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Gourmet Love had a staged reading by The Asylum, Las Vegas, NV, and was a Finalist in the Sonoma County Repertory SCRipts Festival, the Buntville Crew Competition, and the Midwest Theatre Network Original Play Competition. |
Gourmet LoveHungry for love? Or for food? How long can Sally and Arnie keep their affair from their spouses, who are having an affair of their own? And when everyone finds out about the affairs–at supper–what will they have for breakfast? Unit set. 2m, 2f. 95 min.
From SCENE ONE of GOURMET LOVE (A restaurant. BOB and BELLA at a table.) BELLA I thought you should know. BOB What? BELLA Unless you know already. BOB What? BELLA Sally and Arnie. Your wife. My husband. BOB (Several beats. The light dawns.) No... No. BELLA San Francisco? New Orleans? New York? BOB Kansas City! BELLA I forgot about Kansas City. BOB But they're colleagues. Of course they go to conferences together. BELLA Stay in the same hotel. BOB It's the modern world, post-modern world. BELLA Same room. BOB My goodness, Bella, we can't be imagining things. Sally told me they shared a room in New Orleans. The hotel had screwed up the reservations. She wouldn't tell me if they were...if they had...would she? BELLA I thought it would be best if you heard it from me. We have this in common. BOB We do, don't we? BELLA I've been thinking about telling you for months, but I didn't know - BOB Months? BELLA -if I should, and if I should, should I call you on the phone, but that seemed distant, or write you a letter, but that seemed, I don't know -I thought lunch... BOB Lunch. Definitely lunch. BELLA I thought, maybe I'd get here, and you'd tell me. I thought maybe you knew. You'd figured it out. BOB Did Arnie bring you hurricane glasses? BELLA Three! BOB "I Love New York" refrigerator magnets, with the heart instead of the word "love"? BELLA I saw them on your refrigerator, at the dinner party last week. BOB They were on your refrigerator, too! I'm too trusting. I'm naive, foolish, self-absorbed... BELLA I admire that in you. BOB Self-absorbed? BELLA I've always thought you were incredibly focused. And trusting -everyone's so suspicious anymore, so skeptical, cynical -you've always been a -a kind of ideal man, as far as I'm concerned. Tender, considerate, gentle... BOB Sally says I live in my own little world and I can't find my way to everyday life. I don't play golf, like Arnie, I don't fish, like Arnie, I don't - BELLA Ignore me, like Arnie, criticize me, like Arnie, forget my birthday, like Arnie... I can't wait for that waiter. BOB I'm hungry now. BELLA I just wanted you to know. I know, and I thought you should know. BOB You're right. You're absolutely right. You always seem to know the right thing to do. I've noticed that in you. Little things, little gestures. BELLA I think whatever we do, we should coordinate our plans. I don't think Arnie knows that I know. I assume that Sally doesn't think that you know. BOB I didn't know. BELLA Still, she might think that you knew, even if you didn't know. BOB I don't think she thinks I know. BELLA Then we're even. We know, but they don't know we know. BOB Should we tell them we know? BELLA I'll invite the two of you for dinner. Just the four of us. BOB Would we tell them before or after dinner? BELLA I think it might spoil the dinner if we told them before. I was thinking of a lamb roast, onions, sweet potatoes, asparagus - BOB A nice Merlot, I could bring a Merlot. Or would a lusty Cabernet be better? Those cabernets from Carneros Creek have an earthy seductiveness... BELLA And a soufflé for dessert. BOB And then tell them. BELLA They might lie. BOB Get defensive. BELLA We'd have to deal with them separately once we went home. BOB Fights. Suspicion. Breakdown of trust and communication. BELLA Marriage counseling! BOB We can't tell them. BELLA I'm so glad I talked with you. BOB I feel like we know each other now. On a new level. At a new depth. BELLA You are really remarkable. I always knew you were. We had just never had a chance to... BOB We should do this more often. BELLA Lunch. BOB Drink, maybe, after work. BELLA Yes. (Each slides a hand across the table until they're holding hands and looking soulfully into each other's eyes.) |
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