Association of Controlled Dreamers
63 Minutes Read Time
Who:
brittany
tara
vera
sammy
tom
hope
amber
amaryllis
edward
mary
senator
twin
job man
mother
rhonda
secret girlfriend
social media
prologue
(The students are gathered around on the lawn.)
amber: This is it.
amaryllis: The damp, god-awful lawn. sammy: Where we slept for a week vera: And dreamed
tara: And fought
tom: And fell in love
brittany: And out of love
amber: And missed exams
sammy: And broke the law
edward: And changed our minds about a lot of things.
amber: We won, though.
brittany: Sort of.
amber: No, no, we WON.
sammy: That’s a better way to tell the story.
amber: That’s the truth.
vera: It’s a little complicated.
tara: It’s the truth depending on who you ask.
amber: What’s that supposed to mean?
senator/twin: Hello.
amber: Oh god, not him.
senator/twin: Is it my turn yet?
sammy: Should we let him talk?
brittany: Might as well.
vera: They’ll hear his story eventually.
amaryllis: How’s he even going to explain what he is?
senator/twin: I am an actor. And in this play I will be playing two roles.
amber: Does he have to?
sammy: I mean, I think it’ll help them if he
amber: I just don’t even like his voice.
senator/twin: I will be playing a senator.
amaryllis: A pretty evil one. senator/twin: And his twin.
amber: Who is awesome.
senator/twin: You’ll know which one is which by my costuming.
Senator dresses fancy. Twin doesn’t.
But sometimes Twin dresses up like Senator.
And you’ll get confused. Which is the point.
tara: Is that it?
job man: Don’t forget me.
(They all roll their eyes.)
I’m kinda rotten.
(MOTHER enters.)
mother: I am the one who has lost more than you could ever imagine.
social media: And don’t forget me I’m the one who witnessed it all.
secret girlfriend: Or me
The one who
Changed teams.
vera: I think people should know, though,
Like really know,
What story this is
amber: And what story it isn’t.
amaryllis: This is the story of the year we won.
edward: The year we said no.
tara: The year we took our rage and sadness and confusion
brittany: And dreams
sammy: And did something.
amber: Protected something.
tom: Our education.
amaryllis: We won.
scene 1
(AMARYLLIS is performing in her final dance performance of the semester. While she’s dancing, we start to hear VERA but don’t see her.)
vera: Ames? I’m so, so pissed I can’t be there today. I know you’re gonna kill it. You are like a shining star out there, believe me. Okay.
(VERA enters.)
I, uh, I need your help? ASAP. It’s the river thing again. So if you’re anywhere near a computer and you can look? River. Murder.
(AMARYLLIS stops dancing suddenly.)
Google river and murder with a plus sign. And text me what you find. As soon as possible. I’ll explain more later, but it was the same thing again, the same image. It just really shakes me up, and I have to go to work and won’t have internet for the next few hours, but I need to know as soon as possible. Anything you can find.
(VERA exits. AMARYLLIS resumes her dance.)
(SOCIAL MEDIA enters.)
social media: Anyone have a study guide for chem?
Don’t miss the first Friday of the month
Ten ways to figure out if your boyfriend is cheating on you
Single independent lady for foxy guy
Check out my lunch
Just another sunny day with the cutest puppy in the world.
(TARA enters.)
tara: Dear Twin,
I love that your name is Twin.
I love that you go by that word, twin.
I love that your identity is intimately connected to his. I love that your name means likeness,
imitation, kinship.
My dad is sick like your mom.
They have the same illness.
I just wanted to let you know.
(BRITTANY enters.)
brittany: This thesis will investigate the recurring images of current elected officials in the dreams of fifteen lucid dreamers aged twenty to twenty-two on campus during the months of the spring semester. I will be paying especially close attention to the images of government o∞cials that are commonly referred to as the Alt- Right and those images’ relationships to reality, with the following guiding questions:
Did the image appear in waking life before or after the dreamer dreamed it?
What are the most common images across dreams?
Who are the most common politicians to appear?
What are the most common activities for them to be engaging in?
The larger questions I hope to investigate include:
How is dreaming a form of subconscious resistance?
How is lucid dreaming playing an important role in our movements for social justice?
(HOPE and TOM enter.)
hope: It’s not a breakup.
tom: I know.
I know I know I know.
hope: It’s like a break.
tom: That’s like the first word of breakup.
hope: I just don’t have a lot of time
tom: I know.
hope: For
tom: Our relationship.
hope: / you.
tom: Okay.
hope: Sorry.
tom: Don’t.
hope: Okay.
Also, I think you might be gay?
Have you ever considered that?
tom: Me?
(SAMMY and AMBER enter.)
amber: I have compiled a PowerPoint presentation of everything you’ve done wrong in your first semester as president.
sammy: I, uh, I can handle criticism but like . . .
amber: You want me to cut to the chase? You’re just taking too much control. No one member should have that much control. It’s part of how we reenvision things as a Queer Student Union: We queer things up, we’re antihierarchical. The role of president isn’t
sammy: I completely agree, and also I am not really taking control?
I’m, uh, managing the details, and there are quite a lot of
amber: Okay, so when I was president
sammy: You did everything perfect.
amber: I mean, I have some experience, I could
(VERA and AMARYLLIS enter.)
vera: What’s going on here?
amber: Leadership development.
amaryllis: What’s with the PowerPoint?
amber: I have some lessons from when I was president that I’m sharing with our new
vera: Uh, whoa whoa whoa.
sammy: It’s cool, it’s really
amaryllis: She’s like attacking you, isn’t she?
amber: This is for the overall health of our organization.
vera: Well, as treasurer, I think it’s time for it to stop.
amaryllis: Seconded. From the secretary.
amber: The three of you are on a team against me; you always have been.
vera: We prefer to call it a thrupple.
amaryllis: We’re all part of the same team here.
amber: You could all learn some lessons from me, is the truth.
sammy: I thought you wanted us to be nonhierarchical.
vera: Oh whoa, did she say that?
amaryllis: No shit.
amber: In spirit, in principle, something we’re constantly moving towards, you know, for instance, in decision-making processes and
vera: And you think that happened when you were president?
sammy: The truth, though, is that when you were president, people talked shit about you too.
amber: And you didn’t tell me.
sammy: We were being polite.
(EDWARD enters.)
edward: Hello? I’m looking for the o∞ce of the Queer Student Union.
sammy: Yes! / That’s us.
amber: We’re not open now.
edward: Uh . . .
amaryllis: How can we help you?
edward: I’m a freshman. I wanted to get involved.
amber: We’re dealing with a Real Situation right now, so it’s not really
sammy: Our doors are always open. Have a seat.
social media: Queer Student Union meeting tonight at seven in the student center, free pizza and condoms!
Anyone wanna plan a trip to Costco?
Check out this new meme I made, brought to you by my mom.
In my last life I was a dog, and I was a gay one, I’m 100 percent sure of it.
scene 2
(SENATOR stares in the mirror. He tightens his skinny tie.
His phone buzzes. He looks at it and shakes his head. It buzzes again.
He presses a button.)
senator: The briefing was a neoliberal crock of shit, and you can tell Simpson I don’t want to hear another word about it. This is my committee, and I’ll run it how I want to. I need meat for lunch today. Something fatty and four-legged.
social media: And your mother, sir?
senator: Doesn’t the woman know that Christmas is seven months away?
social media: Understood. She’d appreciate a phone call.
senator: Wouldn’t we all.
(He hangs up. He looks at himself in the mirror.)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
(A flash of light. RHONDA enters to loud applause.)
rhonda: Welcome welcome welcome!
To Voices of Faith Youth Hour!
I am your beloved host,
None other than Rhonda Donner!
