by Sarah Ruhl
BOOKS BY SARAH RUHL AVAILABLE FROM TCG
Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Woolf’s Orlando
(Two Renderings for the Stage)
The Clean House and Other Plays
ALSO INCLUDES:
Eurydice
Late: a cowboy song
Melancholy Play
Dead Man’s Cell Phone
In the Next Room or the vibrator play
Passion Play
Stage Kiss
Stage Kiss is copyright © 2014 by Sarah Ruhl
Stage Kiss is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156
All Rights Reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the author’s representative: Bruce Ostler, Bret Adams Ltd., 448 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036, (212) 765-5630.
“The Sublime and the Good,” by Iris Murdoch, Chicago Review: Volume 13, Number 3 (Autumn 1959), pp. 42–55.
“Some Enchanted Evening,” By Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, copyright © 1949 by Williamson Music (ASCAP), an Imagem Company, owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world. Copyright renewed. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The publication of Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl, through TCG’s Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Ruhl, Sarah, 1974–
Stage Kiss / Sarah Ruhl.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-55936-429-4 (ebook)
I. Title.
PS3618.U48S732014
812’.6—dc232014019184
Book design and composition by Lisa Govan
Cover design by Rodrigo Corral Design / Rachel Adam Rogers
First Edition, December 2014
For actors
For first loves
But most of all, for my husband
Contents
Production History
Characters
Act One
Scene 1—Audition
Scene 2
Scene 3—The Next Day
Scene 4
Scene 5—Putting the Understudy in for Previews
Scene 6
Scene 6.5—The Last Scene of the Play
Scene 7
Act Two
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5
Scene 6
Acknowledgments
Production History
Stage Kiss had its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director) in Chicago on May 9, 2011. It was directed by Jessica Thebus. The set design was by Todd Rosenthal, the costume design was by Linda Roethke, the lighting design was by James F. Ingalls, the sound design was by Andre J. Pluess; the dramaturg was Neena Arndt, the fight choreographer was Nick Sandys and the production stage manager was Joseph Drummond. The cast was:
SHE
Jenny Bacon
HE
Mark L. Montgomery
DIRECTOR
Ross Lehman
KEVIN/BUTLER/DOCTOR/PIMP
Jeffrey Carlson
HUSBAND/HARRISON
Scott Jaeck
ANGELA/MAID/MILLIE
Sarah Tolan-Mee
MILLICENT/LAURIE
Erica Elam
Stage Kiss had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) on March 2, 2014. It was directed by Rebecca Taichman. The set design was by Neil Patel, the costume design was by Susan Hilferty, the lighting design was by Peter Kaczorowski, the sound design was by Matt Hubbs, the original music was by Todd Almond; the choreographer was Sam Pinkleton, the fight choreographer was Turner Smith and the production stage manager was Cole P. Bonenberger. The cast was:
SHE
Jessica Hecht
HE
Dominic Fumusa
DIRECTOR
Patrick Kerr
KEVIN/BUTLER/DOCTOR/PIMP
Michael Cyril Creighton
HUSBAND/HARRISON
Daniel Jenkins
ANGELA/MAID/MILLIE
Emma Galvin
MILLICENT/LAURIE
Clea Alsip
THE ACCOMPANIST
Todd Almond
Characters
1.A woman—She—in her mid-forties. Plays the role of Ada Wilcox.
2.A man—He—in his mid-forties. Plays the role of Johnny Lowell.
3.A director, Adrian Schwalbach.
4.Kevin, the reader. Also plays the understudy, the doctor, the butler and the pimp.
5.The husband, or Harrison.
6.Millie and the maid in Act One; Angela in Act Two. An actress in her early twenties who can believably play a teenager.
7.Millicent in Act One; Laurie in Act Two. An actress in her late twenties or early thirties.
Set
The set has three modes which should easily transform.
A red curtain would be nice to set off the plays within plays.
1.A raw theater space (emptiness, the thing itself).
2.A 1930s stage set (artifice happy to be artifice; think: gorgeous painted drops and flats).
3.A naturalistically messy East Village apartment, as real as possible (artifice ashamed of its own artifice; think: an installation).
Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
—Iris Murdoch
Act One
Scene 1—Audition
Lights up on a raw, empty theater space.
Chairs.
A piano.
SHE
Sorry the train was—I’m so late—I’m so sorry—Do you still want me to—?
DIRECTOR
No problem.
