Ink for “Lit Between the Ears, Volume One” - thanks to Union County College

New Jersey has an outstanding network of community colleges delivering quality, higher level education to citizens that might not normally access it. Union County College (UCC), Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) and County College of Morris (CCM) are part of my education.

The Union County College Foundation publishes its ABOUT UNION newsletter three times a year. In the Fall 2006 edition, in the About Alumni section, Editor Ann M. Poskocil included the following:

“Radio playwright William E. Spear ‘89, Clinton, NJ, has written Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington on the Air, Wolfmont Publishing.”

Thanks, Ann. And thanks to UCC. The teachers and students at Union County College have a hunger to teach and passion to learn which is remembered nearly 20 years later.

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“The Wager” from Lit Between the Ears, Volume One

The Wager is set at a dinner party in the home of wealthy banker, Geraldine Downes. The guests are “… bankers and investors - men and women of considerable wealth - and academics and intellects - men and women of considerable learning.”

The conversation evolves into a spirited debate over the relative merits of the death penalty versus life in prison. One of the academics says capital punishment is out of date and unsuitable for the country. The academic continues by declaring the death penalty should be replaced by imprisonment for life.

The discussion rages and the guests take strong positions on either side of the debate. One of the guests, Pat Chains, is singled out for an opinion: “Pat you’ve been quiet on the issue. What does your young mind say?”

Pat’s response is thoughtful: “The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral. But if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life I’d choose the second. To live under any circumstances is better than not to live at all.”

Geraldine lashes out and bets five million dollars Pat wouldn’t survive five years of voluntary confinement. Pat counters that if the offer’s genuine make it 15 years. Other parties add more to the stakes. Both sides finally agree and the wager is set - if Pat stays in prison for fifteen years he gets 10 million dollars.

Pat’s confinement is within a small cottage, guarded by a watchman, on the furthest reaches of Geraldine’s estate surrounded by woods. All communications from the outside world are cut off. No television, no radio and no magazines or newspapers. Pat Chains will live the next fifteen years isolated from the present world.

The 15 years of confinement take a physical and emotional toll on Pat. He’s often heard crying late at night. His appearance grows haggard and thin. During the latter years, he takes to the Gospel.

The same 15 years are harsh to Geraldine. The stock market moves against her repeatedly. She makes riskier and riskier investments to recoup her losses but her fortune is halved and halved again. Her options are constrained by her debts and the millions of dollars she may have to pay Pat.

On the last night of the wager, a thunderstorm is lashing the countryside. Geraldine sneaks out to kill the prisoner. It is the only way to avoid the inevitable scandal of not keeping the wager. The watchman has left the post seeking shelter from the storm.

Geraldine sneaks into the cottage to find Pat; he is sleeping. What does Geraldine do? What is she willing to do to escape The Wager?

Lighting the Fuse: An Excerpt from The Wager

The following diaolgue opens the play and sets the tone for Geraldine’s excitable character:

…

MUSIC:     UP AND ESTABLISH: QUAINT CHAMBER PIECE. UNDER TO BED.

OLD GERALDINE:    It was fifteen years ago this very night. I had a party for bankers and investors - men and women of considerable wealth - and academics and intellects - men and women of considerable learning. One of the academics - Terry Moores - said capital punishment was out of date and …

MUSIC:     BED OUT.

OLD GERALDINE and TERRY:    … immoral …

TERRY:     … and unsuitable for the country. The death penalty should be replaced by imprisonment for life.

HELEN:    Here here. Well said Terry.

YOUNG GERALDINE:    I don’t agree with you. I’ve not tried either the death penalty or imprisonment for life. But the death penalty is far more moral and humane than imprisonment for life.

SAL:        Well put Geraldine. I quite agree.

HELEN:    How can anyone come to that conclusion?

SAL:        Capital punishment kills a man at once but lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly. The executioner who kills in one moment is more humane than the one who drags life out of you for years.

TERRY:    Both are equally immoral. Both have the same object - to take away life. The State is not God. It doesn’t have the right to take away what it cannot restore.

