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These are the opening ten or so pages of my 1930's detective-style adaptation of
the classic Poe short story.
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
The action of the play takes place
primarily in the Usher Mansion, a
rapidly deteriorating Boston area
estate built in the late 1700's.
Scenically, we are principally
concerned with what can most accurately
be called a Sitting Room in the
mansion. The room is ill-kept and
dark, with serviceable, decaying
furniture, bookshelves, lamps, etc.
There are at least two entrances, one
from the Library, another from the
foyer. Each passageway leads to all
other parts of the house.
The time is the mid-1930's.
At rise, however, we are not in the
mansion, we are in a small
Interrogation Room at police
headquarters, where DETECTIVE
SHAUGHNESSY, a mature, no nonsense man,
is questioning JAMES BROOKFIELD, a man
in his thirties, who is dressed
somewhat formally, but who is, at this
moment, unkempt and in distress.
The Interrogation Room (which is
actually two Interrogation Rooms) may
be represented merely by an old wooden
chair, a table and telephone, which, at
first sight, appear to be part of the
mansion. As the story unfolds, though,
it becomes clear that this furniture
is of another place, as is Shaughnessy,
though he will relate with James (and
with Fiona, later) as the story is
told. Shaughnessy, then, will appear
to be in the Sitting Room as the story
progresses, but will be unseen there by
everyone. When the play switches to
"Interrogation Room Mode," the light
change is abrupt and instantaneous.
Wherever the actors happen to be at the
moment, when the lights change, those
who are in the Interrogation Room are,
in fact, in the Interrogation Room,
while other actors onstage disappear in
the darkness that remains.
The light changes back to the Sitting
Room should be swift, though perhaps
not so abrupt.
On occasion, Shaughnessy will speak
with characters in the Interrogation
Mode as the Sitting Room action
progresses, with no lighting
adjustment. These exchanges will be
swift and incidental.
Costuming this piece is challenging.
Every effort should be made to move the
story swiftly, accommodating costume
adjustments only when and if they are
necessary.
At rise, Shaughnessy is active,
anxious, and driven. He is first
generation American, but the trace of
his mother's brogue will remain with
him throughout his life. James is
stunned and somewhat inarticulate at
the start.
SHAUGHNESSY
Are you comfortable, Brookfield? Anything I can get for you
before we begin?
JAMES
No, detective, no.
SHAUGHNESSY
I don't know if they told you when they brought you in...My
name is Shaughnessy. Michael, if you need to know, but I
don't like people gettin' all chummy with me.
JAMES
I...wish I could convince you how...pointless this
investigation is...
SHAUGHNESSY
Pointless, is it? I get dragged out of a warm bed at two
a.m. in the morning and you're tellin' me I'm on a pointless
errand? Let me tell you somethin', lad. The Boston Police
Department learned a long time ago you pull Michael
Shaughnessy away from the toasty left thigh of Mrs.
Shaughnessy after eleven p.m. for a pointless errand at your
own peril.
JAMES
The story you want me to tell you is better left untold, if
only I could...
SHAUGHNESSY
Well, if I'm not dealin' with a deaf man. Haven't I been
transpicuous enough for you this morning, Mr. Brookfield?
Let me try some plain English. I will decide whether your
story is better left untold. That's me. Michael
Shaughnessy. And I will make that decision after you tell me
your damn story and not before! It's my hope and the hope of
the Boston Police Department that your story will provide us
with a reasonable explanation for the two charred bodies on
slabs in the morgue next door.
JAMES
(rises)
No one needs to know what happened at that house!
SHAUGHNESSY
I need to know, Brookfield. The City of Boston needs to
know. God help me, I always knew nothin' good would come out
of that house. Usher. The whole family. So-called. Nobody
ever knew what they were up to. All that money. Kept to
themself. Anti-social. Goddamn spooky is what they were,
you ask me. And now here we find you weepin' in the cold in
the middle of the night like a little baby outside
this...conflagration. Two dead. Suspicious circumstances.
What you need to know is that right now there's not a person
in the world more important to you than I am. So do your
damnedest not to annoy me anymore, all right? I don't intend
to spend the rest of this night arguing with you over the
merits of your testimony. You will tell me what happened up
there. You will tell me the truth. And you'll tell me right
now! From the beginning!
(Shaughnessy sits)
And remember, I'm Irish. I love a good story!
JAMES
(as he speaks, he moves into
the principal area of the
Sitting Room)
Well, I arrived at the Usher house three weeks ago. Three
weeks ago tonight, in fact...I had been invited, but I...for
reasons I....I was early...