Now we have a very exciting guest with us today, someone I know many of us have been looking forward to hearing from for a very long time, and heaven knows it’s taken us forever to get him on the show. Busy bee over there’s been on the campaign trail with no rest for the weary in this climate! So now, everyone, I am pleased to welcome Senator Jonathan Matthews to Voices of Faith Youth Hour!
(SENATOR enters to raucous applause, obviously canned.)
senator: Thank you, thank you.
rhonda: Oh Jonathan, Looking sharp as always
And so svelte!
senator: Now, Rhonda.
rhonda: I heard you’re going to have a full spread in the next issue of Teen Vogue.
senator: Which is funny because I’m no longer a teenager.
rhonda: Right, right, you had your twenty-second birthday just last— when?
senator: Saturday.
rhonda: Now this is very
Why don’t you tell me
So at this time,
This, uh, this May, college seniors all around the country are preparing to graduate. They’re studying for finals and polishing their theses, and you
I mean you,
You’ve just abandoned ALL of that
For something greater.
senator: I like to think of the last day of the first legislative session as my true graduation.
(Canned laughter a little behind cue.)
That’s when I’ll have jumped over the first big hurdle in my education.
The education that really matters.
Getting our country back on track.
rhonda: Excellent, excellent. And you’re sponsoring a quite massive piece of legislation that’s about to be voted on this week, is that right?
senator: Absolutely. The Bill is S. 927, and it would do quite a lot of things that I know a lot of us have been waiting on for quite some time.
rhonda: And what are those?
senator: Well, it would enable us, finally, to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools; it would release us from Common Core standards, expand vocational education, and transfer funding from public universities to vouchers for private ones. These are changes our citizens have been asking for for quite a long time. And I know for myself, as a product of the public school system and Francisville University, how deeply public education is failing us and how desperately we need a new system.
rhonda: Excellent, excellent. So tell me, and I’m sure others in the studio with us today will be curious to hear: How did it come to you to run for office? In the summer before your senior year, when all of your classmates were lying on beaches and picking their noses and making a few measly dollars mowing lawns. What possessed you
Of All Things
To launch
What many would consider
An impossible campaign for the Senate?
senator: Well, Rhonda, I’m pleased you put it that way.
It was the pain really.
The pain all around me.
I could see the problems in my hometown, in Francisville, the people desperate for jobs, all the labor going to the criminal immi- grants, the health-care premiums rising out of control, and some- thing awoke inside of me, something telling me I had a higher purpose, to make our country a better place for Americans like me and all around me. To restore our country to its original promise.
rhonda: Yes, yes, yes, this is the story we wanted, there it is. Now another question, Senator. Why the Senate? Why not just go right for it? The big bad one?
senator: Oh well, Rhonda, you and I both know very well that the
president of the United States must be thirty-five.
rhonda: Oh, Jonathan, silly rules never stopped you before.
senator: I’m already the youngest senator in US history, Rhonda.
Let me break one rule at a time.
rhonda: Well, I’ll be looking forward to the day when I can vote you in as the youngest president in our history.
senator: I had to learn about Washington first. I wanted to learn more about government and how the system actually functions. But don’t worry, Rhonda. I am absolutely considering the presidency in my future.
rhonda: Well, we’d be lucky to have you. Now I think we have a moment for one question from our audience
(She presses a button. MARY enters. She is a young, very proper-looking midwestern woman.)
mary: Senator Matthews?
I’m so honored to be able to speak to you. I’m twenty-two just like you, and I’m a senior at Holy Baptist School of the Cross. Your spirit and power give me a great deal of inspiration as I’m approaching my final exams. I’m hoping to become a dental assistant.
I wanted to ask you:
In your honorable journey towards the Senate
How were you helped by God?
rhonda: An excellent question that comes to us from one Mary Smith in Indiana. Thank you, Mary, for this question. Senator Matthews, your answer?
senator: Well, of course.
God.
I’d say God is why I get up in the morning and why I go to bed at night. He’s the first thing I think of before I open my mouth.
I don’t do anything in my life before blessing God first.
rhonda: Thank you so much for coming in today. Everyone, that was our famous Senator Matthews, whose revolutionary S. 927 education bill will be voted on this week!
(MOTHER enters.)
mother: I didn’t raise him to be like that.
I didn’t raise him to speak like that.
This god is new to him.
Do not be fooled.
I raised him with a different one.
scene 3
(Queer Student Union. TOM is lingering in the corner with a very full plate of food trying to not look awkward by reading the posters on the wall with extreme focus. SAMMY approaches.)
sammy: Hey. I haven’t seen you here before.
tom: Oh. Hey.
sammy: Don’t let me distract you from the CPR guidelines. You look pretty engrossed.
tom: Just trying to, uh,
sammy: So, what brings you here tonight?
tom: I’m, uh, well, I’m, uh,
sammy: Queer. tom: Questioning. sammy: Uh huh. tom: Yeah, so . . .
sammy: Most people would say they were an ally
On their first day here.
tom: Well, I am, yes, for sure.
sammy: That’s how we spot the gaybies. The New Ones. The, uh, allies.
tom: Ah, okay.
How often does the, uh,
sammy: The youth group is only once a month.
The rest of the time it’s all college students.
The rest of the Tuesdays.
tom: Oh, well, I would volunteer with the
sammy: That’s an in-depth process, background checks, etc. and TBH,
If you’re still questioning? I don’t know.
tom: Fair enough.
sammy: But what are you doing after this?
scene 4
(AMARYLLIS and VERA in the student center.)
vera: I start shaking every time I think about it.
amaryllis: This is your third time with this nightmare.
vera: Yeah, and I don’t really remember my dreams except this one, And that one time it was real, so . . .
amaryllis: What did you see that one time, like what happened in that dream?
vera: A makeup case, that was all.
But then I feel this
I feel like I’m being pulled downriver. It’s a really strong current.
And I feel like I can’t breathe.
amaryllis: How did you figure it out the last time?
vera: That was the Mexican journalist I was so obsessed with.
Remember? She was found in the Rio Grande. And it could be a coincidence but I really think I saw her face, like HER FACE, in the dream.
amaryllis: Right, right. And this time
vera: No face, but I’ve seen the body three times, and it won’t go away.
amaryllis: I’m sorry I couldn’t help with the Googling.
vera: Oh my god, you had a show.
Speaking of which, Sammy came?
amaryllis: We had a fight. I want to be able to be cool and, like, just slip into being friends and organizing the QSU together, but, like, you don’t just stop loving someone.
vera: Of course not.
amaryllis: He has an off switch. I want one.
vera: No, you don’t.
amaryllis: I’m gonna be useless for a few weeks.
vera: You’re gonna be fine.
amaryllis: Is that kid over there checking me out?
vera: Yeah, see, you’re going to be fine. amaryllis: No, really.
(She points to BRITTANY sitting at a table. She has a lot of books spread out. She keeps looking up from them at VERA and AMARYLLIS. This time she catches their eyes. She waves awkwardly. They have confused looks on their faces. She hesitates and then awkwardly gets up and stumbles over to them.)
brittany: Hey!! How’s it going?
I know, I know, we don’t know each other.
amaryllis: Okay, good, cuz I was gonna be like how do I know you?
brittany: Yeah, no, no, we don’t know each other, but I saw you and I thought you might be great for my study!
amaryllis: Because I’m queer?
brittany: No, because you just, um, You look like a controlled dreamer.
amaryllis: What does a controlled dreamer look like?
brittany: I mean the circles under the eyes, you know.
amaryllis: Ohh, I mean I have trouble sleeping, but I’m not having any exciting dreams. You should really talk to
vera: What’s your name?
brittany: I’m Britt. I’m studying controlled dreaming: lucid dream- ing as resistance. It’s my thesis.
vera: Can’t get more liberal artsy than that, huh?
brittany: Would either of you like to participate in my study?
vera: No. amaryllis: No?
vera: Not for me.
amaryllis: Okay . . . ?
brittany: How about you?
amaryllis: I mean, do I have to be a lucid dreamer?
brittany: No, I teach you that part.
amaryllis: You can teach that?
brittany: Yeah, I’ve taught three levels already.
amaryllis: Damn.
brittany: Never had a student not get it.
vera: Seriously?
brittany: You wanna do it too?
vera: I don’t think I’m interested. When is it?
brittany: We’re meeting on Thursday nights. In the abandoned squash courts. What do you think?
vera: I’m busy.
amaryllis: What time?
scene 5
(TARA writes letter to Twin.)
tara: Dear Twin,
I have watched your YouTube video almost a hundred times. Most of all, I love your rage. I wish I could let out rage like that. I know it’s boiling deep inside me. I feel like I’m not allowed to feel rage. I have to be nice and sweet, and sad is okay but not too sad and not ugly sad and definitely definitely not angry. But I am angry. Because my dad’s dying. So I’m angry. And you make that feel okay.
scene 6
(Association of Controlled Dreamers. BRITTANY stands in front of a group of students: AMBER, TOM, SAMMY, AMARYLLIS, and EDWARD. She organizes her papers.)
brittany: Hi, hi, oh, you’re all, yes, okay,
As we know this has been, uh, this has been Happening with increased regularity that we have been
That we have been dreaming about the Unnameables.
That is what we will call them, although
amber: Excuse me?
brittany: I’ll take questions after the orientation.
amber: I don’t believe in that language choice.
brittany: Yes, well, it is, uh, it is, uh, controversial.
edward: I think it gives us power.
brittany: Yes, so
tom: Can you explain what’s going on,
Cuz I don’t know what you’re talking about.
amber: Are you an infiltrator?
sammy: How’d you find out about this?
tom: I just saw a flyer in the lounge.
amber: Wait, you just put up flyers?
tara: You guys, it’s her thesis.
brittany: Okay, so, yes, I need everyone to quiet down
I’ll just summarize for you now. Briefly.
So the, uh, the Alt-Right. The ones who let us get to this point.
Who let this happen. That’s what we’re really talking about here. We all know who they are.
There’s conflicting
I mean, as we know, some people think not naming them gives us some power, lets us take back some control, disrespect them, resist normalizing what they’ve done and are doing?
amber: Some of us think it’s denying the reality of the situation.
brittany: So, yeah. All of that.
It’s really a Harry Potter situation.
amber: Not naming Voldemort didn’t make anything better in that world either.
brittany: Okay, I’m gonna talk about my research now. So. I want to study the way the Alt-Right permeate our subconscious. What are the images that stick with us and come back to us at night? Like, what was yours?
edward: He was digging in the river.
brittany: He was digging in the river.
Things like that.
What are the images we are taking home with us in this deep way? How are they getting to us? And how can we keep them out? And what can our dreams show us about them?So. I’ll be interviewing you one by one. Your job is to write down your dream as best you can remember it every morning upon wak- ing for the next month. Putting on an alarm is a great idea because when you’re awakened in the middle of REM sleep, you’re more likely to remember.
So. Any questions?
scene 7
(Queer Student Union. SAMMY, VERA, and AMARYLLIS.)
amaryllis: They said it would happen today.
vera: Well, it hasn’t happened yet. sammy: I’ll just put a Google alert.
amaryllis: That doesn’t always work.
vera: Well, what else are we gonna do, just keep refreshing?
amaryllis: Why are the queers always the only ones who show up?
(EDWARD enters holding a pile of heavy books.)
vera: Hey.
edward: I wondered if you guys wanted to watch the vote with me?
amaryllis: Oh, that’s so cute.
sammy: We don’t really watch the votes.
amaryllis: But we could.
vera: Yeah, why not.
sammy: I mean, I don’t like seeing their faces,
Hearing their voices, You know.
edward: Well, if you want to watch, it’s starting
In approximately one minute and twenty-five seconds.
amaryllis: Well, come on, let’s get to it!
sammy: You guys.
vera: You can leave if you want to.
amaryllis: Call it up on your phone, Vers, that’s the strongest signal.
vera: Right, okay.
Here we go.
(She pulls it up on her screen.)
announcer: And now for the vote on S. 927, a historic proposal for shifting school funding.
amaryllis: You mean ending public education forever, motherfuckers!
(Enter TARA and BRITTANY in another room. TARA shovels popcorn into her mouth mindlessly.)
brittany: Wow, babe, are you
tara: I stress-eat, you know I stress-eat.
brittany: Okay, cool.
tara: You want me to keep it to myself, right?
brittany: No, no, spill popcorn all over me, go for it.
tara: It’s the brewers’ yeast that’s really
brittany: I know.
tara: Here they go.
They’re going for it.
They’re really
brittany: I gotta get everything down.
tara: What are you scribbling?
brittany: The colors, the motifs, anything that might appear in a dream, you know.
tara: You really think
brittany: Babe, that’s what’s been happening, okay, people are dreaming of the president, of the senator. So many people dream of him all the time since the election, and we’ve got to study it, we’ve got to know what’s up.
announcer: And at this point we are neck and neck with yes and no votes, with only five remaining senators to break the tie.
sammy: This is depressing.
amaryllis: You can go.
sammy: It’s like a football game, but you already know who’s gonna win.
vera: Isn’t that how all sports games go anyway?
amaryllis: No, sometimes they surprise you.
sammy: But not political votes.
They never surprise you.
announcer: Senator Wilson: Nay.
tara: God, I love him.
vera: YEAAAAHHH!
announcer: Senator Volks: Aye.
vera: BOOOO.
tara: Of course.
announcer: Senator Merks: Aye.
Senator Wallace: Nay.
tara: Here we go, the motherfucker.
sammy: Take it from us, go ahead . . .
announcer: And the vote from Senator Matthews: Nay.
sammy: Wait, what?
brittany: Is that?
amaryllis: It must be a mistake. He must have made a mistake.
vera: Or maybe our messaging really reached him.
sammy: No. Way.
edward: Look, look, what’s . . . ?
amaryllis: Why are they doing that?
brittany: Are they handcuffing him?
sammy: Dude, it’s def not illegal to vote your conscience.
announcer: We have had reports of a breach of security; we apolo- gize, the vote will have to be rescheduled.
amaryllis: Um, wait a minute.
(SENATOR enters. He is dirty looking, his hair all roughed up.)
senator: Constituents,
I am sorry to report
That I have been
Attacked and misrepresented
By none other
Than my twin brother.
He sabotaged me,
Snuck in in my place,
Stealing my vote for S. 927
For his own radical agenda.
(The queers all cheer.)
We are requesting a revote,
And this breach of security is being
Investigated. I remain a staunch
Supporter of S. 927 and in honor
Of my constituents, I will get to the bottom of this!
(Shift. MOTHER prays alone quietly.)
mother: Let the fighting stop
Let the fighting stop
Let the fighting stop
Let the fighting stop
(TARA writes a letter.)
tara: Dear Twin,
You’re the best, you’re the best, you’re the best, you’re the best. My hero.
Tara.
scene 8
(MOTHER and TWIN. At home. MOTHER’s house.)
mother: Why do you do this to your brother?
twin: You should ask instead why does my brother do this to the world.
mother: You shared a womb!
You were both in there
Curled up like little
Blobs of yogurt or something.
I mean you were the same egg.
You’re made of literally
The same material.
twin: Oh, enough with all the metaphors.
mother: Is it too much to ask
That I would have you both in the same room Before I die?
twin: We can never be in the same room again.
We can never be in the same room again.
