new draft of scene one
A Raindrop
RAINBOY is sitting on the ground in the rain in the park. There are swings and a teeter totter and a big tunnel thing. POET walks up and stares at him inquisitively. POET is holding an umbrella and a book. RAINBOY is examining a raindrop in his palm.
POET
Uh... what are you doing?
RAINBOY
Sitting in the rain.
POET
Yes. You are. And what exactly are you doing here in the rain?
RAINBOY
I’m contemplating it.
POET
Very Zen of you.
RAINBOY
What do you think it would feel like to be a raindrop?
POET
I have no way of knowing.
RAINBOY
It must really suck. I mean, your entire existence is spent falling. And then you hit the ground and you shatter and that’s it.
POET
That’s depressing.
RAINBOY
Yeah. Life is depressing.
POET
I don’t know. There’s always evaporation. Which I guess would be a lot like reincarnation. For a raindrop.
RAINBOY
Reincarnation?
POET
Yeah. You know. The Eastern mythology where your soul doesn’t die, it just keeps getting recycled into different lives.
RAINBOY
I know what it is. I just don’t believe in it.
POET
Why not? It’s pretty much just Murphy’s, or whoever’s, Law: Energy can’t be destroyed or created. It just gets transformed.
RAINBOY
It’s not that simple.
POET
Why not?
POET sits on the swing, still holding her umbrella and book.
RAINBOY
Because souls are different than energy.
POET
Maybe. Maybe not. How do you know?
RAINBOY
I don’t. But since I don’t know for sure that they are, I can't believe it.
POET
What do you believe in?
RAINBOY
Things I have a way of proving.
POET
You believe you know what a raindrop feels like.
RAINBOY
I can see a raindrop.
POET
So you only believe in things you can see?
RAINBOY
I’m not believing in anything. I’m just making an informed inference.
POET
Inference: a conclusion made by reasoning from evidence. A raindrop is not evidence.
RAINBOY
Sure it is.
POET
Not that life sucks.
RAINBOY
I didn’t say that.
POET
It’s what you meant.
RAINBOY
You don’t know that.
POET
No? Then I guess I was making an informed inference.
Pause. POET has made her point.
RAINBOY
Maybe I came here to be alone.
POET
Oh.
Poet starts to go.
RAINBOY
I only said maybe.
POET
And you only had to say it once.
RAINBOY
Wait. You never said why you’re out here. Walking around in the rain. You do that often?
POET
Only when it’s raining.
RAINBOY
Right.
POET
It’s the truth.
RAINBOY
For real...
POET
I happen to like the rain. It makes me feel... inspired.
RAINBOY
Inspired to what? Talk to weird guys in the park?
POET
Uh huh.
RAINBOY
Hey. You don’t have to agree with that so quickly.
POET
Well you are kind of weird. But that’s not bad. If everyone was normal, life would be really boring and there’d be nothing to write about.
RAINBOY
You’re a writer?
POET
Someday.
RAINBOY
Like a novelist?
POET
Poet.
RAINBOY
Oh. How come I’ve never seen you before?
POET
I don’t know. I’ve seen you.
RAINBOY
Nuh-uh.
POET
Ya-huh.
RAINBOY
You live in the neighborhood?
POET
Two months now. The brick house two doors down from you.
RAINBOY
No way.
POET
Yep. I see your mom drive you to school every morning in your mini-van. And I’ve seen you out in your yard throwing weird things, like shoes and coke bottles, for your dog to fetch. And I see you come out here sometimes and sit. Just like that. Like you’re waiting for the sky to cave in on you.
RAINBOY
I can’t believe I’ve never seen you.
POET
If you want my opinion, which you probably don’t, I think there might be a lot of things you don’t see.
RAINBOY
Oh yeah? Are you like a visionary or something?
POET
No, but I notice stuff.
RAINBOY
And what do you notice that I don’t?
