Take Me to That Other Place

SCENE 1

AT RISE:
A dark room, three dark brown chairs, one lime green colored couch, and one coffee table in the middle. Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy are sitting on the couch, both on opposite sides. Sharon Tate, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn are sitting on the three chairs. Marilyn is smoking a cigarette, and so is Judy. It seems to be like they are in Purgatory. Marilyn is wearing her famous white dress from The Seven Year Itch. Jackie is wearing the famous pink Chanel suit and matching pillbox hat she wore the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated; John's blood is on it. Judy is wearing the blue gingham dress from The Wizard of Oz. Sharon is wearing a white nightgown; she is covered in blood. And Audrey is wearing the little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
MARILYN: (She sighs.) Well, I'm tired of sitting in this room. I'm tired of looking at these four walls. (She gestures to the four walls.) And I'm tired of sitting on this awful looking couch. (She pouts.)
JACKIE: (With attitude.) And what would you like us to do about that, Marilyn?
MARILYN: Oh, I don't know. Change it? You did always use to spend John's money to decorate the White House. (She takes a drag from her cigarette.)
JACKIE: Oh please. (She gets annoyed and faces the other way, not showing her face to Marilyn.)
JUDY: Please. I can't listen to you two bicker anymore. It's like watching my parents all over again. (She rolls her eyes as she takes a drag off her cigarette.)
SHARON: (She screams and holds her stomach.) My baby! Please! My baaaaaby... pleaaase...
JACKIE: Will someone please shut Sharon up? For Christ's sakes...
AUDREY: Let's not be rude, Jackie. Something awful happened to her.
JACKIE: Something awful happened to all of us, Audrey.
(Audrey doesn't say anything. Instead, she rolls her eyes and rubs Sharon's back.)
JACKIE: God, or whoever up there... or down there, (She widens her eyes and points to the floor. The floor indicating "Hell.") wants us all together for something.
MARILYN: No kidding. (She puts her cigarette out.) Do you all know how long I've been here? I've been here for fifty years. Fifty long years. It feels like it's been a million. I've had to wait for all of you. One by one.
AUDREY: Well, why aren't we all in Heaven? I mean, that's where we should all be, right? Heaven or Hell. Not in between.
JUDY: Oh please. Get real, Audrey. There is no Heaven. After this, darkness is eternity. After we die, we die. Who knows, maybe this is where we're supposed to stay. (She puts her cigarette out.) If this is where we're supposed to stay, then this is defiantly Hell.
AUDREY: But after I died, I saw a bright light...
MARILYN: And it brought us all here. One by one. (She taps her fingers against her chin.)
AUDREY: Then where are we?!
MARILYN: Purgatory. The place where God hasn't decided where we should go yet. (She laughs.) God has such a great sense of humor, doesn't he?
AUDREY: Purgatory...? Isn't that where people with sins go?
MARILYN: Well, everyone has committed a sin. This is the little sins. You know, cheating on your taxes, being selfish, saying the lords name in vain! (She laughs and points her index finger to the ceiling. Her face then turns serious.) Except, if you're Hitler. You're definitely sent straight to Hell then.
JACKIE: Then let's prove to God... or whoever, that we want to go to a good place. We want to be with the rest of our loved ones.
MARILYN: We're all sinners here. We might as well be with the others. (She shrugs.)
JACKIE: We'll tell each other, and God, what we are sorry for. Maybe we won't have to stay in this room anymore. He'll understand. (She looks up at the ceiling.)
MARILYN: Yeah. I'm sure he will. (She laughs.) I don't think it's that easy.
JACKIE: Why don't you go first, Marilyn?
MARILYN: (Sighing.) Fine. Let me light a cig first. (She takes the pack of cigarettes from the coffee table and lights one cigarette.)
AUDREY: Didn't you just smoke one? It's not good for your lungs, you know.
MARILYN: Audrey, I'm already dead. I don't think it matters anymore.
