist Meetup morethings5* and I have planned this weekend, where we use each other as accountability partners to keep us working on our artistic projects. Maybe I'll noodle a little on my short-quick-easy larp idea, since I'm feeling particularly engaged in larp production right now.

Finally, it'd be nice to make a little more progress with my new beginner sewing text, Sew Everything Workshop. I've gotten a little ways in and so far it's exactly what I was looking for. It starts with the basics and explains them very clearly. So far I haven't learned anything I didn't already know, but I like things that emphasize the foundation and confirm that I understand correctly before moving on to what I don't already grasp. I'm anxious to get to the part where it actually walks you through a sewing project, which is what I think I really need.

Oh, and one last thing. I recently decided that the first "plot line" I'd like to feature on Hipster Feminist is a story about Rhoda stalking an ex-boyfriend. Not sure how that's going to work yet, but I think it has the potential to be very funny. Maybe I'll do a little work figuring out the storyline and seeing how I can chunk it out into individually funny, one hundred and forty-character pieces. 

Jonathan Kindness as Rowan Loring

Last night I had the honor of having morethings5* over to record his part for Tailor of Riddling Way. Kindness is one of those actors that I will go out of my way to work with. Having cast him in Hamlet, To Think of Nothing, and now Tailor, I have included Kindness in more of my dramatic projects than any actor excepting only Jared and Steph. I like his style, and I like the way we click as actor and director. He's very receptive to ideas, but also inventive and able to extrapolate; when he is so inspired he springs off of what you told him in a way that makes the character more real to him, and thus gets a better portrayal from him. He has a way of GETTING characters, of absorbing all their complexities and blending them into a cohesive whole that takes them all in account and balances them. While most actors that I've worked with tend to shoot for a particular performance, he is more experimental, trying this and that to see what effect it has and how he feels about it before settling on his ultimate approach.

I wanted him for the part of Rowan Loring for two major reasons. First, the sound of his voice; he has a cultured, even-toned voice that I thought would convey a man of manners, breeding, and integrity. Secondly, it was different than anything I'd cast him before, which as you all know I love to do sometimes. His previous roles with me were Rosencrantz and Palamon, the first one played totally for laughs and the second one a humorous voice of satire. I liked the idea of having him play someone who made his point straightforwardly, but still felt bound by his personal code; Palamon, by contrast, is a truth speaker who uses jokes and irony to express himself, and does not feel obligated by convention. Rowan is my Honorable Man in this story whose only fault was that he stuck so closely to his code that had to place the needs of those he loved in the secondary position.

Jonathan did a fantastic job last night; I was incredibly pleased with the performance he gave. I found it interesting that he would mark his script to give himself cues as he read, delineating beats, transitions, and extremes. I'm always interested in process-of-the-artist stuff, so I thought that was cool. Also, best of all, he is an unusually good self-editor. He would record the piece, listen to it, and hear the places where he wasn't satisfied or where he wasn't feeling like he was giving me what I wanted. He would then use his observations  to improve himself on the second pass through. I've rarely worked with actors with that capability to critique their own performance. And of course, he is wonderful to work with, which makes me enjoy having him in my projects even more.

This is him at my fancy party, but he's kind of Rowanish here, I think. :-)

Creative restlessness

As you can perhaps tell by the fact that this is my third post of the day, I am feeling ruminative and mentally unsettled. I certainly have a lot on my plate, most of which I put there myself, but I am trying to determine what I should be focusing on that will soothe a certain creative restlessness I'm feeling. I am not sure if I need more things to do to serve as light alternatives to my big, work-intensive priorities, or if I need to not take anything else on so I can balance my project load with relaxation.

Schoolwork is the big priority; my first due date is February 13th, about two and a half weeks from now, so I'd better get cracking. I think this Sunday, which is mostly free, will be devoted to homework. I usually need big chunks of time to really dig into writing. Then there's also The Tailor of Riddling Way. I am proud of myself that I've finished writing the first two episodes, and even gotten one scene recorded. But I think it's going to need two more episodes at least, so at best I'm only halfway through, and there's a ton more recording to do. I am feeling good about and getting satisfaction out of this project, but it's requiring a lot of mental energy. I kind of wish I was working on something easy that gave me the same feeling.