SHE
Great. Okay. Is this—?
DIRECTOR
Yes, Kevin will be reading with you.
SHE
Nice to meet you, Kevin. Do you want me to actually kiss Kevin, or Kevin do you mind if we kiss; you look young, I don’t want to traumatize you.
KEVIN
No—please, go ahead.
SHE
Could you position your chair this way then? Sorry, is that weird? I had sort of pictured your chair this way. Should I start?
DIRECTOR
Whenever you’re ready.
SHE
Okay. I’ll start then. Wait, I’ll just move my chair. Is that all right?
DIRECTOR
Great.
A pause.
SHE
Sorry—can I ask one thing?
DIRECTOR
Of course.
SHE
&nb
sp; I just got the sides because my agent blah blah blah and I didn’t have time to read the whole thing, so do you mind just telling me the plot a little bit because I only have these four pages—
During the following, She vocalizes some responses—ums and ohs—that register her narrative empathy and interest.
DIRECTOR
Sure. You’re told in the first scene that you have a month to live. You have a rare degenerative disorder. And you say to yourself: I need to see my old love before I die. And you cable him and he comes for a visit, he lives in Sweden, so he stays with you for a month, in your penthouse in Manhattan. It’s a very nice apartment as your husband is a very wealthy train mogul. You and your first love pick up right where you left off, but your husband is so noble that he doesn’t object. And seeing your old love has reversed your disease and you are becoming healthier and healthier. In the third act your daughter comes home from Paris and your first love falls in love with your daughter, and takes her to Sweden. So you are left alone, to pick up the pieces.
And there are some really very funny bits in the middle when you’re all living together under one roof but some really sort of sad bits, you know, when you’re ill, and the generosity of your husband in letting your old lover stay with you. Which I find very moving. So it’s tonally, very you know, slippery. And it was a flop on Broadway in 1932 but we think with the proper cast, a new score, and some judicious cuts it will be really very well received in New Haven.
SHE
Got it.
DIRECTOR
What else . . . there are one or two musical numbers.
You do sing, don’t you?
SHE
Oh—yes.
DIRECTOR
So, have a go?
SHE
(To Kevin) Are you playing the husband and the lover?
Kevin nods.
SHE
All, right so I’ll just pretend the husband is here (Pointing in another direction, away from Kevin) and you’re there. (Pointing to Kevin)
KEVIN
Okay.
SHE AS ADA
(Looking at an imaginary person off to the side) I can’t bear cocktails anymore, I’m afraid.
KEVIN AS HUSBAND
Water then?
SHE AS ADA
Yes.
KEVIN AS HUSBAND
In the solarium or in the study?
SHE AS ADA
The study I think. Have Jenkins put everything out.
The imaginary husband exits in the play, but of course, Kevin just sits.
SHE
(To Kevin) He just exited right?
KEVIN
Right.
She follows the imaginary husband out with her eyes and turns back to Kevin, with passion.
SHE AS ADA
(To Kevin, as the lover) God, I love you. I love you I love you I love you.
They kiss.
SHE AS ADA
Your lips taste like—let me taste them again.
She kisses him again.
SHE AS ADA
Of cherries? No.
KEVIN
I’m so sorry, I’m so sweaty, the elevator’s broken—
SHE
Oh no, you’re beautiful.
She kisses him again.
SHE AS ADA
Of chestnuts.
Oh, God, I want to kiss you all day!
KEVIN AS LOVER
And I you.
She kisses him again. She starts laughing.
SHE
Sorry—there was a little crumb in your mouth.
KEVIN
Oh, sorry.
He wipes the crumb.
DIRECTOR
Should we take it from the top? You don’t have to kiss this time, you could just indicate the kissing—with a gesture of some kind.
SHE
A gesture?
DIRECTOR
Sure.
SHE
Okay. Fine.
SHE AS ADA
(Turning toward Kevin as the lover) God, I love you. I love you I love you I love you.
She sits on Kevin’s lap and makes a strange gesture substituting for the kiss.
SHE AS ADA
Your lips taste like—let me taste them again.
Strange kiss gesture, still sitting on his lap.
SHE AS ADA
Of cherries? No.
Strange gesture, still sitting on his lap.
SHE AS ADA
Of chestnuts.
Oh, God, I want to kiss you all day!
KEVIN AS LOVER
And I you—
SHE AS ADA
(Overlapping with “And I you”) Until I am breathless with desire. The way I was when I was eighteen. Do you remember the lake?
