Written by: Peter Morris “PANCAKES” Directed by: Leo Costello

CHARACTERS BUDDY, an unemployed man and philosophy major, late 20s—early 30s. SAM, a businessman, late 20s—early 30s. SETTING An apartment. TIME The present. Breakfast. When Buddy wakes up to the sight of his roommate Sam eating dozens of pancakes, the last of their food, he begs Sam to give him some since all he’s had in the past week were some stale saltines. Sam refuses to give Buddy any pancakes unless he gets down on his knees and polishes Sam’s shoes, telling him he has to work for his food. He’s already done enough favors for Buddy. When Buddy cannot tolerate Sam’s selfishness anymore, he takes maple syrupy vengeance against him.

Written by Peter MorrisDirected by Leo Costello

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. CONCEPT a. Root Action / Concept Statement b. Character Analysis

i. Protagonist ii. Antagonist

c. Script Analysis i. Beginning Stasis

ii. Inciting Incident iii. Major Complications iv. Major Crisis v. Structural Climax

vi. Denouement 2. CAST

a. Casting Statement b. Cast List

3. COSTUMES a. Design Statement b. Costume Plot

i. Photographic Examples ii. Justifications

4. SCENERY a. Design Statement b. Scenic Design

i. Ground Plan ii. Audience Perspective

c. Production Elements i. Furniture

ii. Dressings iii. Props iv. Sound and Light Cues

5. BLOCKING a. Blocking Key b. Full Script

i. Blocking Notations ii. Beats

c. Beat Analysis BACK: REHEARSAL JOURNAL

CONCEPT

ROOT ACTION / CONCEPT STATEMENT

Root Action Statement Pancakes is a ten minute play about an unemployed religious philosophy major losing his faith in God when his employed roommate tries teaching him a lesson about responsibility instead of sharing the last of the food in the apartment. Concept Statement I see Pancakes as a black comedy about the relationship between two friends who have become distant after living together. Buddy and Sam are two very different people, but they’re still roommates. I like to think that at one point in time, they were both poor college graduates just trying to get a job. After Sam got a job and Buddy didn’t they grew apart. Throughout the play, Sam tries to teach Buddy a lesson about responsibility, and Buddy just wants pancakes. The real comedy of the play comes from Buddy’s belief in God. The pancakes are a metaphor for Buddy’s faith. As Sam slowly eats the pancakes, Buddy’s faith in God and humanity is lost. Buddy is a philosophy major, and he entered college with a full belief in God. But after moving in with Sam and listening to the Grateful Dead, Buddy’s faith slowly started to decline. This play represents Buddy’s final moments of belief. He quotes the Bible in the beginning, and at the end, he’s cursing God. “What a sense of humor that guy’s got,” Buddy says, “He gave you all the pancakes, and he gave me none.” The main themes I’d like to highlight are faith, selflessness, hunger, charity, jealousy, and philosophy. I’m going for a tone of realism for my production of Pancakes. The story isn’t a very farfetched idea, allowing it to be told in the real world. The design of the production is minimalistic. The only furniture pieces on stage are a table, two chairs, a rug, and a tablecloth. The lighting is simple: one spotlight shining straight down on the table. This somewhat abstract scenery will help put focus on the characters and make the audience feel like they’re watching a snippet of the life between two real roommates. There is a constant struggle of pushing and shoving between Buddy and Sam throughout the course of the play. Discovering the irony that Sam is being put in charge of a Good Will ad campaign pushes Buddy over the edge. At the end of the play, Buddy stabs Sam in the gut with a butter knife and shoves pancakes down his throat. In the script, Sam’s body is described as “lifeless” at the end, so it’s safe to assume that he really is dead, but I’m fine with the audience being unsure if he’s really dead or not. I’d like the audience to walk away unsure if they’re on Buddy’s side of the pancake argument or Sam’s. They both make fair points, and they both cross the line with bold actions. It’s up for the audience to decide if Sam should have given Buddy some pancakes or if Buddy should be forced to go hungry until he can afford food of his own.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Protagonist Buddy is the protagonist in Pancakes because he’s trying to achieve a goal: get some of Sam’s pancakes. If Buddy were trying to steal the pancakes, that would make him the antagonist. But since Buddy asks nicely for some pancakes, he becomes the underdog, and thus, the protagonist. He’s also the character in the play that makes an important decision and changes throughout the course of the play. In the beginning, Buddy asks Sam very politely if he can have some of his pancakes since there’s no other food in the apartment. But after refusing to shine Sam’s shoes with his tongue, Buddy makes the decision that he will have some of those pancakes no matter what. Buddy and Sam push and shove each other verbally until Buddy takes drastic measures to get his hands on some pancakes. Antagonist Sam is the antagonist in Pancakes because he acts as the opposing force against the protagonist’s goal. No matter how much Buddy begs for some pancakes, Sam refuses to give him a single bite. Sam knows there’s no other food in the apartment. He knows he can’t possibly eat all the pancakes he made for himself. He knows Buddy really is very hungry. But despite all this, Sam doesn’t budge and instead makes Buddy feel guilty by ridiculing him about not having a job. He’s trying to teach Buddy a lesson about being a responsible adult. Even when Buddy agrees to shine Sam’s shoes for some pancakes, Sam takes the offer to another level to make the act more humiliating. In the end, Buddy overcomes the obstacle of Sam as if slaying a dragon.

