THE TASTERS

by Meghan Brown

Katie Gamelli | Abrams Artists Agency

275 Seventh Avenue, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10001
(646) 461-9379
Katie.Gamelli@abramsartny.com
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

BIANCA (she/her) Visibly pregnant.

LT. SAWYER (they/them) Obedient.

CORRINE (Kuh-rinn) (she/her) A chatterbox.

ELYSE (she/her) A dangerous woman.

THE GENERAL (he/him) Charming. Terrifying.

SETTING: The play takes place in two places:

The Tasting Room: Three metal tables with chairs. Blues and grays.

The General's Quarters: Ornate. Garish. Golds and reds.

WHERE ARE WE / WHEN ARE WE?

The North. It's cold. Brrrr.

This play works best when its mythology is its own -- it's not designed to represent a specific
place or time. The language is "timeless contemporary." If there's modern/futuristic technology,
we don't see it.

NOTES: The scene shifts / blackouts are SMASHES. Sound and light crashing in and out all at
once. No slow fades or dawdling. Sharp sharp sharp sharp sharp.

Bianca's letters exist in a surreal world that is in contrast with the rest of the play, and should be
delivered to the audience. Sound light color whatever. All that luscious food projected in
pornographic detail.
PRESHOW

Projections: Slide after slide of food, glorious food. We

should all be salivating. The yummiest stuff. The images
look so good it’s hard not to crawl up onto the stage and
lick them.

Every so often, words: “YOU ARE SAFE HERE. EAT

UP.”

The lights dim as the slides change with increasing

frequency. A soundscape builds to a mechanical,
dissonant roar as the images flash faster and faster and
faster more food more noise YOU ARE SAFE HERE
EAT UP the words crash one word at a time then all the
words at once meat being eaten by maggots rotten
vegetables covered in bugs a wet yellow cake with a
glowing birthday candle toxic chemicals words words
words nastiness EAT UP EAT UP EAT UP a disaster a
feast it’s all mixed together the sublime and grotesque the
sounds are deafening it’s all going too fast and then a
smash to
 2.

SCENE 1: THE FIRST LETTER

Silence. A tight light on BIANCA, who looks at the

audience.

BIANCA
Dear Bump,
This is what happens.

More light reveals that Bianca is very pregnant, and is

sitting at the center of three metal tables. Maybe she’s
been sitting there the whole time.

LIEUTENANT SAWYER enters, wheeling in a cart

that carries an extravagant silver serving dome.

BIANCA
They announce the menu.

SAWYER

(with relish)
Heirloom tomato salad with asiago & toasted pine nuts, salmon piccata, potato and
vegetable ragu.

BIANCA
They wheel over the cart.

Sawyer wheels the cart over to Bianca, bumping the table

accidentally.

SAWYER

(bright)
Whoopsie!

BIANCA
They put the plate in front of me.

Sawyer does.

SAWYER
Heeeeeeere’s your dinner!
 3.

BIANCA
They take off the cover.

SAWYER

(with a flourish)
Voila!

BIANCA
Then, together, we smell the food.

They inhale together. It smells incredible.

SAWYER & BIANCA

Mmm.

BIANCA

(sincere)
Thank you.

SAWYER
You’re welcome.

Back to us:

BIANCA
Then they say:

SAWYER
Eat.

A sharp, stark shift. Bianca’s breathing is shallow,

frightened. Can she do it? She stabs a piece of food and
looks imploringly at Sawyer, who nods at her to continue.

Wincing, terrified, she takes a bite, swallows. Sawyer

clicks on a timer and stares at it with great focus. A
surreal, echoing tickticktick builds in speed.

BIANCA
Then, Bump, I think about you. How important it is for me to do whatever I have to do to
keep us safe.
 4.

SAWYER
Just a few more seconds...

BIANCA
That’s what’s gonna get us through, Bump! We’ll do what others won’t. We’ll push
ourselves into whatever shape we have to. We’ll eat whatever they put in front of us. And
then?

Sawyer clicks the timer off.

BIANCA
We’ll survive.

SAWYER
Annnnd clear.

Extreme relief.

SAWYER
Now: finish your plate.

Bianca eagerly picks up her fork to take another bite,

happy.

BIANCA
So Bump, don’t you worry. I’m looking out for me and you. Our bright future’s coming.
We’re so close to getting everything we—

SAWYER

(a shift, darker)
Finish your plate.

BIANCA

(to Sawyer)
Of course, Lieutenant. Thank you.

Bianca inhales. A sharp exhale on:

 5.

SCENE 2: THE FIRST TASTING

Bianca in her same spot. Lt. Sawyer is leading a

chattering CORRINE to a chair at a nearby table.
Corrine’s spirits are high.

CORRINE
I mean, really, this job is a dream. Look at the perks! The food alone! And
complimentary lodging? Who needs the great outdoors? The indoors! That’s what’s
great! I have always said that. Even before—

SAWYER
Please sit down.

CORRINE
This compound is even more grand than I was expecting. Not that I had any expectations!
Oh, no, I had heard nothing. This place is top secret. A powerful fortress shrouded in
mystery. No leaks!

SAWYER

(agreeing)
No leaks.

CORRINE
But even if I had heard a little something—even then, the reality would have far, far
exceeded my expectations. I’m thrilled to be here. Just thrilled. My first Tasting! When I
heard about the, you know, the—

(spelled)
P-O-I-S-I-N-I-N-G-S?

BIANCA
We can all spell.

SAWYER

(tracking)
And I don’t think that’s how you—

CORRINE
It shook me to my core. That the Great Leaders could be in such danger! That they could
lose their lives at the hands of such savagery! I knew that if there was a sacrifice to be
made I was strong enough to make it. It was the same for you, I’d expect.
 6.

BIANCA
Nah. I’m just here for the food.

CORRINE
Hilarious! We’re going to be good friends, you and I. Good friends. Maybe even best
friends.

(she gasps)
Let’s become best friends. We’ll be like sisters! I’m Corrine.

BIANCA
...Bianca.

CORRINE
That’s so great!

SAWYER
Well. I’m going to bring in the other new Taster.

CORRINE
About that. As I’m sure you understand, this is a great honor.

SAWYER
Of course.

CORRINE
To be a Taster for a single Great Leader would have been privilege enough... but to be
brought here to this glorious summit where all of the Great Leaders will be protected by
my sacrifice? It’s almost too much to bear.

SAWYER
Uh-huh.

CORRINE
So I’m sure you can understand that I was... surprised by the other Taster. You
recognized her, didn’t you? When you were loading us off?

SAWYER
...Yes.

CORRINE
At first, I thought it was a dream. A hallucination. I thought maybe my... joy, my
excitement had gotten the best of me. I pinched myself! I bruised my own skin, but that
vision stayed constant. It was real!
 7.

Lieutenant Sawyer, I have longed every day to see what I saw. To see her in chains,
bound. My heart is so full, Lieutenant. But she and I cannot share the same space. She
has to be kept separately.

BIANCA
Who’s the new Taster?

CORRINE
You don’t know? You haven’t heard? No one—?

SAWYER

(oh my god Corrine shut up)

Elyse Manning.

Whoa.

BIANCA
Elyse Manning’s been captured?

CORRINE
Oh yes. They put us together on the same train. She was two feet from me for three whole
days.

BIANCA

(to Sawyer)
Why are they bringing her here?

SAWYER
It’s what the General wanted.

BIANCA
But what about—?

Corrine is looking at her, slightly suspicious.

BIANCA

(covering, containing)
I’m pleased to hear that she will be under the watchful eye of the Great Leaders.
 8.

CORRINE
I’m not! They should kill her. They should put her head on a spike, feed her corpse to the
dogs. The idea that she’s being brought here? To fill such an illustrious position? It
makes me sick. I could actually vomit just thinking about it.

SAWYER
Are you questioning the wisdom of the Great Leaders?

CORRINE
Of course not! Of course not. I am just... in awe of their warmth and generosity. And
concerned about sharing space with a murderous traitor, but that’s clearly secondary.

SAWYER
She won’t be able to hurt you.

CORRINE
Oh, separating us would be for her protection, not mine. I just can’t say what I might do,
if I’m left alone with her. I just can’t say. What I might do.

SAWYER
I’m sure you’ll be able to contain yourself. Now... stay put.

Sawyer connects to Bianca.

SAWYER
Bianca, are you all right?

BIANCA
Lieutenant Sawyer.

(sincere)
Thank you.

SAWYER
You’re welcome.

Hmm. Sawyer nods, moves to exit. Corrine calls after

them.

CORRINE
See you soon! Yum yum yum!

No response. Sawyer exits. A door slams. Corrine turns

to Bianca.
 9.

CORRINE
Get ready. Elyse is a trip.

BIANCA
I’m sure.

CORRINE
She’s going to try to indoctrinate you.

BIANCA
You don’t need to worry about that. I’m unindoctrinate-able.

CORRINE

(sharp)
That’s not funny. I don’t know what your politics are—

BIANCA
I don’t have any.

CORRINE
That means you’re even more at risk. Just another lost girl looking for something to
believe in. That’s how she’s recruited a whole army! She looks for someone susceptible
and then she just pounces. She gets in your head and you can’t get her out. Pretty soon
you’re committing treason like it’s nothing. Like it’s not the fate of your very soul
hanging in the balance!

Something occurs to Bianca.

BIANCA
Look. They’re not... listening.

CORRINE
What do you mean?

BIANCA
I used to be worried about that too, but they don’t monitor us down here.

CORRINE
I’m not following.

BIANCA
I’m saying, it’s just us. You don’t have to talk like that.
 10.

CORRINE
...Like what?

She’s serious. Uh-oh.

BIANCA
Nothing. Never mind. You’re right. The fate of my soul hangs in the balance.

CORRINE
No matter how much she goads you, don’t engage. Your strength will be appreciated by
the Great Leaders. And the General, of course.

BIANCA
Of course.

CORRINE
Mm. He was half the reason I volunteered. He made this speech that was just... well. I
would’ve done anything that man asked of me, let me tell you. He really understands
nobility, doesn’t he? There is a vision for us. This is a new world. Now, we only look
forward.

BIANCA
We only look forward.

CORRINE
You’re from the East?

BIANCA
Yeah. I am. Deep in the mountains.

CORRINE
Me too! I knew it. Could hear it buried in your voice. It’s real bad out there now. Not
enough harvest this year. Or last. It breaks my heart.

BIANCA
Is your family still out there?

CORRINE
Oh, yeah. I’m the first one to ever leave. When I was chosen to Taste, they threw me a
party! They know what a sacrifice this is. What an important job. They’re so proud of
me.

BIANCA
That’s very sweet.
 11.

CORRINE
That train ride was so...

(she doesn’t have the word for it)

Things just kept getting grayer.

BIANCA
Right? And so flat.

CORRINE
So flat and so cold. A day and a half of nothing but snow!

BIANCA
Had you ever seen snow before?

CORRINE
No.

BIANCA
I hadn’t either. It gave me nightmares at first. I kept dreaming I was buried in it. You’ll
get used to it.

CORRINE
Oh, I can’t wait. I’m gonna get a big puffy coat. And a hat! Gloves and those heavy black
boots. I’m gonna fit right in.

BIANCA
Good. I hope you do.

CORRINE
I’m so glad we’re in this together. We can watch out for each other. Elyse Manning is a
dangerous woman. Who knows what she’s capable of.

BIANCA
I can’t believe they’re bringing her here.

CORRINE
I know. They should’ve killed her when they had the chance.

The sound of the door opening. The women adjust.

Sawyer enters, with ELYSE.

She’s quiet, controlled, but make no mistake: this is a

dangerous woman. Sawyer leads her to one of the tables.
 12.

Elyse sits, calm. She holds out her wrists. They cuff her
to her table.

SAWYER
I’ll be back with this evening’s Tasting.

BIANCA
Thank you.

SAWYER
You’re welcome.

CORRINE

(a flirtation)
Thank you.

Sawyer looks at Corrine, decides not to engage. Sawyer

exits. We hear the door close with a heart-rattling SLAM.

A beat. The women stare straight ahead. Out of nowhere:

ELYSE
BOO!

Both Corrine and Bianca jump. Elyse starts laughing.

CORRINE
What is wrong with you?

ELYSE

(to Bianca, re: Corrine)

I’m sorry, I’m sorry. She’s just so much fun to fuck with.

CORRINE

(to Bianca)
Remember what I told you. Do not engage.

ELYSE
Oh, god, will you please give it a rest.

CORRINE
No. I will not give anything a rest! I have a responsibility to protect her from your
indoctrinations—
 13.

ELYSE
If you shut your mouth, and you keep it shut, I will solemnly swear not to do any
indoctrinating.

CORRINE
...No planning, either.

ELYSE
Fine.

CORRINE
Or plotting.

ELYSE
I won’t do anything. Nothing! If you shut your mouth I solemnly swear to do nothing.

CORRINE
...I’ll take that deal.

ELYSE
OH THANK GOD.

Corrine shuts her mouth, stares straight ahead.

ELYSE
Fucking nutjob.

Corrine, enraged, turns to speak—

ELYSE

(“remember our deal, you fucking wacko”)

Eh?

Corrine shuts her mouth, faces forward. Elyse turns to

Bianca.

ELYSE
Just imagine: I’d been looking forward to getting out of isolation. Then they load me on
the train with that lunatic. Within seconds I ached for the grace of solitude. What’s your
name?

CORRINE
MMM.
 14.

ELYSE
No indoctrinating! Just a simple question.

(to Bianca)
Come on now. Keep a girl company. What’s your name?

BIANCA
...Bianca.

ELYSE
Elyse.

BIANCA
I know that. I recognize you from the pictures.

ELYSE
How does the in-the-flesh version compare?

BIANCA
You’re... smaller.

ELYSE
Human-sized. No devil horns, either. How long have you been here?

BIANCA
I’ve lost track. Months and months.

Elyse is surprised.

ELYSE
And you taste all three meals?

BIANCA
Every day.

ELYSE
Every day. You ever get sick, even?

BIANCA
No. Disappointed?

ELYSE
Just curious. And impressed.
 15.

BIANCA
The General runs a tight ship. Nothing gets through.

ELYSE
Apparently not.

BIANCA
Now that you’re here, we’re even safer.

ELYSE
Why’s that?

BIANCA
You do the poisoning, don’t you?

ELYSE
Not me specifically, no.

BIANCA
Your followers.

ELYSE
My people.

BIANCA
They’re not looking to poison you.

ELYSE
I don’t know. This is an unforeseen situation. Maybe they’ll want to put me out of my
misery. Where do we sleep?

BIANCA
Here. The Lieutenant brings blankets and pillows.

ELYSE

(impressed)
Blankets and pillows. We have hit the jackpot. I’ll sleep like the dead tonight. How were
you captured?

Corrine leaps to life.

CORRINE
HA. There it is.
 16.

ELYSE
There what is?

CORRINE
You’re indoctrinating.

ELYSE
I’m asking a simple question.

BIANCA
I wasn’t “captured.”

ELYSE
You volunteered? In your condition?

BIANCA
I wasn’t in this condition—

CORRINE
Bianca! Stop answering her questions!

(to Elyse)
You already know she volunteered. Everybody volunteers! You’re pretending that you
don’t know so that she’ll tell you, creating a bond between you built on mutual trust
which is a clear indoctrination tactic. Unfortunately for you, the Lieutenant led me in
first. So Bianca and I are the ones who have a bond built on mutual trust. We’re both
from the East. We understand each other. We’ve already agreed that we’re going to be
like sisters.

ELYSE

(to Bianca)
Congratulations on the addition to your family.

CORRINE
STOP IT.

(to Bianca)
Everything’s an act with her. A manipulation. There’s not a sincere bone in her body.

ELYSE
Not like you. Sincerity just oozing. You’re a true believer, Corrine.
 17.

CORRINE
When the time comes? Don’t think they’re gonna forget that.

ELYSE
When the time comes, we won’t.

CORRINE
There is no more time coming for you. I’m going to make sure of that.

ELYSE
Sit down.

CORRINE
I know you’re planning something. And not just escaping, either. You’re planning
something big. Everybody underestimates you. They think you’re shriveled up. But I
know better. I know you’re just waiting. And I’m not gonna take my eyes off you for one
second.

ELYSE
What could I possibly be planning?

CORRINE
All three of the Great Leaders are here together—

BIANCA

(a correction)
Four.

Corrine and Elyse look at each other. A beat.

BIANCA
What? There are four, right?

CORRINE
You don’t know.

BIANCA
Know what?

ELYSE

(to Bianca)
The Great Leader of the East. He’s dead.
 18.

Corrine begins a strange ceremonial mourning ritual that

includes wailing and intricate hand motions. True,
uninhibited pain. Elyse rolls her eyes.

ELYSE
Oh good lord.

CORRINE

(to the sky)

My soul weeps for you, oh Great Leader! Your love for us will never be forgotten!

BIANCA
Was he... poisoned?

ELYSE
I wish. I would’ve loved to have had a hand in this, let me tell you.

CORRINE
His heart gave out because he loved us too much.

ELYSE
His heart gave out because he was ninety-two years old.

CORRINE
He loved us too much... for too long! Oh, Great Leader! Oh!

A crescendo of agony, then release. Corrine’s weird

mourning is complete. She collapses on her table.

BIANCA
...So who is leading the East right now?

ELYSE
No one. It’s a very unstable time.

Corrine pops up suddenly from her table.

CORRINE

(to Bianca)
That’s why the General moved everyone here, where he can protect them. All three of the
leaders coming together, plus their teams, their soldiers, their staff...
 19.

ELYSE

(bright)
And me!

BIANCA
Yeah, why did they bring you here?

ELYSE
Keep your friends close.

CORRINE
They needed to separate her from her followers so she doesn’t try and seize power. No
rebels in the North. They don’t like the cold. They’re like snakes.

Elyse hisses, drily.

CORRINE
This is exactly the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. If you or your cowardly minions
were ever going to do anything, now would be the time to do it.

ELYSE
You’re right, Corrine. It really would.

The dinner bell rings. Ding.

ELYSE
Looks like it’s time for a feeding.

CORRINE
Tasting.

ELYSE
Potato, pa-tah-to.

CORRINE

(to Bianca, panicking)

What does that mean? What’s a pa-tah-to? Is that some kind of code?

BIANCA
No, it’s—
 20.

The door SLAMS offstage. Lieutenant Sawyer, suddenly

very formal, is back, pushing the cart. Bianca and Corrine
adjust.

SAWYER
Today is a day of honor. A great guest has come to bear witness to the Tasting of the
Food.

Corrine gasps. Bianca lowers her head. Elyse steels

herself, suddenly serious.

SAWYER
Announcing — the General.

THE GENERAL enters. Bianca and Corrine stand.

Corrine bows.

GENERAL
Elyse! So good to see you.

CORRINE
General, my name is Corrine, and I am humbled to be in your—

THE GENERAL

(on Elyse)
You look great! Come on. Loosen up! Say hello. There’s no need for us to be rude to
each other.

ELYSE
I’d forgotten how polite you are.

THE GENERAL
It’s so funny to me that you would have forgotten that. Though I guess I’ve probably
forgotten some things too, over the years. How’s your husband, again?

ELYSE
Dead.

THE GENERAL
Your daughter?

ELYSE
Dead.
 21.

THE GENERAL
No, not the dead one, the other one. That real pretty one, with the long hair?

ELYSE
...Dead.

THE GENERAL
Oh, right. And your son?

Elyse is silent.

THE GENERAL
Come on! Your son! Samuel! The Shining Hope of the Rebellion! Guardian of the
Future! Heir to your legacy. Where is he, these days?

ELYSE
He’s dead.

The General winces, sucks his teeth.

THE GENERAL
Right. Of course. It’s all coming back to me now. Dead, dead, dead, dead. Only you
alive. Elyse the cockroach. I’ve heard you’ve been extremely well-behaved since you’ve
been picked up.

ELYSE
The very model of a modern major political prisoner.

THE GENERAL

(a correction)
Food Taster. A valued, necessary member of our team. So helpful! We really just
couldn’t do this without you.

You know I’m the one who got you, right? I didn’t do the dirty work myself, of course.
Things have changed since last we met. I’ve got people now! Just like you! They do
whatever I say! And I said: PEOPLE! Go get her. With all the chaos in the East you
thought you were gonna slip right by. But you didn’t! You walked right into our trap!
And now you’re here! I just love it.

ELYSE
Maybe you’re the one who walked into a trap.
 22.

THE GENERAL
Oh, I don’t think that’s true. I was real careful about that. You’re a lot of things, Elyse,
but you’re not dumb. I wish you were! It would’ve ended this a long time ago. It pains
me, thinking of all the lives that could’ve been saved.

ELYSE
The lives that you took.

THE GENERAL
Don’t paint me all bloodthirsty. You’re still breathing, aren’t you? A lot of folks around
here just wanted to see you—

He mimics throat-cutting, complete with sound.

THE GENERAL
Or—

He mimics shooting her, again with sound.

THE GENERAL
Or maybe, even—

He’s gearing up miming a sword.

ELYSE
All right.

THE GENERAL
I saved you, Elyse! So now we’re on the same team! You’ll be here, with me, every day,
protecting our Great Leaders.

ELYSE
All three of ‘em.

THE GENERAL
Oh, there will be four again soon. South, North, West, and East. A full compass. The legs
of a sturdy table. Four! That’s a number that can really accomplish something.

Bianca shifts in her seat. The General moves to her.

THE GENERAL
Bianca! I was so focused on our newest Taster that I didn’t even say hello.

CORRINE
I’m new too, General. My name is Corrine, and I’m really looking forward to—
 23.

THE GENERAL

(to Bianca)
How are you feeling?

BIANCA
I’m fine, sir.

THE GENERAL
Don’t gloss over anything. I want to hear about all of it.

BIANCA
A little nausea in the morning. My feet hurt. But overall, I feel good.

THE GENERAL
I’m so glad to hear that. You look radiant. Glowing. Rich with life! Plump. Like a plum.

(to Elyse)
Don’t you just want to take a bite?

ELYSE
Leave her alone.

THE GENERAL
Has Bianca not shared the good news? We’re having a baby! Woo-hoo!

CORRINE
You and the General are together? Lucky! Why didn’t you tell me?

THE GENERAL

(to Bianca)
We are lucky, aren’t we?

ELYSE
This is a new low.

THE GENERAL
What’s low about it? It’s a baby! If anything, we’re lofty. Staking our claim on the future.
Bringing new life into this shifting world.

ELYSE
You keep her Tasting?
 24.

THE GENERAL
It’s a position of honor. Plus, she’s not in any danger. No one gets poisoned in the North!
Haven’t you seen the signs?

ELYSE
“You are safe here. Eat up.”

THE GENERAL
And now we’ve got you! Even more insurance! So we’ve gone from having nothing to
worry about to having nothing to worry about.

ELYSE
Oh, but there’s always something to worry about.

THE GENERAL
Eh. Not really. The North is completely under control. Not like the West, as we’ve seen.
Or the South, even. They’d been going through a new Taster every four or five days for
the past few months.

CORRINE
Every four or five days?

THE GENERAL
Don’t look at me! That’s all Elyse. She did that! All those Tasters, dead. And for what?
For nothing. We used to have issues with Taster overturn here as well. But I solved that
problem. I took over, did a clean sweep of the kitchen. The custodial staff. The
department of the interior.

ELYSE
I heard.

THE GENERAL
Forty-two revolutionaries.

(gunshot noises)
Bam bam bam.

ELYSE
Just a sympathizer or two, actually.

THE GENERAL
You can’t be too careful. Better to be overzealous. I learned that from you. There’s been
no poison since.
 25.

ELYSE
Maybe there’s no one left. Maybe you got every last one. Now you can relax.

THE GENERAL
I have no interest in relaxing.

The General turns his attention to the group.

THE GENERAL
I bet you ladies are getting hungry. Let’s get to it. I’d like to start by saying it is really a
delight to see a Taster for each of our Great Leaders in the same room. This summit
highlights our unified glory, bringing South, North, and West together to break bread in
an unprecedented show of good faith. And now: dinner. Lieutenant Sawyer?

Sawyer steps forward.

SAWYER
Today’s menu: Endive salad with shaved parmesan & lemon vinaigrette, served with a
pesto crostini garnish, filet mignon adobo, and a sweet potato tamale with pecan butter.

Sawyer places the food in front of Corrine, then Bianca,

then Elyse.

BIANCA
Thank you.

SAWYER
You’re welcome.

Elyse squints.

THE GENERAL
Now this is a moment worth celebrating. The first tasting!

CORRINE

(overcome)
I am celebrating!

THE GENERAL
Elyse Manning! The woman who led the Revolution! The bloodthirsty monster who
came this close to ruining everything. Here she is. A good little solider. Doing her job
with pride. It warms my heart, Elyse, to see you here. It really does. Beautiful. Like a
beet! Lt. Sawyer, continue.
 26.

