40 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3

rearranges the pictures of his family. His INTERCOM buzzes.

HUNTER sits down in his chair doesn’t answer it. The
INTERCOM buzzes again. HUNTER finally punches it.)

HUNTER. Nancy, I’m not ready for that call yet.

(HUNTER stares out, slowly swivels in his chair from side to side,
still deeply perplexed.
FADE OUT.)
LYNETTE HAS
THE END BEAUTIFUL SKIN

by Jane Anderson

————————

41
Eo
42 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3

Lynette Has Beautiful Skin was performed at Actors Theatre of

Louisville. It was directed by Bob Krakower and had the following
cast:

LYNETTE HAS BEAUTIFUL SKIN

LYNETTE............scscsccsocessctetarsncnscovensovencers Gretchen Claggett
BOBBY cisisicssscsstrorssersevsssevalsniesseoscccsccmssiustecseveiseets Danny Campbell Frank's Pizza. LARRY, BOBBY and LYNETTE are hanging out.
LARRY -ccscasscsssspassccnnscossensiegs talscsccoacsscusaescosassse Michael Dempsey BOBBY and LYNETTE are sitting on one side of the booth, very
close. BOBBY is picking at Lynette’s pizza.
Scenic Designer: Paul Owen
Sound Designer: Mark Hendren LARRY. Her name is Judy ...
Property Master: Mark Bissonnette LYNETTE. Huh?
Production Stage Manager: Carey Upton LARRY. Judy.
Costume Designer: Kevin McLeod LYNETTE. Bobby, c’mon. Leave me something.
Lighting Designer: Jan Thornsberry BOBBY. I’m just tasting.
Dramaturgs: Nancy Klementowski LYNETTE. Look, you’re picking it all apart. It’s unappetizing.
BOBBY. I just wanna see if it’s good enough for you.
LYNETTE. Larry, make him stop.
CHARACTERS LARRY. (Automatically.) Bobby stop.
BOBBY. C’mon, don’t ya wanna share with me?
Lynette LYNETTE. Eat your own.
BOBBY. I wanna eat yours. Don’t you wanna eat mine?
Bobby LYNETTE. (Laughing.) God, you're a pig. Larry, tell him to
stop.
Larry LARRY. Bobby, stop.
BOBBY. (To Larry, re: Lynette.) Jesus, doesn’t she have great
skin?
LYNETTE. Cut it out, Bobby.
TIME & PLACE BOBBY. She has outstanding skin, doesn’t she?
LYNETTE. (Laughing.) Shut-up!
The Present. BOBBY. Hey, don’t interrupt me when I’m talking about you. I
A pizza parlor. happen to think you have very delicious skin.
LYNETTE. Larry, tell him to stop.
LARRY. Stop.
BOBBY. (Whispering to Larry.) Fantastic skin.
NB. LYNETTE. (To Larry.) Tell him to stop.
[/ means the next line of dialogue begins here.] LARRY. Stop.

43
44 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3
LYNETTE HAS BEAUTIFUL SKIN 45
(A beat.)
LYNETTE. Yeah, Larry, stay.
LARRY. (Trying to get back to a conversation.) So anyway ... LARRY. I dunno ...
BOBBY. So, you were saying? BOBBY. C’mon, I’ll buy you another slice. You want another
LYNETTE. Yeah, the girl, you’re seeing a girl? slice?
LARRY. Yeah ... LARRY. I’m not that hungry for another one.
BOBBY. Then hang out.
(BOBBY takes a bite of Lynette’s pizza. SHE smacks his hand.) LYNETTE. Yeah, Larry, hang out.
BOBBY. How’s your car?
LYNETTE. Bobby get outta there! / I can’t believe you. LARRY. My car?
BOBBY. You were saying, Larry, what? BOBBY. Yeah, you get the distributor fixed?
LARRY. This girl ... BOBBY. That’s a son of a bitch. Find a new one?
LYNETTE. Dammit, Bobby. LARRY. Yeah, I finally went to Brandt’s.
BOBBY. (To Lynette, re: pizza.) V'll buy you another. You BOBBY. Brandt’s is overpriced. You shoulda gone to
Conway’s.
want another?
LYNETTE. No, I want to eat the slice I have now. You always LARRY. I went to Conway’s. They were out of stock.
do this to me. BOBBY. Depends who you ask. You talk to Frank?
BOBBY. What? What am I always doing to you? LARRY. No.
LYNETTE. You’re always eating my food. BOBBY. You should of talked to Frank. He can get you
BOBBY. When? anything. At half the price. Brandt’s, you pay too much.
LYNETTE. Like now. Like all the time.
BOBBY. (To Larry, amused.) I do? (LYNETTE is playing with her straw, bored. BOBBY puts his arm
around her.)
LYNETTE. All the time.
BOBBY. Your food tastes better.
LYNETTE. It really bothers me, Bobby. BOBBY. So what are you doing?
BOBBY. OK. I won’t do it anymore.
LYNETTE. Nothing.
BOBBY. Nothing? What are you doing with the straw?
LYNETTE. OK.
BOBBY. OK.
LYNETTE. Nothing.

(BOBBY grabs the straw and puts it down Lynette's blouse.

(THEY kiss.
LYNETTE squeals.)
A beat.)

LYNETTE. Bobby, what’re you doing?

LARRY. I’m gonna go.
BOBBY. Where’re you / going?
BOBBY. Nothing.
LYNETTE. Where’re you going, Larry? LYNETTE. Larry, tell him to stop.
LARRY. I don’t know. I thought I'd go.
LARRY. Stop.
BOBBY. Stay.
(LARRY looks like he wants to go.)
46 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3
BOBBY. (To Larry.) You want another Coke? Let me get you a
Coke. (Getting up.) I'll get you another Coke. (To Lynette.) You
want another Diet?
LYNETTE. Yeah, a Diet.
(BOBBY moves off to the counter.)
LYNETTE. So how’s your job?
LARRY. It’s OK.
LYNETTE. Who’s that girl, wasn’t there a girl?
LARRY. Yeah, I was saying ... Judy.
LYNETTE. You still seeing her?
LARRY, It’s hot and cold.
LYNETTE. That’s OK, that’s OK. I was hot and cold with
Bobby. It’s part of the game.
LARRY. I can’t tell with her.
LYNETTE. I played very cold. But I’d give him signals. She
give you signals?
LARRY. I dunno. She gives me looks.
LYNETTE. That’s good, that’s good. Looks are good.
LARRY. I’ve seen her looking at me, /but it’s hard to tell.
LYNETTE. Beginnings are hard, they’re very hard. My
beginning with Bobby was very complex.
LARRY. Uh-huh.
LYNETTE. He was deeply troubled. His family. You ever meet
his family?
LARRY. Yeah.
LYNETTE. So you know.
LARRY. Yeah, I’ve met them / once or twice.
LYNETTE. You can’t just walk right into Bobby’s life. You
have to give him lots of room. Even now.
LARRY. Yeah.
LYNETTE. He’s needs his independence but he wants to be
close.
LARRY. Yeah, I think Judy might be / like that ...
LYNETTE. It’s hard, it’s hard sometimes. Bobby is a very
LYNETTE HAS BEAUTIFUL SKIN 47
complicated man.
LARRY. Uh-huh.
LYNETTE. To Bobby intimacy means control. He wants his
independence but he wants to control. But to me, intimacy means
trust. I’m very into trust and Bobby’s into control. You know what
I mean?
LARRY. Yeah, I like to trust ...
LYNETTE. That’s very rare. Most men are controllers and
most women are trusters.
LARRY. Yeah?
LYNETTE. Oh sure, men trusters are very special, very rare.
LARRY. (Trying to be modest.) Well, you know, I’m not a
truster all the time.
LYNETTE. That’s OK, that’s OK. You can’t be. Or else you’d
be a victim, A lot of women tmusters are victims.
LARRY. Sure, that makes sense. I don’t think Judy is a victim.
LYNETTE. Uh-huh.
LARRY. Neither are you.
LYNETTE. No.
(A beat.
BOBBY comes back with the drinks.)
BOBBY. So Larry, how’s work?
LARRY. It’s OK. I was / telling Lynette ...
(BOBBY puts a piece of ice down Lynette’s blouse.)
LYNETTE. Shit, Bobby! Whatta ya doing!!
(BOBBY holds Lynette’s arins so she can't get the ice out.)
BOBBY. So what were you saying, Larry?
LARRY. Yeah, I was saying, you know, / work is OK ...
LYNETTE. (Laughing and screaming.) Bobby, let go! It’s
cold! Let go!
BOBBY. How’s that girl you’re seeing, / what’s her name,
48 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3 LYNETTE HAS BEAUTIFUL SKIN 49

Judy? LYNETTE. It’s called lapidary?

