Sanna. What's that?
Slimane. What's what?
Sanna. That smell. What is that? Have you been smoking?
Slimane. Yes, I have.
Sanna. What are you doing smoking?
Slimane. I was with Ellah. You know how she smokes.
Sanna. So you smoked with her?
Slimane. She didn't want to smoke by herself. She's trying to quit, but she had to have a smoke. Smoking with me made her feel less guilty. She even gave me the rest of the pack. Where are they? Here they are.
Sanna. I don't know. Sounds like you were flirting with her.
Slimane. I've known Ellah for a long time. We're beyond flirting I would think.
Sanna. Don't you miss it though?
Slimane. Miss what?
Sanna. Flirting. You used to tell me how good you were at it.
Slimane. I am easy to talk to.
Sanna. Well, don't you miss it then?
Slimane. I don't think you'd believe me, but no, not really. It's not like I'm itching to make conversation with new girls.
Sanna. You're not?
Slimane. Really. I would say that I'm not only beyond flirting with Ellah, but also with all other girls.
Sanna. Really now?
Slimane. Yeah, I think so, of course with a few exceptions.
Sanna. Alun's having a party tonight. Feel like going and not flirting with new girls?
Slimane. Wouldn't you rather go somewhere else and finish this pack of cigarettes with me?
End. Smoke Out of the Mouth

Feridun. Hey. What are you doing here?
Kadri. Hey. I can't hear you.
Feridun. You can't hear me?
Kadri. No. Can you come around?
Feridun. Sorry, I'm late.
Kadri. You have a date?
Feridun. I have a date.
Kadri. You could always skip and have coffee with me.
Feridun. What?
End. Inside Outside of a Coffee House

Nevra. Hi.
Mete. Hi.
Nevra. Oh, your coins are falling out of your pocket.
Mete. Let them fall.
End. Nevra on the Couch with Mete

Sibelle. Can you find my green jacket?
Miike. Where is it?
Sibelle. It should be on the chair you're sitting at.
Miike. There's a black jacket here. Do you mean this one?
Sibelle. That's the jacket, but it's really a dark green.
Miike. You're right. It is green.
End. Temporarily Color Blind

Enide. Where you going?
Otelo. Up. Where you going?
Enide. Down.
Otelo. I'll see you later, then.
Enide. Later.
End. At West Fouth Street Station

All 921 residents of Ocracoke Island in North Carolina's vulnerable Outer Banks were ordered to begin evacuating Monday afternoon. A line quickly formed at the ferry dock.

One.
Potito. Yo, excuse me. Excuse me.
Aleksey. Yes?
Potito. I’m going to ask you to do a big favor for me.
Aleksey. Yes?
Potito. Do you know where University Ave. is?
Aleksey. Yeah, it’s a couple of blocks from here.
Potito. Yeah, here’s the favor. I need you to drive me there.
Aleksey. I’m sorry?
Potito. I’m desperate. I’m drunk, man. My wife’s drunk. I can’t drive there myself.
Aleksey. Don’t you know anyone else to drive you?
Potito. There’re people, but you’re right here. Come on. Can you open the door?
Aleksey. I don’t know. I’ve had bad experiences driving strangers to different places.
Potito. Stranger? I’m no stranger. I live at 138B. You live here, don’t you?
Aleksey. Yes, but.
Potito. We’re neighbors. I’m no stranger. My name is Potito. I’ve got a wife and son. I don’t want your money, I just need a ride.
Aleksey. I’m a little confused. Why do you need to go to University Ave.?
Potito. I need to meet my brother. I’ve got some business to attend to.
Aleksey. Now, you don’t need to lie to me.
Potito. You don’t believe me? Here, I’m going to call my wife. You can talk to her.

Two.
Aleksey. Hello?
Denisa. Hi.
Aleksey. Does this make sense to you?
Denisa. You can say no.
Aleksey. I don’t know. Your husband’s pretty adamant about me driving him.
Denisa. Just say no. It’s okay.
Aleksey. Okay. Thanks. Here’s your husband.

Three.
Potito. So, now you believe me?
Aleksey. She said it’s okay not to drive you.
Potito. What? No, no, no, come on. You’ve got to drive me. It’s only a couple blocks away. It’s nothing to you. Come on, do me a favor. It’s just right there.
Aleksey. Bastard. I don’t believe this.

