DEAR GEORGE CLOONEY, PLEASE MARRY MY MOM
Scene 1
Santa Anita. Violet, Rosie, Jennika, Lola,
and Lucy are sitting in their seats. Violet and Rosie’s dad is at the rail.
Dad: Ah, this is the way to spend
Christmas, going gambling. Come on, you **** horse. Oh, son of a gun, I knew
you weren’t going to place, you worthless animal.
Violet: Dad?
Dad: What?!
Violet: Can we go home now?
Dad: Come on, faster, faster, faster!
Scene 2
The daycare. Violet enters. Rosie is
sitting in the corner, sucking her thumb.
Violet: (To daycare worker) Why is she
sitting in the corner?
Daycare Worker: She bit another girl.
Rosie: She shot me with a bibi gun.
Violet: That other girl shot her with a
bibi gun?
Daycare Worker: I’m just the person in
charge here. I don’t actually know anything about what goes on.
Scene 3
The hair salon. Violet and Rosie enter. Mom
is at one of the work stations, cutting Amanda’s hair. Karen is standing at one
of the other work stations, not doing anything.
Ingrid: Girls! Hi! How was school?
Violet and Rosie: All right.
Ingrid: Before I forget, you girls are
going to be on your own for dinner tonight.
Violet: Why would that be?
Ingrid: I have a date!
Violet: Not another guy on Lavapit, please
tell me that at least.
Ingrid: No, that sight has the hugest
loosers on it. No, I met him in person. He came in for a haircut last week.
Violet: He gets his hair cut at a hair
dressing school. How together can he possibly be?
Ingrid: Well, he’s probably OK.
Scene 4
Violet’s room. Violet and Rosie are
watching through the window with binoculars.
Violet: Oh my gosh, he drives a banana
yellow Toyoda Carolla … from 1970!
Rosie: Is that bad?
Violet: Very bad.
(Footsteps can be heard coming up the
stairs.)
Ingrid: (From her bedroom) Violet, honey,
could you answer the door, please. I’m trying to put on my face. I was sure I
left it in the old hat box under the bed.
(Violet goes to the door.)
Violet: I hope he’s not ringing the
doorbell. That thing’s broken.
(Violet answers the door. Dudley Weener is
a fat, ugly man in a loud sweater.)
Dudley Weener: You must be Violet. Nice to
meet you. I’m Dudley Weener.
(A loud ringing noise commences.)
Violet: You really shouldn’t have rung the
doorbell.
Scene 5
Amanda’s shop. Violet and Phoebe are
standing at the counter.
Violet: Come on, Amanda, you must know some
good men.
Amanda: Well, I do know this one guy whose
really into poetry, very intellectual, though.
Phoebe: Any others?
Amanda: Hmmm, let’s see. Oh, I do know an
available guy who isn’t homeless. He lives in a shed on the other side of town.
The distance would be quite a diminishing factor, though.
Violet: Well, if you do happen to think of
any good single men that you know of could you please let me know soon? Mom is
having Dudley Weener over tonight.
Scene 6
The apartment. A knock is heard at the
door. Violet and Rosie answer it. Dudley Weener is standing at the door, a box
in his hand.
Dudley: Hi, Violet. Hi, Rosie. I brought a
present for the house.
Rosie: What is it? What is it?
Dudley: Well, open it and see. (Violet and
Rosie open the box.) It’s some twisted pieces of metal I found on the side of
the road. Do you like it?
Scene 7
The apartment. Ingrid, Violet, Rosie, and
Dudley have finished dinner. Dudley picks up his plate and licks it.
Dudley: (With mouth full) That lemon
chicken was fingersnappin’ goooood!
Violet: Well, you certainly ate every
little scrap of it, two helpings worth, too.
(Violet’s mother shoots her a warning look.)
Dudley: Oh, absoflippinlutely. If I’m
offered free food I always try to take as much advantage of the opportunity as
possible.
Violet: Well, you do seem pretty cheap.
(Her mother shoots her another warning
look.)
Dudley: You better believe it. I scrounge
everything from garbage dumps and scrap heaps. My motto is if it’s worth paying
for, I don’t want anything to do with it.
Ingrid: Why don’t you help me clear the
table, Violet.
Violet: Rosie volunteered to clear the
table.
Rosie: I sure did!
Violet: I’ll go into the living room and
keep Dudley company.
(Violet and Dudley head into the living
room. Dudley turns on the TV, flips it to the hockey game and turns the volume
up as loud as it will go.)
Dudley: Go, skate, go.
Violet: So, Dudley, how---
(Dudley pushes Violet off the couch.)
Dudley: If I’m gonna keep datin your mother
you better learn the rules. (To the TV) Go, skate, go.
(He repeats the preceeding phrase
incessantly.)
Scene 7
Phoebe’s bedroom. The room is a complete
mess. Violet and Phoebe are sitting on Phoebe’s bed.
Phoebe: So in other words we have to fix
your mom up with another guy and fast.
Violet: That’s for sure. Who could we set
Mom up with.
Phoebe: What men do we know?
Violet: Not very many. Besides, all the
ones we do know who are single are all kind of teacher-like or weird.
Phoebe: Hmmm, maybe we should just set your
mom up with a movie star or something.
Violet: Phoebe that’s it! I know just the
perfect actor to set Mom up with: George Clooney.
Phoebe: That’s a great idea. I think he was
married once before, but that was a long time ago. He’s into the environment
and lots of other great causes and he’s really hot.
Violet: Well, on second thought maybe we
should aim for a movie star Mom could actually get. George Clooney’s really
busy, and the only way setting him up with my mom would actually work is if
this were a book or movie or something.
