### Act 2, Scene 3: Love, Death and Money

- Setting: Hotel room
- Stage: Bed in the middle of the stage, Telephone in Section A, Clock on the wall
- Puppets: Lionel, Lori, Mika
- Props: Clock, Champagne Bottle, Money Bag, Telephone
- Music: Poets of the Fall, Locking up the Sun
- Playtime:

##### RADIO INTRO

Radio Jingle

Jeff: "Welcome back. My name is still Jeff Castbroad ..."

Eddie: "And I'm still Eddie Rodia."

Jeff: "Who would have guessed!"

Eddie: "An interesting bit of news just came in from the Las Vegas Police Department. The missing white tiger we've been talking about earlier today, has been captured. The police found him bound and gagged in the bed of a prostitute whose services he was about to use. At first, she took him for an ordinary siberian tiger who (quote) 'just neededed some company' (unquote). But his real identity was revealed when the lady saw that the color of his fur began to rub off in certain places, showing the white pelt underneath. She immediately called the police, leaving the tiger neatly tied up in place until the officers came to arrest him."

Jeff: "Say Eddie, if you engage in sex with someone declared feral ... does that count as bestiality?"

Eddie: "Jeff ... let's just don't go there, okay?"

Jeff: "All right, as you wish. Let's switch to a more original topic ... what about the weather?"

Eddie: "I'm sick and tired of talking about the weather. I'll just open the window and let the weather speak for itself!"

Footsteps, window opens, storm blows

Jeff, Eddie: "Aargh!"

Window closes

Eddie: "Any further questions?"

Jeff: "No, I think that was pretty clear. Well, it seems, we have to change our mission statement just a little for tonight. So, in our new mission to out-rock the storm we are now playing for you 'Locking up the Sun' by The Poets of the Fall."

The Poets of the Fall - Locking up the Sun

##### MAIN DIALOGUE

Curtains open

AMB-0701 - Hotel ambience

SFX-0701 - Door opens

Main lights on

Lionel enters from section A

Lionel (drunk): "Da da da ... tigers are a girls best friend ... phhhhrrr ... stupid dancer. And stupid tiger. I really need a break!"

Lionel jumps on the left side of the bed.

Tilt bed

SFX-0702 - Squeek 1

Lionel: "Wooaaah! It's like the whole world is swaying! God, I'm soooo wasted ..."

Lionel moves over to the other side of the bed.

Tilt bed the other way

SFX-0703 - Squeek 2

Lionel: "Wooooaaah! Ahhh! Okay ... okayokayokay ... maybe, if I just lie here without moving, the room will stop spinning ..."

SFX-0701 - Door Opens

Mika enters from section A

Mika: "Lionel! Lionel! You won't believe it! I won! I'm rich! Yahooo!"

Mika jumps on the bed.

SFX-0704 - Sproing

Tilt bed FAST

Lionel gets catapulted off stage

Lionel: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Mika: "Ooops! Lionel? Are you alright?"

Lionel appears next to the bed, and climbs back in

Lionel: "*groan* Yes ... but next time I am going to choose a hotel! What did you just say? You won? How much?"

Tilt bed ... bed sways into equilibrium and stays firm

0705 - Squeek 3 (swaying)

Mika: "I hit the jackpot! Look here!"

Mika reveals a bag of money from 'under the bed'

Lionel: "Wow! That's quite a lot of money! Congratulations! What are you going to do with it?"

Mika: "The first thing I did was ..."

Mika reveals a bottle of champagne from 'under the bed'

Mika: "... order a bottle of 1953 Dom Perignon."

Lionel: "Wow!"

Mika: "Oh Lionel ... I'm soooo excited!"

Lionel: "Yeah, money tends to do that!"

Mika (giggles): "Ohhhh ... Honeybunny ... Let's celebrate this like rich people do ..."

Mika snuggles up to Lionel seducingly

Lionel: "Oh, Spottykitty ... who am I to refuse? Murrrr!"

Mika and Lionel disappear, sinking into the bed

Mika and Lionel purr, giggle and make excited noises

Tilt bed back and forth gently with increasing pace

SFX-0706 - Sex Squeek

Bottle begins to shake, and finally the cork pops out

SFX-0706 (cont.) - Cork pop, bubble, fizz

Lionel and Mika sigh happily

SFX-0701 - Open door

Lori enters from Section A

Lori: "Mika! Lionel! Anybody home? Oh, there you are!"

