SAN IGNACIO HALL, 301 – It’s 7:38 PM on a random Thursday. Most students have left the campus, but a select few remain hard at work, rehearsing lines and blocking for an upcoming performance of the university play “Wolves” by Sara Delappe.
ERNESTO (Stage Manager)
Okay, we need to fix some things in Week 3, because right now, it looks like a dumpster fire. Kesaria and Aydalet, that dying mommy scene needs to be MUCH faster. Otherwise, thematically, it doesn’t make sense that her friends don’t make the connection to the dead mom, like they all look like assholes right now.
Kesaria and Aydalet nod their heads tiredly.
ERNESTO (Stage Manager)
Let’s run that scene again. We’re going to take it from page 71, from #8’s line “I love Coach Patrick”.
An ordinary classroom transforms into a portal of time and space, occupying many different narratives present in the world. Today, the classroom captures an indoor football field somewhere in America, 2013. Kesaria, Aydalet, Gabi, Ro, Leti, and Lucila make their way back to the chairs at the upper left side of the stage. They begin running the scene. The girls begin to exhale loudly, enacting their drop in energy level after the spiderweb. Some plop onto the bench, while others begin hydrating. Kesaria sits in the middle with her legs spread wide, half in exhaustion, half in character for #13. Aydalet makes her way to the floor, stretching.
#8 (Aydalet) I love Coach Patrick.
#11 (Lucila) can’t believe he’s in Idaho
#2 (Ro) we should send him a card or something
#14 (Leti) we should like text him that orange slice picas like a “get-well” thing
#7 (Gabi) for him or for his mom?
#8 (Aydalet) its so amazing he moved home
#14 (Leti) whats wrong with her again?
#11 (Lucila) I think she has terminal breast cancer?
#14 (Leti) (quietly) oh right
#13 (Kesaria) yeah Like stage 4 right?
#8 (Aydalet) I hope he’s back by March. I do not want Coach Creep for travel team
#13 (Kesaria) you realise that means you want his mom to croak right?
#8 (Aydalet) what???
#13 (Kesaria) cause that’s the only way he’s moving back is if his mom, you know
#2 (Ro) that’s an awful thing to say…
ERNESTO (Stage Manager)
Okayyyy. Not bad.
(holds up yellow card)
His words said one thing, but his body language another. Ernesto’s legs swing as he sits on the table, with an utterly bored expression on his face. A deep breath of air is released from his lips as he rubs his temple.
ERNESTO (Stage Manager)
That was better, but we needed to have this down yesterday. We open in a week, and the energy is still really low. I get that it’s a bit difficult to juggle both speed and energy, but going faster doesn’t just mean saying the line. We also need you all to be as off-book as possible, because otherwise, we lose a lot of time.