SCRIPT ANALYSIS

Beginning Stasis The play opens present day at a dining table in an apartment. It is morning. Buddy and Sam are roommates. Sam is dressed in a suit and eating breakfast before work. Buddy is an unemployed philosophy major walking around the apartment, basically in his underwear. Inciting Incident Buddy tells Sam there is no more Bisquick to make pancakes. Technically, Buddy says this offstage, but then he comes back onstage and says it again. Major Complications − Sam reminds Buddy he “just barely” lives in the apartment. − Buddy asks why Sam won’t give him any pancakes. Sam says he won’t give Buddy any

because they’re simply his pancakes. − Buddy quotes “Love thy neighbor” to Buddy from the Bible. − Sam tells Buddy to make his own pancakes. Buddy reminds him there’s no more Bisquick. − Buddy reveals there’s no food left but some pickle relish and a box of baking soda. − Sam tells Buddy to get his own food. − Buddy tells Sam he can’t find a job. − Sam tells Buddy he can earn pancakes by shining his shoes. − Buddy says all he’s eaten in the past week were some stale saltines. − Buddy admits he needs help. − Sam quotes the Bible back to Buddy. − Buddy suggest Sam share his pancakes. − Buddy sarcastically calls Sam the “pancake king.” Major Crisis Buddy refuses to shine Sam’s shoes with his tongue. He really is very hungry and was willing to shine Sam’s shoes for some pancakes, but when Sam specifies he has to shine them with his tongue, Buddy draws a line. From this point on in the play, Buddy stops asking Sam to give him pancakes. Instead, Buddy admits he needs help and that sharing some pancakes might make Sam feel good. When Sam reveals that he is ironically being put in charge of the Good Will ad campaign at work, Buddy goes into a fit of rage that leads to the climax of the play. Structural Climax Buddy loses his temper after the major crisis. He sarcastically calls Sam the “pancake king,” pours syrup on Sam’s head, stabs him with a butter knife, and shoves pancakes down his throat. Denouement Sam’s body goes limp and Buddy begins eating the rest of Sam’s delicious pancakes. He has no remorse for Sam’s possible death.