Lori jumps into bed

SFX-0707 - SPRONGGGGG

Lionel and Mika get thrown off the bed in both directions

Lionel, Mika: "Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Mika and Lionel reappear, climbing into the bed

Lori: "Ooops! Sorry! Mika? Lionel? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt ... I ..."

Mika: "You'd better be careful what you say! You're lucky you didn't come in 10 seconds earlier!"

Lori: "Oh yes, why?"

Lionel: "Lori, please. Just tell us what you have to ..."

Lori: "Oh, I'm still so excited! I was on the rooftop of the casino! And then suddenly, the security guards came and arrested me! And ..."

Lionel: "They did WHAT? And what on earth were you doing on the roof?"

Lori (blurting): "Monty took me there. Did you know that the police is after him? It's a conspiracy! Something terrible is happening! The evil forces are on the rise! It's all in the water, and he can't stop it alone! He needs our help to save the world!"

Mika: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lori: "The last thing he said before he left was that he would try to find you, and explain everything ... didn't he talk to you?"

Lionel, Mika: "Oh, yes he did!"

Lionel looks at Mika

Lionel: "Oh ... you saw him, too?"

Mika: "Oh yes. I was playing the slots, and he just wouldn't stop pestering me! I tried to ignore him, but he didn let go ... he decided to order me the most expensive drink on the menu. I thought, hey, maybe he's not so bad after all. BUT THEN HE SPILLED THE WHOLE STICKY MESS OVER MY NEW EVENING GOWN! God, he's such an idiot!"

Lionel: "I second that! He joined me at the bar, pretending to be my best pal ... but then he played an evil prank on me! He paid one of the dancers to seduce me! Of course she didn't stand a chance! It was hard, but I resisted to the very end! I saw the tiger giving her a big bundle of money before they ran away together! It was so humiliating!"

Lori (shocked): "What? I can't believe it! Monty is such a sweet guy! He'd never do something like that!"

Lionel: "Or would he?"

Lori: "I saw him in my dreams! No matter what you say, I trust him! Listen to me! He needs us! We must stop the evil forces before it's too late! We must go to a place called 'The Unlucky 13'! He couldn't tell me the full story because they're after him, and he didn't have the time ..."

Lionel: "Lori? Don't you see how crazy this is? He's a complete stranger, and you just believe everything he says, without even thinking twice?"

Lori: "I told you, I saw him in my dreams! And he trusts me, too! He told me all his secrets! Monty is not his real name! His full name is 'Montecore'!"

Lionel (shocked): "WHAT??? Montecore? The killer?"

Mika: "Waaaaaait a minute! Just let me get this straight. Montecore, a suspected killer, takes you to the rooftop of a casino, tells you a ghost story, leaves you to be caught by the security guards, tries to hit on me, ruins my evening gown, and finally pays a hooker to seduce my lover. Then you come in and go 'you've got to trust him'. Now honestly. ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND????"

Lori (sobbing): "But ... but ... I know he's telling the truth. We must help him. We're his only hope!"

Mika: "Forget it!"

Lori (sobbing): "Just wait ... he promised me to come here as soon as he can. Then he can tell you the full story, and you'll see that this is all just a big misunderstanding!"

Mika: "Yeah, and then hell is going to freeze over."

Lionel: "Lori ... don't you see? This guy is a prankster! A criminal! He's just having his way with us! He probably does it all the time!"

Mika: "You should be glad he didn't steal your wallet!"

Lori (crying): "NO! HE IS GOING TO COME! I KNOW IT! HE PROMISED! HE'S NO CRIMINAL!"

Mika: "Allright, then wait for him, if you want. But he won't come. And if I'm wrong, and he does come after all, I'll personally kick him out, balls first. I really need a shower now. A long shower. A long, hot shower. A long, hot, satisfying shower. I'm off."

Mika starts leaving to section B

Lori: "Oh! You're so mean! Look at you! You two have got each other! And what about me? I'm all alone! I have nobody! Why am I not allowed to be in love with someone?"

Lionel: "In love? You're IN LOVE with him? Oh my god ... THATS why you believe everything he says ..."

Mika: "Lionel? Shower?"

