Appearing in this scene:

HARRY - Larry's twin brother.
LARRY - Harry's twin brother.
GENEVIEVE - Dr. Genevieve Wilkerson-Smythe, a psychiatrist at the Idaho State Hospital.
DR. THOMPSON - Psychiatrist from the Idaho State Board of Medicine, and Father of Harry & Larry.
TINY - An orderly at the Idaho State Hospital. (Only his voice appears in this scene.)

{This scene features many sounds and voices in the background, characterized by a hollow echo, as if heard from a distance. To make them easier to identify, these background sound clips will be indented. Those lines not indented are actually spoken by the specified actor(s) on the stage.}

{The curtains open on a darkened stage. Three hospital stretchers, visible only because they're draped in white sheets, are arranged on the stage like the petals of a ghostly white blossom; if the audience is south of the stage, then the heads of the three beds would point west, east, and south, with their feet pointing towards a dark shadowed shape at the center.}

{The center shape becomes a black silhouette as red backlighting is brought up slowly; the silhouette is GENEVIEVE, sitting on a throne set on a stone platform. Behind the throne stands a large trilithon--two upright stones supporting a horizontal lintel, as seen at Stonehenge. A thin white mist billows from beneath the throne towards the base of the trilithon; the mist is tinted red by the backlighting.}

{Spotlights shine down from overhead onto the west and east beds, occupied by LARRY and HARRY. The brothers are lying on their backs, sheets draped over their bodies up to their necks. Every once in a while, their feet twitch beneath the sheets.}

{fade in: the sounds of 2 people running through the forest--rustling through the brush, footsteps on dry leaves, breathing heavy with exertion}

LARRY: The truck. We're almost there. Just through those trees.

HARRY: Keep going. I'm {gasp} right behind you.

{The twin spotlights fade out, along with the sounds of the forest. A single spot shines down onto the third bed, where DR. THOMPSON lies on his back, draped in a sheet like his sons.}

DR. THOMPSON: {trembling voice} So dark in here. What is this place?

{The sound of heavy chains is heard: it's the sound from scene 7, when DR. THOMPSON's wheelchair wasn't able to move because it had been chained to the floor.}

DR. THOMPSON: Dr. Smythe? Dr. Smythe! I demand that you remove these chains from my chair, immediately! {the sound of heavy chains again, louder this time; his hands start twitching under the sheet} Dr. Smythe!!

{The single spotlight fades out, along with the fading sounds of DR. THOMPSON struggling against the chains with his wheelchair. The twin spots are brought up again, on HARRY and LARRY.}

{The sounds of HARRY and LARRY rushing through trees and brush, then of a truck door opening.}

LARRY: Get in. {pause} Move over; I'm driving. {The truck door slams, and we hear the jingle of keys followed by the cranking of an engine; it won't start.}

HARRY: It won't start unless you have your seatbelt on.

LARRY: {the cranking stops} Very funny. {LARRY's hand twitches, and the cranking resumes; the engine still won't start.}

{We can hear that DR. THOMPSON is still struggling with the chains, but he abruptly stops. The sound of GENEVIEVE's clicking shoes replaces that of the rattling chains.}

GENEVIEVE: You're making entirely too much noise with those chains, Dr. Thompson; but I can hardly blame you for that. I'll have to speak with Aaron about his choice of restraints.

DR. THOMPSON: What do you want from me?

GENEVIEVE: What makes you think you have anything I want?

DR. THOMPSON: You used my sons to get to me.

GENEVIEVE: How ironic. I thought you were using them to get to me.

DR. THOMPSON: That's not--

GENEVIEVE: It's alright, Doctor. I can understand your frustration. Your little plan backfired.

DR. THOMPSON: You still haven't answered my question. What do you want?

GENEVIEVE: You, James. You and the twins are going to be my new family. {pause} What are you doing, James? {laughter} You expect to gain some sort of favor by grovelling at my feet?

DR. THOMPSON: {his feet start twitching visibly beneath his sheet} I think not.

GENEVIEVE: {surprised} How did you--?

DR. THOMPSON: I finally realized that this particular set of chains was self-imposed. All in my head, you might say. But your unique brand of 'therapy' has helped me to break free. Tiny?

