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Scripts Aloud brings drama right into your ears. By using text-to-speech software, theater scripts go from the page into drama, every week. Typically 10-minute scripts are presented in each episode. It's like having a Theater Festival - right on your phone!
Ocean Star Liner
by
Rick Regan
December 12, 2024
Rick Regan
Raleigh.RickRegan@gmail.com
919-218-8834INT. CRUISE SHIP DINING DECK - EVENING
The dining deck of a luxury cruise ship, sailing
somewhere in the Caribbean. The evening is mild. Tables
are arranged indoors along long windows or outside on the
edge of the deck. There are white tablecloths and service
places.
The waitstaff and ship’s crew move around in uniforms,
while the diners are well-dressed for dinner. The ship is
not youth oriented so the crowd is mostly gray haired or
dyed blonde. Most of the men wear dinner jackets.
At a table, two older women, CAROL and KAREN, are shown
to a table, by the MAITRE’D and they get settled in, sideby-side.
CAROL
(to the maitre’d)
Oh, this will do nicely! Thank
you.
KAREN
What an evening.
CAROL
We should get some wine.
KAREN
Definitely!
They look at the menus and the wine selections. The
maitre’d nods and leaves.
CAROL
It’s just warm enough, you know.
KAREN
Perfect. The heat of the day,
cooling to a pleasant evening.
The maitre’d brings over an older man to join them at the
table. LOUIS is tall, handsome and distinguished looking.
LOUIS
May I join your table, ladies.
KAREN
Yes, of course.
CAROL
Are you alone?2.
LOUIS
Yes, just me.
KAREN
Then, by all means. We welcome the
company.
Louis sits and the Maitre’d nods and goes away.
LOUIS
What looks good?
KAREN
Well, I had the salmon last night.
It was quite good.
LOUIS
I like salmon.
CAROL
And I had the salad with chicken.
Something light for the first
night on the water.
LOUIS
Yes, of course. Is this your first
cruise?
KAREN
I’ve taken this one before, with
my husband.
LOUIS
Oh, I see.
KAREN
But we’re divorced now.
LOUIS
Ah.
CAROL
How about you?
LOUIS
No, first time.
CAROL
I mean, you’re alone. They don’t
sell single tickets. Are you with
someone else?
3.
LOUIS
(resigned)
Ah...it’s a long story. But no,
I’m alone.
CAROL
Oh.
A waiter comes and they order dinners and Karen orders
some wine.
LOUIS
Do you know wine? I’ve never been
an expert.
KAREN
We went to France one year, for a
conference. There were some wine
tasting seminars. For the spouses,
you understand.
LOUIS
Sounds lovely.
CAROL
Have you been to France?
LOUIS
No. No, just England, once.
KAREN
My husband...my EX-husband...has a
medical information business. We
went all over the world. Even
Japan.
LOUIS
(laughs)
That must have been exciting!
KAREN
It was exhausting!
CAROL
Oh, come on! You loved it. You
said you’d love to go back.
KAREN
Well, we were travelling First
Class and the tours were all
arranged, you know. So, hard to
top that.
4.
LOUIS
What, if I may ask, did you notice
about life in Japan? I mean, what
was different? What was the same?
KAREN
Hmmm. I guess the first thing is
that all the people are so small.
LOUIS
Like, not very tall?
KAREN
Yes, but also, slim, trim. You
don’t see heavy people there, if
you know what I mean.
CAROL
What about those sumo wrestlers?
They’re pretty hefty.
KAREN
I didn’t see any sumo wrestlers.
CAROL
Probably just a lot of waiters and
busboys.
KAREN
There was that, like on this ship.
Crew and staff everywhere. Don’t
you think the service is so nice?
Everyone I talk to is so nice.
LOUIS
It’s a different world, working a
cruise ship, I imagine. People
from all over the world.
CAROL
Catering to rich Americans!
LOUIS
It is somewhat fraught, I think.
