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PLAYSCRIPT ry Land BY RUBY RAE SPIEGEL CRYSTAL ARNETTE Tina Ivlev as Ester, Sarah Mezzanotte as Amy, and ensemble in the world premiere of Dry Land, produced by Colt Coeur at HERE Arts Center, directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt. DECEMBER15 AMERICANTHEATRE 53 PLAYSCRIPT Ruby Rae Spiegel Dry Land AMY: Do it harder and then you can go get ESTER: I used to believe in zombies. a Gatorade. AMY: Me too. ESTER: Are you sure coach wasn’t waiting up ESTER: Really? BY RUBY RAE SPIEGEL for us? Sometimes he likes to say hi to my mom. AMY: Yeah. AMY: I told him my mom was picking us up. ESTER: Zombies are fucked-up. CAST She isn’t pretty like your mom. Like eating a cat face would be like a nice AMY: Seventeen. Wears harsh eyeliner ESTER: My mom isn’t pretty. thing for a zombie. to look striking but not pretty. Often is AMY: She wears jean jackets. AMY: I know. dressed in baggy men’s T-shirts and cut-off ESTER: So? Beat. jean shorts—a look that is both genuinely AMY: Punch me harder. ESTER: Do you ever think about the fact that effortless, and for the purpose of looking Ester punches Amy in the stomach. our organs taste like something? effortless. Not exceptionally physically at- AMY: How are you so bad at this. It doesn’t That the insides of us taste like something tractive. hurt at all. really specific and we’ll never know what. Like ESTER: Eighteen. Very literal. Wears ESTER: I’m sorry. I’ve. Um. I’ve never done steak but our liver or something? simple, cheesy clothes, maybe from Target. this before. AMY: That’s crazy. Muscular, with a thick back and thighs. AMY: Put your back into it. ESTER: Right? Plain, but nice-looking. ESTER: I am putting my back into it. AMY: One time this boy put his mouth on my REBA: Seventeen. Full-figured, and not AMY: Put one leg forward and kind of bend vagina and then when he kissed me he tasted self-conscious. The perfect camp girl, but your knee. like sour milk. So I guess I taste like sour milk, not a Valley Girl. Only mean in a casual/ Ester punches her again. which in a way kind of makes sense. fun way. Not deep enough to be cruel, sim- AMY: Better. ESTER: Yeah? ply self-centered. ESTER: Brendon’s going to pick us up? AMY: I think so. One of my English teachers VICTOR: Twenty. In his own world. Wears AMY: Brendon’s cousin Dog. He’ll drop you in middle school called me “acerbic.” skinny pants and old shirts. Maybe wears off at your house. Ester punches Amy. sneakers that don’t quite go with his outfit. ESTER: His name is Dog? ESTER: Did it feel good? JANITOR: Male. Late thirties to early eight- AMY: He’s the one with the car. AMY: Did what feel good? ies. ESTER: Like the bounty hunter? ESTER: When the boy put his mouth on you. AMY: I think it’s really Darrin but I’m not sure. AMY: Oh. NOTE I think they call him that because his dog had I don’t know. 1. The abortion in the play should be shown all these baby dogs and he couldn’t give them Maybe. head-on. There should be a considerable away so he just has a bunch of dogs now. ESTER: It looks like it would feel really good. amount of blood, and the actress play- He should be a senior like Brendon but he AMY: I was really drunk. ing Amy should feel comfortable being just stopped going. Sometimes I get so drunk I think I’m someone exposed. If she is hidden or too covered, it ESTER: You’ve met him? else. will seem as though the abortion is some- AMY: Punch me again. Beat. thing that should not be seen. It is meant ESTER: My arm is dead from practice. AMY (Recovering from a somewhat awkward to be seen. AMY: Brendon says that it even says Dog on moment of vulnerability): Punch me. 2. Harshness is as true to this play as sweet- his name tag. He works at the Grocery Outlet. Ester punches Amy. ness. ESTER: Does he have green hair? ESTER: Have you ever…have you ever swum 3. After Scene VII, the Janitor should take AMY: No. on your period before? his time cleaning the stage. He sold bath salts to those college kids. AMY: Yeah, of course I have. ESTER: That’s kind of sketchy. ESTER: Oh. TIMELINE AMY: They were in a Ska band. AMY: What? SCENE II: Three days after Scene I. ESTER: Oh. ESTER: No. I don’t know. I guess I’m just a little SCENE IV: One week after Scene II. AMY: And he’s on parole now so it’s fine. That’s worried I’m going to get my period on Friday. SCENE V: Three days after Scene IV. like what it means to be on parole. For the guy who’s coming. SCENE VI: Two weeks after Scene V. ESTER: Bath salts—don’t you like eat cat’s AMY: So? SCENE VII: One week after Scene VI. faces and shit? ESTER: Well you have a strong stomach I guess. SCENE VIII: Four days after Scene VII. AMY: I don’t know. AMY: I cramp. SCENE IX: One week after Scene VIII. ESTER: Maybe that’s why he’s called Dog. ESTER: I’ve punched you like ten times. AMY: Don’t be gross. AMY: It’s different. SCENE I ESTER: When I was ten I bought my mom ESTER: Florida State doesn’t even have that bath salts for Christmas. Like the actual ones. good of a team. An empty girls’ locker room after hours. Amy and AMY: Punch me. AMY: Didn’t you say that they like film you Ester are in racing bathing suits, maybe Ester has Ester punches Amy in the stomach. underwater? sweatpants over hers. Maybe Amy has the tips of AMY: Fuck that hurt. ESTER: That’s what it said on the website. her hair dyed a color. ESTER: It did? AMY: So they’re loaded. That’s all that matters. AMY: Punch me again. AMY: Yeah that was a good one. Did you put ESTER: I guess. I guess they’re loaded. ESTER: You’re gonna get bruises. your back into it? AMY: And even if you don’t get a scholarship, AMY: No shit Sherlock. ESTER: I’m not sure. it’s still in-state so it’s not that bad money- Beat. Ester punches Amy in the stomach. AMY: You probably put your back into it. wise. Like half of the people who I know who AMY: That doesn’t hurt. Ester punches Amy in the stomach. graduated last year go there. ESTER: I’m thirsty. Beat. But I wanna go to like a small school. Like 56 AMERICANTHEATRE DECEMBER15 PAUL FOX PAUL Stephanie Recio (Amy) and Eva Hughes (Ester) in the Company One production. in the Midwest or something, with a lake. I irony of Bugs Bunny with blood dripping Ester sits on the ground against the lockers. probably could if I do like a ton of hours at the down his leg. Amy drinks her Gatorade. Ester watches her for Fish Fry my senior year—don’t tell anyone that. AMY: He said “irony”? a moment and then drinks hers. Silence. ESTER: Tell anyone what? ESTER: He talked to me about this poet that ESTER: Can I ask you a stupid question? AMY: Nothing. he really liked. Who likes poets? AMY: What? Beat. AMY: Nobody. Nobody likes poets. ESTER: No. It’s stupid. ESTER: It isn’t fair that it’s this one time. He was probably trying to sleep with you. AMY: So? Ester punches Amy in the stomach. ESTER: Maybe. Beat. ESTER: That he only comes this one time Ester punches Amy in the stomach. ESTER: Why didn’t you ask Reba to do…Why and if I fuck it up I fuck it up and that’s that. ESTER: This was when I was living in Tampa. didn’t you ask Reba? AMY: The Olympics is only one time. AMY: Oh. AMY: Oh. ESTER: What if my tampon falls out? What ESTER: I used to live in Tampa. ESTER: I mean I’m really happy that you asked if there are streaks of blood behind me and A moment. me. It’s just…I don’t know…I’ve never been everyone has to evacuate the pool? AMY: Go get a Gatorade. Here. to your house. AMY: What? Amy takes out some dollars from her bag and AMY: Reba’s dad is a doctor. ESTER: I’ve never swum on it before. gives them to Ester. ESTER: Oh. Like a— AMY: How? ESTER: You don’t have to— AMY: No. ESTER: I was swimming too hard to get it. AMY: Can you get me a blue one. I feel kind Well he’s a dentist but I’m sure he knows a lot Too skinny. of ill. of doctors. She might want to tell him. AMY: Shit. ESTER: Okay. ESTER: Right. Ester punches Amy. Amy makes a sound. Ester exits. Amy lies down on her back. She looks AMY: He’s filled in a bunch of my cavities ESTER: Did that hurt? up at the ceiling. She feels her stomach. Ester comes for free. AMY: A little. back with two blue Gatorades and a bag of chips.