LT. SAWYER
Prepare your bites.

They do.

Bianca and Corinne lift their forks. Elyse takes extra time
with hers, cutting into the food, moving it around,
examining.

LT. SAWYER
Now: Eat.

Nope. Elyse puts her fork down. The other two women
lean forward to take their bites.

GENERAL
Stop.

Elyse stays completely still, looking at the General. The

other women pause, unsure.

SAWYER
How about I make you a bite? I’ve gotten very good at it.

ELYSE

(oh my god you’re an idiot)

No.

THE GENERAL
Eat.

Elyse stands. Tall. Strong.

ELYSE
This marks the beginning of my Hunger Strike, done in protest of this corrupt regime. I
will not allow a piece of food to pass my lips until my demands are met. And if that
means I starve to death, that means I starve to death.

She sits down. The General is displeased.

THE GENERAL
Always with the theatrics, Elyse.
 27.

ELYSE
Figure I’d take advantage of the captive audience.

THE GENERAL
A Hunger Strike.

ELYSE
Yup.

THE GENERAL
You know what? I welcome it. Go ahead and strike while the iron is hot. More food for
the rest of us. What are your demands, exactly?

ELYSE
Oh, they’re coming. Don’t worry. I’ve got my people on it. There will be an official
announcement made in the next few days. I’m sure someone will pass you a copy.

THE GENERAL
I’m unconcerned. Maybe it’ll take a day. Maybe it’ll take a week. But you will Taste. Or?
You’ll just waste away.

(to the others)

You two, then. Go.

Bianca takes a bite. Sawyer subtly times it.

BIANCA

(let’s break this tension)

Mmmm. Yum. This is really delicious! Who’s timing me? I don’t even care. Just gonna
keep eating.

Bianca keeps digging in, savoring every bite. Corrine

holds her fork halfway to her mouth, unsure.

GENERAL
Is there something wrong?

CORRINE
Of course not, General.

She raises her fork again, but can’t quite make herself do
it.
 28.

CORRINE
General, I want to be very clear: I don’t trust a word that comes out of Elyse Manning’s
mouth. I hate everything she stands for. Her very existence is abhorrent to me. Anything
she says or does — I’ll do the opposite.

GENERAL
Except right now. When you’re being asked to do your job.

CORRINE
My thought is: what if the reason she won’t eat, is that she knows there’s something
wrong with the food?

GENERAL
In that situation we would need you all the more, wouldn’t we?

CORRINE
Well, yes, but—

GENERAL
Elyse has no way of knowing anything.

CORRINE
She could have people working in this very compound.

THE GENERAL
She doesn’t.

CORRINE
There are spies everywhere. Remember what the Great Leaders tell us: You can’t trust
anybody. No one is safe.

GENERAL
Here, the Great Leaders are safe.

CORRINE
But there are spies—

GENERAL
I am in charge here. Do you think that I’d allow spies?

CORRINE
Oh, of course not, I didn’t mean...

(a pivot)
 29.

But if there were — this would be the time for them to act! I mean, Elyse is right here! In
this room! Probably the most well-known revolutionary in history—

GENERAL
I wouldn’t say that.

CORRINE
You wouldn’t? I feel like that’s definitely an accurate—

GENERAL
I would say that she’s more of a... nuisance. A forgotten symbol of a dead movement that
has accomplished nothing and will be remembered by no one.

CORRINE
...Well, I mean, sure, but if you were a spy, wouldn’t you want to, like, take advantage of
the fact that she’s actually here? Show off for her a little bit, maybe. I mean... what if she
doesn’t eat it, so then we—your volunteers—eat it and die. How is that fair? I mean, how
is that fair... to YOU? You, who have gone through the time and trouble it takes to train
us! It would be like she was... robbing you. Of us.

THE GENERAL
Bianca’s eating. She seems fine.

CORRINE
Maybe she’s immune, from Tasting for so long! We shouldn’t take any chances. The
poison they use — it rots your organs. You spit out your own kidneys!

SAWYER

(horrified)
...Is that true?

CORRINE
Oh, it’s true.

(she faux-spits)
Pfft! There’s a kidney!

GENERAL
ENOUGH. That’s enough. Eat.

CORRINE
Maybe we could just—
 30.

GENERAL
You’re forgetting who you are. Or maybe you’re forgetting who I am. Take a moment:
Remember.

A beat. Corrine takes a bite.

CORRINE
Mmm.

GENERAL
Swallow it.

Corrine keeps chewing.

GENERAL
Swallow it.

She does.

GENERAL
See?

Sawyer clicks on the timer.

SAWYER
She’s not... she doesn’t look good.

She’s really not. Corrine’s starting to breathe harder.

GENERAL
It’s in her head.

Sawyer takes out a little notebook.

GENERAL
What are you doing?

SAWYER
If there’s any suspicion of poison, we have to write a report.

CORRINE
You think there’s suspicion of poison?
 31.

Corrine is starting to hyperventilate. Hmmm. The General

collects himself.

GENERAL
You’re right, Lt. Sawyer. This must be reported. Protocol is important. Transparency is
key! This poor, stupid woman is obviously in distress. We can’t just ignore her! That
would be... unthinkable. Thank you.

SAWYER

(moved)
You’re welcome.

(to Corrinne)
Are you experiencing any of the following: Convulsions?

CORRINE
Yes!

SAWYER
Esophageal stricture?

CORRINE
Yes!

SAWYER
Disseminated intravascular coagulation?

CORRINE
...Yes!

SAWYER
Rapid heart rate?

CORRINE

(really starting to lose it)

Yes! Yes. I have that. My heart rate is extremely rapid. My heart is... breaking. It’s
breaking, it’s broken, broken for my country. In the name of my country, I’m dying. I’m
dying! But I’m happy, too. I’m happy to do it. This is for you, Great Leaders! My
sacrifice!

She wretches, vomits. Then, she collapses. Silence.

 32.

GENERAL

(to Sawyer)
Clean her up.

Sawyer touches her gingerly. Corrine pops up.

CORRINE
I feel much better now.

GENERAL
Miraculous.

CORRINE
Y’know, after all that... I don’t think it was poisoned at all. I think I just got a little
nervous.

GENERAL
We’ll take you to the infirmary. Just to make sure.

A shift.

CORRINE
Wait, no, don’t take me there. I’ve heard the stories—

SAWYER
I don’t think the infirmary is necessary.

GENERAL
You were the one so concerned about her health, weren’t you?

SAWYER
Not concerned, exactly, I just—

GENERAL
You just what?

SAWYER
The infirmary is—

(a tactic change)
Perhaps, because this was her first Tasting, she was only frightened, and not ill, or
willfully disobedient. Perhaps, if she was simply given a verbal warning, her health
would improve.
 33.

GENERAL
I don’t think that’s true.

CORRINE
Please, don’t make me go—

GENERAL
You know what, Corrine? I’m gonna go with you. Just to make sure you get adequate
treatment. Lieutenant Sawyer tends to get... squeamish. Has trouble doing what needs to
be done.

CORRINE
No, please!

GENERAL
Lieutenant Sawyer?

Sawyer leads Corrine out as she continues to resist.

CORRINE
No, please! Please, don’t make me—

The General, Sawyer, and Corrine exit.

The door slams.

Elyse and Bianca are left alone. A beat.

ELYSE
The lighting is shit in here.

BIANCA
You don’t care at all.

ELYSE
About what?

BIANCA
They just took her to the infirmary because of you.

ELYSE
Not because of me.
 34.

BIANCA
Please. If you hadn’t been here she would’ve just Tasted the stupid endives and been
done with it.

ELYSE
You’re angry at me.

BIANCA
Of course I am.

ELYSE
That’s a conditioned response.

BIANCA
Oh, is it.

ELYSE
You should be angry at them.

This throws Bianca a little.

BIANCA
You can’t just... push against the General and then act surprised when there’s a
punishment.

ELYSE
Do I look surprised?

BIANCA
Just do what he wants. Don’t wreck it for the rest of us.

ELYSE
That’s a great strategy.

BIANCA
It’s served me pretty well so far.

ELYSE
I mean... clearly. Just look at you. If we all could be so lucky!

BIANCA
I am lucky. I’ve got a place to sleep, three hot meals a day. Blankets and pillows. A
chance to make it through to the other side of all of this. Unlike some of us, I don’t have a
death wish.
 35.

ELYSE
And you think I do? Trust me—if I didn’t want to be alive, I wouldn’t be.

BIANCA
I think you’ve already lost. So you don’t care if you lose a little more. It’s really pretty
simple around here: if we do what he says, we stay alive. If we cause trouble? We don’t.

ELYSE
The General’s not going to kill me.

BIANCA
Why not?

ELYSE
He kills me, I’m a martyr. People would lose their minds. They’d storm this godforsaken
snow fortress. They’d burn this country to the ground. The optics on that? Are not great
for our mutual friend. So. I’m safe.

BIANCA
Good for you.

ELYSE
Not just me. You’re safe too. You’ve got that collateral bun in the oven.

(off Bianca’s look)

Very smart, that. The General looks out for you. Baby eats well. You’ve got to lay down
for pure evil a few times a week, but other than that...

BIANCA
He’s not pure evil. He’s like everyone else. Just another cog in the machine.

ELYSE
He is the machine. Soon to be the new Great Leader of the East.

This had never occurred to Bianca.

BIANCA
...No, that’s not... No.

ELYSE
Someone’s got to do it. And he’s made a smart move, gathering everyone here. It gives
him a chance to show off.

BIANCA
The new Great Leader of the East.
 36.

ELYSE
Look at those wheels turning.

BIANCA
I don’t know what you’re talking about.

ELYSE
You’re thinking maybe that’s not a bad deal for you. You’re thinking maybe he’ll take
you with him while he does his fancy new job in his fancy new house. You’re thinking
you’re under his umbrella now, no chance of rain.

BIANCA
You don’t know what I’m thinking.

ELYSE
A piece of advice: Get yourself a contingency plan. Because once that bun’s out and
about? You’re disposable.

BIANCA
The General takes care of me.

ELYSE
You need to take care of yourself.

BIANCA
Oh, don’t you worry. I take care of myself just fine. The General calls me to his quarters
three, four times a week. He tells me things. I tell him things too. We whisper in each
other’s ears.

ELYSE
Is that a threat?

BIANCA
It’s a warning. Leave me alone. And next time? Shut up and eat your fucking dinner.

A sound. The door opens, Sawyer, the General, and

Corrine enter. Corrine is bloody, beaten. But more than
that: she’s quiet. She keeps her head down, doesn’t make
eye contact.

She sits down at the table where her food still sits.
Sawyer indicates for her to put out her hand. She does.
They handcuff her to the table.
 37.

THE GENERAL
Lieutenant Sawyer?

SAWYER
Finish your plate.

Corrine picks up her fork, takes a bite, swallows.

THE GENERAL
The Lieutenant will be back with breakfast tomorrow morning. My suggestion? Come
hungry.
 38.

SCENE 3: THE SECOND LETTER

Bianca’s dream world. Projections match her headspace.

The real world exists simultaneously.

BIANCA
Dear Bump,
I want to tell you about my father.

SAWYER
Today’s menu: huckleberry and meyer lemon hotcakes with graham cracker crumbs,
warm meyer lemon cream and huckleberry coulis.

Corrine eats in defeated silence, head down. Bianca eats

normally. Elyse pushes her plate away after playing with
her food. Sawyer collects her plate, cleans up.

BIANCA
He was this huge man. 6’7” and big. Big voice big laugh big hands. He could fix
anything! Make anything. He could carry me around like I was nothing. I loved that.
He’d dangle me upside down till I was laughing so hard I was crying, and still I’d beg
him not to stop.

SAWYER
Lancaster county ham, hummus tzatziki, tirokafteri, vegetables, olives, grilled pita.

The pattern repeats. Elyse pushes her plate away.

BIANCA
After my mother died, we moved from the lake cabin into town. Everybody loved him.
Every year to celebrate the beginning of the harvest he’d throw this big chicken and
dumplings dinner. No invitation needed! Everyone welcome! It was the highlight of my
year. People would stay all night long, eating and talking, my father in the kitchen
making more and more food, everyone smiling.

SAWYER
Yucatan chicken with papaya tomatillo salsa, apple pecan wontons with caramel sauce.

Elyse pushes her plate away.

 39.

BIANCA
Now Bump, here’s what I wanted to tell you. I’m going to have to ask for your discretion.
There was a secret ingredient that my father would use. Something so strange and
unusual that it almost defies belief. He would add an egg. It was glorious, Bump.