What with all the talk of larps, naturally my thoughts turn to my own larp writing. One of the reasons I got so absorbed in larp writing was that it has a built-in audience and is easy to find a venue to get that "feedback from the public" to give me the validation I crave. So right now, the idea of working on my Ancient Roman larp idea Imperium has become very attractive. But I do not want to let larp writing get in the way of the other writing that I should be prioritizing right now. And of couse this excitement never takes into account the fact that larps too always eventually hit the point where writing it is a slog. It's just something different, something that hasn't become tough yet, that I can imagine the fun of running to player adulation.

I wish I had an idea for a short, sweet, easy larp that I could write without a lot of time or effort that would still turn out well. Sadly, as many times as this has occurred to me, I've never been able to think of anything that I could pull off in that way. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be open to hearing them. It would be nice to have such a larp that I can run, easy for me and fun for the players.

I think one of the reasons for my restlessness is that I miss acting. I've done a lot of writing and directing recently, two of my major passions, but it's been forever since I've acted in anything, and I'm feeling the deficit. It was looking like I might have been able to go out for a part in Lenny's indepedent study show, Cymbeline, which I was excited about. But it turns out that it goes up the same weekend as Festival of the Larps, one of the most important weekends of my year, so participating is out of the question. For some reason, Titus is also the same weekend as Intercon, making both larp cons happening over shows. I am very disappointed about Lenny's show. I have another audition lined up for this Sunday night, but I'm not optimistic that it will work out any different than the last twenty-odd times before it.

Biweekly Theater Writing Challenge #13.9 - Tailor of Riddling Way, scene 2.5

Last night we finished recording the last voice in the scene we began with rigel* and thefarowl* last Saturday. Bernie and I snagged niobien* after the design meeting for Titus. We cleaned up the recording of the other two voices so that Carolyn would have something to respond to, and I'm very pleased with the results. We played the other two voice tracks and let Carolyn speak in the pauses we specifically left to accomodate her lines. Directing for voice recording is a different experience than directing for the stage, and the best ways of doing so are emerging to me slowly through practice. I'm really happy to have cast Carolyn, by the way. She has exactly the right sound for the character of Bethany Loring, and I loved working with her so much in Merely Players that I wanted to give her a speaking role and see how she did. Her enthusiasm and effort really comes through in her performance. The scene obviously hasn't really been edited yet, but technically we have a completely recorded piece. It's our first, the first of many we will need to do. :-)

This is probably the last scene in Episode 2, immediately following the large chunk that I posted yesterday. This scene went in a slightly different direction from how I expected it to. I wanted this part to place the issue of the class conflict overtly on the table. Della, who is a friend of Tom's and from a similar working-class background, forces him to think about how he may have to confront the realities of dealing with people of significantly higher social standing. I also included a hint that Tom's developing feelings for Alice. I was debating whether or not to include that in the story at all-- except maybe a suggestion that was where things were going at the very end, once everything is resolved --but I realized that can be a way of underscoring the class issue, of giving something for the two of them to deal with. Upping the conflict, I have learned from my grad program, is always an important part of designing a compelling story.

I am also looking forward to having inwaterwrit* in the role of Della. She was one of the few that couldn't make the read through, so I haven't had a chance to hear her yet, and I am very excited for when I finally do. I think she will do a great job bringing the sensibility, loyalty, and down-to-earth humanity that I want for the part. I also enjoy writing parts and dialogue with the actor in mind, so I've had her voice in my head as I put this scene together.

SCENE 2.5

SETTING: Tailor’s shop on Riddling Way

(Sound of sewing machine running. The bell rings as the front door opens. Steps coming inside.)

DELLA: Knock, knock. I need to see the tailor quite urgently. I’ve got a button emergency.

TOM: Della! To what do I owe the pleasure?

DELLA: Packed up a little something from the kitchen for you.

TOM: Ah, you shouldn’t have.

DELLA: Nothing fancy. Cold chicken, roast carrots and parsnips.

TOM: Sounds lovely, thank you. You know, you don’t have to keep bringing me dinner. I promise I won’t starve.

DELLA: Don’t kid yourself, Tom, I know how you are when you’re caught up in your work. Besides, you’ll fix my husband’s suits in trade. Nobody sews like you do.

TOM: Well, it’s a fair trade, then. I sure can’t cook like you.

DELLA: Good thing, then. We make one decent housewife between us!

(They laugh.)

TOM: Hand that coat over, then. I’ll spruce it up for you.

DELLA: Thanks, dear. You know I love to feed you, trade or no trade. You can use someone to take care of you.

TOM: However did I win myself so many lady champions? You know, the young niece of Miss Emma Loring stood up for me to the policemen at the estate.

DELLA: Must be your boyish charm. Or might be you seem helpless on your own.

