Elevator Music 2003
Phil Angela Operator An elevator. CHARACTERS SETTING AT RISE is standing in the elevator. It stops and Phil gets on. Can you push 17 for me? Sure thing. Thanks. No problem. (The elevator stops suddenly, the lights flickering for a moment.) What happened? We stopped. I can see we ve stopped. But why? I can t say for sure. So what do we do now? Use this Emergency call button I suppose. (He presses the button.)
Yes? OPERATOR (O.S.) Yes, we re in an elevator and it s stuck. OPERATOR (O.S.) Which elevator are you in? The left one in the main lobby. OPERATOR (O.S.) Ok. I ll send a technician to work on it immediately. Thanks. Do you know how long it will be? They didn t say. Oh. (Silence.) I can t say I ve seen you working here before. I m Angela. Pleased to meet you. I m Phil. Charmed as well. Shame it s under such circumstances. I suppose so. (Silence.) So what department are you working in?
Customer relations. Do you like it? I suppose so. (Silence.) So what kind of things do you like to do for fun? Fishing, watching football. Stuff like that. Oh. (Silence.) Do you have a wife? No. But you have a ring on. It s from my first marriage. How long ago did you get divorced? A little over a year. It s a shame that so many people get divorced now-a-days. Yeah.
They say the biggest cause of divorce is money and the second is in-laws. What was it for you? You do ask a lot of questions don t you? I m sorry. It s just that I don t like the silence. There s still the music. Yes, but this music stinks. And why is it still going when the elevator isn t even working? I guess the power for the elevator still works but something happened to the computer that controls the elevator. Computers control elevators? Yeah. I think so anyway. Computers control everything now don t they? I guess so. (Silence.) Please talk to me. I don t know what to talk about. Anything. It doesn t matter in the least. I just don t feel like I m trapped as much if I m talking to someone. So talk to me. Please?
So what kind of movies do you like? I don t really like movies. Why not? They re silly. Everyone always ends up happily in love and evil is punished. So what s wrong with that? It s not the way life is. Bad things can happen, but by the time you realize what s going on, it can be to late to do anything about it except to try to pick up the shards of your life. But it s like anything broken; You can pick up all the pieces and put them back exactly how they were, but no matter what you do, the cracks are still there. That s deep. Yeah. I guess so. So if you don t like movies, what do you do in your spare time? I like to draw. That s good. What kind of things? Nature. It s just so simple. All the world s beauty laid out before you. No lies or anything.
Except the ones the weatherman tells us. Of course. Do you travel at all? Not really. This is really my first time I ve been very far from home? Where are you from? Oklahoma originally. So what are you doing here in Georgia now? It s a bit more city like than Oklahoma. I don t really know. I just know I had to get away from the small town feel of home. But I didn t want to go somewhere with to many people. (Short pause.) I don t really like people much. You seem to be putting up with me fairly well. I know. (Almost ashamed of herself.) (Silence.) If you could pick any animal to represent you, what would it be? (Ponders this for a moment.) I really don t know. What would you be?
A turtle. They take life at their own pace. Carry their homes with them and are always safe. But even though they re slow, it s the tortoise that wins the race. Sounds good. So do you know what you are yet? (Thinks a little longer.) I think I d be an eagle of some kind. Why? Well. Since I have to deal with lots of customers and try to deal with their complaints, I have to be able to pick things out that will make them happy. And eagles have really good eyes and can pick out things that aren t always obvious. So you re good at seeing things in people? I d like to think so. Then what do you see in me? You seem like someone who wants to reach out to other people, but are afraid of what could happen if you do. Is that right? Yes. What happened? (Quietly.) I don t know what you mean.
In your past. What happened to make you afraid to connect with someone? (Long silence.) You don t have to tell me if you don t want to. Let s talk more about you. How many brothers and sisters do you have? None. I m an only child. What about you? I have two sisters. Are you close? No. We used to be. But now they don t talk to me much anymore. Why not? (Long silence.) Because I m the only one not to have gotten married yet. That s what you re supposed to do in my family. Get married and have a family. But I don t want to be a stay at home mother like my mother and all my sisters. I don t need some husband to take care of me. I don t need anyone. But don t you ever want someone? Yes. But it would have to be someone I trust. And I can t trust anyone anymore. Why? Who took your trust? My first boyfriend.
What happened? How did we get back to talking about me? And you never answered my question earlier. Which question is that? Why you got divorced. Because my wife was cheating on me. Really? Yes. So it wasn t money problems or that you hated each-others parents? I didn t mind her parents too much but she wasn t too fond of mine. And how did you find out she was cheating on you? I d been planning on working late one night and had told her I wouldn t be home. But I got finished earlier than I d expected and when I got home she was in bed with another man. That must have been awful! Oh it was. What did you do?
(Long pause.) I left. I went to a bar and got really drunk. And the next day after the hangover wore off I told her I wanted a divorce. She didn t argue. I would have killed him. Then I d be in prison. And I d much rather be getting on with my life than locked away having to regret something like that. So you really are getting on with your life again? I d like to think so. But how could you ever trust someone again after the person that you were married to lied to you? Because a few bad apples doesn t make a bad orchard. It could be that one poison apple that kills you. A little break in trust never killed anyone. Can make you wish you were dead though. What happened to make you so jaded? I was taken advantage of. What do you mean?