POET
Okay. At lunch. I see you sitting there reading the labels on everything before you eat it. And while you’re reading, the guys – the stupid ones that always sit behind you – they do impressions of you. They mimic you eating and then laugh like big hairy apes. (pause) Sorry if it’s mean to tell you that but it’s been killing me that you don’t know.
RAINBOY
I know.
POET
You do?
RAINBOY
Yeah.
POET
Then why don’t you turn around and say something to them?
RAINBOY
I get a kick out of it. It’s like a performance piece I’m putting on for them. They think they’re the entertainment, but really it’s me. I’m the one creating it all.
POET
You are weird.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should write a poem about how weird I am.
POET
Maybe I already have.
RAINBOY
Seriously?
POET
No. I haven’t written anything yet.
RAINBOY
Why not?
POET
I don’t know what to write about. Everything I think of has already been written.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should write about the rain.
POET
Right. And that’s not cliché.
RAINBOY
I’m sitting in the rain. Am I cliché?
POET
A little.
RAINBOY
Thanks.
POET
But you might make an interesting subject.
RAINBOY
Might?
POET
Well, I wouldn’t know until I wrote about it and I’m not going to so I’ll never be able to know for sure.
RAINBOY
I’m weird, but I’m not interesting enough.
POET
No. I’m not interesting enough. You’ve got stuff to write about. I don’t.
RAINBOY
That doesn’t make sense.
POET
You’re the one who’s sitting in the rain. It’s your poem, not mine.
RAINBOY
But I’m not a writer.
POET
But someday you might decide that you are and if I’ve written a poem about you, you could claim I stole the idea from you. It’s potential fraud. Potential plagiarism. Potential end of my career before I’ve even begun.
RAINBOY
That’s your reason for not writing?
POET
Pretty much.
RAINBOY
I think you’re the weird one.
POET
Nope. Unfortunately I’m pretty normal.
Beat.
RAINBOY
(pointing to her book)
What’s that?
POET
A book.
RAINBOY
Of unwritten poems?
POET
How’d you guess.
RAINBOY
You carry around an empty book?
POET
Well it’s only half-empty.
RAINBOY
So you have written something.
POET
No. I bought it with the poems in it.
RAINBOY
You bought a book that someone else wrote in? That’s kind of a rip-off, isn’t it?
POET
All books have writing in them. That’s the point. It’s a rip-off if they don’t have anything in them.
RAINBOY
You know what I mean.
POET
No. If you recall, I actually don’t know what you mean.
RAINBOY
Okay, fine. But I didn’t mean book. I meant... what’s it called...?
POET
A journal?
RAINBOY
Yeah. That’s it.
POET
You’re really quick.
RAINBOY
Shut up.
POET
And sensitive.
RAINBOY
Only when it comes to that.
POET
Oh. Sorry.
Beat.
RAINBOY
So. It’s not a book. It’s a journal.
POET
Well. It’s half-book, half-journal.
RAINBOY
And it’s half-full of poems?
POET
Exactly. And the rest is blank for my poems.
RAINBOY
Which you haven’t written.
POET
Exactly.
RAINBOY
Because you’re a half-poet.
POET
I suppose I am.
RAINBOY
Was the book half-off?
POET
Ha ha.
RAINBOY
Can I see it?
POET
Why?
RAINBOY
Because I’ve never held a half-book in my hands. And I want to see these half-poems.
POET
I told you they’re not half-poems, they’re—
RAINBOY
I was kidding.
POET
Oh.
RAINBOY
So can I see it?
POET
Well... it’s kind of private.
RAINBOY
Why? I mean, if they’re not your poems...
POET
They’re not. But. I just... it’s just private. That’s all.
RAINBOY
Someone else’s poems and some blank pages are private?
POET
Yeah. Sorry.
RAINBOY
Then you probably shouldn’t go around flaunting it in front of people.
POET
I wasn’t flaunting it in front of you.
RAINBOY
Sure you were. You were practically begging me to take it...
He reaches for the book, but doesn’t take it.
POET
Hey. I told you it was private. That means: No trespassing.
RAINBOY
I wasn’t going to take it. I was just testing you out.
POET
Do you know how many people have been shot on other people’s property because they were just testing something out? The signs are there for a reason. Especially during hunting season.
RAINBOY
Is it hunting season now?
POET
Yes.
RAINBOY
So if I read your poetry, you’d have to shoot me?
POET
Yes.
RAINBOY
I knew it!
POET
What?
RAINBOY
You have written in there.
POET
No I haven’t.
RAINBOY
But you said--
POET
The book is mine so I meant if you read the book, I’d have to shoot you.
RAINBOY
I don’t believe you. You’ve written poems. Lots of them. You’re not a half-poet at all.
POET
Yes I am.
RAINBOY
Prove it. Let me see the book.
POET
No.
RAINBOY
Then I’ll just have to assume that you are a poet.
POET
That’s a stupid assumption. In fact, all assumptions are stupid. I hate assumptions.
RAINBOY
Don’t try to change the subject.
POET
I wasn’t. I was just—
RAINBOY
Going on a tangent about assumptions?
POET
We can just stand here.
RAINBOY
Fine.
POET
Fine.
They stand there.
RAINBOY
Mind if I stand under your umbrella? I’m starting to get a little cold.
POET
Um... Well it’s not very big...
RAINBOY
Oh. Nevermind.
POET
But we can try it...
RAINBOY
Nah. Forget it.
POET
(reaching the umbrella out to include him)
Here.
RAINBOY
(stepping away)
It’s okay. Really.
POET
(reaching it towards him again)
I don’t want to inhospitable.
RAINBOY
(smiling, stepping away again)
Inhospitable?
POET
(reaching it towards him)
Yes. Inhospitable.
RAINBOY
(stepping away)
You talk funny.
POET
Just shut up and stand under the umbrella, okay?
RAINBOY
Okay.
They stand under the umbrella together.
A beat.
POET
I’ve written a few poems. But they suck.
RAINBOY
I knew it!
POET
And since I don’t like them, I just pretend that they don’t exist.
RAINBOY
Uh huh...
POET
Are you done gloating yet?
RAINBOY
I haven’t begun.
POET
Great.
Beat. RAINBOY sits back down in his spot.
RAINBOY
I pretend that I don’t exist sometimes.
POET
Because you think you suck?
RAINBOY
Something like that.
POET
Is that what you were doing out here?
RAINBOY
Pretty much.
POET
Sounds like fun. Maybe I’ll join you.
POET folds up her umbrella and sits next to RAINBOY.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should ask first.
POET
Right. So, can I sit here and pretend not to exist with you?
RAINBOY
Yes. But only if you let me read a poem.
POET
No way.
RAINBOY
Then, I'm sorry, but you can’t sit here.
POET
Fine.
POET stands.
RAINBOY
I guess I’ll have to pretend on my own.
POET
I guess. Have fun.
RAINBOY
I will.
POET
Okay. Well. See ya.
POET exits slowly.
RAINBOY
Yeah. I’ll be here...
RAINBOY is sitting on the ground in the rain in the park. There are swings and a teeter totter and a big tunnel thing. POET walks up and stares at him inquisitively. POET is holding an umbrella and a book. RAINBOY is examining a raindrop in his palm.
POET
Uh... what are you doing?
RAINBOY
Sitting in the rain.
POET
Yes. You are. And what exactly are you doing here in the rain?
RAINBOY
I’m contemplating it.
POET
Very Zen of you.
RAINBOY
What do you think it would feel like to be a raindrop?
POET
I have no way of knowing.
RAINBOY
It must really suck. I mean, your entire existence is spent falling. And then you hit the ground and you shatter and that’s it.
POET
That’s depressing.
RAINBOY
Yeah. Life is depressing.
POET
I don’t know. There’s always evaporation. Which I guess would be a lot like reincarnation. For a raindrop.
RAINBOY
Reincarnation?
POET
Yeah. You know. The Eastern mythology where your soul doesn’t die, it just keeps getting recycled into different lives.
