Ghostlight 2.5

[ INSERT CLYDE AND ALICIA HERE]

Leo: Now you listen to me. You can say whatever you'd like to me. You can insult this company and our profession. You can curse the name of Dionysus. But you treat that man with respect. You don't know where he's been. You don't know his life.

Alicia: We don't have that, remember? Whatever happened in our lives is completely insignificant now, isn't it?

Leo: Wrong. You are wrong. You are such a child.

Alicia: Then teach me. That is all I have been asking for since I got here. Teach me. Tell me why I'm wrong. Don't condescend, don't pat my head and run away, don't send me off to arrange fabric scraps and ribbons. Talk to me, not at me.

Leo: You're right. We've spent so long with only our crew that we've forgotten. No one has joined us in so long. You don't know how to be here, and we don't know how to explain.

Alicia: Try.

Leo: Alright. (pause) Where are we?

Alicia: In the flies.

Leo: Wrong. Where are we?

Alicia: On set?

Leo: Wrong. We are in the theater.

Alicia: Right, I got that part.

Leo: No, you don't. Do you want me to talk? (pause) We aren't in a theater. We are in the theater. The art. All of the physical places. We are in all of them. Each of them. And none of them. We exist in the heart of every space that holds this art. Individually, yes, we localize. Belasco keeps mostly to his namesake, Olivia to the New Amsterdam, but we are everywhere. Our company gathers where the art is. The Fates provide us to the places that need us.

Alicia: But how did we get here?

Leo: In the simplest of terms, we gave ourselves willingly to this art. What did you love the most when you were alive?

Alicia: (considers) The stories. The community, touching lives.

Leo: The stage.

Alicia: Yes.

Leo: The Fates knew. They saw you and brought you to us.

Alicia: So all the religions? They were all wrong? All that is left is nothing-ness or this? Is this limbo?

Leo: Think, dear. Your life, the things you devoted yourself to, your heart, after all of that, do you really believe that this isn't heaven? Your eternity. Mine. Our souls are forever intertwined with these stories, this community. We died to the physical, but we live in this art. (pause) Clyde. We saw his passing. We knew it was close.

Alicia: What happened?

Leo: He was on stage, sharing his soul. His body became sick. We could see, his stage manager could see, but the audience saw only that light in his eyes. When intermission came, his cast worried. The stage manager was preparing the understudy, trying to get Clyde to go to a doctor. He refused. "We have a whole 'nother act, buddy!" By the time the second act was over, an ambulance was waiting outside, ready to take him to the hospital. The lights went out on stage, they exited, and when they tried to rush him into the car...

Alicia: Oh, Dionysus, not right there...

Leo: What? Oh, heck no. Shit, that would be sad. No, no, they tried to get him to leave, and he shouted at them, "Curtain call first, damn it!" It was a few days after that for him. Look, the point is he gave everything. Some of us, our souls came back to our first love. His never left. Only his body did. We weren't responsible for that, by the way. We were there with the show, but we didn't cause that to happen.

(Note: as this overlap scene begins, they alternate quickly back and forth. As scene progresses, lines overlap more, until tension is highest in both scenes at same time.)

               Belasco: You wanted to see me?

               Macbeth: What did you do?

               Belasco: I don't know what you're talking about.

Alicia: (beat) Have you ever? Caused...

Leo: Yes. As a company, we have been involved in death. Never intentionally, but directly.

               Macbeth: Why have you done this?

Alicia: The Fates demand Tragedy and you deliver?

Leo: No. The Fates, when they ask for Tragedy, it results in a poor show, bad reviews, broken friendships from time to time, but never death. They do not desire death. We aren't perfect. We do what we can, but if we mistake the Fates' will, or ignore it, our actions... have an unintended effect.

               Belasco: I haven't done anything.

               Macbeth: Am I unclear? Your tasks, are they too vague?
                         Your mission, easily forgot, stays true,
                         But YOU- your disregard and hubris strong
                         Cause grief unnecessary once again!

Alicia: Whistling. I remember- whistling.

Leo: Alicia, please. Don't think on it.

               Belasco: Mackie, calm down. It's not a big deal.

Alicia: I remember whistling. I remember that it was different, it wasn't- It was something I hadn't heard before. I remember a snap, a scream-

               Macbeth: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE CAUSED?

Leo: Please, Alicia-

Alicia: Who was it?

               Belasco: What happened? What's wrong?

Leo: It doesn't matter now-

Alicia: Who?

               Belasco: Tell me.

Leo: We were given instructions. We thought it was a mistake. We hadn't gotten Tragedy in a long time. Some of us tried to- he wanted the laughs. It was wrong. Everything was wrong. We realized early on, we tried to bring the Tragedy, but Belasco-

               Macbeth: Belasco you have changed their plans. Again.

Alicia: Dionysus

Leo: -he kept pushing for the laugh. (beat) The Fates balanced the scale-

Alicia: By taking me.

               Macbeth: Again, you change the threads of Fates' design.
                         See! This is not what they desire, you fool!

Leo: This is why we don't talk about it. Alicia, we are a company. If we don't work together, deliver the Fates' will, unite in spirit-

Alicia: What? Someone else will die? The company grows?

Leo: No. No, You are here because of you. The Fates saw you-

               Belasco: We followed the scales! I did nothing wrong-

               Macbeth: I know what you did-

Leo: Your spirit is not a result of your death. You still would have come to our company in your time.

Alicia: But it was my time to have! And you took that from me!

Leo: You still have that time! Time is not a concern here, please try to see that.

Alicia: Don't tell me what is of concern!

(Clyde enters)

Clyde: What is happening out here?

               Belasco: It has always been Comedy-

               Macbeth: So you weigh the mask to ensure your fun?

Leo: I'm trying to explain-

Alicia: You took it from me. You all took it from me.

               Belasco: It's not a big deal-

Clyde: Dionysus, what did you do?

                Macbeth: You are responsible for what happens next.

Leo: She wanted to know-

Alicia: Everything is gone, it was taken, I was taken-

(Alicia crosses until directly under the light Belasco focused. She looks out as a snap and scream are heard.)