(Audrey gives Marilyn a look. Her look says, "Okay. No need for your sarcasm.")
MARILYN: (Everything turns dark. The spotlight is only on Marilyn. We only see her. She takes a drag off her cigarette before starting.) They called me whore, slut, tramp, home wrecker. Name any vile word you could think of, I'm sure they called me it. So, I had an affair with John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States! So what? Everyone else did. Why was it any different for me? (She laughs.) Oh right, because I also slept with Robert, his brother. It's not like I had never been with a married man before. (She says this, looking innocently. There is a small pause as she gets up and walks around.) They loved me. He loved me. John loved me. (She smiles. She is now standing in the center of the stage.) Didn't you hear I was going to be the next first lady? (She takes another drag off her cigarette.) Everyone loved me. I was a star, a sex symbol. I would have made the perfect first lady. I would have been a lot better than Jackie could have ever been. (She nods towards Jackie. Another spotlight shows Jackie. She sighs as she looks at Jackie.) But I lost my chance. (She looks away from Jackie. The spotlight on Jackie disappears. We only see Marilyn again.) John didn't want to see me anymore. Robert didn't want to see me anymore. No one wanted to see me anymore. So you know what they did? They killed me. They shoved several barbiturates down my throat. They thought I was going to tell the world their secrets. (She takes one last drag off her cigarette. Her hand begins to shake. She looks like she is about to cry.) I only said that so John wouldn't leave me! He loved me. I loved him! (She puts her cigarette out. There is a small pause.) I can remember that night so clearly. John said we had to stop seeing each other. He said it wasn't good for his image. You know, a married man who happens to be the president of the United States, sleeping with America's sex symbol. How silly. (She laughs and shakes her head. She folds her arms. She is still standing in the center of the stage. The spotlight is still on her.) You know, they did some really terrible things to me. They made me get an abortion. I had a lot of those done in the past, but this time I wanted to settle down with John and have the baby, even if it was Robert's. They made me do things that Marilyn would do, not Norma Jean. That's the thing with these people. (She laughs nervously. She is starting to scream.) It was always Marilyn! No one ever cared about Norma Jean! No one even knew who Norma Jean was! I always had to put on this show to please everyone. What about me? Do you think I was ever happy? I was a mess. Marilyn was the happy one! Marilyn! I just wanted to be loved! (Pause.) John told me that he loved me, and then he left. Everyone always leaves me. (Another pause.) I hope Marilyn goes to hell and stays there to burn.
(Marilyn sits back in her chair. The stage is lit up again. Jackie has her arms crossed; she seems annoyed. Sharon is holding onto her bloody stomach. And Judy and Audrey are sitting there, shocked.)
JUDY: I think I'm going to have to smoke ten more cigarettes before it's my turn. (She reaches for a pack of cigarettes on the coffee table. She puts the cigarette between her lips.) Maybe have a drink, too. (She shrugs and lights the cigarette.)
AUDREY: I remember when all of that happened. When Marilyn died. Hollywood sure did lose something that day. You didn't see many actresses after Marilyn who could light up the screen with just a smile, or by simply just walking into a room.
MARILYN: (Laughs.) Hollywood lost me way before my death.
JUDY: Did they really kill you? John and Robert?
MARILYN: (Nodding.) Yes. I believe so. The last thing I saw was a man covering my mouth. He was tall and dark. He told me that everything was going to be okay. And then... I ended up here.
(Small pause.)
JACKIE: (She laughs and shakes her head.) Jack never loved you.
MARILYN: You have no idea what Jack and I had.