That this entertainment ship is a
better opportunity for the young
people than staying and working at
home. Of course, I suppose that’s
the story of history: the young
pick up and go where the
opportunity is.
5.
CAROL
Or get away from dangers. Cartels,
dictators. I hate fascists!
KAREN
Carol, everyone hates fascists.
CAROL
Except for the bootlickers that
support him.
KAREN
(annoyed)
Well, let’s just enjoy the
evening, and not get too bogged
down in politics.
CAROL
Just so disappointing.
LOUIS
Are you active in politics?
CAROL
On Facebook. I organize the Garden
State Moms account. We advocate
for the children.
LOUIS
(surprised)
Oh. Yes. Is that so?
KAREN
Carol is a keyboard warrior.
LOUIS
Aren’t we all, these days? I mean,
we are surrounded by the
information systems, everywhere.
CAROL
You can’t get information from the
doctor or your bank account
without ‘logging on’.
LOUIS
Very upside-down world.
KAREN
Is this your first cruise?
LOUIS
Yes.
6.
KAREN
Oh.
CAROL
Are you from New York? A lot of
New Yorkers on the boat.
LOUIS
No.
KAREN
Oh.
CAROL
Have you been in the pool? It
looks really nice.
KAREN
And the spa services are
excellent!
LOUIS
Ah, no. I haven’t been in the
pool.
CAROL
Oh. Ok.
A waiter comes and pours wine for everyone.
CAROL
(tasting)
Oh, this is good! Do you like it?
KAREN
(grandly)
Well, it’s an excellent house. I
don’t know the vintages but they
are very lively, for a Burgundy.
LOUIS
But it’s white. I thought
Burgundies were supposed to be
red.
KAREN
Oh, yes. They make reds and
whites. And rosés. And Jadot is
always reliable.
LOUIS
I see. Well, cheers!
They toast.
7.
KAREN
So tell us how you came to be on
this trip? Did you win a raffle or
something?
LOUIS
(reluctantly)
Ah, no. It was a retirement gift,
from my community. I was an
Anglican pastor for many years.
CAROL
Oh, a priest!
LOUIS
Not exactly, but close. I was a
ordained as a pastor but I wasn’t
really a priest, like you think
about. Poverty and celibacy, and
so on. Not that we got rich. I was
in the community for twenty years.
KAREN
So they gave you a cruise as a
retirement gift? That’s nice!
LOUIS
It was nice. My wife was very
excited. She’d never seen the
ocean.
KAREN
Didn’t she come with? Get cold
feet at the last minute.
LOUIS
She died. In January. I had
retired in December.
CAROL
I’m so sorry!
KAREN
That’s terrible! What did she die
of?
LOUIS
She had been ill, for many years,
off and on. She said it was that
cold that kept her going!
CAROL
The cold?
8.
LOUIS
We live...lived...in Minnesota. Up
north. Very cold.
CAROL
So you decided to go on a cruise?
What? To celebrate?! That’s awful!
LOUIS
I am sorry you think so. But, you
see, the trip was already booked.
Paid-for. And, really, there’s not
much in northern Minnesota.
CAROL
But still! Running off to Cancun
and Acapulco for a victory lap?
You disgust me!
LOUIS
Well, I’m sorry but it’s hardly a
victory lap. I was so lonely and,
yes, depressed that I thought I
wasn’t going to be able to go on.
No work. No wife. No life. And I
had to give up the rectory for a
new minister.
KAREN
So, no home.
LOUIS
Twenty-five years ago, I arrived
as the fresh voice of the hip, new
church. And now I am a dusty relic
of a dying generation.
KAREN
I can understand that.
CAROL
Why? You travelled around the
world with Kevin.
KAREN
It’s that feeling of being
invisible. Am I right?
Louis nods in agreement.
CAROL
You? Invisible? No way!
9.
KAREN
Carol, you’ve never been married.