Four.
Potito. You’re a good man for driving me. You don’t know how much this means to me. Hey, why are you stopping here? You gotta go a couple more blocks.
Aleksey. Here, take out your knife and stab me in the stomach as many times as you want. I’ll try not to struggle too much.
End. Ready for the Initial Point

Ignacio. Hi.
Chanelle. Hi.
Ignacio. Just earlier, I waved to you.
Chanelle. Yes?
Ignacio. This didn’t bother you?
Chanelle. No, not really. Alyona introduced us earlier. I don’t see any problem in waving hello.
Ignacio. I have to admit, it felt a little uncomfortable. Waving to you that is. I mean, we barely talked. Should I be waving to with the familiarity of a friend?
Chanelle. I’m sorry. Did you want to take it back?
Ignacio. Take what back?
Chanelle. Your wave?
Ignacio. I can do that?
Chanelle. I don’t know. Maybe not.
Ignacio. I don’t know why this is bothering me, but I feel this needs to be resolved. I think I want to be able to wave to you and feel comfortable about it.
Chanelle. I think I understand.
Ignacio. Actually, it goes beyond waving to you. I find you very interesting. I need to know why. What are you doing afterwards?
Chanelle. Nothing really.
Ignacio. Do you think you can help me with this?
Chanelle. I’d like to try.
End. Date to Resolve

Somdev. Hello?
Hermes. Hello? Somdev?
Somdev. Yes?
Hermes. Hi, this is Hermes.
Somdev. Hermes?
Hermes. Right, I’m a friend of Ipora’s?
Somdev. Oh, okay. Did you want something?
Hermes. Well, it has to do with Ipora.
Somdev. What about her?
Hermes. She’s a little confused.
Somdev. Confused about what?
Hermes. She’s not exactly sure why you haven’t called her yet.
Somdev. What do you mean?
Hermes. She’s been waiting for you to call today about when and where you’ll be going to dinner, but you haven’t. You know how she doesn’t like to wait.
Somdev. Why didn’t she just call me?
Hermes. It’s a pride thing, I think. For her to call you is a sign of her dependence on you, which is kind of silly if you think about it, but that’s how she views her relationship with you. She needs to know that she’s in command of this relationship and thus the stronger one in the relationship.
Somdev. I don’t think I want to talk about this with you.
Hermes. I understand, and I don’t really know how you feel about Ipora, but I have a pretty good idea about how she feels about you. In some way, she feels that she can do much better than you, which explains why she feels that she should not have to call you and reveal how much she wants to talk to you, but she also doesn’t want to simply let you go since she doesn’t want to be lonely. With you, she’s not lonely.
Somdev. You cannot simplify our relationship like that.
Hermes. I don’t know. It clears a lot of the complications out, though. It’s easier to sort through.
Somdev. I’m going to hang up and call Ipora now.
Hermes. Good, you have a lot to discuss.
End. Refusing to Talk

Sein. Do you need to shave?
Erkin. I don’t know. Do you have a razor?
Sein. I do, but it’s for my legs.
Erkin. Can I see?
Sein. Here.
Erkin. Well, I’ll try it. I don’t know how close the shave would be, but I guess this would be closest to your legs I’ll ever get.
Sein. Um, okay? I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react to what you just said.
Erkin. This reminds me of a time I was in France. I stayed at a friend of a friend’s flat, and he has two daughters who are twins. They look exactly alike, but one has a port wine birthmark on her cheek, so it’s very easy to tell them apart.
Sein. Port wine birthmark? Like Gorbachev?
Erkin. Right, but on her cheek rather than her head. I actually know another girl who has a port wine birthmark on the side of her cheek. I don’t know why, but I found her birthmark extremely attractive. I think it was because of a novel I read about a protagonist who, one day found a blue stain on his cheek, and could not wash it off. Earlier, he made a friend with a young girl who lived nearby. She saw the mark and licked the mark on his face. What I read came toward the edge of what was right and wrong. So I imagined what it would be like if I licked my friend’s port wine birthmark on the side of her cheek, but she would knock me down if I got anywhere near her.
Sein. You do have that affect on women.
Erkin. Call it a power if you will. So in France, whenever I got up to brush my face and shave, the twin with the port wine birthmark on her cheek would come and watch me shave. She was mesmerized. I stayed with them for two weeks, and every day she would stand by the door and watch me shave. It was somewhat comforting to know someone was witnessing me shaving.
Sein. I guess it’s like when someone watches me prepare my bread. All my efforts into making the dough, letting it rise, and punching back down are seen, rather than just being eaten.
Erkin. Right, I take pride in my shaving techniques, but no one sees them or appreciates them.
Sein. Would you like me to watch you shave?
Erkin. Even though I’m using a woman’s razor, with women’s shaving cream, yes.
End. The Attraction of Gorbachev

