Gillian Audition Materials

8/20/2019 Gillian Audition Materials

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TO GILLIAN

ON

HER

37TH

BIRTHD Y

Michael

rady

BRO DW Y PL Y PUBLISHING INC

224 E

62nd

St NY NY 10065-8201

212 772-8334 fax: 212 772-8358

BroadwayPlayPubl com

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CH R CTERS SETTING

DAVID, age

37, a college professor temporarily retired

RACHEL, age 16, DAVID S daughter

CI

NDY, age

16,

RACHEL s friend

P AUL,

age 38, DAVID s brother-in-law married to

ESTHER

ESTH R, age 39, DAVID S sister-in-law a psychologis

t

ma

rr

ied

to PAUL

KE

VIN,

age 28 friend of

PAUL

and

ESTHER,

recently

divorced

G ILLIAN, age

35,

DAVID S former wife

who

died

in

a s

ail

ing

accident two years prior

to

the events of the play; ESTHER s

sist

er

Th

e play is in two

acts.

The

time

is the present. The place is

the back deck

and

beach

of

DAVID s

island

home

. The action

traces the final weekend of August.



13

CT

ONE

cene wo

The

following morning.

K

EVIN

an

d PA

UL

are staring at the

water.

PAUL is in his

late

thirties.

KEVIN

is younger, late

twenties.

KEVIN:

Beautiful. Exactly as you pr

omis

ed.

PAUL:

You see?

KEvw:

Now

stop

holding

out on me.

PAUL: Kevin, would I do that?

KEVIN: Don't

do t

he charm number eith

er.

PAUL:

You're just

nervou

s a

bo

ut

meetin

g

an av

ailable

male.

KEVIN: I am

nervou

s, but that's

not

what's

wrong.

PAUl :

You

were

the s

ame

wayan

your blind

date

with

that

guy

who

wanted

to mass

produce

gerbils as an

alternative food source.

KEVIN: David is

not

a

blind da

te. The two of

yo

u are

sitting

on

something. I

would

like some

de

tails.

PAUL:

Growls

Es

th

er

gave

you th

e

de

tails.

KEVIN:

Esther told me

b

oating accident .

PAUL:

We w e

re on

their boa

t

Cle

ar

skies,

no

s

ma

ll-craft

warnings.

David wa

s

at th

e w

hee

l,

or

w

hatever you

call those things. Gilli

an was halfway

up t

he

mast. She

liked to do things like that,

dro

ve me half

crazy

.

We

hit

something.

Subm

e

rged

d

ebri

s. Gil fell

and hit he

r

head

on the

de

c

k An

accident, Kevin.

KEVIN:

Why are

you makin

g this so difficult? There is

something

els

e

PAUL:

T

hi

s

was

two years ago, and ....

KEVIN And?

PAUL: And

it was also Gillian's

birt

hday.

Which

is also

tomorrow.



14

TO GILLIAN

ON HER

37TH BIRTHDAY

KEVIN

Oh, Paul.

PAUL

We didn t

even think

it all

out

till

ju

st a few

days

ago. And we

thought you

would

have ba

cked out.

KEvIN:

I

would

have.

PAUL And we thought th

at

would

be a w aste of a

perfectly

decent

weekend.

KEVIN:

Paul

PAUL Just relax.

KEVIN: I hate

it

wh

en you tell

me

to relax.

Did it ever

occur to

you that I don

' t

need the

competition,

th

at

maybe I don t ne

ed to be com

pa

red to

th

at

overg

r

own

golden

retriever he was married to?

PAUL Oh

.

ESTHER

appears

at the door .)

ESTHER:

To PAUL

) You m

ay think I

enjoy

unloadin

g the

car

by

myself. You

wo

u

ld be

w r

on

g.

To

KEVIN) N

ot

you.

She exits.)

PAUL Starting to exit) Why

do

n t you

just concentrate

on all that wate

r? I m t

old

it has a

soothing

effect,

though it's

neve

r done a thing for me.

KEVIN:

Paul...