TINY: Yes, Dr. Thompson?

GENEVIEVE: Aaron? I thought I dismissed you.

DR. THOMPSON: I'll be leaving now, Tiny. Would you get the door for me, please?

TINY: Yes, Dr. Thompson. {the sound of keys unlocking a door, then the door opening, and footsteps walking across the floor}

{The single white spot fades. After a brief pause, the twin spots come up on HARRY and LARRY, along with the sound of the cranking engine. The battery seems to be running low.}

HARRY: Let it rest, Larry. {The cranking stops.} The battery's almost dead, and you've probably flooded the carbuerator.

LARRY: It almost started that time! And if I did flood the carbuerator, it would smell like--Dad?

DR. THOMPSON: Larry, you're--

HARRY: Dad, is that you?

LARRY: How did you get here?

HARRY & LARRY: What are you doing out of your--?

DR. THOMPSON: Quiet. Listen to me. We've got to stop living in her little fantasy world.

LARRY: Dad, what are you talking about?

HARRY: {realizing the truth} He's right, Larry. None of this is real.

LARRY: Then where are we?

DR. THOMPSON: Just open your eyes, and you'll see.

GENEVIEVE: No! It's too soon!

LARRY: {worried} Dad? Where did you go?

HARRY: Close your eyes, Larry--then open them again. Look at the world from the outside.

LARRY: What is this place?

GENEVIEVE: {a red light near her feet illuminates her face from beneath; her eyes open} This is your world now. {DR. THOMPSON swings his legs around so his feet touch the floor. He tries to stand, but he collapses.}

HARRY & LARRY: Dad!!

GENEVIEVE: Oh, and I should warn you, James. {HARRY and LARRY throw off their sheets and hop down from their stretchers} Your legs won't work here they way they did in your lucid little dream world. {HARRY and LARRY fall to the floor} And neither will theirs.

LARRY: What did you do to us?!
HARRY: Why am I not surprised?

GENEVIEVE: It's not my fault. You weren't supposed to wake up yet. I needed more time to prepare you.

DR. THOMPSON: If I didn't know you had acid flowing through your veins, I'd accuse you of being heartless. {he pushes himself up to a seated position, but makes no attempt to stand; HARRY and LARRY start pulling themselves towards their father}

GENEVIEVE: Such flattery, James! And even your sons recognize my true worth, writhing like worms at my feet! {LARRY tries to stand and lunge at GENEVIEVE, but his legs fail and he falls on his face; GENEVIEVE laughs} Tell me, my children. Do you wish to petition me on your father's behalf?

DR. THOMPSON: Leave them out of this! {LARRY tries to get up again, but HARRY gestures and shakes his head.}

GENEVIEVE: Do you wish to plead for the life of this man whose drunken driving robbed you of your mother?

DR. THOMPSON: {yelling} I wasn't drunk!

GENEVIEVE: So you were just inept.

DR. THOMPSON: He was on the wrong side of the road!

GENEVIEVE: And you didn't see him until it was too late.

DR. THOMPSON: No!

GENEVIEVE: Because you weren't paying attention.

DR. THOMPSON: {quietly} It was a long drive.

HARRY: Dad?

DR. THOMPSON: She was tired, because we had been on the road a long time. I glanced over at Eileen and--she was sleeping.

LARRY: You don't have to explain anything to her.

DR. THOMPSON: {almost in tears} She was so beautiful, I just wanted--just wanted to look at her.

GENEVIEVE: You took your eyes off the road.

DR. THOMPSON: {a bit defensively} It was only for a second.

GENEVIEVE: It was longer than that.

DR. THOMPSON: How would you know? You weren't there!

GENEVIEVE: You STILL don't have your eyes on the road.

DR. THOMPSON: I'm not in the mood for metaphors.

GENEVIEVE: Then I'll speak plainly, so your befuddled little mind can understand. You just loved watching her sleep, didn't you? You lost the use of your legs; your sons lost their mother; and Eileen was robbed of a life that she could have spent with her family--all so you could sit at Eileen's bedside in the hospital and watch her sleep.

DR. THOMPSON: {voice trembling with rage} How dare you.