Gennadi. I wonder if I have some sort of attraction to the piano.
Ansley. How do you mean?
Gennadi. I seem to have relationships with girls who are quite skilled at the piano.
Ansley. Katja plays the piano, doesn’t she?
Gennadi. Yes, and I would say she’s the best pianist I’ve dated.
Ansley. Really? What about the others?
Gennadi. The first and third piano girls were very good. You could tell that they loved playing the piano. The second was good too, and studied the piano at one of the best music schools in the country, but she really didn’t enjoy playing. The only reason why she played was because she had nothing else to do.
Ansley. At least it’s the piano. It beats studying something like math and hating it.
Gennadi. I hate math.
Ansley. I do too. It pisses me off.
Gennadi. But, there is a difference between Katja and the other piano girls.
Ansley. How’s that?
Gennadi. I told her about a theater that occasionally shows silent films during the week. Sometimes, in order to keep the viewing experience as genuine as possible, a pianist would accompany the film because that is what they would do back then. I went to see a restoration of a three hour D.W. Griffith film accompanied by a silent pianist. The pianist was one of four pianists that can do what he does in accompanying silent films. There was no sheet music. He has never even seen the film before. He just played to the film according to the mood of the scene. Three hours he did it for, and he was even sick when he was asked to play. He would improvise everything piano. It was really amazing.
Ansley. Sounds amazing.
Gennadi. When I told Katja about the silent pianist, she started to cry.
End. The Silent Pianist

Joachim. What do you have in the bag?
Saori. A box of whistles and a box of chalk.
Joachim. What for?
Saori. I really don’t know. I’m not surprised about getting the box of chalk. I enjoy the sound of the pieces sliding and clicking against each other in the box. It’s very clean and familiar, but I am surprised about the whistles. There’s nothing familiar about them. Whistles have nothing to do with me, but I had this urge to get them as well.
Joachim. Does it have to do with the box itself? What about a box of matches?
Saori. But matches make sense. I have distinct memories with matches, but I really want to know what my fascination is with these whistles. Not until I saw these whistles did I have any feelings for them. I could have lived my entire life without own any whistles.
Joachim. But now you have a box of twenty.
Saori. I do have a small memory of whistles in general when I was a kid, but it doesn’t have a specific place or time. I think I was most interested in the ball found inside each whistle, how it would shake inside the hollow of the whistle, and that I could only touch it through the blowhole opening with the tip of my pinky finger. I remember would even try to touch it with my tongue. That said, I can’t say that the reason why I got a box of whistles was because of the ball inside each one. That would make me some sort of nut case, don’t you think?
Joachim. Do you want to open each whistle to get to the ball?
Saori. Do you know where we can get a pair of metal cutters?
End. Boxes to Open

Amer. What?
Bohdan. What?
Amer. You want to tell me something don’t you?
Bohdan. Well.
Amer. What is it? You know something, don’t you?
Bohdan. I’m starting to rethink telling you what will happen.
Amer. What do you mean? Whatever you’ve told me has come true. It’s really helped me with decisions.
Bohdan. Yes, but my telling you all these things, it’s not helping you in a sense. If anything, you’ve become dependent on me.
Amer. Do you feel like I’m using you?
Bohdan. No, not really, but it’s only because you’re not used to the fact that I can tell you what’s going to happen.
Amer. But you do have something to say about my life?
Bohdan. Well. I’m not sure if I should tell you anymore.
Amer. Can you tell me if it’s going to be good or bad?
Bohdan. This is the problem. You don’t have any confidence in your life. I mean, at least you’re uncertain about your life that you need me to calm you down.
Amer. These couple past months have been real tough.
Bohdan. But whatever I told you, you’ve become calm about it, right?
Amer. Well at first, of course I was skeptical, but now I know you’re telling the truth.
Bohdan. Then don’t you see that everything’s going to be okay? It might be hard, but everything that I’ve told you has been leading up to something good. I don’t need to tell you these things anymore. You should know already that it’s going to be okay.
Amer. Is it going to be okay?
Bohdan. You don’t need to ask that question. You’ve made it this far.
Amer. You make it seem too easy to be calm about everything. I admit, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I feel like I’m out of control of the situation. All I’m doing is waiting.
Bohdan. Then wait until you have something to do.
Amer. Then what will I have to do?
Bohdan. Think about it.
End. Telling the Truth