.

In this farcical dramatic comedy, a prosperous New Jersey family is maintaining its equilibrium thanks to a lot of Prozac and psychotherapy, along with liberal doses of deceit and denial.  In fact, all of the characters appear to be observing a strict taboo against telling the truth, being themselves, or divulging their actual intentions.  The household’s fragile harmony is threatened by the mother’s mental instability, the children’s adolescent rebellion, and the father’s hedonistic impulses.  Faithfully adhering to his male chauvinist values, the father attempts to restore order in his home by resorting to authoritarianism and violence.  He appears to have gotten the family under control, but his feisty, acerbic mother-in-law, visiting for the holidays, refuses to be intimidated by the bully and leads the counterattack against his tyrannical regime.  The plot of Game Face subscribes to the biblical and comedic principle that what goes on in the dark is sure to come to light; but the conflict portrayed in the play is also a classic confrontation between the quest for freedom, individuality, and fulfillment and a system of repression dedicated to preserving the status quo. 

SCENE 1 ›

LOCATION:  Living Room and COLE’s Office

MUSIC:  “Tell the Truth” performed by Otis Redding

BRYCE, COLE, JANICE, and DEANNA are standing in the living room, each holding a cocktail glass.  The living room has a couch and coffee table.  There is a remote control device on the coffee table.  COLE’s office, stage left, has a desk and a chair, and is dimly lit.  COLE is dancing.

BRYCE:  Get down, Cole!  I can tell you are feeling the holiday spirit tonight.

COLE:  And why shouldn’t I?  They announced the year end bonuses this week and, let me tell you, it looks like it’s going to be a very merry Christmas.

BRYCE:  Hey congratulations!  I’m sure it’s well deserved.

COLE:  Yeah and it’s not just the bonus.  It seems like everything is coming together for us.  We got the house remodeled.  The kids are doing great in school.  And even Janice!  Look at that smile; like a cat that just caught a canary. (to JANICE) That Prozac finally kicked in, right Hon?

JANICE:  Actually it’s not Prozac dear.  It’s generic fluoxetine.  Only eleven cents a pill at Walmart.

COLE:  Well whatever it is, it’s great to see you looking like your old self again.  Seems like you were stuck in that black hole for a while there.  But now you’re feisty as a young colt, as upbeat and full of zip as ever.

JANICE:  Yes I guess it was a rough decade or two after the kids were born.  But now I’ve got Dr. Marshall and my generic fluoxetine, and my exercise regimen, and my graphic design course.  I’m just a bundle of energy.

COLE:  Too bad there isn’t a generic Dr. Marshall that only costs eleven cents an hour.  She’s costing me about eleven cents a second.  But that smile on your face is worth every penny.  And you look great too, Hon.  Six months ago you were all skin and bones.  So how about a holiday toast?  Take it, Janice.

They all raise their glasses.  COLE is looking at DEANNA’s backside.  DEANNA is looking at BRYCE.  BRYCE is looking at JANICE.  JANICE is looking at the audience.

JANICE:  Well here’s to Walmart and generic fluoxetine and Dr. Marshall.

DEANNA:  And here’s to the holiday season.  Let’s hope everyone finds exactly what they want under the Christmas tree.

BRYCE:  And here’s to love and friendship.  As close as we’ve been this year, let’s try to be even closer next year.

COLE:  And here’s to a little adult fun.  For once the kids are out on the town and we’ve got the house to ourselves.  So let’s party down!

BRYCE, DEANNA, and JANICE:  Hear!  Hear!

They touch glasses and drink.

JANICE:  Since you’re in such high spirits, perhaps this would be a good time to remind you that Mums is coming in next week.

COLE:  Next week?  You said she’s coming for Christmas!  Christmas is like three weeks away.

JANICE:  She’s very lonely.  We haven’t been down there since the funeral.

BRYCE:  The funeral?

COLE:  Don’t you remember, at the beginning of the season, I had to miss the Packers-Saints game? (puts his glass on the coffee table)

BRYCE:  I’m so sorry.  I mean, about the death.  About the game, too, I guess.  Who is it that you lost?

COLE:  Vera’s old man.

BRYCE:  Your father-in-law?  Janice’s dad?

JANICE:  He’s referring to my mother’s second husband, not my father.

COLE:  Oh and get this!  You want to know what killed the old geezer?

BRYCE:  How did he die?

COLE:  He was…

JANICE:  Cole, I think we decided that was a confidential family matter?

COLE:  Oh yeah. (to BRYCE)  I’ll tell you later. (to JANICE)  So she’s going to be here for like three weeks?

JANICE:  Probably until New Year’s.

COLE puts his index and middle fingers to his temple and closes his thumb, as if shooting himself in the head.

JANICE:  Oh he’s only joking.  Cole’s relationship with his mother-in-law couldn’t be better.

COLE: (to BRYCE, in a low voice)  Unless maybe she moved to the Solomon Islands.  But what’s the chance of that? (to JANICE)  And where’s she gonna sleep?  We turned one bedroom into an office for me (gestures stage left) and the other guest room is now a (adding air quotes)  graphic design studio.

JANICE:  She said she’d be fine on the couch.  And do I detect a note of disapproval with regard to my new work space?  You’re not making fun of my efforts to pursue a career, are you, Cole?

COLE:  Of course not.  I am one thousand percent supportive of all your artistic and professional aspirations. (to BRYCE)  You should see the Christmas card Janice designed this year.  It’s the best one yet.  You’re gonna love it.  So Bryce, you wanna get a look at my new office? (winks)

BRYCE:  Sure.

COLE ushers BRYCE into his office, stage left.  He carefully closes the door behind them.  JANICE and DEANNA examine each other.

JANICE: (sitting on the couch)  That’s a beautiful blouse, Deanna.

DEANNA:  Thanks, and I love that skirt.  Wonderful fabric.  Was it very expensive?

JANICE:  No, it was on sale.  Cost next to nothing.

DEANNA:  Sounds like you got a real steal.  I guess you’re a very good shopper.  Is it that you know what you want and you know where to get it?  Or do you just browse around, and when you see something you like, you grab it?

JANICE:  Usually I…

DEANNA:  And it really shows off your figure.  I don’t know how you stay in such great shape.  I hate to think what my body would look like if I were your age and had two kids.  How do you do it?

JANICE:  Well it helps to be unemployed.  I take a different exercise class every day of the week.  You should come with me some time.  It’d be fun.

Lights up stage left.  COLE opens a desk drawer and takes out a hand mirror, a vial of white powder, and a razor blade.  He sits down, pours some of the white powder onto the mirror, and uses the razor blade to divide it into four lines.  He stands up, takes a dollar bill from his pocket, and hands it to BRYCE.

DEANNA:  Oh yeah?  What do you do on Tuesdays?  Tuesday afternoons are good for me.

JANICE: (gives DEANNA a look)  Tuesdays?  On Tuesdays I usually go to hot yoga.

DEANNA:  Hot yoga, huh?  Do you do that in the nude?

JANICE:  In the nude?  Uh, no.  Though I suppose you could find a place where they do.

DEANNA:  Sounds pretty sweaty.

JANICE:  Oh yes, it’s an extraordinarily cleansing experience.  Very cathartic.

DEANNA:  Cathartic, huh?

JANICE:  Do you think you’d like it?  I could give you a call before I go.

JANICE and DEANNA continue to converse.  DEANNA is still standing, and JANICE remains seated on the couch.

COLE:  Cheers, buddy.

BRYCE sits down and puts his glass on the desk.  He rolls up the dollar bill into a tube, and uses it to inhale a line into each nostril.  Then he stands up and hands the dollar bill to COLE.

BRYCE:  Thank you, sir.  This Dougie’s stuff?

COLE:  Got a new source.

COLE sits down and uses the dollar bill to inhale a line of white powder into each nostril.

BRYCE:  I can tell.  Excellent quality, Cole.  Where’d you get it?

COLE: (takes a cell phone from his pocket and scrolls through several screens)  It’s a long story but the bottom line is I struck gold right in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Check this out.

COLE shows the cell phone to BRYCE.

BRYCE: (raises voice)  You bought coke from a naked black chick?

COLE:  You wanna keep your voice down?

BRYCE: (lowers voice)  Oops.  Sorry.

COLE:  This is Adele.  Remember I was late last Monday?  Well this is the reason why.

BRYCE:  I take it she’s for hire.

COLE:  Mmm hmmm.  This girl does things that Janice has never even heard of.

COLE scrolls to another screen and shows the phone to BRYCE.

COLE:  And how about this one?  Marguerita.  She’s from Colombia. (inhales through his teeth) You believe that ass?  Tell me that doesn’t take your breath away.  Oh I can’t wait to taste that.

COLE scrolls to another screen and shows the phone to BRYCE.

COLE:  And what about this sweet little strawberry blonde?  I swear to God she looks younger than my daughter.  But they’re all eighteen plus.  The place is totally legit.

BRYCE:  Legit?

COLE:  Well it ain’t exactly a Girl Scout troupe we’re talking about here and it ain’t cookies that they’re selling but this guy Reynaldo runs a real tight operation.  Paying off the cops, no doubt.  He’s this Puerto Rican guy but he’s real polite and intelligent and well groomed.  Very conversational.  And no bullshit.  Anyway he offered me a line while I was waiting and I ended up buying half a gram and I wish I had gotten a lot more.  Plus his prices are better than Dougie’s.  And he says he can get anything.  Anything!

BRYCE:  Where’d you find him?

COLE:  Just looking around online.  He’s got a website and everything.  Really got his shit together.  So you coming with me on Monday?

BRYCE:  I don’t know.

COLE:  Come on!  Did you get a look at those fine bitches?  Plus I need the company.  The neighborhood’s a little sketchy and I don’t like walking around by myself with a big wad of cash bulging in my pocket.

BRYCE:  I’ll think about it.

COLE:  You better think about it, boy.  How old is Miss Deanna?

BRYCE:  Thirty-four.  Why?

COLE:  Thirty-four.  And how long you think it’s going to be before she takes your ass off the market?

BRYCE:  She has made reference to the concept of marriage on one or two occasions.

COLE:  Made reference?  Dude, she’s already figured out how she’s going to redecorate that guest room for the baby.  My point being, you better get in as much fucking as you can before it’s too late.

BRYCE:  Well you’re married almost twenty years.  Doesn’t seem to be slowing you down.

COLE:  Yeah but once you tie that knot it’s a whole new ball game and everything becomes much more difficult.

BRYCE:  So why don’t you just keep it at home?  You’ve got a beautiful wife.

COLE:  Variety is the spice of life, my man.  And I don’t like feeling as if I’m living in a cage. (puts his phone in his pocket)  All right.  Better get back out there before they start wondering what we’re up to.

JANICE:  Or we could get together on a Monday night while the boys are watching their football.

DEANNA:  That’s an idea.

BRYCE enters the living room while COLE lays out and snorts another line, then puts his supplies away in the desk.

JANICE:  How do you like Cole’s new office, Bryce?

BRYCE:  Looks fantastic.  And very professional.  Do you want to show me…?

JANICE:  Deanna and I were just wondering.  What do you boys actually do on those Monday nights when you’re supposed to be watching football?

COLE enters the living room.  Lights down stage left.

BRYCE:  Better that you don’t know!  I tell ya, we get so wasted!

COLE:  Bryce! (draws the tip of his thumb and index finger across his own lips as if zipping them shut)  Zip it!

BRYCE:  You’ll have to come over some time and find out for yourself.

JANICE:  Maybe I’ll just do that.

COLE:  You wouldn’t like it, Hon.  We use a lot of swear words.

JANICE:  No I wouldn’t like that.  And I wouldn’t want to sit there and watch that silly game.  But I could hang out in the kitchen and talk to Deanna.

DEANNA:  I’m too afraid to be anywhere near them once they’ve been drinking and they’ve been watching all that violence and they got their hormones all riled up.

JANICE:  You can’t be scared of them, Deanna.  They’re like wild dogs.  They can smell the fear.  And that’s when they attack.

BRYCE:  Do you want to show me your new office, Janice?

JANICE:  I would, but it’s not quite ready yet.  Cole’s getting me a new pc for Christmas, so we’ll have the ribbon cutting ceremony after that.

BRYCE: (to COLE)  I thought that pc was supposed to be a surprise.

JANICE:  Cole doesn’t like surprises.

BRYCE:  I mean a surprise for you.

JANICE:  Cole doesn’t like surprises for anyone.  He says it’s bad for the financial markets. (to COLE)  Isn’t that right, dear?