And then be cast aside for a
sportier, new girl. After thirtythree years, he walks in one day
and says, “Honey, I want to be
happy. I am filing for a divorce.”
Talk about feeling invisible!
CAROL
That’s not what happened and you
know it! You caught him with his
mistress in your bed and kicked
them both out.
KAREN
It was the next day.
LOUIS
That would be painful. I can only
imagine.
CAROL
But there must have been some of
the women from the town...that had
an eye on you.
LOUIS
Perhaps.
CAROL
I bet they threw themselves at
you!
LOUIS
Hardly. And if they did, I would
do my best to catch them, help
them set to-right and listen for
what was really troubling them.
CAROL
And what was that? Not enough of
the bedroom-rumba?
LOUIS
Well, loneliness is sort of builtin in a place like the North
Woods. They make jokes in that
part of the world about the quiet,
the solitude and the madness that
ensues. But people can become
quite self-destructive. Some I
could help, others I could not.
10.
CAROL
I bet. I imagine that if a bad guy
kidnapped a woman, she could
scream all day and nobody would
hear.
KAREN
Kevin liked to tie me up.
LOUIS
Oh? Why was that?
KAREN
He knew I liked it.
CAROL
Karen! I had no idea.
KAREN
It was that feeling of being
completely vulnerable and exposed.
But also, seen. I would be the
sole focus of his attention.
CAROL
(chuckles)
And then he would do naughty
things to you...
KAREN
Sometimes. But, in truth, he
didn’t need to tie me up to do
naughty things. He could have told
me what he wanted. But, you know,
I don’t think he even knew.
CAROL
Maybe it’s like some kind of male
Rorschach test, to find out their
own personality traits and erotic
tendencies. See what they think
of, how the imagination works.
KAREN
Kevin was, admittedly, a bit
lacking in the imagination
department.
CAROL
How about in the ‘equipment’
department?
11.
KAREN
About the same. Not bad, just
pretty much right down the middle,
if you know what I mean.
CAROL
I’m not sure I do and I am
struggling with the image of the
whole thing. Kind of an overload
to think of my sister working out
kinky fantasies with da’hubby at
home.
KAREN
He preferred hotels. Home was
sacred for him.
CAROL
Until Miss Butterlips showed up in
your bed, I guess.
KAREN
Like I said, he was never great
with imagination.
CAROL
But did you like it? The kinky
stuff? I know I shouldn’t ask but,
we’re all adults here. I bet Louis
here has heard all the stories.
Louis nods.
KAREN
I liked finally getting his
attention. It kind of turned me on
when he said we were going on a
trip. I knew that sometimes he
planned trips just to get to a
hotel and work out his fantasies.
I liked being the object of
desire.
CAROL
And now?
KAREN
Now I am the cast off. Like you,
out of love, out of work, home.
Invisible.
CAROL
Gawd! You two are such downers!
You’re made for each other!
12.
LOUIS
I’m not exactly trolling the sea
for new fish.
CAROL
Is that a Jesus joke? Like the
loaves and fishes? If you want
something, Jesus can make it
appear, like a miracle? Like
Karen?
LOUIS
(laughs)
You are a strange one, I must say.
Where are you ladies from?
CAROL
Bayonne.
KAREN
We lived in Columbia, Missouri.
LOUIS
Bayonne?
CAROL
That’s Jersey. But we grew up in
Madison. Outside the City.
LOUIS
Wisconsin, Madison?
CAROL
No! New Jersey. Madison, New
Jersey. Outside the City.
LOUIS
You grew up there?
CAROL
You should have seen us! Two
sisters, on a tear in Manhattan.
Fifty-Four was gone but
Danceteria, the Marquee, the Roxy.
We were the queens of the
dancefloor!
KAREN
For a while...
CAROL
Hey, once you’ve been at the
center of the world, you always
want to get back.
13.
LOUIS
(laughs)
I guess I never thought of it that
way.
