Reader's Note: Recommended to be read on a computer or wide screen.
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SCENE ONE: A luxury NYC highrise – DAY
(Carlotta and Laurel)
SOUND: A VIOLIN PLAYS AN ASCENDING SCALE
SOUND: A DOOR OPENS
SOUND: A DOOR CLOSES
SOUND: LAUREL’S FOOTSTEPS
LAUREL: Carlotta, are you here? (With distaste) I know that Connar made sure to move you to the nicest part of town, but it’s still pretty dumb to keep your doors unlocked.
SOUND: THE VIOLIN BEGINS A DESCENDING SCALE
SOUND: ANOTHER DOOR OPENS, THEN CLOSES. FOOTSTEPS STOP
LAUREL: There you are. You can’t just ignore me, you know.
SOUND: THE VIOLIN BEGINS ANOTHER ASCENDING SCALE
LAUREL: (With Frustration) Stop playing scales while I’m trying to talk to you!
SOUND: THE VIOLIN STOPS. ALL IS QUIET
CARLOTTA: (An extremely quiet voice. It will keep this quality throughout the drama) Laurel, Please be quiet. I need to practice my basics.
LAUREL: (Properly Annoyed) You’ve been playing violin since you were five. I think your basics are fine.
CARLOTTA: (With an air of defiance) Basics never get less important. They’re the foundation on which greatness is built.
LAUREL: You already had greatness. You played first-chair in a world class orchestra, and now what? You throw it all away to practice basics in your fiancé’s fancy apartment? You know, you’re really the most—
SOUND: CARLOTTA CAN BE HEARD TAKING A DEEP BREATH AS LAUREL IS TALKING
MUSIC: THE VIOLIN STARTS UP AGAIN, CUTTING LAUREL OFF. IT RINGS OUT WITH QUICK, FURIOUS NOTES IN A FIDDLE-LIKE STYLE.
LAUREL: (Sarcastically) That’s really mature of you. Do you think you can really scold me with some country-sounding tune and that’d make me leave? Just like that?
SOUND: CARLOTTA SIGHS HEAVILY
MUSIC: THE VIOLIN STARTS A MUCH SLOWER SONG. IN ANOTHER PERFORMANCE, IT WOULD BE SAD, BUT HERE IT’S DULL. THERE’S NO EMOTION TO THE PLAYING. THE MUSIC PLAYS UNINTERRUPTED FOR 10 SECONDS, THEN PLAYS QUIETLY IN THE BACKGROUND AS LAUREL BEGINS TO TALK AGAIN
LAUREL: (With a hint of reproach) I just don’t understand you. You had everything, why leave the orchestra? It was work, but didn’t you enjoy it?
MUSIC: THE VIOLIN STOPS
CARLOTTA: I didn’t.
LAUREL: (Gasps, then, on the edge of panic). I don’t believe you—I can’t believe you. You love your violin, you love it more than anything! I’ve known you since freshman year of college, you have always loved the violin. (A quick pause) Does Connar have anything to do with this? (Now Frantic) I never liked him. You never properly dated him before you got engaged. You don’t know him well enough to throw away your life for him like this! You have to listen to me: you don’t know him like you know me—He doesn’t know you like I know you—it’s
CARLOTTA: (Interrupting) I still love the violin.
SOUND: LAUREL LETS OUT A SIGH OF RELIEF
CARLOTTA: I just didn’t love performing in the orchestra. I—I prefer being a Canary.
LAUREL: What?
CARLOTTA: A canary. (With an extra layer of caution) I play for one person. I regale them, and only them, with my talents. (She pauses) Maybe I regale their friends too, if they ask. In return, I’m taken care of. I don’t have to worry about bills or maintaining relationships or anything real people have to do. So long as I play, and look pretty, I’m cherished until my death. It’s like being a little Canary, singing for their owner.
LAUREL: (With disbelief) That—that is not healthy. You can’t just do that, you’re worth so much more than that!
SOUND: A VIOLIN IS CAREFULLY PLACED DOWN
CARLOTTA: (Sounding somewhat weary) I’ve been so rude. You’re a guest, I should’ve gotten us some refreshments.
SOUND: EXTREMELY LIGHT FOOTSTEPS
SOUND: A DOOR OPENS
SOUND: A DOOR CLOSES
LAUREL: (Dumbfounded) You—you can’t. That’s not right, that’s not—
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS STOP
SOUND: A HAND RUNS AGAINST A WOOD INSTRUMENT
LAUREL: Oh, why does she have a cello? She always disliked their tone. They were always too low for her—too dark, she used to say. (Slightly mocking) You—she doesn’t like you, did you hear that? She keeps you around, but she doesn’t really want you, and she never will. She’ll always prefer other instruments: It doesn’t matter if the instrument makes a horrible sound, or looks ugly, or if she only knew it existed for a month! She’ll take anything over you.
SOUND: A BOW IS PICKED UP.
SOUND: EACH OF THE STRINGS ON THE CELLO ARE PLUCKED
LAUREL: You’re in tune.