ALL:        (SPIRITED ARGUING) “Death penalty.” “Life imprisonment.” “Better to be killed at once.” “Stay alive … by all means.”

TERRY:    (OVER ALL) Pat you’ve been quiet on the issue. What does your young mind say?

PAT:        The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral. But if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life I’d choose the second. To live under any circumstances is better than not to live at all.

SFX:         YOUNG GERALDINE SLAMS FIST ONTO TABLE THREE TIMES.

YOUNG GERALDINE:    No … no … no. That’s not true. I bet five million you wouldn’t stay in solitary confinement for five years.

PAT:         If your offer’s genuine than I accept the bet. But I wager fifteen years not five.

YOUNG GERALDINE: Fifteen years? Done. Ladies and gentlemen I stake five million dollars.

PAT: Agreed. You stake your millions and I stake my freedom.

MUSIC: UP AND ESTABLISH: DRAMATIC AND CHURNING FROM PREVIOUS DIALOGUE. UNDER TO BED.

ANNOUNCER: This presentation of The Wager is based upon an Anton Chekhov short story and stars __________, __________ and __________. The performance is directed by __________ and William Spear wrote the script.

…

Note Pat’s last line - “You stake your millions and I stake my freedom.” - is immediately followed by dramatic and compelling music. The intent is to establish the functional equivalent of a cliff hanger to keep the audience hooked and force them to come back after the Opening Credits.

Lighting the Fuse: Another Excerpt from The Wager
Pat’s imprisonment, and its impact upon him, are readily presented - the sobbing at night, reading from light novels to linguistics to the Gospel and his increasingly unkempt manner. All of which are plausible due to his circumstances.

Not so unexpected, but equally supported, is Geraldine’s reactions to her fortunes:

…

OLD GERALDINE: At the same time the stock market moved against me. My fortune - once grand and in the hundreds of millions - was halved. “Just a bit of bad luck” I told Sal and Helen. But I prayed my luck would change.

MUSIC: UP AND ESTABLISH: BIG CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS MUSIC. UNDER TO BED.

OLD GERALDINE: In his eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth years of confinement Pat sat as still as a cross and read only the Gospel. The six hundred learned volumes previously mastered were discarded for the thin, easily comprehended text of Gospel.

MUSIC: LET BED BREATHE.

OLD GERALDINE: But if his new Chosen Text was easy to understand the stock markets were not.

ALL: (BED) “Buy.” “Sell.” “Buy.”

OLD GERALDINE: The value of my investments halved again and teetered between recovery and further disaster. Small gains on one day were wiped out by losses on the next.

ALL: (BED: FRANTICALLY) “Sell.” “At any price.” “Sell it all.”

OLD GERALDINE: I grasped at long shots doubling and tripling my positions only to watch my wealth disappear faster.

…

Lighting the Fuse: A Third Excerpt from The Wager
Geraldine’s disastrous maneuvering in the stock markets have decimated her. She is 45 minutes away from losing the wager and being destroyed financially.

…

SFX: OFF MIC: CLOCK STRIKES ONCE FOR 11:15 PM.

OLD GERALDINE: Sal - my co-conspirator in the wager - joined me. As did the prisoner’s friend Helen.

SAL: In forty-five minutes it’ll be twelve midnight.

HELEN: Pat’ll win the bet. Incredibly stupendously he’ll win the bet.

OLD GERALDINE: And I’ll be ruined. Finished. Bankrupt forever.

HELEN: It’s not that bad.

SAL: You must’ve set some aside.

OLD GERALDINE: No. I’ve doubled and tripled for years. My losses are many times what you’ve suffered. (TO SELF) Cursed bet. Why didn’t he die?

SAL: Pat’ll not let the bet ruin you.

OLD GERALDINE: He’ll take my last penny and marry. He’ll enjoy life and gamble on the stock market. All the while I’ll look at him with envy - like a beggar.

HELEN: He’ll help you.

