Rebecca Kane is an Astoria, Queens-based playwright, stage manager, indie theatre producer, merch girl, and oat milk enthusiast. Her writing has appeared in the Rising Sun Performance Company 2019 Laboratorium Residency on Governor’s Island, the Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 readings, and the New York Theatre Festival, among others. In summer of 2019, her parody Almost Maimed performed simultaneously in LadyFest at The Tank and in the inaugural season of Rogue Theatre Festival. She’s had two new works appear in CyberTank 2020, The Tank’s virtual 2020 season, one of which, Tight (Haha Nice), was filmed and streamed this past summer in both Orlando Fringe’s DigiFringe and Rogue Theater Festival (Rebecca was a playwright-in-residence at Rogue as well). She is a 2020-21 ensemble member of the Rising Sun Performance Company.

Duet Rehearsal

CHARACTERS:

Katie: Teenage girl, any race

Ainsley: Teenage girl, any race

SETTING:

A dance rehearsal studio.

TIME:

After school, modern day.

CW: This play discusses non-consensual sexual touching.

Lights up on a rehearsal space, mostly empty, but we’re seeing the last of KATIE and AINSLEY settle in. They have some Top 40 hits playing from one of their phones, they’re putting down their dance bags, they’re settling into some initial stretches. They both have on fairly revealing dance clothes (sports bras, booty shorts, the like), but KATIE has an extra tee or sweatshirt on to cover herself up. She adjusts it a lot. As they stretch, KATIE leans her feet over into AINSLEY’s space. AINSLEY wiggles away, making some sort of noise. It’s obviously a familiar joke.

KATIE
Hey. Hey, Ainsley.

AINSLEY
Yeah. Katie.

KATIE
Do you like your solo?

AINSLEY readjusts in the stretch, turns away.

AINSLEY
Oh for sure.

KATIE
Liar.

AINSELY
No, I do!

KATIE
You thought you were gonna get the Billie Eilish song when you heard Ms. Katerina playing it in the office.

AINSLEY
I didn’t not think I was gonna get the “Ocean Eyes” solo, but I like my solo. Celine Dion’s cool.

KATIE
Ew.

AINSLEY
That’s rude! She’s a star and stuff!

KATIE
I like mine. I wish my costume was different.

AINSLEY
Yeah.

KATIE
Yours is so pretty though, with all the blue sequins and the—

AINSLEY
No, I meant I wish yours was different too. (When KATIE leans over to fake-kick her, swearing all the way) I’m kidding I’m kidding I’m kidding! You can’t leave me an opening like that, dude. Actually, I think it’s really cute. Wait, why don’t you like it?

KATIE
I guess I wish like, the stomach wasn’t out? [Off AINSLEY’S puzzled look] Or like, not out like that. You know? Out in a different way. It doesn’t have to be like all the way out in the side like that. Not my obliques. Oh god. I’m getting soft there. Fuckin puberty.

AINSLEY
No WAY, dude. You have abs for days, fool!

KATIE
At least you have, like, tits.

AINSLEY
YOU HAVE TITS!

KATIE adjusts her top as they stretch. An uncomfortable position.

KATIE
Sorry, this like, it like, does not fit. Do you see the back strap—is it all tangled or—can you pull it out?

AINSLEY leans over and sticks a hand down her shirt, no hesitation. KATIE twitches, AINSLEY keeps pulling at it.]

AINSLEY
Yeah, hold on.

KATIE
Ugh you know – never mind

AINSLEY
Hang on, almost got it.

KATIE
It’s fine.

AINSLEY
Hang on—

KATIE
Can you help me stretch? Like to get my side extension. Over here. Against the wall.

She gets up and goes over to the wall. AINSLEY follows, helps her get her foot as high up as possible against the wall.

KATIE (CONT)
That’s not how, like—Mr. Robbie has this weird way that kind of worked it but it—ugh, never mind. Let’s do our splits, then let’s go over that weird bridge part of the song that we hate before he gets here.

AINSLEY
He’s going to be late. Like always.