SAWYER
Bacon wrapped plantains with soft-boiled eggs and avocado cream, banana puff puff.

(to Elyse)
Please. Just eat it.

Elyse pauses, then pushes it away.

BIANCA
Not one bite, Bump. It would be admirable if it wasn’t so stupid. There’s a time in my
life when I would’ve been fooled. Not now. I can see this for what it is: A way to feed her
ego, to shine that spotlight down on herself.

SAWYER
Grilled pork chop with mushroom gravy, spinach salad with poppyseed dressing.

Away it goes!

BIANCA
Bump, I’ll tell you another secret. Sometimes I think about what my father would have
done had he ended up here. Then I think about what I’m doing here. And I feel such
shame.

SAWYER
Paella with mussels, octopus, and a seared diver scallop accompanied by salsa criolla.

Away!

BIANCA
But we don’t have time to think about things like that, do we? We have to focus on
what’s most important. This is a time to count our blessings. We are safe here.

SAWYER
Finish your plate.

BIANCA
Eat up.
 40.

SCENE 4: THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Dark. Quiet. The women sleep on top of their tables.

Elyse and Corrine are still handcuffed. There’s light
bedding.

Sawyer enters, quiet, and approaches Corrine. They look

at her closely, being careful not to make a noise.

Bianca stirs. She sees Sawyer from behind, checking on

Corrine.

BIANCA
Who’s there?

SAWYER
Shhhhhhh.

BIANCA
Lieutenant Sawyer?

SAWYER
Shh shh shh. You’ll wake them up.

BIANCA
What are you doing here?

SAWYER
She hasn’t spoken since the infirmary. I’m worried she’s got—I don’t know—a
concussion, or brain damage, or...?

BIANCA
I think she’s just sad.

SAWYER
Oh. Good.

BIANCA
Yeah.

A beat.

SAWYER
I didn’t want to hurt her.
 41.

BIANCA
I know that.

SAWYER
But I did. Look at her.

BIANCA
You were following orders.

SAWYER
So?

BIANCA
So it wasn’t... you.

SAWYER
Sure felt like me.

BIANCA
What else could you have done?

SAWYER
I could’ve been brave.

BIANCA
It’s stupid to be brave right now. It’s better to be safe.

SAWYER
Do you feel safe?

Bianca doesn’t answer.

SAWYER
I didn’t look at you while you were sleeping.

BIANCA
...Thanks?

SAWYER
I didn’t want you to think that I was in here doing some creepy thing.

BIANCA
I didn’t think that.
 42.

SAWYER
It feels different, seeing you like this. At night.

BIANCA
It does.

SAWYER
It’s... darker.

BIANCA
That would be the difference, yes.

SAWYER
I should go. Someone might catch me. They would take me to the infirmary, or just...

Bianca and Sawyer look at each other.

SAWYER
I miss it being just us in the Tasting room. Our special ritual. “Thank you.” “You’re
welcome.”

BIANCA
...That’s a very standard exchange.

SAWYER
It’s the best part of my day.

BIANCA

(the truth)
Mine too.

SAWYER
I stay longer than I’m supposed to. I linger. For a fraction of a second it can feel the way
things used to feel. Like you’re just a person and I’m just a person and we’re just talking
to each other over a meal. Like our humanity is still intact. I love that we can give that to
each other. I feel so much—

Sawyer stops. A hand gesture. Love, or something close.

SAWYER
Do you remember that one time you touched my hand?
 43.

BIANCA
You yanked it back like I had leprosy.

SAWYER
I couldn’t sleep for weeks. It felt like your fingerprints were burned into my skin. Did
you feel that too?

BIANCA
It doesn’t matter what I feel.

SAWYER
It matters to me.

Beat.

BIANCA
You’re from the West?

SAWYER
You can tell?

BIANCA

(flirt)
Yeah. I can tell.

SAWYER
How?

BIANCA
You’re soft.

SAWYER
“Soft.”

BIANCA
That’s why your skin holds fingerprints.

SAWYER
My father pulled strings. Got me placed here. Safe. High up in the North. Away from the
frontlines. Nothing but snow. Then everything changed, and now it’s...

(beat)
If the General asks me to hurt you the way I hurt her, I’ll do it. I’ll have to. I’ll kill you if
he wants me to.
 44.

BIANCA
It’s not going to get to that point.

SAWYER
Things can get so bad so fast. You have to stay smart.

BIANCA
I will.

SAWYER
Promise me.

BIANCA
I promise.

They look at each other.

Sawyer holds out their hand.

Bianca reaches out, then changes her mind. She puts her
hand back down.

SAWYER
You’re right. That’s better. Don’t leave any marks.

BIANCA
I’m sorry—

SAWYER

(quiet)
Shhhhhh.

Sawyer nods, mouths “It’s OK.” They leave. Unnerved,

Bianca rustles, lays back down.

ELYSE
...What the fuck was that?

Oh, shit. Bianca winces, turns to Elyse — who is most

certainly very awake.

BIANCA
I thought you slept like the dead.
 45.

ELYSE
The dead are always listening.

BIANCA
Goodnight.

ELYSE
Let’s talk a little longer.

BIANCA
A tactic shift. No thanks.

ELYSE
Maybe I should mention to the General that the Lieutenant stopped by. Maybe that’s
something he’d want to know about.

BIANCA
Neither of us did anything wrong.

ELYSE
I didn’t say that you did.

(beat)
Come on. I’m... hungry. It would be nice to have a distraction.

Bianca relents. Fine.

BIANCA
So? What do people talk about?

ELYSE
Who wore what to where. Famous babies. Lipstick.

BIANCA
Ha. I can’t see you ever being interested in lipstick.

ELYSE
You’d be surprised. When life was normal? I liked all kinds of dumb shit. You know
what I miss? Cats.

BIANCA
You like cats.
 46.

ELYSE
I always had a big pack of strays. Opened my house up. They were everywhere. Rubbing
their heads against my legs. Ugh, their little noses, I could die.

BIANCA
...I had a dog.

ELYSE
Yeah?

BIANCA
Sassy.

ELYSE
Cute name.

BIANCA
Yeah. She was great. Big brown eyes. Nothing animal about them. It was like she was a
person wearing a dog mask.

ELYSE
What happened to her?

Bianca looks at Elyse, suspicious.

ELYSE
What?

BIANCA
I can’t tell what you know and what you don’t.

ELYSE
I don’t know anything.

BIANCA
The General picked me up in Linney.

A beat. This means something to Elyse.

ELYSE
Ah.

BIANCA
So, yeah. Sassy. Rebels shot her for target practice. That was before they started shooting
people. A little bit after they occupied our homes and took all the food, though. Way
before they burned the whole city to the ground.
 47.

ELYSE
You survived.

BIANCA
I was the only one. No one else. My father—

She can’t.

BIANCA
Over six hundred lives lost. Our tiny town. Collateral damage.

ELYSE
Sometimes there is collateral damage.

BIANCA
I can’t believe you would say that to me.

Beat.

ELYSE
I didn’t know what they were doing out there.

BIANCA
No one believes that.

ELYSE
They were acting independently.

BIANCA
Of course they were. You had nothing to do with it. Except you didn’t exactly renounce
them either.

ELYSE
It wasn’t politically viable at that moment in time.

BIANCA
I had thought you were just this... glorious creature. So smart and sharp and strong. I had
a picture of you hanging on my wall. It was supposed to show me how to be brave. See
how that turned out?

ELYSE
Bianca.
 48.

BIANCA
You took my life from me. Everything that made it worth living! And now we’re sitting
here chatting about pets like it’s nothing! Like losing everyone I ever loved was just...
nothing.

ELYSE
Look at me.

She does.

ELYSE
What happened in Linney is the greatest tragedy of my life. More than losing my
husband. More than losing my daughters.

BIANCA
My father had this underground shelter off in the outskirts of town. My whole childhood,
I’d thought he was nuts. He was obsessed with stockpiling food, water. But then... there I
was. Needing a place to hide. My father was already dead. Shot through the back, left to
rot in the streets. I stayed underground for weeks, eating out of cans. And then one day...
no more cans. I sat in the dark for days before I worked up the courage to come up.

ELYSE
And?

BIANCA
The rebels were gone. Soldiers coming through. And then... there was the General.

ELYSE
He captured you.

BIANCA
He saved me.

ELYSE
You’re captive, here.

BIANCA
I don’t have cuffs. So.

ELYSE
Why don’t you?

BIANCA
Where would I go? This is heaven, compared to what I’ve been through. I’m not hungry
anymore.
 49.

ELYSE
And the—?

Elyse mimes the bump.

BIANCA
The bump.

ELYSE
That doesn’t seem like heaven to me.

BIANCA
You think you know everything. It’s not what it looks like.

ELYSE
You don’t have to do that. Temper it.

BIANCA
I don’t say no. So.

ELYSE
Why not?

BIANCA

(the truth)
It’s going to happen either way. So. Might as well make it... easier.

ELYSE
What do you think I’m fighting for?

BIANCA
I don’t know, Elyse. It’s been a long time. Maybe now you’re just fighting to fight.

ELYSE
No. Don’t do that. Stay with me.

BIANCA
You’re fighting for... power?

ELYSE
No.

BIANCA
Peace.
 50.

ELYSE
No.

BIANCA
More vegetarian options on the menu.

(off Elyse’s look)

I don’t know what you want me to say.

ELYSE
Freedom. Autonomy. Humanity. This is what the Leaders are desperate to take from us.
You are a human being. Freedom is your birthright. It’s that little bump’s too.

BIANCA
Will I be graded on this?

ELYSE
He doesn’t own you. You are in control of your own life.

BIANCA
I’m not, though.

ELYSE
You are.

BIANCA
That is such a stupid thing to say. I’m sorry. I am a fucking ant. There is no power move
for me here. I survive by doing what I’m told and keeping my mind blank.

ELYSE
But you don’t, though. Keep your mind blank. You go somewhere else. I’ve seen you do
it.

BIANCA
So you’re a mind reader now?

ELYSE
That is the freedom I’m talking about. I see it in you. There is a part of you that stays
yours. Despite all of this.

BIANCA

(can’t believe she’s admitting this)

...I write letters.
 51.

ELYSE
They let you have—?

BIANCA
No. Inside. A mental exercise. That’s... what I’m doing.

ELYSE
Who do you write to?

Bianca points to her bump.

BIANCA
I know that it’s stupid, but it feels like maybe the bump can understand it, somehow. A
psychic connection. Maybe on some cellular level it sinks in. I used to only write it good
things. Thoughts about the bright future. How we were so close to making it through.
Lately I’ve been a little more honest. I don’t want to lie to it.

A beat.

ELYSE
Do you love it?

BIANCA
The bump?

ELYSE
The bump.

BIANCA
It’s half demon.

ELYSE
Plenty of us love our demons.

BIANCA
It doesn’t seem real. Not like a real baby.

ELYSE
It will. Trust me.

BIANCA
...What’s it like? Being a mother.
 52.

ELYSE
Oh, it’s great. Big.

BIANCA
I’m worried I’m not going to be good at it.

ELYSE
Listen to me: That half-demon little bump is lucky to have you. You’re going to be great.
Promise.

BIANCA
Did you ever worry? About the world you were bringing your kids into?

ELYSE
Nah. I knew we were gonna change it. And we did, for a little while at least. Maybe we
still can.

They look at each other. Peace, for a moment. Freedom.

BIANCA
I’m tired.

ELYSE
Goodnight, Bianca.

BIANCA
Goodnight.

ELYSE
See you at breakfast.

A beat. Elyse lays down, rolls over. Bianca ponders.

 53.

SCENE 5: THE THIRD LETTER

Bianca’s dream world. Sawyer’s there too, with their

stopwatch.

SAWYER
Cornish white crab on crisp fennel, lemon and dill waffles, bloody mary jelly, BBQ baby
cucumber, radish and royal gala apple salad, elderflower and lemon balm dressing.

In the shadows, Sawyer takes out their stop watch,

counting softly.

BIANCA
Dear Bump,
Every time I take that first bite I know I’m going to die.

Projections reflect Bianca’s words (tongues, contracting

muscles, death).

BIANCA
They always use the same poison. 10 seconds. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 BAM. Dead dead
dead. Every time I Taste, I feel it. My body collapses in on itself. My tongue swells, my
throat closes, my muscles contract, lock. My life flashes before my eyes. I think of being
a child, running barefoot through the pine needles back behind our house in the
mountains. I think of my father in the kitchen, chopping carrots, smiling at me. The love
on his face is so real, it’s almost like he’s there with me in the room. Then it all goes
dark. 10 seconds and I succumb to a bleak, wretched death, three times a day.

But of course, I never really do.

Every time I take that first bite I know I’m going to die. But. At the same time I feel this
rush of pure pleasure. Because it just tastes so good.

Projection: Food porn. Mmm.

BIANCA
So this is what happens. Three times a day. Contradiction. Shame. How can I love to taste
this thing that feeds evil? How can I feel death washing over me and still enjoy it? How
does my body betray me over and over and over? How, after all of this, am I still so
hungry?

SAWYER
Bianca? The General will see you now.
 54.

BIANCA

(to Sawyer)
Thank you.

SAWYER
You’re welcome.

She stands up, prepares to leave.

BIANCA

(to the audience)

Anyway. I don’t die. I say “thank you” instead. I clean my plate. I long for my next meal
as much as I dread it. I hope you feel the good part. That joy. And I hope the fear flies
over your head like a flock of geese, looking fake against the sunset. Nothing but a
silhouette in the sky.
 55.

SCENE 6: BIANCA AND THE GENERAL

Bianca and the General are sitting in his quarters.

Opulence, intricacy. Sawyer stands behind the cart. The
General is eating his dinner.

GENERAL
She’s fucking crazy. What does she even want? Shouldn’t those demands have been
released by now?

BIANCA
I don’t know, sir.

GENERAL
Don’t call me sir.

BIANCA
I’m sorry.

GENERAL
Actually—call me sir again, I changed my mind.

BIANCA
Yes, sir.

GENERAL
Ehhhh, I don’t know. I’m not feeling it today. Leave it off.

BIANCA
...Sure.

The General turns to Lt. Sawyer.

GENERAL
Lt. Sawyer, you can go.

SAWYER
Thank you.

The General is waiting.

SAWYER
...Sir.
 56.

Sawyer leaves.

GENERAL

(re: Sawyer)
A lost fucking cause. I hate everyone. Literally everyone is an idiot. Except you.

BIANCA
Thanks.

GENERAL
These scientists, for example. They can test for every poison except the ones the rebels
use. Can’t figure that one out. It’s unidentifiable. Of course it is! So this allll continues.
The Tastings, the strikings. Makes me sick. You know they’re rioting in the streets for
her?

BIANCA
Elyse?

GENERAL
Hundreds of people. Holding these fucking signs. Don’t they have any real problems?
The food shortage, now that’s a problem. That’s what they should be protesting.

BIANCA
What food shortage?

GENERAL
Don’t get jumpy. We’ll stay the course. It’s getting bad out there, though. Prices are
through the roof. People are starting to starve. Not here, though. Don’t worry. You’re
well taken care of.

BIANCA
...Thank you.

GENERAL
The good news is that the only stuff left is the fancy shit. Get ready to be overwhelmed
by fucking saffron.

BIANCA

(it’s been bugging her)

Saffron. That’s what it is.
 57.

GENERAL
Couldn’t you tell? It brings out the taste of the shellfish. It’s good, isn’t it?

BIANCA
YES. Gahhh, and the bread?

GENERAL
Fucking unreal, that bread. Have another bite.

BIANCA
I can’t, I’m so full.

GENERAL
Take another bite!

BIANCA
I’m stuffed!

GENERAL

(a shift)
Take it.

Uh-oh.

Bianca does.

The General takes out his timer. He counts.

GENERAL
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Relief.

GENERAL
Doesn’t hurt to give it a second pass. Just in case.

He resumes eating.

GENERAL
I think about my whole life, y’know? Being a kid? Loving my mom and going to school
and learning to swim. I think about all the books I’ve read. All the birthday parties.
Women I’ve loved. Desire and attachment and pain and joy. The fact that this is where
I’ve ended up, after all of that, is just so... ugh. I go through the building, walking from
room to room, just listening for anything that makes any kind of sense. But nothing does.
 58.

People are dying every day. Broken systems breaking down with nothing in place to
replace them. The safety nets all have holes, and everyone is scared and pissed off and
just aching for a fight. The state of things is bad.

(beat)
I’m thirsty, too.

BIANCA
Do you want more water, or...?

He wants her to taste it.

BIANCA
We’re worried about the water, now?

GENERAL
We’re worried about everything.

She picks the glass up, drinks.

BIANCA
They’ve never done that before.

GENERAL
With Elyse here, who knows what they’re going to do? I just want to keep my kidneys
inside my body.

BIANCA
That’s real?

GENERAL
Oh yes. This world is full of unbelievably terrifying things. I hate her, Bianca. She makes
me so angry. But we can’t kill her. We kill her and it helps nothing. We’ve got to crush
her, Bianca. Crush. Her. Has it been 10 seconds?

BIANCA
At least.

He drinks some water.

GENERAL
I know that no poison’s getting in. I’d never let you keep tasting, otherwise. Not with the
baby.
 59.

BIANCA
Not with the baby.

GENERAL
I appreciate you indulging me.

(beat)
Most people are like you, Bianca. They want small lives. That’s not a criticism. That’s
just the goddam truth. You don’t care what the Leaders are doing. And why should you?
We’re the ones cursed by the requirement to pay attention. You get to relax.

BIANCA
I don’t think that’s entirely—

GENERAL
Any kicking today?

BIANCA
No.

GENERAL
Quiet baby. Let me feel anyway.

He puts his hands on her. She winces a little.

GENERAL
What was that?

BIANCA
What was what?

GENERAL
You winced.

BIANCA
No.

GENERAL
Do you not want me to touch you?

BIANCA
Of course not.

GENERAL
Because I’ve told you — I don’t want to be that.
 60.

BIANCA
I know.

GENERAL
So if you don’t want me to... just tell me.

BIANCA
I will. Now. Here:

She puts his hands on her stomach.

GENERAL
Hi baby.

BIANCA
Hi baby.

GENERAL
Can you believe it? A whole person in there.

BIANCA

(crazy isn’t it)

Human biology.

GENERAL
And that we were all like this, once. Curled inside some woman. Our parents. Our
grandparents. Everyone! All the way back to cave-people. We owe everything to them,
really. Isn’t it crazy? One cavewoman with a headache and the whole line disappears. We
all exist because some ancient couple felt like fucking that one particular time. It’s crazy.

General’s getting handsy.

BIANCA
It is.

GENERAL
I love it. We’re a part of the grand scheme of things now.

BIANCA
We were part of the grand scheme of things already, weren’t we?

GENERAL
It’s different.

He kisses her neck. Bianca sees an opportunity.

 61.

BIANCA
After the baby comes, will I keep Tasting?

GENERAL

(duh)
Yes. That’s your job.

BIANCA
I thought I could get a different job, maybe.

GENERAL
You’re very good at this job.

BIANCA
I could learn to do something else. Something safer.

GENERAL
You’re safe here.

He begins to unbutton her dress.

BIANCA
What if that changes?

GENERAL
It won’t.

She pulls away.

BIANCA

(an excuse)
I’m sorry. I don’t feel well.

A shift. Panic.

GENERAL
What are your symptoms?

BIANCA
No! No. I’m sorry.

GENERAL
Esophageal stricture? Intravascular coagulation?
 62.

BIANCA
It’s not poison.

GENERAL
Then what is it?

BIANCA
I just feel— I don’t know if I’m really up for anything tonight.

GENERAL

(BIG relief)
Oh, god. That’s fine.

BIANCA
Really?

GENERAL
Of course! I understand.

BIANCA

(surprised, a little pleased)

Thank you.

GENERAL
I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.

He kisses her neck. Hmm.

GENERAL
I’m not going to make you. Do anything. Just lay back.

The General starts to kiss down her body, heading under

her dress. Bianca stops him.

BIANCA
No, not that either.

GENERAL
Just relax.

BIANCA
No, I— please. Don’t.

Uh-oh. He looks at her. Takes his hands away.

 63.

GENERAL
Got it.

BIANCA
I’m sorry, I—

GENERAL
Sir.

BIANCA
I really don’t feel well, sir.

GENERAL
You feel fine.

BIANCA
I’m just getting... nervous, I think. About the baby coming.

GENERAL
Nervous.

BIANCA
There are a lot of variables.

GENERAL
Not really.

BIANCA
Like... once the baby is here, will I sleep where I sleep now?

GENERAL
Yes.

BIANCA
Not up here with you.

GENERAL
No.

BIANCA
So the baby will stay down there with me.

GENERAL
Bianca.
 64.

BIANCA
Where will it go?

GENERAL
This is obviously no place to raise a child. There are systems set in place. Caretakers. Et
cetera.

BIANCA
I don’t need caretakers.

GENERAL
You don’t know what you need.

BIANCA
You can’t—

GENERAL
I can do whatever I want. I am in control here. You’re safe when I tell you you’re safe.
And you’re in danger when I tell you you’re in danger.

A beat.

BIANCA
Am I in danger?

GENERAL
Not yet. But you’re getting real close.

They look at each other.

THE GENERAL
It’s time for you to go back downstairs.

BIANCA
Sir, I— Don’t punish me. I’ll do whatever you want.

GENERAL
That’s not how this works. It’s not a bribe. I can bribe anyone. That’s not what I want
from you.

BIANCA
I don’t know what you want from me.
 65.

GENERAL
I want loyalty. You owe your life to me. I pulled you out of nothing. Set you up in this
cushy job. I bring you up here. I respect you. I am kind to you. I bare my fucking soul to
you. And the only thing that I have ever asked you for is loyalty.

BIANCA
You can trust me. I’m not gonna turn on you. Because you’ve got me, don’t you?

GENERAL
I do.

She reaches for him, pulls him close to her. A bit of an

animal.

BIANCA
Thank you. Sir.

She kisses him, hard. This leads into—

 66.

SCENE 7: THE FOURTH LETTER

Bianca’s dream world.

BIANCA
Dear Bump.

Projections: Sex sounds. Lips. Skin. Hands running over

body curves. Bianca winces. The images shift and
overlap. Loss. Pain. Children being taken from their
mothers. Unbearable. So much noise. She can’t take it.
She lets out a ragged scream.

Then: Bianca puts her hands on her belly. She breathes.

BIANCA
Bump bump bump bump bump.

Suddenly — warmth. Love. Color. Feelings bleeding into

each other. Calm.

BIANCA

(sincere)
Thank you.

(then, a thought:)
What am I going to do?
 67.

SCENE 8: THE TASTING ROOM

Elyse, Corrine, and Bianca sit at their tables. Corrine is

ignoring Elyse.

ELYSE
Corrine. Corrine. Corrine.

(for Corrine’s benefit)

I am going to do some straight up indoctrinating unless someone stops me. I have a
secret stash of inflammatory pamphlets I’m going to start reading aloud.

BIANCA
Stop tormenting her.

ELYSE

(still to Corrine)
Am I a ghost? Have I transcended my corporeal form? I will start singing. Don’t say I
didn’t warn you!

(she takes a huge breath, sings)

Frére Jacques—

BIANCA
All right. Breakfast is coming any minute. How about we just sit here quietly.

ELYSE
We stay quiet and the Great Leaders win. We need noise! More talking more listening
more songs. They don’t want us communicating because they don’t want us to organize.
Look at this configuration. The separate tables. They’ve done studies. Figured out the
best place to put us to keep us isolated. Every move they make is deliberate. You know
why, don’t you? They’re frightened of our power.

BIANCA
Our power.

ELYSE
You disagree?

BIANCA
We have no power.

ELYSE
Maybe not individually, no. But if we banded together. If there was a clear plan of action.
 68.

BIANCA
And a wise, benevolent leader?

ELYSE
And a wise, benevolent leader.

BIANCA
Your energy is very... political this morning.

ELYSE
There’s something I want to talk to you about.

BIANCA
Wonderful.

ELYSE
I think it really could be.

(this takes some courage)

I want you to join me.

BIANCA
What do you mean?

ELYSE
The Hunger Strike.

BIANCA
HA. What? Why would I do that?

ELYSE
The implications would be... huge. Think about it. They all need us. We don’t Taste and
they don’t eat.

BIANCA
They’ll just have someone else taste it.

ELYSE
The General doesn’t want someone else to taste it. He wants us to taste it. If we did this
together... Bianca, we would be unstoppable. This is how things get done. Show them
they are powerless. And then see change in ways you couldn’t’ve have expected.
 69.

BIANCA
Trust me, things have already changed in ways I “couldn’t’ve expected.” Starting with
my father dying in the streets after getting gunned down by one of your disciples. If I’m
gonna risk my life to help someone, it’s not gonna be you.

ELYSE
It’s time to push back.

