The Entertainment

The Entertainment is a seperate game available for free download, as well as a paperback script available for purchase. It is two previously seperate plays made for performance together; one about a bar, the other a pantomime about a drunken bar patron.

Background

The show is comprised of two plays by Lem Doolittle: A Reckoning and A Bar-Fly. Joseph Wheatree has adapted the plays for simultanious performance. It has been renamed The Entertainment.

This production took place November 16, 1973 by the Buffalo Street Student Theatre.  

Lula Chamberlain was the set designer for the performance. She complains in her production notes that Doolittle described very little apart from dialogue, and that putting together the set was difficult.

Soundtrack

The script includes 15 sound cues, most of which consist of eerie atmospheric drones. The love song in the game is by Ben Babbit. It is an adaptation of the original Love Letter Full of Promises by Juanita Rogers.

Cast

Harry Esperanza ... Edgar Foy

Lawrence Slade ... Allen Vogel

Pearl Slade ... Sarah Wakefield

Rosa Slade ... Sydney Mueller

Evelyn Hickman ... Paula Graves

Bar-Fly ... Uncredited

The Entertainment

Scene I

Harry and Evelyn in Scene I of The Entertainment

The show opens on the inside of The Lower Depths, a bar in Kentucky. It's morning and Harry stands behind the bar while Evelyn sits on a stool in front of it, the Bar-Fly slumps drunkenly over a table. They talk about the hot weather. Evelyn mentions her husband Ted who is currently in Texas and wonders if he'll be unfaithful to her. Harry comforts her. He mentions that he's now only serving Hard Times Whiskey, and Evelyn asks if he's ever seen one of "the boys from Hard Times". She's "heard they're... strange." When she asks about all the bread Harry has, Harry explains it's for sandwiches due to Raines law. He considers getting a hostess for the bar and explains that he saw one when he was on vacation at the beach in New Orleans. The two of them consider the Bar-Fly slumped over his table, and Evelyn wonders if Ted is in a similar state in Texas and explains that he is selling hammers. She asks Harry what the entertainment that night will be and he tells her it will be Junebug. 

Scene II

It is now afternoon, but nothing else has changed. Harry changes the channel on a TV and Evelyn tells him to switch it back to the documentary on dinosaurs. She complains that there were no dinosaurs on Noah's Ark. They talk about church, and Harry says he hasn't been to one since he used to go with a woman named Bess. They remark on how she was a "good Christian woman". Evelyn asks about Harry's vacation and he says it was "seven days poolside". She confronts his contradiction and Harry says he can't remember if he was at the beach or a pool. Pearl enters and asks whether her parents are there, as she needs to talk with them. They aren't there, so Evelyn offers her a drink and tells Pearl that they're only serving Hard Times. Pearl is uncomfortable about the Whiskey and the rumors surrounding it. They talk about travel and Evelyn begins mocking Ted and his business selling hammers, imagining that he'll get lonely on the road and be unfaithful. Evelyn brings up Harry's lapse in memory about his vacation and he grows increasingly uncomfortable. The women tell him he looks stressed. They question whether he really went on vacation at all, and Harry is irritated. Pearl starts talking about how she is going to cut off her parents tab at the bar because she's tired of paying and Harry is concerned about the debt, saying "you never know when they'll... be reckoned and called in." They discuss different kinds of debt and loans. Harry gives Pearl a free drink, warns her to pay her tab, and she leaves.

Scene III

The Bar-Fly's table

Evening in the bar, now Rosa and Lawrence, Pearl's parents, sit at a table. Rosa talks about her boss telling her she is "management material" and they talk excitedly about a possible promotion. Harry tells them to pay their bill and they try to shake him off the subject by asking about gators on his New Orleans vacation. To his chagrin, Evelyn comments sarcastically on the "big, sandy swamp, with a pool and a hostess..." They get ready for the entertainment and Harry says there will be a reckoning on all the drinks he's giving out. Lawrence says he's heard about a secret ingredient in Hard Times, Rosa thinks it's something about the wood they age it in. Rosa and Lawrence continue to drink and assume Pearl will pay the bill, though Harry suggests otherwise. Junebug is late. Harry hopes she shows up soon.

Scene IV

It is now late at night. The bargoers are still there and Pearl has returned to speak with her parents. A love song is playing. Evelyn is drunk and complains angrily to Pearl that she is suspicious of Ted cheating on her. Pearl comforts her but gripes about how tired she is of paying for her parents. Upset, Lawrence tries to tell Pearl about the possible raise Rosa is getting. After Pearl repeatedly refuses to pay for her parents' drinks, Rosa admits that her manager only said "maybe eventually"; it is unlikely that she will get a promotion at all. Lawrence is stunned.

Evelyn refuses to go home, saying she will wait for Junebug to arrive, but the performer is very late and Harry insists she isn't coming. Harry tells Evelyn to settle up, but Pearl offers to buy her a drink instead. Harry cracks and admits that he didn't go on vacation, he tells them there will be a reckoning. Rosa asks what he means, Harry admits that he has no money left. He gave away too many drinks and had to make a deal to stock whiskey. Pearl is concerned about this and asks what kind of deal, but Harry insists that she leave, saying she "doesn't deserve this". Pearl leaves. Evelyn reveals that she only wishes that Ted would cheat on her, as she doesn't want to be the at fault for not loving him. Rosa is depressed that she's no where near a promotion after eleven years of working at the super market. Harry tells everyone to leave but they insist to stay and see the entertainment. Harry says that "All they want is debt! They feed on it! They put it in the whiskey!" Evelyn is startled sober and demands to know what he means. Harry says that a boy from Hard Times is coming and there will be a reckoning. Lawrence says the debt they have isn't to the distillery, but Harry reveals "It is now. I traded it. I sold it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." A disconcerting hum begins and a glowing skeleton, likely one of the boys from Hard Times, appears.

Curtain.

Gameplay

The only control given to the player is the ability to look around from the first-person view of the uncredited Bar-Fly. When looking at different areas in the theatre, parts of the script will be displayed, along with production notes, lighting cues, sound cues, and critical reviews of the show.