Phoebe: Yeah, true. Well, your mom must
know a fair number of actors from the days when she did hairstyling for films.
Did she ever tell you about anybody we could possibly fix her up with?
Violet: Let me think. Hmmm … I know! David
Benson!
Phoebe: Who’s David Benson?
Phoebe: One of the actors Mom used to do
hairstyling for. She did his hair quite regularly, in fact. He used to do bit
parts on local shows around here. There was a high school quiz show on TV here
back in the nineties and he would model the prizes. He would do little skits on
local telathons different stations would have for various causes. Then he
started to really branch out, doing bit parts on local TV in Victoria and even
some stuff for a station in Ottawa.
Phoebe: Wow, the nation’s capital!
Violet: Yeah, I know, eh!
Phoebe: What’s he doing now?
Violet: That’s the exciting part. I just
saw him in a Nappa Autoparts commercial, on one of the American channels.
Phoebe: Wow!
Violet: And I even think he was in some
Hollywood movie recently.
Phoebe: Well, this is good. He’s on the up
and up, he cares about his career, he’s going places.
Violet: Exactly. And, he’s gotten work in
the States so we know he has a bit of money.
Phoebe: Well, what are we waiting for?
Let’s find his home address or his management company address or something
online and write to him.
Violet: Let’s find his phone number!
Phoebe: No, we should write him a letter,
in the mail, the old-fashioned way. (Phoebe pulls her laptop from under a pile
of clothes and turns it on) Let’s get to work on it right away.
Scene 8
The school gym. Mrs. Badelli is standing
against one wall. The students are all assembled in the middle.
Mrs. Badelli: Today we are going to start
our unit on line dancing.
John Paul Bouchard: Oh, is it 1994 already?
Mrs. Badelli: Now, I forgot my cd player---
John Paul Bouchard: Again I ask, is it 1994
already?
Mrs. Badelli: So just imagine music in your
head and start dancing … now!
Scene 9
The apartment. Violet is sitting in the
kitchen. The phone rings. She answers it.
Violet: Hello.
Karen: (Drunk) Hi Violet, it’s your mom’s
friend, Karen.
Violet: Mom’s not here right now. Should I
take a message?
Karen: No no no no no no no. I’m just
calling to say thanks for friending me on Facebook. You’re awesome.
Violet: Are you hammered?
Karen: You better believe it, baby!
Violet: It’s only quarter to four in the
afternoon.
Karen: So?
(A click is heard.)
Violet: Hello? Hello? (She hangs up the
phone. It rings again.) Hello.
Jennika: Violet, hi, it’s Jenny. How are
you?
Violet: I’m fine.
Jennika: Good. Listen, I’m calling about
you girls coming down for March break.
Violet: Yes, Rosie’s really been looking
forward to it. It’s practically all she talks about.
Jennika: Oh, well, here’s the thing. March
break is also the week when the season really gets underway at Santa Anita.
Violet: Dad’s putting horseracing before
his daughters again?!
Jennika: No, no dear. Your father’s given
up trying to make a living betting on horses.
Violet: Then why does he care that March
break falls during a busy week at the racetrack?
Jennika: Well, Ian figures his next big
thing is going to be making money playing slot machines and he really wants to
start into it the week of March break. I’m sure you can understand.
(A click is heard on the phone.)
Scene 10
The apartment. Ingrid, Violet, Rosie,
Amanda, Karen, and Dudley are all sitting around the table eating dinner.
Dudley is shoveling in his food.
Ingrid: (Tapping her water glass) Everyone,
I have a big announcement. Dudley and I are getting married.
Violet: But Mom, how could you do this?
Ingrid: Honey, what are you talking about?
Violet: Mom, he’s a slob. As you are making
this important announcement, he’s scarfing down his food like a pig. When we
had him over for what was supposed to be Gustavsen girls night, he kept
exclaiming, “This sucks” loudly all throughout the movie. He shows up at all
hours, turns the TV up real loud and is downright mean to Rosie and me.
Ingrid: Violet, I know all those things are
true but he fixed the doorbell and the washing machine and frankly in the state
we’re presently in that’s all that matters.
Violet: I can’t believe this.
(She runs into the kitchen and picks up the
phone.) Hello, is this North Star Management?
Male Receptionist: That’s what I just said,
toots.
Violet: Good. My name is Violet Gustavsen.
I wrote a letter to David Benson two months ago. Do you happen to know if he
ever got it?
Male Receptionist: Well, if he ever did get
it there’s no way he’ll be able to answer it.
Violet: Why not?
Male Receptionist: He’s been hit by a bus.
Violet: Why haven’t I heard about it, then?
Male Receptionist: Probably, kid, ‘cause
there’s a lot more important things happening in the world every day. Turn on
the news and see for yourself sometime.
(A click is heard.)
Violet: (Hangs up the phone) Someone must
be talking about it somewhere. Maybe on the entertainment channel.
(Violet goes into the living room and turns
on the TV.)
Anncr: … which leaves the country of Syria
obliterated from the map. And finally this late breaking story. Hollywood
famous person Jennika Gustavsen was found dead in the backyard swimming pool of
her Los Angeles home tonight. Gustavsen had done bit parts in a few movies and
TV shows, but she was mostly known as a reply girl on the popular online video
sharing site Stuff Tube as well as being famous for being famous. Police found
a note signed by the celebrity taped to the fence of the backyard. It said,
“It’s all hopeless.” Gustavsen’s widower, Ian Gustavsen, had moved to Hollywood
in hopes of achieving his dream of getting rich through gambling or else some
get rich quick scheme.
Closing credits.
Based on "Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom" by Susin Nielsen.
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