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The Pillow

EMILY is sitting on a plane moving her neck and tapping her feet. She’s sitting in the aisle seat. There’s a passed-out man at the window seat.

ENTER: TOM. He motions Emily to get up so he can sit. She gets up and Tom sits down in the middle seat.

TOM: Are you alright? You look a bit... Stiff. Afraid of flying?

EMILY: No, it's my neck. (Frustrated) I use the window if I can- (motions to Tom and the man) so I can lean.

TOM: But if you can’t? Like right now?

EMILY: When I go to Germany, I have a middle seat. My girlfriend has the window so I can lay on her.

Tom holds out a neck pillow.

TOM: Why not use one of these?

Emily takes it.

EMILY: It’s for my neck? (She gives it back) I don’t want to be one of those people.

Tom puts it behind her neck.

TOM: I use one.

EMILY: (Settling into the pillow and getting dazed) You do?

Tom rolls his eyes.

EMILY: (Getting comfy) It is actually quite squishy... But I can’t just lay down--

TOM: And you can’t do bad neck things.

EMILY: (Realizing) OH MY GOD! I’m one of those people!

TOM: They also have blow up ones that travel better.

EMILY: And here I am. Sitting next to one of those people.

TOM: You are one of those people.

EMILY: (Quietly) ...I am one of those people.

The plane engines whirr, signaling the plane is taking off.

Tom looks smug as Emily is agonizing about her new comfort.

END SCENE

In my reimagining, I made the narrator more disheveled. She has a messy bun, and her shirt is in disarray. It's unbuttoned, collar messy, half tucked, and one sleeve rolled. The shirt is black as she is still mourning. Her converse is red as her story is about tragedy. Her overall look is far more casual as she's still having trouble keeping it all together.

Week 4 - Hands-On Assignment Set Design

For my reimagining, I chose to have M. Butterfly in an alley. I chose this because the audience could get a deeper intimacy with the material while also having a considerable amount of stage space. In this particular scene, I chose scene 2. By having the alley, I could have Gallimard's cell overlooking the audience as well as the stage. Even though Gallimard is above the audience, this way he's emotionally closer because the audience is on either side of his field of vision.

The color that I chose for the structure was gray to be indicative of his jail cell. Below him are a set of red curtains that everyone exits and enters from. The curtains are red for the classic theatre vibe. However, because the curtains are under the jail cell, it's indicative of Gallimard's mental state and the fact that this is the story that he is telling from his isolation.

At the other end of the stage, I included a raised platform for a live band. As sound is very important for M. Butterfly, I thought that having the band present would be a good visual.