I shouldn’t even have come to visit you.
It would be very easy for him to find me here.
Except that he never comes to see you so,
mother: Listen to me; I am your mother.
twin: I can take you to the grocery store, or I can do your laundry, but I don’t have time for both.
mother: I am your mother.
I am sick.
I want to see my sons together before I die.
twin: We would fight all the time,
You know we would.
mother: What did I do to create this between you?
You know I pray every day.
I ask, what did I do to create this between you
And what can I do to make it go away?
twin: Mom.
HE did this.
mother: You BOTH did this.
twin: He did this.
mother: Why don’t you leave my house?
twin: You need me to do your laundry.
mother: I don’t need a brother who hates his brother.
twin: Well, then you better kick him out too.
mother: Why don’t you leave my house?
And when you can manage to love your brother again,
Just a little bit,
You can come back.
scene 9
(TARA writes letter to TWIN.)
tara: Dear Twin,
I don’t actually know if you’re getting my letters. I know you’re kind of living, like, on the run in secret, and all I have is this PO Box I found on your website. For all I know, it could be your intern or your publicist reading this letter. Anyway. I don’t know if you know, but there’s a lot of students organized at Francisville University. You know, your home state. The one your evil brother represents. We’re trying to figure out what to do. But the main thing we keep doing. Well. Is dreaming. And we want to do something more. And I thought we could coordinate it with you? Who knows who’s reading these letters.
Also. My dad’s getting worse. I wanted to tell you. I haven’t told any of my friends. Because I don’t want their weird pity looks. But I thought you’d understand. Because you’re Twin. You rule the world.
Love,
Tara.
(TWIN writes a letter to Senator.)
twin: Dear Brother,
Our mother is getting sicker. She can’t finish her own laundry. She can’t walk all the way to the grocery store herself. I have to take her myself. I have to take her in the car. Taking care of her is a lot of work, especially now that her health insurance won’t pay for an aide anymore. Where are you? She would love to see you. Why don’t you call our mother?
Dear Tara,
I’m so glad you have chosen to write to me in paper snail mail.
I do think it is the only form of communication that is still not censored. I am so pleased to hear about the students organizing at Francisville University. In fact. I do have an action for you. Through my private investigative sources, I have established the location of a hidden bungalow where my brother will be spending five days near the end of May with his secret girlfriend. I thought I’d give it to you in case you want to pay him a visit.
Oh. And PS: From now on in communications, let’s use a password somewhere in the letter. And that way we’ll know it’s from us and not someone pretending to be us.
Let’s have the password be melon.
scene 10
(Queer Student Union/Association of Controlled Dreamers meeting. Everyone very loud.)
sammy: Can everyone please quiet down?
amber: Are you running this meeting, or am I running this meeting?
amaryllis: Are we gonna start soon?
brittany: Everyone has homework.
amber: OMG, you’re still doing homework? They are gonna, like, shut down our school in a month. The world’s, like, ending.
sammy: Okay. Everyone. EVERYONE?
(They quiet down. They turn to face him.)
* * *
The proposal on the table: Are we or are we not going to hold a sleep-in on the senator’s lawn.
(Many screams of “Yes, let’s go.”)
amaryllis: Well, hold on a minute, hold on a minute.
amber: Oh god.
amaryllis: I just think we should think about the security concerns.
amber: Of course you do.
amaryllis: Not saying we shouldn’t do it
This is just a part of the process.
sammy: It’s trespassing, that’s for sure.
amber: Oh my god.
vera: Well, it’s something we should all think about. Are we ready to get arrested and, you know, other questions like that.
tom: And how long are we gonna stay?
sammy: Right. Is it just till the weekend, or is it till
amber: Till he abandons the bill, obviously.
tara: Are we gonna put an end date, though?
brittany: Yeah, cuz, like, what about final exams?
amber: Oh my god, you guys.
amaryllis: I do agree that our statement has to be strong.
sammy: And we have to organize a lot of people.
amber: Oh, honestly, you all, what do we have to lose?
social media: We the Francisville Queer Student Union, in collaboration with the Association of Controlled Dreamers, have decided to take action in the name of public education. From now on we will be camping out on the senator’s lawn until he promises to abandon S. 927. If necessary, we will boycott our final exams, forfeit our graduation. In the name of public education for all.
scene 11
(SENATOR in security screenings before entering the Congress.)
senator: I had eggs and toast for breakfastI walked the dog by the river.
security screener: Where by the river?
senator: By the university path.
security screener: How many times have you used the restroom since you went to bed last night?
senator (thinks for a moment): Twice.
security screener: What courses did you take second semester sophomore year?
senator: Oh gosh . . .
Advanced Political Science
Twentieth-Century American History
Economics 303
Calculus.
How many days of the week do we have to do these screenings?
screener: All of them.
senator: Can we just have a password?
screener: Passwords have not been determined secure. It would be too easy for a breach.
senator: Will it be the same questions every time?
screener: New questions.
senator: Why new questions?
screener: To maintain the utmost of security.
To make sure you are not your twin.
scene 12
(TARA and BRITTANY are packing their bags.)
brittany: It’s anyone’s guess how much food to bring.
tara: I’m into the beef jerky.
brittany: Good thing none of us are vegetarians.
tara: I mean, I used to be. Someone will probably do a grocery run, right?
If we end up staying for
I mean we’re not gonna stay for more than a week right?
* * *
(There’s a knock on the door. They both jump.)
brittany: Come. In.
tara: What are you doing?
(The creak of the door. EDWARD appears.)
tara: Oh hey.
edward: Hey. I just thought, uh,
I don’t have anyone to pack with.
I was wondering if I could pack with you guys,
Like, think through the details with you, you know.
The how many layers and food groups to bring
Details.
brittany: Oh sure. We’re already on the food groups detail. Do you have a sleeping bag?
edward: A sort of one.
(He shows them his sleeping bag.)
tara: Uh huh.
I see its weaknesses.
edward: I was debating the merits of losing my virginity in it.
That’s a possibility, right?
During this activity.
brittany: Well, sure.
tara: Any time young people get together unsupervised.
brittany: But all of college is young people getting together unsupervised.
edward: This will also have the novelty aspect,
A new place,
The publicity aspect,
So anyway . . .
tara: There’s the texture to consider.
brittany: Flannel.
tara: Itchy.
brittany: No, cozy! It’s going to be cold.
tara: It’s May.
brittany: We’ll be out there all night. It’s up north.
edward: I went once.
Trip with fam.
Skied, made snowmen.
tara: Oh. Wow. Really cold. But, like, it’s May.
brittany: Someone said snowshoes.
tara: Okay, so I guess flannel is
edward: We’ll need to huddle close to keep warm.
brittany: Who do you think is going to be taking away this virginity of yours?
edward: I take it not you.
brittany: You’re not exactly my
tara: Shh.
Let’s pack.
(SAMMY, AMARYLLIS, and VERA packing.)
vera: I’d like to solidify our thrupple.
amaryllis: God.
vera: Before we head into this.
amaryllis: We just broke up.
Don’t we get any time to be just, like,
Friends? Before?
vera: We’re heading into a dangerous situation here.
sammy: Dangerous?
vera: I mean
amaryllis: The important thing is inventory.
vera: I packed us VERY methodically.
sammy: What’s that mean?
amaryllis: Means she’s a scientist.
sammy: So’m I.
vera: Social scientist.
sammy: What?
vera: Nothing.
sammy: I dare you.
vera: Does. Not. Count.
(They wrestle.)
social media: We were excited at this point. Jittery.
We didn’t let ourselves feel worried yet. We were full of possibility.
(As SOCIAL MEDIA continues, students enter and assemble the sleep-in with lots and lots of gear. It is night.)
