31 Plays in 31 Days: #31 - "Serving"

Push to the finish!

This idea was Bernie's suggestion. He thinks that Nathaniel's admiration for the Colonel would lead him to enlist the way he did, but that it went a very different way for him. It also ties Ito the idea of finding the way he can properly contribute to Mrs. Hawking's work.

Day #31 - "Serving"

MARY STONE, Mrs. Hawking's maid and assistant
NATHANIEL HAWKING, Mrs. Hawking's nephew
~~~

MARY: There's more to this work than knives and brawling. It's not the end of everything to not be a martial man.
NATHANIEL: Here now! I've a martial side. Why, I'll have you know I served my bit a few years back!
MARY: You did?
NATHANIEL: Don't sound so surprised!
MARY: Forgive me, it's only... well, you're a gentleman.
NATHANIEL: And I've lived a soft life accordingly, is that it?
MARY: It isn't necessarily to be expected of a gentleman.
NATHANIEL: Miss Stone, I idolized my uncle from the time I was a boy. I've spent my whole life wanting to be like him. You can bet that when I was old enough I stepped up to serve my queen and country just as he did.
MARY: My, sir! Well, I am sorry I expected any less. I am duly impressed.
NATHANIEL: Oh, you ought not to be.
MARY: It's very admirable! You must tell me sometime of your adventures and your exploits as a dashing servant of the empire.
NATHANIEL: It was hardly that. Yes, I enlisted when I was twenty or so. But do you know where they stationed me?
MARY: India? Singapore?
NATHANIEL: Newcastle. At the naval headquarters in the north country. When they learned I was a finance man they assigned me to keep the books for the armory.
MARY: I see.
NATHANIEL: Hardly the adventure I imagined it. And not much in the Colonel's style.
MARY: They saw you had a talented and they put it to use, though. I can't help but think we ought to do the same.

31 Plays in 31 Days: #18 - "Reading the Signs"

As I've mentioned, I like the idea of opening the next Mrs. Hawking story by showing the women at work, specifically of Mrs. Hawking teaching Mary about how to use observation and deductive reasoning (well, technically inductive, but whatever) in the process of working on cases. This scene is not all that well thought out in its current form, as it probably needs to be in order to truly work, but I wanted to bang out a draft just for the purposes of catching up on 31 Plays in 31 Days.

One thing I've learned in the course of writing plays, or anything really, is that it's better to get SOMETHING down on the page, to get some draft just written, so that the thing exists. Otherwise you get so wrapped up in how you're not ready to write it in its current imperfect form that you never end up writing it at all. At least if you have a draft, you have something, and you can always improve it afterward. So consider that what I'm doing now.

Day #18 - "Reading the Signs"

VICTORIA HAWKING, avenger of downtrodden women
MARY STONE, her housemaid and assistant
~~~

(A fancy Victorian society party. Women glide around in gowns with men in white tie. Waiters carry around trays of champagne glasses and push around serving trolleys. After a moment some peel away from the center, revealing a tall, dark-haired young woman holding a fan to her face. When she moves it aside, we see that it is MARY. She flutters it and speaks seemingly to no one under her breath.)

MARY: The timing is too coincidental. It has to be someone here. But there’s no sign of them.

(MRS. HAWKING in her stealth suit pokes her head out from her hiding place behind a drapery.)

MRS. HAWKING: Nonsense. The signs are there, you just aren’t looking properly.

(People approach and MRS. HAWKING hides again. MARY walks quickly away and makes a loop around the party. When people move off again, she returns to the drapery.)

MRS. HAWKING: Consider the circumstances.

MARY: The gems are heavy, and there are a number of them. Difficult to secret about one’s person.

MRS. HAWKING: There’s a start.

MARY: But there hasn’t been time to go far. They have to still be here somewhere.

MRS. HAWKING: Sound so far.

(Other guests draw near. She ducks back behind the drapery and MARY acts casual until they leave.)

