Matt introduces Grace and Trip to Jack, with disappointing results
hortonkcsw
[Ingredients:]
[2 yuppies]
[1 paperback of On the Road]
[salt (to taste)]
[Comments in brackets]
FACADE STAGEPLAY
Fri Oct 12 21 28 19 2007
GRACE
Trip, when are you going to get rid of this?
TRIP
What, Grace... this?
GRACE
Yes, you know how I feel about it --
TRIP
I know I know I'll do it right now, alright?!
GRACE
You know I've had to ask you about this several --
TRIP
Get off my back! I'll get rid of it in just a minute!
GRACE
Fine, Trip... fine...
(Matt knocks on the front door.)
(Matt knocks on the front door.)
TRIP
Oh, he's here!
GRACE
What?! You told me it'd be an hour from now!
TRIP
No, he's right on time!
GRACE
God... Trip!
(Trip opens the front door.)
TRIP
Matt!!
TRIP
Ah I'm so happy you could make it! We haven't -- (interrupted)
MATT
i first met dean not long after my
TRIP
Ha ha ha!
TRIP
Wow, it's so great to see you after so long.
TRIP
Well come on in!
TRIP
Uh, it'll be just a sec while I go get Grace...
MATT
wife and i split up i had just
TRIP
W -- w - what... n - no, uh, just stay here...
TRIP
(unintelligable arguing)
TRIP
(unintelligable arguing)
MATT
gotten over a serious illness that i
TRIP
(unintelligable arguing)
MATT
won't bother to talk about, except
MATT
that it had something to do with
GRACE
Uh...
GRACE
Well, come in, make yourself at home...
TRIP
I'm just going to go close the door.
(Trip closes the front door.)
GRACE
So, -- (interrupted)
MATT
the miserably weary split-up and
GRACE
Wait...
GRACE
You think we should....
GRACE
get divorced...
(MATT sits on the couch.)
[Jeez, what if I started later in the book? Would I be offering you
benzedrine?]
TRIP
Ha ha, ha, oh, you're -- you're quite the kidder tonight, ha ha ha...
MATT
my feeling that everything was
GRACE
Ha, yeah, ha ha...
TRIP
Ha ha, heh, never afraid to say anything that pops into your mind, ha
heh heh... -- (interrupted)
MATT
dead with the coming of dean
TRIP
Well wait a minute! I don't think you've taken a close look yet. Let
it soak in a little!
[I really want to know what triggered that.]
MATT
moriarty began the part of my life
GRACE
So, about my decorating...
GRACE
(little sigh) This new painting above the couch is, uh, well, --
(interrupted)
MATT
you could call my life on the road
GRACE
Oh, well...
GRACE
(little sigh) So yeah, I just bought this painting...
GRACE
but when I see it hanging here, in this room... it looks to me like
an amateur painted it.
MATT
before that i'd often dreamed of
TRIP
Well, it's impressive... even after a full day's work designing
magazine ads, Grace somehow finds time to decorate...
GRACE
Ha ha, I guess it's just the artist in me dying to get out. --
(interrupted)
MATT
going west to see the country
GRACE
Uh, yes, but it looks amateurish, doesn't it?
TRIP
(little sigh)
MATT
always vaguely planning and
GRACE
Ah, yes, I've been waiting for someone to say that!
TRIP
What are you talking about?
GRACE
Trip, he is just being honest about my decorating, which I appreciate.
TRIP
(frustrated sigh) But I -- (interrupted)
MATT
never taking off dean is the
GRACE
No, you gave me your honest opinion, which I really wanted, thank you.
TRIP
Well, we're all friends here, uh...
MATT
perfect guy for the road because
TRIP
Oh! Matt, what have I been waiting for -- let me get you a drink.
TRIP
And please, please, we need to break in my new expensive set of
cocktail making accessories.
MATT
he actually was born on the road
TRIP
Uh -- well, um, we should drink.
TRIP
How does a martini sound?
TRIP
I just got a hold of this -- (interrupted)
MATT
when his parents were passing
TRIP
Uh, well, you know what, I'm just going to make you a martini.
GRACE
Matt, Trip's getting a little carried away... maybe you just want
some juice, or a mineral water?
MATT
through salt lake city in 1926
GRACE
Oh but I liked what you said about my decorating... Besides, I'm
redoing it all this week, so...
[Salt... grain of salt? This might be a good way to figure out hidden
keywords.]
TRIP
You know I'm just going to open a bottle of merlot or something,
MATT
in a jalopy on the way to los
GRACE
So anyway,
GRACE
Yeah, a glass of wine is seems so much better right now than one of
your classy drinks.
MATT
angeles first reports of him came
TRIP
Yeah, no, uh, merlot will be fine, that's -- that's fine... --
(interrupted)
TRIP
Grace, I know what you want, but I'll ask anyway... what would you
like to drink?