TOM: Might be. Now, Della, I wanted to ask you… what do you know about that fellow that hangs around your pub sometimes? The one that was acting so strange the other day?

DELLA: You mean Kenny the ne’er-do-well? Little enough, I suppose. I spend more time chasing him off than getting acquainted with him.

TOM: Still. Anything at all you know, or you’ve noticed.

DELLA: Well… I know he’s been around for a pretty long while. Takes work once in a while minding rich folks’ horses. Though I wouldn’t think he works much at all. And he’s been in and out of the county jail more than his fair share.

TOM: What’s he done?

DELLA: Got drunk and acted like an ass, I’d guess. That seems to be his way.

TOM: Is he from around here?

DELLA: Think so. Would explain why he always comes back.

TOM: Hmmm.

DELLA: What makes you ask about him?

TOM: I think he’s got something to do with that bad business up at Loring’s End.

DELLA: Because of what he said at the pub the other day?

TOM: Yeah. He seemed awful interested in what I saw up there. And he sure had something against Miss Emma.

DELLA: I see what you mean.

TOM: There’s something odd going on up there, Del. It goes deep, and it started a long time before this. They try not to let on about it, but they’ve had it rough for quite a while.

DELLA: Just goes to show, money can’t buy happiness.

TOM: That’s for sure. And you know, on my way home from the estate the other night, I ran into Kenneth on the road, drunk and muttering about the place. I want to know what he’s up to.

DELLA: You went back to Loring’s End?

TOM: Of course I did. There’s a lot going on around that house that nobody knows, and I’ve promised Miss Alice to help her find out what.

DELLA: You’re helping little Miss Loring.

TOM: Yeah.

DELLA: To go digging around in their family things.

TOM: Yeah.

DELLA: Tom… are you certain about this?

TOM: Certain about what?

DELLA: Well, going so far out of your way for this girl.

TOM: Sure I am. She needs the help, and there’s nobody else who will.

DELLA: That’s real good of you, Tom. It’s just…

TOM: Just what?

DELLA: People like that, big fancy rich people… they don’t like it when you stick your nose into their private affairs.

TOM: I’m not afraid of that. They’ve been hiding all this for far too long. Especially from Miss Alice.

DELLA: Maybe so, Tom. But once you do them what they want, they don’t always take to making friends with regular folks like us.

TOM: Oh, go on.

DELLA: Sure, they’re glad to use you if they need it, but once they’re through they aren’t going to be having you to tea on Sunday.

TOM: Alice isn’t like that.

DELLA: Oh?

TOM: She isn’t. She’s kind, and she needs help.

DELLA: I see… are you getting sweet on her, Tom?

TOM: Della.

DELLA: Well, that’s what it sounds like. Can’t blame me for asking.

TOM: That’s… that’s not the reason.

DELLA: I have to tell you, Tom, that can’t end well. That rich family of hers… they’re not going to stand for it.

TOM: That doesn’t matter. It’s the right thing to do.

DELLA: Tom, I just worry for—

TOM: Della. That’s enough.

DELLA: All right, dear, all right. I hope you know what you’re doing.

Biweekly Theater Writing Challenge #13.8 - Tailor of Riddling Way, start of Episode 2

I thought I would post what I have of Episode 2 of The Tailor of Riddling Way. This includes a couple of sections already posted, now just in context. All of Episode 1 is present in pieces by scene, but with some effort and focus I managed to get the majority of the second part written in time for the read through. Here it is now in case you would like to read it. There will likely be at least one more scene to it, which I am currently working on and will post when I finish.

~~~
Episode 2:
House Full of Secrets
~~~

SCENE 2.1

SETTING: Loring’s End

ALICE: Thank you for coming tonight, Tom.

TOM: No trouble. How are things here?

ALICE: Much the same. I hardly know where we’re going to start.

TOM: Well… tell me what it’s like here. How things have been leading up to this.

ALICE: I… well, I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I suppose with all the… the sad things that happened, ever since it was sort of a sad place. But you’d never know if you didn’t live in the house. Grandfather didn’t want people to see us that way.

TOM: Sounds like a hard place to grow up. If you’ll pardon my saying.

ALICE: Well, I didn’t really grow up here. My mother passed when I was a girl, and I was sent away to boarding school. But that’s all right. There weren’t many other children to play with here.

TOM: Was that your grandfather’s doing too?

ALICE: Yes. He was the head of the family without my father, so he saw to my upbringing. You’ve heard of him?

TOM: I don’t think there’s anyone in town who didn’t know Reginald Loring. He was a councilman for years.