OLD GERALDINE: That’s even worse. He’ll say the same thing every day (IMITATING PAT): “I am indebted to you for the happiness of my life. Let me help you.” (OWN VOICE) No it’s too much.

HELEN: (OFF MIC) Come back.

SAL: (OFF MIC) Where’ll you be?

OLD GERALDINE: (CALLING TO THEM) In my chambers contemplating my financial death.

MUSIC: BED: OMINOUS FORESHADOWING.

OLD GERALDINE: My words were only partly true. I was going to my chambers but the death I foresaw was the prisoner’s not mine. It was the only means of saving myself from bankruptcy and disgrace. (BEAT) I retrieved the key to the cottage.

MUSIC: LET BED BREATHE. THEN OUT.

SFX: EXTERNAL: RAIN AND THUNDER. CLOCK STRIKE ONCE FOR 11:30 PM.

…

Chekhov’s short story, The Bet, is taut and riveting. Its adaptation, The Wager, as excerpted here and published in full in Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air, brings the dialogue to life through radio.

Enjoy.

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“When the Last Leaf Falls” from Lit Between the Ears, Volume One

When the Last Leaf Falls, an adaptation of O. Henry’s The Last Leaf, is included in Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air. The story is about Sue and Jonesy, two artists sharing a studio. Sue is a no-nonsense transplant from Maine and Jonesy is a delicate newcomer from California. During a bout of cold harsh weather, pneumonia ravages the area and Jonesy succumbs to its embrace.

Compounding Jonesy’s condition is her belief that she’ll die when the last ivy leaf falls from its vine outside their studio window. Sue doesn’t believe life or death matters are determined in such a way and tries logically arguing the point. However, she is fearful for her friend’s life and despite her most reasoned debates, a raging storm blows more leaves from the vine and Jonesy’s life fades further.

Sue enlists the help of Behrman, another resident living in the same building. Behrman is an older artist seeking inspiration for a masterpiece. As Jonesy counts down the remaining ivy leaves, she offers her imminent death as an inspiration which Behrman accepts. Sue chastises them both but Jonesy insists she’ll die when the last leaf falls. Sue forms a plan around the phrase “when the last leaf falls” and agrees to the idea of Jonesy’s death inspiring Behrman’s art but under one condition - Jonesy must sleep while Behrman is painting.

Sue and Behrman rush to help Jonesy get well. But what will happen When the Last Leaf Falls?

Lighting the Fuse: An Excerpt from When the Last Leaf Falls
The first excerpt is early in the play. Sue, Jonesy and Behrman are having dinner at a local cafe. Behrman has complained that another artist of middling rank will stage an exhibition at a nearby gallery. Sue and Behrman good-naturedly go back and forth over the competing artist’s abilities before Sue realizes Jonesy is quiet.

…

SUE: Are you all right Jonesy? You look pale.

JONESY: It’s a bit warm Sue. More sherry’ll …

SUE: (ALARMED) Jonesy? Are you okay? (CALLS OUT) She’s fainting. Somebody help.

MUSIC: UP AND ESTABLISH: SEGUE. UNDER TO BED.

ANNOUNCER: When the Last Leaf Falls is based upon an O. Henry short story and stars __________ as Sue and __________ as Jonesy. __________ directs the performance and William E. Spear wrote the script.

MUSIC: LET BED BREATHE.

ANNOUNCER: Pneumonia is ravaging the county. Stalking its victims without remorse. Sue - rough and tumble from Maine’s timber country - resisted Pneumonia’s embrace. But Jonesy - sensitive and delicate from California’s shores - fell seriously ill. And the Doctor’s prognosis is grave.

…

The easily overlooked aspect of this excerpt in particular, and of radio drama in general, is the importance of an Announcer. Summing up what has just happened and setting the stage for what is about to come is a skillful art. Announcers are worth their weight in gold.

Lighting the Fuse: Another Excerpt from When the Last Leaf Falls
Later in the play, after Jonesy’s been diagnosed with pneumonia and she’s counting the falling leaves to her death, she and Behrman speculate that her passing might serve as an inspiration for Behrman’s next painting.