Whoa. Check that out. We arrived at twilight. #resistance #takethat- matthews #publiceducationforall. It was in the early hours of the morning. We had been driving and driving through the night. Who wants an education? We have our imagination! Even when they’re dumb as dogs, We refuse to be their cogs! Sunrise press opportunity, check out those smiling faces! (The students pose for photos looking tough. They begin setting up on the lawn in the early morning while it’s still dark. There’s dew. They roll out their sleeping bags next to each other. TOM approaches SAMMY.)
tom: I brought cheese sticks.
sammy: I’m lactose intolerant.
tom: When we met, you were eating cookies-and-cream ice cream.
sammy: It was made from coconut milk.
tom: I’m so dumb. sammy: I’m just kidding.
tom: What does that mean?
sammy: I’m not actually lactose intolerant.
tom: Seriously?
sammy: I’ll eat your cheese sticks anytime.
tom: That sounded
sammy: Sorry.
tom: My sleeping bag is made of feathers,
Y’know, down?
It’s very warm
If you’re ever cold at night you can
sammy: Where’s your sleeping bag?
tom: I haven’t put it down yet.
sammy: Want to put it next to mine?
tom: Um.
amaryllis: Who’s this?
tom: Hi.
sammy: He’s new to the revolution.
tom: Well
sammy: By which I mean babygay.
tom: Um.
sammy: It’s okay, this is just the way we greet our people.
tom: Which people?
amaryllis: Family.
(Elsewhere on the lawn.)
amber: I maintain a three-feet radius around my bag.
edward: Got it.
tara: You know that we were here first, right?
brittany: Honeybunches, there’s no need
tara: Just like we were NOT encroaching on your space. If anything you were encroaching on
brittany: Okay, okay.
amber: There’s not that many people here that I trust.
tara: We really get that. 100 percent.
brittany: You guys, really, let’s do unto others how we want to be treated.
edward: I’m afraid.
amber: You should be.
tara: Oh my god.
amber: You guys know the security risks.
tara: And we take them gladly.
brittany: Maybe we should all sing a song together.
Do a mindfulness meditation.
amber: Or go to sleep.
social media: 5:00 a.m. live from the bungalow lawn.
Others are sleeping but I’m not.
I see everyone’s glowing blue screens hidden in their sleeping bags.
Students aren’t in the habit of sleeping at night.
We sleep sometimes in the morning,
But at night we do other things.
Learn history, study languages, calculate formulas,
Plan secret revolutions.
(Darkness turns to sunrise. Fewer and fewer and fewer students use screens. One by one they fall asleep.
Except for TARA. She stands. She surveys them.)
tara: Their bodies are like
Waves in an ocean.
We fill this whole lawn.
I didn’t know lawns could be
This big.
We don’t know if he’s awake or not.
We don’t know if he’s watching us from the window,
How he passed the night.
I don’t know how to pass the night either.
I lay awake thinking of my father
And why I didn’t visit him
Before coming here.
His organs are spotted with cancer,
And he gets poison medicine once a week,
But now the senator’s vote will keep him
From receiving the poison medicine
That would extend his life some months
We don’t know how many,
But some.
It’s a devil’s bargain,
Poison for more time,
But he chose it
(Most people do),
And I am glad he chose it.
I love him
Even though we disagree on many
Many Many
Things,
Like whether or not
Education should be public
And whether or not women
Can govern
And whether or not
Militaries protect us
And on and on and on.
Still he is my father, And I can’t
Not feel
What is happening
To the organs in his body.
So here I am,
Thinking of my father
And wishing I had gone to visit him
Before I came here.
(Among the “waves.” TOM and SAMMY.)
sammy: They think we’re all asleep.
tom: Yup. Yup. That is, that is, uh,
sammy: I mean, look how quiet everyone’s being.
tom: We could do that too, should do that.
sammy: Or we could kiss.
tom: Oh, right. I had not been thinking about that. Really. Hadn’t.
Not at all.
(They kiss.
MARY approaches the sleep-in; she’s the one who asked the question of the senator on the TV program.)
social media: Oh hey.
mary: Thanks for telling me about this.
social media: No problem.
mary: I’m just gonna watch them sleep now.
social media: Great plan.
(INSIDE the mansion. The SENATOR drinks whiskey and plays check- ers with SECRET GIRLFRIEND.)
secret girlfriend: Silly children.
senator: Silly children.
secret girlfriend: Still out there.
senator: Don’t look. I think they know when we look. And then they think we care.
secret girlfriend: We could turn on the sprinklers on them.
senator: Not yet
We’d look cruel.
secret girlfriend: I thought your aim was looking cruel.
senator: A specific cruel,
Not just any cruel.
The kind of cruel their fathers will admire.
A nurturing teacher
Teaching them a lesson,
Not cruel for the sake of cruel.
secret girlfriend: Of course not.
senator: Unless it’s something you’re doing to me.
secret girlfriend: In the bedroom.
senator: We ought to go there now.
secret girlfriend: Is that what you’d like?
senator: What better way to pass this endless occupied evening?
secret girlfriend: But we’re in the middle of checkers.
(VERA wakes up. MARY sees her.)
vera: Who are you?
mary: Someone who lost god.
vera: What does that mean?
mary: I’ve come to be with the godless.
vera: You look like you don’t believe in showers.
mary: Haven’t felt the need in a while.
vera: Just to, like, keep it real: We are queer, not godless.
mary: The god I’m talking about thinks you’re a sinner.
vera: Cool.
mary: But I don’t believe in that god anymore.
Not since Pastor said some shit about me & my girlfriend.
Not since getting kicked out of school.
vera: Damn.
mary: Do you have a different god?
vera: I don’t really call it that.
What’s your name?
mary: Right now it’s Mary, but I’m looking for a new one.
Mary was my old model,
So.
vera: In Albanian my name means summer.
mary: Vera.
vera: You speak Albanian?
mary: I know another Vera.
vera: Hah. Cool.
mary: Who are all these people?
vera: Oh. They’re trying to dream the same dream.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
They think dreams can do things.
mary: Like what?
vera: I don’t know. My dreams just cause trouble.
scene 13
(SECRET GIRLFRIEND and SENATOR in the bedroom.)
secret girlfriend: Your mind’s really wandering, huh.
senator: Just keep going.
secret girlfriend: You don’t want to do the part where I beat you up?
senator: I don’t know, I mean All those kids on my lawn . . .
A new one just arrived.
See her? All dirty like a ghost.
secret girlfriend: I really can’t . . .
senator: What?
secret girlfriend: Oh my god.
senator: Are you mad at me?
secret girlfriend: Well, like, I’m pulling out all the stops here, And you’re focused on the kids on your lawn.
senator: Sorry, sorry.
secret girlfriend: Bells and whistles, Okay, like, I bought new shit for this. These fishnets weren’t cheap.
senator: I’ll pay you back.
secret girlfriend: That’s not the point.
senator: Right, of course not.
So sorry.
secret girlfriend: Okay.
For one second
Don’t focus on the children populating your lawn.
senator: They’re not children; they’re like my age.
secret girlfriend: Work with me here.
senator: Okay, okay.
secret girlfriend: Look into my eyes.
senator: Oh yeah, oh yeah . . .
secret girlfriend: And prepare to be Decimated.
scene 14
(Meeting of the Association of Controlled Dreamers on the lawn.)
vera: Are we ready?
tara: I’d say so.
mary: I’ve never seen anything like this before.
tom: This night has been life changing for me.
amaryllis: I’m cold, and there’s rocks scraping my neck.
brittany: Do you want my extra pillow?
amaryllis: Guess so.
I don’t want to say I want to go home, but . . .
I want to go home.
sammy: Not all of us have to stay for the whole
amber: Yes, we do. We all all all do.
vera: Okay. I’m gonna press send.
