“I am not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.”
Lewis Carroll
CAST OF CHARACTERS
OLIVE: A 23-25-year old. The main character.
JULIEN: a bartender
MARGOT: (she can be just a voice over the phone or on the other side of the bar speaking to OLIVE on the phone but they never interact physically)
ACT 1 SCENE 1
SETTING: NEW YORK CITY, NY CHELSEA HOTEL. OLIVE a young woman in a green coat, with big sunglasses, and a fashionable overnight bag, stands in the lobby of an older-style hotel. The lobby has old carpeting, a big chandelier in the middle, 1920s styling though the actual play itself is set at some point in time within our time it is not specified. The lobby is noticeably empty. A clock ticks in the background. JULIEN a bartender stands at the bar making drinks and doing other sorts of related tasks. A red old-fashioned styled telephone is on top. There is nobody else at the bar. OLIVE comes and sits at the bar.
ENTER OLIVE
OLIVE
Who are you?
JULIEN
I am me, at a time.
OLIVE
Is there a reason nobody else is here?
JULIEN
You will figure it out in time.
OLIVE
Figure what out exactly?
JULIEN
There is more to a place like this than what it seems.
OLIVE
A hotel bar?
JULIEN
You have seen this place before.
OLIVE
It just looks like an old hotel to me. Not anything I have seen in my dreams.
JULIEN
See. Dreams have a way of bleeding into reality the way pens bleed through paper.
OLIVE
I still do not understand.
JULIEN
You did not then, so I see why you would not now. Processes are a product of repetition for a reason. Have you ever tried to focus on your dreams? Questioned why the Universe or some unseen unknown force-placed these random images inside your mind.
OLIVE
I do not know, I usually do not remember them. Although this is all starting to seem like a nightmare.
JULIEN
Hm, it is a penance to dream, in the world of the living.
OLIVE
What are you on about now? There are not two worlds, not where I am standing.
JULIEN
Somehow I do not believe you.
OLIVE
About what?
JULIEN
About dreaming. Close your eyes now, tell me what you see.
OLIVE
(She closes her eyes)
This feels like cheating since I am not dreaming.
JULIEN
How do you know?
OLIVE
I-I don’t. I am beginning to think something is wrong.
JULIEN
See. What do you see? Tell me what you see and do not lie or I will know.
OLIVE
I am in an area with lots of lush hills, the sky is a stormy grey, she weeps for her heart drowns in the blood suffocating with it, lungs burning with each inhale and exhale. Space nurtures the Sun and her spots of rage, spitting out rays and splitting across the Earth’s surface. You are not here, I am at the edge of a cliff the murky waters slap and recoil against the cliffs, chunks of matter falling into the sea below. The salt stings my skin, harsher yet softer than the wind.
JULIEN
Hm. There are a lot of different aspects of nature.
OLIVE
Shut up! You are patronizing me, I am not lying to you.
JULIEN
I never said you were, I merely made a comment on the state of your dreams. They are rather strange.
OLIVE
What would you prefer I dream about then?
JULIEN
(he shrugs)
It is all in your head, not mine.
OLIVE
Say what you mean then?
JULIEN
Have you never thought about where you go after you die?
OLIVE
(scoffs)
You took that one right out of a philosophy textbook didn’t you?
JULIEN
And if I did? You are averting the question?
OLIVE
(worried, looking around)
I am not sure I want to know.
JULIEN
Tell me, why did you come here?
OLIVE
(Takes a sip of her drink)
That is a loaded question.
JULIEN
It is a simple one. Now tell me. Why?
OLIVE
(sighs)
Well. The truth is I wanted to take a selfie with a rat while dressed in a cowboy get up.
But nobody would understand the reference.
JULIEN
(annoyed)
No. Not that. Not a movie. That is silly. I want the real reason.
OLIVE
Fine. It was to find Margot.
JULIEN
Do you mean it was to find yourself?
OLIVE
Did I say that?
JULIEN
No. But that is what the truth is.
OLIVE
That is absurd. Don’t people go to places like Bora Bora to find themselves? And how would you know anyway?
JULIEN
You tell me. This life is yours not mine. I know you better than you think.
OLIVE
If you know me so well then would we not be the same?
JULIEN
I suppose.
OLIVE
Like I said I came here to find Margot. You do not need to make this a therapy session.
