PRESSURE PRESS ARCHIVE

TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS AN HOUR Characters: Sam, appearing as a toughened blue-collar man & hunter. Denise, Sam's wife, heavily make-upped like a doll's face. Sally, the counselor, older than the couple ACT ONE Setting: The three characters sit in chairs creating an isosceles triangle in a small, bare room high-lighted by a large painting, a Renaissance print of Baby Jesus ascended in a magical stance floating & lit with surrounding light over pastures & low, green hills, smiling that Celestial Grin so gently. Sam (agitated & uncomfortable in his chair): Seventeen Years. Or is it eighteen? Nineteen Seventy-Eight. We escaped, I was only 24, driving cross-country to Seattle. Denise: I loved Seattle. (She focuses hard at Sally). He was so gentle. Those were good times. Sam: If you say so, but I cld argue the point! Sally (therapeutically): What is it that attracted you to Denise? Sam (confused): We're not kids anymore. Denise (ever-defensive): You've become so mean & cruel & pessimistic. Sam (explaining tilted forward towards Sally): I'm a writer. I need private moments of personal intensity to create. I find the World very cruel & pessimism is reasonable reaction. Denise: I don't want you to be Ken & me, Barbie. Or The Carol Reed Show. Sally (looking ill, tired, victimized): What do you want from Sam? Denise: He cld come to a PTA meeting once in a while. Sam: I'd rather listen to a lone cello on a rainy evening in my room. Denise: He listens to crazy music too. Sally (perked up by what she thinks is a relevant clue): Don't you attend functions for yr kids? Sam: Of course I do, but not ALL THE TIME. Not beyond my kids. She doesn't just go to PTA meetings, she's the President! Denise: But I LIKE to do things like that. Sally (glancing at her watch): Do you two go out together? ACT TWO Setting: Parked in their car in an alley, Sam & Denise share ajoint. Denise (flushed & happy by a good, long hit): Testicles. Sam: Huh? Denise: Testicles. See those red things over there at the bottom of that building. Sam: I think they're truck-guards, probably a city ordinance. Denise (smiling): Balls. Sam: Breasts! ACT THREE Setting: Darker light in the same car in a differently angled location in the alley. Sam & Denise are very stoned & continue passing a joint, smoking, slumped, grinning a near Celestial Grin. Sam: All the Surrealism blaring Denise: Along walls, those shadows Sam: Piece of summer sickle moon Denise: Psychology Microscope Analyze the Analyzer! Sam: Do you believe, still, in God? Denise: Yes. You still don't? Sam: Of course not. Denise: You're SO pessimistic. Aren't you EVER optimistic? Sam: We're not kids anymore. Denise: I want to go sit in a tree. Sam: Sit in a tree? Denise: I used to climb trees when I was a kid, & sit in them, with the wind blowing the leaves, & you're high up so the birds sound clearer... Sam: AND? Denise: