31 Plays in 31 Days, #1 - "Now Where You’re Standing"

The first piece I'm posting is an old one, since what I actually wrote today is spoilery for Mrs. Hawking part V. This is kind of a "deleted scene" from Gilded Cages— not literally so, but a depiction of an event that canonically happened in the course of that story, even though it didn't feature in the actual script.

I actually really like it. I think it does a really good job demonstrating the progression of Victoria and Reginald's relationship when they were young— their becoming friends, and more on his part, while still maintaining that undercurrent that something is wrong. There's a part of me that kinda wants to include it in the full script. But by the strictest rules of correct drama, you have to be so economical that you can't include anything that's not essential information. In the case of this scene, while it has some nice development, I don't think I can honestly say it tells us anything we don't already know. That Victoria is unhappy at home, that Reginald is troubled by the direction of his career, that he's starting to fall for her, that his impulse is to try and rescue her rather than let her act for herself, and that their lack of clear communication is putting them on a collision course. It's good stuff, but probably already clear from what I've already got in there. And the runtime is long enough as it is.

I did have lovely actors Cari Keebaugh and Jeremiah O'Sullivan do an informal recording of it. It was very quick and thrown together, but I enjoy doing them as they're small ways to realize pieces that will likely never be performed onstage.

( Day #1 - Now Where You’re Standing )