In the second episode of Stage & Screen, we're bringing you part two of "Listening in the Shadows," an original, five-part radio drama written and performed by our students as part of our Fall 2020 season. Today's drama is called "Merry Morning."
In the second episode of Stage & Screen, we're bringing you part two of "Listening in the Shadows," an original, five-part radio drama written and performed by our students as part of our Fall 2020 season. Today's drama is called "Merry Morning," written by Rie Talley, directed by Hannah Bosworth, and starring Claire Porter as Lily and Morgan Yhap as Rose.
Production Credits:
Project Director—Matthew Shifflett
Project Coordinator—Haley Parker
Production Manager—Jared Spears
Sound Designer and Editor—Kurt Davis
Foley Artist—Fel Macias
The Department of Theatre & Film is grateful for its patrons and corporate sponsors. As a department we are committed to the high quality instruction that our students receive. Investing in the students’ education and these quality productions helps us move toward our common goal of graduating successful, creative adults who are lifelong learners. If you are interested in contributing to these efforts, please visit https://umfoundation.givingfuel.com/theatreandfilm.
From the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Mississippi, this is Stage & Screen.
00:00:15
Hello everyone and welcome to episode two of Stage & Screen.
00:00:21 Speaker 1
I'm your host, Katherine Stewart, and we are excited to continue our special presentation of Listening in the Shadows.
00:00:28 Speaker 1
This original five part radio drama, written and performed by our students, was the first production of our Fall 2020 season.
00:00:37 Speaker 1
On the last episode, we had part one, Femme Fatale, so today we have Part 2. It's called Merry Morning, and it was written by Rie Talley and directed by Hannah Bosworth.
00:00:50 Speaker 1
So here is Merry Morning.
SFX: Car skid. SFX: “Gong”. SFX: Ambient Hospital Noise. SFX: Door
latch (closing).
Lily: Hey--
Rose: Hey.
(B eat. )
Rose: I...uh--
Lily: For me?
Rose: (L ight laugh. ) Um...pink’s your favorite, right?
Lily: Carnations.
Lily/Rose(Together or finishing each other’s sentence): “ Wot in
[c]arnation? ”
Rose: (L aughs )
Lily: You can put ‘em there. Plenty of room.
Rose: I’m sure someone will come by.
(B eat. )
Lily: Why don’t you pull up a chair? Stay a while.
Rose: Oh--right. (B eat. ) Do. Do you remember anything?
Lily: No. Just. Lights. Harsh. (A scoff or a laugh or both. ) Like playing
chicken with the afterlife.
Rose:
Lily: Just a joke.
Rose:
Lily:
Rose: I’m--
Lily: It’s okay.
Rose: I’m so…
Lily: It’s o kay .
Rose:
Lily: What were you doing anyway? Pokemon Go?
Rose:
Lily: It’s a joke.
Rose: Joke. I know.
Lily:
Rose:
Rose: I was.
Rose: I was texting your mom.
Lily:
Rose: Telling her...I’d get you home by eight.
Lily:
Lily: (L augh ) Aren’t we old fashioned.
Rose: Shut up…
Lily: How is she?
Rose:
Rose: She’s been better.
Lily:
Lily: Why doesn’t she come by?
Rose:
Lily: Is she busy?
Rose: No--I mean. Yes. She is. But not too busy for you--never.
Lily: Then why doesn’t she come by?
Rose:
Lily:
Lily: Yeah…
Rose: She loves you.
Lily:
Rose: I mean...she really loves you. So much. You know that. Right?
Lily:
Rose: After...After the wreck. She brought me over. We talked over tea.
Lily: Tea?
Rose: I know. Prosaic. She’s as old as you.
Lily: (S coff/laugh. )
Rose: And...we talked. We just talked. About anything.
Lily: She’s good for that.
Rose: Yeah. But we never...We never did that before. Did we? I never
really sat down and just talked to her.
Lily: She’s just my mom.
Rose: I can never tell if you’re serious.
Lily: I’m serious.
Rose:
Rose: Anyway. She talked about you. A lot.
Lily: Tell me she didn’t get the baby pictures.
Rose: She didn’t get the baby pictures.
Lily: God help me.
Rose: She didn’t. No. She really didn’t.
Lily:
Rose: We just talked.
Lily: Without me?
Rose:
Lily: Why didn’t she come by?
Rose: You were...You were out of it. I mean, unconscious. Just really
unconscious. A coma.
Lily: How long?
Rose:
Rose: Fifty-three days.
Lily: Shit.
Rose: I know.
Lily: Why hasn’t she…?
