Post by Rena on Jul 21, 2005 2:09:11 GMT -5
((This is a script I started))
The Story: A Wealthy English man leaves his daughter an inheritance in the care of her greedy mother. But when the mother spends the inheritance, she is forced to accompany her daughter on a cruise ship headed to the Caribbean in hopes to find a suitable (and rich) husband for her young daughter before she turns 20.
Act 1, Scene 1.
Setting: Day. The set is the bow of a ship. Big doors are the centerpiece of the bow. Fencing is around the front of the stage to use as guard railings. Elegant trinkets and ornaments around, such as a statue.
(A ship horn is heard, booming three times in a row. Then a whistle)
ROSA. Come on, Miss Clara! The ship will be leaving very soon. (ROSA dressed in a beige overcoat with beige gloves walks in from CL, holding a bunch of suitcases. Stops at DSC) We finally made it, Miss Clara.
(A snotty-looking woman appears from CL, wearing an elegant outing gown with white gloves. The bottom of her dress bounces around as she trots to DSC)
VERA. Rosa, would you please go check on our rooms. Class A, room 78. It will get dark fairly soon, so please put on the heat before it gets too cold.
ROSA. Yes, ‘mam.
(ROSA hurries and exits through the doors CS)
(A beautiful young woman looking no more than 18, walks slowly onto the deck from CL. She looks around and admires the ship before walking towards the woman DSC)
CLARA. Mother, what a lovely ship! I can’t wait for it to leave.
(Vera seems to pay no attention to her, as Clara twirls around the stage, looking at what there is to see)
VERA. What I can’t wait is to get to my room before we set off. I do get terribly sick just when we leave the harbor! I have no idea why, though. (VERA is turned away from Clara. Clara stops and stares at the back of VERA in amazement)
CLARA. Oh mother, you mustn’t go to your room before we leave! You surely will miss the best part of the cruise! (CLARA moves towards her mother, just left of her)
(VERA turns to look at her daughter, and sighs)
VERA. My dear, you have lots to learn that a young lady such as yourself cannot worry about how much fun or how pretty things are. You must worry about how proper or expensive things are.
CLARA. Not everything it about money, mother.
VERA. Well almost everything, Clara. And do get those silly things out of your head that the best part of this cruise is leaving the harbor! Why, if I knew that you only enjoyed that…I wouldn’t have paid so much for your ticket. I could have kept you on the ship long enough to see the ship leave, and then thrown you off into the ocean. It would have saved us quite a lot of money.
CLARA. Oh-No, mother! I enjoy everything about this ship, but the best part, I believe, is when the ship leaves.
(Two men enter DSL and walk past Vera and Clara. Clara doesn’t seem to notice, but Vera’s eyes stick to them and watch them exit DSR)
VERA. I found the best part of this trip!
CLARA. Mother, You’re a re-married woman of only 3 weeks! And where is Mr. Heyworth?
(VERA sighs, and looks at her wedding ring)
VERA. Mr. Hayworth cannot attend this with us, as he is on business somewhere. And for now on I am no longer known as Mrs. Hayworth, but as Ms. Hayworth.
CLARA. How could you do such a dreadful thing to your new groom? He loves you more than anyone can bear, and you trot around with men as if you were 20 and have never been married in your life!
VERA. I’ll have you know that I WAS once 20 and never married! I didn’t just pop up one day like this.
CLARA. Well it’s obvious, mother that you never aged as graceful as you hoped. Your attitude has soured, lately.
VERA. I may not be as young as I used to be, but that isn’t stopping me from having my fun! Now Clara, I hope you can find maturity and poise on this trip. And maybe someone who will have you in marriage, god forbid.
(VERA exits CS through doors, leaving CLARA to admire the ship)
CLARA. It truly is a lovely ship!
(Clara rests her arms on the rails as people come from all places, crowding around her. They are waving and yelling goodbyes as the ship blows it’s horn again)
CLARA. Good-Bye!
PASSENGERS. Good-Bye!
(Passengers ad-Lib good-byes. Ex- So-long…I’ll miss you!)
(Curtain close)
Act 1, Scene 2.
(Set: Day. Dining room Class A. The room is decorated with a few round tables, chairs and various paintings and ornaments. Light music for dining is heard throughout the room. Multi-themed conversations are mumbled throughout the room as a waiter gives people glasses. CLARA and VERA enter CR and move to the centre table, CS. CLARA sits on the right, VERA on left.)
