Scenes 9&10, The Moor and Free at Last

CUT TO:

INT. YEAR 11 CLASSROOM – DAY

Hana is sitting on her desk as the kids in her class come up to congratulate her on her performance. MATT, the class clown, grins at her, DAISY, seventeen, hugs her.

                        DAISY

              Han-NA your voice is so nice! You were

              incredible.

                        HANA

              Thanks Daisy.

                        CLEO

                   (Proudly)

              Yeah, my mum said you were fantastic.

                        MATT

                   (Teasing)

              What, you didn’t go, Clo?

                        CLEO

                   (Defensively)

              I was studying. Anyways I’m not the only one

              who didn’t go.

                        MATT

                   (Shoots a glance at Will)

              Will doesn’t count, he never goes to church.

Hana, touching her necklace, looks at Will, who is leaning back nonchalantly on his chair.

                        WILL

              So? It’s called freedom of belief, and I

              choose not to believe.

                        MATT

              Don’t care what you believe in Will. All I’m

              saying is, atheists don’t count.

                        CLEO

                   (Reproachfully)

              Don’t call him an atheist, Matt!

                        WILL

              I am an atheist.

                        CLEO

              Yeah, but …

                        MATT

              He is an atheist, Clee.

                        CLEO

              Fine, it’s just not … polite.

                        WILL

              It’s not rude, either.

                        CLEO

                   (Feeling victimised)

              Okay, fine, I’m always wrong.

                        HANA

              Come on Cleo. Boys are just mean.

                        MATT

              Oi!

                        WILL

                   (Laughs)

              Fair enough.

Emma enters the classroom and everyone grudgingly moves back to their own seats. They begin to take out their books.

                        EMMA

              Uh – wait a second please. You won’t need

              your books for a bit. Here – take a slip of

              paper.

Emma walks around the room and hands out thin slips of paper to each student. They look at their pieces of paper and then at one another with confusion. Emma retakes her place at the front of the class.

                        EMMA

                   (Cont’d)

              I have a challenge for you all.

The class groans.

                  

                        MATT

              Aw, Miss, your challenges suck.

                        EMMA

              Ouch.

                        MATT

              Sorry, it’s true.

                        EMMA

              Well, Matt, this one isn’t. Basically, I

              want you all to try and make a one-sided

              shape with this slip of paper. You have five

              minutes.

Hana wrinkles her nose and stares at the piece of paper. She tries to crumple it up into a ball but the ball has about a thousand sides. She flattens it out again and smoothes it with her hands, trying to look like she knows what she’s doing. She peaks over at Will next to her.

                        WILL

              Hey, no cheating.

                        HANA

                   (Defensively)

              I wasn’t!

Will raises his eyebrows at her.

                        HANA

                   (Cont’d)

              Okay fine, I was. I have no idea what to do,

              that’s all.

                        WILL

              Ah, so now the atheist has all the answers?

                        HANA

              That’s not fair, I don’t care that you

              aren’t religious.

                        EMMA

              Quiet, please, Hana.

                        WILL

                   (Whispers)

              I know you don’t.

                        HANA

                   (Whispers)

              Do you care that I’m Christian?

                        WILL

                   (Whispers)

              It’s not my place to care.

                        HANA

                   (Whispers)

              Okay then, will you help me?

                        WILL

                   (Grins)

              Here.

Will loops the piece of paper around her wrist and puts a single twist in it. He sticks the two ends together with tape. Hana looks down at where Will’s hand lingers on her wrist, before he pulls away.

                        WILL

                   (Cont’d)

              There.

                        HANA

              Are you sure?

             

                        WILL

              One side. Count it.

Will puts a permanent marker dot on one side of the paper. Hana puts her finger on the dot and traces along the outside of the bracelet. Will looks in her eyes as she does it, and when her finger reaches back to the dot, she looks up in surprise and he looks quickly away.

                        HANA

                   (Surprised)

              It works!

                        WILL

              Of course it does.

                        EMMA

              You two are finished, then, I take it?

                        HANA

              Yep.

                        EMMA

              Alright, everyone stop.

As the class frustratedly put down their attempts at a one-sided object, Emma walks up to Hana and takes a look at the bracelet around her wrist.

                        EMMA

                   (Cont’d)

              Very good. Okay, everyone see how Hana has

              twisted the paper? It looks like a two-sided

              object but is, indeed, one. The art of

              deception; things are not what they seem.

              And with that in mind, let’s start our unit

              on Othello.

The class looks cheated and begin to grumble and complain.

                        MATT

              What a waste of time! What has paper got to

              do with bloody Shakespeare?

                        WILL

              He wrote on it, for one.

                        MATT

                   (Sarcastically)

              Oh, nice one William.

                        EMMA

              Okay, okay! Please come up and get your

              books. 

The class move to collect their copies of Othello but Hana pauses to touch the paper bracelet around her wrist. She smiles softly and gets up. With the books they sit back down and begin to read. Will reads the part of Iago.

                       

                        EMMA

              Open to Act 1, Scene 3, Line 381. Will, can

              you read, please?

                        WILL

                   (Grudgingly)

              Fine.

                        EMMA

              Now, remember that Othello is an

              Aristotelian tragedy – the protagonist has a

              fatal flaw. In Iago’s first soliloquy, he

              points out what we might suggest is

              Othello’s fatal flaw. Will?

                        WILL

                   (Reading)

              The Moor is of a free and open nature,

              That thinks men honest that but seem to be

              so,

              And will as tenderly be led by the nose

              As asses are.

              I have’t. It is engendered. Hell and night

              Must bring this monstrous birth to the

              world’s light.

    

The bell rings. Hana and Will stand up and walk out of the classroom together.

                        EMMA

                   (Shouting as the class leave)

              Bring your text tomorrow; we’ll read from

              the very beginning. No homework this

              afternoon!

                        HANA

              You were a pretty good Iago, Will. Not

              nearly evil enough though.

                        WILL

              I’ll take that as a compliment.

                                                CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY HIGH SCHOOL – DAY

It is mid-afternoon and the sun is low but warm. Hana and Will leave through the front gate together.

                        HANA

              Free at last!

                        WILL

              Thank God.

They laugh and walk off together. Cleo walks out of the gate after them, trying to catch up. She sees Will catch Hana’s hand in his and then stops. A year twelve student crashes into her back and spills coffee on her.

                        STUDENT

              Hey, watch it!

                        CLEO

              Sorry! S-sorry.

Cleo turns the other way and walks down the street in the opposite direction, doing nothing to prevent the lukewarm coffee soaking into her top.

                                           FADE TO BLACK

Scenes 7&8, Preparation and Going Solo

                                                CUT TO:

INT. AMERY CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL - DAY

The rest of the choir is filing out – Farrah is nowhere to be seen – and Hana is standing back on the stage with Cecil. She looks nervous. Cecil is gesticulating wildly at her.

                        HANA (V.O.)

              Farrah had tonsillitis and couldn’t speak

              for a million dollars. And for some reason,

              Cecil thought I would be the best replacement for

              the solo. So there I was, in a church on Saturday

              afternoon, being told to sing like Christina

              Aguilera in the shower. And I was very, very 

              scared about Sunday’s mass.

                        CECIL

              Now, Hana, now I know you will be fine. You

              must remember, though, your vaaarl suuuuhns.

              It’s not DOW-WUN but?

                        HANA

                   (Dutifully)

              Duhn.

                        CECIL

                   (Sighs)

              You’ll do, you’ll do. Drink a lot of water

              tonight.

                       

                        HANA

                   (Nods, eyes wide with concentration)

              Right.

                        CECIL

              Twelve hours sleep.

                        HANA

                   (Nods again)

              Okay.

                        CECIL

              No shouting. No nightclubs.

                        HANA

                   (Nodding)

              Okay – what?

                        CECIL

              I’m kidding, I’m kidding! We start at eight

              tomorrow, Hana. And lateness is no joke.

                        HANA

                   (Smiles)

              Sure. I’ll see you then.

Hana turns and picks up her bag. She walks quickly down the walkway before Cecil can tell her anything else.

                        CECIL

                   (As an afterthought)

              No flip-flops!

         

                        HANA

                   (Without turning around)

              Okay!

                                                CUT TO:

INT. HANA’S ROOM – EARLY MORNING

Hana is sculling a bottle of water whilst going through her wardrobe for nice dresses. She pulls out a conservative white cotton dress and a pair of grey canvas shoes. She stands in front of the mirror and brushes her hair, puts on a little bit of makeup, fastens her necklace around her neck and then looks at herself critically in the mirror. Meanwhile;

                        HANA (V.O.)

              Morning came too quickly, even though I was

              up all night. I didn’t sleep twelve hours

              but I did drink two litres of water and

              didn’t shout or wear thongs. Three out of

              four, that’s better than nothing. But that

              didn’t make me feel any less nervous.

                        JIM (O.S.)

              Hurry up Hanamoo, you’re going to be late!

                                                CUT TO:

INT. ENTRANCE CORRIDOR – EARLY MORNING

Jim is leaning on Hana’s closed bedroom door and James is standing impatiently at the door.

                        JIM

              Go wait in the car, we’ll be there in a

              minute.

                        JAMES

              Sure you will.

James opens the door and walks outside and Jim turns around, sighs and opens Hana’s bedroom door.

                                                CUT TO:

INT. HANA’S BEDROOM – EARLY MORNING

Hana smooths down the front of her dress and stares at herself in the mirror.