PAUL Concentra

te. I'm

pre

p

ared

to

put that in

writing.

PAUL

exits.

KEV

IN concentrates on the water. After a bea

CINDY enters, joggin

g.

She stops, stretches, oblivious

to

K V N, then runs toward

th

e deck.)

KEVIN

Rachel. Hello

CINDY Slowing dow n)

No. I'm

not

Ra

ch

el...l'm a friend

of

Rachel's.

KEVIN: Ah. My name is Kevin.

CINDY

Oh?

KEVIN: I'm with Paul and

Es

ther

. Do

you know



15

CT

ONE

CINDY: Sure. Got it.

C

ro

ss ing

to KEVIN,

shaking hands)

I'm Cindy.

No

one' s here.

KEVIN:

We

noticed.

C

INDY:

Rache

l'

s

at

th

e

supermarket. She's

into

that

stuff.

KEVIN: And

David?

CINDY: He's still

jog

ging. South side by now . We

usually

pace

each other. Y

ou

know Mister. ...

You

know

David?

KEVIN: Yes.

I took

a

lot

of his co

urs

es

in

college,

year

s

and years ago.

CINDY: Oh, so you'

re

the one.

KEVIN He's talked abo

ut

me?

CINDY:

No.

Pau se)

H e doesn

't

teach

an

y

more.

KEVIN:

Well,

mayb

e

he

' ll get back to

it

.

Pa

u

se)

CINDY:

He didn't think you 'd

be

he

re

thi

s

earl

y.

KEVIN:

We'll surprise

him

,

th

en.

CINDY: Starts to run

ojfJ

I don't

t

hin

k

he'

s

all th

at

fond

of surpri

ses.

PAUL enters from the

ho

us

e.)

PAUL CINDY) Hi,

muscles.

CINDY stops, puts one foot

behi

nd her head and turns.)

CINDY: Hello,

Mist

er

Cere

bell

um.

PAUL Exaggerated) C

er

ebe

llu

m,

score one f

or th

e

tyke.

Have you tw

o met?

CINDY: Check. I 'll tell ..David you're here.

KEVIN :

No

need.

CINDY: No problem.

Oh,

don 't worry

... S tarts to exit,

stops) I won't spoil

your

surpris

e.

She exit

s.)



18

TO GILLIAN ON

I I

ER 37TH BIRTHDAY

RACHEL:

I like to do

th

e errands. You

two shouldn t

have to wor

ry

about anything while you

re

here.

ESTHER:

You he

ar that

? It's her w

ay or the

highway,

right?

RA CHEL:

Ri ght.

ESTHER: It's in the blood . Well, let me look at you.

RACHEL:

Okay. She twir

s

around.)

ESTHER:

Did y

ou m

ss us?

RACHEL: Yeah. You miss me?

ESTHER

PA

UL:

Ye ah .

ESTHER:

How

you

doing, let me

ha

ve it.

RA

CHEL: I

don

t

know. He keeps

running,

all

the tim

e.

PA

UL

: All

that

health

, bad for y

ou

.

ESTHER:

S

hut up.

RACHEL:

I

tr

y to get

him

to take his potassi

um,

but

he

makes me feel like a

nur

se

or

something.

ESTHER:

You

know,

I ask d

ho

w y

ou

ar

e, not

how s

Daddy

...

.

RA

CHEL:

Yeah, right. There

s

th

is

bo

y.

PA

UL: Ah hah,

back a week and already you ve

got

a

boyfriend.

RACHEL:

I don' t

have

a

bo

yfri

end,

Uncle Paul. I am

eyeballing a boyfriend .

ESTHER:

He

likes?

(RACHEL

s

ru

gs.)

ESTHER:

He talks?

RACHEL: He

ta lks.

ESTHER: That

s something. Are you involve

d?

N

othing

is a

probl

em. You

need

help?



19

CT ONE

RACHEL Laughs No, it s not that. I don t even

know

his

name.

PAUL: Doe

s

n t

mean a t

hing

.