CAST

CASTING STATEMENT

The actors who play Buddy and Sam need to not only be funny, but also be able to work well together. The dynamic of having only two characters, especially in comedy, relies heavily on the actors’ ability to bounce ideas off each other. Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Bert and Ernie, the list goes on. Sam and Buddy are two very different people. Just by the way they dress it’s obvious they’re an odd couple. Yet, they still live in the same apartment. There should be chemistry between the two actors that establish they are very different, yet are part of the same social group. To do this, the actors should be around the same age but look much different from one another. Since this is a comedy (and because this play has to do with a guy eating lots of pancakes), the best way to do this is to cast someone heavy and someone skinny. The next step is to decide who should play whom. This doesn’t take too much thought. The heavy character plays Sam since he decided to make himself literally dozens of pancakes for breakfast. That leaves Buddy to the skinny actor, which helps the audience sympathize with him when he says all he’s eaten in the past week were some stale saltines. Lastly, personality types must be examined. To pull off the idea that Buddy is smarter but Sam is more successful, an actor who plays socially awkward types should play Buddy. Someone who doesn’t look too smart, but can portray the confidence to make lots of money should play Sam. -- So, after I decided on my criteria, I went off to find famous actors who fit this description. I needed two actors around the same age who work well together. I needed Sam to be heavy, dumb, but dominant. I needed Buddy to be skinny, smart, but socially awkward. The answer became obvious…

BUDDY: Michael Cera (age 25)Michael Cera has a history of playing socially awk-ward characters. His roles in Arrested Development, Juno, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World prove this quality. Many characters Cera has portrayed are also demented or require a somewhat dark sense of humor to play. He also looks nerdy, pale, and skinny, making him an easy target for Sam’s harassment. As I pictured Cera playing the role of Buddy, the thought of him complaining about only eating a few stale saltines in the past week alone made me laugh.

SAM: Jonah Hill (age 30)Jonah Hill’s acting career is very unique. He mostly acts in raunchy comedies where he usually plays ec-centric doofuses with a lot of energy, but every once in D�ZKLOH�KH¶OO�KDYH�D�SDUW�LQ�D�VHULRXV�¿OP�OLNH�Money-ball. He’s even been nominated for a couple Oscars. This mix of raunchy characters and sophisticated roles makes Hill the perfect candidate for Sam. He appears sophisticated and mature, but at his core he’s just a fat idiot who somehow always gets what he wants. Hill can play the straight man while still getting laughs.

THE COMEDIC DUOMichael Cera and Jonah Hill aren’t exactly a two-person comedy act like Abbott and Costello, but their brand of comedy is almost identical. Together, they starred in the comedic hit Superbad, a raunchy comedy where Cera plays an awkward teenager and Hill plays his eccentric best friend. That movie alone proves these two are the perfect actors for me to cast in my production of Pancakes. They have also both appeared in This is the End, another raunchy comedy that takes a dark turn. These two have shown that their comedic identities work well together. Cera’s social awkwardness is often overpowered by Hill’s demanding and adventurous personality, but Cera still follows his lead. What really sold me on the idea of casting Michael Cera and Jonah Hill as Buddy and Sam was imagining them perform the play. It felt very natural, and the ending became even funnier.

COSTUMES

DESIGN STATEMENT

The costumes in Pancakes are crucial to identifying the characters of the play within a matter of seconds, so they need to fit the description they’re given in the script. Generally, Buddy and Sam’s costumes should be plain and not distracting to the audience. The costumes have a single goal: to establish the differences between the two characters. Really the only creative choice to make when it comes to costuming is Buddy’s t-shirt. The script accounts for the rest of the major costuming decisions. Since Buddy and Sam are roommates, it should make sense that the two live in the same dumpy apartment. To help establish this, Sam’s suit needs to be cheap and warn out. This will help show that despite their differences, they both pick their clothes for the day in the same way, from a scrambled pile of clothes in the middle of their room.

BUDDYIn the script, Buddy is described as an unemployed man in his late 20s to early 30s. He wears boxer shorts, a t-shirt, and has a severe case of “bed head.”

Buddy’s boxer shorts have a normal, non-distracting pattern. No logos or red hearts. The classic plaid de-sign will work. Color is not too important.