COLE:  Exactly, Hon.  What we need is rock solid stability.  You gotta keep everything under control.  You let things get out of control and the train jumps the track.  But why are we standing around talking when we should be moving and grooving? (picks up the remote control device from the coffee table, presses a button on it, and puts it back down on the coffee table)

MUSIC:  “Who’s Making Love” performed by Johnnie Taylor

COLE approaches DEANNA and takes her hand.  She manages to put her glass on the coffee table before he pulls her stage right and begins dancing with her, holding her close and maneuvering her aggressively.  BRYCE and JANICE look on.  JANICE puts her glass on the coffee table.  BRYCE sits next to JANICE on the couch and, when COLE starts to speak, they begin their own unheard conversation.  COLE is mostly facing stage right while DEANNA is facing stage left and keeping an eye on BRYCE and JANICE.

COLE:  De-AN-na!  Looking good girl!  Good enough to eat.

DEANNA:  Careful, Cole.  I bruise easily.

COLE:  Oh!  Such a delicate young flower.  But you sure know how to shake those hips.

DEANNA:  You think so?

COLE:  I know so.  You are one fine piece of talent.  Could make a man go and do something crazy.

DEANNA:  Crazy like what?

COLE:  Crazy like forget who he is and get himself in a whole lot of trouble. (glances over his shoulder at JANICE)

DEANNA:  Forget who you are?  And what exactly is that?

COLE:  Huh?

DEANNA:  You got a real wild streak, don’t you, Cole?  But what I need is some of that stability you were talking about.  What I need is someone quiet and reliable, like Bryce.

COLE:  Oh Bryce has a wild streak; you just gotta dig down deep enough to find it.

DEANNA:  That’s what I’ve been worrying about.

The unheard conversation between BRYCE and JANICE turns serious.  BRYCE is asking her something, and JANICE is repeatedly telling him no.  JANICE shakes her head and mouths the words “no” and “I can’t.”  BRYCE becomes increasingly upset, on the verge of tears as he pleads with her, almost down on his knees.

COLE:  So when is that deadbeat gonna make you an honest woman?

DEANNA:  I don’t think he can ever make me an honest woman, but he could make me a happy woman.  And you could probably answer that question better than I can.  He spends more time with you than he does with me.

COLE:  We get together once a week.

DEANNA:  Oh I think the bromance is stronger than that.  Wasn’t that your car I saw outside Bryce’s house on Tuesday?  What did you two have a sleepover date?

COLE:  What car?  When?

DEANNA:  A Toyota Sienna.  Around three o’clock on Tuesday.

COLE:  There’s a lot of Toyota Siennas in this town.

DEANNA:  A cranberry red Toyota Sienna with a Glenfield High lacrosse team bumper sticker.

COLE:  Hmm.

DEANNA: (pause)  License plate EXK439.

COLE:  Actually, that’s the car Janice usually drives. (turns away from DEANNA and looks at BRYCE and JANICE)

MICHAEL enters, upstage stage right, and stops.

COLE:  Hey what are you guys talking about that’s so serious over there?

MICHAEL attempts to cross stage left without his presence being noted.

COLE:  Whoa!  Just a second!

COLE grabs MICHAEL by the arm.

COLE:  We got a lacrosse star in the house!  Michael, have you met Deanna?

MICHAEL:  She was here at Thanksgiving.

COLE:  Right you are!  Boy’s got a head on his shoulders.  I tell ya this kid’s a shoo in at Princeton.  With his grades and his athletical ability, I tell ya he’s a shoo in.

JANICE and BRYCE stand up and cross to MICHAEL, COLE, and DEANNA.

MICHAEL:  Somebody’s drunk.

JANICE:  He hasn’t seen your report card.

BRYCE: (still looking disconsolate)  Hey, Michael.

COLE:  Home before his sister.  That’s a switch.

MICHAEL:  How ya doin’, Bryce?  Everything OK?

JANICE:  Can I fix you something to eat?

MICHAEL:  No thanks, Mom.  I’m kinda tired.  I’m just gonna hit the sack.

MICHAEL kisses JANICE good night affectionately.

MICHAEL:  Good night, Mom.  Good night, everyone.

JANICE:  OK, you get some sleep.  We’ll turn the music down.

MICHAEL exits stage left.

JANICE:  Cole?

COLE:  Kid sure can kill a party.