2. Act I, scene 1

OPEN DISCUSSION

Book, lyrics and music by Harry C.S.Wingfield

Characters:

• Bob: The "class clown"
• John: Fairly new to AA, in a relationship with Bill
• Bill:  Has been in recovery for some time, in a relationship with John
• Ronny: A cabaret singer, could be female or male or somewhere in between
• Henry: Travelling salesperson.  Was written for a male to play, but was later changed to a female.  This seemed to work much better for the character.    
• Carole:  Has been in the program for a while, but has trouble staying on track.  On and off relationship with Jan
• Jan: Carole's sometime partner, also has "enabler" issues
• Jo: Newcomer to AA

All action takes place in a meeting room of a fictional "Lambda" (LGBT) group of Alcoholics Anonymous, although as the characters share their stories we "see" other places and times.  There are three acts, with several months/years passing between each act.

Act I, Scene 1

Scene opens with the full cast on stage, singing "Blessing (us)"

 

Spirit of love, surround us.
Spirit of joy, sustain us.
Spirit of hope, call us onward.
Spirit of life, bring us home.
Spirit of life, bring us home.

or at http://youtu.be/X7WjP0Xzkgo

JOHN walks into a spotlight downstage center.  The rest of the cast exits or moves to the side.  JOHN addresses the audience directly.   NOTE: This should be "upbeat".

JOHN:

• My name is John and I'm an alcoholic.  (Waits a beat)  Oh, maybe some of you have never been to a meeting before.  One of the things we do in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings is to introduce ourselves every time we speak, and identify our addiction.  Then the rest of the group responds with "Hi, John," or "Hi, George," whatever the case may be.  I don't know why we do that, but it always makes me more comfortable if everyone has said "Hi" to me.  SOOOOO, My name is John and I'm an alcoholic.  (Wait for response)  Thanks!  The members of the Lambda group each agreed to give an "open talk" tonight.  That's where a person tells about how they got into AA how their life is different now.  I volunteered to go first.  I tend to do things first, anyway.  I was the first one in my class at school to start drinking.  I was the first one to get a fake I.D. so we could drink Ripple under the bleachers at the football games.  That's the only reason I went.  HATED football.  BIG family confrontations about football.  My Dad was really upset when I said I wasn't going out for the team.  Mama prayed about me, said I should quit being rebellious.  It made me laugh.  I laughed, I drank, and I left home.  But after a couple of years here in the city, the laughing stopped. I kept getting asked to leave bars because I was crying. No reason, just crying.  I didn't really have any friends.  Then I met this guy named Bill.  I gave him my phone number, but I really didn't expect to see him again.  But he did call, and kept calling.  He seemed to care.  I didn't notice he didn't drink until we had been out a few times.  I was so shocked that somebody wanted to do things like go to movies or out to dinner, I didn't notice that he was always ordering diet Pepsi or club soda.  When I asked him about it, he said he belonged to AA.  I was horrified!  He didn't look like an alcoholic.  Then I realized - I did.  So I went to a meeting with him.  At the end of the meeting, they asked who wanted a "desire chip" to show a desire to stop drinking.  I wasn't sure if I was an alcoholic or not, but not drinking suddenly sounded like a really good idea.  It was after I stopped that I knew I was an alcoholic.  I shook for a week.  Bill stayed with me, and got me through it.  Since I've been sober, I can't believe how my life has turned around.  I have friends.  Bill and I started the Lambda Group for gay and lesbian alcoholics.  It's still pretty small, but it's a really supportive group.  I find it helpful to be in a meeting where I can be honest about who I am, without worrying about judgments.  I'm happy now.  I never thought I would feel this good.

JO enters.  Lights down on JOHN, up on JO.  JO is disheveled and bruised. 

JO sings "Phoenix (verse 1)"

Or view at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjKfCuJ6wNM&list=HL1371401970

Today the road is long
And I feel so far from home
I've got to turn my life around, but I can't do it on my own
I leave old pains behind me
As I search for something new
As I look to find the strength I need
To do what I must do. 

JO mimes dialing a phone.  Sound of ring tone off stage. 

HENRY:  (voice offstage) 
      Hello?  Alcoholics Anonymous.  This is Henry and I'm an alcoholic.