CLARA. This room is quite lovely. Don’t you agree, mother?
VERA. There comes a time in one’s life where you get used to “lovely” rooms…and such a room as this, is perhaps, almost similar any other lovely room I have seen. It is simply boring, really.
CLARA. You lie, mother. I think it is a simply wonderful dining room. Why the china and tables are genuinely beautiful. I have never seen a room like this, and it puzzles me where you have.
VERA. Darling, I have been in a room like this way before your time. I have been eating off china like this for quite some time, and you of all people should be used to it too! You’ve been eating off expensive china since your birth. Surely you cannot expect me to believe that you are not use to these luxuries.
CLARA. Well, really I should be. But I treat every new experience as new as my last one, even if I am used to some things, I still treat it as if I have never experienced it before. It’s like a game I play.
VERA. Well stop playing your games, Clara. You’re a woman of almost 18, and you have to stop with your childish attitude. You can’t expect to have a husband when you act like that!
CLARA. What if I don’t want a husband?
(VERA gasps, and looks faint)
VERA. Don’t say that! Every woman wants a husband! How do you expect to have money, and have children?
CLARA. I’m not like you, mother. I can’t just throw myself into a marriage and pretend I’m in love!
VERA. You know it’s not like that. You know I love Mr. Hayworth very, very much!
CLARA. (speaking loudly) Then why did Rosa find you ‘loving’ tone of the butlers in your bathroom!?
(Conversations around the room stops, and all stare towards VERA and CLARA. VERA looks around embarrassed and then barrels out a very fake high-powered laugh)
VERA. Really, young girls and their fantastic stories! Never know when they’re real or false.
WOMAN1. But she doesn’t look young!
MAN1. Almost 18, I’d say!
(VERA leans towards WOMAN1 and MAN1)
VERA. (whispering to MAN1 and WOMAN1) Perhaps in physicality she looks 18, but mentally? (VERA shakes her head in sadness, sighing dramatically)
(WOMAN1 gasps shortly and places her hand on her mouth)
WOMAN1. The poor dear!
MAN1. Please, carry on with your conversation with the young woman. We will pay no attention to what she says any longer.
(VERA moves back to her table, and takes a sip from her champagne glass)
CLARA. What was that all about, Mother?
VERA. Oh, nothing…Grown-up stuff, Clara. You wouldn’t understand that sort of thing. I better be off, really. It’s getting quite late, and I’m getting quite bored around here. Don’t stay up too late!
CLARA. I won’t.
(VERA exits CR, bidding farewell privately to whomever she passes. CLARA sips from her glass, and looks around. Just as she is about to stand up, she sees a elder, yet handsome man entering CL. CLARA smiles and nods towards the man, and sits down to pretend she is having a great time all by herself. He sits at a vacant table beside her.)
CLARA. Hello.
GEORGE. Hello, Miss…
CLARA. Clara.
GEORGE. Ah! Clara, Miss Clara. What a lovely name.
CLARA. Thank you. It was my aunt’s name, though she’s dead.
GEORGE. I’m sorry to hear that, Miss Clara.
CLARA. Please, just Clara. And I never knew my aunt, so there really isn’t anything to be sorry about.
GEORGE. Come now, she is still part of your family, whether you know her or you don’t. You should still respect her, nonetheless.
CLARA. I suppose you are right.
GEORGE. Thank you. How about you join me? It looks as if you are alone. I do not believe a woman of such beauty should be in a dining room alone.
(CLARA smiles and moves to sit with him)
GEORGE. So what is a beauty like you all alone?
CLARA. My mother just retired to her bedroom not a few seconds before you arrived.
GEORGE. Ah, I see. Is your mother just as beautiful as you?
CLARA. I suppose, though she has aged in the past few years. And she’s a real…how do I put it… (CLARA puts a finger to her mouth, thinking)...Old Prune! She is always telling me what to do and how to act and feel! Sometimes I wonder what is me, and what’s my mother!
GEORGE. I’m sure she has your best interests at heart.
CLARA. Only when it comes to money does she have anyone’s best interest at heart!