RAINBOY
I know what it is. I just don’t believe in it.
POET
Why not? It’s pretty much just Murphy’s, or whoever’s, Law: Energy can’t be destroyed or created. It just gets transformed.
RAINBOY
It’s not that simple.
POET
Why not?
POET sits on the swing, still holding her umbrella and book.
RAINBOY
Because souls are different than energy.
POET
Maybe. Maybe not. How do you know?
RAINBOY
I don’t. But since I don’t know for sure that they are, I can't believe it.
POET
What do you believe in?
RAINBOY
Things I have a way of proving.
POET
You believe you know what a raindrop feels like.
RAINBOY
I can see a raindrop.
POET
So you only believe in things you can see?
RAINBOY
I’m not believing in anything. I’m just making an informed inference.
POET
Inference: a conclusion made by reasoning from evidence. A raindrop is not evidence.
RAINBOY
Sure it is.
POET
Not that life sucks.
RAINBOY
I didn’t say that.
POET
It’s what you meant.
RAINBOY
You don’t know that.
POET
No? Then I guess I was making an informed inference.
Pause. POET has made her point.
RAINBOY
Maybe I came here to be alone.
POET
Oh.
Poet starts to go.
RAINBOY
I only said maybe.
POET
And you only had to say it once.
RAINBOY
Wait. You never said why you’re out here. Walking around in the rain. You do that often?
POET
Only when it’s raining.
RAINBOY
Right.
POET
It’s the truth.
RAINBOY
For real...
POET
I happen to like the rain. It makes me feel... inspired.
RAINBOY
Inspired to what? Talk to weird guys in the park?
POET
Uh huh.
RAINBOY
Hey. You don’t have to agree with that so quickly.
POET
Well you are kind of weird. But that’s not bad. If everyone was normal, life would be really boring and there’d be nothing to write about.
RAINBOY
You’re a writer?
POET
Someday.
RAINBOY
Like a novelist?
POET
Poet.
RAINBOY
Oh. How come I’ve never seen you before?
POET
I don’t know. I’ve seen you.
RAINBOY
Nuh-uh.
POET
Ya-huh.
RAINBOY
You live in the neighborhood?
POET
Two months now. The brick house two doors down from you.
RAINBOY
No way.
POET
Yep. I see your mom drive you to school every morning in your mini-van. And I’ve seen you out in your yard throwing weird things, like shoes and coke bottles, for your dog to fetch. And I see you come out here sometimes and sit. Just like that. Like you’re waiting for the sky to cave in on you.
RAINBOY
I can’t believe I’ve never seen you.
POET
If you want my opinion, which you probably don’t, I think there might be a lot of things you don’t see.
RAINBOY
Oh yeah? Are you like a visionary or something?
POET
No, but I notice stuff.
RAINBOY
And what do you notice that I don’t?
POET
Okay. At lunch. I see you sitting there reading the labels on everything before you eat it. And while you’re reading, the guys – the stupid ones that always sit behind you – they do impressions of you. They mimic you eating and then laugh like big hairy apes. (pause) Sorry if it’s mean to tell you that but it’s been killing me that you don’t know.
RAINBOY
I know.
POET
You do?
RAINBOY
Yeah.
POET
Then why don’t you turn around and say something to them?
RAINBOY
I get a kick out of it. It’s like a performance piece I’m putting on for them. They think they’re the entertainment, but really it’s me. I’m the one creating it all.
POET
You are weird.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should write a poem about how weird I am.
POET
Maybe I already have.
RAINBOY
Seriously?
POET
No. I haven’t written anything yet.
RAINBOY
Why not?
POET
I don’t know what to write about. Everything I think of has already been written.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should write about the rain.
POET
Right. And that’s not cliché.
RAINBOY
I’m sitting in the rain. Am I cliché?
POET
A little.
RAINBOY
Thanks.
POET
But you might make an interesting subject.
RAINBOY
Might?
POET
Well, I wouldn’t know until I wrote about it and I’m not going to so I’ll never be able to know for sure.
