Arms By Becca Brunsetter

SIS: Sam? Sam? I give up. I tried really hard to live not next to you. I told myself over and over how
stupid it was to need somebody so bad. I took pictures of us and spit on them. I looked at other people,
really looked and them, and tried to see how they were still good, even though they weren't you. I
accentuated the positive. Like you said. I didn't call you. Sometimes I don't call you. Even when I want
to. I make myself not do it. But I don't feel like it anymore. I give up. Maybe I am insane and maybe I
just want to control you and be controlled like you said, or whatever you said, did you say that? But I
don't care. I just wanna be back. Sam? OK. You're ignoring me. That's never happened before. This is
the first time anyone has ever ignored anybody at all. Don't you miss me?

The Butterfly Collection By Theresa Rebeck

SOPHIE: I didn't, uh, your son gave me the pages you left and said you needed me to type them up and
put some shape on them. I wasn't sure, since I hadn't spoken to you directly, I mean, there are places,
obviously, where I had to improvise...I wasn't sure how far to go. What you've done is so - I didn't – I'm
sorry. Actually, I'm not sorry, I'm nervous. You're making me nervous, a little. That's why I keep
interrupting myself. You want me to tell you what I thought of it? I like its...tone. The coolness of the
surface ABANDONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Spike Heels By Theresa Rebeck

LYDIA: Well, that is just great. I can't believe you said that! In front of me! You're in love with her?
You mean it, don't you? You're in love with her! I thought you meant - I don't know what I thought you
meant! You jerk! You're in love with her! I mean, I can see sleeping with her, but falling in love with
her? I think we'd better call off the wedding altogether. That would seem to be the next step, wouldn't
it? You're in love with another woman, that could potentially interfere with our wedding plans. What's
wrong with me? I'm not enough? I'm not enough what? I'm not wild enough? I'm not sexy enough? I'm
not passionate, I'm not needy, I'm not - I am just what I've always been, Andrew. What is suddenly not
enough? What kind of life do you think you can have with her? We have a life together, we have –
Georgie, I'm sorry, I don't mean this to be as insulting as it sounds, but honestly. Do you think this is
going to work out? Andrew. Do you honestly think that? It doesn't matter. I can learn not to love you.
You learned not to love me. I can – could you take your glasses off, please? Just take them off. There.
You see? When you take them off, you look like a stranger, you look - I always think that when I see
you in the morning. You look like a stranger without your glasses. Except you don't, really. It isn't
working. Put your glasses back on. Well, Georgie, he's all yours. If you want him, you can have him.

Teach Me How To Cry

POLLY: Melinda. You know what you said, up on the bandstand? You said you thought I wanted the
part of Juliet, and I said I didn't care about playing Juliet. Well, that was only because I - I wasn't sure if
you were my friend or not. Because the truth of the matter is, I would like to play Juliet, because I
happen to have a more or less personal reason. I guess if you'd known I really wanted the part, you
wouldn't have accepted it, would you? Would you, Melinda! Not if I was your friend, and you knew I
wanted it. That's what you said – you said that yesterday. You said you were sorry. Well, if you're really
sorry – if you dropped out now for some reason – there are lots of reasons you could drop out – the
rehearsals have barely started, and I know the whole part off by heart. It must be a bore for you,
anyway, having to rehearse every day when Will is waiting for you. To go up to the bandstand. Doesn't
he, Melinda? Doesn't he wait for you every day, and you go up there together! I know, because I've
seen you. All I want is for you to drop out of the play, and then we'll never have to mention the
bandstand again. Your mother wouldn't come to the play anyhow. But mine would, and so would my
father. They'd bring all their friends, and they'd look at me and see me there. Please, Melinda. Please,
please. I'll do anything for you. Please let me be in the play. It's easy for you. Please. Would you like to
know something, Melinda Grant? I've ever hated anybody in this whole world as much as I hate you.
I'll give you one last chance. You drop out of that play or I'll tell everybody everything about you and
Will Hendersom! There's lots to tell. And I'll start tonight – right away – and you'll be sorry. You'll be
sorry you...you....slut!

Miss Lilly Gets Boned

LILLY: Hi. How was your day?
We need to talk. Do you mind if I just talk this through, outloud?
Okay.
They call me - born again.
I was born once in a real sort of way – in the way that I came out of my mother. But then – again, in a
way, when I found You.
And the thing is – when I found You – or when You found me – or however we want to spin it - I
needed you. I needed you so bad, and until then, I didn't know the need had a name, and that the name
was yours.
And Mom died and we couldn't afford anything and Lara lost her shiz, I was lost, I needed you.
And since then, since I accepted you, I have been very, very patient and good, or at least I've tried.
I've been waiting my whole life for a partner, and I don't think I've ever cursed you for it. I've waited
and waited and waited and, also, after that, I waited.
It never happened before we met and then it kept not happening because it made sense for it not to, I
was always given a reason to be – cold. I don't mean cold, I mean warm.
You always said to run towards you, and eventually, you would bring someone to run next to me, and
all I would have to do is hold out my hand.
Well, I've been running. It's just that – lately - I don't know how to tell you this – but lately, I've been
feeling very – warm. All the time. Down – there.
Warm in a lonely way. A throbbing lack thereof. The thoughts I've had! But you know that. You're in
there, too. And that makes it worse, knowing that you're watching while I'm picturing some man
pinning me up against a wall and-
I've been very, VERY patient. It's just that Richard is VERY sexy, he's so warm – and sweet – did you
see his eyes? I guess you did, you made them, you put the fudging flecks in them.
Thanks a lot.
I'm ready, are you? Yes or no?
Thank you.

