Porcelain (extract from a one act play)
This is an extract towards the end of a short play I wrote for Uni 2 years ago. I’m quite proud of the piece, and this is one of my favourite parts. I don’t know how well it will work as an extract because there are some references to things which have significance earlier in the play (like the fact that Sarah never finishes any of her writing). Please let me know what you think of if you’d like to read the entire piece.
What gradually unravels earlier in the play is that Sara has had an abortion and is now regretting it. She’s been a little messed up ever since and Jason can’t seem to understand. It’s putting a strain on their relationship. At this point in the play the separation between them lessons and Sara manages to lead Jason into her imaginary story of their ‘could have been’ daughter. It’s a kind of bittersweet moment for the couple. The entire play is set in their bedroom, which consists merely of a white double bed, white dresser and mirror.
Porcelain (extract from a one act play) belongs to the following groups:
All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical and Self as Other(PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION FIRST)
JASON: (JASON turns away from her. Pause.) I’m going to bed.
SARAH: Fine… (She listens) It’s still raining.
JASON: So?
SARAH: When I was little I used to dance in the rain with a big black
umbrella… like in the movies.
JASON: I know.
SARAH: I think she would have done that too.
JASON: (sighs) Sarah… I’m tired.
SARAH: So sleep. (SARAH dances gracefully around the room
as if she has an umbrella. JASON gets the bed ready.
He moves slowly.) She’d probably have been a good dancer.
I would have been if mum had let me take lessons.
JASON: You know she couldn’t afford it.
SARAH: I’d still find a way for my daughter.
JASON: Things aren’t that simple.
SARAH: (Pirouettes) She’d go overseas to the National Ballet School.
JASON: Dancing was YOUR dream.
SARAH: (Stops dancing) I got over it. (She looks in the mirror.
Steps towards it to study her head. She looks at JASON’S
head, then back at her own reflection and studies her ears.)
She’d have had big ears.
JASON: What?
SARAH: We’ve both got big ears.
JASON: (Softly) She doesn’t exist.
SARAH: (Turning away from the mirror) And she’d try to learn French
but would keep forgetting it. We’d have to test her all the time.
JASON: We don’t speak French.
SARAH: Doesn’t matter. It’d be one of her subjects at school.
The private schools still teach French.
JASON: Private schools are expensive.
SARAH: We’d figure it out… And of course we’d have to move.
This is too small.
JASON: To where?
SARAH: Somewhere near the school.
JASON: The private school.
SARAH: Yes.
JASON: Public schools aren’t that bad.
SARAH: I went to a public school. They’re not that good either.
JASON: (Sighs) Goodnight. (Starts to get into bed
SARAH: (Suddenly) You know what I don’t understand?
(Jason stops and sits on the bed so he can look at her)
I still believe in choice. And I thought… but it
wasn’t right for me. I thought it was, but it wasn’t.
JASON: Why not?
SARAH: Because she’s… I… because…
I always wanted to teach someone how to knit.
JASON: You what?
SARAH: I want to teach her how to knit. And show her how to make
perfume from garden flowers that you pull apart and stick
in a cup of water for a few days until the water smells.
And it doesn’t really smell like perfume, but you imagine
it does. And I want to hear her first word and keep every tooth
when it falls out, and buy those tiny clothes that I used to love
putting on dolls.
And I want to drop her off on the first day of school and be terrified that
she’ll miss me too much or that she won’t miss me enough.
And stand out the front before she says goodbye so you can take
our picture. And you could show her how to ride a bike without those
stupid training wheels and buy that gaming console you wanted an
excuse for. We could go to the beach over Christmas…
JASON: (Slowly) But she’d have to have swimming lessons first.
SARAH: (Stepping towards him) Yes… and she’d have trouble floating.
She’d keep sticking her bottom out. But it’s okay because there
are those boogie boards.
JASON: I remember those…
SARAH: And… and we could show her how to fly a kite.
JASON: (smiles slightly) I haven’t done that since I was a kid…
SARAH: And take her to the city for the Moomba parade.
And we could go up to your work because there’d
be a better view from there.
JASON: Right over Swanston Street…
SARAH: (chuckles) And she’d sit in your chair and pretend to be you on the phone.
JASON: And the chair would be too big… (Pause)
We’d have to help her with her homework.
SARAH: One of us would know how.
JASON: I could teach her how to juggle, like my dad showed me…
and take her to that field where the horses are.
SARAH: She’d love apricot pie… and she’d insist on eating with
her fork upside-down even in public.
JASON: Which really makes more sense, if you think about it.
SARAH: We’d have to give her money to buy us birthday presents.
JASON: (smiles) And hide Easter eggs in the garden.
SARAH: Her favourite movie would be ‘Singin’ in the Rain’.
JASON: (Pause. He closes his eyes) Her favourite colour would be orange.
SARAH: Why orange?
JASON: It’s bright. She… she wouldn’t be a pink person.
SARAH: No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t like beads, but she’d love buttons.
JASON: And weird jewellery.
SARAH: And old photographs.
JASON: And hamsters.
SARAH: And books. Every kind of book. She’d write and she’d
make us read everything.
JASON: And she’d always say exactly what she’s thinking.
SARAH: And we’d sit up late and talk about them…
and she’d help me finish writing mine.
(Pause, each lost in their own imaginations.)
JASON: (Slowly) But what’s her name?
SARAH: What?
JASON: She doesn’t have a name.
Suzanne German
arhhhhhhhhh…...pause…......sigh…....stunning magnificant work!
The perspective you’ve used here is so touching…..they make ‘alive’ the baby they ‘killed’.....ouch how sad it must be for these two characters….it would be so good to see acted out.
It would work with people who love children and have had or lost one…...they would really cry I’m sure!
lovely
Suzanne
Melissa Vowell
this is beautiful. I do this with my boyfriend… only it’s about what could be not what could have been. This is sad but uplifting at the same time. Well done.
Jen Whyte
Oh Stacey, you made me cry …. this is so poignant and terribly cruel.
I would love to read the whole play
PhotogeniquE IPA
Oh my…....... that is so moving. I had tears in my eyes at the end. such a wonderful exploratary piece of writing.
Cynthia Smith
Yes, I too would love to see an acting of this play. When I was in France I went regularly to theater plays for a while, and I fell in love with modern plays.
Cheers! Nice to meet you.
gothgirl
This is very touching. It is a very positive piece. Giving a name makes a child real but in your piece they have made the child real before the name – a great twist
Mummified
You should try to get this made.
Even as a short play with just this extract.
It is powerful stuff. Well done.
Mummified
And I would love to read the entire piece if you are prepared to share it on the bubble.
all the best
Suzanne German
yes i agree with mummified – would make a fantastic play and I would love to read it if you were willing to share it with the group – fantastic stuff!