MARY: They must have been hidden somewhere nearby. Somewhere within easy reach, but not where others are likely to find it.

MRS. HAWKING: And where would that be?

MARY: I… I don’t know.

MRS. HAWKING: Oh, come now!

(People pass by again and MRS. HAWKING hides. MARY moves to the other side of the stage. MRS. HAWKING pops back out of the drapery on that side.)

MRS. HAWKING: Think, girl.

MARY: In the flower arrangements.

MRS. HAWKING: Too conspicuous to disturb.

(Again MARY moves. MRS. HAWKING disappears behind the drape..)

MARY: The wall sconces.

MRS. HAWKING: Not enough concealment.

MARY: Under the banquet tables?

MRS. HAWKING: Rank amateurism.

MARY: The chandelier?

MRS. HAWKING: Now you’re being absurd. I would have seen them already!

(Someone approaches. MARY sweeps her skirt around so that MRS. HAWKING can hide beneath them.)

MARY: I don’t know!

MRS. HAWKING: I said think, Miss Stone! A place nearby, unlikely to be disturbed, easily accessed to recover the spoils!

(MARY looks about, shaking her head desperately. Then her eye settles on one of the waiters with a serving trolley.)

MARY: Madam…

MRS. HAWKING: Now you’ve got it.

MARY: Shall we, then?

MRS. HAWKING: Quickly and quietly, now. Go.

(MRS. HAWKING gets out from under MARY’s skirts and back behind the drapery. MARY weaves her way to the waiter. Pretending to look away, MARY moves in front of the trolley and allows it to crash into her.)

MARY: Oh!

(She dramatically falls over. The waiter startles and hurries to help her up. The other guests watch them in surprise. While they are distracted, MRS. HAWKING darts out of concealment and snatches one of the covered trays off the trolley. She disappears back behind the drapery.)

(After MARY disengages from the waiter, she makes another circuit of the part, accepting people’s concern and gracefully putting them off. At last she settles in front of the drapes again. Her body blocks from view MRS. HAWKING emerging, now in a black maid’s dress, with the tray in her arms.)

MRS. HAWKING: Mission accomplished. Reconvene at base. About time, Miss Stone.

(She hustles out. MARY smiles.)

31 Plays in 31 Days: #12 - "Protege"

I'm a little behind, but this was a piece I wasn't expecting to write and I'm glad I did. It could be very useful in the future, as it is an early scene in the sequel to Mrs. Hawking. I would like to open that piece with a scene that shows Mary's progress getting into Mrs. Hawking's work, with her mentor running her through a deduction and espionage exercise that leads to the solving of a case. Something fun, clever, and establishing to their growing dynamic. This scene would come immediately after. What I want here to is to set up an issue to explore for the rest of the play. Mary and Mrs. Hawking's relationship has to grow further, and I want it to happen with Mrs. H realizing that Mary could be her protege to continue her work on. What they may not see yet is that Mary may not fit exactly into the mold that her mentor wants to put her in, and that is something they'll have to work out.

Day #12 - "Protege"

