THE PORTRAIT OF THE VIRGIN MARY FEEDING THE DINOSAURS BY JEFF GOODE IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, AND MAY NOT BE PERFORMED, DOWNLOADED, OR RE-TRANSMITTED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S CONSENT.
Nude Descending a Staircase
(enter Rafael, reverently, with a bowl of condoms)
(when he reaches center stage, a pedestal rises out of the floor for him to set it on.)
(sound of a knock at the door)
Rafael.Come in.

(door opens, Lisa pokes her head in.)
Lisa.Hi.
Rafael.Come in, I said.

(Enter Lisa, an attractive young woman with a portfolio under one arm. Rafael surveys her lustfully.)
Rafael.They call you Mona?
Lisa.Lisa.

(Rafael gives her a quizzical look.)
Rafael.Lisa?
Lisa.I hope I'm not disturbing you.

(Rafael throws a cloth over the bowl of condoms. He looks at her again.)
Rafael.I was expecting someone else.
Lisa.Oh, I'm sorry! I can come another time.

(Rafael shuts the door.)
Rafael.No. You will come now.

(He circles her like a predator. Lisa is uneasy, but tries not to show it.)
Rafael.I hope I'm not disturbing you.
LisaNo, it's just... Well, I've never been this close to an artist of your... magnitude.
Rafael.(pleased:) You've heard about my magnitude?
Lisa.Yes! You're Rafael.
Rafael.Master.
Lisa.Master Rafael. The great painter.
Rafael.Artist.
Lisa.I saw you at the exhibition.
RafaelYou followed me from the marketplace? What do you want from me?
Lisa.Master Rafael. I want you... to teach me.
Rafael.Teach?
LisaI'm an artist, too. Well, not like you. I guess I shouldn't even call myself an artist. But I'm very serious. These are some of my paintings.

(She hands him the portfolio. Rafael looks at her paintings.)
Rafael.I am not a teacher. I am an artist.
LisaBut I think there's so much I could learn from you. I've studied your work. You're a genius. Everything you do is a masterpiece. Please consider it, Master Rafael? You have so much to offer.
Rafael.And what do you have to offer me?

(She was afraid he'd ask.)
LisaI'm not wealthy, but I'll give you what I have. Or I could apprentice, or I'll do anything. It would be such a privilege for me. I'd give anything.
Rafael.I will ask only one thing.
Lisa.Anything.
Rafael.Mona...
Lisa.Lisa.
Rafael.Do you believe in me?
Lisa.Yes, of cour--

(Rafael tears one of her paintings in half.)
Lisa.Oh!
Rafael.Destroy these.
Lisa.Wh--?
Rafael.You cannot move forward while you cling to what you are.

(Lisa doesn't know what to say. Pause.)
Lisa.But--
Rafael.(suddenly:) Get out of my sight!
Lisa.What--?
Rafael.You do not trust me. How can you learn?

(Pause.)

(Lisa destroys all of her paintings.)

Rafael.Too little too late.
Lisa.But--
RafaelYou cannot believe in me after the fact. You do not trust me. You've shown me that.
Lisa.I do. I do trust you, and I believe in you.
Rafael.I do not have time for games.
Lisa.It's not a game for me. Please, Master Rafael.

(Pause.)
Rafael.Do you know that this is what you want?
Lisa.More than anything.

(He considers her for a long time.)
Rafael.I do not need a student.

(Pause. Lisa is crushed.)
Rafael.I need a subject.
Lisa....For one of your paintings?
Rafael.Yes, of course what did you think?
Lisa.You want to paint me?
Rafael.With every inch of my being.
Lisa.I've never sat for a portrait before.
Rafael.It is an experience you will never forget.
Lisa.I... Yes... Thank you... Yes, thank you, Master Rafael.
Rafael.Don't be so formal. You may call me Master.
Lisa.Yes, Master.

(She sits.)
Lisa.How do I...?
Rafael.You cannot wear that.

(He tosses her a gown, and gestures toward the changing room.)
Lisa.No, of course not. I'm sorry.

(she goes into the changing room. when she turns on the light, Rafael can see her silhouette.)

(While Rafael watches her undress, dancers come in and whisk away most of the furniture, and props. As they carry off the torn remnants of Lisa's paintings, we see that they were modern classics - Monet's, Picasso's, etc.)

(When Lisa comes out of the changing room, the studio is empty except for the painter's easel and a small step unit for the model to pose on.)

(She is wearing a beautiful kimono.)

Lisa.This gown is wonderful.
RafaelIt is a kimono, from the Orient. This was worn by the Contessa di Medici when she sat for her portrait.
Lisa.How do I look?
Rafael.I think you will satisfy.
Lisa.This is such a thrill to be here watching you create firsthand.
Rafael.You must not distract me with your...

(He gestures as if to say, "whatever that is you're doing".)

(He sits her down and shapes her into various poses, running his hands along her limbs and across her body.)

Rafael.Such potential.
Lisa.Thank you, I--
Rafael.Ssh.

(Rafael begins applying paint to her, like makeup.)
Lisa.What are you doing?
RafaelYou are very beautiful. But to pose for a Master, you must be perfect. Your cheek, your eyes, your... lip.

(He crosses to the steps.)
Rafael.Come here, Mona.
Lisa.Lisa.
Rafael.Whatever.

(Lisa crosses to him. Rafael studies her briefly, then throws open the kimono. Lisa screams and covers herself.)
Lisa.(horrified:) Master Rafael!
Rafael(horrified, pointing at her underwear:) What is this???
Lisa.You animal! (she slaps him)
RafaelYou fool! (he slaps her) Why do you continue to waste my time?
This is a nude. You are to pose naked!
Do you think I need your help to paint a kimono? A kimono that hangs in my studio every day, that I can throw over a chair any time I want to paint a kimono. This is a nude. Must I earn every inch of your cooperation?
I give you the chance to breathe life into my vision, and you spit in my eye.
Do you think this is a game that you may tease me with a bit of compliance here, a hint of inspiration there?
If you cannot give yourself over to a great work, as I have done, as I do daily, then you will never call yourself an artist. Everything you touch will be cheapened by your maiden virtue, and your feigned naivete. You let your virgin propriety hinder a work that you are barely worthy to gaze upon.
I will make you immortal and you dare to hold anything back from me? Who do you think you are? Are you any more than clay in the hands of the sculptor? And if you cannot submit to me like the clay, then I will not sully my hands with you.
Get out of my studio. Get out of my sight. You have soiled an artist's vision.

(Lisa is in tears, petrified.)

(Sobbing quietly, she removes her underwear.)

Lisa.I am ready.
Rafael.Come here, Mona.

(he puts makeup on her cleavage. he opens her kimono, this time she does not object.)
Sit down.

(she sits. He applies rouge to her nipples)
Lie back.

(lights slowly fade)

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