Scene Detail
"We invited that rock through the window. We were begging for it. We just didn’t think - at all - about who it might hit. We didn’t care."
| From: But Not For Love | | 2 Characters |
| Gender |
Age |
Character Name |
| Female |
30's |
ELEANOR |
| Male |
30's |
PATRICK |
Setup:
Eleanor and Ephram, sister and brother, are both getting married on the same day. And they’re each getting married to a man. With protesters, policemen and a TV news crew outside the church, inside the couples are split over what their day and their ceremony should mean, to themselves or anyone else.
Patrick, Ephram’s groom, agrees with Eleanor that they all need to make a statement by getting married. But Roland, Eleanor’s groom, and Ephram both just want a simple ceremony and a quiet day.
But a protester outside has thrown a rock through the church’s stained glass window and hit Ephram in the head. After some anxious moments of unconsciousness, Ephram awakens to blast everyone for their role in setting up the ceremony in order to bring on this confrontation in the first place, and stalks off to wait for his ambulance in peace, separate from the rest of the group.
Eleanor takes Ephram’s shell-shocked groom Patrick aside to re-group.
(The scene of the rock’s immediate aftermath, preceding this one, is also available for viewing under the tag quote -
"Oh, that’s right, even ELVIS WON’T MARRY US! And he’ll marry anyone! We should probably take that as a hint, don’t you think?!"
- In the larger playscript itself, this conversation is interwoven with two other conversations - between Ephram and Roland, and Duke and the Duchess. Both are also available for viewing under the tag quotes
- "Yup, just follow the trail of blood through the church and you’re bound to find me sooner or later."
and
- "When did the world become so complicated?")
The full script in hard copy is available at
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or as a pdf at
http://www.lulu.com/shop/matthew-everett/but-not-for-love/ebook/product-17515788.html
?or as a digital ebook at
http://www.lulu.com/shop/matthew-a-everett/but-not-for-love-a-wedding-comedy-drama-in-one-act/ebook/product-16792663.html
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and the iTunes bookstore
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Scenecopyright 2006 by Matthew A. Everett
Another part of church.
PATRICK
I didn’t want --
ELEANOR
I never wanted --
PATRICK
The last thing I wanted --
ELEANOR
If I thought for a minute that he’d --
PATRICK
I didn’t think.
ELEANOR
I never thought anyone would --
PATRICK
What was I thinking?
The blood.
ELEANOR
The tomatoes.
PATRICK
The window.
ELEANOR
The dress.
PATRICK
The rock.
ELEANOR
The police.
PATRICK
The protesters.
ELEANOR
The guests.
(pause)
I grew up in this church. Ephram grew up in this church. I thought we were safe here. Even when the minister backed out on us I still thought -- as long as we were in this sanctuary -- I thought, at least here, we’d be safe.
PATRICK
This isn’t what I wanted but it was exactly what we were asking for. If you provoke --
ELEANOR
We couldn’t have known.
PATRICK
Don’t be naive. You knew. I knew. Roland and Ephram certainly knew. It’s why they didn’t want anything to do with it.
ELEANOR
What’s the alternative?
PATRICK
Go on with our lives. Together. And just be grateful we managed to find one another.
ELEANOR
And to hell with trying to make anything better for anybody else.
PATRICK
How does this - any of this -- Ephram nearly --
ELEANOR
You can’t back down. It’s just prejudice. It’s just ignorance. In the end, they can’t win. Unless we let them.
PATRICK
The Dark Ages.
ELEANOR
The Renaissance.
PATRICK
These people aren’t stupid.
ELEANOR
I’m not saying they are.
PATRICK
You’re treating them like they are. We both are. We’ve decided they’re wrong, so they need to change. We don’t even look at ourselves.
ELEANOR
You can’t be serious.
PATRICK
What if they’re right?
ELEANOR
They’re not right.
PATRICK
They seem pretty certain they are. As certain as we are.
ELEANOR
You’re not threatening them.
PATRICK
They threaten me. They scare me. Why shouldn’t it go both ways? Why is my fear any more real or valid or rational or justified?
ELEANOR
They’re throwing rocks at churches.
PATRICK
We’re molesting their children.
ELEANOR
OK, now you’re trying to provoke me.
PATRICK
That’s what they think, isn’t it? Why is it wrong to be scared for your children?
ELEANOR
It’s not. Of course it’s not. But the vast majority, damn near all child molesters are heterosexual. You know this.
PATRICK
And damn near all antigay protesters still don’t throw rocks. They’re not all the same, they’re not all monsters, any more than we are.
ELEANOR
The facts don’t add up. That’s not really what they’re scared of.
PATRICK
Tell me what they want. At this point, I’d do it. Just to keep him safe. Just to make sure nothing like this ever --
ELEANOR
They’re scared of change. And things need to change. They always change. They wish they didn’t have to deal with you, that they could explain you away, pretend you didn’t really exist. But you do exist. My brother exists.
PATRICK
Well, we all nearly fixed that, now didn’t we?
ELEANOR
We didn’t do anything.
PATRICK
We invited that rock through the window. We were begging for it. We just didn’t think - at all - about who it might hit. We didn’t care.
ELEANOR
Of course we care.
PATRICK
We care too much. We want too much. We ask too much.
ELEANOR
No. We don’t.
PATRICK
We want it too fast. We’re impatient. We should be willing to wait.
ELEANOR
No one should have to wait for the world to be a better place. The world doesn’t change on its own. You have to force it. Demand it.
PATRICK
We’re asking someone to give up the world they know, the world they’re comfortable with, just because it’s not the world we want. What gives us the right?
ELEANOR
You have every right.
PATRICK
And they have every right to say, “No.”
ELEANOR
Do you want to change?
PATRICK
I can’t change.
ELEANOR
Oh yes you can. Find the right therapist, the right church, the right support group --
PATRICK
I couldn’t stop loving Ephram if I tried with everything I had. I could play a role, but I’d be dead inside. That’s not a life.
ELEANOR
Then you need to be willing to fight. You know that.
PATRICK
So how do I do that and not drag Ephram into the crossfire with me?
ELEANOR
You can’t. Not if you stand together.
PATRICK
I can’t lose him.
ELEANOR
Then don’t.
copyright 2006 by Matthew A. Everett
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