Sue is appalled at their casual talk of Jonesy’s looming death and finally is unable maintain her composure.

…

SFX: OFF MIC: BEHRMAN KNOCKS ON DOOR.

SUE: Come in.

SFX: OFF MIC: BEHRMAN OPENS AND CLOSES DOOR.

SUE: Hello Behrman.

BEHRMAN: (COME ON MIC) Hello. How iss the patient?

JONESY: Not vell … I mean not well. I’ll be dead before dark.

BEHRMAN: With that icestorm blow-ingk outside vee’ll all be dead of Pneumonia before morning. (BEAT) I come look-ingk vor inspiration. I must haff inspiration for my masterpiece.

JONESY: Death inspires. Use me.

BEHRMAN: Dat’s a goot idea. Ven Miss Jonesy crosses to dee other side …

SUE: (BITE CUE: FRUSTRATED) Jonesy isn’t crossing to the other side.

BEHRMAN: But I must haff inspiration. Behrman he must haff the inspiration.

JONESY: You heard him Sue. He must haff the inspiration. (ALOUD) Three. Only three are left.

SUE: (MORE FRUSTRATION) Stop counting.

BEHRMAN: Vot are you count-ingk?

JONESY: Ivy leaves. When they’re all gone I’ll die.

BEHRMAN: Then I haff my inspiration.

JONESY: Then you haff inspiration.

SUE: Both of you stop.

JONESY: But it’s true. I’ll die when the last leaf falls.

SUE: Say that again.

JONESY: When the ivy leaves are gone I’ll die.

SUE: All right - you can be Behrman’s inspiration. But you must let me close the shades to help Behrman. And close your eyes while he’s working.

…

Sue’s plan, with Behrman’s assistance, is classic O. Henry. He is a master of the short story and his twist endings are widely known. However, O. Henry’s short story and When the Last Leaf Falls diverge.

Enjoy both.

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“The Splendor in Midland” from Lit Between the Ears, Volume One

The fourth script in Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air is “The Splendor in Midland.” Splendor chronicles the changes in fortunes and social positions of three Midland families: 1) The Ambersons; 2) The Minafers; and, 3) The Morgans. The Ambersons and Minafers are both financially decimated. The Ambersons also lose their prominence and standing within the community. Concurrent with the decline of the Ambersons and Minafers is the rise in wealth and status for the Morgans.

The focal character, and catalyst for events, is Georgie Amberson Minafer. Georgie is the third generation of Ambersons in the Midwestern town of Midland. His abundance of manly beauty and Amberson lineage is noticed by everyone. However, his antics as a spoiled youth make Midlanders hope and pray for his come-upance - something that will take him down a notch or two. When his come-upance ultimately arrives, it delivers a fierce thrashing “three times filled and running over.”

“The Splendor in Midland” is currently a script-in-progress, an attempt to show how scripts are written and the considerations behind story and character development. It is adapted from Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Magnificent Ambersons. Tarkington (born 29 July 1869, died 19 May 1946) was an American writer and The Magnificent Ambersons was the second book of his Growth trilogy. Orson Welles adapted the novel to a film in 1942.

Lighting the Fuse: An Excerpt from The Splendor in Midland
The writing of “The Splendor in Midland” has begun and the following passage has received interesting feedback. In June, Hunterdon Radio Theatre (Clinton, NJ; http://www.hrtonline.org) conducted a script development session for its writers. The Splendor in Midland was included and the following passage was particularly noted for: 1) Setting tone for the characters; 2) Backfilling story details; and, 3) Setting the current story.

The session also demonstrated the requirement of two actors of contrasting styles to successfully perform the piece. These insights are routinely revealed through script development sessions.

In the passage, Eugene, the protagonist, is returning to Midland after an absence of 20 years. Fred Kinney, a minor character, is updating Eugene on the town’s recent history. In 23 lines of dialogue, barely a page, Eugene and Fred establish the following: 1) Their friendship after a 20 year interruption; 2) They have both aged during that time; 3) An undetermined painful moment in Eugene’s past 20 years ago; 4) Fred’s bachelor party was raucous; and 5) Midland’s residents don’t think much of the story’s main character, Georgie Amberson Minafer. Eugene also foreshadows what will ultimately be his greatest obstacle: A Mother’s love for her children.