(GEORGE stares at her, and then gives out a huge hearty laugh. CLARA joins him and they both laugh together. An elderly lady appears from CL. She looks surprised at the girl and elderly man, and trots over to him)
EVELYN. George! Why on earth is this young girl in my chair?
GEORGE. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll have them bring you a chair!
EVELYN. But that’s my chair! I think-
GEORGE. I think that you can give it up for just one night, hmm?
(GEORGE snaps his fingers and a man brings over another chair. The chair faces the audience, and EVELYN sits in between GEORGE and CLARA)
CLARA. Now, tell me the story of when-
EVELYN. (coldly) George has no stories for a little girl like you…How about you run along and play with the other children?
GEORGE. (Annoyed) Evelyn!
(A waiter approaches and looks at the three, shaking his head)
WAITER. Would any of you enjoy a beverage?
GEORGE. Scotch on the rocks, please.
EVELYN. Martini, very dry.
(The waiter looks at Clara, smiling)
WAITER. And for you, Miss?
EVELYN. (Mockingly, with a sadistic smile) A Milkshake?
CLARA. (Almost ignoring whatever EVELYN said) I’ll have a martini. Very dry, please.
WAITER. Your drinks will come very shortly.
(The waiter leaves, and there is an odd silence between the two)
EVELYN. It is quite too crowded in this room…
(EVELYN looks coldly towards CLARA. CLARA takes in a breath, and stands up)
CLARA. I guess I will be leaving. It was nice to meet you both, George and Evelyn. May I see you next time?
GEORGE. Definitely!
EVELYN. Let’s hope not, my dear.
(CLARA smiles, and exits CR. EVELYN sits in her chair, looking pleased but GEORGE looks angry)
GEORGE. What has got into you, Evelyn? I was just enjoying my time with a young lady, and you get all upset. She is very interesting.
EVELYN. Ah, A woman with qualities…
GEORGE. So rare these days at an age like that!
EVELYN. A woman with rare qualities, I see.
GEORGE. Well I will be meeting with her tomorrow and I don’t care how you feel about it, I am still going.
EVELYN. What!? Why?
GEORGE. I am going because I find her to be quite an interesting young lady, Evelyn. Perhaps you could learn a few things from her!
(EVELYN groans and growls, pouting)
(Curtain close)
The Story: A Wealthy English man leaves his daughter an inheritance in the care of her greedy mother. But when the mother spends the inheritance, she is forced to accompany her daughter on a cruise ship headed to the Caribbean in hopes to find a suitable (and rich) husband for her young daughter before she turns 20.
Act 1, Scene 1.
Setting: Day. The set is the bow of a ship. Big doors are the centerpiece of the bow. Fencing is around the front of the stage to use as guard railings. Elegant trinkets and ornaments around, such as a statue.
(A ship horn is heard, booming three times in a row. Then a whistle)
ROSA. Come on, Miss Clara! The ship will be leaving very soon. (ROSA dressed in a beige overcoat with beige gloves walks in from CL, holding a bunch of suitcases. Stops at DSC) We finally made it, Miss Clara.
(A snotty-looking woman appears from CL, wearing an elegant outing gown with white gloves. The bottom of her dress bounces around as she trots to DSC)
VERA. Rosa, would you please go check on our rooms. Class A, room 78. It will get dark fairly soon, so please put on the heat before it gets too cold.
ROSA. Yes, ‘mam.
(ROSA hurries and exits through the doors CS)
(A beautiful young woman looking no more than 18, walks slowly onto the deck from CL. She looks around and admires the ship before walking towards the woman DSC)
CLARA. Mother, what a lovely ship! I can’t wait for it to leave.
(Vera seems to pay no attention to her, as Clara twirls around the stage, looking at what there is to see)
VERA. What I can’t wait is to get to my room before we set off. I do get terribly sick just when we leave the harbor! I have no idea why, though. (VERA is turned away from Clara. Clara stops and stares at the back of VERA in amazement)
CLARA. Oh mother, you mustn’t go to your room before we leave! You surely will miss the best part of the cruise! (CLARA moves towards her mother, just left of her)
(VERA turns to look at her daughter, and sighs)
VERA. My dear, you have lots to learn that a young lady such as yourself cannot worry about how much fun or how pretty things are. You must worry about how proper or expensive things are.
CLARA. Not everything it about money, mother.