Rose: She did. She really did. She came every day. She sat by your
side. She waited...She did your hair. She...She sang. Some song
about...merry sunshine.
Lily: (S coff/laugh, and sings, slower than the natural tempo, perhaps
loss of breath, or something else. )
“Good morning merry sunshine,
How do you wake so soon?
You’ve frightened all the stars away
And shined away the moon.”
Rose: (F ollowing Lily’s tempo. )
“I saw you go to sleep last night
Before I stopped my playing.
How did you get back overhead,
To shine on me today?”
Lily:
“I never go to sleep,
Dear child,
I just go ‘round to see
The little children of the world
Who wait and watch for me.”
Rose:
“I shine upon the birds
And trees
And flowers on my way.
And now,
Come back to see the child
Who stayed out late to play.”
(B eat. )
Lily: (S coff/laugh ) She’s so old.
Rose: (E choes the sound. )
Lily:
Lily: Did the other guy get out alright?
Rose: What?
Lily: The other car. He was drunk wasn’t he?
Rose: How did you know that?
Lily:
Lily: I don’t know.
Rose:
Rose: Yeah. He got out okay.
Lily: Good.
Rose:
Rose: He came.
Lily: Here?
Rose: Here--Yeah. Yeah, he came here.
Lily: Why?
Rose: He felt bad. He wanted to meet them...your parents.
Lily: My mom.
Rose: Yeah.
Lily:
Rose: Robert came too, you know.
Lily:
Rose: He came to see you.
Lily: Sure.
Rose: He did.
Lily: Sure he did. He and my mom came to see me. Oh yeah. They
stayed here all night. Bet they brought the lube too.
Rose: Lily.
Lily: What?
Rose: They love you.
Lily: (S coff/laugh. )
Rose: Lily.
Lily: What.
Rose: They l ove you.
Lily:
Rose: Not everyone gets that, you know.
Lily: I’m sorry. I know. I just.
Rose: I know.
Lily: Your dad was so funny. I bet he hated the hospital breakfast even
more than I do! (beat) It must have been hard seeing him sick like that.
Rose: He took it from me.
Lily: You always say that. I don’t know what it means.
Rose:
Lily: Listen. I’m...tired. I should really…
Rose: Oh--of course--
Lily: It’s not…
Rose: I know. Of course. I...I’ll let you rest.
Lily:
Rose: I’ll come back tomorrow. If that’s okay.
Lily: Bright and early.
Rose: You got it.
Lily: Rose?
Rose:
Lily: You really gonna bring a girl flowers then stand there looking
pretty?
Rose:
Rose: You’re tired.
Lily: I’m tired, not dead.
Rose:
Lily: You don’t have to if you don’t…
Rose: No--No, I...I just.
(B eat. )
Rose: What the hell.
(S FX: Kissing. )
Lily: Miss Carter! I hardly think that’s appropriate behavior for a
hospital room.
Rose: I--I didn’t--Um.
Lily: (S coff/laugh .) I’m messing with you.
Rose: Right…
Lily: And now I made it awkward.
Rose: You didn’t.
Lily: Hey...is everything okay?
Rose:
Lily: Hon’?
Rose: Everything…
Lily:
Rose: Everything is perfect. (S FX: Kissing. ) See you in the morning.
Lily: See you in the morning.
(S FX: Door latch (open and close). S FX: “Gong”. Beat. SFX: Door latch
(open and close). )
Rose: Good morning, merry sunshine.
Lily: (L augh/scoff. ) More flowers? Really?
(S FX: Kissing. )
Rose: I’m making up for lost time.
Lily: Cute. Better put ‘em in the vase. Looks like they’ve seen better
days.
(S FX: Water pouring into the vase. )
Rose: They can join the club. Your girl needs a sits after all those stairs
Rose: Nurse said you walked a lap around your bed today!
Lily: Yeah--she says it’s crazy. Thinks it’s all the pomegranate I’ve
been eating.
Rose: Hell of a pomegranate.
Lily:
Rose: You look nice.
Lily: Thanks. You look like shit. Are you okay?
Rose: (S coff/laugh. ) Been busy.
Lily: With what?
Rose: Killing flowers.
Lily: Ha ha. Need help with a body?
Rose: More than you know.
Lily: (S coff/laugh. )
Lily: Well. You’re doing a good job of it. Your carnations don’t look so
hot.
Rose:
Lily: They looked fine yesterday.
Rose: They died when they left the ground. That’s why people can’t
touch flowers; they die as soon as we pick them up.
(S coff/laugh )
I never had a green thumb anyway. Not like you.
Lily:
Rose: Do you remember the time...in elementary school. My hair
started falling out, and the other girls made fun of me for it. So you
took a magic marker, and drew scribbles all over my head, for curls?
