THE CLASSROOM IN THE PUB
EXPOSITION IN SCREENPLAY FORM

Despite American Saturday morning television, or perhaps because of it, I suspect that the roles of the classical Furies, Fates and Muses are generally obscure.  Here, they are not only discussed for what they are generally understood to represent, but more importantly, for what they are specifically meant to represent in Morningstone!  It isn't critial that anyone "get it," especially not in this first run through.  It is enough that the information is given here.  The important elements will be reinforced as necessary throughout the story.

 
INT- HAMLET/PUB - DAY

Some scribbles appear on the movie screen, marking the end of a reel of film and the CAMERA immediately DOLLIES BACK to reveal the Teenagers as the pub's lights are switched on and the projector is switched off.

Morgan rubs his eyes, shielding them against the sudden light change.  O.S., we hear Laura walk to the front of her class.

Laura is dressed in “sensible” country tweed, her long hair exquisitely braided, giving it the appearance of a short, business-like cut.  Laura's  back is to CAMERA as she raises the movie screen to reveal a chalkboard.  We see a chalk diagram (derived from Joseph Campbell's “Hero with a Thousand Faces”), a circle split by a horizontal line with “reality” and “conscious” chalked in above the line; “mystical encounter” and “unconscious” below the line; and “threshold” on the line.  Turning INTO CAMERA, Laura addresses her class.
LAURA
What do the characters . . .
Laura sees Morgan at the back of the room and pauses for a beat.  Morgan recognizes Laura as the beauty who sang in the “movie” and is interested.  Blushing slightly, Laura continues.
LAURA (CONT'D)
. . . represent?

KEVIN

Nature deities.

BILLY

The Ninefold Muse.

BARBARA

The denigration of the goddess.
The Teenagers are highly motivated and the dialogue is fast-paced.
LAURA
Oh?  Why do you say that?

BARBARA

Well, ever since society became patriarchal, men have been 
putting women down.  Here, the embodiment of the female principal, the mother goddess, is reduced to a bevy of ineffectual, bickering departmental nymphs!
It is evident from her expression that Clio disagrees.
LAURA
Comment, Clio?

CLIO

What Barbara says may be true, but in this instance, I think it 
would be safe to say that the fragmentation of the goddess is 
merely a device of exposition, used to reveal the crisis dramatically through a confrontation between various aspects of her character.

LAURA

Who are the Furies?
Morgan is particularly attentive.  After all, he “met” them on the road in!
BARBARA
The goddesses of vengeance.

NIGEL

Forces of Nature opposed to Mankind.

BILLY

The obstacles to be overcome.

AMY

The guardians of the threshold.
Laura indicates the “threshold” on her chalkboard diagram.
LAURA
And the Muses?

BILLY

The goddesses who seek to inspire man.

CLIO

The keepers of the cauldron.

LAURA

The Cauldron of Inspiration.  What about it?

KEVIN

It's the reward.

CLIO

The womb through which the enlightened one becomes the twice born.

NIGEL

Enlightenment.

LAURA
(writing it on the blackboard)

Enlightenment.  What about the Fates?

KEVIN

The Past, Present and Future.

AMY

Impartial nature.  What shall be, will be.

LAURA

What are they doing?

KEVIN

Weaving the thread.

LAURA

The thread!  All right!  What about the thread?

AMY

It's short.

KEVIN

And thin.

TEENAGERS
(in unison, with some giggling)

It calls for skill.

LAURA

It calls for skill.  What does it symbolize?

KEVIN

Time.

AMY

More than time.  There's an implied threat in the delicacy of the thread.  It could snap.

BILLY

Doesn't the thread . . . well, the strand of the Muse's hair . . . represent the hero?

LAURA

The hero!
As Laura continues, O.S., Morgan begins to sway, his exhaustion and the shock of his misadventure catching up with him
LAURA (O.S.)
The key!  The Chosen One. 
Laura is excited, having guided the discussion to the most important point of the lesson.
LAURA
The single hair upon which all depends . . .
We hear a crash and a thud, O.S.  Laura and the Teenagers look toward the source of the noise.  Morgan has fainted and is out cold on the floor of the pub, half under a table. 

 
Here, we see not only wheels within wheels, but reels turning on the projector, reminding us that the quarrel between the goddesses was a scene in a film within a film!  The pub is also a classroom and the teacher is the lady who played the goddess of love and sang "Morningstone" in the movie, just before the quarrel broke out!

For theater-goers, everything required to understand and enjoy the film must be "on the screen."  Fortunately for you, this is the website.  If you simply MUST know more, CLICK ON THE MYSTERIES.
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