. a u d i t i o n p i e c e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ACTRESS: Let me tell you about my father's death.
I was only five.
It was in a field, on our farm, and I'd been playing in a tree when it started to rain.
My father came to bring me home, first calling me from across the field, and I didn't come,
and the rain fell heavier and harder, and he walked to the middle of the field, calling and I
didn't come, even though I heard him I didn't come, and he came closer, three quarters of the
way through the wheat, calling me, "Please, (Actress' name), come home," and I didn't come,
and I didn't come, and then there was brightness incredible light
and my father was a torch screaming
and I called to him "Daddy! Daddy!
and he didn't come
and he didn't come.
(She is crying. She stops, recovers.)
Let me tell you about my father's death.
I was three-and-a-half.
It was in a field, on our farm, and I'd been playing in a tree when it started to snow.
My father came to bring me home, and I didn't come, and the snow fell, and he walked to the
middle of the field, and I didn't come, and he walked slower and slower, and I wouldn't come,
and he froze, all blue, solid ice, and ...
(She is crying. She stops, recovers.)
Let me tell you about my fathers death.
My mother was eight months pregnant, and they were in a field, a big wide field, and it was
night, and suddenly there was this huge light, falling from the heavens, it was a spaceship, and
it fell on my father, and squashed him ... flat ... like a pancake ... and my mother ... who always
liked pancakes ... (She can't go on. She is crying. She stops.)
A wild elephant came racing across the ice. My father, fishing didn't see him, and ...
(She is crying.)
An invisible force drew him into the house, where the ghost of his fianc�e, hungry for blood, was ...
(She is sobbing.)
A wild Chinaman, an escapee from Devil's Island ...
(She has lost control.)
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
(She regains control, composes herself.)
Let me tell you about my father's death.
He was an acting teacher.
Mad for emotional honesty.
He drove his students to the edge.
Over, if necessary.
They loved him for that.
It has to be real, he said. Even the silliest, most impossible situation, you have to believe it. Dig into
your heart. If you don't have a dead parent, use a dead pet.
He was a pusher for honesty. Honesty was his drug.
I suppose he pushed Ellen too far.
Tell us about your father's death, he said one day in class.
No, she said.
Do you remember?
No.
Were you there?
No.
You're lying. Tell us. Tell us Ellen! You wanted him dead, didn�t
you?! You wished him dead, didn�t you?!
I don�t know what you�re talking about, she said.
Next day, he took a new approach.
Did he do something bad to you?
No, she said.
Don�t be ashamed, Ellen. Don�t be afraid.
I�m not.
You are! Face the facts about him! Face the ugly, dirty, smelly,
disgusting truth! You�ll never be an actress if you can�t face the truth!
Did he hate you? Hit you?! Worse?!
I don�t know what you�re talking about, she said. I wish you�d leave
Me alone.
Next day, he took a new approach.
So did she.
I�m your father, he said. Did you love me?
No answer.
Did you hate me?
No answer.
Did you feel anything?! Only dead things don�t feel! Are you dead,
Ellen?! ARE YOU DEAD?!!!
No, you are, she said, and shot him.
Turns out she never knew her father. She just didn�t like people
shouting.
And the amazing thing is that I saw it all.
The gun, the pop, the blood.
Dad screaming.
It was pretty awful.
I don�t like to think about it.
Let me tell you about my puppy�s death.
He was just a little thing, and this ��.. this with witch, from the gingerbread Cottage down the road�
(She is sobbing. She stops, recovers.)
Let me try that again.
(Blackout)