Since Buddy is a philosophy major, it’s safe to say he has a taste for 60s-70s “hippie music” or classic punk rock. He has lots of band t-shirts from The Grateful Dead, to The Clash, to Pink Floyd. He likes to wear them to sleep. If a band t-shirt cannot be used, a plain ZKLWH�XQGHUVKLUW�ZLOO�ZRUN�MXVW�¿QH��1HYHUWKHOHVV��WKH�t-shirt is noticeably wrinkled.

He also wears white ankle-high socks.

Buddy’s hair is longer than Sam’s but not to the point where he could braid it. In the beginning of the play, Buddy just got out of bed. His hair is messy and greasy. He looks as if he hasn’t shaved in the past cou-ple days. He looks like he’s having a rough morning.

SAMIn the script, Sam is described as a business man in his late 20s to early 30s. He wears a blue business suit, white dress shirt, and a red tie.

Since Sam and Buddy live in a dumpy apartment, and because Sam is a bit of a phony, Sam’s suit looks cheap, as if from a thrift shop. It’s slightly wrinkled and obviously not tailored for him.

It should be obvious that Sam doesn’t enjoy wearing suits, nor does he have a strong taste for fashion.

Perhaps the suit jacket has a discolored elbow patch or missing button. The pants match the jacket appropri-ately as if sold together.

Sam wears black dress shoes, but they are old and unpolished. His socks are also black.

His hair is short and over-combed to the point where it looks as ridiculous as Buddy’s “bed head.” His face LV�IUHVKO\�VKDYHG��'HVSLWH�KLV�FKHDS�VXLW��6DP¶V�FRQ¿-dence makes him comfortable with it.

SCENERY

DESIGN STATEMENT

Scenic Design Even though Sam has a steady job, he and Buddy live in an old and dumpy apartment. I picture them living in the heart of Chicago. If it were a real apartment and not a set, the dining room would be very small, the wallpaper would be torn up, the lighting would be dim, the sound of honking cars would always be heard out the window, and the entire apartment would smell like cat urine from the people who previously lived there. They don’t have very many belongings. This production of Pancakes has a very minimalistic and simple set design. The dining table and chairs are the only furniture pieces on stage. There are no walls, doors, or windows. This helps put focus on the characters and dialogue and also creates a surreal environment in which someone would eat dozens of pancakes for breakfast. Production Elements Like they’re apartment, Buddy and Sam’s belongings are also cheap. They buy their kitchenware from thrift shops and garage sales. The only props that don’t help support the story are the tablecloth and the rug. These serve the practical purpose of not getting maple syrup everywhere at the end of the play. This makes strike a lot easier. The lighting is also very simple. A single spotlight shines down from above on the dining table and chairs, with a bit of breathing room for acting space. This helps the minimalistic design feel complete. If this were a full set and not a minimalistic design, there would be a subtle sound of traffic heard throughout the course of the play. But since there are no furnishings to suggest Buddy and Sam live in the middle of a city, the traffic sounds wouldn’t have any context. There will be music before the play starts and after it ends. This is not only used to fill up silence, but also to help establish the mood before and after the show.

PRODUCTION ELEMENTS

Furniture • wooden dining chair (2)

• wooden dining table, small Dressings

• table cloth* • oval rug*

Props

• butter dish

• stick of butter

• butter knife

• fork • plate

• bottle of maple syrup

• glass of milk • pancakes (30-50)

• box of Bisquick, empty

• wrist watch (for Sam) Sound and Light Cues

• fade in from black • fade out to black • opening music** • closing music***

* The table cloth and rug’s only purpose is to prevent maple syrup from getting everywhere. They can either have a plain color or have a very basic design on them. ** The beginning of Rossini’s “The William Tell Overture,” known as “the morning song.” *** Grateful Dead’s “Ripple,” a slightly light-hearted song about death.

