Devised Group Piece – “Because I said so”

Drama Devised Group Piece – “Because I said so”
28th July 2007, Saturday

Sophie Chew 306, Michelle Chern 305,
Samantha Whang 303, Leslie Chung 305

Characters:
1. John (Romeo) POOR
2. Renee (Juliet) RICH
3. Catherine (Romeo’s Mother) POOR
4. Madeleine (Juliet’s Mother) RICH

Non-Acting characters:
1. Pamela (John’s ex-girlfriend)
2. Robin (Juliet’s fiance in which her parents have arranged for her to marry)

Time Limit: 8 ½ mins

Scene 1 (JOHN & RENEE)
: At a wedding dinner, John is looking for his ex-girlfriend Pamela, and accidentally bumps into Renee, spilling the drink he has in his hand all over her. She gets angry at first, but when she looks up to see who she is about to scream at, she stops halfway when she sees John. They start flirting with each other until Renee’s mother calls for her. Renee leaves immediately but she accidentally leaves her handbag behind which is picked up by John.

Scene 2 (JOHN, RENEE, MADELEINE)
: The stage is divided into two halves with a divider. On one side, we have John’s room, and Renee’s on the other. They are talking on the phone and Renee thanks John for coming all the way to return her handbag when Madeleine suddenly comes knocking rapidly on her door.

Renee hides her phone but leaves it on so that John can hear what is going on. Madeleine comes in, demanding to know whom the boy who came over was. Renee gets a tongue lashing from her mother who demands that Renee never see John again, as she has a commitment to Robin. Madeleine informs Renee that she is to be married to Robin two days later.

Scene 3 (JOHN, RENEE, CATHERINE)
: Immediately after Madeleine storms out of Renee’s room, Renee starts crying into the phone, declaring her never-ending love for John, and wanting very badly to see him and not have to marry Robin, whom her heart does not beat for. He stops her halfway, informing her that his father has come into the room. He hides the phone but leaves it on so that Renee can hear what is going on.

Catherine comes in, demanding to know why he did not come home for dinner. Both of them get into a fight, and when Catherine leaves the room, John confirms plans to run away with Renee, out of teenage angst against their parents. The young couple makes their plans to run away together and elope. Renee agrees to meet at 1.15am, but John mistakenly hears it for 1.50am.

Scene 4 (RENEE)
: Renee is waiting impatiently for John at 1.15am, wondering to herself where John could be, and thinking of all the reasons why he wouldn’t want to meet up with her, and why he wouldn’t love her. She gets paranoid, and keeps talking to herself until it is 1.30am, and she is convinced that he doesn’t love her anymore, and has never truly loved her in the first place. She attempts to kill herself by overdosing Panadol with Alcohol. She drops to the floor and remains stationary.

Scene 5 (JOHN)
: John walks in at 1.50am, checking his watch and reassuring that he’s on time, 1.50am. He notices Renee lying on the floor and quickly assumes that she has killed herself. He takes the bottle of alcohol from her hand and quickly consumes it along with the remaining Panadol pills Renee has not finished and he dies.

Scene 6 (CATHERINE & MADELEINE)
(JOHN & RENEE ARE DEAD)
: Catherine and Madeleine walk in, searching for John and Renee. They meet and start talking until they find out each other’s identity. They start cursing and swearing at each other when they realize the truth about their children running away together. Catherine happens to look at the back and notices two bodies lying side by side, and walks towards them. Both mothers are devastated and end up crying together.