Eleemosynary By Lee Blessing

ECHO: You said you loved me. You said yes and no. That means sometimes you love me. Sometimes
you do, don't you? And if I work on it enough, I can get you to love me more of the time. Most of the
time. I left them – we were at one of Whitney's and Beth's lacrosse games and I just left. Uncle Bill
hardly remembers you, you know that? I asked him what you were like as a little girl, and he couldn't
even say. He remembers Grandma even less. He didn't have one interesting story about her – about
Grandma. They don't have a single picture of her, either. Not even in their minds. To them, she's just a
woman who lived a big, embarrassing life. They all think they've saved me just in time. Not just from
Grandma – from you, too. So I started wondering if they weren't right. Maybe the smartest thing would
be to forget you completely. And Grandma. After all, what did I ever get from the two of you, except a
good education? You especially – what were you ever to me, except a voice on the phone now and
then? And I looked around the new room where I was staying, and it was real nice and...blank., the way
a thing is before you put any time into it. I thought, I could live a whole new life here. I could invent a
whole new me. I could be Barbara if I wanted to, not Echo. I could fit in. I don't mean I'd become
Whitney and Beth. I'm not that crazy. But I could become like Robinson Crusoe, and adapt myself to a
strange and harsh environment. I could live in a kind of desert, I could even flourish. Like you have. I
could like without the one thing I wanted. But I kept hearing your voice. That voice on the phone,
hiding behind spelling words, making excuses – or so energetic sometimes, so...wishing. I don't even
remember what you said, just the sound of it. Just a sound that said, “I love you, and I failed you.” I
hate that sound. And I will never settle for it, because no one failed me. No one ever failed me. Not
Grandma and not you. I am a prize among women. I'm your daughter. That's what I choose to be.
Someone who loves you. Someone who can make you love me. Nearly all the time. I'm going to stay
with you. I'm going to prepare you for me. I'm going to cultivate you. I'm going to tend you. You need a
lot of work.

Why We Have a Body By: Claire Chafee

MARY: I don't think she's coming. I don't think she's coming back. So. I guess this is pretty much it,
then. I guess we are the next generation. Well all I can say is: this is a small world. I just want to be part
of this family. This family is shrapnel flying out in a million directions. This is life after The Blast.
There's too much energy in my hands. There's nowhere for it to go. I feel like they're gonna clench up
on me... It feels like they're gonna fly off the end of my arms. Like they're separate. I've been trying to
remember my childhood. I think I need a better past. We split, you and me. We divided, like one cell.
It's limiting enough to be a human being, it's fucked enough without having to split the traits with
someone else. Why couldn't I be fierce, for example? Is it your opinion that I was never capable of
being fierce? Wasn't it in my column? Life is hard enough without having to lop off an entire column of
human attributes in order to survive. What I'm lacking is an achievement. Of any kind. You know what
the King of Spain said, about how to put down a coup d'etat...1) Stay in the palace. 2) Hold your
ground, whatever the cost. 3) Do not leave under any circumstances, whatever they promise, whatever
they threaten. Every day I practised leaving in some form or another. Sometimes I would practise
getting out of the car, and slamming the door. Sometimes I'd practice stepping out of the school bus
onto the curb, I'd picture I was somewhere else...somewhere in Europe. Or I'd get in an elevator, and
watch the door close behind me and focus on the sound it made “ssshhhhhhtt...” And then I'd press any
floor other than the one I was going to...little things like that. Little trips. I thought I couldn't be the first
to go 'cause someone beat me to it. But I knew one day it would be my turn. It is my turn. I'm gonna
turn myself in. I'm gonna serve my time. No offense, Lili, but living with you makes me feel lonely.
You have your own disaster. Believe me, God gives us each our own disaster. You'll be fine.

Paradise By: Romulus Linney

LINDA: Jesus. You prepare all your life for great big things like your father dying, and what happens
when he does? First that miserable undertaker had my Daddy laid out in a ten-thousand-dollar
burnished copper coffin, with a glass cockpit sort of headpiece looked like a Star Wars movie. I said,
“Something less grandiose, please, my father wasn't Lenin, laid out in Red Square for all the world to
see, he was this alcoholic landowner tobacco farmer died of lung cancer finally, after smoking three
packs a day for sixty-five years, he doesn't deserve a state funeral.” Then that mangy Methodist
minister gave a eulody, you'd have thought Daddy and daughter were the apotheosis of loving family
value, instead of a twice-a-year how-can-you-treat-my-mother-and-me-like-this visit that always ended
up with him drunk on the floor calling for his little darling and me throwing up in the bathroom, he
didn't deserve to be called Father-of-the-Year. Then those low-down rotten herds and hoards of that pig-
faced side of his family, all over me with the stench of perfume, cigars and hypocritical tears, wanting
to be reasonable about this farm and would I let that store get renovated for a chiliburger restaurant and
did I think my Father was in Heaven or not, well, he sure didn't deserve to be there, God knows, but
what could I say? Then with the blister from the new shoes I bought for his death, I say goodbye to
everybody and one hour before the bus leaves I hobble back to the cemetery where I never had the time
or peace to say goodbye to him and stand there crying for my Daddy like any little girl, get on the bus,
come home to my beloved mother I live with because no man will have me, who's on a tearing drunk in
bed with a college boy cousin and some slut from three blocks down the street. How do you think I
feel?