Is everyone
I mean are we all
Ready? For me to, uh,
amber: DO IT!
vera: Okay, okay. Here goes.
social media: Day Two:
The Association of Controlled Dreamers
Here now assembled outside Senator Matthews’s house Proclaim our ongoing demands
That must be met
Before we will leave the premises Of Senator Matthews’ house.
So. Here goes.
Free and equal public education for all, All school debt forgiven,
All schools sanctuary spaces protected from ICE,
AND, most importantly,
The senator must yield his seat up to his twin.
Until these demands are met,
We will stay here.
We will sleep here.
Live our lives here.
We are barricading the senator in.
We’ll see what he does next.
(TWIN in his hotel room listens to this.)
twin: Yes.
Yes yes yes yes yes.
(TWIN is suddenly aware of someone standing outside his hotel room.
He approaches the door slowly.
He glances through the crack.
JOB MAN approaches.
He’s dressed all in black and holding a gun.
TWIN sees him through the crack and stiffens up.)
twin: I know you’re out there.
(Quiet.)
I chose the Sheraton for a reason.
You can’t break down these doors without creating a problem.
What’s your name?
I know you’re there.
We can make this easy, or we can make this hard.
I’ve got weapons too.
They’re not weapons like yours.
But they’ll work on you.
You can try all you want to keep track of me.
I can see how this game is gonna work. You’re gonna follow me everywhere until you’ve got me cornered, that right?
Okay, okay. You can keep trying that.
I’m a con artist, so
It won’t be, like,
Easy.
Just so you know.
But you can keep going.
Just so you know, the man you’re working for is the most evil one in the world. I can say that because he’s my brother. He has no heart. That’s what I think to myself. When we were in utero and we were divided from one egg? I got two hearts and he got none. I just thought you’d want to know that.
So. What’s your personal life like?
You dating?
What do you put on your dating profile?
(JOB MAN cleans his gun softly.)
scene 15
(The Lawn. TOM and SAMMY. Everyone else is asleep.)
tom: For everyone else it was a time of fighting.
I mean for me too, but also of, of, of,
sammy: Becoming?
tom: Those nights were slippery ones.
Those nights were nights of
Sliding into his sleeping bag
And setting out to sea.
I learned the smell of grass and sweat with my throat pounding in my chest.
sammy: We could, uh,
Make love
All night long?
tom: Sometimes we felt guilty.
sammy: You did.
tom: Well, we’re here for important reasons.
sammy: But I knew that no revolution is complete without,
You know,
Romance.
tom: Shit.
sammy: Whatever happens
After this long week on this suburban lawn,
I yanked your gay virginity out of you here,
And you promptly exploded into my favorite darkness.
Thanks for bringing me back to my body again.
(The others wake up. They make a circle and start the dream report back.)
social media: Day three. We dreamt of:
tara: Dogs. Not nice ones—angry, barking dogs.
edward: A lilac tree.
amaryllis: Someone was trying to get a letter to me, and it got lost in the mail.
sammy: A closed door, and I knew a little woman lived behind it, and she doesn’t open it; for some reason she’s afraid of something.
tom: A man alone in a hotel room.
amber: Silence.
brittany: What do you mean silence?
amber: I dreamed of silence.
brittany: But silence is, like, a sound thing, you don’t usually dream just sounds.
amber: I do.
brittany: Anything from anyone else?
Okay, so I know that a lot has changed, and not everyone has been able to, uh, to, uh, write down all your dreams during our time here, but I’m gonna pass out this questionnaire, and if we could all, uh, if we could all, uh, just fill it out and give it back to me before the evening, that would be great.
mary: I dreamed of losing my shoes.
amaryllis: No shit, me too.
brittany: Why didn’t you say that in the go-arounds?
amaryllis: I forgot until just now.
brittany: That often maps onto a fear of losing identity.
mary: I’ve lost my identity for sure.
amaryllis: Have I?
amber: Okay real-talk everyone? We have to escalate; our plan isn’t working.
mary: How do you know it isn’t working?
amber: I mean he hasn’t abandoned the bill yet, hasn’t met any of our demands yet.
brittany: Well, sure, but he might still. I mean, who knows, he might be in there considering it.
amber: He’s not in there considering it.
vera: Yeah, no. He’s in there getting fucked by his secret girlfriend.
mary: Maybe let’s talk to him. I could knock on his door.
amber: Whoa, whoa, whoa, security risk?
mary: Mmm, I’m a nice Christian girl; I can get away with a lot.
amaryllis: You look like kinda scary right now.
mary: I’ll just knock on the door. Remind him how we know each other, and ask him about that school bill. Sound good?
scene 16
(MARY knocks on SENATOR’s door. All the others stand behind her and watch her. They wave to her. They know she can do this.
She knocks.
He doesn’t enter.)
social media: He was upstairs in the midst of lovemaking with his secret girlfriend.
They were really getting into it.
In the midst of their first ever
Simultaneous orgasm,
So she’s pretty frustrated that he, uh, that he, uh, was
Ugggh
Interrupted.
(He stomps to the door.)
mary: Wow. Didn’t think it would be you.
senator: Um.
mary: Do you remember me?
senator: I’m gonna call the police.
They’re not gonna be nice this time.
They’re on my side, not yours.
mary: Do you remember me?
senator: Also, my alarm system is really annoying.
Really loud.
Really annoying.
mary: Do you remember me?
senator: Stop saying that.
mary: You should.
senator: You’ve what,
You’ve been on my lawn for a week; is that what you’re talking about?
mary: Well, I’m new.
I actually think you noticed
When I joined.
senator: I haven’t been paying attention.
mary: But we knew each other before that.
senator: How?
mary: Well, uh,
I asked you a question once.
senator: So . . .
mary: On a TV show.
senator: I’ve done a lot of press,
So I probably wouldn’t remember.
mary: I asked you about god.
senator: Sure.
mary: And I’d like to ask you the same question again.
senator: What is the question?
mary: How has god helped you?
(A long pause.
SENATOR closes the door.
The students cheer.)
scene 17
social media: The days and nights blurred together. It was day and night and day and night, and then it was a week. #lawnselfie #thisiswhatoneweeklookslike #matthewsgetouthere #wewontquit- tillyoudo #sayyessoon? I don’t wanna miss final exams. I wanna graduate.
tara: What if he dies while I’m here?
brittany: You should go see him.
tara: Remember when he looked and acted healthy, but he was not?
brittany: Of course.
tara: It went on for so long.
We knew there were things eating his organs, but
He didn’t look sick.
brittany: He lost his hair.
tara: He was a middle-aged man; they just do that, they just lose their hair.
brittany: Not that old.
tara: I wish I could share him with these people,
With this movement.
brittany: I wish that too.
tara: But I’m nervous. They’ll judge me. Or him.
social media: We had every conversation:
Loving conversations.
Fighting conversations.
Anxious conversations.
It is getting late in the process.
We want to go home.
We are all stinky.
Because there is nowhere to shower.
I mean, we take turns going to the gym.
The YWCA, but it’s far away.
Not many people can go there at a time.
So, you know, we’re starting to get stinky.
amber: Dear Senator,
For a week, as you know, I have lived on your lawn. I have subsisted on crackers and granola bars.
I have gotten to know my smell.
Not my sweaty smell.
The smell that comes after the smell
That I am used to
When I don’t shower for just one
Or two
Or three days.
But there is another smell.
And I know it well now.
First it was bad and then it was good
And then it was bad again and then it
Just was.
All week our unshowered smells blend together.
It’s sweet and salty and bitter and angry.
