breakinglight11 | 31 Plays in 31 Days, #16

An early scene from Mrs. Frost. One thing I've managed to do pretty well up to this point with the Hawking plays is make it possible to follow each play without necessarily having seen the others. For the first three, each case more or less stands alone, with the continuity providing depth but never being necessary to understanding the story. I kind of figured as long as it was always clear that Mrs. Hawking and Mary had a Holmes and Watson thing going on, you had the basics of what you needed to know.

WIth part four... that started to break down a little. Gilded Cages is a story ABOUT history, and while I don't think it was totally inaccessible, it did involve building on things we'd established before— Mrs. Hawking's unhappiness in her marriage, the stillbirth they had, even a reference to an old case. And since everything about part V grows directly out of part IV, I'm concerned the problem will be more serious here. I can't allow it to be unclear what the scenario is going in, or have it rely on having seen the last installment; then the Continuity Lock-Out will set in. But I don't want to be drowning the audience in details they don't absolutely need, which will not only bore them and slow things down, but spoil part IV for those who haven't seen it.

In scenes like this one, there are places for mentions of the past. But I absolutely HATE when characters recap details they ALL ALREADY KNOW for the sake of the audience, in a manner that no human being would actually talk. But there's got to be some clarity, or it won't make sense.

I'll have to find the right level. It may be that the audience doesn't NEED to know everything. Maybe I just need to figure out what the bare minimum is to make the story clear. But I am concerned a LOT of detail is needed, given it's not just about setting up the central conflict— superhero versus super villain —but the nuance of it, old friend versus old friend.

Hm. Putting it like that, maybe it's simpler than I thought. Thinking of it like that may be useful to me.

Day #16 – “Disguise”
From Mrs. Frost
By Phoebe Roberts

MARY STONE, assistant and housemaid to Mrs. Hawking, mid twenties
NATHANIEL HAWKING, Mrs. Hawking’s assistant and gentleman nephew, early thirties

London, England, 1886
~~~

(The doorbell rings in the Hawking parlor. After a moment, MARY enters and answers the door to NATHANIEL, who is dressed in the disguise of a longshoreman.)

NATHANIEL:

Is she about?

MARY:

Somewhere, but not in here.

NATHANIEL:

Then I’ll be quick. I’ve just come from the public house where the men go from that side of the docks. It took a little doing, and more than a little drinking, but I think I’ve tracked down the ones that robbed Mrs. Breyer.

MARY:

So it worked? They really thought you were one of them?

NATHANIEL:

Must have done, since they talked to me.

MARY:

Well done, Nathaniel!

NATHANIEL:

Funny what gents will tell you, when you buy a round for the whole place.

MARY:

Oh, you can’t just throw so much money about— it draws attention.

NATHANIEL:

I know, I know— but I told a story about getting one over on some financier toff at a racetrack, and I think that covered it. Well enough, at least, that some of the longshoremen got to talking about how they diverted cargo that came in on the Shalimar.

MARY:

Did they mention Mrs. Breyer’s opals?

NATHANIEL:

Not by name. But they’re working for the same importer that’s been trying to run her out of business. I can’t imagine it wasn’t them.

MARY:

Splendid! And where are they working out of?

NATHANIEL:

There’s a place on pier fourteen. Everything they handle goes through there.

MARY:

You are getting good at this.

NATHANIEL:

Are you surprised? I have been practicing! What do you think?

(He strikes a pose to show off his costume.)

MARY:

I suppose it’s better when you’re not speaking and standing like you learned at Eton.

NATHANIEL:

I’m a Harrow man, as a matter of fact. But I take your point.

MARY:

Now you’d best take it off, before madam sees and asks why.

NATHANIEL:

I hate that we must do this. Can’t we try once more to convince her?

MARY:

You heard her, Nathaniel, she isn’t taking cases right now. She’d be furious to know we’d gone around her for Mrs. Breyer anyway.

NATHANIEL:

I don’t know what she expected us to do— just send that poor woman away with no one to help her? It’s— wrong. And it’s not like her.

MARY:

You know she hasn’t been herself. Not since Mrs. Frost and Madam Malaika.

NATHANIEL:

I know. She’s thought of nothing else since. And that’s what worries me.