The WallsBy

Lisa Dillman

Revised Hedgebrook Draft (May 17, 2012)

CONTACT:Lisa Dillman5743 W. EastwoodChicago, IL 60630(773) 425-5310Lisa2paws@sbcglobal.net

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CHARACTERS

Contemporary

Caridad (Carrie) Beliveau, 23. Bright, verbal, and hypervigilant.

Virginia Dodge Beliveau, 48 at the very beginning of the play, which is at the end of her life. Carrie's mother, a painter.

Lucy Gable, somewhere between 30 and 40. Funny, smart, quick, suffers from bipolar disorder.

Historical

Alice Chudmann, 33 when she makes her first appearance. The mother of three, she suffers from major depressive disorder that manifested after the birth of her third child.

Vance Chudmann, 35 when he makes his first appearance. Alice's husband. This actor will also play The Reverend and the offstage voice of the landlord.

Jane Eloise Yaeger, 26 when she makes her first appearance. Suffers from anxiety and major depressive disorder.

Plaid Cranston, 45 when he makes his appearance. A pharmacist who becomes Jane's husband later in life. This actor will also play Alice's Doctor, Virginia's Act II orderly, and the Delivery Guy.

Tabitha Chudmann Dodge, 25 when she makes her appearance. Alice's daughter. This actor doubles as Virginia's first orderly (Danielle) and Alice’s attendant. She actor may take on some of the smaller functionary roles where appropriate.

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ACT ONE

(As the play begins there is only music and mist. CARRIE emerges, poring over a thick sheaf of papers in the dim light, and moves to a brightly lit frame, where she stops, still reading. She then crosses the stage to sit in the glow of her laptop. The other characters begin to appear all around her, everyone speaking at once. The recorded sound of many whispering voices begins to rise, blending with and gradually overtaking the actors’ voices. The cacophony rises to a crescendo, then suddenly stops as lights go very bright on ALICE CHUDMANN. She wears a simple housedress circa 1920 and holds a broom.)

CARRIEAlice Chudmann. Thirty-three at the time of commitment, October 25, 1922.

ALICEJust stop a moment and think this is yourself. On a bright, chilly day. Late in the month of October. It is early, quite early in the morning on let's say a Tuesday and you are about your customary duties, of course you are, because you have had no illness to keep you from those duties, so there you are in your very own kitchen doing your very own chores and in he comes, right into the room, this great hump of a man with a face the color of uncooked meat.

(A light comes up on the SHERIFF.)You turn, startled to have him so suddenly beside you. For a moment you don't know how in the world he came to be there, looming up between you and the back door. It's understandable if your mouth has fallen open slightly at this point … yet … you are not quite afraid. Because, after all, you know this person. He is a friend of the family. He's eaten at your table, had a second slab of your cherry crumble for his dessert, smoked a redolent pipe on your porch afterwards. Last Sunday, wasn't it? But you also become aware, more or less in that same instant, that to get here--into your kitchen--to be standing only two or three feet away from you--he must first have opened your back gate without jangling the bell, and crossed the yard that just yesterday you swept and pruned and raked and clipped. He must have stepped over the playthings your children left lying in the walkway and in fact he had to have come right up your back steps and yanked open the door. Did he knock first? He did not, else you would most certainly have bid him come in. Yet in he has come anyway. But by now you've collected yourself. "Well. Good morning, Sheriff." … Does he remove his hat before he speaks to you? In your own kitchen. With your own broom clutched in your white-fingered hand? He does not.

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SHERIFFMrs. Chudmann, I'm placing you under arrest. You'll have to come along with me. Please go on and get yourself a wrap.

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(The sound of a cell phone. CARRIE stiffens, pulls the phone out of her pocket and slams it onto the table, but does not answer it.)

ALICEAt your dinner table, dabbing his greasy lips with one of your good linen napkins, he said please. He said thank you. He called you by your given name.

SHERIFF"That was a fine dinner, Alice. Just fine."

ALICEHe's a great friend of your husband's.

(Carrie’s cell phone rings. Finally, she flips it open and checks the number and then closes it again. At the same time, ALICE, distracted by the sound of the phone, speaks more insistently.)

He's a great friend of your husband's!

SHERIFFGet yourself a wrap. Go on now. Get it.

(Confused, ALICE turns and looks in the direction of the ringing cell phone. It suddenly stops ringing.)

ALICEPlease. I don't understand …

SHERIFFNow don't go making this harder than it already is, Mrs. Chudmann.

ALICELet me run get my husband--I won't be a minute--

(Turning to find CHUDMANN standing there.)But then you see him. You see that he already knows about this little adventure in the kitchen. You see the glint in his eye. The glint that says victory at last.

(The men move in on Alice.)

SHERIFFLet go that broom, Mrs. Chudmann. Don't go getting all crazy.

ALICE(Straight to CARRIE)

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There. Now you understand everything.

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(CHUDMANN moves to take the broom from Alice. She tries first to fend him off with it and then swings it at him just missing his head. For a few moments she holds the two men at bay, swinging the broom wildly. Then CHUDMANN gets hold of the handle and yanks it away. SHERIFF pins Alice's arms behind her.)

CHUDMANNYou see the way she is.

SHERIFFI don't want to hurt you, Mrs. Chudmann. But you're gonna need to quit being so wild. Hear me? Now I'm gonna let go of you. And I want you to go on upstairs with Mr. Chudmann and get yourself a wrap. You hear me?

(ALICE nods. The SHERIFF lets go of her. She turns to the audience once more.)

ALICEAnd then. Because you are a lady. You get your wrap. And you go.

(Light change and music as a cell phone begins to ring. CARRIE checks the number and answers as a light rises on VIRGINIA at a battered pay phone. She wears only one shoe.)

CARRIEWhat.

VIRGINIAI don't know where I am!

CARRIEYou're there. Where else would you be.

VIRGINIANo! I am AWOL, baby. One of the trolls left the kitchen door open, and I slipped right out. I hope they can her fat ass. ... I think I’m lost.

CARRIEDescribe your surroundings.

VIRGINIAThat's a bit difficult. No landmarks.

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CARRIEI see. Well. Do the best you can.

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VIRGINIAHey. Watch the tone.

CARRIEHey. Virginia? You called me.

VIRGINIAI'm not Virginia, I’m your mother god dammit. And I’m outside a …

(A pink light begins to flash on and off.)Ahh. There's a sign. Two pink martini glasses are dancing. It appears to be some kind of a … club.

CARRIEHmm. Does it seem like an all right place? Why don't you go on in, get yourself an adult beverage.

VIRGINIAHa. You know better than that.

CARRIEGet on in there and order up a dirty martini. Go on.

VIRGINIAI wouldn't mind.

CARRIEOh, I know.

VIRGINIAMaybe I just will.

CARRIEI really think you should.

VIRGINIAExcept I don't do that anymore.

CARRIENot even for sneakies?

VIRGINIA"Sneakies." Aww. My little dolly-girl. Can her pwease come get me?

CARRIEI'm working.

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VIRGINIAThe lunatic ladies of Carrie's Magnum Opus.

CARRIEUh-huh.

VIRGINIAThe hysterical historical bedlamites. The cavalcade of victims.

CARRIEYup.

VIRGINIAThe epic. The endless spew. That Which Shall Never Be Finished.

CARRIENot if I keep sitting here talking to you it won’t be.

VIRGINIANobody loves a victim. Haven’t I always said that?

CARRIEI thought you always said nobody loves a fatty.

VIRGINIANobody loves a fatty or a victim. Especially, nobody loves a fat victim. ... Pweaseher come get me. Mama's best girl. Mama's onliest princess. Doesn't her knowmummy is her very own primary source material?

CARRIE(Chuckling in spite of herself)

I haven't gotten to you in my outline yet.

VIRGINIAWell what the hell are you waiting for? ... Pwease her come pick me up.

CARRIEGotta go.

VIRGINIAPlease?

CARRIE

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Can’t do it.

VIRGINIACome get me.

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CARRIEChristmas is next week. I'll come see you then. Christmas Day. How about that?We'll spend the whole day together. I promise.

VIRGINIAI writhed around in a puddle of my own blood for forty-seven hours trying to getyou out of me.

CARRIEWe are so not going to do this right now.

VIRGINIANine pounds! You had a head like a fucking melon! I was ripped to pieces! Shredded! I couldn't piss right ever again after you got through with me. Nobody ever wanted to fuck me after that either, you know that, don't you? You were the last one ever to get on the inside of this particular wreck of the Hesperus, baby doll! Forty-seven hours and then they had to cut you out of me like a tumor. I'm a goddam road map of scars from you, you malignant little whore--inside and out.

CARRIEI know that. Same here.

VIRGINIAHer won't take fifteen minutes to come get me.

CARRIENo, that's right. Her won't. Her can't. Her has a life and her is very busy.

VIRGINIAI could get raped out here. I'm not used to the world anymore, you've all seen to that. I could get shoved into a car and--

CARRIENo one's going to shove you into a car. You're fine.

VIRGINIAWait! Someone's coming! Please. Please come get me. Oh God.

(And in fact, we do see a movement in the shadows beyond whereVIRGINIA is standing. She huddles against the phone.)

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CARRIEMother.

VIRGINIAOh God, oh God, oh God!

CARRIEStop it.

VIRGINIACarrie! I need you!

CARRIEI have caller ID.

VIRGINIAWhat? You have what?

CARRIEI have a service on my phone. It tells me where you're calling from.

(An ORDERLY steps out of the shadows and buzzing flickering florescent light suddenly floods the area. The ORDERLY points at her watch. VIRGINIA is momentarily confused; she whispers into the phone.)

VIRGINIAYou little cunt. What did I ever do to make you hate me so much? Just tell me that.

ORDERLYOkay, Ginger. Wind it up and let's get you back to your room.

VIRGINIACome on, sweetheart. Spring me.

CARRIESpring yourself.

VIRGINIAI need to see you. Your face. Your little curls. My only baby girl.

(The ORDERLY makes an impatient motion of some kind.)

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Don't you come near me!

CARRIEMother. Stop.

ORDERLYIs that Carrie? Give me that phone. I need to talk to her.

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CARRIEIs that Danielle? Mother? Let me speak to Danielle.

VIRGINIAGet away from me! (Into the phone) You little shit bastard! Don't come. Don't you come here ever! I don't want you. I never wanted you! Just do one last thing for me, would you please?

CARRIEGo fuck myself? ...

(VIRGINIA hangs up in a fury--light goes out on her.)I always do.

(A light rises on a rack of paintings. Music as CARRIE rises and moves toward it almost as if pulled by an invisible force. She stops just short of it and turns abruptly to the audience.)

The Things I Inherited: An Inventory. One. A nice laugh.(She laughs nicely, then drops it abruptly.)

Two. Good, strong features. Striking … but only from a certain angle. Three. A direct gaze any time I'm not lying through my teeth. Four. Lousy teeth. Five. This hair. Thinning. Lank. I'm only twenty-three. Six. A tendency to stay up very very late--the result of seven, my longtime companion: insomnia. Eight. An unwillingness to miss anything. Nine. A desperate desire to stay in one place, to nest, to be what is called "at home." Ten. An inability to stay anywhere for long. Eleven. A near constant feeling of being haunted by something that creeps along in the shadows. And finally....

(She turns again and gestures to the paintings. As the following voice-over plays, she crosses to them, briefly puts a hand on one of the canvases. After a moment, she shakes out a tarp, throws it over the rack of paintings, and crosses back to her laptop.)

CARRIEJane Eloise Yaeger. Twenty-eight at the time of her commitment, May 17, 1883.