Just that. You mean you were raped? That s not my favourite way to put it, but yes. I don t know what to say. I m sorry. (Pause.) So do you date much now? I try to but I haven t been able to make anything stick? What about you? I haven t even tried. (Pause.) Do you think you ll ever marry again? I d like to. Being in a relationship like that gives a great sense of security. But before I get married again, I d have to find someone I loved. And you still believe in love? Why wouldn t I? Because of your ex-wife. Let me ask you a question. Do you believe in God? Of course. ANGLEA
And if I pointed out all the horrors of the world and told you there was not God, would you believe me? No. Why not? Because I believe there is. The same is true for me and love. I believe, and one person telling me otherwise isn t going to stop me. But I m getting the impression you don t. No. I don t. But why not? You ll believe in God, but not love? Maybe because I never believed in love in the first place. How can you not believe in love? I guess because I ve never experienced it. You sure? Or did you just forget what love was like when you were hurt? I m not sure. But you re afraid of trying again?
I suppose so. But why? Because I don t trust people. And what kind of person would you trust? I don t know if I could trust anyone. But if I did, it would have to be someone that I d know wouldn t betray that trust because they knew how much it hurt to have someone do that to you. Someone like me then? Yeah. I guess so. You re not about to ask me out or something are you? No. I m just asking you to be my friend. Everyone needs friends and I don t think you have to many. I don t need any friends. I think you do. And what does being a friend mean exactly? Just someone you enjoy being with; Someone you have things in common with; But most importantly, someone you can trust. I m doing fine myself.
(Silence.) (Silence.) Are you really? You sound lonely to me, Not liking the silence. But you re afraid to reach out. What would you know about it? Angela, I know how if feels to be hurt, and how hard it is to connect with someone after that. But I also know how much friends can help. I know how hard I leaned on my friends during the divorce. But having friends doesn t change anything that s happened. But it can change you. What sorts of music do you listen to? Whatever they play on the radio. Why won t you talk to me? Because you don t seem to understand what I m trying to tell you. (Silence.) Angela, I m trying to help you. But why? (Phil doesn t answer her.)
Now you re hiding something from me. (He remains silent.) I ve been keeping secrets for most of my life and I can tell when someone s doing it. You give me all this crap about having to open up to people and learn to trust but you keep your own secrets when it suits you. You are just a huge hypocrite, you know that? (Phil reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bottle of pills. He sets them on the floor between them.) What are those? It s Paxil. I don t understand. It s the third depression medication I ve been on in the past year. But why? You seem fine to me. It s only because of the medication now. After the divorce went through, I got really depressed and I tried to kill myself. I swallowed nearly an entire bottle of sleeping pills. Fortunately, one of my friends came over and found me. He got me to the hospital and they pumped my stomach. Luckily there wasn t any serious damage. But now I have to stay on this medication. (Short pause.) I let that depression eat away at me and it almost killed me. I don t want that to happen to anyone else. I m sorry for you, but I m ok. Really. Angela, you don t have to lie to me. I know how it feels to be hurt and I can tell what you re
(Cont.) going through. It doesn t help to shut yourself away. You need someone. No I don t. It happened a long time ago. I ve learned to live with it. But you don t have to live alone. You ve cut yourself off from the world, live your life in fear that every person out there is someone who could hurt you again. And I m happy that way. I don t fear every person. I m more than capable of defending myself now. But, I think you re the one that s unhappy. You try to date but can t keep a girlfriend more than a week. I m not the one looking for someone Phil. You are. No one wants to be alone. And I find it hard to believe you re any different. It would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes, but I still have trouble trusting people. Than learn to trust me. (She doesn t respond.) Angela. We ve both been hurt. We both need someone. (He starts moving closer to her.) How do you know what I need? Because I ve been where you are. Pushing away the world. That s no way to live.
And having to rely on depression medication to keep you from killing yourself is? It s not about my medication. It s about healing the broken trust that we ve both experienced. The friends I had helped some, but to fully be whole, we must find someone to prove to us that what happened isn t the way things always are. We need to trust again. Who are you to tell me what I need? You ve only known me for twenty minutes. But I can feel the years of pain because I too have experienced it. Not near as long as I have. You still don t know how to deal with it. Not that my way is the best, but at least it s a way. You almost had me convinced you had a better answer. But, now I see that you re more desperate to find someone to help you heal than I am. And I can t trust someone I look down on. Angela! Even if I don t have all the answers, I still know what it s like to have your trust betrayed and I would never do that to someone else. So trust me just this once. What have you got to lose? Only what little happiness I have left. Lonely nights, sitting at home watching TV while life passes you by? That doesn t sound like much to lose to me.
ANGLEA At least it s something. It s who I am now. Not a desperate person still clinging onto this world through a bunch of pills. But think of how much you have to gain! You can have your life back! I m happy with my life as it is now. (Phil moves closer to her.) You said yourself that you d like someone. Someone you could trust. Trust me. Just reach out to me and together we can really learn to trust again. I won t have to take these damn pills anymore. You won t have to live in fear that something could happen to you again. (He moves closer again.) Don t push me away Angela. (He puts his hands on her shoulders.) Don t touch me. Let me help you! (He squeezes her shoulders.) Let me go! (She reaches into her purse.) Just trust me! Get off me! Please!
(Angela pulls a gun from her purse and shoots Phil in the chest. He falls back against the side of the elevator.) You needed me (His eyes close and he dies. Angela stands, in complete shock, breathing heavily.) OPERATOR (O.S.) Are you ok in there? Our technicians are almost finished with the repairs. We should have you out of there in a minute. Looks like it was a problem with the computer. I m fine But this music sucks. (An instrumental version of Lean on Me is playing softly in the background.)