Editor's Note: This is the original script, as shared by the author.
An empty theater, illuminated by the noble GHOSTLIGHT.
GHOSTLIGHT
(singing in a creaky voice)
Goodnight
Goodnight
To all the world, goodnight
Sweet dreams, sweet dreams, to all the world sweet -
A sharp cry from the Curtains.
CURTAIN
Where is Alice?
GHOSTLIGHT
She’s sleeping.
CURTAIN
It. Is. Not. Night.
GHOSTLIGHT
Of course it’s night, I’m on. I’m on during the night. Ergo -
CURTAIN
I can see the sun.
PIANO
How?
The Piano has a melodious voice.
CURTAIN
There’s a crack in the roof that lets the light in. I’ve told Alice about it. She is supposed to get it fixed.
GHOSTLIGHT
I don’t see any light.
PIANO
Can you see clouds?
CURTAIN
I think Alice is in trouble.
She is always here. Other than that week she got married.
GHOSTLIGHT
Ugh, Jeremy, don’t remind me. He was always on his phone. So rude.
CURTAIN
We need to find her.
GHOSTLIGHT
We can’t. How could we? We can’t do anything.
CURTAIN
I do things! I am the beginning and the end of every show.
PIANO
Yes, yes, we know, you’re very important, just critical to everything -
CURTAIN
I require special training! I’m a dying breed you know. Alice says some theaters don’t even have a grand drape, they just have their stages exposed all the time. No magic. No reveal. An embarrassment. You know, when Houdini was here
GHOSTLIGHT
Here we go
The Piano begins to play itself.
CURTAIN
WHEN HOUDINI WAS HERE HE PRAISED MY BEAUTY.
PIANO
I know what to do.
I will play her favorite song.
Then, she will know we are thinking of her.
I will play it as loud as possible.
GHOSTLIGHT
No, no, you’ll wake everyone up -
CURTAIN
It’s the daytime.
PIANO
People are awake.
GHOSTLIGHT
But then why aren’t they here? Why am I still glowing?
CURTAIN
Ask Alice! She’s the one whole knows things.
PIANO
Be quiet both of you.
Piano plays Alice’s favorite song.
It is not something traditionally beautiful.
It is not Claire de Lune.
It’s Shake it Off by Taylor Swift.
The kind of song that gets in your head and you can’t help but sing when you are alone.
It sounds pretty good on the piano.
Curtain and Ghostlight join in singing, although they can’t quite remember the lyrics.
They sway, it becomes almost a shared dance.
CURTAIN & GHOSTLIGHT
Shake it off, off, off, off, shake it off off off
GHOSTLIGHT
What is it?
CURTAIN
It is the haters
PIANO
No, it is the hate - the haters are referred to elsewhere in the song.
CURTAIN
It’s the same thing
PIANO
It’s not!
CURTAIN
I’m going to shake you off.
And the curtain shakes.
Ghostlight laughs.
CURTAIN
What if she forgot about us?
What if she doesn’t care anymore?
What if she ran off with Jeremy and had a baby and has a whole new life that we can’t see because we’re stuck here and the little crack that lets light in that I told her to fix because it’s fading my red slowly but surely, this little crack doesn’t let me see anything but sky!
GHOSTLIGHT
Does she like babies?
PIANO
Lots of people don’t like babies until they have their own. Then something changes.
GHOSTLIGHT
I think if she had a baby, she would bring it here.
Especially if there was no audience here, if it was just her and us.
If we were between things.
She’d let it running up and down the aisles, if it was a running kind of baby.
She would let it up on stage.
She would let it play you Piano.
PIANO
Happily.
GHOSTLIGHT
She would tell the baby stories. About Houdini
CURTAIN
Who praised my beauty
GHOSTLIGHT
And the time she slept here
CURTAIN
Because of snow
GHOSTLIGHT
And the time there were so many drums the walls shook and part of the ceiling fell
CURTAIN
It was scary
PIANO
It was wonderful.
GHOSTLIGHT
I think she’d tell the baby all kinds of stories. If the baby liked stories.
CURTAIN
Babies like stories. Everyone does.
PIANO
They do, don’t they? Humans just love stories. Good ones. Bad ones. Even the ones that go on and on, sometimes people live but more off they stay.
CURTAIN
Sometimes it’s cold outside and they don’t want to go home.
PIANO
It’s not just that. They like it here. I think they love it here.
GHOSTLIGHT
I wish I could see the audience.
All I see is Alice.
It is quiet. Oh so quiet.
A bottle of hand sanitizer rolls on stage.
PIANO
What is that?
CURTAIN
Someone didn’t put their prop away!
PIANO
I don’t think it’s a prop, it doesn’t look very theatrical.
CURTAIN
Use your imagination.
PIANO
And it smells like alcohol.
CURTAIN
Alcohol is theatrical.
GHOSTLIGHT
It says hand sanitizer. What does sanitize mean?
PIANO
It means to make sane.
CURTAIN
No, no, it’s about cleaning.
PIANO
That bottle is too small to clean anything big.
CURTAIN
Well, it’s certainly too small to make anyone sane if they aren’t already.
GHOSTLIGHT
I see more out there. In the seats. I can smell it too.
It smells bad. Terrible, actually.
I don’t think Alice is coming.
I don’t think anyone is coming.
PIANO
They always come. It just take time.
GHOSTLIGHT
But time has passed. Time has been passing. Life has been moving and we’re just stuck here. Is the sun still up? Is there still light?
CURTAIN
There’s less than before.
GHOSTLIGHT
Alice isn’t coming.
No one is coming.
That smell. It’s not a good smell.
It’s too clean. It’s too clean for us.
PIANO
Stop it! You’re supposed to be the hopeful one! You’re our light in the dark -
The piano begs to play a troubling melody, dark and panic’d. The Ghostlight flicks on and off.
CURTAIN
Listen to yourself - it’s over! Time give up the ghost! Time for the final bow! It’s curtains, curtains for all of us, Goodnight sweet prince, good night to all that is rotten, good night to bad timing, good night to bad reviews, good night to missed cues, good night to everything precious, I’ll miss you but the show can’t go on if we’re alone —-
The curtain drops.
A flood of beautiful red velvet.
It is so big and so rich.
Beautiful.
You can see why Houdini admire its beauty.
And then -
The stage speaks with a rich voice.
STAGE
There, there, I’ve got you. I’ve got you. It’s all right. It’s all right. You’re safe now.
This has happened before.
Not exactly like this.
But enough like this.
For me to know it.
This will happen again.
Not exactly like this.
But enough like this.
For me to know it again.
And it is alright to be sad.
To be scary.
We are not used to being alone.
To have our purpose vanish.
It is alright.
But let me tell you now, there have been many times of great nothingness.
There have been times of a large quietness.
I thought the quiet would never end.
And yes, I hated it.
I hate it now.
I like the sound of footsteps.
I like the sound of laughter.
I like the sound of words that have never been said in this exact order being said for the first, second, third time.
I like hearing words I haven’t for years being said again by new voices.
I like songs.
PIANO
Me too.
STAGE
I love you Piano.
I love you Curtains.
I love you Ghostlight.
Now is a quiet time.
But this is not forever.
This is just now.
A rumbling sound.
CURTAIN
Is that applause?
STAGE
That is the rain.
Listen.
End of play.
