Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just got a new post two days ago. For those of you playing at home, it means we’re breaking with our bi-monthly pattern. If you’re having a visceral response as in, “this is way too much,” then just stop reading and wait for the next one 12 days hence.
For many of you, there’s some unfinished business that needs to be addressed. That’s the answer to the nail biting question, in Botanic Garden, did Kate and Jake ever get spark?
If you don’t know what what we’re talking about, you can get caught up by reading the post, “What Is Your Damn Spark?” from two weeks ago.
So, you can find out for yourselves by watching the clip (above) and/or reading the script (below).
Some housekeeping…
In the “Spark” post, married actors Carmen Roman and James Leaming were identified as Chicago theater treasures. While that indeed is true, it shortchanges them.
First and foremost, they are treasures.
Their generosity, compassion and commitment are otherworldly.
They are your 3:00-in-the morning call.
They also have the rare distinction that, in every way you can interchange their names, they sound like real names.
James Leaming, Carmen Roman.
Leaming (Lem) Roman, James Carmen.
James Roman, Lem Carmen.
Roman Leaming, Carmen James.
Lem James, Roman Carmen.
Carmen Leaming, Roman James.
Jim James, Romy Roman.
Lem Leaming, Carmi Carmen.
Some inside baseball. There were seven staged readings of Botanic Garden before it was finally produced. After every reading one question was always asked, “how are you going to handle the flashbacks?” Yes, the play goes back and forth in time. Here’s the answer the writer always gave. “I don’t need to figure it out. The director does.”
That, by the way, is the correct answer. Ann Filmer, former Artistic Director of the 16th Street Theater, and not too shabby as a person in her own right, came up with the best solution.
To maintain the dramatic tension between scenes she did two very cool things. One, she commissioned a piece of music that was both evocative of the overriding dramatic suspense over whether or not Kate would go on the date and also served to generate and sustain the tension from scene to scene.
Second, she directed either Carmen or Jim to maintain eye contact as they took their positions for the beginning of the next scene.
In the clip you can watch, it begins at the end of Scene 4, goes thru Scene 5, and ends at the beginning of Scene 6.
From the play Botanic Garden
The setting is the living room of a home that’s 60 plus years old. A savvy real estate broker would highlights it’s character and good bones and tell you it’s a perfect setting for lasting family memories.
SCENE FOUR
Seven years earlier.
Clip begins mid-scene.
KATE
What is your damn spark?
JAKE
I’ve told you.
KATE
You’ve told me nothing. Just that you’re unhappy with me.
JAKE
I’m not unhappy...
KATE
Yes, you are. Just say it. You sit here all night, like the world’s biggest drip. Now you’ve got the nerve to tell me, you need something that no one’s ever heard of. You want spark.
JAKE
Kate, just give it a chance.
KATE
I was actually looking forward to this time together.
JAKE
I am, too.
KATE
So, why do you have to go and ruin it.
JAKE
You’re acting as if I’m asking for the moon and the sun. All I want -‐-‐
KATE
I know, ‘an occasional spark.’
JAKE
That’s all. An occasional spark...
KATE
I’m not a sparker.
JAKE
I’m not sure that’s a word, ‘sparker.’
KATE
Oh shut up.
JAKE
You know, you can see it in other couples. You can see it in their eyes. The way they respond.
KATE
You want someone else.
JAKE
I just want, I need spark.
KATE
What you want is to fall in love again.
JAKE
A response. A boost. Jesus, Kate, is this the way we want to go? The rest of our lives, so comfortable. Spark is life...
KATE
Is that what you do?
JAKE
What?
KATE
Spark for other women.
JAKE
Not consciously.
KATE
Do they spark for you? Women are giving you spark.
JAKE
I’m not sure I should be telling you this.
KATE
Telling me what?
JAKE
I think someone has...
KATE
Has what?
JAKE
Has been sparking me -‐-‐ Yes...
KATE
Who? Who’s been sparking you?
JAKE
I don’t know...
KATE
You don’t know?
JAKE
I don’t know if I should tell you. I just think it’s going to get you worked up.
KATE
Not telling me will get me worked up.
JAKE
It’s just that I’m not sure...
