19 Aug 2015

PROMPT:


Jacob, an old man, sits in a coffee shop talking to Richard, a much younger man.
JACOB
I was one of the five pretty boys.
RICHARD
(impressed)
Wow.  So you were in an actual movie?!
JACOB
The star never showed.  We waited for hours and finally Andy sent us all home.  The only thing you would have seen was the back of my head, anyway.
RICHARD
You were this close to glamour, glory and gold.
JACOB
That was before the Factory on 47th street closed and the new one on Union Square opened.  I moved out of New York and came back down here to Texas.
RICHARD
That must have been a culture shock.
JACOB
That was easy.  The original move from east Texas to New York, that was hard.
RICHARD
Where in east Texas?
JACOB
Beaumont.
RICHARD
That must have been a shock.
JACOB
From enormous pine trees to enormous buildings.  It was weird.
RICHARD
And you met Warhol!
JACOB
He was too weird for me.  The whole thing was just too weird.  Everything was so intense, so driven.  If you couldn’t do something outrageous on command, you didn’t fit in... I didn’t fit in.
RICHARD
That sounds so cool.  I’m so excited I’m going!
JACOB
If you want to be a big star in the theater, if you’ve got that kind of drive, that’s where you need to be.  But, Richard, that city and that business chews up and spits out kids like you everyday, by the dozens.  You got a back up plan?
RICHARD
I’ve got people... family here that loves me.
JACOB
No better back up plan then that.
RICHARD
What... what do I do?
JACOB
What do you do here?
RICHARD
Go to every show I can get into.  Wait afterwards and talk to the actors, directors, whoever.  Go to the bar they all go to after the show and drink with ‘em.
JACOB
No different up there.  This is a collaborative art.  Who you know is as important as how talented you are.
RICHARD
I hate that.
JACOB
Love it, hate it, that’s the way it is.  Every theater up there gives acting classes.  Sign up.
RICHARD
I don’t need acting lessons.
JACOB
It’s not about gaining skills, it’s about meeting people.
RICHARD
Okay.
JACOB
Don’t know what else I can tell you.  You seem to have your head on straight.
RICHARD
Thanks... And thanks for giving my mom a place to stay.
JACOB
My pleasure.
RICHARD
Is she... is she okay?
JACOB
Your mom is doing great.  She’s working hard to figure out who she’s going to be now that she’s not a mother to children who need her or a socialite or a housewife.
RICHARD
That’s right, isn’t it?
JACOB
Yup.  She’s figuring who and what she’s going to be for the second half of her life.
RICHARD
I never thought of it that way.  Thanks, Jacob.
Richard stands.
JACOB
Remember, shake every hand you can.  Talk to them.  I learned long ago that the best way to talk to strangers is to interview them.  Let them talk about themselves.  They’ll think your the smartest person on earth.  Good luck.
Jacob shakes hand with Richard and leaves.
End of play.