JACKIE: I knew everything about Jack. I was his wife. If he loved you as much as you say he did, he wouldn't have hired people to murder you. (The lights dim. The spotlight is now on Jackie.) Am I here because I was not a good wife? I was the best wife Jack could have ever had. People thought I had no idea what Jack was doing behind my back. I knew very well what he was doing. I knew about the Hollywood starlets, and the women. I especially knew about Marilyn, and her crush, her infatuation, with my husband. In fact, she called me one day. I can remember it so clearly. (She gets up from her chair and starts walking around the stage.) Marilyn was going on about how John promised to marry her and all I said was (She is now standing in the center of the stage.), "Well, that's fine, Marilyn. You'll marry Jack and I'll step out and you'll become first lady and you'll take on all of the responsibilities and you'll go to the state dinners and you'll travel to India and Ireland, etcetera etcetera." And I can just remember how taken aback she was. (She laughs softly.) I refused to let Jack embarrass me. I refused to let him publicly humiliate me. I didn't want to look like a fool. (She sighs.) People pitied me. Everyone knew what Jack was doing. He was handsome and young and the president of the United States. He could have had any woman he wanted. Isn't that every man's dream? (Small pause.) I loved Jack, so much. He wasn't perfect, nobody is. I'm not going to lie, we had our difficulties. There were so many times when one of us was begging the other to stay. Sometimes I just wanted to give up and leave. (Another pause.) You know what's strange? Jack and I didn't become close until months before he died. Even after the miscarriage and the stillborn and Patrick's death, we weren't so close. I was just someone his father forced him to marry. We loved each other though. (She laughs and shakes her head.) The love story between Jack and I is a mystery to everyone, and even myself. (She pauses. We see a tear slip down her cheek.) I can remember that sunny Texas morning like it was yesterday. Everyone was so happy to see him. He was so happy to be there. (She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.) Jack was saying something before the gunshot. For Christ's sakes, I thought it was just a firecracker. (She laughs nervously and puts her head in her hands.) Then I realized it was a gunshot because governor Connally was screaming. I thought, why would he be screaming because of a firecracker? Then Connally got shot, and I didn't know what to do. I thought we were all going to die. I tried so hard to protect Jack, I really did, but he got shot right in the head. His blood was all over me. (She looks down at her suit and touches it.) I climbed out of the backseat and crawled over to the back of the trunk, and I just... reached across for a piece of Jack's skull that had been blown off. I wanted to save it. (Her voice softens.) Everything was just a daze. People were screaming, secret service men were rushing over to save me, and I was just... so lost. (Pause.) I knew Jack wasn't going to make it. I could just feel it. (She looks up at the ceiling. She is crying.) Oh, Jack, what have they done? (Another pause.) I remember when the casket arrived, I slipped my wedding ring onto his finger and... I had nothing left. I refused to remove this suit. (She gestures to the blood stained suit.) I wanted everyone to see what they did to Jack.
(She sits back down in her seat. The stage lights up again.)
JACKIE: (Dabbing her eyes with a tissue.) Oh, I miss Jack so much. I couldn't save him. I tried so hard to save him! I should just go to Hell...
JUDY: Hey, don't talk like that! (She takes a drag from her cigarette.)
AUDREY: (She rubs Jackie's back.) Don't cry. You were so strong when Jack had passed away. If you weren't around to help everyone cope with Jack's death, everything would have been such a disaster. America would have been a mess. You don't deserve to be here. You deserve to be wherever Jack is. You deserve to be with him.
(Jackie nods her head. She sniffles.)
MARILYN: I'm sure Jack is rotting in hell.
JACKIE: You shut your mouth, Marilyn!
AUDREY: How could you say that?
MARILYN: He committed a lot of sins, Audrey. "Thou shall not commit adultery." Jack did a lot of that.
AUDREY: Then why weren't you sent straight to Hell?
MARILYN: Oh, like you didn't make mistakes in your life, miss "I'm America's sweetheart." Psh. Sweetheart, my ass. I mean, you weren't even American, for Christ's sakes...