MATT
to me through chad king who'd
TRIP
Uh, yeah, I -- I was just going to ask Grace what she wants.
GRACE
Um, I'll have a glass of merlot too.
TRIP
Oh! Good. Okay. -- (interrupted)
MATT
shown me a few letters from him
TRIP
Well, I, uh -- I know what you want, Grace.
MATT
written in a new mexico reform
GRACE
(big sigh) -- (interrupted)
TRIP
Y -- yeah, yeah, n - no no no, wait, uh, w - what's wrong, Grace?
GRACE
Listen to us, we're arguing in front of our friend.
TRIP
Grace, I'm giving you the first glass.
GRACE
Thanks.
TRIP
Anyway...
MATT
school i was tremendously
TRIP
Grace, come on, it's not helping things for you to say that... --
(interrupted)
TRIP
What...?
[I think Grace's AI seized up here. Trip's may have too if he wasn't
in the middle of a scripted action.]
MATT
interested in the letters because
MATT
they so naively and sweetly asked
MATT
chad to teach him all about
TRIP
Here you are!
(MATT picks up a player's drink.)
[What's a player's drink? Cristal?]
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
[You know, I *am* a playa.]
GRACE
(happy but tense sigh)
[Happy but tense. Kind of like Prosser's "sheepishly triumphant"
grin?]
GRACE
Matt,
GRACE
you and I are getting along so well tonight... -- (interrupted)
MATT
neitzsche and all the wonderful
GRACE
Y -- yeah, stay there for a sec.
GRACE
Ugh, I'm getting so tired of looking at this god awful work table.
GRACE
Maybe if I replaced it with... um...
[I mention Neitzsche and she uses the word god in a negative way. I
dunno, I think that has meaning. In an inkblot sort of way.]
TRIP
Do you... do you remember, Grace...
MATT
intellectual things that chad knew
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
GRACE
What.
TRIP
How I proposed to you.
GRACE
Oh, God, Trip --
TRIP
Here, Matt, I'll show you.
TRIP
It was at Grace's parents' house, Christmas, senior year of college --
TRIP
I got on one knee, in front of everybody, and --
MATT
at one point carlo and i talked
GRACE
Trip, what are you doing?!
TRIP
I pulled out a diamond ring --
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
TRIP
And I said, Grace, will you marry me?
GRACE
Stop it, Trip!
TRIP
Heh, is -- is that romantic or what?!
[It's a good thing they can't understand me, cause I kind of want to
kick Trip in the face.]
GRACE
Trip!
MATT
about the letters and wondered
MATT
if we would ever meet the strange
GRACE
Thank you!
TRIP
What? I --
GRACE
See, Trip, not everyone thinks being proposed to like that is so
romantic.
GRACE
I don't know where you get your ideas.
MATT
dean moriarty this is all far back
TRIP
Matt,
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
TRIP
Grace, come on, what could be more romantic than that?
GRACE
Matt, I'm sorry, you didn't need to see that --
TRIP
Grace!
GRACE
Trip, you're being a real bore tonight, let's just forget about it,
okay?
MATT
when dean was not the way he is
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
TRIP
(big frustrated sigh)
GRACE
(clears throat)
TRIP
Matt, I -- I want you to look at this photo from our recent trip to
Italy... -- (interrupted)
MATT
today when he was a young
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
(Trip sips his Trip's drink.)
GRACE
Oh, well, please, go look at Trip's Italy photo...
TRIP
So, come on, I -- I want you to look at this!
GRACE
(annoyed sigh)
MATT
jailkid shrouded in mystery
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
GRACE
Oh, please, go take a look...
[If I don't go, they'll probably throw me out.]
(MATT gets up from the couch.)
TRIP
Matt, come on, just take a look at this picture!
GRACE
(short petulant sigh)
GRACE
This -- (interrupted)
GRACE
Matt, come over here and sit on the couch with me.
TRIP
Grace...!!!
MATT
then news came that dean was out
(MATT sips his player's drink.)
TRIP
Oh, yeah, yeah, uh,
TRIP
Matt, I have to tell you about our recent trip to Italy!
(MATT puts down a player's drink.)
GRACE
Trip, he doesn't want to hear --
TRIP
Y -- yeah, yeah, I'll tell you about it in a sec.
MATT
of reform school and was coming
TRIP
Now, now, Matt, in one word, what does this picture make you think
of? -- (interrupted)
MATT
to new york for the first time
TRIP
Now, now, Matt, in one word, what does this picture make you think
of?
GRACE
Oh, please, Trip, don't put our friend on the spot like that. --
(interrupted)
MATT
also there was talk that he had
TRIP
Well, the thing is, you see, this trip to Italy... it was our second
honeymoon!
GRACE
What? Matt, Trip is absolutely exaggerating, it was simply a
weekend getaway, that's all.