JULIEN
Nobody complains about free therapy.
OLIVE
Still. I am not interested in your insight into my existence.
JULIEN
I am not here to be a therapist. I am a mere bartender.
Listen, did you think that in your search for Margot that she does not want to be found?
People disappear for all sorts of reasons, sometimes letting them go is easier than twisting the knife deeper to find them.
You need to find yourself first.
OLIVE
Honestly, what rock were you born under where you think I have not found myself? I live in New York City, every person’s dream, I work–
JULIEN
(deadpan)
A cooperate 9-5?
OLIVE
(hesitantly)
Yeah, but I love it. Would not trade it for the world.
JULIEN
(shrugs)
Sure. If you say so.
You wake up in your misery, bask in your misery, return to a cold office building with equally cold co-workers, go out to get drinks with people you put up with for the sake of appearances and do it all again all for the price of sanity.
The world is a fair price to pay to get out of that endless loop of repetition.
OLIVE
(starts pacing)
When you put it like that it makes my life sound horrible.
Your issue is that you do not know me.
We only met—what—five minutes ago?
(She looks at her watch and sees that it has stopped working. The ticking in the background recedes.)
Dammit, my watch is frozen. But you see what I mean do you not?
In any case, I often wonder if I mattered to Margot if she would have treated me better.
JULIEN
At least you know.
People’s behavior reflects their insecurities and how they feel about themselves.
If you learn to treat yourself better, then the universe will reflect that upon you.
OLIVE
(stops pacing)
Jeez. No need to get spiritual Mr. Therapist Bartender.
JULIEN
You are missing the point. It is not to excuse how Margot may or may not have treated you, it is realizing that you were not aligned in your relationship.
As simple as it may be some things are not to be so.
OLIVE
I loved her. I did.
Are you saying there’s a reason she never came back?
JULIEN
You did not love her you thought you did but it was more like brain fog.
She happened to be your first love.
There is a substantial difference.
OLIVE
I wish you could just kick my ass into gear.
I wish I could understand everything that went wrong.
What is the difference between those two concepts?
JULIEN
You know only you can do that.
It went wrong because it was not meant to be.
I cannot tell you the difference as it was your experience of agency to be with her.
OLIVE
How do I escape? The routine, this mundane life…
This fucking hotel.
(laughs)
I never thought I would be trying to escape a hotel.
JULIEN
Ah. See that is the remarkable thing about airing your grievances.
You realize you cannot escape from the things which you cannot overcome.
OLIVE
What do you mean? How can I overcome anything without escaping?
And you are wrong.
You know what I can just get up and leave this stupid hotel and go back to my life and you can go about your business of (hesitates) making drinks for absolutely nobody and listening to their stupid problems.
JULIEN
I would challenge you on that notion, tell you to try it out, but you and I both know it does not work like that.
You are probably going to try anyway.
(beat)
Tell me do you think you have free will?
OLIVE
I came here of my own volition did I not?
JULIEN
I asked you, did I not?
OLIVE
Now that is plain rude. You are mocking me.
JULIEN
I mock no one, I simply state things as they appear.
You were drawn to this place,
Something compelled you to be here.
And stuck you into the Earth the way roots do with plants.
I cannot tell you what this reason is as that is not my purpose.
But what I can say is that you would have to yank hard to uproot a flower from its resting spot.
OLIVE
Are you God?
JULIEN
I would not say that.
OLIVE
You are not denying it either.
JULIEN
(Looks down).
No, I am not.
OLIVE
If you are God, then whose voices do I hear whispering within these walls?
JULIEN
Those souls are not relevant to this schema. It is only you and I here.
OLIVE
Where did they go?
JULIEN
(dismissively)
It does not matter.
OLIVE
Who are you?
JULIEN
I am me. I am Julien.
OLIVE
Who?
JULIEN
I am me at a time.
OLIVE
How can that be when time goes on?
JULIEN
Does it?
OLIVE
Yes, I would assume so.
JULIEN
How do you know?
OLIVE
I don’t. I assume because I constantly transform that I move through time. I change and become a new version of myself. You even said I have to overcome my own self to leave.
JULIEN
Time moves through and around us.
(he hands her a mirror)
Look in this mirror and tell me what you see.
OLIVE
(her head is turned away and she says this before looking into the mirror).