VERA. Well almost everything, Clara. And do get those silly things out of your head that the best part of this cruise is leaving the harbor! Why, if I knew that you only enjoyed that…I wouldn’t have paid so much for your ticket. I could have kept you on the ship long enough to see the ship leave, and then thrown you off into the ocean. It would have saved us quite a lot of money.
CLARA. Oh-No, mother! I enjoy everything about this ship, but the best part, I believe, is when the ship leaves.
(Two men enter DSL and walk past Vera and Clara. Clara doesn’t seem to notice, but Vera’s eyes stick to them and watch them exit DSR)
VERA. I found the best part of this trip!
CLARA. Mother, You’re a re-married woman of only 3 weeks! And where is Mr. Heyworth?
(VERA sighs, and looks at her wedding ring)
VERA. Mr. Hayworth cannot attend this with us, as he is on business somewhere. And for now on I am no longer known as Mrs. Hayworth, but as Ms. Hayworth.
CLARA. How could you do such a dreadful thing to your new groom? He loves you more than anyone can bear, and you trot around with men as if you were 20 and have never been married in your life!
VERA. I’ll have you know that I WAS once 20 and never married! I didn’t just pop up one day like this.
CLARA. Well it’s obvious, mother that you never aged as graceful as you hoped. Your attitude has soured, lately.
VERA. I may not be as young as I used to be, but that isn’t stopping me from having my fun! Now Clara, I hope you can find maturity and poise on this trip. And maybe someone who will have you in marriage, god forbid.
(VERA exits CS through doors, leaving CLARA to admire the ship)
CLARA. It truly is a lovely ship!
(Clara rests her arms on the rails as people come from all places, crowding around her. They are waving and yelling goodbyes as the ship blows it’s horn again)
CLARA. Good-Bye!
PASSENGERS. Good-Bye!
(Passengers ad-Lib good-byes. Ex- So-long…I’ll miss you!)
(Curtain close)
Act 1, Scene 2.
(Set: Day. Dining room Class A. The room is decorated with a few round tables, chairs and various paintings and ornaments. Light music for dining is heard throughout the room. Multi-themed conversations are mumbled throughout the room as a waiter gives people glasses. CLARA and VERA enter CR and move to the centre table, CS. CLARA sits on the right, VERA on left.)
CLARA. This room is quite lovely. Don’t you agree, mother?
VERA. There comes a time in one’s life where you get used to “lovely” rooms…and such a room as this, is perhaps, almost similar any other lovely room I have seen. It is simply boring, really.
CLARA. You lie, mother. I think it is a simply wonderful dining room. Why the china and tables are genuinely beautiful. I have never seen a room like this, and it puzzles me where you have.
VERA. Darling, I have been in a room like this way before your time. I have been eating off china like this for quite some time, and you of all people should be used to it too! You’ve been eating off expensive china since your birth. Surely you cannot expect me to believe that you are not use to these luxuries.
CLARA. Well, really I should be. But I treat every new experience as new as my last one, even if I am used to some things, I still treat it as if I have never experienced it before. It’s like a game I play.
VERA. Well stop playing your games, Clara. You’re a woman of almost 18, and you have to stop with your childish attitude. You can’t expect to have a husband when you act like that!
CLARA. What if I don’t want a husband?
(VERA gasps, and looks faint)
VERA. Don’t say that! Every woman wants a husband! How do you expect to have money, and have children?
CLARA. I’m not like you, mother. I can’t just throw myself into a marriage and pretend I’m in love!
VERA. You know it’s not like that. You know I love Mr. Hayworth very, very much!
CLARA. (speaking loudly) Then why did Rosa find you ‘loving’ tone of the butlers in your bathroom!?
(Conversations around the room stops, and all stare towards VERA and CLARA. VERA looks around embarrassed and then barrels out a very fake high-powered laugh)
VERA. Really, young girls and their fantastic stories! Never know when they’re real or false.
WOMAN1. But she doesn’t look young!
MAN1. Almost 18, I’d say!
(VERA leans towards WOMAN1 and MAN1)
VERA. (whispering to MAN1 and WOMAN1) Perhaps in physicality she looks 18, but mentally? (VERA shakes her head in sadness, sighing dramatically)
(WOMAN1 gasps shortly and places her hand on her mouth)
WOMAN1. The poor dear!
