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People, Places & Things
Duncan Macmillan
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- English
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eBook - ePub
People, Places & Things
Duncan Macmillan
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About This Book
Emma was having the time of her life. Now she's in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But the problem isn't with Emma, it's with everything else. She needs to tell the truth. But she's smart enough to know that there's no such thing. Emma is an actress with addictions to drugs and alcohol, who checks herself into a rehabilitation centre. She is resistant at first, and does not want to enter into the honesty and trust needed to recover. As she gradually submits to the programme, we experience her complete unwinding, as she detoxes and faces reality.
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ACT ONE
As the lights fade, the sounds of a theatre auditorium increase. Mobile phones, coughing, chattering and general sounds of anticipation. It builds to a cacophony.
Darkness. Chaos.
Suddenly the lights snap up and the sounds cease. We are in the same theatre, but at a different time. A play is in progress, the final act of Chekhovās The Seagull. A Naturalistic, period set of a study which was once a drawing-room. Doors left and right. A French window opens onto a terrace. It is raining.
Evening. One shaded lamp is alight. It is dark. Trees rustle outside and wind howls softly in the chimneys.
EMMA is playing Nina Zarechny. Her hair is wet. She has been crying. She sits on an ottoman in the centre of the stage next to KONSTANTIN GAVRILOVICH TREPLEV. The lights snap up mid-sentence.
KONSTANTIN: | for ninety years on this earth. My youth robbed from me. |
Iāve cursed you Nina. Ripped up your photographs and letters. But itās no use. I see your face everywhere. I say your name. I kiss the ground you walk on. Iām bound to you forever. And now youāre here. | |
NINA: | What is he talking about? Why is he talking like this? |
KONSTANTIN: | Iām sad. Lonely. Utterly alone and cold as if Iāve been imprisoned underground. And everything I write is so bleak. |
KONSTANTIN takes EMMAās hand. | |
Nina. Stay here. I beg you. Stay here or let me go with you. | |
For a moment, EMMA looks into KONSTANTINās eyes. She looks down at their interlocked hands. | |
, | |
Nina? | |
Suddenly, EMMA stands and quickly prepares to leave, grabbing her coat and putting it on. | |
Nina, for Godās sake, Nina. | |
EMMA: | My carriage is waiting. Donāt walk me out. Can I have some water? |
KONSTANTIN: | Where will you go? |
He pours some water. | |
EMMA: | Is Irina Arkadin here? |
KONSTANTIN: | Yes. Uncle was taken ill and we telegraphed / for her. |
EMMA advances to KONSTANTIN angrily, interrupting him. | |
EMMA: | Why did you say you worship the ground I walk on? Death. Death is what I deserve. |
EMMA doubles-over. KONSTANTIN doesnāt know what to do. He stands still, holding the water. He looks off into the wings. | |
Iām so tired. I need to sleep. Iām a seagull. No thatās not right. Iām an actress. | |
Laughter in the wings. EMMA looks up. | |
Heās here too isnāt he? | |
EMMA laughs. | |
Of course. It doesnāt matter. | |
She walks to KONSTANTIN and takes the water from him. | |
He didnāt believe in the stage. He laughed at me. I donāt believe in it either. Not now. | |
As EMMA talks her acting becomes more genuine. She is talking less in character and more as herself. | |
Not now that Iāve had real problems. Real things have happened. My heart is broken. I donāt know what to do with my hands when Iām onstage. Iām not real. Iām a seagull. No, thatās wrong. | |
The lamp flickers. EMMA notices it. KONSTANTIN doesnāt. | |
You shot a seagull. Do you remember? Earlier in the play? | |
EMMA laughs. | |
I mean the story, I mean | |
long ago you shot a | |
thatās wrong too. Not you. What was I saying? I was talking about the theatre. I love acting. Iām a real actress. I was a real actress. Will you come and see me when Iām a real actress? Iām different now. And I feel better and better every day. You donāt need to worry about me anymore. I have | |
faith. | |
EMMA hears something. She is twitchy. | |
KONSTANTIN: | Nina, |
EMMA: | things donāt hurt me so much anymore. Iām not afraid. Iām |
The lights fade around her slightly. The Naturalistic sounds fade and for a moment thereās something more ominous and subjective. A low rumble. A whine of tinnitus. | |
, | |
Iām a | |
EMMA looks up as if sheās been daydreaming and just coming-to. The sounds have returned to normal. | |
, | |
She looks around, seemingly unaware of where she is. | |
KONSTANTIN: | Nina? |
EMMAās physicality changes. She drops the water without realising it. | |
Nina? | |
Erā¦ | |
EMMA looks into the auditorium. She walks towards the edge of the stage and peers into the darkness at the audience. She moves out of her light. She pulls her wig off. She has very different hair underneath. | |
Nina? | |
The lights flicker. Her nose sta... |