31 Plays in 31 Days, #14 - “Man of Philosophy”

This scene is another from Justin’s Wodehousian comedy adventure, meant to directly follower the opener #8 - “A Caper in Venice”, depicting Justin and his valet Peter Morgan arriving for the house party that will be the setting for the story.

This scene’s a little awkward. It’s got some clunky exposition and probably isn’t quite funny enough and needs punching up. But it’s intended to not only set the scene, but introduce you to what Justin and Morgan are like as people, and how they interact with each other. Justin is a whimsical, roguish free spirit who enjoys stirring up trouble and lives outside of convention. Morgan is his friend and loyal retainer, who attempts to be his voice of reason while he still supports him and backs him up, but is kind of his straight man and is noticeably more cautious. I also want to seed the problem dealt with in #10 - “On Your Terms” and #11 - “Need Someone”, where they care about each other, but the dynamic is not equal, and Justin is sometimes cavalier with that.

Also, notably, this show we will have the space to depict Justin as visibly bisexual. He always has been intended to be kind of a Kinsey 1 or 2, but in his previous appearance in Mrs. Hawking III: Base Instruments, it was tricky to make it present given his role in the story. Christian Krenek, the second person to portray him, had some good ideas to manifest it in small ways, but Justin would not be able to be terribly open with it in that company. While we want to make it part of his character and keep the story from getting too bogged down in the bigotry of the period, which would make the story a lot less fun, we also don’t like the idea of the characters reacting to it like modern people. So we’re trying to split the difference to have a little fun with it, without throwing the Victorian milieu out the window.


Photo by John Benfield

( Day #14 - Man of Philosophy )