NOTE
Whenever Rollie steps out of the scene and talks to the audience as the narrator, the other actors freeze in place until Rollie steps back into the scene.
ACT ONE
Time: Evening. November.Place: The home of ROLLIE and DAPHNE Waters.It is a big older home that has been in the family for years. There is a couch, a big chair, a coffee table, and a telephone somewhere in the main living room. The entrance to the house is at stage right.
The exit to the kitchen is at stage left. There is a stairway upstage left that leads upstairs and a hallway upstage centre that leads to another part of the house where the television is. As the lights come up, JILL enters on the stairs, wearing a bathrobe. She is followed by DAPHNE Waters, who carries a clipboard and a pencil. They are followed by ALEX Tratt, who has a video camera. Please. Jill: He was looking at my breasts! He was staring right at them! Alex: Im the cameraman. Jill: He was looking at my breasts! He was staring right at them! Alex: Im the cameraman.
I was looking at every bit of you. But it was strictly on a professional level. Jill: Yeah, maybe with your camera eye it was professional, but your free eye was checking me out. Byron: I thought he was checking me out. Alex: I told you, Im not gay! Jill: What is it with you and breasts anyway? Do you have a fixation about them? Alex: Im a man. Daphne: All right, look, can we go back in and continue shooting please? DAPHNE drops her pencil. Daphne: All right, look, can we go back in and continue shooting please? DAPHNE drops her pencil.
She picks it up.Jill: Only if he promises to stop checking me out. Alex: I dont see what the big deal is. After we finish this thing, your breasts are going to be checked out by thousands of men. Hundreds of thousands! Theyll be the Super Bowl of breasts. Daphne: Alex, would you just promise her please? Alex: Fine. Jill: Thank you. Jill: Thank you.
How did they look by the way? Alex: How did what look? Jill: My breasts. Were they pointing out or down? Alex: Straight out. Like laser beams. I think you fixed my bad eye. Jill:(to BYRON) Is that true? Byron: They were looking right at me. Jill: All right, good. Lets go. JILL, ALEX, BYRON, and DAPHNE exit up the stairs. JILL, ALEX, BYRON, and DAPHNE exit up the stairs.
ROLLIE Waters enters from the wings. He is wearing a jacket or windbreaker of some sort.Rollie:(to the audience) Dont you hate walking in in the middle of a story? Well, thats exactly what you just did. Smack dab in the middle. So, let me back up a bit and fill you in on whats going on here. My name is Rollie Waters. I live here with my wife Daphne.
This was my grandfathers house. My father was born here and so was I. The house has been in the family for seventy-four years, and one day, by God, its gonna be paid for. Daphne and I have a twenty-year-old son, Gerard, but you wont see him during the course of this story. Hes off to university studying to be an architect. He doesnt know whats going on here because we dont like to bother him with our petty inconveniences.
It might take his mind off of his keg parties and womanizing. So well just keep this quandary to ourselves. Now, the story began about two weeks ago. It was a Tuesday. I arrived home from work at the usual time, about ten past five. So thats what Im going to do right now.
Ill go out and arrive home and the story will start. Ill be right back. Oh, turn your cellphones off, okay? Because once we get going on this we dont want to be distracted. Thank you. ROLLIE exits through the front door. After a moment he enters again.
He is carrying a briefcase and a handful of mail. Honey, Im home! God, I love saying that. ROLLIE takes his jacket off. DAPHNE enters from the kitchen carrying two glasses of wine.Daphne: Hi, baby. Rollie: Hi, Daph. ROLLIE and DAPHNE kiss. Rollie: I know. Rollie: I know.
Its funny, isnt it? Daphne: If you think so. She takes the mail from ROLLIE and begins looking at it. How was your day? Rollie: Pretty busy. Daphne: Oh? Rollie: Yeah, the big bosses were in a meeting for most of the day so they left me in charge of the office. Daphne: Thats nice. Rollie: Yes, I ran a tight ship. Daphne: You mean Leonard.