Something else

I created this blog back in December when I decided to give up theatre for good and start studying English, but I have neglected it severely since then. To add some content, here is a scene I wrote for an acting class last year:



"Cathy: Did you see the bill?

Reid: Yeah, I think so. What do you want for supper?

Cathy: It was high.

Reid: Oh. Do we still have potatoes, or did they go bad?

Cathy: Have you spent more time on the phone than usual this month?

Reid: Nope, don’t think so. Here, we could have rice instead.

Cathy: I called the phone company.

Reid: You didn’t have to do that.

Cathy: Apparently I did. Were you going to tell me?

Reid: Tell you what, Cathy? Tell you what?

Cathy: You know damn well what! How many calls to Baltimore? How many hours?

Reid: I know people in Baltimore, Cathy. I have friends in Baltimore. Sometimes I like to talk to them. I have as much right to call them as you do to call your friends in Seattle. Maybe I should call the phone company about that?

Cathy: You know Jocelyn in Baltimore.

Reid: You still have exes in Seattle, but that doesn’t mean every time you call Seattle you’re arranging to cheat on me. Relax, please, and stop letting your imagination run away with you. How should I cook the chicken?

Cathy: So, you haven’t called Jocelyn?

Reid: For the last time, Cathy, just let it go. You are so paranoid, sometimes I can’t breathe. You need to be more trusting.

Cathy: Do I, Reid? Do I need to just ignore my gut instincts and accept everything you say as truth? Is that what you want me to do?

Reid: That is what people do when the love each other. They trust each other and don’t interrogate them every time they use the damn phone. That is how normal people treat each other.

Cathy: People who love each other don’t keep secrets.

Reid: You think I’m keeping secrets?

Cathy: Who did you call in Baltimore?

Reid: Friends.

Cathy: Friends, plural?

Reid: You heard me.

Cathy: The phone company said it was the same number over and over again.

Reid: Then why did you ask? Why did you ask if you already knew the answer? This is what I’m talking about when I say you don’t trust me. How can I talk to you if you try to trap me?

Cathy: You lied to me! I have to trap you or else I can never get the truth!

Reid: I only lie because I know how you’ll react. You blow everything out of proportion and you get yourself all worked up over nothing. I have to tell white lies to keep you happy.

Cathy: You lie to make me happy?

Reid: Yes, I have to hide parts of my life from you because you don’t trust me. If you would just get over your paranoia I could tell you about calling my friends in Baltimore and you would support me, and not ask all these questions, but you can’t do that so I have to keep secrets from you.

Cathy: Then just tell me who you called so this can end!

Reid: I called Marty. He lives with John now, that’s why it was friends, plural. See what we could have avoided if you had just trusted me?

Cathy: That’s all? That’s all? If that’s all, why didn’t you tell me at the beginning?

Reid: Would you ever have believed me?

Cathy: No.

Reid: Well then you understand why I did what I did.

Cathy: I do understand.

Reid: Good.

Cathy: I don’t believe you.

Reid: Goddamnit Cathy, this is exactly the problem! We would be so much happier if you could just…

Cathy: I called the number.

Reid: You what?

Cathy: Jocelyn and I had a nice talk. She isn’t such a bad person, really, just naïve. I guess we have a lot in common.

Reid: Cathy…

Cathy: Is that why you like both of us so much? Is that why you can’t seem to pick one or the other? Is it, Reid? Tell me why you talk to her!

Reid: To get away from you! To get away from the nagging, the suspicion, the constant interrogation! I can’t breathe, Cathy! I can’t move without telling you why, why, why!

Cathy: If I’m so goddamn irritating then why don’t you just run along to her? Why stay?

Reid: Fine. Goodbye.

Cathy: Wait.

The End"



If I recall correctly there had to be two characters and a conflict, your basic requirements, and I was inspired by a recent conversation in my own life about phone bills, although I hasten to add that nothing else in the story is based on my life! I started thinking about why two people might be fighting over phone bills, what their motivations might be and how they might be affected by their argument, and this is what I came up with. Like most of my work, it was done quickly and on a whim with minimal editing afterwards. Unlike the post below this one, though, I had a deliberate intention and I did do some editing.