MIKE STEELE CONSTELLATIONS SCRIPT SAMPLE 1

SCENE 1. The sound of rain overtakes the thunder and beeping noises. Lights up on the shadow of MARTY. His voice echoes, as if a ghost.

MARTY I can feel myself dying. I can hear it acutely. It’s most vivid when the rest of your world is quiet. (Footsteps echo down a long hallway, slowly approaching.) It starts with the heart pounding. (A door opens and a light is turned on to reveal ABRAHAM inside a small basement room that consists of the bomb, a table, and three chairs. ABRAHAM wears a damp trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat.)

MARTY

It never stopped pounding. But you hear it now. Constantly.

(ABRAHAM takes a key out of his pocket, considers it, and puts it back in his pocket. He looks at his watch.)

MARTY A reminder of the delicate rhythm that thumps life through your body over and over and over again.

(Another man, JOHN, enters the room and joins ABRAHAM. JOHN is dressed identical to ABRAHAM. They look at each other.)

MARTY You start to feel that thump like a shock of electricity pushing at your ribcage every time it beats.

(JOHN takes a key out of his pocket and shows it. ABRAHAM shows his key. They both nod and pocket the keys once more. They stand trying not to look at each other.)

MARTY The beat grows so large your lungs feel like they have no room to expand.

MIKE STEELE CONSTELLATIONS SCRIPT SAMPLE 2

(JOHN and ABRAHAM look at the door, then at each other. JOHN breaks the stillness and investigates the tiny room. He discovers a table and three chairs folded up behind the bomb and sets them up.)

MARTY Inhalation becomes labored. You walk around breathing like a balloon with a pinhole in it. (JOHN sits. ABRAHAM remains standing.)

JOHN (Singing to himself) Blue skies . . . smilin’ at me –

ABRAHAM Tss!

MARTY

You start to feel things growing inside of you.

(Another man, PETER, enters the room. He is also dressed identically except for two briefcases, each handcuffed to a wrist.)

MARTY

You begin to notice every time your eyes don’t blink regularly. (ABRAHAM and JOHN pull out their keys and unlock the handcuffs)

MARTY Every time you forget to swallow. (PETER sets the briefcases down and unlocks each of them with a combination.)

MARTY Every time breathing slows down.

(PETER opens the first briefcase. It contains three large workbooks. He passes them out.

MARTY Or heart rate speeds up. You take note of every instance the silent operating system loses efficiency.

(PETER opens the second briefcase. It contains a handle of whiskey, three tumblers, a gun, and a nude poster of Sophia Loren.)

MIKE STEELE CONSTELLATIONS SCRIPT SAMPLE 3

MARTY

It reminds you how it’s not a machine. It’s anatomy. It’s human. And like all things human it’s bound to fail.

(MARTY turns sideways to reveal a tail and horn in silhouette. PETER picks up the bottle and sets it on the table. ABRAHAM takes the poster and mounts it on the wall. JOHN takes the gun, removes three bullets, hands one to each of them, and sets the gun on the table. They close the briefcases and sit down.)

JOHN Shall we?

(PETER sets them up a round of shots. JOHN and PETER raise their tumblers to toast. ABRAHAM hesitates and then joins in. JOHN and PETER drink. ABRAHAM pours his back into the bottle. JOHN and PETER look at him and then at each other. ABRAHAM leans back to stare at the poster.)

MARTY

I feel that failure creeping up my spine.

ABRAHAM Who picked her?

MARTY Oozing out my pores.

PETER I did. (ABRAHAM chuckles.)

MARTY I’m failing. I’m failing. I’m becoming a –

(Power surge. Blackout. The sound of chairs and feet scuffling on the floor. An electrical whirring is heard, like that of a generator. It grows in volume. Three high beeps. The lights come back on in “The Bomb Room”. PETER holds the bottle. JOHN holds the gun. ABRAHAM is still in his chair.)

ABRAHAM

MIKE STEELE CONSTELLATIONS SCRIPT SAMPLE 4

It’s just the storm. Don’t be afraid of it. We’re the ones that have the lightening. Let’s get to work.

(They all three break the seals on the workbooks. Lights shift.)