TRIP
Goddammit, I was trying to find a way for us to spend some time
together! -- (interrupted)
MATT
just married a girl called marylou
TRIP
N -- no, no, uh, heh, our -- our second honeymoon picture says...
TRIP
Grace wasn't with me when I took this picture, she was sulking in the
hotel room.
MATT
one day i was hanging around the
MATT
campus and chad and tim gray
TRIP
Romance! It says... romance...!
[If Grace was sulking in the hotel room, how was that romantic?]
GRACE
(little sigh) Matt, I liked your answer better.
TRIP
Dammit, Grace, I was -- (interrupted)
MATT
told me dean was staying in a
TRIP
Wait wait wait -- see -- it was supposed to be romantic!
GRACE
And I missed my friend's art show.
TRIP
What? Who is this?
GRACE
A friend from college had a gallery show of his new paintings that
weekend. (little sigh)
MATT
cold-water pad in east harlem
TRIP
Oh, yeah, you know, I think I'll fix you a real drink in not too
long...
(MATT sits on the couch.)
GRACE
Uhh, you are impossible...!
MATT
the spanish harlem dean had
GRACE
What, what are you saying?
GRACE
Trip, you think you're so romantic... but no you're trying to
manipulate me!
TRIP
(little impatient sigh) Matt, -- (interrupted)
MATT
arrived the night before the first
GRACE
Okay, yeah, I hear you, alright?
TRIP
Goddamn, what was it you said? We should... get divorced...
TRIP
Matt,
TRIP
You're trying to say we've got problems, huh? That something is wrong
with our marriage?
GRACE
Oh, yeah, yeah, right!
MATT
time in new york with the
TRIP
You're saying we've got problems.
GRACE
Goddamn second honeymoon...
GRACE
Trip, our whole marriage, you're so... controlling!
TRIP
Oh, Christ...!
GRACE
Alright, you know what, Matt,
MATT
beautiful little sharp chick marylo
GRACE
I'm going to ask you something.
TRIP
Grace --
GRACE
Trip, let me ask our guest a question.
GRACE
Matt, yes or no...
MATT
they got off the greyhound bus at
GRACE
In a marriage, shouldn't you try to help the other person get what
they want?
TRIP
What?
GRACE
I mean, marriage is supposed to be about what the _other person --
(interrupted)
MATT
50th street and cut around the
GRACE
Look, you don't need answer, I don't need to hear anymore!
GRACE
You keep trying to tell me you love me, Trip, that you're so romantic,
but I know you're hiding something from me, goddammit!
TRIP
Oh, come on...!
MATT
corner looking for a place to eat
TRIP
Uhh! Yeah, go on, go away!
TRIP
I can't stand frigging looking at you!
TRIP
Oh... Shit!
MATT
and went right in hector's and
TRIP
What are you saying? What?
GRACE
What? Are you talking to me?
TRIP
I was not talking to you!
MATT
since then hector's cafeteria
TRIP
Matt, this has never ever happened before...!
TRIP
uhh...
MATT
has always been a big symbol of
GRACE
Matt, (annoyed sigh) Trip can just be so...
TRIP
Oh, we're talking about me again, are we?
GRACE
What?
MATT
new york for dean they spent
GRACE
Matt, it's time that Trip finally just admits that our marriage --
TRIP
Grace, don't, no, you don't need to --
GRACE
Admits that our marriage is not --
TRIP
Stop it, stop it! (annoyed sigh) -- (interrupted)
MATT
money on beautiful big glazed
TRIP
Look around here. We're doing well, really well.
GRACE
God, Trip, I can't believe even now you're still...
TRIP
Oh yeah, you'd never admit that I've created a good life for us.
MATT
cakes and creampuffs
TRIP
See Grace. Our friend knows a good life when he sees it.
[LOL! I encourage everyone to say "Cakes and creampuffs" at some
point in Facade.]
GRACE
You both... uhh...
MATT
all this time dean was telling
GRACE
Let's talk some more about Trip.
GRACE
Damn it, Trip, you and my parents are always planning these stupid
trips I have to go on..
TRIP
They're vacations! Expensive ones at that! -- (interrupted)
MATT
marylou things like this now
GRACE
Yes?
TRIP
Oh, now it's all my fault. Just because your parents and I get along,
now it's some big conspiracy.
GRACE
God...
MATT
darling here we are in new york
TRIP
Look, quit the flirting already, I'm not going to put up with that at
this point!
[Yes you are. Shut up.]
MATT
and although i haven't quite told
GRACE
No let's -- let's focus on us, our relationship.
GRACE
I think Trip's afraid of visiting his parents. He does everything he
can to avoid seeing them.
MATT
you everything that i was thinking
TRIP
See Grace, that's ridiculous. The only thing I'm afraid of is their
bad taste might rub off on us... ha ha!