JO: 
      Can somebody help me?

Lights down on JO.  Ronnie enters into a stage spotlight, in an evening gown, gloves and tiara.  CAROLE sits nearby, as her "audience". (possibly with other cast members)

OFFSTAGE VOICE:
      Ladies and gentlemen, Miss RONNIE ROSS!

RONNIE: 
      Thank you, thank you, I love you so much, thank you!
Sings "Stages"

or view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vC4mkF4vUs&feature=youtu.be

When you reach up from your table and I take your hand (taking CAROLE's hand briefly)
I hope you understand, I do care.  (turns to face the audience)
And when you wake me in the morning with a kiss so sweet,
Please don't feel incomplete if I'm only halfway there
When you miss the little secrets other lovers would have told
When you think I could not love you or I wouldn't be so cold
Realize my limitations, and the chains that have a hold on my soul.

I live my life from stages, and I give my love to microphones (thank you, thank you!)
All the joys and all the rages, the feelings I can't share with you alone
There are things I just can't talk about
Singing is the only way that I can let them out
So if you wonder why I'm silent when I'm blue
It isn't you
It's just a stage I'm going through

(thank you so much, it's so good to see all of you tonight)

Communication is a gift that's only halfway mine
I can sing a song just fine, when words can't explain
And when my emotions run a little bit too strong
I release them in my song, so I can't complain
So perfect strangers in the audience are given special views
Perfect strangers know our secrets when they read them in the news
Perfect strangers sometimes find the love that isn't mine to lose
It belongs to you.

But I live my life from stages....

Lights down on RONNIE, up on JAN and CAROLE

CAROLE:
      I said I was sorry.

JAN:
      And I'm sorry you're sorry.  Sorry just won't do any more.  If you want this relationship to continue, there will have to be some changes made.

CAROLE:
      Like what?

JAN:
      Like BEING HERE.  And not just in body, but in your head, too.  I'm not picking up the pieces after your binges any more.  Covering for you, lying to your boss...

CAROLE:
      My boss is an asshole.

JAN: 
      And probably for good reason.  You probably tell people I'm an asshole, too.  (look)  Yes I thought so.  OK, get yourself cleaned up before one of the neighbors sees you in the window.  I don't care what they say about you any more, but unfortunately it damages my reputation, too.  It's bad for my business.  Image is everything.

CAROLE:
      Screw your image.

JAN:
      Not any more, you won't.  Carole, I love you, but I have to love myself, too.  You've got to realize that.  Now I'm going to the store to close up, and then I'm going to the meeting.  Will I see you there?

CAROLE:
      I get it.  This is a test. 

JAN:
      Well, it's your first opportunity to show whether you are willing to grow up and be an adult.  Getting to meetings on a regular basis is the one thing you have NOT tried.  Nothing else that you have tried seems to be keeping you sober.  Besides, you signed up to do coffee tonight, remember? (exits)

CAROLE:
      Shit!

Lights down on CAROLE, up on BOB as he enters and sees that he is the first to arrive, and no one has started the coffee.

BOB:
      Shit!  Carole was supposed to start the coffee.  And now Henry's going to bitch at ME when it's not ready.  (exits, quickly)

Lights up on JO, still talking on the telephone

JO:
      I'll be all right.  Really.  I'm just so scared.  (pause)  Right.  Eight o'clock.  I'll be there.  (pause)  Right.  Back door, down the stairs to the basement.  You'll be there?  (pause)  No, I won't care.  That's the last thing on my mind.  But will it be all right for me to be there?  (pause)  You're sure?  (pause)  Well, that's all I want is some help with my drinking.  (pause)  Right.  STOP drinking.  Maybe if I stop drinking he'll stop hitting me.  (pause)  And your name is Henry?  (pause)  Is that short for something?  (pause)  It's just not a usual name for a woman, that's all.  (pause)  Eight o'clock.  Thank you so much.

Lights down on JO, up on BOB, setting the chairs for the meeting, humming "Blessing" to himself.  Enter CAROLE

BOB:
      Don't just stand there, help with the chairs.  (seeing her)  What happened now?