(Lights rise on JANE. She is well-dressed circa 1880s.)

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JANEClose your eyes. Tight! No. Tighter! Tight as you can. Put your whole face into it. Do you feel a vibration in the exact center of your head? If you multiply that vibration by one million times and then you allow it to spread through your entire body, until your very skin feels electrified, and it seems you'll have no choice but to shatter into a thousand glittering shards, then you will have a tiny fraction of an idea of how I spend my days.

(A DOCTOR enters.)

DOCTORWhat day is today?

JANEI don't know.

DOCTORWhat month?

JANEI don't know.

DOCTORWhat year?

JANEEighteen … I … really can't say.

DOCTORAnd how are you feeling?

JANEClose your eyes?

DOCTORI will not. I have no time for nonsense. You’re father is coming for a visit this morning. So I ask again. How are you feeling?

JANEFine.

DOCTORYou seem nervous.

JANE

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Do I?

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DOCTORYou're not nervous?

JANEI'm. A little nervous.

DOCTORYou coddle yourself, Miss Yaeger.

JANEI do. Yes. I'm sorry.

DOCTORAre you? I’ll tell you what I’m sorry for. I’m sorry for your parents who by all accounts raised you well. I’m sorry about the money they squandered on your education, which clearly has been put to no use whatever. I’m sorry but relieved for poor Mr. Cranston who very nearly succeeded in making a wife of you. And finally I’m sorry for the staff of this institution, all of us who have no choice but to put up with your endless squalling. A neurasthenic constitution is no excuse for the way you carry on.

JANEI'm so sorry!

DOCTORYou're not a bit sorry, Miss Yaeger. And you're not ill. Shall I tell you what you are? You're lazy. You're a lazy weak woman.

JANEOh ...

DOCTORI haven't drowned your puppy, Miss Yaeger. I've simply stated an unvarnishedtruth. It's high time you pull up your socks and establish a purpose for yourself.

JANEI did needlepoint when I first came. I was told I made some pretty things.

DOCTORBut you kept losing the needles.

JANE

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Yes.

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DOCTORYou're not careful. Are you?

JANENo.

DOCTORDo you have anything else to say for yourself?

JANENo. Nothing more. Except.

DOCTORExcept what?

JANEI do not wish to see my father.

DOCTORWhy not?

JANEBecause he hates me.

DOCTORYet another frivolous remark.

JANEI make you angry.

DOCTORNo.

JANEYou’re angry right this moment.

DOCTORNo. I’m trying to help you. Your father is a man of God. By definition, he hates noone. And whether you like it or not, he is coming. So I suggest you wash your face.

JANE(Malevolent)

Very well then.

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DOCTORAre you calm?

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JANETerribly calm.

DOCTORHold out your hand.

(JANE holds out her hand. It trembles violently. The DOCTOR heaves a frustrated sigh and exits. She waits until she’s sure he’s gone and then takes a needle from the hem of her skirt. She draws it down the inside of her forearm very slowly, creating a thin bloody line. When she finishes, she sucks at the blood. Finally, she holds out her hand. It is completely steady. She seems to see CARRIE watching her across time. She tosses her head defensively. THE REVEREND enters and stands to one side unseen by Jane.)

JANEPlaid Cranston was a pharmacist. He smelled of ointment. When he was concentrating he would dig in his ear with the second knuckle of his index finger. Little flakes would fall onto his shoulder. This tormented me. He was kind. He liked children. The Reverend said he was a catch and even Mother figured he would do. He was entirely . . . inoffensive. I think he might even have loved me. And I was already twenty-eight by then. But. He never laughed. And I looked ahead to years of ear knuckling and sniffing and being gazed at by those exhausted infinitely patient gray eyes. I couldn't find a place for myself in that picture. No. I never could. Not even while I was being fitted for my wedding gown.

REVERENDSin of pride.

JANEWell, why not? I deserved more! I did! I know it.

REVERENDRepent and beg the Lord to forgive you. You think He didn’t see? You suppose He shut His eyes while you made a fool of yourself flirting and carrying on with anything in a pair of trousers?

JANEYou liked it well enough whenever I flirted with you!

REVERENDDon’t be disgusting.

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JANEAs long as I was pretty and silly and spoke no opinions apart from your own!

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REVERENDYou make God sick, do you hear me? You make Him retch.

JANEI hope he chokes! He isn’t my God anyway.

REVERENDThere is only one God, you heathen child, do you suppose you can simply inventyour own?

JANEI choose no God! No God, do you hear me?

(A sudden stillness between them.)

REVERENDWell. You’ll have plenty of time here to ponder that sentiment.

(He exits. JANE looks around, desperate, again catching Carrie’s eye across the space of time. A steady look between them. A sudden slamming sound as the light goes out on JANE. CARRIE turns away from this and enters a coffee shop very late at night. She is clearly wound up. LUCY enters briskly.)

LUCYWhat can I get ya, hon’?

CARRIECoffee. Black.

LUCYAnything else?

CARRIEJust coffee, thanks.

(She begins shakily arranging a stack of papers on the table. LUCYstands watching her a moment.)

LUCYAre you okay?

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(CARRIE and LUCY regard each other. For a moment, they seem to recognize something in each other.)

CARRIE… Am I okay. Yes. I think so. Why?

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LUCYYou seem a little …

(CARRIE opens her laptop.)Ahhhh! You’re a writer.

CARRIENo.

LUCY(Sitting down opposite Carrie)

Yes you are. What do you write?

CARRIEI’m sorry, do you work here?

LUCYOh you’ll get your coffee.

CARRIEYou do work here.

LUCYFor about the next three minutes. And that’s if I’m real lucky. What do you write?

CARRIEI’m just ... I’m working on ... it’s ... mostly research.

LUCYFor what?

CARRIELook, I don’t have a lot of time.

LUCYIt’s 2 A.M. Where you gotta be? So you’re writing a book. That is so great.

CARRIEI could really use that coffee. Actually.

LUCYHow old are you?

CARRIEWhy do you want to know?

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LUCYAre you a wunderkind?

CARRIEI’m twenty-three.

LUCYSo it’s too late! Thank God. Child prodigies suck ass.

CARRIEOK look, I’m just going to go.

LUCYDon’t go. What’s your name? In case I want to go buy your book.

CARRIE... Caridad Beliveau.

LUCYThat is one fabulous moniker, Caridad.

CARRIEThanks. It means charity. I go by Carrie.

LUCYSo what’s it about? Your book.

CARRIEYou really want to know?

LUCYI do. Very much.

CARRIEIt’s ... I’m researching the trajectory of mental illness in women who were kept in mental asylums against their will.

(Beat. LUCY begins to chuckle.)

LUCYI’m going to bring you that coffee. And then I’m going to tell you everything you’ll ever wanna know. Wait. Right. Here.

(She exits, pointing back at Carrie, shaking her head and laughing.)

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CARRIE(Smiling fondly, watching her go)

Lucinda Gable. Age nineteen at the time of her first commitment.

VIRGINIA(Off)

Come see what I bought!

(VIRGINIA barrels in and nearly runs over CARRIE. She has lots of shopping bags, which she drops on the floor. CARRIE is instantly thirteen.)

CARRIEWhere have you been?

VIRGINIADon’t be thick, darling! I’ve been shopping!

CARRIEYou're supposed to be finishing the work for your show. They've been calling andcalling. You promised them you'd be done and get it shipped today.

(Pulling out stacks and stacks of egg cartons from the bags)Eggs. Mom.

VIRGINIAI was thinking we'd throw a brunch. With create-your-own omelets. Endless littlepiles of yummy ingredients. Wild mushrooms. Goat cheese. Caviar! And mangochutney!

CARRIEThese eggs are all broken.

VIRGINIAAre they? Well shit.

(VIRGINIA pulls a wig stand out of a bag and rips the wig off it, andputs it on.)

Look at this, sweetie. It's real human hair. My mother had cancer. Her motherhad cancer. So I'm due for it any day now and when I have my chemo and all myhair falls out, voila! I'll have this fabulous wig. I got you one too. Here, honey. Put

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it on.

CARRIEI don't want that.

VIRGINIAOh, put it on, don't be such a cow!

(Pulling out a silver urn)VIRGINIA (CONT’D.)

Hey! Look at this. It cost the world and some change but it's exactly the one Iwant. Silver. Feel how heavy. Antique. Take it. Keep it safe. Because after I getcancer and my hair falls out and I wear this wig but it's all for naught because Inonetheless sicken and die, I want you to burn me up and put what's left of me inhere. And keep me under your sweet little bed. Promise?

CARRIENo.

VIRGINIAPromise me.

CARRIEYou never keep any promises.

VIRGINIAYou're better than I am, kid. In every way. You’re the only truly good thing I’veever done, you know that.

CARRIEThe show's in two weeks. You have to finish! You told them--

(Doorbell.)

VOICE (O.S.)Mrs. Beliveau. It's Dirk Rosen. Can I come in please?

VIRGINIAShit.

CARRIE… You didn't pay the rent ...

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VOICEOpen the door, please. We need to talk.

CARRIEYou bought all this shit and you didn't even pay the rent? God damn you, Mom!

(Vigorous pounding on the door. VIRGINIA clamps the wig morefirmly on her head and puts on a pair of dark glasses. She picks up apainting from the rack along with the bags she brought in.)

VOICEThat wouldn't be a new car I saw you parking out there, would it, Mrs. B.?

CARRIEYou bought another car?!

VIRGINIAIt was so yellow!

(Heading toward a window)Wait ten minutes then tell him I've gone to Ypsilanti.

CARRIEMom, no.

VOICEMrs. B? I know you're home--I saw you come in just now. Now, listen, I've beenvery patient.

VIRGINIAAchh, he’s such an asshole!

VOICEI can hear you.

(VIRGINIA turns to CARRIE, puts a finger to her lips andwhispers.)

VIRGINIAYpsilanti. I'll be in touch.

VOICE

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You owe me!

CARRIEDon't do this! Mom! Don't leave me!

VIRGINIAMama’s gotta keep moving, sweetie. But Mama loves you. You're Mama’s bestFriend in the world. Remember that. Always. Always!

(VIRGINIA exits awkwardly out the window hauling paintings andbags along with her. The doorbell continues to ring as lights change.CARRIE moves to her laptop, and the relative safety of her research,as the lights change. We hear the sound of a lock and a heavy doorcreaking open. CHUDMANN stands waiting as a female ATTENDANT enters with ALICE. The ATTENDANT stands nearby as the scene proceeds. CARRIE watches.)

ALICEYou've come for me then!

CHUDMANNHow are you, Alice?

(Her relief turns to stiff anger.)

ALICEI'm of sound mind, thank you. But then I think you know that.

CHUDMANNYou'd best speak to me civil.

ALICEHave you come to take me home?

CHUDMANNNot till the doctor says you're all right to leave.

ALICEThen call him in here.

CHUDMANNWife. Listen to me now. You're not in a position, hear? A fit mother

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and wife,she'd ask about her children. Right at the start she'd ask.

ALICEHow are the children?

CHUDMANNThey're fine.

ALICEWhat have you told them?

CHUDMANNI told them you needed a good long rest.

ALICEYou didn't tell them I was here though.

(CHUDMANN shakes his head.)...Thank you for that.

CHUDMANNYou've gone to the country. To take a cure.

ALICEA cure for what?

CHUDMANNLung ailment.

ALICELet me come home.

CHUDMANNThat's not up / to me.

ALICEPlease. Please let me.

CHUDMANNDoctor says you need to stay a while longer yet. I'll ... I’ll tell the children the freshair is doing you good.