ESTHER:

To

PAUL

Your

mouth.

o

RACHEL

You

talk

to

me,

I

mean it.

Morning,

n

oon,

or

night.

Sex,

biology

,

babies, no babies.

R CI fEL Aunt

Esther

...

ESTHER: The works,

you h

ear

me?

RACHEL I m okay

on biology. It's all

the other

stuff.

PAUL: What othe

r stuff?

RACHEL:

I

just

want

thin

gs to

be

...

no

rmal, y

ou

know

?

Quiet? And Daddy ...

ESTHER: Look kiddo, David, I love him, I do,

but

when

he

starts his lost

-in-the-

st

ars

routine, no on

e caY

put up

with

him.

So you

leav

e him to

me

.

PAUL: Esther

.. .

ESTHER: Shhh.

RACHEL

He

thinks

you

took M

omm

y

s

hat.

ESTHER: What

?

RACHEL Or he

thinks

I

did.

He s

ou

t here e

very nigh t,

sometimes all nigh

t.

...

DAVID en ters, running. He s

to

ps,

begin

s to stretc

h.

C INDY

enters a few st

eps

behind.)

PAUL: David

ESTHER:

Hello,

David.

Hi,

C

indy

.

DA

VID:

Well,

the

same

old cast of char

acters.

ESTHER:

How are you, David?

D

AVID: We re

not

playing the

d

ating gam

today?

Don t tell me

there s

been a sudden outbreak

of goo

d

taste.



20

TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY

PAUL:

There

is

someone

we d like you to

me

et.. ..

D

AVID: Then

it is to

be Chr

istians

an

d lions. All

right,

let s

get

this over with. Where is she?

o CINDY In the

trunk,

I

hope,

ga

s

ping

f

or

air?

PAUL: David ...

RACHEL: To

ES

THER) You

see?

He s be

en like

thi

s all

we

k.

DAVID: Oh he

has,

has he?

o

ESTHER, thrGUJi

n

his

towel down on the deck Getting

little updates

from the

f

ront?

ESTHER:

Let s

just

slow

down and

take thi

s

back

to

step

one

.

How are you,

Dav id?

DAVID: I am fine, Es

ther,

how are

you?

And I am

well-tuned emotionally, desp

it

e

ob

v

ious st

ories

to

the

c

ontrary.

RACHEL: Dad

dy, I

do not

tell stories.

DAVID:

Stretching,

not looking at RACHEL

Sounds

like

someone s

been telling

st

ories

....

RACHEL:

Daddy,

you lo

ok

at

me

i f you

a

re talking to

me. I

do not

tell stori

es

. We

ar

e a family. You

don t

tell

stories when you re talking to family.

Mo

mmy said

tha t all the tim e.

DA

VID:

Rache

l,

I know y

ou me

an well...

RACHEL: No,

Daddy, this is for you . Because we are all

worried about

you.

I m sorry, but I think

it

s time you

start

talking

w

ith

real

women

again. You

can t.

...

D

AVID:

L

et s ju

st s

top it

r

ight th

ere, young lady.

RA

CHEL:

D

add

y,

can t you

see

what s happening?

DAVID

What s happening is you are

goin

g to your

room where you are goin

g

to

t ink

ve

ry carefully

about what

you

just

sa

id

. And you

are

go

in

g to



29

CT

ONE

RACHEL: They h a

ve

a band and they throw a cross into

the

harbor

It

s

fun

.

Are

you hungry now or anything

like that? There s a lot around . I know a great ice cre

am

place. We can go right now.

KEVIN: Sounds fine.

RACHEL: nd we ll make plans for tomorrow, okay?

KEVIN: O

ka

y.

P AUL:

t

r

ting to go)

The heavenly

hash

is

on

me.

To

D AVl

D You want?

D AVID: No.

PAUL: Esther?

ESTHER: Fudge ripple

(PAUL, RA

CHEL , and KEVIN exit. Pause)

DAVID:

Wh

ose idea is Kevin? Yours?

ESTHER:

Her

s. And

min

e.