RAINBOY
I’m weird, but I’m not interesting enough.
POET
No. I’m not interesting enough. You’ve got stuff to write about. I don’t.
RAINBOY
That doesn’t make sense.
POET
You’re the one who’s sitting in the rain. It’s your poem, not mine.
RAINBOY
But I’m not a writer.
POET
But someday you might decide that you are and if I’ve written a poem about you, you could claim I stole the idea from you. It’s potential fraud. Potential plagiarism. Potential end of my career before I’ve even begun.
RAINBOY
That’s your reason for not writing?
POET
Pretty much.
RAINBOY
I think you’re the weird one.
POET
Nope. Unfortunately I’m pretty normal.
Beat.
RAINBOY
(pointing to her book)
What’s that?
POET
A book.
RAINBOY
Of unwritten poems?
POET
How’d you guess.
RAINBOY
You carry around an empty book?
POET
Well it’s only half-empty.
RAINBOY
So you have written something.
POET
No. I bought it with the poems in it.
RAINBOY
You bought a book that someone else wrote in? That’s kind of a rip-off, isn’t it?
POET
All books have writing in them. That’s the point. It’s a rip-off if they don’t have anything in them.
RAINBOY
You know what I mean.
POET
No. If you recall, I actually don’t know what you mean.
RAINBOY
Okay, fine. But I didn’t mean book. I meant... what’s it called...?
POET
A journal?
RAINBOY
Yeah. That’s it.
POET
You’re really quick.
RAINBOY
Shut up.
POET
And sensitive.
RAINBOY
Only when it comes to that.
POET
Oh. Sorry.
Beat.
RAINBOY
So. It’s not a book. It’s a journal.
POET
Well. It’s half-book, half-journal.
RAINBOY
And it’s half-full of poems?
POET
Exactly. And the rest is blank for my poems.
RAINBOY
Which you haven’t written.
POET
Exactly.
RAINBOY
Because you’re a half-poet.
POET
I suppose I am.
RAINBOY
Was the book half-off?
POET
Ha ha.
RAINBOY
Can I see it?
POET
Why?
RAINBOY
Because I’ve never held a half-book in my hands. And I want to see these half-poems.
POET
I told you they’re not half-poems, they’re—
RAINBOY
I was kidding.
POET
Oh.
RAINBOY
So can I see it?
POET
Well... it’s kind of private.
RAINBOY
Why? I mean, if they’re not your poems...
POET
They’re not. But. I just... it’s just private. That’s all.
RAINBOY
Someone else’s poems and some blank pages are private?
POET
Yeah. Sorry.
RAINBOY
Then you probably shouldn’t go around flaunting it in front of people.
POET
I wasn’t flaunting it in front of you.
RAINBOY
Sure you were. You were practically begging me to take it...
He reaches for the book, but doesn’t take it.
POET
Hey. I told you it was private. That means: No trespassing.
RAINBOY
I wasn’t going to take it. I was just testing you out.
POET
Do you know how many people have been shot on other people’s property because they were just testing something out? The signs are there for a reason. Especially during hunting season.
RAINBOY
Is it hunting season now?
POET
Yes.
RAINBOY
So if I read your poetry, you’d have to shoot me?
POET
Yes.
RAINBOY
I knew it!
POET
What?
RAINBOY
You have written in there.
POET
No I haven’t.
RAINBOY
But you said--
POET
The book is mine so I meant if you read the book, I’d have to shoot you.
RAINBOY
I don’t believe you. You’ve written poems. Lots of them. You’re not a half-poet at all.
POET
Yes I am.
RAINBOY
Prove it. Let me see the book.
POET
No.
RAINBOY
Then I’ll just have to assume that you are a poet.
POET
That’s a stupid assumption. In fact, all assumptions are stupid. I hate assumptions.
RAINBOY
Don’t try to change the subject.
POET
I wasn’t. I was just—
RAINBOY
Going on a tangent about assumptions?
POET
We can just stand here.
RAINBOY
Fine.