ALICE: Yes, he got into politics after the war, but he made his money shipping textiles all over the world. All through the rationing, even during the slump. People always need cloth, I suppose. My uncle Edmund runs things now, but Grandfather worked right up until he passed a few months ago. I heard Aunt Emma used to do quite a lot to help him, but... that all ended when everything else happened.

TOM: She took it all hard, didn’t she?

ALICE: I think everyone did. But Grandfather didn’t like us talking about it. So after a while, nobody mentioned it anymore.

TOM: Jesus Christ.

ALICE: We mostly did things the way Grandfather wanted them. He used to tell me what a grand thing it was to be a Loring, what a great name it was, so we all had to do our best to live up to it. And so we still do. Everyone’s barely speaking and trying to pretend like nothing’s wrong. Aunt Constance hasn’t said a word to me except to tell me we’re having petit fours for my coming out ball. I can’t believe we’re still having that stupid old party with everything that’s happened.

(Sound of footsteps as MRS. WARREN approaches.)

MRS. WARREN: Mr. Barrows? Back again?

ALICE: Yes, Mrs. Warren, I invited him.

MRS. WARREN: To the house? In the evening?

TOM: This is the earliest I could come, ma’am.

MRS. WARREN: Miss Alice, you can’t just have strange young men coming over. Begging your pardon, Tom.

ALICE: He’s helping me!

MRS. WARREN: It’s not done.

TOM: I assure you, Mrs. Warren, you don’t need to worry over me.

ALICE: How could you think such a thing?

MRS. WARREN: It’s not what I think, miss! What will your aunt and uncle say?

EDMUND: Oh, for God’s sake! Mrs. Warren!

MRS. WARREN: Oh, my…

EDMUND: Mrs. Warren, where the devil are my reading glasses?

MRS. WARREN: I’ll go and fetch them.

EDMUND: Now hurry, Constance! Alice? Who’s this? What are you doing here with my niece?

ALICE: Uncle! This is Mr. Barrows, don’t you remember?

TOM: Ah, I’m here about the ball gowns, sir.

EDMUND: Ball gowns? I beg your pardon?

TOM: I understand Miss Loring here will be having her coming out party soon?

EDMUND: Yes, I believe so.

TOM: Miss Emma engaged me. Before she passed. To make party dress for the ladies of this house. Miss Alice, Mrs. Danbury…

EDMUND: Hmm. I see. For the coming out party, of course.

CONSTANCE: Edmund?

EDMUND: What is it, dear?

CONSTANCE: I hear someone.

EDMUND: It’s just the dressmaker Emma hired.

CONSTANCE: No! Not that. In the guest bedroom. Or the study.

EDMUND: Constance, there’s no one in there.

CONSTANCE: I heard something.

EDMUND: (Sigh) Well, you will have to consult with my wife another time, she is indisposed at the moment.

(Soft rustling.)

CONSTANCE: What was that?

EDMUND: What was what?

(Soft rustling.)

CONSTANCE: Don’t you hear that?

EDMUND: I don’t hear anything, Constance.

ALICE: I’m afraid I don’t either.

EDMUND: Try and calm yourself, dear.

(Soft rattling.)

CONSTANCE: There it is again!

EDMUND: I swear, Constance, what is the trouble with—

MRS. WARREN: Mr. Danbury!

EDMUND: Mrs. Warren?

(MRS. WARREN hurries in, breathless.)

MRS. WARREN: Mr. Danbury, there’s a strange man in the house!

CONSTANCE: Oh, God!

EDMUND: Call for the watchmen!

(Sound of a lock being rattled and forced. Sound of a chair crashing to the floor as it is knocked over.)

CONSTANCE: (Screams)

TOM: Where is he?

MRS. WARREN: In the study!

(TOM runs over.)

TOM: Stop right there! Stop!

(Sound of the lock breaking. The man cries out in shock. He knocks over more furniture, then throws open the window and climbs out of it.)

ALICE: Tom! Be careful, Tom!

(TOM follows him out of the window, lands on the ground and runs after the burglar. The man’s breath comes heavily. He clambers up the wrought iron gate with Tom on his heels.)

TOM: Stop! Come back here!

(TOM grabs onto him, but the man kicks him. TOM stumbles back down onto the ground and the man gets over the fence, jumps down the ground, and stumbles away.)

TOM: No, no!

CRIER: Stop, thief!

(TOM gasps as CRIER knocks him to the ground with a thump.)

TOM: Officer Crier!?