ALICEPlease, Vance. I'm so alone here. People shriek all through the night. I can't sleep

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at all. Just last week one of the women died in her room. She did nothing but scream and moan, day and night. And I hated her, Vance. I did! I prayed that God would strike her dead if only to give me a tiny moment's peace. And then one night thescreaming stopped and all I heard was this terrible thudding sound. Like orangesbeing hurled against a wall. They found her the next morning. She'd smashed herhead against the stone floor and died right there, alone in the dark, bleeding inside her skull.

CHUDMANNWell. She must have been ... very sick.

ALICETell them you want me. To come home.

CHUDMANNI'd like to, Alice. God knows I would.

ALICEThen please! ... Think of the children.

CHUDMANNUh-huh. The children.

ALICEAnd the house must be a sight.

CHUDMANNI got somebody coming in to straighten up.

ALICEAhh. A woman.

CHUDMANNWhat’s that?

ALICEYou have a woman coming to the house. To “straighten up.” Is she someone I know?

CHUDMANNShe's hired help.

ALICEAnd does she feed my children?

CHUDMANN

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She does. Bakes them nice treats too. They like her well enough.

ALICETell me what you want from me and I'll do it.

CHUDMANNI just want you to be all right again. I miss you, Alice. I miss the way we used to be.

ALICEI can't help that. We aren't those people anymore.

CHUDMANNWho are we then? And just what kind of example you think you're setting for ourchildren? They're scared to death of you.

ALICELiar!

CHUDMANNYou act all crazy, start throwing things around, shrieking like some kind ofmonster, what do you expect?

ALICEMy children are not afraid of me!

CHUDMANNYou get that wild look in your eye and you think they don't know to run and hide?

ALICEShame on you.

CHUDMANNNo. Shame on you. Shame on you, Alice! We used to be a family!

(She comes at him threateningly; he backs up and calls out to the ATTENDANT.)

Watch her now! You'd best fetch the doctor.

ALICENo. Don't!

CHUDMANNYou going to behave yourself?

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ALICEYes.

CHUDMANNAll right then. Here. I brought you something.

(He pulls out a folded piece of paper with a child's drawing on it andhands it to her.)

Tabby made it in school. I thought you'd like to have it.

(ALICE gazes at the drawing for a few moments, presses her face to it and inhales deeply, then clasps it to her heart. CHUDMANN puts on his hat, and exits. ALICE turns to speak to Chudmann and realizes she is once again alone. Music rises. The light on ALICE fades and gets brighter on CARRIE who is back in the coffee shop with her laptop. LUCY enters and sits.)

CARRIEI’m really happy you agreed to let me interview you, Lucy. I’m trying to reach across afew different periods, you know, so I really needed a contemporary voice in there. So thank you.

LUCYWe aim to please here in Crazy Town, USA.

CARRIEHa. … OK, so I’m going to ask you a brief series of questions, and of course yourresponses will be kept strictly confidential. I want you to speak freely.

LUCYLook at you. Quite the little social worker. OK. I’m ready.

CARRIEWhen were you first diagnosed?

LUCYAre you offended already?

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CARRIENot at all. I just thought I’d go ahead and stick to my script. So. When were youfirst diagnosed, Lucy?

LUCYOh, it’s been quite a while, Caridad.

CARRIEAnd how old are you now?

LUCYAncient. A withered hag.

CARRIEAny family history?

LUCYOf?

CARRIEMental illness.

LUCYNope. You?

CARRIEWe agreed: we’re not talking about me.

LUCYDo you have a real job?

CARRIECome on. We need to get started. When did you first know there was somethingwrong?

LUCYHow do you mean?

CARRIEWhen did you realize that you were … that you had a ... I mean …

LUCYI was a kid. I was different from other kids. It became clear.

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CARRIEIn what sense?

LUCYSometimes I saw things. Different things. From what other people were seeing.

CARRIEYou had episodes.

LUCYI didn't call them that.

CARRIEWhat did you call them?

LUCYI didn't have a name for them.

CARRIEAre you sure? Not even a private one?

LUCYThey were just part of the way the world was.

CARRIEOkay. May I call them episodes just for now, Lucy?

LUCYIf you want, Carrie.

CARRIEYou've had a number of … you've had them … as an adult.

LUCYOh yeah. I'm what's called a rapid cycler, which means / I swing from one extreme

CARRIEI know what it means. So when you have one of these … is there a particular wayit starts? … Can you describe that for me, Lucy?

LUCYIt's always different. But. I would say. Usually. I start to see things out

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of thecorner of my eye.

CARRIEWhat things? Go on, Lucy. Don't be nervous. What things?

LUCYMovements. Things darting. Or sometimes crawling. Patterns start to shiftaround. I can't see it from straight on, but there's movement in the corners andon all the sides. The most ordinary things suddenly have all this … pattern. Layersand layers of it. I try to make it out, but I can't--it goes too deep.

CARRIEWhat else?

LUCYHalos on lights. Reflections. The world gets too bright. Everything glares.

CARRIEAnything else?

LUCYNoises.

CARRIEVoices?

LUCYSort of. It's like there are people talking in the next room, but low so I can't makeit out. Muttering or … whispered mumbling kind of and then there's a beatsometimes too, in the background, steady, like a drum beat. Some kind of signal.

(We become aware that we have been hearing this signal almost from the top of the scene.)

CARRIEA signal … Then what?

LUCY

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Then I start to see things more from straight on. Things I know can't actually be.I'll assume something's just inside my head and then suddenly I'll see it, real, right there in front of me.

CARRIESuch as?

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LUCYMy dead grandma on TV. Being interviewed by some talk-show guy. Laughingand saying "cunt cunt cunt" and pounding on the arm of her chair. And thensuddenly she's here in the room. Doing that.

CARRIEWhat else?

LUCYTouching herself and licking the back of her hand. And. Sometimes more magicalthings. Like once I saw my cat on the kitchen counter opening a can of food with a single sequined claw.

CARRIEAnything else?

LUCYOh God, tons else. Sometimes the radiator sings.

CARRIESteam coming through the pipes?

LUCYYou’d think. But no. It's singing. Inside the radiator. A choir of high, sweet voices.Like church. And then, for example, I'll see every single note, right there, flyingout of the radiator, like a cartoon almost, each one's etched on the air. So perfect.

(We hear the radiator choir. CARRIE doesn't hear it.)

CARRIEDo you come from a religious background, Lucy?

LUCYNot particularly.

CARRIEAnd no family history of mental illness. ... What happens when you hear and seethese things?

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LUCYSometimes I get out in time.

CARRIEYou do.

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LUCYSometimes. If I call my doc right away.

CARRIEAnd do you do that?

LUCYIf I can.

CARRIEAnd if not?

LUCYThen I'm just in it.

CARRIESo what happens then?

LUCYWell, Carrie. Then someone has to come and fish me out.

CARRIESo whether you go "in" or not, that's a choice.

LUCYNo. When I'm in it, I'm just in it.

CARRIEBut before that. Things are speeding up and you know that not everything is real … you know at that point that you can call the doctor.

LUCYRight.

CARRIEErgo it's a choice.

LUCY"Ergo"? No. It's not.

CARRIEYou just said--

LUCYIt's not exactly a choice.

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CARRIEBased on what you just said--

LUCYNo. Sometimes it's only that I can't help staying.

CARRIEAll right.

LUCYThat's called nuance.

CARRIEYou're saying it's never a choice.

LUCYYou're not listening.

CARRIEI'm trying to be clear.

LUCYHate to disappoint you, princess.

CARRIE... What did you just--? Why did you say that to me?

LUCYYou already have all your answers.

CARRIEI don't have any answers. That's why I'm here.

LUCYThat's not why.

CARRIEI just want to understand it, I need to--.

LUCYWhat? Get it to make sense? It doesn’t.

CARRIEI’m sorry. I’ll ... I only want to understand. I do. Please.

LUCY

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Then listen.

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CARRIEAll right.

LUCYNo. I mean. Listen.

CARRIE(Putting her hand on Lucy’s arm)

I'm trying.

LUCYIt's not a choice when you're in it. Because there are times … when you just can'timagine the impossible beauty of it.

(Beat. CARRIE finally nods.)I bet you're actually very sweet.

CARRIEI am. I'm very sweet.

LUCYI bet you are. ... All right then. How It Is. Part One. ... I’m lying on my backlooking up at a night sky so jammed with stars that it transforms into reflectionson water ... or ... a pointillist painting done in Christmas tree lights. Orion wavesand beckons me to join him in the hunt ... Cassiopeia steps out of a shimmeringbath and gazes at herself in a mirror of even more brilliant light. I can hear themusic of the universe and what was above me is suddenly all around me, liftingme till I see that gravity has no meaning now that I've come untethered and cansail off, and so I rise and I rise shooting out into the starscape letting laughterstream out behind me like the tail of a comet everything makes sense now and Ican take it for granted now it's all happening, all now, all at once, everything atthe same exact moment.

CARRIE… My God, that must be so … amazing.

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LUCYOh, believe me. Only problem is that sooner or later I come crashing back downto earth. ... But I tell you what, Caridad. If I could? I'd stay up there forever.

(LUCY exits as lights rise on another part of the stage revealingVIRGINIA staring out a window, transfixed, paintbrush in hand.CARRIE, now sixteen, turns and enters this world.)

CARRIEWhat is it?

VIRGINIAThe light …

CARRIEWhat about it?

VIRGINIAIt's perfect. Did you see? Come here.

CARRIEHow was today?

VIRGINIAYou didn't look.

CARRIEEverything all right?

VIRGINIAJust look.

CARRIEI don't have to look. I was just out there.

VIRGINIAThe whole city is bathed in it...

CARRIEDid you eat anything today? … Mother. … I'll fix you something.

VIRGINIANo! Stay right here. Tell me things. Tell me what you do out there in

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the world.

CARRIEIt's not all that scintillating, Ma.

VIRGINIACome on. Tell me. Enchant me.

CARRIEI go to school. I come home. I talk to you, try to get you to eat. Then. The nextday? I do it all over again.

VIRGINIAHow old are you getting to be?

CARRIEThis is something you should know.

VIRGINIAJust tell me.

CARRIEDo the math. You're equipped.

VIRGINIA(Studying her)

Do the other kids like you?

CARRIEI am so incredibly popular.

VIRGINIAHa.

CARRIESeriously.

VIRGINIAHa redux.

CARRIEYou should see my big huge posse.

VIRGINIA

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I bet you scare the crap out of them with that spooky stare of yours.

(They stare at each other for a long moment. It is, perhaps, a littlespooky.)

CARRIEI'm going to make you a grilled cheese.

VIRGINIANo. Come here. I want to tell you this because it’s important. You don't try to fitin; that's why they despise you.

CARRIEThey don't despise me.

VIRGINIAI bet they think you're bookish. Do they? I bet they say "That Carrie, she's sobookish."

CARRIEI am bookish.

VIRGINIANo. You're not. You're a scholar. You're a seeker. I hated high school too.

CARRIEI don’t hate it.

VIRGINIABunch of fucking dim-bulbs.

CARRIEOkay, Mom.

VIRGINIAYou don't try to fit in and I am so goddam proud of you.

CARRIEThat’s just great.

VIRGINIAI’ll be so disappointed if you turn out to be ordinary. Don't be like

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them.

CARRIEI won't.

VIRGINIAPromise me.

CARRIEI promise.

VIRGINIASwear on your mother's grave.

CARRIEMom.

VIRGINIAWe're not like them. So there's really no point in trying.

CARRIEThis is not a normal conversation.

VIRGINIAWhat?

