Shadow of the Volcano

I was browsing through old files in my computer (because I should be writing but instead of dilly-dallying on Facebook, I just started doing other things) and came across this first draft of the 10 page play originally written for the NPA Double-shot festival. It's not bad, but it's not quite great, either. I shelved the whole thing for a much better, more dramatic premise about two sisters who haven't spoken to each other in years. The lesson here, though, is clear to me--although I love some of this dialogue, this play is 10 minutes of absent conflict. Now, does it work, or not?

You decide.


LIGHTS UP on a bare stage. JANE wears a sleek black business suit, holds her BlackBerry and addresses the audience.

JANE
It was when I was driving somewhere out of Tacoma, on my way to see her, that I thought about it...

JO ENTERS, wears jeans, boots and plaid shirt.

JO
I bought a new tent.
JANE
How does one write a story for the modern age?
JO
I finally went to that place I heard about. It’s called REI.
JANE
In a world of Facebook and Myspace and everyone watching Youtube?
JO
Waterproof.
JANE
I can’t ever decide which email to check first. I have four.
JO
Up here a waterproof tent is important.
JANE
I can spend hours browsing friends on Facebook.
JO
I get tired of sleeping under the stars when I camp.
JANE
Sometimes at night I reach out and caress my Blackberry, just to make sure its still there.
JO
Although it’s nice to be flat on my back in the grass, pretend to reach up and touch those stars, so far away and twinkling like lost diamonds planted in a black sea.

JANE and JO look at each other.

JO
Hi.
JANE
Hello.
JO
I’m Jo.
JANE
Jane.
JO
Nice outfit.
JANE
Oh, thank you. You like it?
JO
I just said.
JANE
I know but you...
JO
You think I’m lying?
JANE
No, I just think.
JO
What?
JANE
You’re being nice.
JO
What’dya mean?
JANE
Everyone here is always being nice. But you don’t really know...
JO
Yeah?
JANE
Where people stand. Sometimes. They’re nice, but...uncertain.
JO
Life is filled with uncertainty.
JANE
I’m Jane.
JO
You said. You’re not from around here.
JANE
The paper sent me up here to....
JO
You’re from L.A.?
JANE
Yeah.
JO
You wanna go camping with me?
JANE
Do I...?
JO
Go camping.
JANE
I don’t understand.
JO
Camping. It’s when you pitch a tent and sleep in the woods.
JANE
Oh, no, I know, but...Why would you...?
JO
I’m just asking.
JANE
I don’t think so, no.
JO
I get tired of going out by myself.
JANE
I don’t...I’ve never camped.
JO
Never?
JANE
No.
JO
In your entire life? Not even as a kid?
JANE
I grew up in Orange County.
JO
Shame. I got me a new tent.
JANE
The paper sent me up here...They think...You’re a good article.
JO
Oh, yeah. That. What’s the big deal?
JANE
You’re like a pioneer.
JO
Ah, I’m just getting by.
JANE
You’re a woman. You’ve lived an entire life here in the woods, on your own, no electricity, no plumbing, no tv, computer, internet or even a phone to--
JO
What’s the internet? That like the world wide webby?
JANE
You’ve experienced none of the trappings of a modern age.
JO
I have a dog.
JANE
That’s not really what I’m...
JO
C’mon. Go camping with me.
JANE
Why?
JO
I gotta show ya something. It’s beautiful.
JANE
But I didn’t bring anything.
JO
You’ll be okay. Just come.
JANE
No, I don’t think...
JO
You want your story. By sunrise, I promise you, you’ll get it.

JANE turns to the audience.

JANE
So we went camping!

They sit around campfire. JANE tries to warm herself up while she keeps checking her BlackBerry

JO
Cold?
JANE
A little.
JO
Get closer to the fire.
JANE
I don’t understand...It doesn’t do this...
JO
What is that thing?
JANE
It’s my BlackBerry and it’s not working...I’ve never been anywhere that my Blackberry wasn’t working. How do I...?
JO
Shhh. Quiet. You’ll wake the bears.
JANE
The bears?
JO
They sometimes smell the food, come sniffing about.
JANE
I don’t know that I can sleep out here with bears and god knows what other kinds of--
JO
Quiet.
JANE
I can’t...what?
JO
Listen.
JANE
What?
JO
Do you hear that?

Beat. Jane listens.

JANE
I don’t hear anything.
JO
Nice, huh?
JANE
Why do you do this? Live up here. Like this?
JO
Why do you do it?
JANE
What do you mean?
JO
Live down there?
JANE
What do you mean?
JO
You go about your business, all rushing about, moving your papers and doing your numbers and having your fancy dinners, but why? Why do you do it?
JANE
To feed my kids.
JO
You got kids?
JANE
Yes, two, but...
JO
I never had kids.
JANE
I’m sorry.
JO
Doesn’t your husband work?
JANE
I’m divorced.
JO
Oh. Sorry.
JANE
Nothing to be sorry about there.
JO
I never got married. Never saw the sense in it.
JANE
I don’t blame you.
JO
Rather have me a good dog then a good man any day. Least you know a good dog will come back to you. Usually.
JANE
Maybe I should get a dog.
JO
So why do you live in L.A.?
JANE
I like it there.
JO
No one likes L.A.
JANE
It has a certain craziness that appeals to my sensibilities.
JO
Crazy is one way of puttin’ it.
JANE
You live up here like a hermit, a throwback to the 1800s, like its still the wild west and pioneer days and you’re calling me crazy?
JO
I live a simple life.
JANE
You’re behind the times. People don’t live like this anymore. We have choices. We have tools and technology to make our lives easier.
JO
Does it?
JANE
What?
JO
Make your life easier?
JANE
We have...women have progressed now. We run corporations. We own businesses. We play with the big boys. It’s just...we live in modern times.
JO
Are you happy?
JANE
I’m not talking about happiness. I’m talking about progress.
JO
Ain’t they the same thing?
JANE
Not to me.
JO
You know what makes me happy? Waking up to the sunrise over that mountain. It’s nice after a good night of sleep. Why don’t you try the new tent.

JANE addresses audience.

JANE
And we slept. The next morning, I awoke to the most beautiful sunrise. The misty air had given way to a clear sky with only a few scattered clouds. A pinkish orange glow hovered over a huge mountain. Like Mt. Olympus of the Greek golden age. Jo was already awake.
JO
The air gets so thick these mornings. Like its afraid to move. Like time is standing still. You know that mountain up there, it’s really a volcano. Not active, yet. Any minute it could blow, end our world. It’s a nice reminder.
JANE
I think I understand. Why you wanted me to go camping.
JO
I wanted to try out my new tent. It’s good, isn’t it?
JANE
Very.
JO
Waterproof. You kept reaching out for this last night.

JO hands JANE her Blackberry.

JANE
Is there a lake around here?
JO
Oh, yeah. We got several.
JANE
Maybe we could see if this floats.
JO
Do some fishing, too.
JANE
Oh, that’s not...
JO
Let me guess...never done any fishing.
JANE
Nope.
JO
Well, today is a good day to start.
JANE
And that’s how I lost my Blackberry in a lake and learned how to fish on the same day. I didn’t catch any fish. But I did catch a good story.
JO
At night I think about how the day will come when I won’t be able to reach out to those stars in the black sea anymore. I hope someone else might do it for me.

JO reaches up to the sky. LIGHTS OUT.