CRIER: You again!

TOM: Get off me, you ass! You missed him, he’s already gone!

CRIER: I would have nabbed him if you hadn’t gotten in my way! What are you doing here, Barrows?

TOM: I had come to by to speak to Alice! I heard the burglar and went after him, same as you!

CRIER: Well, fat lot of good that did.

TOM: What about you, where did you come from?

CRIER: I was examining the perimeter of the property for anything out of the ordinary!

TOM: Well, seems you did a bang-up job, you missed the man breaking into the house!

CRIER: You shut your mouth, boy!

TOM: Boy yourself! Wait a minute— what are you still looking for? I thought you fellows decided Miss Emma did herself in.

CRIER: That’s what a lot of the boys are thinking.

TOM: Don’t you?

CRIER: Well… I’m not so sure we’ve got the whole story.

TOM: That so? Do you think there might have been some passers-by you didn’t harangue that day?

CRIER: Hear me out a minute! Sure, it could have been an accident. Wouldn’t be the first lady to overdo it with the tincture if the pain won’t go.

TOM: I suppose so.

CRIER: But an educated woman like Miss Loring… she’d likely know what she was on about, right? And nobody can think of any reason why she’d need a dose like that. So I don’t believe it was something she would have done to herself by accident or on purpose.

TOM: I see.

CRIER: Now a lot of the boys think she might have been down enough to do it. That family sure wouldn’t care to think so, but I could believe it. She didn’t go out in society so much lately, she’d pulled away from the family business...

TOM: And they sure had their fair share of hard times.

CRIER: Sure they did. But here’s the trouble— why now? After all that, what could have pushed her to it now?

TOM: Well. Her old man finally went a few months ago. Could have been the last straw.

CRIER: Could have been. I wouldn’t expect so, he was about seventy and that was nothing unexpected. But I suppose I can’t stab at how a maiden aunt might see it.

TOM: Then what? You think somebody killed her?

CRIER: Might be I do.

TOM: What makes you so sure?

CRIER: Just this— for a distraught lady who was half a shut-in, it seems she was awful busy.

TOM: Busy with what?

CRIER: You aren’t the only one saying Miss Loring was going about some odd business just before she died.

TOM: Yeah?

CRIER: Yeah. She was seen more in town in the weeks before she died than she had been in years. She was gathering up old papers nobody had looked at in years. She was up to something, damn it. That’s not a woman with no reason to go on.

TOM: No, I wouldn’t think so.

CRIER: So you see what I mean?

TOM: I think I do.

CRIER: Now I could very well be on a lot of nonsense here, but I have to say, if now there are strange men breaking in to have a poke around the house, well… I think there has to be something more going on, wouldn’t you say?

TOM: I think you might be on to something, Crier.

CRIER: Well. It’s just a notion of mine. But I’m looking into it all the same. I mean to find out just what she was doing in town, see what that might tell me.

TOM: That’s decent of you. To go to the trouble.

CRIER: Just doing my job. Tell me something, Barrows— what’s got you so tied up in this? Beg your pardon for saying, but doesn’t seem like you’d be their kind of people.

TOM: Miss Alice isn’t like that.

CRIER: Hm. That’d make her a rare sort of girl.

TOM: I want to help that girl. And I think Miss Emma came to me because I’m tangled up in this somehow too. I mean to find out how.

CRIER: I hear you. Still. This is police business, understand? Try not to get in the way.

TOM: I’ll do my best.

CRIER: Right then. Well. I suppose I have statements to collect from the members of the household. Carry on, Barrows.

TOM: Carry on, Crier.

SCENE 2.2

SETTING: Loring’s End

TOM: Alice? Where are you?

ALICE: In the study. I’m helping Mrs. Warren straighten up. Are you all right?

TOM: Well, that was a bust.

ALICE: What happened? Who was that?

TOM: I didn’t get a good look at him. He shook off me and Officer Crier both.

MRS. WARREN: That was very brave of you, Tom.

TOM: Thank you. For all the good it did.

MRS. WARREN: Well, you chased him off at least. Who knows what he might have done if you hadn’t?

TOM: What was he doing here?

MRS. WARREN: He just tore everything apart! I don’t think anything was stolen…

ALICE: Look at this. First Aunt Emma, then strange men start breaking into the house. How can anyone think there’s nothing going on here?

TOM: For what it’s worth, it seems Officer Crier agrees with you. He thinks Emma was up to something.

ALICE: He does? Perhaps he’s cleverer than he seems. Nobody else will see it.