BIANCA
If you hadn’t pushed back none of this would’ve happened. Has that thought ever
occurred to you? The Great Leaders came into power and you immediately started this
escalation. Look at where it’s gotten us! Maybe if you’d have given them a little more
credit, waited for things to settle down...

ELYSE
Maybe what?

BIANCA
Maybe they would’ve been better. Maybe they would’ve had a chance to lead without all
of this! Instead, you started a civil war while most of the country just wanted peace.

ELYSE
People didn’t want peace. They wanted disengagement. To not have to live in the world.
I’m sorry, Bianca. But that’s impossible. Because we do live in the world, and what we
do affects the people around us. The choices that we make. When that food comes, you
need to—

BIANCA
The only thing I need to do is stay alive.

ELYSE
That’s not enough. Just staying alive is not enough.

BIANCA
I’m just going along.

ELYSE
Then go along with me.

BIANCA
Going along with you is dangerous.

ELYSE
And going along with them isn’t?
 70.

BIANCA
Have you ever noticed that really bad things keep happening to the people around you,
but never actually to you? Every time there’s a consequence, you seem to be
mysteriously missing.

ELYSE
You don’t know what you’re talking about.

BIANCA
All your kids are dead, but you? You’re fine.

ELYSE

(breaking, unexpected)
Shut your sniveling, idiotic mouth. Do not talk to me about my daughters.

Something registers with Bianca. Elyse looks to her.

Crap.

BIANCA
Or your son, right?

ELYSE
My children.

(beat)
I’m sorry. I’m hungry and I’m... sorry.

BIANCA
You’re not. So don’t pretend.

ELYSE

(shifting)
You do know what we’re all doing here, don’t you?

BIANCA
This is the safest place—

ELYSE
They’re consolidating because they’re scared. There’s no one out in the East. There is
space now for change. A new leader.
 71.

BIANCA
And you think that should be you? Think that’s really gonna change things? Don’t kid
yourself. You’re just as bad as they are.

ELYSE
No. I’m not.

BIANCA
That’s just one sniveling idiot’s opinion.

ELYSE
There are things that are actually happening, Bianca. There are things that are open to
interpretation, and then there are things that are actually happening. We can argue
ideology all you want, but it doesn’t change the facts: we’re both prisoners here, cuffs or
not. When that food comes out, what are you going to do?

BIANCA
I’m going to eat.

ELYSE
So you stand with our Great Leaders, then?

BIANCA
...That’s not what I said.

ELYSE
Complacency is complicity, Bianca. This world is a waking nightmare. And guess what?
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE TO BLAME. Those four Great Leaders did this,
along with your General. We have to hold them accountable.

BIANCA
I do hold them accountable, but I can’t—

ELYSE
I don’t think that you do. I think that you’ve convinced yourself that self-preservation is
some sort of acceptable moral code. It’s not. People like you are how everything got so
unbearably fucked up to begin with.

BIANCA
This isn’t my fault.

ELYSE
You didn’t stop it.
 72.

BIANCA
Well neither did you.

ELYSE
And here we both are.

BIANCA
Yeah. Here we both are. We survived. And if you think I’m going to throw that away,
that I am going to spit in the face of my own good luck, you’re as crazy as everyone says.
You talk to me like I don’t know what the General is. What they all are. What they’ve
done. I do. I’ve lived through it too. You don’t think I want things to change?

ELYSE
If you want things to change, you have to change them.

BIANCA
You want me to stand up to the General? Make a big show? Look at Corrine! She had
one little tantrum, and now look at her. She’s practically catatonic.

ELYSE
So we better not stand up to it? We better not try and change it?

BIANCA
No, but—why do I have to be the one to do it?

ELYSE
BECAUSE THERE’S NO ONE ELSE. Do you think I would’ve chosen you? You are
the last person I would’ve wanted this to hinge on. You’re weak. You’re weak and you’re
selfish and you’re almost criminally blind. You’re in the belly of the beast with the beast
in your belly, and you’re still singing “it won’t come to that” as though it hasn’t already
come to that. This world is worse than you ever imagined and every day you wake up and
just live in it. Like it’s normal! Like this is just the way it is, what can you do? I’m telling
you what you can do! Right now! This very second! You can step up and PUT YOUR
FORK DOWN.

CORRINE
OK.

Whoa. What? They turn to her.

CORRINE
I’ll do it. The Hunger Strike.

BIANCA
...What?
 73.

CORRINE
I’m never opening my mouth for them again.

BIANCA
You need to really think about this—

CORRINE
They were so much smaller in person.

BIANCA
Who?

CORRINE
The Great Leaders. I saw them while the Lieutenant was walking me back. The General
gave some command. The Lieutenant threw me down in front of them, beaten, bloody.
My heroes, all together. The center of my universe. Here I was, at their feet, asking for
mercy... and they laughed at me. Surrounded by every luxury, while my family starves in
the mountains, they laughed. And suddenly it was so clear: They lied to us. They were
never going to help us. It was all a lie. And we believed them. When things got bad, we
still believed in them, because there was nothing else left to believe in. I trusted them.
And then I get here, and I see it with my own eyes. Their greed. Their gluttony. Moving
through those hallways, passing rooms and rooms full of their wealth—it was disgusting.
My family has nothing. I had nothing. I came here because I thought they would help me.
And now...

She makes eye contact with Elyse.

CORRINE
I am so ashamed.

(to Bianca)
You’re not safe under his wing. Something’s in motion now. There’s no stopping it.

BIANCA
You have to eat, Corrine. When they come, you have to eat.

ELYSE
This is a beautiful thing you’re doing, Corrine.

BIANCA
Don’t listen to her—she’s trying to lead you astray, this is indoctrination—
 74.

CORRINE
No, it’s not. This is me. Making my own decision.

(to Elyse)
I still don’t like you. But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

BIANCA
Corrine, please. He’s going to get so angry—

The dinner bell rings. Corrine shrugs. Who cares.

The General and Lieutenant Sawyer enter.

THE GENERAL
Hi ladies. Thought I’d drop by for the Tasting today. What do you say we eat first, and
then I’ll share my big announcement. Elyse, you look fucking terrible. Bianca, lovely as
always. How are you feeling today?

BIANCA
Fine, sir.

THE GENERAL
Not exhausted after last night’s activities?

BIANCA
No, sir.

THE GENERAL

(to the group)

Bianca paid me a very special visit last night. Ah. Look at her blush. Now, let’s get
started—

CORRINE
I’m here too.

THE GENERAL
...Excuse me?

CORRINE
You said hello to Elyse. You said hello to Bianca. You can say hello to me. I’m here too.

THE GENERAL
Didn’t realize you were back to your old, chatty self, Karen—
 75.

CORRINE
Corrine.

THE GENERAL
Of course. Corrine. What a smartypants you are. Can’t wait to hear your multiple
insights. Now. Today’s menu is something really special. I wanted to reward one of you
with something that reminded you a little bit of home. Requested it special from the
Chefs. They were appalled at first—“rustic” isn’t quite their style—but eventually, with a
little arm-twisting... I got my way. As I tend to do. Lt. Sawyer?

SAWYER

(very excited about this)

Now presenting, today’s menu... a special recipe, familiar to every home in the East —
chicken and dumplings.

They unveil. Steam.

THE GENERAL
Not a usual morning meal, but we figured we could make an exception for a special treat.
Aren’t you going to say thank you?

SAWYER
Thank you.

THE GENERAL
Not you.

BIANCA
Thank you.

THE GENERAL
I realize that things became... tense, yesterday. I thought a little reminder of home
wouldn’t hurt. Now, everyone: Eat.

Bianca picks up her spoon.

Elyse shoves her food around.

Corrine, looking daggers, puts her spoon down. Hard.

She looks at the General, crosses her arms.

THE GENERAL
You too, then?
 76.

CORRINE
Me too.

THE GENERAL
Well. Bianca. I guess it’s up to you.

All eyes on her. Bianca puts a bite of food on her spoon.

Everyone watches, tense. She inhales.

We flip into her dream space.

Projections of mountains. Childhood. Laughter. Joy. Her

father cooking dumplings. Cutting up vegetables.
Everyone laughing in the house. All those good beautiful
things. They start to move quicker. Bianca’s life flashes
before her eyes. Not just the good parts. The pain. The
hunger. Cruelty. The projections from the pre-show
return. Noise noise noise rotten food. Ripping the picture
of Elyse off her walls. Her father shot, dying on the
ground. Everything Elyse and Corrine have said crashes
down upon her.

And suddenly Bianca knows what she has to do.

BIANCA (LETTER)
Dear Bump.

THE GENERAL
Bianca.

BIANCA (LETTER)
There’s no egg.

THE GENERAL
Bianca.

BIANCA (LETTER)
I don’t want to put you in danger. I want us to stay safe and sound and smart.

THE GENERAL
Eat.
 77.

BIANCA (LETTER)
But I’m thinking about my father and I’m thinking about you. Who you’re going to turn
into. I’m thinking about who I want to be.

LT. SAWYER
Bianca?

BIANCA (LETTER)
This is my decision. This is what I have to do.

THE GENERAL
Now.

Bianca looks to the General.

With great difficulty, she puts her spoon down.

Elyse stands, sweeping her arm across the table, knocking

her plate to the ground.

Corinne knocks her plate to the ground, stands.

Proud, slow, Bianca does the same.

The three women look at the General. A long, cool beat.

They are unified, unstoppable.

And then: We SMASH out of Bianca’s inner world.

Hard. The dreamscape is over. The lights shift, sound
shifts, projections flip off.

A standoff as the General considers.

THE GENERAL
Well. This is certainly unexpected.

(he looks at Corrine)

I thought you were a believer.

CORRINE
I’ve seen the light.
 78.

THE GENERAL
See, this is what really pisses me off. Fair-weather belief. You’re all for us when our
strength is benefiting you. When we are keeping the borders tight. When are military is
strong. When we are tough on your behalf. But when it starts to sting? When you start to
see that sometimes there are sacrifices that must be made? You run to this one.

He gestures to Elyse.

THE GENERAL
They’re always running to this one. With her kumbaya and her let’s-all-be-friends and
her weakness.

(to Elyse)
You paint this picture of the way things should be. This shining, inclusive, paradise
where everyone will be so happy and free and cared for and respected. But you know as
well as I do that that’s not how people work. There’s conflict bred into our DNA. There
will be people in power and there will be people without power. The people with power
will need to fight to keep it. You’d be me, if you had power. And maybe I’d be you.
Wouldn’t that be a sight to see?

ELYSE
It really would.

THE GENERAL

(to Bianca)
You. This is the real surprise.

BIANCA
I’m sorry.

THE GENERAL
Stop saying that. You’re not sorry. I don’t know what you are. Or who you are. Just
another liar, I guess. A backstabber. Someone else who just wants to fuck me over. Well.
Better to find out now, I guess! Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Keeping you around,
Bianca, could’ve been a disaster in my new position.

BIANCA
Your new position.

THE GENERAL
Oh. Right. My announcement! Seems a strange time to mention it, but, hey: good news is
good news. You’re looking at the new Great Leader of the East.

Sawyer claps, legitimately overcome.

 79.

LT. SAWYER
Congratulations, sir!

THE GENERAL
Thank you.

LT. SAWYER
That is really, just... wow. I mean. Whoo! A lifetime appointment. It’s incredible. That is
not going to be an easy job.

(reading the room, buttoning up)

Excuse me.

Elyse looks at the General.

ELYSE
It’s not official though, is it? Like, it hasn’t been announced. The big announcement’s
coming tomorrow.

THE GENERAL
Right.

ELYSE
Good thing they’re making my announcement right about... now.

THE GENERAL
And what announcement is that.

ELYSE
My demands!

THE GENERAL
Of course. Your demands. What, exactly, is it that you are demanding?

ELYSE
I want you gone.

(she gestures to Corrine and Bianca)

And I want those two free.

THE GENERAL
So I’ll go, they’ll go, and you’ll just stay here, then.

ELYSE
I can handle it. Those two can’t.
 80.

THE GENERAL
How generous of you, Elyse. Magnanimous as always.

ELYSE
But you gone. That’s the real big one. That’s what everyone’s going to be rallying
around. My people know how to spread the word. It’s out there, now. The impregnated
Taster, you waiting to snatch her baby out of her arms. The true believer, rendered nearly
comatose after receiving a beating. And me! A woman from whom you have already
taken nearly everything. A hero! A leader! All three of us starving to death until you are
GONE.

THE GENERAL
You think you’ve got it all figured out, but you don’t. You’re overstating your influence.
No one cares. I’m in charge here, not you. This place is a well-oiled machine—

ELYSE
That leaks.

THE GENERAL
There are no leaks.

ELYSE
Then how do you explain—

THE GENERAL
I don’t have to explain anything to you.

(to Sawyer)
Take out your gun.

SAWYER
What?

THE GENERAL
You heard me.

SAWYER
General.

THE GENERAL
I’m assuming you’re not striking too.

SAWYER
Of course, not, General, I—
 81.

THE GENERAL
So take out your gun.

They do.

SAWYER
...What do you want me to do with it, sir?

The General gestures to Corrine. Lt. Sawyer points their

gun at her.

THE GENERAL
This strike is over, right now, or she’s dead.

Bianca panics.

LT. SAWYER
General, I—

THE GENERAL
You are under my command, Lieutenant. So. What’s it going to be?

Bianca is suddenly unsure. She starts to go for the spoon.

CORRINE
No. Bianca.

(she turns to the General)

I’m done cowering to you. I was afraid of starving and then I was afraid of eating and
now I’m not afraid of anything.

GENERAL
Lieutenant Sawyer.

LIEUTENANT SAWYER
I—

CORRINE
I’m not afraid of you.

GENERAL
Shoot her.
 82.

CORRINE
I’M NOT—

Sawyer pulls the trigger.

Sound. Blood.

Bianca covers her face with her hands.

Corrine is dead.

GENERAL

(to Bianca)
Don’t think I won’t do the same to you.

BIANCA
Dear Bump bump—

Bianca’s dreamworld activates. Overdrive. She keeps

saying bump underneath the General and Sawyer—

GENERAL
Lt. Sawyer, take Elyse away.

They do—it’s a fight.

ELYSE
Stay strong, Bianca—

BIANCA
—bumpbumpbump—

SMASH into
 83.

SCENE 9: THE FIFTH LETTER

This is a wild dreamscape. Bigger than we’ve seen

before. Bianca has gone deep into her head. The
characters exist half in her reality, half in their own.

She’s gasping, panicking, cannot catch her breath.

BIANCA
BUMP. What do I do?

LT. SAWYER
Lunch.

BIANCA
She was alive and now she isn’t. I didn’t pick up the spoon. Blood in a pool on the
ground.

LT. SAWYER
Dinner.

BIANCA

(to Sawyer)
GO AWAY LEAVE ME ALONE WHERE’S ELYSE?

LT. SAWYER
Goodnight!

Sawyer exits. The lights go out. It’s nighttime. Bianca

tries to go to sleep. A clock ticks. Shadows on the walls.

BIANCA
Bump we’re hungry but we’re strong. Elyse is counting on us to stay the course. She’s
got a plan, she has to, she’s coming to help us, her demands will be met, and you and I
we will be free we will be free we will be free like little birds.

A stomach rumble. Bianca bends over. The lights turn

back on. Sawyer, cheery, wheels in the cart.

LT. SAWYER
Breakfast!
 84.

BIANCA

(to Sawyer)
Where is she?

LT. SAWYER

(bright)
Lunch!

BIANCA

(to the audience)

I can’t stay here. Come with me.

Projection: A beautiful old house in the East.

BIANCA
Bump bump bump bump bump. This is my old house in the mountains of the East. There
are deer outside. They have these big brown eyes. I can hear my father cooking.
Chopping carrots on a big wooden board. The air smells of simple, good things. I’ve
missed it. I’m safe here. Feel that?

LT. SAWYER
Dinner.

BIANCA
NO, SHUT UP, STOP TALKING TO ME YOU’RE RUINING EVERYTHING

LT. SAWYER
Goodnight!

The lights turn off. Stars, everywhere, over the house and
the lake. It’s beautiful. Bianca relaxes.

BIANCA
Ahhhhh.

Elyse enters. She’s... different. Something’s off. Warmer.

Kinder. More loving. She’s wearing an apron.

ELYSE
You have to slow down, honey. Your heart can’t take it.
 85.

BIANCA
You’re all right! You’re all right. I was so scared.

ELYSE
How could you ever be scared looking at the stars? We’re so small. Teeny tiny. You’re
safe, Bianca. Trust me. Now, come inside. Your father’s got dinner ready.

Elyse leads her inside the house.

BIANCA
Why are you wearing my mother’s apron?

ELYSE
I am your mother, Sweet Pea!

BIANCA
No. No no no no no—

Elyse leads her inside, where the General is cooking, also

wearing an apron.

THE GENERAL (as FATHER)

Bibi! There you are! It’s dinner time! Ya big pumpkin.

BIANCA
What are you doing here? Go away.

Elyse as Bianca’s mother is gathering silverware.

ELYSE
Don’t be rude, honey. Apologize to your father.

THE GENERAL
I hope you’re hungry. Think we might’ve gone a little overboard.

ELYSE
There’s no such thing!

THE GENERAL
You’re so right!

They laugh, affectionate.

Lt. Sawyer wheels in a huge cart covered in a sheet.

 86.

LT. SAWYER
Heeeeere’s your dinner!

THE GENERAL (AS FATHER)

Time to eat!

BIANCA
I don’t want to.

ELYSE (AS MOTHER)

It’s your favorite.

LT. SAWYER
Today’s menu:

THE GENERAL
It’s just for you!

LT. SAWYER
Voila!

They rip off the sheet. Underneath: Corrine, bloody.

Bianca recoils.

BIANCA
No, no—that’s—!

The General, Sawyer, and Elyse inhale.

THE GENERAL, SAWYER, AND

ELYSE
Mmm.

ELYSE
Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in!

Bianca leans in, close. Corrine pops up.

CORRINE
BOO!

Bianca screams.
 87.

CORRINE
Hey! That is fun!

(off Bianca’s fear)

I didn’t mean to scare you.

Bianca sits next to Corrine on the cart. Projection: snow

falling.

BIANCA
I’m so sorry.

CORRINE
I know what you can do to make it up to me.

BIANCA
Anything! Anything you need, Corrine.

CORRINE
Lie down.

Bianca does. The other four circle the cart. Sinister. They
hold forks and knives.

THE GENERAL
You’re delicious, Bianca.

LT. SAWYER
You smell so good.

CORRINE
Sweet.

ELYSE
Tasty.

THE GENERAL
And we’re all so hungry.

CORRINE
Our ribs stick out through our clothes.

LT. SAWYER
Can’t you hear our stomachs rumbling?
 88.

ELYSE

(affectionate)
My daughter.

CORRINE
We’re like skeletons.

ELYSE
Feed us, Bianca. Please.

Sawyer, Corrine, the General, and Elyse, overlapping,

chant: “Feed us, feed us feed us.” They repeat the words
over and over.

BIANCA
Help me! Someone help me! Someone! Please!

She continues to call for help over the building calls of

“Feed us, feed us” while the snow falls harder and harder,
burying Bianca as
 89.

SCENE 10: THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT II

Sawyer shakes Bianca awake, interrupting her nightmare.

BIANCA
No! Stop! Please—

SAWYER
Bianca! Bianca. Shhhh. It’s me. You’re having a nightmare.

BIANCA
Oh, god, I thought...

(shift)
Where’s Elyse?

SAWYER
I brought you something.

Sawyer pulls a small roll out of their jacket. Bianca

waves it away.

BIANCA
Put that away.

SAWYER
It’s safe.

BIANCA
I don’t care.

SAWYER
No one’s going to know.

BIANCA
I’d know.

SAWYER
It’s been days. You have to be hungry.

BIANCA
I’m not.

They reach out to her. She recoils, rattling the cuffs.

 90.

BIANCA
Don’t touch me. Murderer.

SAWYER
Don’t say that.

BIANCA
It’s true.

SAWYER
I’m not doing well, Bianca.

BIANCA
Boo-hoo.

SAWYER
I’m losing my mind. I can’t sleep. My stomach’s in knots. I can’t even look at myself in
the mirror. I’m haunted by what I did. Her face. Her body, lying there on the ground—
I’m never going to be able to get it out of my mind.

BIANCA
Good.

SAWYER
She was alive and now she’s dead and I did that. That was me.

(beat)

I need you to say it. Please.

BIANCA
Say what?

SAWYER
What you said when I came here last time. That I was just following orders, that there’s
nothing else I could’ve done. I need to hear you say it.

BIANCA
No.

SAWYER
Bianca, I can’t go on much longer. I need you to tell me that I’m different from him, I
need you to tell me that I’m not— that this wasn’t me, and that I’m soft. That you can tell
I’m soft. That you remember leaving your fingerprints—
 91.

BIANCA
Lieutenant Sawyer.

SAWYER
Please.

BIANCA
This is what you came here for?

SAWYER
I came to make sure you were all right. At great personal risk, I might add.

BIANCA
Oh, might you?

SAWYER
I just mean... this is dangerous for me to. You have made this more dangerous for
everyone.

BIANCA
So it’s my fault?

SAWYER
I didn’t say that.

BIANCA
You came here for absolution. I won’t give it to you.

SAWYER
I didn’t want to do what I did. You know that.

BIANCA
But you did it. And you’ll do it again!

SAWYER
I won’t.

BIANCA
You will. You told me. So don’t come here now with your... Don’t come here now saying,
“Tell me.” “Tell me I’m different, tell me I’m not like everyone else.” Guess what? I was
wrong. You are.

SAWYER
It was her or me.
 92.

BIANCA
Then why not you? What makes your life so much more important?

SAWYER
I don’t think my life is more important. I just think that it’s... mine.

BIANCA
Well. Your life is yours. My life is mine. And we can make our decisions accordingly.

SAWYER
Things are getting worse, Bianca. The rioters know everything. Not just about Elyse,
either. About you. About Corrine.

BIANCA
...How?

SAWYER
I don’t know.

BIANCA
There are leaks, then?

SAWYER

(terrified, looking around)

There aren’t any leaks. Don’t say that! The General doesn’t... that can’t be it. But the
Great Leaders are... disturbed. They’re angry at the General. They’re wondering if he has
Leadership potential. But there’s something much worse.

(beat)
The Great Leaders won’t eat.

BIANCA
Good.

SAWYER
You don’t understand. They won’t eat. They think this is all some grand conspiracy.

BIANCA
I thought we were so disposable. Just get someone else to Taste it.

SAWYER
Who? There’s no one left here to lose. This can’t go on. You have to—
 93.

BIANCA
I don’t have to do anything.

SAWYER
You’re making things worse for everybody. For me! For yourself. I care about what
happens to you. I told you how I feel about you—

BIANCA
It doesn’t matter how you feel. Act on it. Uncuff me.

SAWYER
...I can’t do that.

BIANCA
You can.

SAWYER
It’s too risky.

BIANCA
If you care about me, help me. Really help me. Don’t comfort me. Don’t question me.
Don’t listen to me, don’t empathize with me, don’t share your deepest, darkest secrets
with me, actually help me.

Bianca pulls the chains against the table, making a racket.

BIANCA
HELP ME.

SAWYER
Be quiet!

BIANCA
TAKE THEM OFF OF ME.

SAWYER
SHHHHHHHHHHH.

They look at each other. Sawyer’s heart is breaking. They

consider uncuffing her.

BIANCA
Sawyer—
 94.

But: They can’t do it. Sawyer pulls back.

SAWYER
I’m sorry.

BIANCA
No, Sawyer. Lieutenant Sawyer. Sawyer!

But they’re gone. In an attempt to calm herself:

BIANCA
Dear Bump.

Bianca’s trying to get into the dream world, but she can’t.
The stage doesn’t light up. Everything stays the same.

BIANCA
Come on. Come on come on come on. Please. Don’t abandon me now. Dear Bump.

Nothing. Bianca slams her hands on the table. Blackout.

A terrifying THUMP.
 95.

SCENE 11: BIANCA AND THE GENERAL II

Bianca sits at her table. She’s calm now. Lt. Sawyer and
the General are in the room. The General is wearing a
huge fur cape and hat. It looks ridiculous.

On a nod from the General, Lt. Sawyer lifts the covers off
of several platters, one after another, with increasing
speed.

LT. SAWYER
Grilled filet of beef. Basil-crusted cod.

BIANCA
Where is Elyse?

LT. SAWYER
Foie gras and Golden Araucana Egg and Lobster frittata and Suckling Pig and Fresh
Tagliolini with Butter and White Truffles.

BIANCA
Where is she?

LT. SAWYER

(to the General)

Should I start on the desserts?

THE GENERAL
We thought you might be hungry.

BIANCA
I’m not.

THE GENERAL
There’s no need to get snappy. You’re worried about your friend! So sweet. What a big
heart you have. I can recognize that because I have a big heart too. You’ve felt it. Bum-
bum. Bum-bum. Bum-bum. That’s why it’s so... wrenching to me, what you’re doing.