MRS. HAWKING, avenger of downtrodden women
MARY, her housemaid and assistant
~~~

(MRS. HAWKING is in the parlor in his stealth suit, removing it piece by piece. MARY rushes back in through the front with her wrap and hat over her dress, exhilarated.)

MARY: Oh, that was extraordinary!

MRS. HAWKING: A task adequately managed, indeed.

MARY: I did it, I worked it all out, you saw it yourself!

MRS. HAWKING: Eventually. With some guidance.

MARY: Still, I did manage!

MRS. HAWKING: You did at that.

MARY: And yes, with your guidance. Everything you’ve wanted to teach me, I’ve worked very hard to learn.

MRS. HAWKING: Yes. Yes, you have.

MARY: You have seen it, madam, haven’t you?

MRS. HAWKING: You’ve been a diligent student. In fact… you’ve been an excellent one. Better than I dared hope.

(MARY beams at her. Then she begins taking off her wrap, her hat, and her gloves. MRS. HAWKING becomes contemplative, and after a moment MARY notices.)

MARY: Are you all right?

MRS. HAWKING: It’s only… it makes me think. I’ve been at this work for half my life now, and before you, I’d always done it alone. I thought that when it came time that I could not keep on with it any longer… that would be the end of it. All my efforts would die with me. But since you’ve come along, you’ve learned. You’ve risen to every challenge that’s come your way. I would never have guessed what help you would be to me.

MARY: Oh, madam. Do you mean that?

MRS. HAWKING: I do.

MARY: I’m sure I’m not the assistant you would have imagined.

MRS. HAWKING: Perhaps not. And yet I see now that I have in you a protégé, on your way to becoming a true partner. And one day, you’ll carry it all on in my stead.

MARY: Mrs. Hawking… I don’t know what to say.

MRS. HAWKING: Is that a path that you could see for yourself?

MARY: After everything you’ve shown me… it’s the only path I can see. Thank you.

MRS. HAWKING: No need. I can rest easy in the future of my life’s work.

(She turns away, pleased, and begins to gather up her things. MARY watches her, charmed.)

MARY: Why, Mrs. Hawking?

MRS. HAWKING: Yes?

MARY: I do believe you’re smiling.

(MRS. HAWKING frowns hard.)

MRS. HAWKING: I beg your pardon?

MARY: You never smile.

MRS. HAWKING: Certainly not. I don’t know what you’re on about, Miss Stone.

(She gathers her things in an armful and strides from the room. MARY watches her, and glows.)

31 Plays in 31 Days: #4 - "Worth a Crack or Two"

Today's piece is a scene that could be incorporated into the first sequel to Mrs. Hawking. As I've said, I think Nathaniel is going to want to get more involved in helping Mrs. Hawking. But he's got a lot to learn, not just about her business, but also about how to work effectively with women. He's got a lot of cultural prejudices that will have to be whacked out of him-- perhaps literally, in this scene. But it's the first step to him figuring out what his unique skills and contribution can be, the way he can actually be something truly useful to the endeavor.


Day #4 - "Worth a Crack or Two"

MRS. VICTORIA HAWKING, avenger of downtrodden women
MARY STONE, her housemaid and assistant
NATHANIEL HAWKING, her nephew with ambitions to help her
~~~