SOUND: LAUREL TAKES A SHAKY BREATH
MUSIC: THE CELLO PLAYS A SHORT MELODY, 15 SECONDS AT THE ABSOLUTE LONGEST. THE SHORTEST THIS SONG CAN BE WHILE ALSO LEAVING THE DESIRED EMOTIONAL IMPACT IS BEST. THE MELODY NEEDS TO BE PACKED WITH SADNESS AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, LONGING. THE MORE IT TUGS AT THE AUDIENCE’S HEART, THE BETTER.
LAUREL: (Beginning to cry) She doesn’t like you. Why are you even here?
SOUND: A METAL TRAY IS SET DOWN
CARLOTTA: (Gently and kindly) There’s cinnamon tea and some cookies I made early this morning.
LAUREL: (Quietly) I didn’t hear you come back in.
CARLOTTA: You played beautifully.
LAUREL: (With a hint of shame) It’s nothing like your playing. I play the cello because I’m good at it, that’s all. I’ve never loved it the way you love the violin; I lack your emotional depth. My playing doesn’t move people.
SOUND: THE VIOLIN AND ITS BOW ARE PICKED UP.
MUSIC: THE VIOLIN PLAYS A SWEET, COMFORTING MELODY. IT SHOULD GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT IT COULD MELT WINTER SNOW AND HAVE THE SAME TENDERNESS AS A LOVER’S TOUCH.
CARLOTTA: (With finality) You moved me. You’ve always been able to move me.
LAUREL: Then, why? Why abandon me for this?
CARLOTTA: I wanted to stay, (She falters) but I couldn’t. I imagine I’ll only be happy as a canary—
LAUREL: (A weak interjection) That’s not right, please, don’t call yourself that. You’re so wonderful. Maybe you don’t want to play for the orchestra (her voice shakes)—that’s okay. You want a smaller stage—that’s okay, (with sudden passion) but goddamnit you’re not a canary! You’re not some twenty dollar bird that can be picked up at the pet store and kept in a wire cage until it drops dead. You’re more, I swear you are.
CARLOTTA: (Shocked, and a bit tear-ridden) Do you truly believe that? I’ve very seldom felt like more. I’ve always had this image of myself in my head as some kind of small animal, not a real human at the very least. I thought it made sense: I’ve never been good at moving through life, I break down over the smallest things, and my music is just about the only thing that’s kept me alive. I thought maybe I wasn’t meant to be a normal person.
LAUREL: (Laughs lightly) How long have we been friends, Carlotta? Do you really think that I would lie to you? I don’t even lie to people I hate. I meant what I said, you don’t have to come back to the orchestra, but please don’t act like this is your only option. I promise I’m not upset anymore, you can choose to marry Connar, but choose that life because you want it, not because you feel like you need to.
CARLOTTA: (A heartfelt confession) Laurel, I want to stay with you far more than I want to get married, but I can’t expect you to pay the bills while I stay home playing music and keeping house. I can’t ask that of you. I can only ask someone like Connar for such a thing. (Laughs ruefully) He has enough money to spare.
SOUND: THE CELLO BOW IS SET DOWN
SOUND: DETERMINED FOOTSTEPS WALK A FEW PACES
LAUREL: (Her voice shakes, but it holds undeniable strength). I would do anything to keep you with me; I live to see you smile and hear you play. My life is not worth living without you. (With sudden embarrassment) That is to say, I’m far more attached to you than I am to the orchestra. If I need to quit and get a job that pays more I will. I love your music—I love it just as much as I love you.
CARLOTTA: (A whisper) Play with me.
SOUND: TWO SETS OF FOOTSTEPS QUICKLY MOVE AROUND THE ROOM
SOUND: A VIOLIN AND ITS BOW ARE PICKED UP
SOUND: A CELLO’S BOW IS PICKED UP
MUSIC: THE TWO INSTRUMENTS BEGIN TO PLAY A SONG PACKED WITH LOVE. THEIR MUSIC INTERTWINES TO CREATE AN INCREDIBLY WARM AND PASSIONATE SOUND. TEMPO SHOULD BE UNRUSHED, BUT NOT OVERLY LEGATO. THIS SONG MAY EXCEED 1 MINUTE TO CREATE A MORE PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE.
MUSIC: STOPS
LAUREL: (Breathlessly) Leave Connar a note and come home with me. I won’t let you call yourself a canary, but you can be my Carlotta, whatever that may entail. Take your violin, everything else we can leave behind.
CARLOTTA: (Similarly breathless) We need to bring the Cello too. I know you already have your own, but I’m quite fond of this one in particular.
LAUREL: Of course.
SOUND: QUICK FOOTSTEPS, AS WELL AS THE SOUNDS OF INSTRUMENTS BEING CAREFULLY PACKED INTO CASES.
SOUND: A DOOR OPENS
SOUND: A DOOR CLOSES.
FIN.
Rebecca is a writer who also harbors a love for music. Canary is an experiment in melding her two favorite art-forms.
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