Excerpt from The Splendor in Midland
MUSIC: OFF MIC: ORCHESTRAL.

KINNEY: (OFF MIC: CALLS TO EUGENE) Gene Morgan! (ON MIC) I’d heard you were in town. I don’t believe you know me!

EUGENE: Yes, I do, Fred Kinney! Your real face - the one I used to know - it’s just underneath the one you’re masquerading in tonight. You ought to have changed it more if you wanted a disguise.

KINNEY: Twenty years! It makes some difference in faces, but more in behavior!

EUGENE: So it does. My own behavior began to be different about that long ago - quite suddenly.

KINNEY: I remember.

EUGENE: Well … Know what I remember? Your wedding. I saw your lovely wife upstairs.

KINNEY: She wasn’t going to miss a big Amberson show for anything.

EUGENE: I remember your bachelor dinner too - most of it, that is.

KINNEY: More than what I can say about the night we went serenading.

EUGENE: That’s a night I try not to remember.

KINNEY: Sorry Gene.

EUGENE: Don’t think anything about it. Tell me, what’s the old town been like for twenty years?

KINNEY: There’s an heir to the Amberson line. Have you seen young Georgie?

EUGENE: Real good-looking boy. Seems like fine Amberson stock.

KINNEY: Too much Amberson, it seems, to some folks. His mother just fell down and worshipped him from the day he was born.

EUGENE: That’s what Mothers are supposed to do.

Closing
Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons, the basis for The Splendor in Midland, is an outstanding novel and accessible. Welles’ movie is equally entertaining. Enjoy both and stay tuned to the progress of The Splendor in Midland.

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Radio drama in the United States is not dead

“It still occupies niches over the air and across the Internet. America’s first great mass entertainment medium retains its capacity to develop characters and advance plot lines in a singular manner. Lit Between the Ears offers plays for this power.”
-excerpted from “Playwright’s Introduction” of Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air by William E. Spear.

Classic literary adaptations and contemporary drama have been brought together in Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air (ISBN 0-9778-4022-0). Written by William E. Spear and published by Wolfmont Publishing in Ranger, GA, Lit Between the Ears, Volume One celebrates radio’s unique capacity to entertain.

The plays include a self-imposed 15-year prison sentence in “The Wager,” a countdown to death in “When the Last Leaf Falls,” a singing debut and attempted murder in “You Didn’t Have To Go” and three families’ diverging fortunes in script-in-progress “The Splendor in Midland.” Geraldine Downes, Jonesy, Donna Herb, Georgie Amberson Minafer and other characters tell their stories set in a banker’s mansion, art studio, nightclub and Midwest America.

Radio drama survives on compact discs, podcasts and Internet broadcasts. The medium’s flexibility and adaptability to various genre are strengths. Its individualized impact on listeners is another. Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air offers plays for the enduring power of radio.

William E. Spear has written for radio since 1994. He founded Hunterdon Radio Theatre in 1999 and has written over 15 plays since. Spear’s work has been broadcast in New York and New Jersey and his plays have been published on web sites across the country. Lit Between the Ears, Volume One is his second appearance in print.

Lit Between the Ears, Volume One: Chekhov, O. Henry, Spear and Tarkington On the Air was released on July 31, 2006. It is in 6 x 9 perfect-bound format, 128 pages, and retails for $14.95 in the U.S. and for £7.99 in the UK. It is available from major distribution chains, and listed in both Ingram’s and Baker & Taylor’s catalogs. It is also available for order on the publisher’s website, at http://www.wolfmont.com.

William E. Spear
President
Two Plus Plus Productions LLC
PO Box 5126
Clinton, NJ 08809-0126
TwoPlusPlus@earthlink.net
http://www.twoplusplus.com/

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