GENEVIEVE: {stands up on the platform} How dare YOU, James. You're the one who's been accusing yourself all these years.

DR. THOMPSON: No. {he starts pushing himself up to his feet} How dare you take on her form like that. How dare you speak to me through her lips, with her voice. {he seems a little shaky, but manages to stand on his feet unaided} How dare you make such a twisted mockery of her. {HARRY and LARRY exchange glances briefly}

GENEVIEVE: {steps down from her throne} Listen, James. I just want to help you get past this.

DR. THOMPSON: {takes a step towards GENEVIEVE, and scornfully spits out 2 words at her} Help me.

GENEVIEVE: James, I--

DR. THOMPSON: {takes another step} You just want to take the place of my wife. You said it yourself.

GENEVIEVE: Did I? Or did you imagine it?

DR. THOMPSON: I heard you say it!

GENEVIEVE: I believe you know the term for what you're experiencing. Paranoid delusions.

DR. THOMPSON: {takes another step} Don't speak to me!

GENEVIEVE: I know it's hard to accept, but you've been experiencing them for quite some time.

DR. THOMPSON: {takes another step} You're a pathetic excuse for a psychiatrist.

GENEVIEVE: {arches an eyebrow} Oh? The Board seems to disagree.

DR. THOMPSON: I'm talking about your success stories, DOCTOR. You've never helped a single patient recover from schizophrenia. You INDUCE those symptoms in your patients, and then, when you stop inducing those symptoms, you call it a miraculous recovery. You want me to be your next media spectacle.

GENEVIEVE: Oh, now that IS an elaborate delusion.

DR. THOMPSON: But I've learned how to defeat you. Your illusions won't work on me any more. I think I've demonstrated that.

GENEVIEVE: How do you know I didn't simply allow it?

DR. THOMPSON: {stands firmly on his feet} Perhaps another demonstration. {thrusts his arms up into a V above his head, fingers splayed--lightning flashes with a loud echoing clap, wind blows, and the three stretchers are "pushed" towards the edges of the stage as if struck by an invisible shockwave as the red backlighting fades into purple, and then blue}

HARRY: {to LARRY} I think it's time we got out of here.

LARRY: What about our legs?

GENEVIEVE: {half-turns to glimpse the color transformation} You--how did you-- {DR. THOMPSON closes his hands into fists and drops his arms, and the throne topples forward; GENEVIEVE has to move quickly to avoid being crushed}

HARRY: If he can walk, we can.

LARRY: But he needs our help!

GENEVIEVE: {wheels abruptly on DR. THOMPSON} Very impressive. But this is MY world. {thunder rumbles, more wind blows, and red light flares in the background, replacing the blue}

HARRY: He needs to do this on his own. Now let's go! {HARRY gets up and starts dragging LARRY, who eventually gains his own feet and runs with HARRY offstage to the right}

GENEVIEVE: Admit it to yourself, James. You need your wife back; your sons need to see her alive again. {lets her hair down and shakes it out so the wind catches it} I can be her.

DR. THOMPSON: You're the one suffering from delusions now, Doctor. {raises his arms again, fingers splayed; lightning flashes, and the blue light fades in to replace the red once more; white is added gradually until the mist shines with blue-white light} Eileen was of the light; you are of the shadows.

GENEVIEVE: You can't do this!

DR. THOMPSON: There's a reason I know you so well.

GENEVIEVE: This is MY world!

DR. THOMPSON: {calmly} No. This is my world. And it's time I brought it to an end. {lowers his arms, and the trilithon topples to the stage amidst a swirling of mist and the rumble of an earthquake; all the lights fade; after a long silence, a single white spot fades on, illuminating DR. THOMPSON and GENEVIEVE as they stand together in an embrace, with mist swirling around their feet}

GENEVIEVE: I love you, Jim.

DR. THOMPSON: I love you, Eileen.

{They smile at each other, and their lips touch. The curtains close as the spot fades out.}

Sleep, my friend, and you will see the dream is my reality. -- Metallica, "Sanitarium"

- COMMENTS - From: Bryan Time/Date: Tue Jan 8 11:28:25 2002 I've added a comment system here just to see if I could actually do it. Feel free to leave comments here on each scene, or you could always comment over at Poet's Haven.