BIANCA
What I’m doing.

THE GENERAL
Our baby hasn’t eaten in days.
 96.

BIANCA
“Our baby,” all of a sudden.

THE GENERAL
Your tone is conveying disrespect that I would highly caution you against, Bianca.

BIANCA
I don’t respect you.

THE GENERAL
Is that any way to talk to the Great Leader of the East—

BIANCA
You’re not the Great Leader yet. You look ridiculous, by the way.

THE GENERAL
I don’t know. I think it’s kinda great. Don’t you, Sawyer?

LT. SAWYER
Yes, sir.

THE GENERAL
I’m supposed to wear it around the compound so I can get used to it. That way, when the
official announcement gets made I am good to go. I’ll just throw my cape on and whoosh.

BIANCA
That’s not happening.

THE GENERAL
Oh, it is.

BIANCA
I can feel change in my bones. Everyone out there is rallying. They are listening. They
are enlivened. They know what’s happening in here and it makes them sick. They look at
this country and they look at you and they know that you are how we’ve gotten to this
place. They are going to riot and they are going to revolt and the Great Leaders are going
to throw you out and they are going to let me go. And I’m going to have a good life, then!
I am going to be free of you. After I’m gone you will never cross my mind again. I don’t
need you anymore. Elyse is looking out for me now.

He looks at her.

THE GENERAL
Elyse is gone.
 97.

BIANCA
What?

THE GENERAL
We met this morning. We cut a deal.

BIANCA
Gone.

THE GENERAL
She gets released. I stay. You stay. Those were the terms of our agreement.

BIANCA
She wouldn’t just leave me here.

THE GENERAL
She’s a big fan of cost/benefit analysis, Elyse. So. There she goes. Where do you want to
start? With your Tasting. Everyone’s really hungry. So do we want to start with the beef,
or—?

BIANCA
I have to keep the baby.

THE GENERAL
Yeah, we’re past the bargaining stage.

BIANCA
I won’t Taste otherwise.

THE GENERAL
Doesn’t matter. We’re past that too. Four new Tasters are coming up on the train Tuesday
afternoon. A fresh crop of volunteers! They were motivated by seeing the rebels so
motivated. It really is an amazing cycle. I should thank Elyse, if I ever see her again.

BIANCA
This is what, then. My last meal?

THE GENERAL
Of course not! Happy to keep you alive till the baby comes.

BIANCA
You don’t want to do this to me.
 98.

THE GENERAL
I really do.

Bianca panics.

BIANCA
I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what came over me. She indoctrinated me. She got into my
brain and made me think that she was looking out for me. But she was a liar, sir. She lied
to us.

THE GENERAL
This is too pathetic. Please. Stop.

BIANCA
Take me back to your room, then. Is that what you want? I’ll—

THE GENERAL
You betrayed me, Bianca. What was the one thing I asked of you? You couldn’t even
give me that. You are of no use to me, now, other than as an incubator for my child, who I
will be keeping far, far away from you. There is nothing you can give me to help save
yourself. You’re out of bargaining chips.

Beat.

BIANCA
Elyse’s son.

THE GENERAL
What about him?

BIANCA
You think she’s washed up? You think the revolution’s over? I know something.

THE GENERAL
What do you know?

BIANCA
I need a guarantee that I keep my baby.

THE GENERAL
No.

BIANCA
Put it in writing. Make sure there are witnesses. Guarantee.
 99.

THE GENERAL
There’s no guarantee.

BIANCA
Promise me. Promise me and I’ll tell you. Promise me it’ll go back to the way it was.
That I’ll be safe here. That you’ll take care of me. And promise me that when the baby
comes no one is going to take it from me.

THE GENERAL
I’ll give you the first two weeks.

BIANCA
That’s all?

THE GENERAL
Two weeks.

BIANCA
Please, I need more than that—

THE GENERAL
This deal is expiring—

BIANCA
Her son’s still alive.

I think.

The General and the Lieutenant look at each other. Hmm.

The General turns to Bianca.

THE GENERAL
You think.

BIANCA
She left him out. Twice. Talked about losing her children twice and only brought up the
daughters.

LT. SAWYER
But why would she...?

Sawyer and the General look at each other. Huge energy

shift. The General is ON, exhilerated.
 100.

THE GENERAL
This is gonna get me started off right. Lt., we need to go now. But first, bring in Elyse.

LT. SAWYER
Yes, sir.

Lt. Sawyer exits.

BIANCA
...What? What do you mean bring in Elyse?

THE GENERAL
Sorry about that.

BIANCA
You told me she’d—

THE GENERAL
She’s been in the infirmary these past few days. Not gone at all! That was just a little fib.
One that really paid off, I gotta say. This is huge. Thank you, Bianca!

Lt. Sawyer leads in Elyse. She’s beat up from being in the

infirmary for days.

LT. SAWYER
Here she is, General.

The Lieutenant pushes her in, uncuffed. She runs to

Bianca.

ELYSE
Bianca, thank god. You’re all right. I was so worried they’d hurt you.

(reading the room)

What’s going on?

The General smiles.

THE GENERAL
Bianca was just telling us about your son.

Elyse freezes. Blackout.

 101.

SCENE 12: BIANCA AND ELYSE

Days later. Bianca and Elyse sit, staring straight ahead. A

few beats pass. Lieutenant Sawyer enters.

LT. SAWYER
Today’s menu: Crispy quinoa-cashew patty, chipotle aioli, havarti cheese, red onions,
roasted red peppers, arugula, and garlic-oregano focaccia.

They put the plate down in front of Bianca and Elyse.

Sawyer waits briefly for a “thank you” from Bianca that
doesn’t come. Elyse doesn’t touch her plate.

Sawyer waits a moment, then collects the plates, exits.

Silence.

BIANCA
Please talk to me.

(beat, an excuse)
I was so hungry. I hadn’t eaten—

ELYSE
You want a medal? A big parade? That’s not how this works.

BIANCA
I’m not asking for that.

ELYSE
You spent a few days doing the work you should’ve been doing the whole time. You
don’t get a prize for that. No one gets any prizes! For anything! There are no rewards,
apparently. So.

BIANCA
...What’s going to happen now?

ELYSE
I don’t know, Bianca.

BIANCA
Are we going to eat, or—?

ELYSE
I will not be eating, no. You can do whatever you want.
 102.

BIANCA
We don’t know that they found him.

ELYSE
They found him.

BIANCA
Or what happened to him—

ELYSE
I know what happened to him.

BIANCA
No one’s come in or out but Sawyer! There’s no news. He might be fine. He might’ve
escaped. Maybe he killed the General, even! Maybe that’s why Sawyer’s been so quiet,
maybe your son is coming to save us right now, maybe he’ll break us out of here—

ELYSE
My son is dead.

BIANCA
But you don’t know—

ELYSE
It’s through the menu, Bianca. I get my information through the menu. I’ve got two girls
in the kitchen and a whole code in place. I send messages back through my plate. Old
school spy shit. Just stupid enough to work. Barring human fucking error, of course. Case
in point.

BIANCA
He’s dead?

ELYSE
Yes. My son, Samuel, is dead. The last surviving member of my family, the only ray of
hope in this bleak, contemptible world is dead. So thank you, Bianca. Really. Thank you.

Bianca starts to cry.

ELYSE
No. You do not get to cry. Not after what you’ve done. He’s gone. Whoosh. Just like that.
Years and years and years of planning. Grooming him. Teaching him. Readying him for
the task at hand.
 103.

BIANCA
What does that mean?

ELYSE
There was a plan. Me being in here riles everyone up on the outside. Brings focus back to
the cause. News leaks about the Hunger Strike. The Leaders get jumpy, stop eating.
Then, tonight, actually, at the exact moment we have been planning for years...

BIANCA
What?

ELYSE
Braised paprika chicken. Laced with our patented undetectable poison. But this time,
with a twist: you feel it in hours, not seconds. We’ve been holding onto that one for
awhile.

BIANCA
Wait, so you’d die?

ELYSE
Yeah! And the Leaders, too. The General. Anyone who’d been going hungry, waiting for
me to break.

BIANCA
Including me.

ELYSE

(dry)
I was considering cluing you in.

BIANCA
I don’t understand what you would get out of this plan.

ELYSE
The Great Leaders would be gone. The decks would be clear. And my son—my sharp,
smart, compassionate, loving son—would be there, ready to take the reigns. And just like
that: order. Justice. Freedom. Peace.

BIANCA
...but what would you get?

ELYSE
Sometimes the culmination of your life’s work requires a little sacrifice.
 104.

Beat.

BIANCA
I don’t want you to hate me.

ELYSE
Yeah, well.

(beat)
I don’t. I hate the General. I hate that spineless Lieutenant. I hate this world that crushes
me over and over and over. I don’t hate you.

BIANCA
You really think it would’ve worked? That with the whole compound gone and a wise,
benevolent leader that things would really have been different?

ELYSE
I do.

BIANCA
Could you lead? Without him.

ELYSE
It doesn’t matter. I’m never getting out of here.

BIANCA
Don’t talk that way. You’ll survive this.

ELYSE
There’s nothing left, Bianca.

BIANCA

(a shift, determined)
There’s always something left.

Blackout.
 105.

SCENE 13: THE LAST LETTER

In the Great Leader’s quarters, Lt. Sawyer watches

Bianca and the General with a plate of food.

BIANCA
Dear Bump,
This is what I am doing.

Lt. Sawyer watches as the General and Bianca sit.

THE GENERAL
I was relieved to hear that you’d come to your senses.

BIANCA
Yes, sir.

THE GENERAL
Lieutenant Sawyer?

SAWYER
Today’s menu: Orange, arugula and fennel salad, sweet potato mash, braised paprika
chicken.

GENERAL
Well? Eat.

BIANCA
Of course, sir.

She takes a bite, swallows. Sawyer times her.

BIANCA

(letter)
I tell my story with a little lie in it. That I “couldn’t get out.” That I was trapped in
Linney, had to care for my aging father, had to seek shelter underground. But that’s not
true. I could’ve left a dozen times. Early on, when the food started to die. In the middle,
when most everyone else did. When the rebels started to come in, I could have gone.

I’d heard my whole life about “fight or flight” but I felt neither impulse. So I just stayed
and stayed and stayed.
 106.

GENERAL
We’re clear?

SAWYER
We’re clear.

GENERAL
Thank god.

He digs in, eats and eats and eats.

BIANCA (LETTER)
The rebels came. I wish there was a better word. “Rebels” makes them sound organized,
complete, but they were men and women my age who looked just like me. Put a gun in
my hand and it could’ve been me. And then it all shattered. Boom.

GENERAL
Lieutenant — take the plates up to the Great Leaders. Now.

(he takes another bite)

Mmmmm.

Sawyer sees the pleasure of the General eating, decides to

sneak a little bite. They chew, swallow. Take a bigger
one, ravenous. Bianca drifts away, still speaking to the
audience.

BIANCA (LETTER)
The soldiers found me quickly, after I came out of my little hideaway. They’d been
scouring for rebels. When they cuffed me, I didn’t feel relief, exactly, but there was a
strange comfort in knowing my life was out of my hands.
The sun was setting. It was autumn, so the air had that bite to it, and the sky was this
gorgeous chemical pink. The trees were outlined like shadow puppets, and then these
geese flew overhead, a whole flock of them, crying out into the twilight.

And it suddenly seemed so silly to me. All of it. How could I be frightened in a world
with those geese in it? In a world with that sunset, in a world with all that color and sky?
I couldn’t be. My faith soared like those wild geese, and I was overcome with a sense of
the rightness of things. This trust in the world’s ability to right itself.

I was so stupid.

Back in her room with Elyse.

 107.

ELYSE
Did you—?

BIANCA
Braised paprika chicken. Yum.

ELYSE
Thank you, Bianca.

Bianca nods. They have a moment together. Then: Bianca

drifts away from Elyse.

BIANCA (LETTER)
I realize now that there was a flaw in my reasoning. It wasn’t enough to experience
beauty and call that peace. I needed to step forward to do my duty to be a part of it all.

In the background, projected, a beautiful pink sunset,

birds.

BIANCA (LETTER)
I can see the future now. It all works just like it was meant to. The Great Leaders die. The
General does too. The Lieutenant. A wise, benevolent leader takes power. Her intentions
are not perfect. But she does good.

Bump, I’m sorry. You didn’t even get a chance. But I’m hopeful. Hopeful that I did
something that made us bigger. Hopeful that we’ll always be a part of this beautiful
world.

Bianca looks at the sunset.

End of play.