Note: This play is drawn from memory, but memory here is treated less as record than as atmosphere. Names, places, and events appear as they were experienced emotionally rather than documented factually, filtered through the language of myth, music, and personal symbolism. The characters onstage are not archetypes or allegories but autonomous individuals whose lives extend far beyond the frame of this story. What unfolds is therefore not a romance or confession, but a study in misreading, projection, and eventual integration — a modern fairy tale in which the magic lies not in possession or escape, but in recognition, gratitude, and the quiet act of returning home.
A memory play in five acts
ACT I — THE WAYFARER
Scene 1 — Registration Desk (Threshold)
Lights: institutional white → warm amber shift
Sound: conference murmur, distant piano
At rise:
The Gatekeeper behind a desk. A lanyard hangs like a charm.
MATT enters, hesitant.
GATEKEEPER
Name?
MATT
(offers badge request)
Stamp sound. Badge handed over.
CHORUS (soft, overlapping)
Arrival.
Conference.
Inn.
Story begins again.
NARRATOR-MATT (aside)
I thought I came to learn.
Badge becomes talisman. Lights dim.
Scene 2 — The Inn Common Room
Lights: warm tavern glow
Set shift: chairs, tea cups, quiet laughter
ELODIE enters naturally, in motion.
MATT watches.
NARRATOR-MATT
Voltage.
ELODIE (simple kindness)
Tea?
MATT
Thank you.
Beat. Shared glance. No claim.
CHORUS
House lady.
Innkeeper.
Muse.
No — person.
Blackout.
Scene 3 — “Sing for Your Supper”
Sound: faint guitar motif
CHORUS transforms room into fairy-tale inn
MATT sings a fragment (non-specific).
ELODIE listens but does not elevate the moment.
NARRATOR-MATT
Hospitality is not destiny.
Lights fade.
ACT II — THE HOT ZONE
Scene 1 — The Casino
Lights: green felt + rotating spot
Gatekeeper → Croupier
Chips placed.
CROUPIER
Place your bet.
MATT
Meaning.
ELODIE watches from edge.
CHORUS
Luck.
Chance.
Myth begins when odds are misread.
Chip falls. Lights snap.
Scene 2 — Triptych (Three Trips)
Lighting: three pulses
Sound: abstract tones
MATT (repeating softly)
Three trips.
No more trips.
CHORUS figures: genie, ghost, messenger
NARRATOR-MATT
Inspiration gone.
Silence. Pulse ends.
Scene 3 — Jungle Confrontation
Set: minimal green light + shadow
MATT facing ELODIE
MATT (listing options, fragmented)
Her.
Leave everything.
Frontman.
Practice.
ELODIE
No.
MATT
What is this?
ELODIE
Not your exorcism.
CHORUS
Brink.
Blackout.
ACT III — NAMING THE PATTERN
Scene 1 — “Needy Boys”
Lights: neutral white
Two chairs
MATT
You don’t like—
ELODIE
Don’t narrate me.
Beat.
NARRATOR-MATT
I was writing her.
Lights dim.
Scene 2 — Chapel
Sound: breath, no music
Set: empty bench
MATT sits. ELODIE across.
Silence.
CHORUS (whispered references)
Meaning.
Destiny.
Story.
NARRATOR-MATT
Room, not revelation.
Scene 3 — Pattern Recognition
Lighting: gentle fade across timeline
NARRATOR-MATT
Senior year.
Again.
Again.
ELODIE
Your pattern is yours.
MATT
I see it.
CHORUS
First choice.
Blackout.
ACT IV — RELEASE
Scene 1 — The Offer
Lights: dusk tone
Standing conversation
MATT
Part-time.
Scout.
Not jungle.
ELODIE
Boundaries are kindness.
Beat.
Scene 2 — The Pivot
Lights: warm home light overtakes jungle hue
MATT
Family.
Music.
Life.
CHORUS (trying to pull him back)
Myth.
Escape.
Hero.
MATT
No.
Silence holds.
Scene 3 — Chorus Dissolves
Lighting: references dim one by one
CHORUS removes masks
NARRATOR-MATT
The story stayed.
The spell lifted.
Blackout.
ACT V — OXFORD CODE
Scene 1 — Gesture
Lights: morning Oxford grey
Set: minimal street/bench
MATT and ELODIE share brief exchange
Object returned / phrase echoed / look held.
ELODIE
Take care.
MATT
You too.
Beat. No drama.
Scene 2 — Benediction (Chapel Revisited)
Lights: same chapel, calmer tone
NARRATOR-MATT
Gratitude.
Silence. Breath.
Scene 3 — Train
Sound: distant platform announcement
Gatekeeper → Conductor
CONDUCTOR
All aboard.
CHORUS (old ending attempts)
Run back.
Declare.
Confess.
MATT
No.
Boards train.
NARRATOR-MATT (final fragments)
The jungle is real.
The girl is real.
The story remains.
Lights fade with train sound.
Note: If you liked this play, you may also like On Transference in Artistic Collaboration. You can read it below.