BLOCKING

BEAT ANALYSIS

#1) Trigger: Buddy comes into the dining room smelling the fresh aroma of fresh pancakes. Heap: Buddy decides he wants some pancakes, so he goes into the kitchen to make some. Buddy’s Tactic: to imply to Sam that he would like some pancakes since he has so many Sam’s Tactic: to ignore Buddy’s implications to receive some pancakes

#2) Trigger: Buddy discovers there is no more Bisquick in the apartment. Heap: Sam doesn’t care that there is no more Bisquick. Buddy’s Tactic: to shame Sam for using the rest of the Bisquick Sam’s Tactic: to disregard Buddy’s attempt to make him feel guilty

#3) Trigger: Sam tells Buddy he “just barely” lives in the apartment with him. Heap: Buddy ponders how he can get his hands on some of Sam’s pancakes. Buddy’s Tactic: to regret asking Sam for rent money Sam’s Tactic: to remind Buddy that he barely pays any money to live in the apartment

#4) Trigger: Buddy tries to get some of Sam’s pancakes. Heap: Sam has no reason to give Buddy any of his pancakes. Buddy’s Tactic: to convince Sam he cannot possibly eat all the pancakes he put on his plate Sam’s Tactic: to rationalize why he doesn’t have to give Buddy any pancakes

#5) Trigger: Buddy brings the logic from the Bible into the conversation. Heap: Sam doesn’t care about what the Bible has to say. Buddy’s Tactic: to judge Sam as a sinful person for not giving him some pancakes Sam’s Tactic: to disregard anything the Bible has to say about pancakes

#6) Trigger: Sam wants Buddy to make his own pancakes. Heap: After Buddy says there’s no more Bisquick, Sam tells him to eat something else. Buddy’s Tactic: to complain that there’s no more Bisquick Sam’s Tactic: to persuade Buddy to eat something other than his pancakes

#7) Trigger: There’s nothing left in the fridge but some pickle relish and a box of baking soda. Heap: There’s nothing in the apartment Buddy can eat except for Sam’s pancakes. Buddy’s Tactic: to shame Sam for not giving him any pancakes Sam’s Tactic: to disregard what Buddy thinks of him

 

#8) Trigger: Sam wants Buddy to go out and get his own food.

Heap: Buddy has no money to buy food with. Buddy’s Tactic: to beg Sam for some money to buy food Sam’s Tactic: to shame Buddy for begging for money all the time

#9) Trigger: Buddy needs a job to earn money to buy food. Heap: Sam knows a way for Buddy to earn food. Buddy’s Tactic: to gain sympathy from Sam for not being able to find a job Sam’s Tactic: to accuse Buddy that he doesn’t really want to work

#10) Trigger: Sam tries to get Buddy to shine his shoes for some pancakes. Heap: Buddy ultimately refuses to shine Sam’s shoes with his tongue. Buddy’s Tactic: to comply with Sam’s offer until a certain point Sam’s Tactic: to humiliate and taunt Buddy in order for him to get some pancakes

#11) Trigger: Buddy expresses how hungry he is. Heap: Sam accepts Buddy’s thank you. Buddy’s Tactic: to beg for Sam’s sympathy Sam’s Tactic: to shame and bully Buddy for his poor work ethic

#12) Trigger: Buddy admits he needs help finding work. Heap: Sam quotes the Bible back at Buddy to support his argument. Buddy’s Tactic: to shame Sam for being so selfish Sam’s Tactic: to disregard Buddy trying to make him feel guilty

#13) Trigger: Buddy invites the idea of sharing into the conversation. Heap: Sam tells Buddy that life simply isn’t always fair. Buddy’s Tactic: to bargain with Sam to get some of his pancakes Sam’s Tactic: to expose the truth about humanity

#14) Trigger: Buddy loses his temper. Heap: Sam gets killed (or does he?) by Buddy. Buddy’s Tactic: to consume Sam’s pancakes no matter what it takes Sam’s Tactic: to disregard Buddy’s temper tantrum.