Play #67 - Attendant by Caron Levis
This is a charming little play - and there's a pretty engaging monologue at the beginning as well! The play starts out with Tally coming out of the stall in a restroom at a chic club, probably in New York or some such large, metropolitan, overpriced city. As she goes to wash her hands, the ladies room attendant, Penny, steps forward and quickly squirts soap in Tally's hands. This starts Tally on a bit of a rant: she hates these awkward bathroom situations with an attendant who expects a tip, but she doesn't have any money to tip, and she feels bad, and the whole situation is just uncomfortable. Then, a fairly inebriated Bill stumbles in. Apparently the party at this club is in his honor, and he's been enjoying himself quite a bit. He and Tally met upstairs, and now that he sees her again, he is absolutely taken with her. Penny, ever the consummate professional, repeatedly asks him to leave, as this is the ladies' room, but to no avail. His insistent seduction of Tally continues, despite Tally bringing up his wife (who she met upstairs) and his son (whose picture she was shown). He continues to push, dropping twenty after twenty into the tip bowl so that Penny will turn her back and he can have just a kiss. Tally starts to succumb until she catches Penny's eye in the mirror and thinks better of it. This resistance, as you might guess, does not make Bill happy, so he starts to get aggressive. In a flash, Penny leaps into action and beats the crap out of Bill. As he slinks out of the bathroom, he tries to retrieve his money from the tip bowl, but Tally stands in his way - not on your life, dude. Now alone, the women calmly wash their hands together, a new understanding and appreciation between them.
The end is just a little bit silly, but it's kind of cool to think about a deeper life for these people who are so often either invisible or annoying or frustrating or whatever they may be.
This is a charming little play - and there's a pretty engaging monologue at the beginning as well! The play starts out with Tally coming out of the stall in a restroom at a chic club, probably in New York or some such large, metropolitan, overpriced city. As she goes to wash her hands, the ladies room attendant, Penny, steps forward and quickly squirts soap in Tally's hands. This starts Tally on a bit of a rant: she hates these awkward bathroom situations with an attendant who expects a tip, but she doesn't have any money to tip, and she feels bad, and the whole situation is just uncomfortable. Then, a fairly inebriated Bill stumbles in. Apparently the party at this club is in his honor, and he's been enjoying himself quite a bit. He and Tally met upstairs, and now that he sees her again, he is absolutely taken with her. Penny, ever the consummate professional, repeatedly asks him to leave, as this is the ladies' room, but to no avail. His insistent seduction of Tally continues, despite Tally bringing up his wife (who she met upstairs) and his son (whose picture she was shown). He continues to push, dropping twenty after twenty into the tip bowl so that Penny will turn her back and he can have just a kiss. Tally starts to succumb until she catches Penny's eye in the mirror and thinks better of it. This resistance, as you might guess, does not make Bill happy, so he starts to get aggressive. In a flash, Penny leaps into action and beats the crap out of Bill. As he slinks out of the bathroom, he tries to retrieve his money from the tip bowl, but Tally stands in his way - not on your life, dude. Now alone, the women calmly wash their hands together, a new understanding and appreciation between them.
The end is just a little bit silly, but it's kind of cool to think about a deeper life for these people who are so often either invisible or annoying or frustrating or whatever they may be.
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