Couldn’t I lie?
JULIEN
I suppose. I imagine you won’t.
OLIVE
(she nods, and looks in the mirror, after a beat she drops it and it shatters)
(uncomfortable)
I would like to leave.
JULIEN
I told you before that it is not possible.
OLIVE
Am I dead? Is this hell?
JULIEN
You know the answer.
OLIVE
You are one strange human being.
(She pauses)
And you know what?
I disagree.
I pulled a flower from the ground.
Its roots dangled out like guts.
Perhaps it was screaming to be put back.
To be buried in the warmth of the soil.
JULIEN
We are all pretty bizarre.
Some of us are simply better at hiding it, that’s all.
OLIVE
According to you, it is all in my head is it not?
JULIEN
Most of it, yes.
(beat)
Yes, most of it is in your head. Some of it is not.
OLIVE
I cannot seem to figure out which pieces are not in my head.
My head is filled with broken pieces.
Floating around endlessly.
A void of blackness.
A void of oblivion.
Like whatever happens to be stuck here.
JULIEN
You know the answer.
OLIVE
You are insufferable.
JULIEN
By that logic, you are insufferable.
OLIVE
How is that so?
JULIEN
I told you before.
It is all in your head.
OLIVE
If it is all in my head then I should be able to speak it into existence.
I should be able to escape.
This is a reality that I control.
But I have not been able to do so, so clearly it is not in my head.
JULIEN
Would you like another drink?
OLIVE
We were not discussing drinking. Why are you changing the subject?
JULIEN
(Pours drink)
I am a mere bartender. I make drinks. That is relevant to the conversation.
OLIVE
No, I do not want another drink.
(She pushes her glass up anyways)
JULIEN
I think you would be privy to my advice and your shortcomings if you had one.
OLIVE
I am leaving this place and you and-and-and (lets out a scream of frustration)
I am done with this nonsense! (OLIVE grabs her green coat, big sunglasses, and bag that she came in with and puts the items on. She then walks briskly towards stage left. A few moments later she appears coming around the back of the stage and out stage right in a circle. Another option is to have OLIVE exit the stage and go down the aisle between the audience members and circle back around and up. Regardless she is meant to exit in some fashion and walk around ending up back on the stage with JULIEN at the hotel bar. The stage light should dim on JULIEN and follow OLIVE as she makes her lap around. When OLIVE makes her way back on stage to the bar she is defeated and puts her head on the counter).
JULIEN
I warned you.
You chose not to listen.
Sometimes you must read between the lines, not on top of them to overcome.
But until that moment in time, you will have this burden, this relentless pressure upon your shoulders.
They will collapse in on themselves, a concave sort of destruction. I am trying to help you but you must help yourself.
OLIVE
(angry)
You are not helping me. I feel like I am going around in circles, figuratively and quite literally, with you. Why can you not answer my questions? I know you say I need to help myself to overcome my grievances but a little guidance would be helpful here.
(The old fashioned telephone rings the duo jumps in surprise)
JULIEN
I told you before. It is all in your head. Now, are you going to get that?
OLIVE
(The phone continues ringing)
How do you know it is for me?
JULIEN
Pick it up, will you?
OLIVE
Fine.
(She pulls the phone off the receiver JULIEN observes nearby)
Hello?
MARGOT
Olive? Is that you?
OLIVE
Margot? Gosh, where have you been? I have been trying to reach you. You must help me.
MARGOT
I have not been anywhere silly. My phone died and I was on a plane. You know how finicky reception gets.
OLIVE
Yes, I suppose.
Say Margot now that I have you on the line can you get me out of this weird hotel?
MARGOT
(Holds phone away from her face as if to indicate a lot of static or some sort of noise interruption, if MARGOT is a voice-over in this section then there should be static noises).
Sorry? What did you say? Olive, you are going in and out.
OLIVE
It must be this phone; it is so old.
(She slaps the phone against her hand a few times)
I asked if you could come to help me.
MARGOT
I am sorry Olive. I am. I am having a tough time hearing from you. I wanted you to know at the very least that I am okay. I forgive you. Everything is going to be alright.
(beat)
I must go now. My plane is leaving. May we see one another soon.
OLIVE
No, wait Margot!
MARGOT
Goodbye.