TOM: There has to be a way to find what happened here. Surely someone knows.

ALICE: How? This house has always been full of secrets.

MRS. WARREN: Oh, Miss Alice.

ALICE: You know! You’ve been with our family for years now.

MRS. WARREN: Yes. But I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.

ALICE: But you’ve seen it! God knows what’s happened here that no one’s ever talked about.

MRS. WARREN: That’s no business of mine.

ALICE: There has to be something. It could be why Emma died. You’ve been here, surely you remember!

MRS. WARREN: Oh, I don’t know, Miss Alice.

ALICE: Please, Mrs. Warren… I just… please…

TOM: Alice, leave her be.

ALICE: Tom!

TOM: She doesn’t want to speak ill of anyone.

MRS. WARREN: No, sir. Least of all of any Loring. You’ve been very good to me.

TOM: It’s very good you, Mrs. Warren. Susan Warren, isn’t it?

MRS. WARREN: Yes, it is.

TOM: Are you by any chance a relation of Robbie Warren over on Deer Hill?

MRS. WARREN: Why, yes! He’s my nephew. Do you know him?

TOM: Him and my big brother used to be thick as thieves.

MRS. WARREN: Your brother is Luke Barrows? He and Robbie used to steal pies off my windowsill!

TOM: They always were rascals.

MRS. WARREN: How is Luke nowadays?

TOM: Very well; after the war he decided to stay in Europe. He’s got a nice English wife and a fine fat baby boy.

MRS. WARREN: Ah, God bless him. Lots of good young men never made it through that war.

ALICE: Like my father.

MRS. WARREN: Yes, miss. A true gentleman.

ALICE: He was a great hero.

MRS. WARREN: (Hesitantly) He was indeed, miss…

TOM: Yes? What is it?

MRS. WARREN: It’s just… everyone thought so well of Master Rowan, doing his duty by the country and all.

TOM: Of course. The family must have been proud of him.

MRS. WARREN: That’s just it. That’s what they said to everyone… but when he was shipping out, Mister Reginald didn’t want to let him go.

TOM: I suppose it’s natural for a man to be afraid for his son going off to war.

MRS. WARREN: Yes, but it wasn’t just like that.

ALICE: How do you know?

MRS. WARREN: Because… I heard them one night. It must have been the night that Master Rowan told his father he was enlisting. I was clearing the table after dinner. They were in Mr. Loring’s study, but I could hear them shouting, and soon they were moving through the house.

(Flashback effect.)

REGINALD: You will not, sir! I forbid it!

ROWAN: I am a grown man, Father, you can forbid me nothing. Besides, it’s already done. I am an enlisted man. I ship out for France by the end of the month.

REGINALD: Have you lost your mind?

ROWAN: Have you lost yours? Do you know what it is you’ve done? You have made a deal with the devil!

REGINALD: You are being a naïve fool, Rowan. This is for the best interests of the family. Would you see us in ruins?

ROWAN: Some things are worth more than that, Father.

REGINALD: So you’ll throw your life away in some godforsaken trench, for what? For principle? To teach me a Sunday school lesson?

ROWAN: Someone must do the right thing. If it will not be you, then it will be me.

REGINALD: This is madness! You are not some unoccupied gutter trash, you have responsibilities here!

ROWAN: I will have none of any obligations to you.

REGINALD: You have a child on the way!

ROWAN: I will not have that child growing up ashamed of the family it came from! There will be one Loring man that will not disgrace the name.

REGINALD: Come off this nonsense. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Everything is well in hand.

ROWAN: Don’t be so certain. You’ll have to make good on your devil’s bargain soon enough.

REGINALD: What do you mean?

ROWAN: Just that we reap what we sow, dear Father.

REGINALD: If you think for a moment that you are going to—

ROWAN: And when that time comes, I will not be paying along with you. Oh, good evening, Mrs. Warren.

MRS. WARREN: Excuse me, sirs.

ROWAN: Not at all, Mrs. Warren. If you would be so good, I’ll be needing my train cases cleaned. I shall soon have some packing to do.

MRS. WARREN: Of course, Master Rowan.

ROWAN: Many thanks, madam. And now— goodnight, Father.

REGINALD: This is not over, boy—

ROWAN: I said, goodnight.

(Flashback effect.)

TOM: And that’s all you heard?

MRS. WARREN: That’s all, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.

ALICE: But… what had Grandfather done?

MRS. WARREN: I don’t know that he did anything.

ALICE: It must have been something, if Father was so upset with him!