                        JIM

              Hana, we’ll be late.

                        HANA

              I’m coming.

                        JIM

                   (Proudly)

              You look beautiful.

                        HANA

                   (Looks at her father for a moment)

              Thanks.

                        JIM

              We should be off now.

                        HANA

              Right.

Jim puts his arm around his daughter’s shoulders and together they walk out of Hana’s room.

                                           CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY CATHOLIC CHURCH – DAY

The street outside the church, and the church car park, are very busy. Lots of people are beginning to walk into the church as Hana’s family pulls up in their sleek black car. Hana jumps out (they are in a no stopping zone) and turns back to her father.

             

                        JIM

                   (Reaching across and grabbing Hana’s hand)

              I’ll be there in a moment, I’m just going to

              find a car park. Good luck Hanamoo.

                        HANA

              Thanks dad.

Hana turns around as Cecil dashes out from the church. He sees Hana and relief floods his face. He runs forward and grabs her arm.

                        CECIL

              Hana, Hana, I thought you weren’t going to

              make it. Quickly, quickly, the others are

              already warming up.

                        HANA

                   (Nervous smile)

              Hi to you too, Cecil.

                                                CUT TO:

INT. BACKSTAGE OF CHURCH – DAY

Hana is standing with the other members of the choir. Mavis clucks over her and pats her arm supportively. Suzy looks at her with awe.

                        SUZY

                   (Shyly)

              Good luck Hana.

                        HANA

                   (Grimly)

              Thanks.

Cecil enters and the entire choir shuts up quickly and nervously.

                        CECIL

              Are you all ready?

                        CHOIR

              Yes!

             

                        CECIL

              Hana?

                        HANA

              Yeah.

                        CECIL

              Alright, let’s go on. Remember to smile – 

              smile!

The choir smiles broadly, Hana bites her lip.

                        CECIL

                   (Cont’d)

              Beautiful. Let’s go.

As the choir shuffles on, Cecil grabs Hana’s hand and squeezes it.

                        CECIL

                   (Cont’d)

              You’ll be great, Christina.

                                                CUT TO:

INT. AMERY CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL – DAY

The choir files haphazardly onto the stage and Cecil bows deeply in front of the audience, who clap.

                        CECIL

              Before we lead the hymns, we’ll be singing

              Down in the River to Pray. Please welcome,

              please welcome, Hana Mitcham as our soloist,

              filling in for poor, poor Farrah who

              contracted tonsillitis a few days ago.

              Enjoy!

Hana steps forward and smiles. Cecil gesticulates wildly and she begins to sing. Her voice is imperfect but pretty, less powerful than Farrah’s but sweet. The audience is silent as she sings the first verse by herself, and the choir members join in with the harmonies.

                                                CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY CATHOLIC CHURCH – DAY

Will is passing by the church on his bike and hears the music from inside. He pauses and frowns, then gets off his bike and leaves it lying on the side of the road. He walks slowly up to the church and slips in quietly.

                                                CUT TO:

INT. AMERY CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL – DAY

Will slips subtly into the last pew in the hall. He is surprised to see Hana singing the solo, but smiles softly at her voice. Hana’s nerves are calming and she begins to look more comfortable, her voice is purer and stronger as she gains confidence. Cecil is smiling proudly and gesticulating wildly, Mavis is singing and squeezing Suzy’s hand in excitement, Jim is sitting a few rows from the front and his eyes are sparkling with pride and a tiny tear. And at the back of the hall, Will appears to be holding his breath. The song ends and the audience claps loudly, Will smiles to himself and slips out the back of the hall. Hana doesn’t notice him there, or notice him leave. She steps back next to Mavis and as Cecil bows, the rest of the choir ruffle her hair, pat her back and squeeze her hands supportively. She grins uncontrollably.

*The song Hana sings can be listened to here. 

Scenes 4, 5 & 6 - Boredom, Choir Practice and Cecil.

Two: Hana Goes to Amery High

                                           FADE IN:

INT. HANA’S BEDROOM – EARLY MORNING

SFX: Birds chirping in an ironically happy manner.

It is Hana’s first day at her new high school. She is now sleeping in a proper bed, and the room is more completely set up – although there are still boxes lying haphazardly around the room. There is a knock at the door.

                    JIM (O.S)
                (Cheerily through door)
            Rise and shine Hanamoo – it’s 
            your first day at school!

 
        
                    HANA
                (Sarcastically)
            Yaaay.

Jim enters with two glasses of juice – one orange, one apple.

                    JIM
                (Unphased)
            Orange or apple?

                    HANA
                (Reaching for orange)
            Grapefruit.

                                        CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY HIGH SCHOOL – DAY – ESTABLISHING

The black car pulls up in front of the “high school” which is actually just two blocks of land with two houses on them.