They do a split stretch of some kind, involving pulling each other over at painful looking angles. A deep partner stretch.

AINSLEY (CONT)
Did you mean like the part where – the song goes like [A poor rendition of their song, probably purposely worse than it is] “Hold me dooo---oooo---wwnnn....”

KATIE
No she goes like “Hold me dooOOOOOwwnn”

They dissolve into even worse fake singing, more like some animal noises, eventually laughing, then getting self-conscious and stopping.

KATIE (CONT)
Yeah, that part.

AINSLEY gets up to find the song on her phone. She plays bits and pieces of the song, searching for it. KATIE listens to it, thinking. Eventually, AINSLEY comes back over, awkwardly counts them in, and they start a section of a dance. Even though it’s an awkward start in the middle of a dance that needs more work, it’s obvious the moves are very mature. Sexual, not in a funny or jazzy way. KATIE seems to be more uncomfortable than AINSLEY.

AINSELY
That’s what’s off. [Stopping the music] The dip down to the floor – you’re like hesitating –

KATIE
Well yeah, I mean it’s -- yeah it’s just weird that’s why.

AINSLEY
Nah, it’s the same as the one when we did that Proud Mary jazz – what was it – two years ago or—

KATIE
No, no, it’s just that. Hey. Hey, Ainsley.

AINSLEY
Yeah? Katie?

KATIE
Like. What do you think this song is about?

AINSLEY
I don’t know.

KATIE
Like... not at all?

AINSLEY
I guess I didn’t think about it. Because I was. Like. Busy thinking about the section with the straddle.

KATIE
Like... ... but if you were to guess.

AINSELY
I guess it’s about. I mean, she keeps saying “hold me down hold me down,” so if I were to guess, I’d say she’s being. Held down.

KATIE
DUH I mean like, but what does she actually mean? Do you think she means in a sexual way? Is it about that?

AINSLEY
No, I think it’s probably about LIFE holding her down. Like, you know. The Man.

KATIE
Actually can we go back to the wall so I can do that extension again? I feel mega stiff.

They go over. AINSLEY seems hesitant.

KATIE (CONT)
Can you – if you actually push my foot up here –

AINSLEY
What were you saying about how Mr. Robbie has a way he does it?

KATIE
Oh. Yeah. It’s like this... put your hand on my foot up here. (AINSLEY does.) And take your other hand and put it on my thigh like right here. (AINSLEY does.) And then push the foot up, and turn your other hand more ... in.

A pause. AINSLEY realizes that KATIE means to move her hand more toward the interior of her thigh. She hesitates, then does what KATIE says.

AINSLEY
There?

KATIE nods.

AINSLEY (CONT)
Mr. Robbie puts his hand there?

KATIE
I mean only for a minute to make sure it’s stable like now you can let go I mean like now you can LET GO IT’S FINE.

AINSLEY
Oh sorry, sorry, sorry it just like it didn’t seem stable yet and like I didn’t want to--

KATIE
It’s fine. I have it now.

AINSLEY
Oh. Okay.

A big shift in the air. AINSLEY goes off to do some other stretch.

KATIE
(singsongy) Hey heyyyy Ainsley.

AINSLEY
Yeahhhh Katie.

KATIE
I heard you have another kind of daaannnnnnce coming up.

AINSLEY
Ugh oh god.

KATIE
A big spring dance you get to go to with your boyyyyfrriiiend.

AINSLEY
Imagine Matty in a suit. YIKES!!

KATIE
God I miss public school.

AINSLEY
Yeah RIGHT. You get to be here all the time. I’m gonna ask my mom again this summer and I’m going to BEG her like on my hands and knees.

KATIE
Speaking of being. On your knees. What are you going to wear?

AINSLEY
EWWWUH KATIE GOD.

KATIE
No really! What do you want to wear?

AINSLEY
I don’t think I’m gonna go.

KATIE
What?? But you even have a boyfriend and everything. How can you not go to your high school fucking dance?

AINSLEY
It’s the same weekend as the Starpower thing, the New Bedford weekend.

