A Ballad for the Piano Man

SCENE: HENRY and ELLA’s cramped NYC apartment. It is littered with loose papers and stacks of books hide the walls. There aren’t defined rooms in the apartment, but a few objects in each area that could convince a person of a “living space” and “kitchen.” In one corner of the room is the sink and stove. Then moving left into the middle of the apartment, a couch and a scuffed-up coffee table. Finally, at the opposite end, is the heavy, metal front door. The one window shows the New York City night sky.

AT RISE: Ella is washing dishes in the kitchen side of the room. Each scrub is done with a hard stroke and hell-bent focus. It is hard to know whether it is because she wants to get the job done quickly or because she is angry.

Suddenly, Henry walks in. He places his keyboard and hat with his daily earnings on the table and falls on the couch. The room is silent. He just stares at the ceiling motionless.

ELLA

So how much did you make today?

HENRY

Some.

ELLA

How much is some. 

HENRY

Fifteen dollars I think.

ELLA

Fifteen?

HENRY

(picking his head up) Well, it would’ve been more, but that damn deli guy--

ELLA

Again with the deli guy. If you keep pissing him off, eventually he’s gonna call the police. 

HENRY

He won’t call the police.

ELLA

This is the fourth time this month that he’s threatened to. What makes you think he won’t? 

HENRY

He won’t because I’ve done nothing wrong. Am I hurting anyone? No. Am I stealing from him? No. If the police come and ask me to move, I’ll just come back the next day.

ELLA

Can’t you play some place else?

HENRY

I could, but why should I?

ELLA

Because you wouldn’t get jail threats?

(silence)

(Ella rolls her eyes in irritation. She brings over a paper plate with a grilled cheese sandwich on top.)

I just don’t see why you can’t move around a bit. I mean, I’m sure everyone on that corner has heard your songs enough. If they were gonna give you money, they would’ve done it by now.

HENRY

Please, can we stop discussing this? I’ve had a long day in the cold, and I just want to sit and eat in peace. God, I don’t see how people can keep saying the climate is getting warmer when it’s fucking Antarctica outside.

ELLA

Here. (Ella drops the paper plate in front of him) Bon appétit.

HENRY

Grilled cheese?

ELLA

Yeah. Your observational skills are really improving.

(Henry stares at the sandwich. He picks it up and inspects it solemnly as if it were a puzzle.)

I didn’t poison it if that’s what you’re worried about.

HENRY

Poison, no. (cautiously) There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of it.

ELLA

Oh well, next time I’ll buy the prime rib and lobster.

HENRY

Ugh… Forget it. (mumbling) When did you start getting so… so sensitive.

ELLA

About the same time that you started losing your mind. When was that? Was that three years ago? Maybe four?

(Henry doesn’t respond. He just sits there in silence staring at the grilled cheese. Ella walks back to the sink and starts to clean up.)

Anyway, enjoy the food and heat while you can because we’re gonna lose both in a couple of days.

HENRY

Won’t that be fun.

ELLA

(smirks) Jokes are fun. I love a good joke. But a job, now that would be a fun new addition to our lives.

HENRY

I have a job!

ELLA

Playing piano on the street does not count as a job.

HENRY

You just don’t understand Ella. You’re too young to realize that a job is not a paycheck.

ELLA

Are you kidding me! Do you see the people… I’m sorry your “co-workers”? The ones who stand next to you begging for money?  They are homeless. That isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle that we’ll have soon if you don’t wake up.

HENRY

Wake up? (Throwing the grilled cheese back on the plate) You sound just like your mother. 

ELLA

Well thank God because ever since she left, you’ve been falling down a goddamn rabbit hole into lunacy.  

HENRY

Don’t talk to me like that! You may think I’ve gone insane, but I am still your father and you will listen and respect me. 

ELLA

Oh are you? I can’t tell because I’m the one making dinner, worrying about our expenses, cleaning the house, and taking care of you.

HENRY

I’m not a child. I don’t need you to take care of me.

ELLA

Okay fine. Great. I don’t want to take care of you. I’m fifteen. I’m supposed to be doing homework and freaking out about guys and friends and tests. I don’t want to worry about whether we paid our gas bill, so please be an adult and wake up!

HENRY

I am awake, Ella. I’ve been awake for years! Ever since I quit that job at the law firm I’ve been wide awake!

ELLA

You’re not awake! If you were, you would see that we are drowning. Look around you. There are no life vests or boats here to save us. We don’t know how to swim and the water is rising. We are dying here. We have no more money for you to pretend anymore that everything is fine.

HENRY

I’m not pretending. Playing on that street brings me… I can’t describe it. It’s more powerful than anything else I have ever felt in my life. It feels like I was meant to be there. As if God created that corner just for me. It’s almost like… if I wasn’t there, I would be disobeying him and my duty.

ELLA

Oh my God, it’s worse than I imagined. You’ve lost it. You’ve truly lost it. It’s been four years of playing that damn piano and you’ve finally lost your mind.

HENRY

Just because I believe in something doesn’t mean I’ve lost my mind.

ELLA

It does when you let it consume your life and make it worse. I can only say this so many times. (in a slow and mocking tone) We have no money.