KATE
Not sure of what?
JAKE
If I’m really getting spark from this person. I’m just not 100 per cent sure...
MUSIC Kate steps away from Jake.
SCENE FIVE
The present.
KATE
Sandy Cohen. It was her wasn’t it. You used to talk to her when you got the newspapers. You used to talk to her for hours.
JAKE
I didn’t talk to her for hours.
KATE
A long time. You would stand there and talk to her for a long time.
JAKE
A few minutes, Kate.
KATE
You were ‘energized’ when you came back in the house. You would see me and look so annoyed.
JAKE
It wasn’t Sandy Cohen.
KATE
Then who was it?
JAKE
Come on, Kate, you know.
KATE
That bookstore lady? You used to spend hours in there.
JAKE
I thought it was days?
KATE
Did she spark for you?
JAKE
Kate, there wasn’t anyone.
KATE
What do you mean?
JAKE
Kate, there wasn’t anyone.
KATE
But, you said -‐-‐
JAKE
I wanted to get your attention.
KATE
You scared the hell out of me.
JAKE
I got your attention.
KATE
I thought I was fighting for my life. I thought you were going to leave me.
JAKE
I wasn’t going to leave you.
KATE
That was an incredibly mean thing to do. Tell me someone out there was sparking you. And, now you tell me there wasn’t anyone.
JAKE
But, we got there.
KATE
Where?
JAKE
Spark, Kate. We got spark.
KATE
Did we?
JAKE
London, you remember that. Don’t you, Kate? A month in London.
KATE
I haven’t thought about that in so long.
JAKE
That trip was -‐-‐
KATE
The best thing we ever did.
JAKE
Except for Carrie.
KATE
Except for Carrie. I didn’t know what to expect. I was so excited when we got there. That little apartment. That’s all we really needed. I loved it, I never thought...
JAKE
What?
KATE
That I could feel that happy.
JAKE
Remember when we went to hear Mozart’s Requiem?
KATE
My favorite music.
JAKE
That young couple -‐-‐
KATE
Sitting right in front of us.
JAKE
The way she played with his hair.
KATE
They reminded me -‐-‐
JAKE
Of us... younger.
KATE
They looked so happy. I remembered...
JAKE
What?
KATE
The possibilities. It is the most beautiful music.
JAKE
I watched you listening with your eyes closed.
KATE
So beautiful...
JAKE
I started crying...
KATE
Why?
JAKE
I just knew...
KATE
Knew what?
JAKE
I knew I was never happier.
KATE
So content.
JAKE
Spark, Kate.
KATE
Spark?
JAKE
We had spark.
KATE
Yes, we did.
JAKE fades back. KATE is alone for a moment.
You know, Mozart died before he finished composing it -‐-‐ the Requiem. He left notes for a young composer.
JAKE
He never heard it?
KATE
In his head.
JAKE
Never performed?
KATE
No, never performed.
MUSIC. JAKE sits on the couch with a brochure. KATE watches him for a moment and then sits on the arm of the chair with him.
SCENE SIX
Six years earlier.
JAKE
If it were you, would you do it? The chemo?
KATE
Jake, it’s what you want to do.
JAKE
Please, Kate. I know you’ve thought about it.
KATE
I’m not like you. I’m not the kind to hang on and fight the good fight. This whole idea of people who beat it. How insulting to those who don’t. I get it, it’s a motivational thing. Why don’t they just come out and say it. It’s just luck. Some respond, some don’t. What?
JAKE
So, that’s the recommendation, no chemo.
Botanic Garden premiered in Chicago in 2008. It featured Carmen Roman and James Leaming and was directed by Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis. In 2016, Botanic Garden won Best Play at the New York Theater Festival. Since 2008, it has been performed at more than 40 venues throughout the United States.
See Also:
Do You Know This Man?: An Irreverent Memoir is an ongoing exploration of the one character who eludes, confounds and mystifies. Me. Right now, it’s available for free, including being able to listen to some of my plays and dive into the best of Sportscape Magazine.
Current premium content available for free:
Listen to the original cast recordings of Persistence of Vision and Tops or Bottoms.
Watch a complete performance of Botanic Garden.
That’s the scoop!
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