AUDREY: Everyone makes mistakes. (Monologue starts. The lights dim. The spotlight is on Audrey.) I had to act like I was nice. I mean, really, would you expect Audrey Hepburn to wear a dress made of diamonds and sing happy birthday to the president of the United States? I didn't think so. (She gets up and walks around until she is standing in the center of the stage.) I mean, Marilyn could do that. She was a sex symbol. It was expected of her. Me? I wasn't a sex symbol. Men rarely thought about me. I didn't have a big chest. I was too skinny. I was ugly. I had low self-esteem. (She pauses.) I was always trying to lose weight. The eating disorder rumors weren't true until 1964. When I was filming Paris When It Sizzles, I looked so ridiculously thin. Even before the eating disorder, when I was still with Mel, he only stayed with me because he was concerned about my health. I was down to eighty-two pounds when I was with him. Oh, sweet Mel. (She sighs.) I tried so hard to make our marriage work, but he was so jealous and controlling. I felt like I couldn't breathe half the time, like I was drowning or being suffocated by a pillow. And then there was the second miscarriage, and that really made things worse for us. I was a child brought up by divorce, and I didn't want Mel and I to end up like my parents. I didn't want us to hate each other. (Pause.) After Mel and I finally divorced, I felt like I was lost. And I hate myself for this, but I had attempted suicide twice. (She shows the audience her wrists.) I had tried to slit my wrists, but thank god, I had gotten to the hospital in time. How could I have thought about doing that to myself? How can anyone think about doing that to themselves? It's something I terribly regret, and I wish to not think about it. (Pause.) I was never a saint. I was never so pure like how Hollywood made me out to be like. (She laughs softly, and then sighs.) William Holden showed up on the set of Sabrina, and I fell head over heels for him. He was so handsome. I knew he was married with three children, but that didn't stop me. Of course it didn't. I would have dinner with him and his wife, and oh, I would feel so guilty. But I thought he'd leave her for me. Everyone thought he would. And I really thought William would be the one I would stay with for the rest of my life. The one who would give me a big family. (Pause. She sighs.) I was wrong. He had a vasectomy done, and after he told me that, I left him. I wanted to have another baby so bad, and he wasn't capable of giving me one. What kind of a marriage would it be if you didn't have a baby together? Wouldn't you want little ones running around the house? Giving them baths? Or playing with their wee little toes? I wanted all of that. I wanted to have a big family. Sure, I broke William's heart, but we probably would have gotten a divorce in the future anyways. He was an angry, crazy drunk, and Audrey Hepburn was too good to be with a drunk. I mean, how would that look for my image? (Pause.) Maybe I'm here because I left Mel. Divorces are extremely frowned upon in the Catholic Church, you know. I attempted suicide twice. If you commit suicide, don't you automatically come back as a rock, or a sewer rat? Or maybe I'm here because I left a man who was madly in love with me. It was selfish of me, huh? I should have stayed with William because I made him happy, and someone else's happiness should be more important than your own, right? (Pause.) Every girl who considers themselves classy has the picture of me in this stupid black dress from Tiffany's hanging on their wall. (She gestures towards the dress. She sighs.) I was far from classy. I was just good at hiding my secrets. (The stage lights up again. Audrey sits back in her seat.)
AUDREY: I've never been so open like that before. (She fans herself with her hand, and chuckles.)
SHARON: (Sobbing.) My baby...
(Everyone gives Sharon a strange look.)
MARILYN: I love how you're known for being this classy, respectful woman, who never made a mistake. Meanwhile, I'm known for being a whore. (She plays with a cigarette between her fingers.)
AUDREY: (Shaking her head.) Don't start this.
MARILYN: No, really, you never hear a girl say she wants to be like Marilyn Monroe, because if she did, people would think she would want to live her life like a slut. (She lights the cigarette, and then takes a drag.) You always hear girls saying they want to be like Audrey Hepburn. Classy, sincere, beautiful. (She laughs.) But in reality, you were far from classy. You were just as bad as me. Kinda makes me like you more. (She smirks.)
(Audrey rolls her eyes.)
JUDY: Come on now. We all know Grace Kelly was the real slut. What a bitch she was...