MARY: I say, Nathaniel— is that a bruise?
NATHANIEL: Oh, this? It’s nothing, I assure you.
MARY: Nothing? You look as if you’ve taken quite a bash!
MRS. HAWKING: Wherever did you get that?
NATHANIEL: Just— from sport.
MRS. HAWKING: Sport? Taken up boxing, have you?
NATHANIEL: As a matter of fact.
MRS. HAWKING: Surely you’re joking.
NATHANIEL: Not at all, Auntie.
MARY: Why on earth have you done that?
NATHANIEL: Well— if you must know— it’s to make myself more useful to you. So I can handle myself and lend another arm if things come to it!
MRS. HAWKING: Nathaniel. Going a few rounds of gentleman’s boxing is hardly going to ready you for the sort of roughs we encounter.
NATHANIEL: It isn’t right to just hang back and leave it to you ladies. What kind of man would that make me?
MRS. HAWKING: Ha!
NATHANIEL: Go ahead and laugh. But how do you think I feel, knowing the two of you are putting yourselves in danger and I’m not fit to help you?
MRS. HAWKING: I don’t think you quite understand. There are no Marquess of Queensbury rules when you’re fighting for your life.
NATHANIEL: Even Mary’s had to handle herself. And she just a girl!
MARY: Sir!
NATHANIEL: No offense intended, Mary. But if you can swing that poker surely I’m worth a crack or two.
(MARY looks to MRS. HAWKING, who sighs.)
MRS. HAWKING: Very well, then, Nathaniel. If you mean to have a go, have a go at me.
NATHANIEL: I beg your pardon?
MRS. HAWKING: If you think you’re fit to take on a real threat. Take on me.
NATHANIEL: I say, Auntie, how could I?
MRS. HAWKING: If you’d like to cast yourself into the fray, you ought to know what you’re up against. Show me what
you’re made of.
NATHANIEL: I don’t know—
MRS. HAWKING: Take his coat, Mary.
(He and MARY look at each other a moment. Then he shakes his head and throws up his hands. She steps forward and he shrugs out of his jacket. She places it aside as he begins turning up his shirt cuffs.)
MRS. HAWKING: Now come on!
(Uncertainly, NATHANIEL puts his fists and advances on her. He takes a few swings, which she dodges easily, even walking backward.)
MRS. HAWKING: Is that all? You must do better than that!
(NATHANIEL starts punching in earnest, but still she evades him easily. At last he throws himself at her, and she moves like lightning, landing a sound blow almost too fast to see that knocks him to the ground.)
MRS. HAWKING: And if you can’t, you’d best keep out of the way.
(She exits. MARY rushes over to NATHANIEL as he pulls himself up off the ground.)
NATHANIEL: Well, I’ve made a fool of myself.
MARY: Oh, not at all.
NATHANIEL: Go on.
MARY: She’s been in training for years.
NATHANIEL: And made short work of me.
MARY: For my part, I think it’s quite noble of you. That you’re not content to hang back out of harm’s way.
NATHANIEL: Still, perhaps she’s right. Perhaps I’m not cut out for this.
MARY: It’s not all knives and brawling, you know. Even she does more planning and creeping than fighting.
NATHANIEL: I did so want to make myself of use to her.
MARY: And so you will. Who knows, Nathaniel? We may run up against something that only you can do. We’ll just have to find out what it is.
(Pause. Then NATHANIEL laughs.)
NATHANIEL: That was quite a belt she gave me. I wonder how long she's wanted to do that.

A scene snippet between Mary and Nathaniel

While sitting around backstage after my preshow dance was done, I wrote this little scene, a conversation between Mary Stone and Nathaniel Hawking. I've been thinking about a sequel to Mrs. Hawking quite a bit lately, and I'm not sure where it would fall in this story or in any other, but it's a bit I think would happen between our heroine's faithful maid and favorite nephew. I think the two of them would become good friends after the first adventure, in part because I think they both love having somebody with which to marvel at just how weird Mrs. Hawking is. I get the feelings they spend a lot of time sitting around psychoanalyzing her, the way you would any brilliant/infuriating friend or boss or both. :-) This notion amuses me greatly.