CAROL
And Minnesota is not exactly
Midtown. The whole world was
passing-through, intersecting and
making a party.
KAREN
And the drugs.
CAROL
And the sex. Oh my gawd!
KAREN
For you, maybe.
CAROL
Don’t lie! That’s where you
learned to get tied up! And
whisper in that babydoll voice,
“Oh, help me! Help me!”
KAREN
That’s enough. Enough looking
back. Enough bitter memories.
CAROL
What? That’s where you met Kevin.
You in that low-cut, hi-cut, sidecut dress. I’m surprised it held
together long enough for you to
shimmy out of it.
KAREN
It was a different age.
CAROL
You mean you were a different age.
Young and hot! Now look at us.
KAREN
Yes! Now look at us. On a
beautiful ship, under a lovely
sky, with a handsome gentleman.
CAROL
Oh, you’ve got it all lined up.
You’ve always had it all lined up.
14.
And I’m just the screwball little
sister. Here for you to scorn and
make fun of.
KAREN
Hardly.
CAROL
You’ve always had a plan. Even
right now. I can see the wheels
spinning in your head. You are
going to throw yourself at this
man and weasel your way into his
life. Well! Not if I get there
first!
LOUIS
Ladies, please. I have been a
pastor for many years. I have seen
couples, siblings, work partners
disagree. Sometimes with great
anger. Sometimes from bitter
resentments that go back decades.
But I try to help find the balance
between the two.
KAREN
What balance?
LOUIS
Typically one person feels like
the other has more power, real or
perceived. And the first person
doesn’t see any problem. It’s like
the complaint comes out of the
blue. But it is an imbalance of
power, real or perceived. I try to
clarify and identify the
situation.
CAROL
OK, Doctor Phil. What do you think
her beef is?
KAREN
My beef?! You are the one getting
all huffy. I don’t have a beef.
CAROL
That I didn’t get married when I
had Jimmy. That I didn’t move out
of Jersey.
15.
That I didn’t want the same kind
of life as you, the perfect wife
with the perfect life. You
couldn’t stand that I wanted to
live my life on my terms. You just
wanted everything to conform to
your plan. Well, I don’t.
KAREN
I never said that. I never said
any of that.
CAROL
You didn’t have to. I know it’s
true. You never come for the
holidays back to Jersey. You don’t
want to associate with your old
life. Your young life. Well guess
what, little Missy, the plan has
all gone up in flames. You are on
the roadside with your life in
ashes. And I’m not crying. I’m not
laughing, but I’m not crying
either.
KAREN
I can’t believe this is my own
sister telling me this.
CAROL
It hurts when it’s the truth,
doesn’t it?
KAREN
Look, Carol. I respect your
choices. I understand why you
didn’t want to marry Guido. I
understand why you didn’t want to
go far from home. I accept all
that. I accept you.
CAROL
Then why do you hate me?
KAREN
I don’t hate you! Why do you hate
me so much?
CAROL
I just told you!
16.
KAREN
No! You told me a bunch of things
that I never said, that you-thinkI-think. But I don’t. What I need
is for you to accept me! Meet me
halfway, for once.
CAROL
For once?! I’m always the one
bending over backwards on your
terms, not mine.
LOUIS
Ladies, ladies. If I may, one of
the challenges of adulthood is to
put away our childish ways, not
because we don’t need that sense
of wonder, but because we lose
that sense of naiveté. We have to
accept ourselves as who we have
become but we also have to accept
other people for who they have
become. It sounds like you both
need to accept each other.
CAROL
Easier said than done.
KAREN
You can say that again.
LOUIS
Please, think about it. Please,
try.
Three waiters approach with the dinner plates. They set
the table and arrange everything and then go away.
KAREN
(raising her glass)
I will say this, I am grateful for
my sister and for you, sir.
CAROL
Cheers!
LOUIS
Let’s eat!
END