MAN1. Please, carry on with your conversation with the young woman. We will pay no attention to what she says any longer.
(VERA moves back to her table, and takes a sip from her champagne glass)
CLARA. What was that all about, Mother?
VERA. Oh, nothing…Grown-up stuff, Clara. You wouldn’t understand that sort of thing. I better be off, really. It’s getting quite late, and I’m getting quite bored around here. Don’t stay up too late!
CLARA. I won’t.
(VERA exits CR, bidding farewell privately to whomever she passes. CLARA sips from her glass, and looks around. Just as she is about to stand up, she sees a elder, yet handsome man entering CL. CLARA smiles and nods towards the man, and sits down to pretend she is having a great time all by herself. He sits at a vacant table beside her.)
CLARA. Hello.
GEORGE. Hello, Miss…
CLARA. Clara.
GEORGE. Ah! Clara, Miss Clara. What a lovely name.
CLARA. Thank you. It was my aunt’s name, though she’s dead.
GEORGE. I’m sorry to hear that, Miss Clara.
CLARA. Please, just Clara. And I never knew my aunt, so there really isn’t anything to be sorry about.
GEORGE. Come now, she is still part of your family, whether you know her or you don’t. You should still respect her, nonetheless.
CLARA. I suppose you are right.
GEORGE. Thank you. How about you join me? It looks as if you are alone. I do not believe a woman of such beauty should be in a dining room alone.
(CLARA smiles and moves to sit with him)
GEORGE. So what is a beauty like you all alone?
CLARA. My mother just retired to her bedroom not a few seconds before you arrived.
GEORGE. Ah, I see. Is your mother just as beautiful as you?
CLARA. I suppose, though she has aged in the past few years. And she’s a real…how do I put it… (CLARA puts a finger to her mouth, thinking)...Old Prune! She is always telling me what to do and how to act and feel! Sometimes I wonder what is me, and what’s my mother!
GEORGE. I’m sure she has your best interests at heart.
CLARA. Only when it comes to money does she have anyone’s best interest at heart!
(GEORGE stares at her, and then gives out a huge hearty laugh. CLARA joins him and they both laugh together. An elderly lady appears from CL. She looks surprised at the girl and elderly man, and trots over to him)
EVELYN. George! Why on earth is this young girl in my chair?
GEORGE. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll have them bring you a chair!
EVELYN. But that’s my chair! I think-
GEORGE. I think that you can give it up for just one night, hmm?
(GEORGE snaps his fingers and a man brings over another chair. The chair faces the audience, and EVELYN sits in between GEORGE and CLARA)
CLARA. Now, tell me the story of when-
EVELYN. (coldly) George has no stories for a little girl like you…How about you run along and play with the other children?
GEORGE. (Annoyed) Evelyn!
(A waiter approaches and looks at the three, shaking his head)
WAITER. Would any of you enjoy a beverage?
GEORGE. Scotch on the rocks, please.
EVELYN. Martini, very dry.
(The waiter looks at Clara, smiling)
WAITER. And for you, Miss?
EVELYN. (Mockingly, with a sadistic smile) A Milkshake?
CLARA. (Almost ignoring whatever EVELYN said) I’ll have a martini. Very dry, please.
WAITER. Your drinks will come very shortly.
(The waiter leaves, and there is an odd silence between the two)
EVELYN. It is quite too crowded in this room…
(EVELYN looks coldly towards CLARA. CLARA takes in a breath, and stands up)
CLARA. I guess I will be leaving. It was nice to meet you both, George and Evelyn. May I see you next time?
GEORGE. Definitely!
EVELYN. Let’s hope not, my dear.
(CLARA smiles, and exits CR. EVELYN sits in her chair, looking pleased but GEORGE looks angry)
GEORGE. What has got into you, Evelyn? I was just enjoying my time with a young lady, and you get all upset. She is very interesting.
EVELYN. Ah, A woman with qualities…
GEORGE. So rare these days at an age like that!
EVELYN. A woman with rare qualities, I see.
GEORGE. Well I will be meeting with her tomorrow and I don’t care how you feel about it, I am still going.
EVELYN. What!? Why?
GEORGE. I am going because I find her to be quite an interesting young lady, Evelyn. Perhaps you could learn a few things from her!
(EVELYN groans and growls, pouting)
(Curtain close)