Lionel: "Okay, Lori ... just stay here and don't do anything stupid ... we'll talk when I'm back, okay?"

Mika: "LIONEL!"

Lionel rushes out to section B

Lionel: "On my way, spottykitty!"

SFX-0708 - Close door

Lori (to herself): "He will come. I know it! He's not a prankster! I love him! And he will come! He will come ... he will come."

Lori looks at the bottle

Lori: "Oh, what the heck."

Lori downs the bottle

SFX-0709 - gulpgulpgulp, *BUUUUUUUUUUURP*, sway, faint

Lori sways and faints on the B side of the bed

Tilt bed

SFX-0709 (cont.) - sqeeek

Lori starts snoring

SFX-0710 - The dream

Clock starts running faster

Dream lights

(Scanner) Light on pawpetstage, Color=?, No movement, gobo rotation, gobo=?

SFX-0710 (cont.) - Monty's voice: "You must help me! Help me! Remember! Thirteen is not an unlucky number! Help me! Help me!"

SFX-0710 (cont.) - Telephone rings

Lights back to normal

(Scanner) Light on telephone, white, no movement, no gobo

Lori jumps up, wide awake

Lori: "Aaaaah! The telephone! Monty?"

Lori scrambles upwards to the other side of the bed

Tilt bed further upwards until Lori reaches the top. Then tilt bed down.

Lori: "Wooooaaah"

SFX-0711 - squeak, CRASH

Lori struggles to get up, and picks up the phone

SFX-0710 - STOP
SFX-0712 - pickup

Lori: "Hello?"

Monty (phone): "Lori! Is it you? It's so good to hear your voice!"

Lori: "Monty! I've been waiting for you all night!"

Monty (phone): "Lori, I don't know for how long they're going to let me talk to you, so please listen to me."

Lori: "What happened? And where are you?"

Monty (phone): "The police arrested me. They gave me the chance to make one final phone call. I do not have an attourney. So I decided to call you. You're my only hope. I'm in the Clark County animal shelter."

Lori: "But that doesn't make any sense ... Why aren't you in jail? What are you doing at the shelter?"

Monty (phone): "They declared me feral. That means I'm officially no longer a person. I'm merely a mindless animal to them now."

Lori (sobbing): "Monty! Tell me! What are they going to do with you!"

Monty (phone, hesitating): "You know Lori ... for each of us there comes a time, where we have to say farewell. I just didn't expect it to come so soon. I'm prepared to meet my ancestors. It's my fate. I'm so sorry."

Lori (crying): "Nooooo! They can't do that! Not as long as I live! I'm going to save you! I'm going to come and get you out of there!"

Monty(phone): "No! Don't even THINK of coming here! There is nothing you can do, and you'll only lose time! I no longer matter in this game! But you do. You must go to 'The Unlucky Thirteen', and break the spell! You must get inside! Before they close it down forever! Take your friends, and go!"

Lori: "Nooooooo!"

Monty: "I ... hey ... I .... Lori ... HEY GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! I'M NOT FINISHED YET ... LORI!"

SFX-0713 - Hangup ... busy tone

Lori: "Montyyyyyyy!"

(Scanner) out

SFX-0714 - Door opens

Mika and Lionel come storming in with towels on their heads

Lionel: "What the hell is going on here?"

Lori: "They hung up! They simply HUNG UP!"

Mika: "That's what you do at the end of a call ..."

Lori: "Mika! They're going to kill him! They're going to kill Monty! I don't care if you believe me or not ... I will go alone, if I must! I will go and save him!"

Lionel: "Lori! Are you crazy? There's a storm raging outside! It's dangerous! You might not even get there!"

Lori storms out towards section A

Lori: "I don't care! I'm the only one he has! I'm the only one who still believes him! I will not abandon him like that!"

SFX-0715 - Door slams

Lionel turns towards Mika

Lionel: "Mika, I don't know what is going on, but-"

Mika: "Yes, you're right. Let's follow her. I don't know what's wrong with her, but if she runs out into a storm on her own, it MUST be serious."

Lionel runs towards Section A

Lionel: "Okay then, let's run, before she's gone!"

Mika runs towards Section A

Mika: "Lori! Looooori! Wait! We're coming! Lori!"

SFX-0716 - Door slams, wind, thunderclap

AMB-0701 - (STOP)

Main lights out

Close curtain