MADELINE USHER appears in the sitting
room. She is in her mid-thirties,
though she may appear older, more
weathered. She was certainly once a
beauty but, at this point, time and
circumstance have served to check her
youthful attractiveness. She wears
formal dress which is at least twenty
years out of date, and which, perhaps,
belonged to her mother.
James is now, for all intents and
purposes, in both the Sitting Room and
the Interrogation Room. As a result,
Shaughnessy remains part of the scene,
unseen.
As Madeline enters, she appears to be
somewhat taken aback.
MADELINE
Oh, Jimmy, Fiona told me you were here. But...Roderick said
you wouldn't arrive until six...
JAMES
I apologize, Madeline, but I was worried about the snow
they're predicting, so I caught an early train. I hope he
won't be upset.
MADELINE
Oh, he'll probably be upset, but that would be the case
regardless of any schedule alteration on your part. Roderick
is...Roderick. Please! Sit down.
SHAUGHNESSY
She was nervous. Why?
JAMES
I didn't know why. At the time.
(he sits with Madeline)
MADELINE
Now, tell me--is life in New York City as gay and evil and
hedonistic as it's painted in the newspapers?
JAMES
Well, if it is, nobody's inviting me to the right places.
MADELINE
I can't imagine that an author with your reputation is
ignored by the social register.
JAMES
On the contrary, Madeline, an author with my reputation is
shunned by the social register. When the social register
meets, they denigrate my work over caviar and bootleg
champagne, then they go home and huddle in dark corners of
their studies and inhale my potboilers two a night. They are
hypocrites, but they do buy my books!
(Madeline laughs)
SHAUGHNESSY
I knew I recognized your name!
MADELINE
Your books are not potboilers. They are thrillers. And they
are well constructed and grammatically elegant.
JAMES
So you've indulged in my lurid tales of gangsters and gun
molls?
MADELINE
I have the books on pre-order from the publisher. I have
them read within three days of publication!
JAMES
Bless you!
MADELINE
I'm so happy for your success, Jimmy.
JAMES
And I yours, Maddy.
MADELINE
Success! Inheriting a fortune is not a banner of success,
James Brookfield. Earning a fortune, as you have--that is
success.
JAMES
I've hardly earned a fortune...
MADELINE
Not yet, perhaps.
JAMES
Nevertheless, you're living well. There is success in that.
MADELINE
(a trace of a beat)
Yes.
JAMES
Do you have any idea why Roderick asked me to visit? I
hadn't heard from him--or you, for that matter--in years.
MADELINE
(carefully)
I have no idea what his intentions are. He mentioned
casually you were visiting, nothing more. If I were to
guess, I'd say he was interested in some kind of business
venture and he wants you to be part of it.
JAMES
Ah! He wants me as an investor, perhaps? Now that the King
of the Potboilers is rolling up a bank account?
MADELINE
All I can say, dear Jimmy, is that my brother Roderick has
spent his life managing the estate and my father's money. He
has done little else. So I would have to wager that his
beckoning you here out of the blue has less to do with
nostalgia and more to do with finance.
JAMES
I take it he...avoided that Wall Street mess a few years ago.
I didn't have two nickels to scratch together at the time, so
it didn't affect me at all!
MADELINE
Roderick will not discuss business with me, Jimmy. We are
close...but not when it comes to managing the affairs of the
estate.
JAMES
I see.
MADELINE
I must say, though, that...I was astonished when he told me
you were coming.
JAMES
Oh?
MADELINE
Roderick...is not a very social person.
SHAUGHNESSY
What'd I tell ya...
MADELINE
He's like father in that way.
JAMES
Well...whatever the reason, I'm glad he invited me. And I'm
glad to see you again, Maddy.
MADELINE
He's...not well, you know.
JAMES
Roderick?
MADELINE
I thought he might have written you. He's...weakened, Jimmy.
Over the past year. Physically. The Doctor has no
explanation worth considering. Roderick has become...very
delicate.
JAMES
Delicate?
MADELINE
Sensitive. To sounds. To the weather. To food. He eats
only the blandest, most unappealing meals, otherwise his
stomach erupts. He allows virtually no music in the house.
No phonograph records. The only musical sound he can bear is
what he scratches out in the study on his own violin.
JAMES
I did notice a decided aversion to anything...modern as far
as the decor here is concerned. It was like stepping into a
James Whale movie.