POET
Fine.
They stand there.
RAINBOY
Mind if I stand under your umbrella? I’m starting to get a little cold.
POET
Um... Well it’s not very big...
RAINBOY
Oh. Nevermind.
POET
But we can try it...
RAINBOY
Nah. Forget it.
POET
(reaching the umbrella out to include him)
Here.
RAINBOY
(stepping away)
It’s okay. Really.
POET
(reaching it towards him again)
I don’t want to inhospitable.
RAINBOY
(smiling, stepping away again)
Inhospitable?
POET
(reaching it towards him)
Yes. Inhospitable.
RAINBOY
(stepping away)
You talk funny.
POET
Just shut up and stand under the umbrella, okay?
RAINBOY
Okay.
They stand under the umbrella together.
A beat.
POET
I’ve written a few poems. But they suck.
RAINBOY
I knew it!
POET
And since I don’t like them, I just pretend that they don’t exist.
RAINBOY
Uh huh...
POET
Are you done gloating yet?
RAINBOY
I haven’t begun.
POET
Great.
Beat. RAINBOY sits back down in his spot.
RAINBOY
I pretend that I don’t exist sometimes.
POET
Because you think you suck?
RAINBOY
Something like that.
POET
Is that what you were doing out here?
RAINBOY
Pretty much.
POET
Sounds like fun. Maybe I’ll join you.
POET folds up her umbrella and sits next to RAINBOY.
RAINBOY
Maybe you should ask first.
POET
Right. So, can I sit here and pretend not to exist with you?
RAINBOY
Yes. But only if you let me read a poem.
POET
No way.
RAINBOY
Then, I'm sorry, but you can’t sit here.
POET
Fine.
POET stands.
RAINBOY
I guess I’ll have to pretend on my own.
POET
I guess. Have fun.
RAINBOY
I will.
POET
Okay. Well. See ya.
POET exits slowly.
RAINBOY
Yeah. I’ll be here...
posted by Joy at 10:59 AM
9 Comments:
After working through this scene with you guys in class the last two weeks, I've made some changes to incorporate your comments.
What are your comments now?
What do you want to see more of? Less of?
What do you want to see next?
Please post your comments about this scene so that I can consider them as I continue writing over the next two weeks.
thanks!
I really like that they stand under the umbrella together, because it's adorable. I don't know why, but it is. And I like that, even though they're discussing such profound topics as reincarnation and future career theft, the Poet is still concerned with being inhospitable.
I'd like to argue with the rainboy for a minute. He says that it must suck to be a raindrop, that your entire existance is spent falling and then you shatter and he says this as if it's a bad thing. I think that it would kick to be a raindrop. Like he said, you entire existnace is spent falling. For thousands of miles! That would be awesome. And then you crash into the ground and you're done, your entire existance has been a crazy, thrilling experience. That would rock.
i am nerdy turg.
can i just tell you guys that i've been working on the play all of yesterday and today (up to 33 pages now... coming to you soon) and my eyes are blurry from staring at the computer for so long and whenever i needed a break or got stuck on something, i would just check out the latest comments and they would inspire me with fresh ideas or just revitalize my enthusiasm for this.
this, guys, is dramaturgy at it's BEST.
did you know that often dramaturgs work with playwrights as they're developing a play? they do pretty much exactly what you're doing here (although not as often with this varied of insight and such personal dedication) and they help the playwright fine tune thematic ideas, flesh out characters, tighten dialogue, and strengthen the structure of the play.
this is what you are doing.
in addition to being subjects and muses and just really awesome students.
this is benefitting the play immensely. i think it will benefit the production as well... since you'll all have been thinking about it with such focus for so long.
what a great collaboration.
thanks!
I, however, will stop writing all together, just out of SPITE!
I'm sorry, if it really bothers people I'll stop.
Or will I?
Kristin -- are you asking a script question or asking about people's comments? I'm confused... so much going on here...
Can you tell us who Gretchen and Justin are for the people who aren't in the imrov class?
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