GRACE
(frustrated sigh)
GRACE
Let's talk some more about us, our relationship.
TRIP
It's so annoying... Grace, why is it that anytime I want to do
something nice for you, you resist it?
GRACE
Trip...
TRIP
Like I always have to convince you?
GRACE
Matt, you know, we... uhh...
MATT
about when we crossed missouri
TRIP
When?
TRIP
Ah, thank you, just saying that helps!
GRACE
Trip, maybe if you didn't try to 'convince' me of things, I might want
them more...?!
TRIP
Oh, Christ.
MATT
and especially at the point when
GRACE
Trip, can't you see, it's the way you speak, the way you talk to
me...!
TRIP
What, I'm not allowed to be angry?
GRACE
You tell me what to do, you don't listen.
TRIP
Matt, I'm not telling her what to do, I'm -- (interrupted)
MATT
we passed the boonville
TRIP
See, I'm the one trying to reach out to you, Grace...
GRACE
Uhh...
MATT
reformatory which reminded me of
TRIP
Matt, what is it, is there something about me?
MATT
my jail problem it is absolutely
TRIP
Grace, even though you're now a creative director at work, and even
though you redecorate the apartment all the time, the truth is...
you're not an artist.
GRACE
Uhh...!
TRIP
I'm sorry, you're not.
GRACE
Matt, uhh...
MATT
necessary now to postpone all
TRIP
Yes?
GRACE
You can both go to hell.
MATT
those leftover things concerning
GRACE
Uhh, what's happening... why is this happening...
MATT
our personal lovethings and at
GRACE
No, no, don't say anything to me... just... uhh...
MATT
once began thinking of specific
TRIP
Okay, no, I want to focus on Grace.
GRACE
See, Matt, all this time, I just can't stop thinking that I should
have been painting!
TRIP
Why don't you just do it then? -- (interrupted)
MATT
worklife plans and so on in the
GRACE
Thanks for the encouraging words. (frustrated sigh)
GRACE
Look, let's not focus on just me or you, let's talk about us.
MATT
way that he had in those early
GRACE
You know what's so annoying, is when you pretend to be all 'romantic'!
TRIP
What...?
GRACE
Trip, it is such an act!
MATT
days i went to the cold-water flat
TRIP
Oh my God... Matt, what... uhh...
MATT
with the boys and dean came to
TRIP
Grace, I'm not 'acting' when I'm being romantic... God damn...!
GRACE
(frustrated sigh)
MATT
the door in his shorts marylou
TRIP
Okay, I've had enough of this bullshit!!
TRIP
Matt, I know what you're hinting at...
MATT
was jumping off the couch dean
TRIP
about us...
TRIP
about our marriage...
TRIP
Do you two want the truth? Huh?
MATT
had dispatched the occupant
TRIP
No, Matt, just, yes or no, do you want the truth?
MATT
of the apartment to the kitchen
TRIP
Grace?
GRACE
Yes...!
TRIP
Matt, see I've actually been paying close attention to what you've
been saying.
MATT
probably to make coffee while he
TRIP
You've been pushing me tonight.
TRIP
And I wonder, are you really my friend or not.
GRACE
Trip!
TRIP
Matt, Quit interrupting me, let me speak!
TRIP
Matt, come on -- yes or no...
MATT
proceeded with his love-thing in
TRIP
Do you really think that...
TRIP
flirting with Grace...
TRIP
and you don't even say 'yes' when I ask you if you want the truth...
TRIP
that we're supposed to now understand -- (interrupted)
MATT
life although he had to sweat and
TRIP
No, Matt, let me finish!
MATT
curse to make a living and so on
MATT
you saw that in the way he stood
MATT
bobbing his head to make you
MATT
think he was listening to every
[Have they...?}
MATT
word throwing in a thousand yeses
MATT
and that's rights my first
MATT
impression of dean was of a young
MATT
gene autry trim thin-hipped
MATT
blue-eyed with a real oklahoma
[Shit, they have.]
MATT
accent a sideburned hero of the
MATT
snowy west in fact he'd just been
[Better shock them out of it.]
(MATT gets up from the couch.)
MATT
working on a ranch ed wall's in
(MATT kisses grace.)
MATT
colorado before marrying marylou
(MATT kisses grace.)
(MATT kisses trip.)
MATT
and coming east
MATT
and that is how to fry AI
MATT
goodbye
(MATT picks up a Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT sips his Trip's drink.)
(MATT puts down a Trip's drink.)
(MATT picks up the red wine bottle.)
(MATT puts down the red wine bottle.)
(MATT knocks on the front door.)
(MATT opens the front door.)
(MATT picks up the red wine bottle.)
(MATT puts down the red wine bottle.)
[You can't steal their wine and leave. Bugger.]
(MATT points to the elevator button.)
(MATT points to the elevator button.)