31 Plays in 31 Days, #20 - "In Her Eyes"

This is very slapped together for the purposes of the challenge, but I like the idea that this moment happened. This scene grew out of a line Bernie made me cut for being too vulgar in Mrs. Hawking V: Mrs. Frost. In that piece, Mrs. Frost points out to Nathaniel exactly why his resemblance to his late uncle is so difficult for his aunt to deal with, as a way of mentally breaking him down. Originally she does it in a much grosser way, so it didn't really fit our PG-13 style. However, it occurred to me that Nathaniel might on his own, based on what she told him, draw the specific conclusion she originally said to him in so many words. Especially since I wanted to show him carrying a lot of trauma leftover from what Frost did to him, I think he's been mulling on everything pretty seriously.

In part VI, Clara and Nathaniel make reference to this ongoing struggle, as seen in Day #4 - "Not Sleeping". I think this conversation below is the first time it directly came up between them, and what happens onstage in part VI is built on the ground work of it. And it let me use the idea I had to cut from part VI while still assuming the idea's banging around in Nathaniel's head.



( Day #20 - In Her Eyes )