ANGELINA — FINALE YOU PAID FOR A SEAT

[FINALE — YOU PAID FOR A SEAT] [ABSOLUTE BLACKNESS.] BOOM. [Silence.] BOOM. [Long pause.] BOOM. [WOMAN] Still here? [BOOM.] Of course you are. [Small laugh.] You paid for a seat. Remember? [BOOM.] He paid for a room. And I told you... the difference wasn't as big as you thought. [Long drum-only passage.] BOOM. BOOM. [Floor tom enters.] So... did you get what you paid for? [Pause.] Sex? Blood? A dead man? A broken woman? [BOOM.] An angel? [She laughs.] Sorry. No refunds. [DRUMS BEGIN TO BUILD.] You watched me take everything off. My lies. My guilt. My grief. My fucking mythology. [BOOM.] And somehow... I'm still dressed. [Silence.] Funny, isn't it? [Kick returns.] BOOM. Maybe naked was never about skin. [Long percussion break.] [Floor toms answer the kick.] I told you everybody has a price. I still believe that. [BOOM.] But price... isn't value. [Pause.] Took me long enough. [SNARE enters quietly.] He died at 3:17. [BOOM.] I didn't. [BOOM.] He knew. [BOOM.] I loved him. [BOOM.] And I knew too. [Silence.] That's why I lied. [Long pause.] Because love was the one thing I couldn't charge for. [DRUMS HIT.] And that scared me more than any man ever did. [LONG DRUM RITUAL.] [KICK + FLOOR TOMS + GRAN CASSA.] [WOMAN] So what now? Do I repent? [BOOM.] No. Do I forgive myself? [BOOM.] Maybe. Do I become a better woman? [Silence.] Fuck off. [DRUM HIT.] I become... the woman who walks out. [DRUMS ACCELERATE.] Not his woman. Not your woman. Not God's woman. Not the angel. Not the whore. [BOOM.] Angelina. [HUGE TOM HIT.] ANGELINA. [DRUMS ERUPT.] You wanted to know me? HERE! [BOOM.] I'm the body that survived! [BOOM.] The mouth that said no! [BOOM.] The mouth that said yes! [BOOM.] The bitch! [BOOM.] The lover! [BOOM.] The liar! [BOOM.] The woman! [ALL DRUMS EXPLODE.] AND I'M STILL FUCKING HERE! [EXTENDED DRUM SOLO.] [No voice.] [KICK relentless underneath.] [Floor toms circle it.] [Snare becomes frantic.] [Gran cassa answers.] [False stop.] [One kick.] BOOM. [WOMAN, calm] There. That's the ending you didn't expect. [Pause.] Nothing happens. [BOOM.] I live. [Long silence.] Tomorrow I'll wake up. I'll smoke. I'll swear. I'll probably make another terrible decision. [BOOM.] Maybe I'll fuck the wrong man. Maybe I'll love the right one. [Pause.] Maybe neither. [BOOM.] But at 3:17... [Silence.] I won't stop. [One enormous kick.] BOOM. [WOMAN] Listen. [BOOM.] That's not him. [BOOM.] That's not guilt. [BOOM.] That's not God. [BOOM.] That's not some fucking angel trying to escape. [DRUMS BEGIN FINAL BUILD.] That's me. [BOOM.] ME. [BOOM.] ME. [BOOM.] STILL. [BOOM.] FUCKING. [BOOM.] HERE. [COLOSSAL LIVE-DRUM STORM.] [Extended percussion finale. Kick remains underneath everything.] [One by one the drums disappear.] [Snare gone.] [Toms gone.] [Gran cassa gone.] [Only bass drum.] BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. [Sound of a lighter.] [Inhale.] [Exactly as the opera began.] [WOMAN, very close] You paid for a seat. [Pause.] Now get the fuck out of mine. [She extinguishes the cigarette.] [Footsteps walking away.] [The kick continues.] BOOM. [Footsteps farther.] BOOM. [Door.] BOOM. [Silence.] [One final bass drum, enormous.] BOOM. [BLACKOUT.]