|
CAST YOU: An AFAB, trans-masc person in their early 20s MIRROR IMAGE: YOU’s reflection SCENE A small apartment with a kitchen and a living room. TIME Early morning. ACT I SETTING: We are looking into a kitchen setup on stage left. The stage is mostly dark, obscuring all but this setup. The kitchen is small, like a college apartment kitchen, and is set up with an old, battered fridge with tons of kitschy magnets and a stove top to the left, and a sink overlooking stage right. The countertop partition makes it easy to have a conversation with the adjacent room in stage right, which remains hidden for the time being. AT RISE: Spotlight centers on the main lead- YOU. They are cooking eggs on the stove. They poke at the frying pan with a spatula, squinting at the pan. No other lights are on- all we see onstage is the kitchen and YOU. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S.) Remember when you wanted to be a princess? (YOU looks up towards stage right, which is still shrouded in darkness.) YOU Uh yeah? An egg CRACKLES and POPS. YOU whips their head back to the pan and quickly flips the eggs over. YOU (CONT’D) (Distracted) I was like- five, or something... why? MIRROR IMAGE (O.S.) Oh, no reason- your blanket’s on the couch by the way. YOU Ah, sorry about that- you can just shove it to the floor. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S.) Nah, it’s fine, just wanted you to know- it’s not like I don’t have stuff here myself. YOU (Wryly) We should really remember to stop leaving things there. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) I dunno, I think it gives the place some charm. YOU laughs and turns off the stove. They plate the eggs. YOU If you say so. A beat of silence. YOU loads up the toaster with two pieces of bread, then they lean back against the counter, settling to wait. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) Why DID you want to be a princess anyways? YOU shrugs. YOU Probably because I was obsessed with Barbie? MIRROR IMAGE scoffs. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) Nah, that’s not it. You can’t lie to me, you know. YOU sighs and shakes their head. YOU Honestly, I don’t remember myself– MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) (Forceful, Calm) Can't. Lie. The toaster goes off with a cheery PING! YOU makes no move towards it- instead, they look out into the darkness quietly. Finally, they sigh again and smile. They take a plate and start to load it up with the toast. YOU (Contemplative, Fond) Honestly... I think I wanted to be important. Or maybe something great? And what’s greater or more important than a princess? MIRROR IMAGE snorts. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) A queen, duh. YOU laughs and pops two more pieces of bread into the toaster. They then head over to the fridge and pull out a beat-up looking stick of butter and a jar of red jam. YOU Mm, maybe. YOU takes a knife and spreads the jam on one piece of toast. YOU (CONT'D) But queens don’t get the handsome princes, now do they? MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) Oh? Do you want a prince then? YOU washes the knife in the sink thoroughly before using it to spread butter on a different piece of toast. YOU I did back then, but you already knew that. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) That’s not what I asked. Do you- as in currently- want a prince? YOU Nah. YOU walks over to the toaster right as it pops off again. They unplug it. YOU (CONT'D) Again, you already knew that. MIRROR IMAGE sighs. MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) Yeah, I guess I did. YOU quickly slathers the remaining pieces of toast in jam and butter. YOU (Mumbling) We’re going to need more jam... MIRROR IMAGE (O.S) You don’t want to be a princess anymore. YOU laughs. YOU Nope. YOU cleans up the kitchen- brushing crumbs into the sink, putting the jam and butter back in the fridge and shutting the door with their foot. At stage right, colored lights have started to slowly fade in- they are orange and red, like the sunrise. As the lights brighten, we see that the rest of the stage is set up like a living room, with a couch facing the audience, a coffee table in front of it, and two soft chairs on either side of said coffee table. There is a window to the farthest right, and it shows that the sun is rising. There is also a huge, rectangular mirror set behind the couch. YOU walks out of the kitchen with the plates and spoons and into the room. Their actions are reflected in the mirror as they put down the breakfasts on the coffee table. Then, they turn and smile towards the mirror and hold out a hand. This action is not reflected by the mirror. YOU You hungry? MIRROR IMAGE smiles and takes YOU’s hand. MIRROR IMAGE Starving. MIRROR IMAGE steps out of the mirror and walks over to the rightmost chair before sitting down. YOU sits down as well, and the two start to eat. The lighting on stage changes gradually to gold and pink. MIRROR IMAGE Do you still want to be great? YOU No... no I just want to be good. But then again, you already knew that... YOU leans forward, smiling. MIRROR IMAGE copies the actions. YOU (CONT'D) ... didn’t you? MIRROR IMAGE clicks their tongue, and the two relax back into their seat. Then, YOU jumps up. YOU Crap! I forgot the juice– MIRROR IMAGE Don’t worry, I got it. YOU Thanks. MIRROR IMAGE S’all good. Say- looks like we’re gonna have some great weather. Good day for going out, yeah? MIRROR IMAGE pats YOU on the shoulder and exits stage left. The lighting starts to change one last time- from gold and pink to bright sunlight, and the window in the back changes from the sun rising to a blue sky. YOU smiles and leans back into their chair. YOU Yeah, it’s gonna be a good day. END OF SCENE.
Comments are closed.
|
Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|