Also, there is the problem of the Colonel. Oh, how delighted I am at the questions posed by the Colonel, as it gives endless opportunity for speculation. I love how the audience wonders about him, and I love how the characters cant stop arguing over him. This is a particular bee in Nathaniel's bonnet, because he idolized the man and had such a firm image of him in his head that he must now reconcile with Mrs. Hawking's perceptions and experience. And I think it's also interesting how Mary has to construct an idea of the person who she has never met but has had such a profound effect on two people who are so important to her.

~~~
MARY: I wonder... did she ever tell the Colonel?
NATHANIEL: Tell him what?
MARY: How unhappy she was.
NATHANIEL: I don't know. But, if I were to guess... I should think she didn't.
MARY: No?
NATHANIEL: I really think not.
MARY: She was so angry, though. One says things in anger.
NATHANIEL: She would have had to trust him to tell him what she really thought. And that she could never do.
MARY: It would have been an incredible risk.
NATHANIEL: I know. And that was not something she would have undertaken for his sake. Still... I wonder if he knew anyhow.
MARY: Do you? If she went to great pains to keep things from him?
NATHANIEL: Oh, I don't doubt that. Heaven knows she is capable of things I never would have fathomed possible... but he wasn't a fool, Mary. And he loved her, blast it; if there's one thing I shall never disbelieve of him, it's that. He would have... had a care that she was so... miserable... with things as they were.
MARY: But if he knew, how could he have done nothing for it, then?
NATHANIEL: She would never have wanted him to.
MARY: Certainly not. But still... I should think he might have tried.
NATHANIEL: Not if he understood.
MARY: Do you think he did?
NATHANIEL: He may have hardly known her, Mary... but I think he knew her well enough to know that. And I believe he would have loved her enough to give it to her.
MARY: If that's so... I wonder what else he might have given her. If he knew she needed it.

Beginning work on the first Mrs. Hawking sequel

The other day I sat down to work on editing the play I wrote for my thesis. Which meant, being me, I could not focus on it at all and felt compelled to work only on another project. The bright side of this was that what I worked on was a concrete idea for the first sequel to Mrs. Hawking. I have an idea for the direction of the plot, and what the next stage of the arcs of the characters will be. To that last end, I wrote this very short scene to give you a taste of where the conflict is going.

I picture Nathaniel wanting to get involved more with helping Mrs. Hawking in her superheroing work. Now that he's onboard, he's enthusiastic, but perhaps not as swift at picking the tricks up as Mary was. But Mrs. Hawking is not making it as easy for him as she could be, and after he is frustrated to find that she seems to be shutting him out his efforts to contribute, he finally calls her on it. It's not exactly a departure from my preferred style of scene writing that involves "You know that thing you don't want to talk about? Well, we're going to talk about it now!" but I think with some polishing it could be an interesting and character-revealing scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~

NATHANIEL: Aunt Victoria— why won’t you trust me?

MRS. HAWKING: Oh, do spare me, Nathaniel.

NATHANIEL: No. No, you mustn’t put me off. I know I haven’t been the quickest study when it comes to this business of yours, but I’ve been giving it a serious go. I surely do mean to be of help to you, and by God, on occasion I even have. Isn’t that so?

MRS. HAWKING: Yes. You have.

NATHANIEL: Then… why won’t you let me on? Really let me on? Is it— is it because I’m a man?

MRS. HAWKING: Nathaniel.

NATHANIEL: Is it because I’m not clever enough? Do you think that once in a tough spot, I’ll lose my head and disappoint—

MRS. HAWKING: You look so much like him!

(Pause.)

MRS. HAWKING: Too damn much.

MARY: Like whom? Do you mean— the Colonel?

NATHANIEL: You never told me that. Others have, but not you.

(MARY looks to the portrait on the mantle.)

MARY: I never noticed it.

MRS. HAWKING: The years and the whiskers throw it off, but all the men in the family have that look. Your father, your uncle, and you. Your boy will have it too before long. Strong jaw, devil-may-care grin, handsome as the day is long. The sort of face to win anything a man could want in the world. But that was face I first looked into twenty years ago when a promising young soldier was first transferred to New Guinea and trammeled up my life forever. The same eyes from which I had to hide everything of any meaning to me so I might be permitted to have it.

NATHANIEL: I don’t want you to feel that way about me anymore.

MRS. HAWKING: I know that, and not for nothing. But the years I lost and the pains I took…

NATHANIEL: I know.

MRS. HAWKING: Yes. Now you know. So it galls me, boy. I tell you, it galls me to look into those eyes and that face and give all the game away to them.

NATHANIEL: I can’t help who I look like.

MRS. HAWKING: No. But all the same, he’s in everything in you. His blood and his name and every effort in the world to be just like him.

NATHANIEL: But… I’m not like him.

MRS. HAWKING: To your eternal sorrow.

NATHANIEL: Still. I’m not him. I can learn better.

(Pause.)

NATHANIEL: And I mean to. But I’ll need you to teach me. I can’t do it without you.

(NATHANIEL draws himself up with a quiet, cold dignity.)

NATHANIEL: Rather… none of could. The Colonel neither. Because the God’s honest truth is you don’t know if he couldn’t have learned. You never gave him the chance.

(NATHANIEL turns and strides quickly from the room.)