CARRIEYou asked me to tell you when you’re not acting right. Well. You’re not. You’reacting weird again. And you’ve been wearing the same clothes for the last week.So now I need to give you a bath and wash your hair.

(VIRGINIA laughs in a fake-crazy way, rolls her eyes around, andhugs herself as if she’s wearing a straitjacket.)

CARRIERight. I'm calling the doctor. She’ll get you fixed up.

VIRGINIANo! Never again. I don't recognize myself when I'm on that stuff. I don't evenknow who I am.

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CARRIEYou're you only not crazy.

VIRGINIAThat's not living! Please. We won’t talk about it anymore. Sit here. Just like this,my sweet princess. You in this light. Frozen in time. My beautiful bookish babygirl. So I can keep you just this close. Always. Come here. Shall I tell you the story? Would you like that?

CARRIE(Almost against her will)

Yes.

VIRGINIACome here.

(CARRIE crosses to her and sits. VIRGINIA leans over and kisses the top of her head.)

VIRGINIA"It was forbidden to enter The Woods, but that, you see, is precisely why shewanted to go. Where else was she to find the necessary magic? Surely not in thebustling streets of the village. For there things were actual and finite and not theleast bit magical. There things were measured and counted and doled out in smallamber bottles scrawled with unpronounceable names. Professional seers withwatery eyes and droning voices mouthed these names to the villagers, who drewback in awe and began to take it for granted that they themselves knew nothing.Their ancient remedies were soon forgotten. Their dreams grew rare and couldnot be trusted. And then it was decreed: only things that droning voices couldspeak and that tiny minds could imagine and that squinty blurred eyes could seewere to be considered real. All the rest was forbidden. ...

(Beat. VIRGINIA moves to the painting she was working on.She begins to dab at the canvas.)

But it was magic she needed now. And so it was that she set off ... in

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search of aparticular quality of light. The one that could not be explained in syllables,sentences, or ultimatums. The one she would find only in The Woods."

(The light behind VIRGINIA glows. CARRIE is drawn to it.)

CARRIEHow old am I?

VIRGINIAYou're sixteen. [Suddenly realizing] Today.

(CARRIE moves to VIRGINIA, hugs her very tightly; VIRGINIAkisses her face, and then pushes her away and begins to paint oncemore. CARRIE looks at the painting.)

VIRGINIAI’m calling it She Survives the Storm.

CARRIEIt’s me.

VIRGINIAWell, of course it is. Who else would it be?

(CARRIE is drawn out of this scene as lights rise on JANE, seatedon a bench, a black veil over her face. DOCTOR enters.)

DOCTORGo home, Miss Yaeger.

JANEI'm not well.

DOCTORI'm sorry about your father. But you have been released.

JANEI'm not ready.

DOCTORThis is not a hotel, Miss Yaeger. Go.

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JANELet me stay. I'll wash the floor. I'll do the laundry. I'll mend the linens!

DOCTORYou can do those things at home.

JANEThat hasn’t been my home for nine years!

DOCTORYou’ll get used to it again.

JANEBut ... I see him everywhere in that house.

DOCTORWho is it you see, Miss Yaeger?

JANEThe Reverend. On the stair. Rummaging in the pantry.

DOCTOR(Sitting down beside her, taking her hand, and speaking gently)

Listen to me. Your father has passed away. It is a sad but natural thing. You won't see him ever again and that is very painful, I'm sure. But you're a human being, and human beings experience pain. They move past it and into the rest of their lives. That is how the world works. Do what he would have wanted you to do. Read your Bible, pray, and try to think pleasant thoughts.

(JANE nods. DOCTOR exits. JANE rises and takes a few tentative steps, looks at CARRIE, who nods encouragement. JANE then exits as VIRGINIA is discovered inside another frame.)

VIRGINIAIt was such a long way to The Woods! Princess Charity hadn't counted on that. Yet though she had walked for hours and the landscape had gone through a greatmany changes, and she had even begun to feel little bits of magic bumping upagainst her now and again, still she did not reach the edge of The Woods. As themoon rose overhead she came upon a crossroads. There was no signpost to guide

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her and neither road gave any sort of clue as to what lay ahead. She stood for along time, paralyzed, hamstrung by her own indecisiveness. Perhaps she wouldnever find her magic. Perhaps she would trudge back to the village and live in abox for the rest of her days. All these perhapses began puddling around her feetand she was on the verge of giving up, when an ancient voice spoke from insideher head. “Take only what you can carry. Guard what is most precious. Andalways--always--choose the path you make for yourself.”

(A huge glowing moon appears high above the playing area. We hear night birds and far-off music. In a separate light, we see CARRIE still at her laptop, watching and listening with childlike attention. VIRGINIA moves forward like a baby taking its tentative first steps. Laughing, she waves at Carrie.)

VIRGINIA (CONT’D.)That's all for now, my onliest girl. Goodnight! Goodnight! Till morning's firstlight. ...

(She sets off, moving into a separate light as the sound of garbledwhispering erupts from various points around the stage. As the radiator choir begins to play, light gets very bright on VIRGINIA and lights also rise on ALICE and JANE, inside separate frames.)

VIRGINIA"How It Is!" Another view!

JANEThink.

ALICEAny thought.

JANEThere!

ALICE

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Are you thinking?JANE

No!

VIRGINIAYes you are. I see you.

ALICEIt's all right. Keep doing that.

VIRGINIAIt’s all right as long as you

ALICEdon't think

VIRGINIAabout thinking.

JANEShh! Don't think! Shh!

VIRGINIANow I've done it. Oh, I've done it now.

ALICEI've said "think."

JANETake it back! If I take it back right now--

ALICENo use. I'm thinking.

JANEMustn't do that. Mustn't think.

VIRGINIAThink is a five letter word that rhymes with stink.

ALICEClink.

JANEWink.

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ALICEKitchen sink.

VIRGINIARinky-dink. Think is a five-letter word consisting of four consonants and onevowel that wears a dot for a hat. And now I see it's too late. I'm thinking.

ALICEI'm thinking about thinking.

JANEEvery thought/

ALICEAbout having that thought/

JANEAbout thinking that thought/

ALICEThink about something else!

JANEAgain I said think/

VIRGINIAI thought think/

ALICEI am think/

JANE/ing. I am think-ing.

ALICEWhich is normal ... I think/

JANE/about thinking/

ALICE/Which is not. "Normal."

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VIRGINIAA circle.

JANEYes! Think about a circle.

VIRGINIADid you say think?

JANEImagine!

VIRGINIAA circle. … [Laughs] Of thinking.

ALICEControlled thinking. Only you can control your thinking.

JANEStop!

VIRGINIA(Smiling, dangerous)

I can't stop/

ALICEThinking/

JANEabout thinking/

ALICEI can't/

JANEI can't/

VIRGINIAI CAN’T/

ALL(Shrieking)

STOP!

(A light rises on CARRIE sitting alone. Elsewhere a light comes up on LUCY with a bottle of wine and two glasses.)

LUCY

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(To Carrie)Any further questions?

CARRIEWhat do you mean by that?

JANE(Very softly)

Think.

ALICEThink.

JANENo.

VIRGINIADon't think.

(Lights go out on ALICE, VIRGINIA, and JANE. CARRIE crosses and sits at a small table where LUCY is setting down the wine and a tray with glasses, etc. Soft music plays in the background.)

LUCYI mean: This isn't a conversation. It's just another interview.

CARRIEWell. That’s not my intention. I’m trying to get to know you. So I can understand what it is that you—

LUCYBut don’t you hear yourself? It’s so clinical.

CARRIEI mean, Lucy, this is a case study after all.

LUCYRight. Which is exactly why it’s not a conversation. We’ve made it look like one. There’s food, there’s wine. You wore a cute top. I sweated over my makeup. But we might as well be in an office. Or a clinic. I’m just saying. You’re accomplishing your purpose. But you can't get to know someone that way.... Or any other way, really, come to think of it.

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CARRIESo what are you saying? No one really knows anyone?

LUCYThat is what I’m saying.

CARRIEThis is a sad little theory you have.

LUCYWhy's that sad? My God, everyone’s hauling around this sordid little epic called“personal experience” ... it’s every second of every day, but in the end we shouldall maybe go ahead and cop to the fact that it’s just too particular--too individual—to actually share. No matter how much we might want to.

CARRIESo no matter how much you and I spend together we'll never actually know each other.

LUCYI’d say that’s pretty accurate, given the fact that you never tell me anything aboutyourself. Do you realize that? No personal anecdotes. No likes or dislikes. Nothing. But I've learned, see. You could describe a single minute of your day in the most excruciating detail--you could spend hours, no days, trying to get me inside just that sixty seconds--but I'd still only know what it was like based on what you were conscious of and chose to tell me plus how adept you were at describing that multiplied by my interpretation. Eat. And even if I listen as

LUCY (CONT’D.)closely as I ever have in my life, which in this particular case I would, there's this huge part of that one minute, its essence, that will always be unknown to anyone except you. Eat.

CARRIEIt’s really good.

LUCYWow. I wish you could see how beautiful your throat looks when you do that. ...Anyway, my point is that human relationships are all interpretation andchemistry. If I like my interpretation of you enough, and you like yours of me

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enough, then certain chemical things might start to happen and one thing couldlead to another, but it's only as real as either one of us decides to let it be.

CARRIEInteresting.

LUCYBut in the end, I suppose none of it really matters anyway. Since it all leads, inevitably, to death. Alone. Naturally. ... Oh-oh. Now you’re getting all jittery.

CARRIENo, no. No.

LUCYYou’re like a little bunny, poking your nose out and then whoops! “So scary out here! Better pull it back in!” … Here, bunny, bunny, bunny. … There’s more wine.

CARRIENo thanks.

LUCYI'm not saying we shouldn’t strive. I’m all about striving. Stop striving and, man,it is over. But we’re all striving based on our own cosmically uniqueinterpretation. That’s really all I’m trying to say. So. Tell me. What's yourinterpretation of me?

CARRIEI haven't formed one yet.

LUCYHmm. All right. Let me give you my interpretation of your interpretation of me.I fulfill a function. I spew out information you feel you need. And the reasonyou're interested in whatever I might have to say in the first place is because youknow I’m a whack-job. Just like your mom. And maybe like you too. ... And it’sthat “maybe” that scares you the most. How’m I doing so far?

CARRIE

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That's not how I would--

LUCYNo, no. That's just my interpretation. Tell me about your mom.

CARRIENice segue.

LUCYHow did she die?

CARRIEI don’t want to go into that. I can’t ... I don’t talk about it.

LUCYI’d be about the last person on the planet to ever judge you.

CARRIEI know. But.

LUCYWhat are you so afraid of? It’s over. It’s in the past. It can’t hurt you now.

CARRIE… Can’t it?

LUCYHuh-uh. Promise.

(Longish beat)

CARRIEI … had planned to see her. To be there. That day.

LUCYBut you didn't make it?

CARRIENo. No, I didn’t make it. …

LUCYGo on. You’re okay. You’re totally safe.

CARRIE… I almost went. But then I figured, it’s just a few days till Christmas,

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I’ll just wait till next week and see her on the holiday. Which, I admit, was pretty shitty. But …

CARRIE (CONT’D.)she was taking over again. And I was starting to feel like, I don't know, like I was living her life, not my own--and I didn't--I couldn't ... I had to finally ... set some boundaries and stick to them. And then she called me and she was so … I just couldn’t let her have her way one more time …

(LUCY pats Carrie’s shoulder gently, motions for her to go on. Instead, CARRIE suddenly takes Lucy’s face in her hands and kisses her.)

LUCYWow.