MRS. WARREN: They could have just disagreed on something.

ALICE: No one calls a disagreement a deal with the devil! It must have been terrible.

MRS. WARREN: It’s not for me to pass judgment on any Loring. And I never heard them speak of it again. Oh, heavens. They were both good men, Miss Alice, and smart too. I’m sure whatever they were at odds about, they both had very good reasons for it.

(Pause.)

MRS. WARREN: I’m sorry. I’ve said things out of turn.

ALICE: Not at all, Mrs. Warren.

MRS. WARREN: Well. I should go back to putting this room in order.

ALICE: That’s all right. I’ll finish up here.

MRS. WARREN: Are you certain, miss?

ALICE: It’s no trouble.

MRS. WARREN: All right. I guess I’ll be off, then.

ALICE: Thank you.

MRS. WARREN: For what?

ALICE: For talking to me.

SCENE 2.3

SETTING: Loring’s End

(Sound of a drawer sliding back into its slot and a chair being clicked back into place.)

ALICE: Well, I suppose that’s taken care of.

TOM: But why did this happen? If nothing was stolen, he probably wasn’t here to rob the place.

(Pause.)

TOM: Are you all right?

ALICE: I can’t stop thinking about Father and Grandfather.

TOM: You don’t have any idea what that was about?

ALICE: No. No one was ever supposed to see any strife within the family. And you know, they must have fought just before all the trouble started!

TOM: You think they had something to do with one another?

ALICE: I… I don’t know. It’s just that with everything else... I don’t know what to think.

TOM: We’ve got to figure out what Emma was doing. Then we’ll have something to go on, at least.

ALICE: How can we do that?

TOM: I… wait a minute. Officer Crier said something else to me just now…

ALICE: What?

TOM: Something about Emma… gathering up old papers. He mentioned that it made him think she was up to something.

ALICE: Old papers? All her papers were kept in this study.

TOM: Have you found any yet?

ALICE: Nothing out of the ordinary… oh, Tom. Look at the roll top. The lock’s been sprung.

TOM: The burglar must have been trying to break it open.

ALICE: Aunt Emma always kept this locked, it was where she did her work. Will it open?

TOM: Let me try it.

(Rattling of forcing the roll top open.)

TOM: (Sound of exertion.) There! Alice… look at this.

ALICE: What are these? Newspaper clippings, letters, envelopes…

(Rustling of paper.)

TOM: She’s got them all laid out…

ALICE: Oh, Tom. These are all about Bethany. Look! About the night of her death… about the investigation after…

TOM: This was what Emma was up to. This must have been why the burglar broke in, to find these things!

ALICE: My God, it must have been!

TOM: Look at all this. This one here, with the hole cut in it… this must where the picture of her in the gown came from.

ALICE: And look what’s written here. This is my aunt’s writing.

EMMA: Never met with K all night…

ALICE: They’re notes.

EMMA: Last saw her at the bonfire, around nine-forty-five…

TOM: What do they mean?

EMMA: Who could have been there with her?

ALICE: I don’t know. Oh, what else is here?

(Opening of paper folders.)

ALICE: These are just a lot of old business papers of my Grandfather’s.

TOM: That seal’s freshly broken. They must not have been touched in years.

(Opening of paper folders.)

TOM: This one came by messenger from the police station. It’s the police report from the night Bethany died! Alice, do you see what all this is?

ALICE: She was looking into Bethany’s death.

TOM: There’s not much here… the party had already gone into the night when she disappeared. They looked for her for an hour, until some of the guests found her lying in the garden. Her neck was broken.

ALICE: Oh, God.

TOM: They spoke to all the guests but nobody knew how she got there. It looked like she fell and hit her head, but they never figured out what really happened. Emma wrote in the margins here too.

EMMA: Someone did this.

ALICE: She thinks Bethany was murdered.

TOM: There’s something else. What’s that folded up there?

(Unfolding of old paper.)

ALICE: It’s a letter. To Aunt Emma from my father!

TOM: What does it say?

