SCENE V
Curtain. Princess Alusair and the Prince walk onstage, as if they have just exited a room. There should be the trapping of a guest bedroom onstage, nothing expansive.
ALUSAIR: And here is your room. As you no doubt noticed as we walked through the door, it connects directly to ours. Father has decreed that you have the right to leave the door open and watch us all night if you so desire. However, you are still expected to respect propriety.
PRINCE: Of course.
ALUSAIR: Do you need anything for the night?
PRINCE: Could I get a chair, possibly?
ALUSAIR: Of course. I’ll fetch you one directly.
Alusair exits. The Prince quickly pulls a sponge from his pocket and ties it to his neck, and then hides it within the lack at his chin. The Prince wanders around, inspecting the trapping of the room. Upstage center is a large bed with a masculine coverlet. Anastasia enters with a handful of flowers, not seeing the Prince at first.
PRINCE: Hello.
ANASTASIA: Oh! I didn’t see you there! (drops her flowers)
PRINCE: Here. Let me get those for you.
ANASTASIA: No, No, I’ll get them.
Predictably, they both go for the flowers at the same time. This results in the smacking of heads and falling to the ground in a heap and other such physically comedic actions. They sit on the ground for a moment, staring at each other and rubbing their heads, and then they begin to laugh. At this point Alusair returns with chair in hand and Aurora in tow. Aurora is carrying a silver tray with a goblet of wine on it.
AURORA: Anastasia!
Anastasia and the Prince hurriedly get to their feet, attempting to return themselves to some semblance of order as they do so.
ALUSAIR: Your chair.
PRINCE: Ah…thank you.
ALUSAIR: I see you have met Anastasia. She’s the youngest. This is Aurora. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call for any one of us.
PRINCE: Th…thank you.
The Prince sets the chair down facing the “doorway.” Alusair takes the goblet from Aurora.
ALUSAIR: Here. We brought you a goblet of wine. We thought you might like something to drink before bed.
AURORA: We spiced it ourselves, with mother’s secret recipe.
ALUSAIR: I DO so hope you like it!
The Prince smiles and takes the goblet. Raising it to the Princesses, he tips it back. He spills a bit, pulls out a handchercheif and throws the goblet back, letting the wine run into the sponge. If this fails mechanically, then adapt the staging such that the Prince is sitting by a potted plant and he can slip it into the soil with a brief distraction of the Princesses.
PRINCE: Delicious. (after a moment he yawns hugely)
ALUSAIR: Well, we shouldn’t keep you up.
AURORA: It’s time we turn in.
ANASTASIA: Good Night.
The Princesses file out through the “doorway.” The Prince moves over and sits in the chair. He yawns melodramatically a few times, then allows his head to droop. After a moment or too he begins to snore loudly. Cautiously, Alusair looks in on him. When there is no response she enters and gestures behind her. Her sisters trail in after her. Cautiously they approach the figure of the Prince. Alusair gingerly reaches out and prods him. The prince moves, and the Princesses all jump back. However, the Prince remains asleep, letting out a particularly loud snore. The princesses approach again, and gently prod poke and generally muss with the Prince, to see that he really is asleep. This scene should be very physical and animated, with the Princesses shrinking back at about every loud snore or random sleep movement. Finally, they laugh triumphantly and exit the stage.
Curtain.
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