CARRIEI don’t know why I did that.

LUCYNo? Here, let me help you figure it out.

(Very slowly, LUCY begins to kiss Carrie’s hands. Eyes locked, she peels back one of Carrie’s sleeves; Carrie resists slightly. LUCY touches her face and then gently strokes her wrist and forearm before noticing several long jagged scars there. CARRIE pulls away sharply.)

LUCYOhhh … oh, honey. Wow.

CARRIEI have to go now.

LUCYI’m sorry. I … didn’t know …

CARRIEOf course not, why would you? I need to get out of here.

LUCYNo. No you don’t. What for? Stay.

CARRIEI can’t. I’m sorry.

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LUCYHey ...

CARRIEDon’t! I have to go!

LUCYWell then get the fuck out of here. What are you waiting for?

(LUCY exits. CARRIE stands a moment looking after her, then exits. The radiator choir rises and there is a persistent clang and a thumping sound. As CARRIE crosses the stage, VIRGINIA appears in light stepping right in front of her, all wound up, out of control and skittery. She wears only one shoe.)

VIRGINIAShe had come to The Woods at last! She stood under a canopy of ancient treesand gazed this way and that. Here, she would find her magic. Here and now herreal life would begin. She tried to remember the village of her birth but she couldnot bring to mind a single detail. But long shadows were closing in all around herand she knew it would soon be very, very dark. She was, she could see now ...completely alone.

(The two stand there face to face. A huge metallic slam as the lightsgo quickly to black.)

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ACT TWO(The sound of wind. As lights slowly rise we again hear voices whispering from all over the theatre. JANE sits on a chair inside her frame doing needlepoint. ALICE is crumpled inside her frame. She is much changed since last we saw her. CARRIE is discovered in the glow of her laptop. As the whispering fades ...)

JANE(Hearing a noise and calling out into the darkness)

I know you’re there!

(Alice rises. A creaking sound. She begins to pace the perimeter of asquare of light on the floor. Her steps are small and quick; she countsthem under her breath. This goes on for a few moments. Then she stopsand turns abruptly to the audience. With one foot she steps on a creakyfloorboard over and over again.)

ALICEThe names of my children. Harry. The athlete. Strong and solid, slow to smile. Aquiet child. Cole. The peacemaker, the little politician. Cole. And Tabitha calledTabby. Always laughing, playing tricks. Hot tempered, her little cheeks so pinkwhen she's in a passion. Her pigtails constantly coming undone. Her tiny facefilled up with a pair of enormous adult eyes. So deeply, deeply blue. She was notyet six when I was taken away. The names of my children. I will not forget. I willnot. Harry. Tabitha called Tabby. Cole. And … the dog. Its name was … no, wait.There was no dog. Not then. The dog was when I was a girl. So long ago that was.And there are so many things to remember.

(She begins to traverse the perimeter of the square again, countingsoftly under her breath as the lights fade on her. On another part of thestage fluorescent lighting sputters up. Muzak. The low burble of a TV.

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VIRGINIA sits slumped in a wheelchair staring blankly off. Her wristsare thickly bandaged. A male ORDERLY stands nearby. CARRIE crossesinto this world. She is twenty. She sits down next to VIRGINIA. Afterseveral moments, VIRGINIA speaks.)

VIRGINIAReally fucked it up this time, didn't I?

CARRIEYep. You did. … Is that your bodyguard?

VIRGINIAThat's Mongo. Better not piss him off.

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CARRIEHe ain’t so tough. I bet I could take him.

(VIRGINIA chuckles a little.)

VIRGINIAHow long am I in for?

CARRIEThat has yet to be determined. Eat, take your meds, generally behave yourself,and it won't take so long.

VIRGINIAI don't like it here.

CARRIENo. You never do.

VIRGINIASomebody's awful cwanky wiff me.

CARRIEStop that.

VIRGINIAWhat?

CARRIEThe baby talk. I can't stand it.

VIRGINIAI'm reverting to childhood.

CARRIELucky you with a childhood and everything.

VIRGINIAOh, now gimme a break.

CARRIEI'm moving out, Mother. I'll be gone by the time you get home.

(A beat. VIRGINIA covers her face with her hands.)I'm sorry. I can't do it anymore.

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VIRGINIAOkay ...

CARRIEI have to start figuring out my own stuff.

VIRGINIARight ...

CARRIEI'm not mad at you.

VIRGINIAWell. That's good.

CARRIEYou always think I'm mad at you when you're like this, but honestly, Mother, allI'm trying to do is--

VIRGINIAOh, for fuck's sake, quit bucking for sainthood!

CARRIEI'm not.

VIRGINIA“Carrie, please don't leave. I can't make it without you.” ... Is that what you want to hear?

CARRIEI just want you to be honest.

VIRGINIAWhy does everyone always think they want that?

CARRIEThat's what liars wonder.

VIRGINIAOh no. You do not get to say that. I've never lied to you.

CARRIEI'm supposed to keep you calm, so we better stop right here.

VIRGINIA

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Oh, go ahead. Say it all. I'm sedated enough.

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CARRIERight, so what difference will it make? Thirty seconds after I leave you'll forget Iwas even here.

(ORDERLY coughs slightly. CARRIE and VIRGINIA begin to whisper.)

VIRGINIAWhen have I ever lied to you?

CARRIEYou never tell the truth! You bring shit home and you say you paid for it or youwill pay for it but then you never do pay for it. You make appointments and don’tshow up for them. You commit to deadlines, but you never meet them. You trashapartments, but you don't pay the rent. And whenever things finally get down tosome moment of truth, well, here we are again.

VIRGINIASee, this is why you don't have any friends.

CARRIEAnd you say really rotten things just so you can feel like you won.

VIRGINIAThat poor kid with the constantly running nose and the bilateral lisp doesn'tcount. God, she was a klutz: pigeon-toed, cross-eyed. She had it all. She wasn'tretarded, too, was she? What was her name?

CARRIESheri Von Hermann.

VIRGINIAWhat ever happened to her?

CARRIEShe got run over by a car when we were in third grade.

(VIRGINIA stifles a laugh.)She was killed instantly, Mom.

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VIRGINIAI'm sorry. I know it's not funny.

(VIRGINIA tries to stop but can't. CARRIE rises.)

CARRIEI'm going.

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VIRGINIAHug first?

CARRIEOh, for God's sake, will you shut up!

(VIRGINIA tries to rise from the wheelchair but CARRIE shoves herback down.)

No, god damn it! Just fucking stay put!

ORDERLYHey. You take it easy now, miss.

(CARRIE turns to exit then stops.)

CARRIEI don't have friends because I don't trust anybody. And I don't trust anybodybecause I could never trust you. It's not your fault, not completely, I know that.But you have never been a good example. And I'm done cleaning up after you.

VIRGINIAYou're not out of the woods yet, you know. Not by a long shot. It didn't show up in me till I was twenty-four years old! I hope you never have to find out what it'slike.

CARRIEI already know what it's like!

(The ORDERLY wheels VIRGINIA off. CARRIE watches them go.)

CARRIEFrom the long list of things I never told her.

(Sound of footsteps and traffic fades in.)I discover myself walking along a sidewalk. The first thing I notice is the sound ofmy shoes on cement and cars going by on the road running alongside me. The skyis so bright it makes me wince. Something's wrong but I don't know what it is.Gradually I realize that I don't recognize this place. At all. It's a foreign landscape

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or something out of a dream. But there's another thought crowding right behind.And when that thought takes shape, I stop walking: "You don't know who you are." You're standing here. Suddenly rooted like some ancient tree. You've arrived at this spot. Did you come here on purpose? You check yourself for injuries. Wounds. Tattoos. You notice you're carrying a purse so you open it up, look inside. A tube of lipgloss. A comb. A piece of chewing gum in a green wrapper. A wad of lint. Nothing to identify this person who is you. How old are you? Who do you belong to? Where are you headed? Which way is home? ... It's as if you've just been born. ... With your newborn eyes you scan the horizon. A cluster of low buildings. A bench. You go to it, slogging through the strange air, which resists

CARRIE (CONT’D)you, seems to push you back. On the bench is a book--Chemistry in the Community, Fourth Edition--and you open it. On the first page, in an absurdly girlish hand: "Caridad Beliveau." ... And you know that wherever you've been these past minutes, hours, or days you have managed to get back—you are—I am—once again this someone, this me, sixteen years old. Today. This is my book. That over there is my school. I understand. I misplaced my self for a bit. But now, maybe due to pure dumb luck, I've found it again. So from here on, I must always be vigilant.

(CARRIE turns to watch as light rises on Jane inside her frame doing needlepoint. We hear the sound of wind--it echoes the radiator from the earlier scene a bit. JANE stiffens. The sound gets louder--it is mournful, insistent. Then we hear the sound of breathing--raspy, gasping, horrible. JANE shudders and attempts to ignore it. Finally she ceases her handwork again.)

JANEYou needn’t think you can frighten me any longer, old man. You’re dead now, andyour God died with you. So you might just as well stop all this and go along to ...well, you know exactly where it is you’re going, don’t you? You can’t putit off forever. You won’t need a sweater there, I can assure you of that!

(The wind rises again and there is the sound of a bell (or a radiator) clanging, as the REVEREND shambles in. JANE rises instantly and cowers away from him. But the REVEREND passes her without appearing to notice her. He is babbling

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incoherently. JANE collapses into her chair, whimpering. He crosses straight through and is gone. After a moment, JANE begins her needlepoint again but her hands are shaking like mad. She stops. Holds up the needle.)

JANE (CONT’D)Mustn’t. This time, this time I really truly mustn’t. I’ve got to keep hold of myself!

(But she rakes the needle across her arm and the sweet relief of itshows on her face immediately. Once again, she seems to see CARRIE across the space of time. CARRIE pulls up her sleeve, shows the scars. JANE turns away and hides the needle as the lights change. ALICE is huddled on the floor inside her framed box, scrawling on the floor with a nail. DOCTOR and CHUDMANN enter in a separate light.)

DOCTORIt is time to give up the quest, Mr. Chudmann. The latest specialist, like so manybefore him, has concurred with me. There can be no doubt. My original diagnosisstands. Your wife suffers from dementia praecox. I'm sorry.

CHUDMANNSo it's hopeless.

DOCTORI'm afraid so. The memory loss. Cognitive disintegration. Hallucinations. They’reall functions of your wife's condition.

CHUDMANNMaybe she’d have been better off with her sister after all.

DOCTORShe needs institutional care.

CHUDMANNBut isn’t it just possible that perhaps she’d--?

DOCTORYour wife is deranged and as such she is dangerous--to herself and others. She

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requires full-time care. Besides which. It was your choice to put her here.

CHUDMANNI know that.

DOCTORThe correct choice, I would say. After all these years, she knows no other life. Mrs. Chudmann is as close to content here as she will ever be. I warn you: don’t stir up the waters. It can only do her harm.

CHUDMANNI don’t know. I don’t know. Her sister--

DOCTORFobbing a sick woman off onto relatives is not a cure, sir. And you told me hersister died several years ago. What would have happened to your wife then, Iwonder?

CHUDMANNBut she never used to be like this!

DOCTORNot surprising. The illness is degenerative.

CHUDMANNShe's worse since she's been here.

DOCTORYou're saying?

CHUDMANNShe's worse now.

DOCTORWorse than the time she intentionally put her hand in the stove, Mr. Chudmann?Worse than the day she let fly the paperweight that dislodged your front teeth?

CHUDMANNYes. She was wrought up but she was more herself then.

DOCTOR"Herself" being violent and irrational?