Lily:
Rose: My dad was b allistic . But he made you sign it.
Lily: Rose. What’s going on.
Rose: That was the moment I knew. I would do anything for you. I
think he decided something that day too.
Lily: Decided what…?
Rose: I miss him. I miss him like hell.
Lily: Rose…
Rose: Yesterday. You said I always said he took it from me. That’s not
true. I used to say he stole something from me.
Lily: I remember.
Rose: Maybe. Maybe I was wrong all along. He didn’t take anything.
Ever. He gave me something. I just didn’t want it enough.
Lily: Rose...please tell me what’s going on.
Rose: I have something for you.
Lily: What are…?
Rose: Cards. From your family. Your classmates.
Lily: Our classmates.
Rose: Yeah. Everyone. Everyone who needs y ou .
Lily: “Missing you.”
Rose:
Lily: Rose...what’s really going on?
Rose: It doesn’t matter.
Lily: It matters to me!
Rose: Why?
Lily: Because I need to know you’re okay!
Rose: (B eat. Laughs. )
Lily: Why is that funny?
Rose: Because you’re the one in the hospital!
Lily: Well whose fault is that?
Rose:
Lily: No...Rose, I…
Rose: No...No. You’re right.
Lily: I’m…
Rose: You’re right.
Lily: Rose, why...what’s wrong with your legs?
Rose: Oh. Look at that. The carnations. Did you know petals could fall
that fast?
Lily: Fuck Rose--there’s blood everywhere--I’ll call a nurse--
Rose: Don’t bother…
Lily: R ose!
(S FX: Glass breaking. SFX: ROSE falls. )
(S FX: “Gong”. SFX: Door latch. )
Rose: (W eak ) Morning merry sunshine.
Lily: Rose--why are you in a wheelchair?
Rose: Why are you standing up?
Lily:
Rose: Looks like you’re all packed.
Lily: They’re letting me go home.
Rose:
Lily: Mom called. Told me. Everything.
Rose: Everything?
Lily: Maybe not. (B eat. ) She was crying. It was hard to hear.
Rose: I told you so.
Lily: Yeah yeah...why are you here?
Rose: Got you some flowers. To celebrate.
Lily:
Lily: The carnations. They’re dead.
Rose: They were already dead.
Lily: They’re all brown.
Rose:
Lily: Will you just tell me what’s going on?
Rose: I’m moving in.
Lily: What?
Rose: They’re giving me your room.
Lily: I don’t understand.
Rose: I’m taking your place.
Lily:
Rose:
Lily: These carnations. Where did you get them?
Rose: An old friend.
Lily:
Lily: Rose...I didn’t walk away from that car wreck. Did I.
Rose:
Lily: Tell me.
Rose:
Lily: Tell me everything.
Rose: Fifty-three days.
Lily:
Lily: Rose--
Rose: I thought about what I would say. Every day. What I hadn’t said.
I wrote a whole speech. I practiced in the mirror. Then I saw
you...really saw you...and it all fell away. None of it mattered. There
was no magic word I could say to make everything right. All that
mattered was seeing you again. Kissing you again. Looking into your
eyes...and never looking away. And I have. And I’m ready. And it’s a
long time coming...
Lily: Rose!
Rose: Live.
Lily:
Rose: You’re going to live, Lily.
Lily:
Lily: Rose...where did you get these flowers?
Rose: They’re mine.
Lily:
Rose: They’re yours. Ripped from my body. I made a deal.
Lily: Rose…?
Rose: He said he’d take me. Instead of you. The carnations were a
courtesy.
Lily: Rose.
Rose: To let me know how long I’d have...how long we’d have.
Lily:
Lily: Rose...Don’t do this.
Rose: I already have.
Lily:
Lily: Why?
Rose: I think you know.
Lily:
Lily: Yeah.
Lily: I love you too.
(S FX: Kissing. )
Lily: Rose...
Rose: What are you waiting for? Go home, Lily.
(B eat. SFX: Door latch. S FX: “Gong” repeats and fades to silent .)
Host:
These dramas are so much fun and we've got three more. Again, that was Merry Morning, written by Rie Talley, directed by Hannah Bosworth and starring Claire Porter as Lily and Morgan Yhap as Rose.
00:16:10 Speaker 1
Next up is a drama titled When No One Was Watching.
00:16:14 Speaker 1
So stay tuned, subscribe, tell your friends, tell your family, tell your neighbors, and if you're enjoying this, we'd be so grateful if you'd hop over to the reviews and shoot us a few stars. Thanks for listening, and until next time this is Stage & Screen.