LYNETTE. I got ice between my tits! Larry tell him / to let go! LARRY. Yeah. That’s what she’s into.
BOBBY. Judy, that her name? . BOBBY. You go to bed with her?
LARRY. Judy, yeah. LARRY. Not yet.
LYNETTE. Larry, tell him to let go! BOBBY. Uh-huh.
BOBBY. (To Lynette.) Where is it? (Reaching in her blouse.)
Lemme get it Lemme get it for you. (A beat.)
LYNETTE. Larry, tell him to stop.
LARRY. (Getting bored.) Stop. LARRY. How long it take you guys to go to bed?
LYNETTE. Bobby, Larry told you to stop. LYNETTE, First date.
BOBBY. OK, Ok, Ill stop. BOBBY. Yeah, first date.
LARRY. You had that kind of attraction, you wanted to do it
(BOBBY lets go of her. LYNETTE looks down her blouse for the that soon?
ice.) LYNETTE. Sure.
BOBBY. Oh yeah.
LYNETTE. There’s a wet spot. It left a wet spot all over my LARRY. And it was good?
blouse. LYNETTE. Incredible.
BOBBY. Here, take a napkin. BOBBY. Great, it was great.
LYNETTE. Jesus, Bobby. LARRY. Was it love? Were you in love?
BOBBY. You loved it.
LYNETTE. NoI didn’t. It was stupid. (BOBBY and LYNETTE look at each other for a beat, trying to
BOBBY. You were laughing. (To Larry.) Didn’t you hear her recall.)
laughing?
BOBBY. I don’t know ...
(A beat.) LYNETTE. It was an attraction.
BOBBY. ... an attraction, initially, yeah.
LARRY. What time is it? LARRY. How long it take you to fall in love?
BOBBY. Around two.
LARRY. Yeah, I think I better go. (BOBBY and LYNETTE look at each other.)
BOBBY. So you never told me. How’s Judy?
LARRY. We went out a couple of times. LYNETTE, It was a while.
BOBBY. Was it good? BOBBY. Yeh, it took a while.
LARRY. I thought so, yeah. We talked. She does lapidary as a LYNETTE. I fell in love first but I didn’t tell Bobby so he
hobby. wouldn’t freak out.
LYNETTE. What’s lapidary? LARRY. So how long you been together?
LARRY. The the art of polishing rocks, you know, to make BOBBY. Five years.
them smooth, bring out the color. LYNETTE. Since we fucked. We’ve been in love for four. (A
50 TEN MINUTE PLAYS: Volume 3 LYNETTE HAS BEAUTIFUL SKIN 51

beat.) Actually four for me, three and a half for Bobby. BOBBY. Larry, hang out.
BOBBY. That’s right. LYNETTE, Come on, hang out.
LARRY. So do you think maybe Judy is playing it cool so she LARRY. (Getting up.) No, I’m gonna go.
doesn’t scare me off? BOBBY. You didn’t finish about Judy.
BOBBY. Sure. Absolutely. You have to make the first moves. LARRY. That’s OK.
(BOBBY takes Lynette’'s arm and starts stroking the skin on the LYNETTE. Larry, stay.
inside.) LARRY. Nah, I’m gonna go. I’ll see you around, OK?
LARRY. I just don’t want to be, you know, all over her, in case BOBBY. What’re you doing tomorrow?
she’s not interested. LARRY. I dunno. I’1l call you.
LYNETTE. Don’t worry about that. (LYNETTE smacks LYNETTE. You wanna talk, call me, OK?
Bobby's hand away.) LARRY. OK. Thanks for the Coke.
BOBBY. You kiss her yet? (BOBBY grabs Lynette’s arm.)
LARRY. Well yeah, we’ve done some kissing. (LARRY leaves. THEY sit for a beat. BOBBY makes a half-hearted
BOBBY. (Stroking Lynette’s arm.) So, was it good? attempt to stroke Lynette’s arm.)
LYNETTE. (Smacking Bobby.) Bobby, don’t.
LYNETTE. (Truly annoyed.) Don’t.
(BOBBY holds on to Lynette’s arm and buries his face in the crook
of her elbow, making little nibbles with his lips.) (A long beat. BOBBY finishes the rest of Lynette’s pizza. LYNETTE
folds designs in the straw wrapper. Finally:)
LYNETTE. (Giggling and screaming.) Bobby, c’mon. Larry
tell him to stop! BOBBY. You want me to get you something else?
BOBBY. I love your skin, Lynette. LYNETTE. No.
LYNETTE. It tickles! C’mon, stop! Larry, tell him to stop! BOBBY. You wanna go?
LARRY. (Resigned.) Stop. LYNETTE. I don’t care.

(BOBBY and LYNETTE wrestle each other in the booth, smacking (THEY both stare at the table for another beat. Neither one has
and tickling each other. LARRY looks around. HE finishes his anything to say to the other.)
drink. HE plays with the wrapper from his straw.)
BOBBY. (Finally.) OK, let’s get outta here.
BOBBY. (Over this.) Come on, lemme touch your arm.
LYNETTE. Get outta here! (THEY get up as the LIGHTS FADE.)
BOBBY. (Jo Larry.) She has skin like an angel. I wanna touch
it all over. THE END
LYNETTE. Larry, tell him to stop!
BOBBY. I wanna craw! into it and fall asleep.
LARRY. I’m gonna go.
LYNETTE. Larry, no. You don’t hafta.