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(Beat)We live in the present, sir. The past is always behind us. Would you ever leavethis poor creature alone with your children? ... I thought not.

(CHUDMANN finally nods. He and the DOCTOR approach ALICE. Sheturns to them, wild-eyed, and stares at CHUDMANN for a longmoment.)

CHUDMANNHello, Alice. [She looks away and does not answer] You’re looking well.

(CHUDMANN comes closer, his hand extended as if to take hold of hers.ALICE lets him get right up to her and then she opens her mouth andshrieks into his face, hitting him repeatedly in the chest and clawing athis eyes. The noise is sustained and bloodcurdling and the men arecompletely undone by it. A female ATTENDANT rushes in with astraightjacket and she and the doctor manage to get Alice into it and gagher mouth as, stunned, CHUDMANN attempts to recover himself.)

DOCTORGet her out of here!

(ATTENDANT hustles Alice off. Beat.)You see the way she is?

(The lights fade on this scene as CARRIE crosses and enters the presentwhere LUCY sits waiting, arms folded.)

LUCYHow It Is. Part Three. People leave. They miss the person they thought I was.They get freaked out, lose patience. Get fed up. Makes sense. It does. I am anenergy-sucking vampire. They try, God knows they do. But let's face it:I’m a lot of work. Just for the record, though. So are you.

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CARRIEI’ve wrecked everything, didn’t I? I’m so sorry. … I’ve. Really missed you.

LUCYYeah well.

CARRIEI went looking for you at the coffee shop.

LUCYI quit that hellhole.

CARRIEThey told me.

LUCYI got fired // actually.

CARRIEYeah. ... So thanks for returning my call.

LUCYYou’re welcome. But we should talk about the other night.

CARRIEDo we really have to dredge all that up?

LUCYYes. It’s what humans do. We dredge. It usually saves time later. Anyway. It was my fault. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you were an asshole—after all, you did kiss me, as I recall, not vice versa. But then … I got in a rush. Which is my MO. It's a thing you need to know about me. For your research. The second I feel good, I start trying to make everything go faster. I mean, I know that everything's really fragile, but instead of just being okay with that, with “being in the moment,” I bump up the velocity. And then when I saw the, your ya know, I guess, well, that was … surprising. I mean, I get it. I don’t // judge you, but// is that like a thing with you or—?

CARRIENo. God, no. I don’t do it anymore. Ever. Not since I was sixteen.

LUCYOK.

CARRIE

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It’s the // truth.

LUCYAnyhow, bottom line? I like you Carrie. I don’t why I should but I do. So I called you back.

CARRIEWell. I like you too, Lucy.

LUCYGreat. That’s settled. So since we’re friends and all maybe we could meet at your place next time.

CARRIEWhat? Why?

LUCYWhy not, friend? I want to see how you live. ... C’mon. Say yes.

CARRIE... All right. I just have to get a couple things first.

LUCYLike what?

CARRIEFurniture?

LUCYI had an uncle like that. You'd open a drawer in his kitchen and there'd be onespoon in there. And in the cupboard there'd be a cup and a bowl.

CARRIEI'm not that bad. But I do need to … furnish.

LUCYYou're afraid to have me in your house.

CARRIENo. No, I'm not.

LUCYAt least say it like you might mean it someday.

CARRIEI do mean it. I just ... need to get a chair first.

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LUCYA chair.

CARRIEYou know. A comfy chair. A chair for a guest. And then you can come over.

LUCYAnd you’ll interview me on the concept of "home."

CARRIE(Laughing)

No. You’ll just come over.

LUCYLike any normal person.

CARRIEWhatever that is. Yes.

LUCY“A comfy chair.”

CARRIERight. You ready to get started?

(CARRIE turns on the tape recorder. LUCY turns it off. CARRIE patiently turns it back on. Music rises as lights change to reveal PLAID CRANSTON,standing there in his pharmacy smock. A bell tinkles. CARRIE turns andwatches as JANE enters the pharmacy.)

JANEMr. Cranston.

CRANSTONWhy, Miss Yaeger. How are you?

JANEI've come to ask if you'll still have me.

CRANSTONIf I’ll--? ... I beg your pardon?

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JANEIf I'm not too old and ugly I’d be willing to make you a wife now.

CRANSTONOh my. Well. But you're not ugly at all, Miss Yaeger.

JANEYou'll have me then.

CRANSTONWell. I ... That is to say ... I ...

JANEWell?

CRANSTONIt’s only that ... well ... you’ve caught me unawares and ... I ... well. I was justdoing my inventory, you see, and I ... you are joking, aren’t you?

JANEOf course I’m not!

CRANSTONYes, well, I didn’t think so. Miss Yaeger, you see, I ... I--

JANEWhy on earth do you stammer like that? Don’t you know your own mind?

CRANSTONI’m not always sure I do quite. Miss Yaeger. Would you … ? Can I get you--?Would you care for a peppermint stick?

JANEA peppermint stick? I'm offering you my hand in marriage.

CRANSTONYes, I see. I do see.

(Pause; he hands her a peppermint stick. She stands there holding it.Beat.)

JANEI feel very foolish now.

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CRANSTONOh, no. No, now you mustn't.

JANEAfter all, you did propose to me once. In our front room. I wore my scarlet silkwith the black lace sleeves. And my jet pendant.

CRANSTONOh, well, yes. That. Was years ago.

JANEAnd clearly you've never since taken a wife. I'm not as eccentric as people say! Ohyes, I'm quite aware of how they whisper and gossip--

CRANSTONNo, no it's not that. I'm afraid you're looking at that rare breed: A ConfirmedBachelor.

JANEI know I've spent some time up on the hill, but you did love me once.

CRANSTONI thought ... very highly of you.

JANEAnd you loved me. ... Didn’t you?

CRANSTONI suppose I loved you exactly as you loved me.

JANEWell, then why ever did you ask me to marry you!

CRANSTONWill you promise me you won't get emotional? . . . I thought you were very clever.

JANEIs that all?

CRANSTON

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And, well … rather jolly. Whimsical.

JANE"Whimsical."

CRANSTONAnd I was none of those things.

JANEYou certainly weren't.

CRANSTON(Nervously knuckling his ear)

But I thought it would be … pleasant. To have you near me. I thought you mightmake my shop--and my home, I suppose--a little, well, brighter. Also I felt sorryfor you.

JANESorry for me! How dare you?

CRANSTONI couldn’t help it. It was your father, you see. He was always ... so stern. Sounyielding. You tried so very hard to please him or so it always seemed to me. You would sing and play the piano. All of that was for him, yet there he would sit in that huge chair of his staring straight ahead without a trace of pride or enjoyment. I hated him for that, may he rest in peace.

JANEI hated him for that too! And you may be sure he does not rest in peace.

CRANSTONI wanted to you take away from that house.

JANEOh, I was taken away all right.

CRANSTONOh. Yes. I realize. I'm sorry.

JANE

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I've sold it.

CRANSTONThe Reverend's house?

JANEMine. He would have left it to Mother but she died not long before he did and soit went to me. But he's never really taken leave of the premises.

CRANSTONI imagine that's so. A man lives in a house for forty-odd years and--

JANEThat doesn't give him the right to lurk in the pantry and move things about inthere! Sometimes I find him inside my closet sticking his big craggy feet into myshoes. And just try keeping the place picked up! He was a stickler in life, but inthe hereafter he's nothing better to do than to break knickknacks and set picturescrooked on the wall. He used to terrify me, chasing after me babbling out brokenScripture and foaming at the mouth, but over the years he’s come to resemble nothing so much as a great lumbering idiot-baby!

(Beat. CRANSTON is flabbergasted. Then, without warning, he beginsto laugh. JANE stares at him.)

Why, Mr. Cranston …

(And suddenly JANE is laughing too. Their laughter is infectious to the point where CARRIE begins chuckling along with them. CRANSTON and

JANE study each other with frank curiosity as the lights fade on them andCARRIE, still laughing, crosses to join LUCY on Lucy’s rooftop. They arestaring up at the night sky and sharing a joint. There is a CD player next tothem.)

CARRIEThis is good. ...

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LUCYThis is way good. ...

CARRIEMmm.... Maybe a little too good.

LUCYNo such thing. ... Wait. What do you mean?

CARRIEThis pot? Is really strong.

LUCYThat’s not what I meant. This. This is one of those nights.

CARRIEYeah.

LUCYYou know what I mean?

CARRIE... Uh-huh.

LUCYNo you don’t.

CARRIEOkay.

LUCYThis is one of those nights when there are no limits on the possibilities.

CARRIEWell. There are some limits.

LUCYOh no no no no no. The sky’s way way way up there. And the city’s way way waydown there. What’s not possible?

CARRIEWell. I can’t leave. For one thing.

LUCYWhy would you leave?

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CARRIEI mean. The possibility of leaving this roof. At the moment. Is no longernegotiable. Because I’m completely wasted and I couldn’t get back down thestairs. And even if I did, I can’t drive. ...

LUCYStay up here with me forever!

CARRIEAhh, couldn’t do that. Gotta keep moving, ya know. Says so on my family crest.

LUCYYeah? Then how come you’re so stuck?

CARRIE... Am I?

LUCYIn my whole life, I’ve never met anyone as stuck as you.

CARRIEOh ...

LUCYOh what, now you’re hurt? This is news? All right, if I’m wrong, prove it. Let’s seeyou get up and shake that thang. Come on. I picked this song out special for you. Let’s dance.

(She turns on the CD player. Music fills the space--something with a very strong beat.)

CARRIEI know this is going to come as total shock to you, but ... I don’t dance.

(LUCY cranks the volume and begins to dance. She is a great naturaldancer without a trace of self-consciousness. CARRIE watches. After a bit, LUCY moves tothe edge of the roof and, dancing, leans out over it.)

CARRIELucy! Get away from edge. You’re scaring me.

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LUCYOh, don’t worry, I’ve done this a million times. Turn it up!

CARRIEWhat about your neighbors?

LUCYDon’t be such an earthling! They’re just jealous... Turn it up!

(CARRIE turns the music up a little. LUCY dances toward her and theywordlessly negotiate the volume until it is blaring full blast. Finally, CARRIE gives in and begins to dance. She starts out pretty tentative but eventually gets caught up and joins Lucy. She begins to laugh a bit wildly. Lucy’s movements get wilder and Carrie follows along with her. Soon they are panting and laughing, pushing and slapping at each other whenever their bodies happen to touch. LUCY bays at the moon. CARRIE does the same. They tilt their faces up and howl. Then CARRIE dances quite purposefully to the edge of the roof. Her movements get wilder and more dangerous until finally she is leaning out so far that LUCY rushes over and yanks her roughly back. They stop dancing and stare at one another for a moment, breathing hard. CARRIE has scared herself. She shakes Lucy off, backs away and then turns and exits. The music jangles to a close as lights change revealing CHUDMANN standing alone. He looks much older. He holds a box of candy, a bouquet of dried flowers, and a small hatbox. ALICE enters. She wears a kerchief. Her face is devoid of expression except a slight, empty smile. Her voice, when she speaks, sounds like her expression.)

ALICEOh. Hello there. What a nice surprise.

CHUDMANNAlice. How are you?

ALICEI'm very well, thank you.

CHUDMANNThey told me you'd been poorly last week.

ALICEDid they? Oh ...

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CHUDMANNNothing serious, I hope.

ALICEA ... lung ailment, I think. Nothing to worry about.

CHUDMANNThe procedure was successful. That's what they told me.

ALICEThe procedure. I see.

CHUDMANNYou did very well, the doctor said. Everything went just fine.

ALICEThe good Lord saw me through.