ROWAN: May 15th, 1917. To my dear sister Emma. In this, the last letter I may write before I ship out to meet my fortune in the war, a brother ought to send a fond and affectionate farewell to his closest and most stalwart sister. But I fear I must instead speak to you of matters that we must deal with. It concerns, as so many things do now, our father’s current course. I told him he would have to pay the piper he’s been dancing to, but even I didn’t dream it would happen like this. He meant to keep it secret until the deed was done, but I trust him with nothing anymore, so with some careful digging I have unearthed it. The payment he offers is Bethany, to sell her to that wretched man like a cow at market. He intends to marry her off and see her shipped halfway across the world whether she will or no to protect his vile scheme. His own daughter, and a child at that. Emma, we cannot let him see this through. Something must be done, but I shall be leaving for the front too soon to handle this alone… which is why I must write to you, dear sister. It tears me that I can do nothing for Bethany myself, but I discovered this too late; I am due at my assignment within the week, and I must be there to meet the ship. Therefore it is you that must act where I cannot. Poor Constance is too starved for Father’s approval to defy him in anything, and dear Bethany is bright and brave but still too much a child to escape this on her own. There is no one else, Emma. You must get her away somehow, out of Father’s grasp, and safe from the man he wants to sell her to. I cannot say I approve of the man that Bethany prefers instead, but we cannot allow her to be married off against her will. I wish to God I had time to make some arrangement or plan, but I fear all I have to give is this warning. Forgive me, dear Emma, that I lay this burden on you and can be of no more help to you than that. Forewarned is forearmed, they say, so I hope I’ve given you that small advantage at least. But please, for our sweet little sister’s sake, do what you can to spare her being spent like coin to pay our father’s debt. I know I can trust you with this above any other, as I would trust you with my own daughter. Farewell, and Godspeed to you both. Signed, your loving brother, Rowan.

TOM: My God.

ALICE: That settles it. Grandfather was doing something terrible.

TOM: Emma knew about it too.

ALICE: And it did have something to do with Bethany! He was marrying her to somebody awful…. They all said he was a good man. But Papa hated him.

(Pause.)

ALICE: How long has she been doing this?

TOM: Crier said she started gathering these up in the last few months. The police report is postmarked two weeks ago. And those business documents she must have had to take out of storage.

ALICE: But I don’t understand. Why now, after all this time? What happened to make Emma look back at all this after seventeen years?

TOM: Alice…

ALICE: What?

TOM: She was waiting. She had to.

ALICE: Waiting? Why?

TOM: She had to wait until your grandfather died.

ALICE: Oh, my God. Tom… what happened that night?

(Flashback effect.)

(Sounds of a party going softly in the background. Sound of high heels clicking on gravel.)

BETHANY: Hello?

(Pause.)

BETHANY: It’s me. It’s Bethany! Who’s there?

(Someone else, indistinctly.)

BETHANY: Oh, no. Please, you don’t understand, just let me go!

(Someone else, indistinctly. Cracking sound.)

BETHANY: (Gasps in pain.) Oh, God, no. Please, God, no!

(BETHANY’s heels clatter on the walkway. She falls back with a thump, followed by the crunch of her neck as the back of her skull hits the ground.)

SCENE 2.4

SETTING: Road into town

(Sound of crickets and night birds. Footsteps as TOM walks along the path on his way home.)

KENNETH: You’re out late, aren’t you?

TOM: Hello? Who’s there?

KENNETH: I remember you. You’re that tailor fellow.

(Sound of KENNETH taking a drink.)

TOM: Who is that?

KENNETH: Nobody. Just me.

TOM: Kenneth? From Della’s pub?

KENNETH: Ah, good memory on you. So where you headed?

TOM: Just on my way home.

KENNETH: I thought only reprobates like myself were out at this hour. What brings you out of your cozy little place?

TOM: Had to pay a visit to a friend.

KENNETH: Ah, sounds nice. Good thing to have somebody to keep you from drinking alone.

(Sound of KENNETH taking a drink.)

TOM: Maybe you should ease up on that.

KENNETH: It steadies the nerves. Never know what might be out there in the dark. Not too many nice fellows like you. Don’t know what would take you out of town— why, you were up the Lorings’ way, weren’t you?

TOM: What business is that of yours?

KENNETH: If you had any sense, you’d get yourself well away and not wrap yourself up in any of their trouble.

TOM: What do you know about that?

KENNETH: What does anybody know about what goes on up there? Hidden away in their big house where they all behave just right.

TOM: I beg your pardon?

KENNETH: What are they going to do with you anyway? Ahhhhh, it’s that girl, isn’t it? Pretty little thing.

TOM: I’m just trying to help.

KENNETH: Ah, yeah. Pretty little things from up there can use all the help they can get.

TOM: Do you… do you know something?

KENNETH: Just that you’re going to regret digging yourself into that mess.

TOM: But what do you—

(Sound of crash as KENNETH smashes his bottle on the ground.)

KENNETH: So stay safe, little tailor.

(Sound of KENNETH walking unsteadily off.)