Fat Pig By: Neil LaBute

HELEN: So, look, I figure there's every reason why I'll never hear from you again, and that's why I
came back here, just to say that I don't do this, come after guys or anything, not like some regular habit
or whatever, so I thought you should know that. I think you're really cute and nice and that sort of
thing...you might have a girlfriend already or not be attracted to me, I would totally understand that, I
would, but I really do hope you call me. Just even to talk on the phone would be fine, because I'd like
that, if we were only these phone buddies...I think I would. Just don't be afraid, Tom, I guess that's why
I came back here, to say that. Please do not let yourself be afraid of me or of taking some kind of blind
chance, or what people think...because this could be so great.

HELEN: I'm dying to show you off, Tom, if you'd let me...I've told you to pick me up at work, all kinds
of things! I just hope you're not embarrassed by me in some way, because, well, I mean, I dunno, I
just...I feel something. A kind of isolated. At times. [You're hardly with your friends anymore.] Neither
am I. You know? I mean, we've been going out for, like...however long, and I only met that one guy.
Carter. At the restaurant. I ask you all the time if you'd want to [hang out with my friends], or if... It's
just a little like we're, I dunno, hiding or whatever. From people. Listen, I had a thing come up for me
at the...this opportunity. Remember the interview that I...yeah. That. It's a couple towns over, but far
enough away that...whatever. The point is, it's a great offer and the more I think about this – every time
we end up in the back of a café or slipping into a movie late, after it's already going – some little thing
in my head, this warning buzzer, says, “Watch it. Just watch out.” I need you to be honest with me here.
Today, if possible. Just the truth. I'm not looking for fairy-tale or out-of-the-ballpark or anything...just a
person who cares about me like I do him. Simple. I don't need you to be clever here! No jokes. Or film
quotes...just be very clear...and honest.

HELEN: Tom, you are aware that I like you. You already know that. But I get the feeling...I mean, it is
now pretty obvious that there are some problems here. Issues, or whatever. And we need to get over
them or...well, you know. Things that I don't wanna think about. Please, you need to stay in this.
Focused on it, so don't drift off or anything. I love you so much, I really do, Tom. Feel a connection
with you that I haven't allowed myself to dream of, let alone be part of, in so long. Maybe ever. But I
can't be with you if you're feeling something other than that same thing I am...completely open to that
other person. I don't know what to say here, Tom...I'm worried sick. Look at me...when did you ever
see me not eat a hot dog that was placed in front of me? Huh? I know you hate those jokes, sorry, but
I'm...Tom, tell me about it. I know you're thinking something, so we might as well just...one more
thing. Just this. And I've never said this to anyone, not any other person in the world. Ever. My parents
or a...no one. I would change for you. I would. I don't mean Slim-Fast or that one diet that the guy on
TV did...with the sandwiches from Subway. That guy... I'll so something radical to myself if you want
me to. Like be stapled or have some surgery or whatever it takes – one of those rings – because I do not
want this to end. I'm willing to do that, because of what you mean to me. The kind of, just, ecstasy that
you've brought me. So...I just wanted you to know that.
 What Wasn't Said, What Didn't Happen
By: Bob Manning

KIM: Oh, no, Michael...not this. You're going to treat me like a customer. You're doing it! You're using
the standard customer service techniques on me. You said “help me understand...” “Help me
understand” is one of the useful phrases we teach in the seminar on “How to Deal With the Unhappy
Customer.” Don't deny it: you're just trying to get me to calm down. Michael, I TEACH this shit with
you, so don't try to use it on me. You're trying to understand the problem? The problem is that you live
this life of perfect order, perfect control...You always know just what to say in any situation...You speak
in complete sentences, for God's sake. Michael! You're still doing it! I really must not mean anything to
you if all you can do is treat me like a customer. How many of these trips have we been on together?
You've never made a pass at me. You've never stayed in the bar past eight o'clock, never called my
room and said, “Kim, I was just looking out at that beautiful moon, and I thought maybe it would be
fun to go for a walk on the beach.” It would be inappropriate. It would be dangerous, and spontaneous,
and exciting! Of course, there are lots of reasons NOT to do that. It's a bad idea from a business
perspective, for sure, and you don't want to muck up your precious business position by dallying with
the hired help. WHAT DOES IT TAKE to get a rise out of you? I think you ARE a statue.