The smell of not giving up.
tom: Do you think about what might happen if we actually miss final exams?
sammy: Of course not. We’ll win by then.
tom: If you miss your final exams, you might not.
sammy: Shh.
tom: Well, it’s worth thinking about,
What you might do if you don’t graduate.
sammy: We’re not there yet.
Try to sleep.
* * *
(They fall asleep.
But then VERA wakes up.
And they all wake up. They turn to look at her.)
vera: I saw it.
The face in a river.
Twisting as it was being Yanked downstream.
But I don’t know whose head it was.
The twin’s or the senator’s.
They look the same.
scene 18
(MOTHER and SENATOR talk on the phone. SENATOR is in his house. He stares out the window watching the students.)
mother: Please come see me, please. It would make me so happy.
senator: I’m stuck at my house; there’s students camped out here.
mother: You can do anything!
senator: No, I actually can’t.
mother: You move the world!
senator: You’re going to try to get a reconciliation, aren’t you,
Of me and Twin?
mother: No. Why would you think that?
senator: Do you ever regret just naming him Twin? That’s such a weird thing to do.
mother: I just want to see you.
You’re my special son!
You’re the one who set new records,
The one who breaks all the rules.
I might not agree with you, but I miss you and want to see you.
senator: Well, you can’t.
* * *
(He hangs up the phone. SECRET GIRLFRIEND enters.)
secret girlfriend: Nothing’s going to happen.
senator: I feel like they’ll know if I’m gone.
secret girlfriend: How would they know? They’re self-absorbed college students.
senator: I just don’t want them to follow me.
I don’t want them to know where my mother lives.
secret girlfriend: Why do you care about protecting her? You never see her.
senator: Because she’s my mother.
secret girlfriend: But you, ugh,
You barely have a relationship with her.
senator: Could you say nice things to me, please?
secret girlfriend: Sorry.
I’d go with you.
senator: What?
secret girlfriend: Go with you to see your mother.
senator: Why would you do that?
secret girlfriend: Because you You care about me right?
I’m
We’re important to
Each other, so
Don’t you want me to meet your mother?
What?
senator: What did you think this was?
secret girlfriend: Right, I’m a secret.
Sorry.
social media: Not trying to make any assumptions, but I really think he might be getting kind of desperate in there. Like, what’s he saying on the phone to his higher-ups? You know what I mean?
senator: Hi, yeah, oh yes, absolutely, well, I’m sorry to hear that, no, I’m sorry to say I won’t be able to attend in person, yes, I apologize for the inconvenience, well, you see, there’s been extenuating circumstances, as in they have literally extended the circumstances of my visit home, which was originally intended just to come and fuck my secret girlfriend out of wedlock here in sin, but now there are oodles of angry college students skipping class to lounge on my front lawn, as though it is spring break, it is not spring break, it is not even close to spring break, it is May! By the time it is spring break again, they will not be students anymore or at least that is what I hope, but, well, oh, instead of attending, I’ll be sitting here alone inside. And I know you want me there.
I know.
But my hands are tied.
social media: Strategy update. From the Association of Controlled Dreamers.
It has now been one week and one day. And so we are escalating.
We are approaching the Senator one by one. We are saying things like:
(VERA comes to SENATOR’s door.)
vera: I dreamed your death.
senator: Your name means Albanian summer.
vera: Or it might have been your brother’s death.
I’m the best dreamer as much as I hate it.
My dreams are real.
senator: What if you don’t make it?
What if you have to attend summer school
Because you don’t take your final exams
Because you’re still here. Aren’t your exams starting any minute?
vera: Well, we were hoping you would abandon the bill before our final exams
So that we could all graduate. Just saying.
social media: And things like:
tara: I am the one with the near-dead father,
Just in case you don’t remember.
social media: There are so many characters in this play.
Sometimes I have to remind you who they all are.
So you can keep it straight.
(TARA knocks on the door.)
senator: I’m bored.
tara: That’s good. A lot of us are bored too.
senator: But you’re not going to leave.
tara: They sent me because, because . . .
senator: What do you need?
tara: For you to meet our demands. Abandon the bill.
senator: Nice try.
tara: What I really want to say
senator: Yes?
tara: Is that I feel like you’re killing my father.
senator: I’m sorry.
tara: He wants to stay alive to see me graduate.
Sorry, that’s not where I should start, I should
Start somewhere else, he’s, uh,
He’s sick.
senator: I’m sorry.
tara: I don’t think you are.
senator: I’m sorry that you don’t think I am, because I am.
tara: Anyway the, uh, the cancer has, uh, It has, uh, infected his, uh, his, uh,
Organs, and I don’t actually
Actually I, uh, I brought you
I brought you a picture.
senator: What?
tara: This is my father’s pancreas.
senator: Um.
tara: That’s the cancer.
That right there.
A healthy pancreas wouldn’t have this. But his pancreas isn’t healthy.
And this is his liver.
You’ll notice some of the, uh,
The cancer has spread.
senator: Yes, I do notice.
tara: Yeah, so all of that is gonna kill him.
senator: Really?
tara: Oh yeah.
It’s shocking, huh?
Something soft and small and even
In some ways beautiful
Like that cancer
Could kill a guy, but
Yeah, it really, really could,
Really, really will.
He doesn’t have a ton of time left.
senator: I’m sorry.
tara: You can stop saying that.
senator: I’m sorry.
tara: You can stop saying that.
So anyway,
He’s trying to make it until I graduate,
And I’m not gonna take my final exams
Until you abandon the school bill
And so, and so, and so . . .
senator: And so.
tara: Here we are.
senator: Yes.
tara: I’m asking you to abandon the school bill
So that my father can see me graduate.
scene 19
(SENATOR at lunch with his SECRET GIRLFRIEND.)
social media: They had wine with lunch. They ate tuna salad and fruit.
They planned to brush their teeth before kissing.
Senator doesn’t care for tuna breath.
senator: I’ve come to enjoy their stories.
secret girlfriend: You can’t be serious.
senator: Oh yeah. I’ve come to enjoy standing there and responding to them.
Putting on my best charm. Letting them think I’m listening, really absorbing their stories, taking them into account, changing.
But their time would be better spent raising money. They ought to know that by now. That’s the only thing that would make me sign it.
secret girlfriend: But would you, though? Would you sign the bill if they came up with the money and got it to you?
senator: No.
secret girlfriend: That’s what I thought.
senator: I have a constituency to appease.
secret girlfriend: So, there is actually nothing at all they could do to get you to sign it.
senator: No.
secret girlfriend: So why don’t you kick them out?
senator (butters his toast): Because if I wait long enough, they’ll go.
They’ll get hungry and bored and tired.
Or they’ll decide it’s in their best interest to graduate.
secret girlfriend: But you didn’t decide that.
senator: I’m a special case.
scene 20
(TARA and BRITTANY on the lawn.
SENATOR and SECRET GIRLFRIEND in the house.)
tara: If I don’t go now
brittany: I know.
tara: But what if . . . ?
brittany: You only have one father.
He’s only going to die once.
(INSIDE the house.)
senator: Just a quick trip.
secret girlfriend: It’ll be quicker if you take the limo.
senator: I can’t draw attention to it.
I can’t let the students see, the news.
I need to leave undetected.
secret girlfriend: They’ll never let you.
They notice everything.
senator: Just wait until the next one comes to the door.
You answer. And they’ll all be watching.
And I’ll sneak out the back.
(OUTSIDE.)
tara: Don’t tell the others I’m gone. I’ll be back by morning.
scene 21
(AMARYLLIS approaches to talk to SENATOR. But instead of him answering the door, it’s SECRET GIRLFRIEND.)
secret girlfriend: Hey. amaryllis: I’m looking for Senator.
secret girlfriend: I know you are.
I’m intercepting.
amaryllis: Who are you?
secret girlfriend: The one who fucks him.
amaryllis: I thought as much.
secret girlfriend: I have the look of it, huh?
You know he’s very sweet when I beat him up.
He does whatever I tell him.
amaryllis: That must be nice.
secret girlfriend: My favorite thing.
You don’t know what it’s like to beat up powerful men.
It’s the best feeling.
amaryllis: It’s funny that this is what you look like.
secret girlfriend: Am I not what you thought?
amaryllis: I think I’ve dreamed of you.
secret girlfriend: How could that be?
amaryllis: We’re controlled dreamers out here.
We’re trying to dream our way inside your house.
secret girlfriend: Have you done it yet?
amaryllis: Almost. Well, one of us. Never mind.
What do you think about the school bill?
secret girlfriend: I try not to get too into politics.
amaryllis: That’s a lie.
secret girlfriend: You don’t know me.
amaryllis: You’re sleeping with Senator Matthews.
secret girlfriend: I like him for his personality, not his job.
amaryllis: Do you have college debt? s
ecret girlfriend: I have some.
amaryllis: How much is some?
secret girlfriend: Okay, I have a lot of college debt.
amaryllis: And you don’t want it to be forgiven.
secret girlfriend: Senator Matthews will pay for it.
amaryllis: And you don’t want everyone else to get theirs forgiven?
secret girlfriend: Why is that my business?
amaryllis: Well, that’s like what the school bill is.
secret girlfriend: You know, I used to be an ugly small-town girl, and now I have a powerful boyfriend. One of the most powerful men in the country. Some would say THE most powerful. And at night I get to dominate him. Which means I’m more powerful than the most powerful man in the country.
amaryllis: The point of your story being?
secret girlfriend: Work harder.
Survival of the fittest.
No forgiving loans.
amaryllis: Wow, okay.
secret girlfriend: I got by.
Others can too.
amaryllis: Do you really think that, though?
I don’t think you do.
And if you’re more powerful than your powerful boyfriend . . .
Why does he keep you a secret?
scene 22
(Dream Circle.)
tom: Cake.
vera: The same.
edward: A man getting beat up by a woman.
amber: Senator tightening his tie.
vera: Really?
brittany: Shh.
edward: Alligator.
sammy: Cactus.
amber: Well, half of that was useless.
brittany: Not necessarily.
amber: Well, how’s it going to help?
brittany: We’ll see.
amber: How will we see?
(TWIN approaches.)
twin: Help. Melon.
(They freeze.)
brittany: Senator?
twin: I’m not the senator.
amber: What?
twin: I’m Twin.
brittany: Uh, are you sure?
amber: Because you look like the senator.
twin: We are identical twins
As you know.
brittany: Well, yeah, but, like,
twin: My brother is trying to kill me, and I need your help.
Hide me.
brittany: How do we know you are who you say you are?
twin: Melon.
Melon?
I have a password with the one, the one
amber: But we don’t know what it is.
twin: Shit.
brittany: You seem like you’re in a hurry.
twin: Well, I’m running for my life here.
sammy: I really didn’t think it would happen like this.
edward: Yeah, you’re a con artist, I mean, I thought you’d have a slicker way of
twin: Where’s the one, the one who’s been writing to me?
amber: Oh, you mean
brittany: Tara. He means Tara.
amber: Well, where is she?
brittany: She, uh.
She, uh.
(Back to AMARYLLIS and SECRET GIRLFRIEND.)
secret girlfriend: Is that my boyfriend?
amaryllis: What?
secret girlfriend: Over there on the lawn.
amaryllis: Wait, seriously?
secret girlfriend: I don’t understand why he would do that.
amaryllis: I thought he was in the house.
secret girlfriend: He went to go visit his mother.
amaryllis: Wait, he left?
secret girlfriend: I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.
amaryllis: Yeah, I bet you weren’t.
GUYS! He’s not in there! Let’s get in there! See what we can use as blackmail! C’mon!! CHARGE!!
(A lot of students charge into the senator’s house.)
secret girlfriend: Wait, guys, wait, wait
twin: Wait, wait, wait, someone please help and protect me!
I’m being followed for my life.
scene 23
social media: If he had taken the limo, he wouldn’t have had this problem.
(SENATOR enters sneaking around, hiding. He approaches his mother’s house.)
But if he took the limo, they would know where he was. Instead, he walked, and his shirt and everything got covered with dirt and ripped, and that was part of the problem. He didn’t really look very presentable.
(INSIDE the house MOTHER clicks on the news.)
social media: We are now halfway through the second week of student occupation of Senator Matthews’s private lawn. Rumor has it that despite owning two other properties, Senator Matthews has preferred to stay at his vacation home during this occupation to really make it clear to the students that he has no intention of heeding their message.
(SENATOR knocks on the door.
MOTHER peers out the window.)
social media: She was the only person in the world who didn’t get them mixed up.
And so her heart skipped a beat.
(MOTHER moves to the door. She thrusts it open.)
mother: It’s been so long—
(And then there’s a crack: The bullet.)
social media: She felt silly then.
She thought she should have known.
(SENATOR crumples slowly.)
senator: It’s so cold for May.
Why is it so cold at your house
When it’s so warm at mine?
They’re not so far apart.
I didn’t have to travel very
Oh, but I do feel so
Exhausted from the journey.
It’s suddenly, I maybe
Need to sit down, I maybe
Need to have a drink of water.
I, could you text Michael, I’ll get him
The brief tomorrow, I was going to do it
Today, but suddenly I’m
Mom, mom, mom, could you,
Could you bring me a blanket, mom,
Bring me a blanket, mom, blanket
Mom, be my my blanket mom.
mother: I should have known.
I shouldn’t have pressured him.
(She wraps a blanket around him on the ground.)
job man: There were security procedures.
I was supposed to text Senator to make sure,
On the secret-secret phone,
Even more secret than the phone most people think is his secret phone,
But I didn’t. I just, I just,
I just shot.
senator: Mostly I wished I had loved harder.
* * *
(SENATOR dies.
The students step forward.)
brittany: We had to walk back to school after that.
sammy: Slowly and stinky.
mary: I went too.
secret girlfriend: And so did I.
mary: Even though we weren’t students there.
secret girlfriend: Even though I was devastated.
amaryllis: Even though we were exhausted and dehydrated.
secret girlfriend: And some of us were sobbing.
amaryllis: We felt—can I say it?
amber: A quiet victory walking home.
tom: We clutched hands,
Some of us.
vera: What happened there on that lawn
brittany: It would be with us forever.
(TARA stands over her dad in the hospital.)
tara: You can’t talk, Dad.
I’m coming from the senator’s lawn.
I know how you feel about that.
I know you don’t think I should be there.
I just wanted to be honest now.
Let you know.
twin: I never felt that we shared a womb until that moment,
But I did then.
I felt something
On his lawn so far away,
Something broken from me,
Something broken in me.
tara: Right now all my friends are walking home.
Walking from the lawn back to school.
They’ll arrive just in time for final exams.
amaryllis: We hadn’t studied
vera: All that time on the lawn.
amaryllis: You’d think we would have studied,
edward: But we didn’t.
amber: We were engaged in other matters, okay.
And they were important.
brittany: I was collecting data.
sammy: I arrived just in time for my statistics final.
I knew I needed to pass to graduate.
amber: For me it was French.
That dumb foreign language requirement.
amaryllis: Political science.
edward: American history.
tara: I just want you to know, Dad. The things I learned from you
Discipline, follow-through,
Perseverance, moving towards
Passion, fighting for the ones you love
Those are the most important lessons.
Everything else is just surface.
The way you do it, not the meat of it.
sammy: Somehow, even though we hadn’t studied at all,
EVERYONE: We all passed.
(END OF PLAY.)
Read more from Issue 15.1.