Students are arriving at school – the uniform is green/red tartan and white shirts.

                                        CUT TO:

INT. BLACK CAR – DAY

Hana is basically looking really nervous from the backseat. James is staring unbelievingly at the tiny school.

                    JAMES
            Are you sure this is it? It’s two houses.
 
                    JIM
            Small town, small school. What did you expect
                           James, the Opera House?
 
                   JAMES
            Yes, yes I did.


                                        CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY HIGH SCHOOL – DAY

Hana and James get out of the car simultaneously. Hana shrugs on her backpack and James whips a string-satchel over his head onto his back. They walk through the front gate together.

                                        CUT TO:

INT. ENGLISH CLASSROOM – DAY     

There are nine students sitting on/at desks around the room. At the front of the class, MS EMMA COLTHORPE, Caucasian, is a 35-year-old English teacher wearing jeans and a folk band t-shirt, with dark hair. She writes the word REALISM on the board and underlines it with a flourish.

                    EMMA
                (Loudly, with confidence)
           Realism! The 19th Century attack on 
           Romanticism. The most - 

Emma notices Hana standing nervously in the doorway and turns around, placing the chalk back on the holder under the board.

                    EMMA
                (Continuing)
            And you must be Hana. I’m Ms Colthorpe. 
            Welcome to Amery High.

 
                    HANA
            Um, thanks.

                    EMMA
            Take a seat.

                    HANA
            Thanks.

Hana sits down at the only spare desk, which has an old wooden kitchen chair as a seat (as opposed to a plastic school chair). Next to her is WILL COLTHORPE, Emma’s 17-year-old son. (Hana doesn’t know this yet.)

                    EMMA
                (Speaking in b.g., simultaneously.) 
            Take out your copy of The Necklace, by
            Guy de Maupassant. Now, Maupassant 
            believed that fiction should convey reality 
            as much as possible. He wanted complete
            objectivity. Who can tell me what objectivity
            means? 

                    WILL
                (Stage-whispering, simultaneously.)
            Hey, Hana? I’m Will.

                    HANA
                (Whisper)
            Um, hi.

                    WILL
            You’re from Sydney?

                    HANA
            Yeah.

                    WILL
            Wish I lived in Sydney. Hippy mum thinks 
            the country air is better for my development.

                    HANA
            Well we’re both in the middle of nowhere now, huh?

Emma has stopped speaking and turns to look expectantly at Will and Hana. Hana looks up guiltily; Will turns slowly around, annoyed at his mum for breaking up the conversation.

                    EMMA
            Will?

                    WILL
                (Nonchalantly)
            No idea.

                    EMMA
            I didn’t think so. Cleo?

                    CLEO
            Objectivity … well … is it when you look at 
            something from an unbiased point of view? Like...

Cleo is holding a pen and lifts it up, looking at Emma with an innocent, straight face.

                    CLEO
                (Continuing)
            Like, this is a pen, not a ‘flimsy 
            plastic piece of crap'.

                    EMMA
                (Slight grin)
            You’ve pretty much got it, thanks.
            So your homework for this afternoon
            is to write a short story, with 
            complete objectivity. Any questions?

The bell rings and the class rushes to pack up their books. Hana copies the students around her and is about to leave the classroom when …

                    EMMA
            Hana, can I have a moment of your time?

                    HANA
            Uh, sure.

                    EMMA
            So how have you been settling in here?

                    HANA
            Fine, I guess. I’ve only been here for one class so …

                    EMMA
            Listen, I know that Amery High is 
            probably a world away from your old
            school, but you'll find that you'll
            settle in quickly. It's a smaller school,
            more personal; we're like a big family. If
            you have any problems, though, just come 
            and talk to me.
                    
                    HANA
            Sure, thanks Miss.

                    EMMA
            Alright. Do you have someone to hang 
            out with at lunch? If you want you can 
            come talk to me, I have playground duty.

                    HANA
                (Politely, but mortified by the idea)
            Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Hana repositions her bag and turns to walk out of the classroom. Emma watches her go with a mixture of curiosity and confusion, sighs, and then starts to wipe the board.

                                        CUT TO:

EXT. AMERY HIGH GROUNDS – DAY

Hana walks out into the small, relatively crowded playground, hugging her books to her chest and looking around with a disorientated look on her face. The bouncy Cleo rushes up to her.

                    CLEO
            Hi Hana!  

                    HANA
            Hi … ?

                    CLEO
            It’s Cleo, I’m Cleo.

                    HANA
            Oh, the pen girl.

Hana and Cleo turn away from the camera and start walking to a bench under a tree, where five students from the class are sitting
                    
                    CLEO
                (Laughing)
            Sure, why not? So what did Ms Colthorpe                            want?

                                        FADE TO:

...