DAVID: J m not sure wh

at

I m supposed to say.

ESTHER:

You re

both adul

ts.

At

least she is.

DA

VID:

L

oo

k,

I

did

n t

mean

to

snap at

Rac

he

l

Thin

gs

ju

t come out after I run.

ESTHE

R: You encouraged Rachel to

spend

the

summer

with us.

Whaf

s the scenario today? Rachel

betraye

d

poor

old David and I m cast as the witch abductor? If

you didn t w ant Rac

hel

to go you should

ha

ve said so

two

month

s ago . And i f

you

don t want

us

here, tell

me

now .

D AVID:

You know I m glad to see you.

Pau

se)

ESTHER: That s

it? Thank you, Mister. W

arm

th. Pau

se

)

What s your daily schedule

no

w? Two hours of

running

an

d ten hours of television?

D AVID:

You can do

better than that.



30

TO GILLIAN

ON HER

37

TH

BIRTHDAY

ESTHER: I do

n

t have to do

better

than

th

a

t

You

ne

ed to

work. Your inactivity is

destruct

ive and irresponsible.

D

AVID:

Don t play the shrink with me, Esther, I m not

in

the

mood.

ESTHER:

I m not

g

oing

to apologize for my training or

my profession. You could benefit from therapy.

DAVID:

Thank you, Ann Landers, for reprinting y

our

columns

ES

THER:

Just s

hort

term, talking to someone instead of

internalizing.

DAVID:

God,

you

sound

like

the

back of a

mat

chbook.

ESTHER:

You ve

got

Rachel scared, do you know that?

DAVID : Let s not exaggerate a family spat, Esther. This

morning w as

ju

st parents and kid

s

It happens all the

time.

ESTHER: Rachel is worried that you a

re

w ithdrawing

from her, and that scares her.

That s

what

she and

I

talked about all summer.

Pause)

Have you

bl

ac

ked

out

again?

DA

VID:

No. I r

un

less, scout s honor.

An

d I m

eating

green

ve

getables.

ESTHER:

Do you have pills?

DAVID:

Shows bott e) Ingesting potassium has become a

religious experience.

ESTHER:

I

me

an sleeping pills.

DAVID: Play fair, Esther.

ESTHER

: Do you?

DA

VlD

That

was

a mistake

ESTHER: Ta

kin

g half a bottle of

sleepin

g pills on Gil s

birthday was not a mistake. So don t make me ask

agam.



31

CT ONE

DAV D: No pills.

Pause)

Does he know

about

l::tst year?

ESTHER:

Does who know?

DAVID: Paul.

E

STHER:

I

told you

I

to

ld no

one,

or

did

you

think

I

was

just

playing the shrink?

DA

VID

Husbands and wives talk to each other. I seem

to remember that.

ES

THER:

You r eally do

n

t have much of an op

in

ion of

me, do

you

? I told

Paul

and I told Rachel,

no mo

re and

no less

than

what you and I decided. T

he

y

came

ho

me

from the movies and fou nd you in the hospital with

food poisoning. End of story.

DA

vrD: Thank you.

(

ESTIIER

goes to leave.)

DAVID: Esther I just want her back Nothing else.

ESTHER: Gil is not com ing back. And you don t honor

her

memory by giving

up

on your own life. You re

turning her

into

an icon, into somet

hing th

at has

nothing to do with my sister.

DAVID: You

tru

ly have a vulgar little mind.

ESTHER:

Maybe. Maybe I do

have

a v ul

gar

little m ind .

And

ma

ybe I laugh too loud, just like my sister.

DAVID: E

sth

er

ESTHER: And I

am prou d of it all

and

you get no

apologies from m

e

DAVID

I

didn ' t

me

an .

ESTHER:

Oh yes,

you

meant. I can

de

fend myself, but

how

dare you come down

on

Rachel, how dare you.

You just take some of that mountain of p ity

you

've

built

for yourself and po

in

t it

at

your daughter. When

she was fourteen ye

ar

s old she watched her mother

Documents

Gillian Audition Materials