MARILYN: Oh geez. Didn't she steal an Academy Award from you?
JUDY: As a matter of fact, she did. (She grins, and then points her lit cigarette at Marilyn.) I remember calling her that night. I said, "This is Judy Garland, Judy Fucking Garland. You bitch! You took what was rightfully mine. Tonight was my last chance for the Oscar. You'll have many more chances in your future. This was it for me. I'll never forgive you." I heard she slept with every director to get some kind of part in their movies. (She takes a drag off her cigarette.) Eh, but then she had a stroke in '82. Too bad. So sad. (She shrugs.)
JACKIE: But you died in '69. It's not like you got to outlive her. (She chuckles.)
JUDY: At least I know that I was a much better actor than she could have ever been. Her acting in Country Girl? Please. It was so mediocre. Everyone knew I deserved that Academy Award. Everyone. (She puts her cigarette out.) But deep down inside, I knew I wasn't going to win. Did the academy really want to give some pill popper an Academy Award? They were probably too embarrassed to. (She rolls her eyes.)
(The lights dim. The spotlight is on Judy. She turns in her chair to face the audience.)
JUDY: I've always been this messed up. Ever since I became Judy Garland. My real name is Francis, you know. (She laughs. There is a slight pause.) My mother was this overbearing, controlling... bitch. She was the one who wanted me in movies. There were rumors spreading around about how my mother would screw anyone to get me into a movie. Me? I just wanted to live a normal, happy life. That's all I wanted. (Pause. She gets up from the chair, and walks to the center of the stage. She looks nervous.) My mother would cheat on my father with a terrible man... and she always said it was okay, because my father was cheating on her with boys, teenage boys. She said it was "fair." (Pause.) People in town used to say that my father was this raging homosexual. My father was not gay. He had a wife and three daughters, for Christ's sakes. I mean, those teenage boys didn't have to do the things they did. They wanted to. (Pause.) I loved my father to the moon and back. I would have done anything for him. (Pause.) In 1935, when I was preparing for a radio show, I found out that my father had died. Oh, I was so crushed. It was like my whole world fell apart. I felt like he was the only one who thought I was beautiful. The whole Hollywood industry thought I was ugly. I was known as the "ugly duckling." (She laughs.) I was so worried about my looks, and I was very self-conscious. My whole life, I don't think I ever thought I was beautiful. And that's supposed to be healthy for yourself, you know? You're supposed to think you're beautiful. You're supposed to love yourself. I hated myself. (She whispers.) I mean, when you work alongside Lana Turner, of course you're going to feel like an ugly duckling. The woman was gorgeous, and I knew I could never compare to her. (Pause.) They put me on amphetamines and also barbiturates so it'd be easy for me to make one movie after the other. You know, so I wouldn't be so stressed. I became addicted to these pills. I felt like the industry had taken my innocence away with these pills, but a part of me felt like I would never get adult roles. I was always cast as the girl next door. You know, the girl who never gets the boy. It was like I was always twelve years old to them. (She rolls her eyes. She then looks down at the blue gingham dress. She sighs.) Then I got the role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. People will always remember me for "Over the Rainbow." I don't know if that's something that I want to be remembered for. I don't think it's something I can change. I have been dead for forty-five years. (She laughs. She then sighs and shakes her head. She is trying hard not to cry.) Those pills though. I was so out of control. I would go through my friends medicine cabinets and just... steal all of their pills. It would make me hate myself even more. It was hard to deal with the fact that I was addicted to drugs. I was a drug addict. (Pause.) My poor Liza. My poor poor, sweet Liza. (She is crying now.) I was such a terrible mother, wasn't I? I was a pill popper, and I shouldn't have ever had a baby. Someone should have taken Liza from my arms and put her in an orphanage! (She sighs, and wipes the tears off her face.) Did you know that in 1950 I tried to commit suicide? (She is playing with her fingers.) I cut my throat with a piece of glass. I remember it hurt. (She touches her throat.) I was just so depressed. I was so unhappy with myself. I didn't think I was talented. I didn't think I deserved to be famous. (She looks out to the audience to ask them a question. She starts to cry again.) Do you think I'm talented? Do you? Do you think I'm beautiful? (Pause.) I died on June 22nd of 1969. I had an accidental overdose on barbiturates. I was only forty-seven. I don't even know how it happened. It happened all so fast. I tried waking up, but everything was so dark. I didn't see God. I didn't see anyone. I didn't even see my father. (Pause.) And then all of a sudden, I was in this room. (Pause. She starts to sing.)
"Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me..."

JUDY: (Whispering.) I'm so beautiful... so beautiful... and so talented... so so so talented... (It is the end of Judy's monologue. She walks back to her chair and sits down. The stage lights up.)
MARILYN: (She is holding an unlit cigarette. She lights it, and then takes a drag. She scratches her forehead. She looks confused.) It was an accidental overdose? Really? I mean, after everything the industry put you through, I thought you would have committed suicide. (She chuckles slightly.)
JACKIE: Says the person who has a legacy of committing suicide.
MARILYN: But you all know I didn't kill myself! There are people on earth that are still trying to find the missing pieces to my death. Sure, I was sick in the head at the time, but I would have never killed myself. (She takes a drag off her cigarette.) One day, they'll find out that it was John and Robert who killed me. One day. Hopefully soon. (She nods.) I mean, there would be nothing they could do about it. It's not like they could put John and Robert in jail or something, since you know, they're dead.
JACKIE: (Laughing.) Oh please! Your death is just a conspiracy theory. Do you think any of the younger generation cares if John killed you? To them, John was just a president who got shot in the head. They're obsessed, and I mean, obsessed, with John's autopsy photos.
AUDREY: (Raising her brow.) And how do they look at the photos?
JACKIE: Oh, you know, on one of those computer things. (Audrey nods. There is a pause.) Young people these days are just so obsessed with murder and gore... and blood. I think they're sad.
JUDY: Everyone's sad.
(There is a slight pause.)
MARILYN: (She turns toward Sharon. She smirks as she takes a drag off of her cigarette.) So, what's your little secret?
SHARON: (The lights fade. The spotlight is now on Sharon.) I was stabbed sixteen times. Sixteen times that night. There was blood everywhere. I... I had no idea what was happening, or why it was happening. I can still hear everyone's screams. Those screams will never leave my head. And there was blood... everywhere. Everywhere! I was eight months pregnant, but that didn't stop them. They said they didn't care about me or my baby. (Pause.) Their eyes were so dark. They were almost black. It was like they were possessed. (Pause. She gets up from her chair and walks to the center of the stage.) You know, I didn't tell Roman that we were going to have a baby until after I was four months pregnant. I know that's a long time to wait to tell your husband that you're pregnant. (She slightly laughs.) I was just so scared to tell him. (Pause.) Roman was in a concentration camp for a long time. He couldn't even think of bringing a child into this world. He didn't want them to ever have to go through what he went through. But then I told him, and everything was okay. (She smiles a little, and laughs.) He was excited and happy... and then me and the baby got murdered. I thought Roman and I would be together forever. I thought we'd be like one of those cute couples in the park... and then I died. (Pause.) He was my Roman. (Pause.) Everything was going to be okay. My career was going to be so successful. I was going to be a star. I would have maybe been an icon for fashion, or some movie role. Everyone just knows me for being the actress that Charlie Manson killed. That's not something you want to be remembered for. (Pause. She starts to cry.) While I was being stabbed, I begged them to keep me prisoner until I had the baby. Instead, they wrote "pig" on my front door with my blood. Yeah, I was some kind of pig to them! Me! When their ruler, their father, their devil... Charles Manson, was ordering them to kill innocent people. (Pause. She is wiping the tears off of her face.) The night before, I watched the moon landing with my family. We thought it was so cool. I mean, it was really cool. (She laughs.) I just had this strange feeling I was going to die. I felt like I would be leaving Roman... forever. It's funny how you just get this feeling when you know you're going to die, and you just shake it off because you