CHUDMANNThere wasn't any pain. Was there?

ALICE(Touching her head briefly)

Pain? Oh. I don't think so.

CHUDMANNWell now. That's wonderful, Alice, just wonderful. Look here. I brought yousomething.

ALICEOh, now aren’t you sweet. Thank you.

(He hands ALICE the box of candy and she pries it open and pops onechocolate after another into her mouth until he gently takes the box from her and sets it aside.)

CHUDMANNAlice. Tabitha was married last week.

ALICEWho?

CHUDMANNOur girl. Tabby. She married Andy Walden.

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ALICEDid she now?

CHUDMANNMaybe you remember his father. Used to be some kind of muckety-muck down tothe savings and loan?

ALICEOh? Lovely.

CHUDMANNTabby saved you her bouquet. She wanted you to have it.

(He hands her the bouquet. She puts it to her nose and inhales deeply.)

They don’t smell anymore, honey. They’re all dried out.

ALICELovely.

CHUDMANNAnd she wanted you to have this too.

(He opens the hatbox and pulls out a bridal veil. She stares at it. After amoment, he carefully places it on her head. She rubs the fabric betweenher fingers.)

She made the gown herself. Got a knack for that kind of thing, just like you. Iwish you could have been there, Alice. You would have been so proud of our girl.

ALICEOh. I don't get out very much these days.

CHUDMANNI know. I know you don't, sweetheart.

(He pushes back the veil and kisses her on the forehead.)I love you, Alice. Oh God I do love you.

ALICEWell. Aren’t you sweet.

(Beat)

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CHUDMANNI got to tell you something now. ... Alice?

ALICEI’m still here.

CHUDMANNI'm not doing so well. Doctor says I got the cancer. It’s serious. Do you understand what I mean?

ALICEOh, yes certainly. You were always very clear.

CHUDMANNWhat I mean is ... there’s going to come a time, probably one day real soon, when

CHUDMANN (CONT’D.)I won’t be able to come around to see you. So I wanted to let you know about thatahead of time. So you wouldn’t worry. So you wouldn’t think I’d just--

ALICEOh. ... That's all right.

CHUDMANNDo you understand what I'm telling you?

ALICEYou should just visit when you can.

CHUDMANNI will. I promise. ... I wanted you to know.

ALICEI see. That’s fine then.

(CHUDMANN gazes at her for a long moment, then touches her cheekbriefly and exits. ALICE slowly takes off the veil. She puts it against hercheek, and then without warning rips it with her teeth. In a moment shehas fashioned a noose, which she puts around her neck. A light comes upon CARRIE seated at her laptop nearby. She rises and turns to

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ALICE,speaks to her sharply.)

CARRIENo! No, that is not how it went! You were released three months after he died. You died years later! In your own bed. On the night of your seventy-eighth birthday. With your children and grandchildren all around you!

(ALICE turns and stares at her, a bit wild-eyed, but before Carrie can goon, a doorbell rings harshly, insistently. ALICE and CARRIE both lookaround in confusion. ALICE exits. CARRIE rises.)

CARRIEYes?

DELIVERY GUY(Off)

Delivery for Miss Carrie Beliveau.

CARRIEI'm not expecting any delivery.

DELIVERY GUYYour name’s on the shipping address.

CARRIEWhere’s it from?

(Offstage whispering, then …)

DELIVERY GUY It's a comfy chair.

CARRIEWhat?

DELIVERY GUYUmm. A comfy, comfy chair?

LUCY(Off)

Special delivery!

CARRIE

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Damn it.

LUCYOpen the door, you fucking whack job!

(DELIVERY GUY enters wheeling an easy chair on a handcart. LUCY is right behind him, giggling. She's a little disheveled looking and very tightlywound.)

DELIVERY GUYWhere you want it?

CARRIENo. No. I did not order this.

LUCYRight over there. That's great.

CARRIEYou're not leaving it here.

LUCY(Signing the delivery slip and handing him a twenty)

She's having an episode. Look at her. Totally psychotic. Just ignore her. She’llsubside. Thank you, my good man. Well done.

(DELIVERY GUY exits.)

CARRIEWait! No! Don't go. ... Shit.

LUCYOh, my God. This. This is your place.

CARRIEHow did you find me?

LUCYOh now, that would be telling. Why haven’t you called me? I thought we had agood time. You seemed like you were having a good time.

CARRIEYou followed me the other night. Didn't you?

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LUCYAww. Would I do a thing like that to you?

(Looking around)Wow, you were right. This isn't an apartment, it's a hutch.

CARRIEI specifically told you I had some things to take care of first.

LUCYI know, I know. But I happened to specifically find this specific chair. And it'sway comfy. It's a comfy, comfy chair. Which. I want you to sit on. Sit!

CARRIEHow much did you pay for it?

LUCYIt was used.

CARRIEHow much?

LUCYDon’t be gauche, dahling, it's a present.

CARRIENo.

LUCYI wanted to give you a present. Come on. Let me.

CARRIEI said no.

LUCYYou don't like it.

CARRIEI don't want it.

LUCYYou'd want it if you'd just give in and sit on the damn thing.

(CARRIE plops herself onto the chair.)

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CARRIEI'm sitting on it. Are you satisfied?

LUCYVery. I knew you'd like it.

CARRIEI don't like it. This chair is not okay with me, Lucy.

LUCYIs this about money?

CARRIENo. It's about proportion. It's about keeping things in perspective.

LUCYI'm not always so great at that.

CARRIEI know. Which is exactly why I've tried to be so clear with you about everything.

LUCYOh yeah, your signals are never mixed. Keep the chair. Please? I just want to giveyou something. And then, I tell you what, I'll never ever do it again. How's that?

CARRIEI gotta get back to work.

(CARRIE sits down at her laptop.)Goodbye, Lucy.

LUCYAre you ever going to finish that thing?

CARRIENot if I keep talking to you I won’t.

LUCYI thought I was helping. What's under the tarp?

CARRIELeave that alone.

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LUCYYou go ahead and work. I'll be so quiet.

CARRIEYou don't know how to be quiet.

(LUCY pulls the tarp back to reveal a rack of paintings. Silence for severalmoments.)

LUCYYour mom did these?

CARRIEThere used to be a lot more.

LUCYWhat happened to the rest?

CARRIESome were lost. We moved a lot. Some got left behind. A few she wrecked onpurpose.

LUCYYou could at least hang some of them.

CARRIENo.

(LUCY, still studying the paintings, pulls them out one by one and beginsto arrange them in the space.)

CARRIEWhat are you doing?

LUCYIt's a story.

CARRIEWhat?

LUCYThe paintings. They tell a story. I'm right, aren't I?

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(Beat. CARRIE finally nods.)Tell it to me. Tell me the story.

CARRIEI don't remember it.

LUCYYes you do.

CARRIEI was so little when she did these.

(LUCY studies one of the paintings and then positions it next to anotherone on the floor. After a longish beat, CARRIE rises and crosses to LUCY,repositioning the paintings.)

CARRIEThere's a girl, a princess. She lives in a dark place, a crumbling castle in agodforsaken gray kingdom surrounded by high stone walls. There's smoke andfog and always so many sad faces in the streets. But one day she sees a light way off in the distance.

LUCYOr maybe she always sees the light. But it's always in the distance.

CARRIEActually, she never sees it ... She just knows it's out there.

LUCYAnd so she sets off.

CARRIEIn search of a particular quality of light.

(Lights change. ALICE sits inside her frame wearing the same fixed,empty smile she had in the last scene. She sings softly to herself.TABITHA enters. She is very pregnant.)

TABITHAMama?

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ALICEOh. Hello there.

TABITHADo you know me?

ALICEWhat a question. Of course I do. What a question.

TABITHAWho am I then?

ALICEI know you. Of course I know you.

TABITHAI've come to take you home.

ALICETake me home? Don't be silly. I am home.

TABITHAYou're finally going to leave this place.

ALICEThat's not possible.

TABITHAWe're bringing you home.

ALICEBut this is my home. I've lived here my whole life.

TABITHAThe doctor says you're no danger to anyone anymore. We'll watch over you, takegood care of you.

ALICEI don't know what you mean.

TABITHAThat's all right. You don't need to know what I mean just yet. But you’re going to

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be strong again, Mother, and happy, just wait and see.

ALICEYou're going to have a baby.

TABITHAI am. And very soon.

ALICEWhat will you name him?

TABITHAI think we're going to have a girl, Mama.

(ALICE puts her hand on Tabitha's belly.)

ALICEOh ... oh, I think you're right. So sad.

TABITHASad? Why should it be sad? I want a little girl.

(ALICE shakes her head and looks away. Then ...)

ALICEWhat will you name her?

TABITHAWe want to meet her before we name her. We want to see who she is first.

ALICEOh, yes … That's the very best way.

TABITHAWe've made you up a lovely room, Mother. We painted it the palest shade oflavendar and it gets loads of sunshine all day long. You're going to be so happythere, I know it. Let me help you get your things together.

(She crosses to a small chest and pulls out the veil and the bouquet.Then she finds the drawing she made as a child.)

Oh . . .

ALICE

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Give me that!

TABITHAOh, I remember this.

ALICEGive it to me. It's mine.

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TABITHAI only want to look at it--

ALICEGive it to me!

TABITHAAll right.

ALICEI don't want you touching it!

TABITHAI won't! Here. ... Take it.

ALICEIt's mine.

(A beat as the two women stand staring at one another. TABITHA finallynods at Alice. Then she gently takes her mother's hand and leads her off.The lights return to CARRIE and LUCY. LUCY is now in the comfy chairand CARRIE is moving around the space, very caught up in the story.)

CARRIEShe had come to The Woods at last! She stood under a canopy of ancient treesand gazed this way and that. Here, she would find her magic. Here and now herreal life would begin. She tried to remember the village of her birth but she couldnot bring to mind a single detail. She was, she saw now, completely alone.

(CARRIE picks up another painting and props it against one of theboxes.)

And now the night comes on. The only illumination comes from the giantspotlight of the moon. She thinks she's hopelessly lost but then ... then she hears a sweet far-off music. And as she listens she knows that this is the most wonderful sound the world has ever known and that somehow it’s coming from both far away and deep inside her. She thinks it might save her, this special sound, this perfection. So she

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runs toward it as fast as she can, and in a clearing in The Woods, she comes upon ... the orchestra conductor. But when she reaches him she sees that he's trapped, rooted in the ground.

LUCYWhat? No he's not.

CARRIEHis feet are stuck in the floor of the forest and he's surrounded by shadows.

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LUCYNo, no! He's become a part of the forest. He's found his true nature. Standing inthe spotlight. Surrounded by beauty. Playing exactly what he feels inside.

CARRIENo. He's stranded and he's only playing to himself.

LUCYYou're wrong. He's become a part of the fucking forest!

CARRIEOkay. Why don’t you tell it?

LUCYYou're so wrong! He's become a part of the fucking forest! He's found his place inthe world. And that's exactly what the princess is trying to do. Which was exactlywhat your mother was trying to do. Which is what we’re all trying to do. Don'tyou get that?

CARRIEWhatever you say.

LUCYIt's so obvious!

CARRIELucy. Have you by any chance stopped taking your medication?

LUCYOh fuck you.

CARRIEThat’s what I thought. OK, you need to calm down.

LUCYDon't tell me to calm down. Who do you think you are?

CARRIEI’d like you to be a little quieter. That's all.

LUCY

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Now is not the time to be quiet! Look where I am. This is your place! This--this isyour mother's legacy. I'm holding it in my hands.

CARRIEYou need to calm down now.