OLIVE
(She shakily places the phone back on the receiver and turns to JULIEN)
I am assuming I will never see her again, will I?
JULIEN
You assume correctly.
OLIVE
Is Margot dead?
JULIEN
You do not remember, do you?
OLIVE
No.
JULIEN
She’s not coming back.
OLIVE
I do remember. She died?
JULIEN
Memories are figments of the imagination. She did not die on that plane.
OLIVE
I do not understand.
JULIEN
Close your eyes and let the memory wash over you.
OLIVE
(closes her eyes after a moment)
Did I kill her?
JULIEN
Memories are figments of the imagination. Here I have another drink for you.
OLIVE
(opens her eyes, looks at the drink skeptically)
I had my eyes closed while you made it.
JULIEN
You do not trust me?
OLIVE
Given that you have averted all of my questions and are the only person here the answer to that would be no.
JULIEN
Drink. It.
OLIVE
(takes a sip, she begins to hallucinate)
The colors are going away. What is happening?
JULIEN
I had to do something to get you to see the nature of reality.
OLIVE
Did you drug me?
JULIEN
That is a harsh statement to someone who is just trying to help.
OLIVE
(distressed)
No! Please. I do not like this. It is all in black and white, the energy is drained, everything is dead and has ceased to exist or function.
JULIEN
Do you understand now?
OLIVE
(OLIVE remains physically distressed but her voice takes on a dreamy tone)
Yes.
JULIEN
Good.
OLIVE
You believe me, just like that?
JULIEN
I have no reason not to.
OLIVE
Hm.
JULIEN
I have a gift for you.
OLIVE
A gift?
JULIEN
(he hands her a potted flower)
Yes.
OLIVE
What is this?
JULIEN
I told you, it’s a gift.
OLIVE
(she tilts her head in an exaggerated fashion as she looks at the gift)
It is a singular rose. Black instead of red.
JULIEN
(he grins manically)
For Olive, the bringer of death and destruction instead of the bearer of peace. It is my olive branch to you, so to speak.
OLIVE
No, no, no that is not what happened. You are manipulating my perception of things. This flower holds a double meaning within a meaning.
JULIEN
As most things in life do.
OLIVE
This isn’t living…This is–gosh–I wish I knew. This is what I imagine hell to be like.
JULIEN
(scoffs)
In a hotel bar? Please.
OLIVE
It is not just any hotel. I cannot leave. I tried to leave and ended up here.
JULIEN
(JULIEN has become very mechanical and emotionless at this point in contrast to OLIVE’S turbulent emotional state)
Right. Do me a favor? Pull the flower out of the pot.
OLIVE
(crying, still hallucinating)
Why?
JULIEN
You did not listen before and look how that turned out. Just do it.
OLIVE
(pulls the flower out, she drops the pot in shock, there can be actual fake blood or it could be just part of the dialogue)
It-It’s bleeding.
JULIEN
Indeed. Now, look at the mess you’ve made.
OLIVE
(she collapses on the ground sobbing, rubbing at her hands, at her clothes, spreading the dirt from the flower pot, she still holds the flower in one hand)
This is not right. Why is the flower bleeding? The blood is everywhere, all over my hands, the ground. It’s staining my clothes. Please. Why is the flower bleeding?
JULIEN
You said you wanted Margot back did you not?
OLIVE
(looks up at JULIEN)
What?
JULIEN
You said I was God, I am more than that. You also said you once pulled a flower out of a pot and well I wanted to recreate that for you.
OLIVE
I-I
JULIEN
Don’t say you do not understand because I am pretty certain that you do.
OLIVE
How can it be?
JULIEN
You know, you really should take better care of the things you claim to love. But you should always realize that the things you love will drain the color out of your life. They always leave.
OLIVE
(shaking her head)
No. You’re wrong!
JULIEN
Margot left you and you loved her, you still love her and she’s gone. Poof, vanished into the air like smoke, or I guess more like dirt.
(he laughs)
OLIVE
She is gone.
JULIEN
Yes, you understand now.
OLIVE
(she gets up off the ground)
I cannot escape.
JULIEN
You will never escape.
OLIVE
Can you tell me where I am?
JULIEN
Nowhere. You are nowhere. There is no escape from the place you cannot be.
(The ticking of the clock begins again).
LIGHTS OUT
FIN
BLOG IT BABY 