CAROLE:
      (starting to cry) I'm sorry

BOB: 
      What's wrong, honey?

CAROLE:
      I screwed up.  Again.

BOB:
      Did you drink?

CAROLE nods

BOB:
      A lot?

CAROLE nods

BOB:
      And Jan found out.

CAROLE: 
      She found me passed out on her front porch.  Bob, she's going to throw me out again if I don't shape up.  I don't know what to do.

BOB:
      Carole, do you want to stop drinking?  (CAROLE chokes a sob)  Honey, this program only works if you want to stop.  You've got to do more than show up, you've got to work it.  If you've had enough of all this, maybe something can start changing. Have you had enough?  (CAROLE nods)  Are you ready to start doing some things to stay sober?  (CAROLE nods)  Actually working the steps?  (CAROLE nods)  Ninety meetings in ninety days?  (Carole groans)  Carole, honey, do you want to stop drinking?

CAROLE:
      OK, OK, ninety meetings in ninety days.  And I'll really work on the steps this time. 

BOB:
      And you'll start calling me?

CAROLE:
      Yes

BOB:
      BEFORE you take that first drink?

CAROLE nods, they hug.

BOB:
      It's gonna be OK

Enter HENRY

HENRY:
      Hey, ya'll!  What's shaking?  Jesus, kid, it can't be that bad! (mouths the words "is she all right?" to BOB.  BOB nods, mimes drinking, they both shrug)  Well kid, I'm back in town if you need to talk.  You know I met somebody in Memphis who could have been your twin.  (heading offstage)  Spitting image.  GODDAMMIT!  Why isn't the coffee ready?

Light down on other characters, up on JAN.  JAN enters to downstage center, addressing the audience. 

JAN:

• My name is Jan and I'm an alcoholic.  (wait for response)  And the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says we're supposed to tell what it was like, what happened, and what it's like now.  So that's what I'll do.  I'm also an al-anon.  Both of my parents drank, heavily.  There was no way for me to please them.  So I spent most of my childhood trying to be perfect, making straight "A"s, keeping my room clean, bringing flowers from the woods for my father, anything to get their approval.  But it never came.  I always had nice things.  Things.  The best private schools, the best nannies, everything but their love.  At Radcliffe I met a young woman who seemed to love me.  But I always saw love as something I should give, not something I deserved to get.  At my debutante parties I was introduced to champagne.  Mother showed me how much a proper girl should drink.  Then the other debutantes introduced me to marijuana, and showed me how much a proper girl could get stoned.  I learned how to stay slightly buzzed or drunk all the time with no one noticing a thing, just thinking I was a dizzy little coed.  Dizzy was right!  Then the mistakes started, the auto wrecks, the time I woke up in Seattle and didn't know how I got there.  I let my mother catch me with another woman in bed, thinking maybe that would get a rise out of her, get some attention, but she just shrugged and said if that's what I wanted to do, just make sure they were from good families.  So I moved away, to start my own life.  I opened my dress shop with money my father sent me, kept a bottle hidden in the stock room.  About five years later the blackouts started.  I would find myself in the store in the same clothes I had worn the day before, and not know whether I had been home the night before, or to someone else's home, or if I had stayed there in the store.  The doctor put me on valium to calm my nerves.  I "forgot" I wasn't supposed to drink on top of them.  I have no idea what happened next.  A nurse in the emergency room told me in very blunt language what I looked like when I was brought in, and where the police had found me.  Asleep in a dumpster!  The Big Book says we should not regret the past.  I don't relish the thought that I did those things, but I'm glad I'm not condemned to keep repeating them.   The nurse gave me this little card, with the creed of Alcoholics Anonymous on it, and said she would be back to talk with me later.  I guess she must have seen the picture of Carole and me that I carry with my ID cards in my wallet, because she brought John with her and he told me about the Lambda group.  I had never talked openly about my sexuality, but I was so low, so beaten, that I thought I would try anything to get better.  I did get better.  And I'm still getting better.  There are some new issues in my life that I'm dealing with, but the program is showing me how.  Right now I'm learning that I am powerless over other people's alcohol as well as my own.  I'm learning how to detach, to let go, and to show some "tough love" so that I don't enable someone close to me to continue in an addiction that hurts both of us.  (looks at watch)  Well, I'm going to be late to the meeting, and I really need one tonight.  It's been a difficult day.  Thanks for listening. 

Lights down on JAN, up on BOB, CAROLE and HENRY.

HENRY:
      I got a call from someone this afternoon when I was working the phones at central office.  She's coming tonight.  She's straight.

BOB:
      You invited a straight woman here?

HENRY:
      I gave her the score.  She sounded desperate.  She lives near here, and I wanted her to know that somebody cared, so I told her to come and I would introduce her to some NICE people.  We don't know for a fact that Ronny is gay, do we?  Shoot, I'm not even sure of Ronny's gender.  Besides, the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.  Right Carole?

CAROLE:
      That's what I keep hearing.  But you remember, she's straight, and a newcomer.

HENRY:
      Hey, I get enough of that on the road.  In here, I'm a nun.

BOB:
      And I'm Princess Diana.

End of scene 1

1. Introduction and background of "Open Discussion"

In 1986, I started what I thought was a PhD program in Theatre History at Wayne State University in Detroit.  I received a fellowship from the University that was a research fellowship, not a working fellowship.  However, the Theatre department wanted me to work in the costume shop.  Since I wanted to keep my skills current, I agreed to work, sew and design.  I met some lifelong friends in the process.  Midway through the year, the department chair called me into his office and said I had not signed up to direct anything in the student theatre yet.  I responded "Why would I need to do that?  I'm working on a degree in theatre history!"  The chairman informed me the only PhD they offered was in directing.  This is not what they said when they were recruiting me, but I went with the flow.  I had been kicking around an idea to create a musical around songs I had written, many of which dealt with spirituality, alcoholism and recovery, other addictions and recovery, death and dying, and love.

I decided as long as I had to direct something, I would put the musical together and direct that.  Faculty member Joe Calarco agreed to be my advisor on the project.  He continually reminded me to stay true to my vision as others told me my script was breaking too many rules.  I decided to set my musical within the meetings of a mostly gay and lesbian AA group, and show how the members dealt with addictions, sexuality, recovery, and mortality.

The creed of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "We shared our experience, strength and hope with each other."  This play represents my efforts to share, and is my "thank you" to the many who have shared their experience, strength and hope with me, both within AA and outside of AA. 

The characters each began as facets of my own personality, but with the loving care of my original cast (Bobby Pearce, Randy Breeding, Kevin Beverly, Patricia M. Jones, Doeri Welch, Alejandra Lopez, Carol Orcutt, Karianne Arnold and Elaine Sabal, my music director and genius), each became a separate, living person.  I did not cast the first production with acting majors.  I cast friends from the costume shop, the scene shop, the marketing office, the undergrad program, and from a local AIDS support group.  We were standing room only for every performance in our scheduled week of production.  I'm told we broke the current records for attendance at student-directed theatre productions at Wayne State.  We re-staged the show a few weeks later as a fundraiser, and raised over $5,000 for the department's scholarship funds. 

Even with the huge crowds, and the standing ovations every night, and many letters from people who praised the production and called it life-changing, there were still those who said the play broke too many "rules" for musical theatre.  That summer, I saw a production of Sunday in the Park with George at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.  The first act is about Seurat breaking rules and sticking to his vision.  The first act ends with a stunning work of art.  I could not stop crying.

Since the original staging of Open Discussion in 1987, I've seen other musicals that achieved great success despite breaking rules, including Rent, the Lion King, and Once.  So maybe this show isn't really thinking outside the box any more - maybe the box got bigger!

I'm going to break some rules again, and use the internet (this blog and You Tube) to do a "staged reading" of the play.  I'm going to change the book a bit, and replace some of the songs with songs I've written since then that I think will serve the play better.  My partner Vernon Push is going to use his video skills to help me play all the characters.  We'll post videos of me singing the songs on You Tube, so you can hear what the music sounds like as you read the book here in the blog.

Stay tuned - this is going to take a while to create, but I promise to keep adding to it on a regular basis until the whole play is posted.  Share this with your friends, especially with anyone who is connected to a theatre that is not afraid to try something new.  And the journey begins again!