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LUCYFine. Where do you keep your booze?

CARRIEI don’t have any.

LUCYSee that? Why do you insult my intelligence with such a stupid-obvious lie?

CARRIEYou don't need any booze.

LUCYI do if you want me to calm down.

CARRIEIn the freezer.

LUCYAnd don’t tell me what I need. You have no idea.

(LUCY exits and returns drinking from a large bottle of vodka.)

So? tell me the ending.

CARRIEThere was no ending. I told you: She abandoned this project years ago.

LUCYYou’re shitting me. Well, that’s it! We’re going to have to finish the story. Knowwhat we're going to do? You and I are going to write a book based on thesepictures. It's going to be the ultimate children's classic because it'll have thesefabulous illustrations and a great story with a warmhearted moral and shit, butit'll also have that totally hip tongue-in-cheek acerbic thing for the moms anddads who read this shit out loud, you know what I mean? So it'll play on all kindsof different levels. Cheers.

CARRIEThey're paintings.

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LUCYHuh?

CARRIEYou called them illustrations.

LUCYAww, dang me, I don't know the right lingo what fer to call these here purdy pitchers.

CARRIEThey're not "pitchers." They're not "illustrations." They're works of art.

LUCYRight, right. I should've known by the way you had them displayed.

(LUCY picks up one of the paintings, "She Survives the Storm." We beginto hear quiet, muffled voices and a nearly subliminal thumping sound.)

CARRIEPut that down, please.

LUCYLose the schoolmarm, Carrie. I'm only looking at it.

CARRIEGet your hands off my stuff! I did not invite you here and I don’t want to tellyou again--

LUCY(Reading)

“She Survives the Storm.” You know, if these were mine, I would honor them.But if she'd been my mother I think I would have found a way to keep mypromise and show up to see her on Christmas Day--

CARRIEAll right, get out now. Get out!

LUCYYou know, you seem a little upset.

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CARRIEDid you hear me? I said GET OUT.

LUCYWhat was more important than seeing your mother on Christmas Day?

CARRIEIt wasn’t Christmas Day--

LUCYWhat were you doing instead? Don't tell me. Let me guess. You were studying abunch of dead crazies from the days of yore. Meanwhile, the only crazy that evershould have really mattered to you was all on her own--

CARRIEI didn't know!

LUCYYou didn't know what? That she would kill herself?

CARRIEShe didn’t kill herself! She was just ... she was trying to--

LUCYTrying to what? Spit it out!

CARRIETrying to get away! She got out into the parking lot and she ran and it wasfreezing and it was dark and she only had one shoe on and there was a car ... andshe just ... didn’t see it coming. She ... I didn’t know!

LUCYAhh. An “accident.”

CARRIEIt was!

LUCYAnd so? What? You’re off the hook?

CARRIEShe ran off like that all the time! It was just ... timing... It was all over

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in thirtyseconds and she would’ve done it whether I'd been there or not!

LUCYBut you weren't there. You evil brat. Do you even mourn her?

CARRIEGet out of here right now or I'm calling the police.

LUCYIt's not me you should be worried about, little girl. Because when I leave here,you're still stuck with you. Caridad Louise Beliveau. Age at time of firstcommitment ... to be determined.

CARRIEYou're nothing but a terrorist, that’s all you are, you fucking head case.

LUCYThat's it, Charity. Get it all out.

CARRIE(Very quietly)

I hate you so much.

(Beat. They are both momentarily stunned. Then ...)

LUCY(Clutching the painting against her chest)

Right. I'll be going now. But I'm taking her with me. You don't deserve her.

CARRIE(Moving toward her)

Put it down! Lucy, I am warning you.

LUCYYou’re what? You’re “warning” me? Take another step. Go ahead.

CARRIELucy, come on. You can't take what's not yours.

LUCYJust one. More. Step.

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(LUCY pulls a pen out of her pocket and holds up the canvas.)

CARRIEYou don't want to do that.

LUCYAs if you know me.

CARRIEYou're crazy.

LUCYSay it again?

CARRIEYou heard me. I said you're crazy!

LUCYAnd once more?

CARRIE(Shrieking)

You're crazy! You're crazy! You're crazy!(CARRIE yanks the pen and the painting away from Lucy, then pluges the pen into the painting, ripping a gash through it. A brief moment of stillness. CARRIE is stricken.)

Oh no no no …(Carrie's shirtfront suddenly appears to erupt with blood. Seeing this,LUCY screams.)

LUCYOh my God, oh my God.

CARRIELucy?

LUCYWhat have I done to you?

CARRIEIt's okay. You haven’t done anything. Shh. It's okay. You're all right.

LUCYI didn't mean to, I really really didn't mean to hurt you.

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CARRIEYou didn't hurt me. I'm fine.

LUCYSo much blood ... Oh God, oh God, somebody please help us!

CARRIENo. Lucy. There's no blood. See? Look at me. Look at me now. I'm fine. Breathe.Just keep breathing.

(LUCY touches Carrie's gory chest. Her hand comes away smeared withblood.)

See? Everything's okay. Shhh. Shhh.

(Beat)

LUCYI think I need to call my doc.

CARRIEWe’re going to do that right now.

(CARRIE gently gets her arm around Lucy's shoulder and leads her offas lights change. The sound of twittering birds on a summer morning.JANE and PLAID CRANSTON appear inside a frame. JANE cradles inher arms a swaddled baby. PLAID beams.)

CRANSTONToo late they said. It'd take a miracle, they said. Well, here she is. Our little miracle. Brand new to the world.

(He knuckles his ear. JANE shudders and gently pulls his hand away.)

JANEI know you’re disappointed in me.

CRANSTONDisappointed? Of course I’m not.

JANE

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She isn’t a little boy. I’m so sorry.

CRANSTONShe’s a miracle, that’s what she is. She’s perfect.

JANEThen why won't you hold her?

CRANSTONI'd rather just look.

JANETake her for a little while, won't you?

CRANSTONI …. She's so small.

JANEShe'll be all right, Plaid, I promise. Go ahead. Take her.

CRANSTON(Knuckling his ear)

No … I …

JANE(Through clenched teeth)

Please.

CRANSTONI …. She's so small. I’m clumsy with little ones.

JANEIt’s all right. Just take her.

CRANSTONMy hands feel ... monstrous.

JANE(Very shrill, dangerous)

Will you please! For God's sake, just take her. I need one tiny moment to myself!

(JANE shoves the baby into Cranston's arms. He stands there a moment,flinching and unsure, then peeks beneath the blanket.)

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CRANSTONWell now. Yes. Ahh. There you are, little miss. And what have you got to say foryourself, eh? ... What’s that? Ah-hah. Yes, yes, I thought so.

JANETake her out of here. Now. Please? Just into the drawing room, won’t you? Dear?I'll be in directly. Off you go. Don't worry. Everything is all right.

(CRANSTON nods and exits. JANE makes sure he is gone and then pulls asewing needle from the hem of her skirt. Takes a deep breath and digs theneedle across her forearm. Relief fills her face. She freezes in sepia lightlights rise on TABITHA and ALICE. TABITHA carefully hands ALICE aswaddled baby. ALICE peeks beneath the blanket.)

ALICEHer eyes are so blue ... the exact same blue as yours ...

TABITHAAnd yours.

ALICE(To the baby)

Who are you, little girl? Who will you be?

TABITHAWe're going to call her Alice.

ALICEOh ... oh no! No, you mustn’t do that.

TABITHAWhy ever not? That's exactly who she is. Aren't you, wee little Alice? Yes, yes youare.

ALICENo! Call her Mary. Or Anne. For God’s sake. Not Alice. Not that. Oh ...

(ALICE hands the baby back to Tabitha, smiles slightly, vacantly, and

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continues to fret silently.)

TABITHAHer name is Alice. Look at her. Of course that’s her name. It couldn’t be anythingelse. Besides, it’s already done. It’s not a curse, Mother. It’s a blessing.

(Beat)She really looks at you, doesn't she? Such a intense gaze for someone so small.What a life you're going to have, little one. And it's all just up ahead.

(She exits, chirping and clucking to the baby. ALICE freezes in sepia lightas VIRGINIA appears inside another frame with a baby in a snuggly babycarrier. CARRIE, holding a painting, stands at a distance watching.)

VIRGINIAForty-seven hours it took me to get you into this world. And now it’s only us,kiddo. You and me. And any magic we can find.

(VIRGINIA freezes in sepia light and then the light dims on her. After amoment the lights brighten on CARRIE.)

CARRIE She Survives the Storm. A woman with fiery hair streaming out behind hershrieks into the wind. She is wild and lethal. But through the lacy transparentside of her skull you can make out a tangle of veins and capillaries. Vines andtwigs. A nest.

(She crosses and hangs the painting. The repair job is obvious—a jaggedscar—yet the painting glows. CARRIE stands for a few momentsgazing at it, finally puts her hand gently on the canvas. The lights changeslowly to reveal LUCY in bright light sitting on an institutional lookingbench. The low babble of television. LUCY wears dark glasses. CARRIE

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backs slowly away from the painting and turns to enter Lucy’s world. After a moment, she sits. LUCY doesn’t look at her. A silence. Finally ...)

LUCYHow It Is. In case you still want to know. ... It surprises you every time. It'salways waiting just beyond your peripheral vision. You play tricks on yourself,little games, you tell yourself this is not that. This, this is something brand new,and who would know better than you? But when you look around you see you'veburned up on reentry and you're surrounded by the charred remains of yourfriends, your family, everyone who for some strange reason still gave a crap aboutyou. You've crash landed once again. And once again you never saw it coming.

CARRIEI know.

(She takes two pudding cups from her bag. Opens one and hands it toLucy, who simply stares at it and then looks away. CARRIE opens her own and begins to eat it.)

LUCYYou don’t need to do this.

CARRIEI know. Eat your pudding.

(LUCY debates. Finally shrugs. Opens the pudding cup and commencesspooning. They eat in silence for a bit.)

LUCY(The pudding)

Good.

(CARRIE nods. A longish beat. CARRIE puts down her pudding cup and touches Lucy’s arm very gently. LUCY pulls away. CARRIE then puts her arms around Lucy.)

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LUCYThe thing is, I mean it. You should go. And you should never look back.

CARRIEYeah well. I’m not doing that though. … I don’t want to be anywhere else in theworld right now, Lucy. Just with you. I don’t know if it’ll work. Maybe not. Hell, probably not. But I do want to be there and try. There. I said it.

LUCYCongrats on the breakthrough, but I don’t need a caretaker.

CARRIEThat’s not why I’m here.

LUCYOur interview is over. Understand me?

CARRIEYes. I know it is. ... I guess I want to tell you about me. I just... want to tell you some things. That’s all.

(Beat)

LUCYAnd what am I supposed to do.

CARRIEListen?

(Finally, LUCY lowers her glasses and turns a bit toward Carrie. The twosit there together as the lighting intensifies. Lights also rise on ALICE,JANE, AND VIRGINIA who turn to face the audience and one by onebegin again telling their stories.)

ALICEJust stop a moment and think: This is yourself. [etc.]

JANEClose your eyes. Tight! No. Tighter! Tight as you can. [etc.]

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VIRGINIAIt was forbidden to enter the woods. But that, you see, was precisely why shewanted to go. Where else was she to find the necessary magic? [etc.]

(Their voices rise and blend with the recorded sound of many morevoices--a thousand more stories being told. The radiator choir rises; it ismuffled at first but finally it rises to a kind of symphonic magnificence. The lights begin to fade, until only the painting She Survives the Storm is lit. There is an enormous slamming sound and the lights go quickly to black. The play is over.)

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