KATIE
Oh. Shit.

AINSLEY
Yeah. Yeah oh shit.

KATIE
If you can’t do New Bedford –

AINSLEY
Then, yeah, I can’t do Finals in Philly. Yeah. Shit.

KATIE
Damn. I’m so sorry.

AINSLEY
It’s whatever. I’d rather do Finals. I wonder where Mr. Robbie is. Why is he always so late?

KATIE
The later he is, the less we have to hear this lady whine about getting held down .

AINSLEY
The fewer straddle jumps we have to do.

KATIE
Yeah. I mean. My ankles after last time, dude.

AINSLEY
Knowing him, he’ll just want to focus on like. One body part. Probably our arms.

KATIE
Yeah. I hope it’s just. Our arms. I could use that.

AINSLEY
Yeah you could.

A weird silence as they finish up final stretches. KATIE faces away from her.

AINSLEY (CONT)
Even if I could go to the dance, what would I even wear? My junior solo dress? As if. My mom would just bitch again about costs, classes, second mortgage, this and that, bla bla... [noticing the silence] Bla bla. Katie. I didn’t mean that about your arms a second ago. You know that right? They’ve gotten so much better. Not that they were ever bad, but now they’re like, amazing, so—

KATIE
No, sorry, it’s not that, it’s just, this strap again. It’s really. Ugh.

AINSLEY comes right over to try to fix it again.

AINSLEY
I almost have it. What a weird – where did you even get this thing –

KATIE
That Insta sponsorship thing.

AINSLEY
God Dancewearultra sucks my dick. This thing is impossible. Maybe Mr. Robbie will know how to fix it.

AINSLEY wanders away, turns off her phone. When she does, she notices they’re in total silence. KATIE holds her twisted top.

KATIE
He tried to fix my top last time.

AINSLEY
Yeah?

KATIE
Yeah.

AINSLEY
(not really wanting to ask) Like how?

KATIE shows her. It involves putting her hands on her breasts, an area not even close to the twisted part of the top. AINSLEY watches, and for once, pauses, actually thinking through her words.

AINSLEY (CONT)
Did you tell your mom?

KATIE
I’m not going to tell my mom.

AINSLEY
Did you tell Ms. Katerina?

KATIE
She’s going to tell my mom. He’s gonna chaperone the Philly Finals. My mom wouldn’t let me go.

AINSLEY
I mean... it’s just one finals. Right? Maybe I do want to go to my dance thing. In the spring. I mean, I DO, I do wanna go. So I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to do this duet there. Like if you couldn’t go.

KATIE
No, we should go if you want to go. I want to go. Especially if you wanna go.

AINSLEY
Yeah. For sure. Hey, you said you were stiff, and like, me too kinda, so... let’s do that one down here one more time.

She leads them back down to the floor to do that one where they take turns leaning forward into splits, deep ground stretches. They are really pulling on each other.

AINSLEY (CONT)
You should really tell your mom though. It might not even be that bad. I mentioned once, that like, he used to like, you know, also fix my tops that way. Especially for that like. The junior solo dress, the sparkly one, right before I went on. And my mom said. I was probably not understanding it. Misinterpreting it or whatever. So maybe it’ll just be fine.

KATIE
Or maybe we are misinterpreting it.

AINSLEY
Yeah maybe his hands just slipped. Or something.

KATIE
Right, or something.

AINSLEY
Damn, I can’t wait for Philly.

KATIE
Oh hell yeah!

AINSLEY
But first we gotta slay at New Bedford.

KATIE
We will.

Their stretch is done. They hear noise from outside, voices, adults chatting.

AINSLEY
There he is.

KATIE
Hey. Hey, Ainsley.

AINSLEY
Yeah? Katie.

KATIE
If he ever shows you how to do your extension against the wall, like how he showed me, can you promise to tell me?

AINSLEY
I promise.

KATIE
Even if it’s Finals.

AINSLEY
I promise, yeah, Katie.

The door to the studio opens. The girls go into first position.