One of the most annoying things about 2015 is that nobody was interested in staging my play The Gray List.I wouldn't be so annoyed if I hadn't seen ,or read about, so many mediocre plays that didn't have nearly as much to say. Here is just one short scene between the hero, screenwriter John Brooks, and his friend Grace Winston, a film noir star of the late 50s.
GRACE
And why wasn’t I a bitch? Because I was afraid that if I stepped on anyone, I’d be on my way back East. Or worse,I'd be another Peg Entwistle.
JOHN
Who’s she? Do I know Peg Entwhistle?
GRACE
Of course you do, John. Everybody in this town knows Peg Entwhistle because everybody in this town is Peg Entwistle. (Pause) She was the pretty blonde who was washed up at 24. She could have gone back home and created a new life. But instead, on the night of September 18, 1932, she hiked up Lee Canyon to the Hollywood sign and climbed up a workman’s ladder to the top of the letter H. From there, she jumped out of obscurity right into Hollywood legend. Peg Entwhistle. She showed everybody in this town how to make a grand exit.
JOHN
Well, you would never have been a Peg Entwhistle. You were, are, a real talent. (Pause) Besides, you’re afraid of heights.
GRACE
These days, Johnny, I’m afraid of everything. Flying. Getting old. Being alone. Ending up in the Actor’s Home.
I wish I could end up in "The Actor's Home".
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDelete