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Excerpt from Production Script
(Author's Note: This is the first play of the program, "Killed
by Kindness.")
ATTENDANT:
Any good newspaper report tries to answer the five W's. Who, what, when, where,
and why.
Most important to answer first, is Who. The file here on my desk, marked
"Killed By Kindness,"
answers the question of who--Who is capable of being a murderer?
MUSIC: STING, THEN BRIDGE
MUSIC: OUT
LEROY:
(WHISPERING, BREATHING HEAVILY) C'mon, old lady. You look like a sweet old
thing.
C'mon, get up the hill. C'mon.
SFX: FOOTSTEPS ON SIDEWALK, DISTANT, APPROACHING, UNDER
LEROY:
(SOFTLY) C'mon, sweetheart. Come to Leroy.
SFX: FOOTSTEPS, MUCH CLOSER
SFX: HEAVIER FOOTSTEPS, RUSHING
SFX: COLLISION OF TWO BODIES
SFX: GROCERIES FALLING TO SIDEWALK
LEROY:
Oh, I am so sorry, ma'am. I didn't see you. Are you okay?
LAVINIA:
(SHAKEN) I'm all right, I guess. (GROANS) No major damage, I'm sure.
LEROY:
Still, I'm really sorry. Would you like a hand with these things?
LAVINIA:
That would be awfully kind of you. I can never seem to get groceries packed in
the bag
correctly.
LEROY:
Well, I used to work at a grocery store, so I'll be lots of help. You just wait
there, ma'am, and I'll
take care of it for you.
LAVINIA:
This is so nice of you. And, please, call me Lavinia. I haven't been called
ma'am since I retired
from teaching, and Lord knows that's more years than I care to remember.
(LAUGHS)
LEROY:
Oh, I'm sure a nice lady like yourself was the most popular teacher in the
school.
LAVINIA:
I'm not so sure about that, but it's nice of you to say, Mr.--
LEROY:
I'm forgettin' my manners. I'm Leroy. Leroy Forrest, but you can just call me
Leroy.
LAVINIA:
Leroy it is.
LEROY:
Good. (SHORT PAUSE) Lavinia. I don't think I've ever heard that name before.
It's nice.
LAVINIA:
It's an old lady name, which is probably why a young man such as yourself never
heard of it.
(PAUSE) Well, it looks like your work is done. Would you like a cup of coffee
for your
troubles? I live just up the street.
LEROY:
That sounds good. There's just enough of a chill in the air to make hot coffee
tempting. I think
I'll take you up on that.
MUSIC: BRIDGE
LAVINIA:
Here we are.
LEROY:
Nice house.
LAVINIA:
Yes it is, thank you. It was my parents' house before it was mine. I grew up
here. Now, if I can
find my key, we'll be all set . . . Ah, here it is. Let's get in out of this
chilly air and I'll get you
your coffee.
SFX: DOOR UNLOCKED
SFX: DOOR OPENING
SFX: DOOR CLOSING
LAVINIA:
You just make yourself comfortable in the living room, Leroy. It won't take me
long to get the
coffee going.
LEROY:
Okay, Lavinia. . . . Oh, I picked up your newspaper as we were coming in. Here
you go.
LAVINIA:
Thank you. (FADING) I'll be right back . . .
SFX: FOOTSTEPS, LEADING OFF
LEROY:
(TO HIMSELF) Nice place you got here, Lavinia. Very nice. I ought to make a good
haul.
(CALLING OUT) You live in this big house all alone, Lavinia?
LAVINIA:
(OFF MIKE) Yes. It's just me now.
LEROY:
(SOFTLY) Perfect.
SFX: FOOTSTEPS
SFX: DOOR OPENING
LEROY:
I thought I might be able to give you a hand, Lavinia. Anything I can do?
LAVINIA:
No, everything is just about ready. I was just looking at the headlines.
Shameful, isn't it?
People clubbed in their own homes . . . Poisoned bodies in basements . . .
What's next?
LEROY:
(EXERTING) This is!
SFX: LAVINIA'S HEAD STRUCK BY HEAVY OBJECT
SFX: BODY FALLING TO FLOOR
LEROY:
(SOFTLY) Lavinia? . . . Lavinia? . . . You shouldn't take strangers into your
home, Lavinia.
You never know who's going to clobber you. (LAUGHS)
SFX: COFFEE BEING POURED
LEROY:
I may as well have that cup of coffee, since you went through all the trouble to
make it. After all,
you ain't goin' nowhere. I got time.
LEROY:
Sure you won't have a cup, Lavinia? (LAUGHS)
SFX: NEWSPAPER RUSTLED
LEROY:
See? Right here on the front page. Killer Clubs Elderly Woman. That's me,
Lavinia. You'll be
in the paper tomorrow. You know, you're absolutely right about those headlines
(LAUGHS)
Only I don't see anything about poisoned bodies in the basement on the front
page. You were
reading ahead, weren't you, Lavinia? Oh, yeah, I forgot, you can't answer, can
you? Oh, well,
guess I'll look around, see what's what while I finish my coffee.
SFX: CHAIR SCRAPING FLOOR
LEROY:
For a rich old lady, you don't got much in this kitchen. Nothing on the counter
but cheap
canisters and--what's this bottle? Arsenic? (SLOWLY, WITH GROWING HORROR)
Poisoned bodies . . . found in basements--
SFX: COFFEE CUP DROPPED TO FLOOR
SFX: RUNNING FOOTSTEPS
SFX: DOOR FLUNG OPEN
SFX: FOOTSTEPS RUNNING DOWNSTAIRS, UNDER
LEROY:
Gotta get down to the basement. I've got to know if . . . (SCREAMS)
SFX: FOOTSTEPS OUT
LEROY:
Bodies! (CHOKING) All . . . over . . . the . . . basement--
SFX: BODY FALLING TO FLOOR
MUSIC: STING, THEN UNDER
ATTENDANT:
Pity poor Leroy. He didn't know that the cup of human kindness sometimes runs
over with
poison.
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