think you have at least a hundred years left. (She laughs slightly. She pauses, and shakes her head. Her brows are furrowed.) And I remember how hot it was. (Pause.) Charles said he was having these... (She struggles to find the word.) visions from lyrics on The Beatles White Album. He said something about how these four long haired angels would destroy a race. Those four long haired angels were supposed to be John, Paul, George, and Ringo. See, this is why you shouldn't do drugs. (She laughs.) I hear Charlie and his followers are begging for paroles. "I'm so sorry for what I did. Killing someone is wrong. I just want my life back." Well, guess what? I want my life back too. (Pause. She starts to talk to the audience, thinking they're Charles Manson.) Not only did you kill me, you killed my baby! You sick son of a bitch... go to Hell. You're going to rot in prison. Do you understand me? Do you?! (She falls to her knees and starts to cry. She is screaming. She stops crying, and looks up at the audience. She is holding her bloody stomach.) They... lined us up in front of my fireplace. Jay struggled, but they shot him. That wasn't his only shot. They shot him in the face and stabbed him seven times. My housekeeper found us the next morning. Her friend, Steve, was shot in the face four times. Wojciech was shot twice... stabbed fifty-one times... and was hit on the head at least over a dozen times with a pistol. Folger was stabbed twenty-eight times on my lawn. When they found Jay and I, we were tied together around our necks with this white long cord, which was tied over a ceiling beam. (Pause. She stands up.) I'm here because I didn't save my baby. I didn't save my friends. I didn't save myself. (Pause.) When I was dating Jay, he used to live in Jean Harlow's old house. You know what happened there, right? (Very short pause.) Jean Harlow's husband, Paul Bern, was found dead there. He committed suicide. Gunshot to the head. (She chuckles.) You're going to think I'm crazy, but I used to hear voices when I was in that house. And I swear I saw Paul! He would walk around at night. I think he wanted to check on me. Maybe he knew what was going to happen to me. Maybe he was trying to warn me. I even saw Jean a couple times. (She laughs.) It's funny. She haunts her house... and I haunt mine. (Sharon walks back to her seat. The stage lights up again. The monologue is over.)
(There is a slight pause before anyone says anything. They all look at each other. Sharon looks to the ground.)
JUDY: What if we don't make it to the other side?
MARILYN: You know what's even scarier?
JUDY: What?
MARILYN: That when we get there, there's nothing. It's just dark.
JACKIE: At least we'll still have each other. (She puts her hand on top of Marilyn's. Marilyn smiles.)
SHARON: But what if we don't have each other? I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be in the dark.
JUDY: I don't want to be in the dark either...
MARILYN: I guess we'll have to wait and see. (She looks out to the audience. She stands up and walks to the center of the stage.) It's okay to make mistakes. We all do. It's okay to be in love with a man you're not supposed to be in love with. All men are jerks anyways. I say to hell with them!
JACKIE: (She gets up, and stands next to Marilyn.) It's okay to move on. Don't beat yourself up over something for the rest of your life. They'll forgive you eventually. You might not know what I'm talking about, but I'm sure you will one day. (Short pause.) I'm sorry, Jack.
AUDREY: (She gets up, and stands next to Jackie.) It's okay to be selfish sometimes. Sometimes, you have to do things for yourself.
JUDY: (She gets up, and stands on the other side of Marilyn.) It's okay to not think. Thinking is the worst thing for humans, you know. Listen to me... it will destroy you.
SHARON: (She gets up, and stands next to Audrey.) It's okay not being able to save everyone. There's only so much you can do.
(There is a very short pause. Next, we hear a door creak open. The five women look to the door. The door is "the other side." Curtain. The play ends there. We do not know who makes it to the other side.)
END.