MADELINE
Who?
JAMES
A new...filmmaker...the Frankenstein picture? Never mind.
Do you think his...health problems have anything to do with
the house? The estate?
MADELINE
He won't talk to me about it. He is quite adamant about
that. I'm the woman, you know. I know nothing of such
things. In his mind. But...things haven't been going well.
That I do know.
JAMES
So...perhaps my visit here has less to do with investment and
more to do with some kind of...rescue?
MADELINE
Jimmy...
SHAUGHNESSY
He was deep in debt. We all knew that downtown.
MADELINE
I just don't know.
SHAUGHNESSY
Huge loss in '29. Huge. That was the rumor.
MADELINE
(beat, she rises)
Did you ever think...Jimmy....
JAMES
What?
MADELINE
When we were children. Here in town. At school. Did it
ever occur to you that...
JAMES
What, Maddy?
MADELINE
You're teasing me.
JAMES
No! What are you asking me?
MADELINE
My twin brother and his best friend! Is that all it was to
you? Was there no spark of interest from the best friend in
the twin sister?
JAMES
(beat, smiles)
Ah. Well...we were all...what?...sixteen when I left for
Dartmouth? What did we know of such things at that age?
MADELINE
Why, Jimmy...disingenuousness does not become you!
JAMES
Besides, I think if I had shown even a trace of interest, the
twin brother would have annihilated me. He was very
possessive of you, you know.
MADELINE
I don't think that's a proper answer.
JAMES
Well, it's the answer I'm offering at the moment, if you
don't mind.
MADELINE
You never married, Jimmy?
JAMES
It's not as if the Grim Reaper's knocking at my door.
MADELINE
Is there anyone special in your life now?
JAMES
As a matter of fact, there is. Her name is Cecile. She's a
painter.
MADELINE
Ah! A struggling Greenwich Village artist!
JAMES
Well, more like a well-off Upper East Side caricaturist.
Family money. You know...
MADELINE
Oh, I do. Believe me, I do...
JAMES
Well...
MADELINE
Tell me, has she...
JAMES
(enjoying this)
Has she what?
MADELINE
Has she...read every word you've ever written less than three
days after publication?
RODERICK USHER enters. He is also, of
course, in his mid-thirties, though not
nearly as robust as James. In fact, as
Madeline has mentioned, there is a
sickly quality to him. His presence,
however, is startling. When he enters
the room, the room belongs to him.
RODERICK
Madeline!
MADELINE
(instantly cowed)
Roderick...I didn't hear you...
RODERICK
Obviously. James...I thought you were...
JAMES
I arrived early, Roddy. I'm sorry. I anticipated the snow
storm. I worried the trains would be cancelled. I hope it's
not an imposition.
RODERICK
Not at all. Not at all.
(brusquely)
Madeline, may I speak with you in the library?
MADELINE
Of course.
(starts to leave)
Good to see you again, Jimmy.
JAMES
You too, Maddy.
MADELINE
(at door)
Roderick, could we perhaps...
RODERICK
(sharply)
Now, Madeline!
Madeline leaves. As he speaks,
Roderick moves to a bell pull and rings
for a servant. FIONA, the native Irish
maid, enters and takes Roderick's coat
from him.
RODERICK (CONT'D)
Can I offer you something to drink, James?
JAMES
A brandy, perhaps, would be nice.
FIONA
(entering, heavy brogue)
Would you like me to take that coat for you, sir?
SHAUGHNESSY
It figures.
RODERICK
(as Fiona takes the coat)
I'll only be a minute. Madeline and I have some urgent
business to discuss. Fiona, get Mr. Brookfield some brandy.
FIONA
Yes, sir.
(she starts to leave)
RODERICK
And Fiona?
FIONA
Yes, sir.
RODERICK
What was that noise coming from your room last night?
FIONA
Noise, sir?
RODERICK
That...crackling, irritating cacophony of woodwinds and
brass?
FIONA
Ah. That'd be Paul Whiteman, sir. On the radio. From the
Waldorf Astoria Hotel. I've become fond of the jazz, sir.
RODERICK
I see. Well, from now on, after eight, no radio, Fiona.
FIONA
Even if I lower the sound, sir?
(no response as Roderick stares
her down)
After eight, no radio, Fiona. Yes, sir.
(to James)
I'll be back presently with the brandy, sir.
(she leaves)
RODERICK
Excuse me, James.
(he leaves as well)
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Script created with Final Draft
by Final Draft, Inc.