Jazz Plays in the Other Room, and It’s Raining.
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-----a short play by Josephine McNally
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Characters
Girl #1 - Late Teens
Girl #2 - Late Teens
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Setting
1940s, an uncomfortably small room with deep green walls.
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“Sometimes, you just can’t get what you want, but it doesn’t mean that you never had it. Everything takes place at the right time.”
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Girl #1 is seated at an old writing desk, scribbling away at whatever may be on her mind. Girl #2 is right behind her on the old wood bed that creaks whenever she moves, she’s bouncing her leg. The girls sit in relative silence, the only sound being the rain pouring from the night sky. This relative silence is interrupted by the scratch of a record followed by the squeak of a trumpet as music begins to play.
This interruption doesn't affect the girls.
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Girl #2
(Stops bouncing her leg)
How do you imagine it?
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Girl #1
(Not fully listening)
Imagine what?
Girl #2
That room. With the music? I’ve never been in.
Girl #1
Do you know anyone who has?
Girl #2
Only if you have.
Girl #1
I haven’t.
Girl #2 hums in acknowledgement. They sit in silence once more. Until Girl #2 asks again.
Girl #2
So, how do you imagine it?
Girl #1
(Placing her writing utensil down)
Like a room. With maroon walls maybe.
Girl #2
Maroon walls. Hm. I think brown walls.
Girl #1
How mundane.
Girl #2
I don’t think so. It’s warm and cozy.
Girl #1
You’re such a romantic.
Girl #2
At least I’m not a cynic.
Girl #1
(Turning to Girl #2)
I’m not a cynic.
Girl #2
Just a bit...(Pause) So, Ms. Cynical, tell me what else do you think about this room?
Girl #1
Well… I think it might have decorative dark wood paneling, and maybe a fireplace that's always burning, but it’s very quiet, you know? To make room for the music.
Girl #2
I can see that.
Girl #1
You tell me now. What do you see adorning your mundane brown walls?
Girl #2
(Scoffing)
Well, I see floor to ceiling bookshelves. With hundreds of books, Shakespeare maybe, romance and poetry.
Girl #1
Philosophy.
Girl #2
History.
Girl #1
And mystery.
Girl #2
Science.
Girl #1
Science?
Girl #2
Yes, science. Like, mysteries of the solar system. Girl #1
Mysteries of the solar system… like an Eclipse?
Girl #2
An Eclipse isn’t a mystery of the solar system. It’s caused when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, casting the Moon’s shadow on Earth and it only hap
Girl #1
You’ve lost me.
Girl #2
You never care for my stories.
Girl #1
It’s because you ramble.
Girl #2
I’m choosing to ignore that.
Girl #1
(In a amused tone)
Whatever you want.
Girl #2
Yes, whatever I want and I want to say what else I see.
Girl #1
(Turning back her paper)
Knock yourself out.
Girl #2
A grand leather chair, opposite the fireplace, on an ornate rug with little tassels.
Girl #2 looks at the back of Girl #1’s head, expecting her to say something. But, only the scribbles of pen on paper are what she gets from Girl #1.
Girl #1
(Laughing)
Little tassels?
Girl #2
(Bothered)
Really? That's all you got out of that? Not the leather chair or the, assumingly, amazing craftsmanship of the rug?
Girl #1
Sorry, I don’t mean to tease. It’s just funny. You're very detail oriented.
Girl #2
Hypocrite. You can see that room in just as much detail as me. Girl #1
You’re right.
Girl #2
I know.
The girls fall silent again, seemingly to be lost in their thoughts.
Girl #2
I think there's a romantic portrait over the hearth. Of a woman. Girl #1
Regal.
Girl #2
Like a queen?
Girl #1
No, just sophisticated. Charming maybe. Much different from us. Girl #2
I can be charming.
Girl #1
Only when you want to be.
Girl #1
How about a large brass gramophone? On its own respective table, next to the grand leather chair.
Girl #2
And just as many records as there are books. (Somber Pause) I enjoy the music.
Girl #1
(Quietly)
It’s only natural that we would.
Girl #2
I like how it sounds muffled with the rain.
Girl #1
And you wonder why I call you a romantic.
Girl #2
I just like making the most out of things.
Girl #1
We’re fantasizing about a room we’ve never seen. What are we making the most of?
Girl #2
Don’t be a downer.
Girl #1
I’m just pointing it out.
Girl #2
No, you’re being a downer. Imagining what this room looks like, is us making the most out of the fact we’ve never seen it.
Girl #1
I don’t think I want to see it.
Girl #2
No? Why?
Girl #1
I don’t know. I think at this point I like the picture I ‘ve made. If I saw the room and it looked nothing like what's in my head, I might be disappointed.
Girl #2
I understand that. If I could though, I’d look.
Girl #1
I thought so. But, do you think it looks like what’s in your head?
Girl #2
Oh, not at all. But, I’m okay with that.
The End.