Landscape with Still Life
(a 60-second adaptation)
TIME: A few years down the road.
CAST:
MAHLER An older man, distracted; this shows in his manner and dress. He is in his mid-30s at least, but looks to be 50 or older.
JUDGE A wily, and almost feral man, probably in his mid-20s. "Judge" is a nickname, not an appointed title, in his case.
DI Young woman, mid-teens to early 20s, wiry, nervous and hypervigilant. She wears a brass torque around her neck.
DUCK Younger than DI, but the same physical type, more anxious, furtive in her movements. She wears the same torque, and dresses much like DI. She may be mute.
PLACE: Utah. The Salt Flats. Greyish road salt on a tarp may be used to suggest the setting. A rail line runs across the upstage wall. Use a rope or copper tubing to suggest this. A railroad hand car, sporting an improvised canopy, sits on the rails, Upstage Left. Mime it, using a paper parasol; or use a 2D cut-out. MAHLER stands Down Right, at an easel, which holds a large, just-started canvas, the beginning of a landscape. An office-type pad of brainstorming paper will do. JUDGE, DI and DUCK stand Down Left. DI carries an AK-47. It may be plastic. JUDGE chews on a cigar. It could be a pen if the budget cannot handle the cost of a cigar.
60-second edit:
JUDGE
What use is it?
MAHLER
What?
JUDGE
You heard me — what use is it?
MAHLER
What use is what?
JUDGE
Screw this. The painting, schmuck! What use is it? (MAHLER barely opens his mouth. JUDGE gestures, knife-like.) Don't talk. Di! Front! Watch the artist. I gotta think this out.
JUDGE leaves the stage. DI and DUCK remain to watch MAHLER. DI holds an AK-47, which she waves now and then in MAHLER's direction. MAHLER and DI stare at each other through a (very) brief silence.
MAHLER
What hold's he got on you?
DI
(Pause)
Shut up Mister Man.
MAHLER
Why?
DI
'Cause you don't . . . Duck'll hurt you. (Laughs) Yeah, Duck?
DUCK nods. MAHLER starts to speak.
DI
Din't I already tell you shut up?
DI lets loose a short burst of gunfire at MAHLER's feet. It could be water from a squirtgun if there's no sound budget.
DI
You know what the Judge he's thinkin' doncha? (Pause) He's calclatin' out what you're worth . . . dead ... live . . . what's more 'ficient. (Pause) Cos' 'fective. (Laughs) You a bettin' man, Mister?
MAHLER
(Pause)
I should have known.
DI
Yeah, you shoulda. Why din'tcha?
MAHLER
I missed something.
DI
Fuckin' A. What am I suppost t' tell you? Give you whole history lesson? You axed me what . . . what hold he has? You see this? (DI points to her torque.) This is the hold! He owns me, mofo asshole! An' people like you let it happen. (Pause) Hell, now I think I'll just sit an' watch. This should be good . . . either way.
MAHLER
What? What you talkn' 'bout?
DI
Haven't you figured out yet? I haff spell ev'ything out?
MAHLER
Guess so.
DI
Look. Two pos'bil'ties. One, he offs you, sells your hide, whatever else. . . Two . . . you get a pretty lil' necklace. Just like mine. Just like Duck's. (Pause) Vagrancy laws got real tough while you were away, Mister Man. He's got what they call clear salvage rights.
DI watches as understanding creeps across MAHLER's face. She begins laughing hysterically. FADE TO BLACK. DI's laughter amplifies and reverberates, then fades.
Comments:
In its longer, 5 to 10-minute form, this piece was written with the idea that it would be expanded further, into a three-act — or at least a one-act — play. It was also written as a response to some frustration felt in a playwriting group that shall remain nameless, sponsored by a Philadelphia-area university that should also probably remain nameless.
I'd presented a number of scenes to that group from other works in progress that had elicited the usual — "it's evocative, the characters are interesting, but what's 'happening'?" sort of comments. I wrote this just to present something with a very clear, active through-line, to demonstrate that yes, I could write something more clearly event-driven than was my usual preference, at least when presenting draft scenes for feedback. It was one of those exercises that comes out of what seemed a trivial place and took on a life of its own.
But for the life of me, I couldn't think how to expand it, and is has sat, undeveloped, for about 14 years. Members of the group expressed the same sort of concerns when it was presented, namely: How are you going to sustain that sort of intensity for an entire play? Where does it go from here?
One possible answer: it goes much shorter. The last revision of the piece before it was trimmed to meet the 60-second mandate is available on request to parties with some interest in production.