KEVIN AS LOVER
I think I hear your husband.
SHE AS ADA
Hang it all!
KEVIN AS LOVER
Oh, darling. How can we have been apart this long?
SHE AS ADA
I do not know.
I do not know.
She stops and looks at the director. A pause.
DIRECTOR
Very nice work.
SHE
Oh, thank you.
Really?
DIRECTOR
Yes.
SHE
Do you want me to do the second side?
DIRECTOR
No, that won’t be necessary.
SHE
I memorized it.
DIRECTOR
If you’d like to, go ahead.
SHE
Do you want to tell me anything about it?
DIRECTOR
Just have a go.
She fumbles with her papers.
SHE
All right.
I think I’ll stand, is it all right if I stand?
DIRECTOR
Whatever makes you most comfortable.
SHE
I’ll stand. No, I’ll sit.
She sits.
DIRECTOR
Great.
SHE
(To Kevin) So now—you’ll be Millicent?
KEVIN
Right.
SHE AS ADA
Millicent, I’ve realized the reason it was impossible, so long ago . . .
KEVIN AS MILLICENT
There is always a reason, isn’t there?
SHE AS ADA
He was like champagne, champagne, but you can’t live on champagne your whole life, eventually you want bread, my husband is like bread—oh the smell of toast in the morning!
KEVIN AS MILLICENT
You think Jack is like—toast?
SHE AS ADA
But like the best toast in the world, no crumbs, (Seeing Kevin, laughing, then recovering) sorry, a toast that feeds you and feeds you in winter and is spread with the most gorgeous butter . . . I used to be afraid of putting too much butter on my toast, but the first night I spent with Jack, I woke up in the morning, and he put enormous quantities of butter on my toast, and I thought: I’ll love this man forever.
KEVIN AS MILLICENT
It’s such a relief to love your husband, is it not?
SHE AS ADA
(Saying the word “clear” the same way three times) Yes! Millicent, do you think that if life were properly understood, it would be beautiful all the time? Clear, clear, clear!
(As herself) Sorry, can I go back?
DIRECTOR
Sure.
SHE AS ADA
(Saying the word “clear” differently every time) Millicent, do you think that if life were properly understood, it would be beautiful all the time? Clear, clear clear?
KEVIN AS MILLICENT
I think your life is beautiful, darling Ada . . . don’t leave us . . . don’t leave—me . . .
SHE AS ADA
I shan’t . . . I feel myself coming into the world again, I feel my strength returning. Millicent, I want to live. And I will live.
(As herself) This is where I sing?
DIRECTOR
Yes.
Either we have an accompanist who nods to her and starts playing, or else she says:
SHE
A capella?
And the director nods.
She sings:
SHE AS ADA
Love me just shy of forever
Or love me till six o clock
Love me whatever the weather
Love me in afghan or sweater
Whether it’s May or December
Oh love me just shy of forever
Darling
Love me past six o clock.
She stops singing and looks at the director.
SHE
Was that all right?
That was awful, I know, I can learn to sing, and I can learn to act, ha ha . . .
Good-bye.
She exits, quickly.
Kevin and the director look at each other.
She comes back.
SHE
I think I just left my bag . . .
She grabs her bag, everything topples out of it.
SHE
Oh, right, the minor humiliations of life . . . sorry . . . good luck with your day, hope you see some good people, I haven’t auditioned for a play in like ten years . . .
Everything keeps toppling out of her bag: water bottle, script, hairbrush, lipstick, etc.
SHE
Oh, just shoot me now . . . ha ha ha . . . Bye, (To director) thank you, (To Kevin) bye Tom—Devin—
KEVIN
Kevin—
SHE
Kevin!—you were great, I hope I didn’t get lipstick on you, I got this lipstick as a free sample you know and I think it was the wrong color for the character, it’s called Desert Storm, no that’s a war, Desert Flower, wouldn’t you love to have the job of naming lipsticks—or wars . . . right, okay, then, shoot me now. Okay, thanks guys, have a good afternoon.
She exits.
The reader and the director look at each other.
DIRECTOR
(With optimism and sincerity) She was good.
Scene 2
The first rehearsal.
HE
Hello.
SHE
Hello.
HE
I didn’t think you were working these days.
SHE
I wasn’t. I had a child.
HE
I’d heard. How old?
SHE
Sixteen.
HE
That’s great.
