THE PRICE OF THE PRIZE an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario written by Alex Hung Written as an assignment in English Composition Two, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for juniors by Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Spring Semester, 1996 - Copyright 1996 by Alex Hung. A) STORY In the beginning, this is a case of a murder in the Victorian Age. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was a gifted writer of his time, won the Laureate Prize for his great, long poem. That day he held a celebration party in his mansion, and many of his friends were invited. Tennyson drank so much that he was found falling asleep in his study up stairs. However, the very next morning, he was found dead, lying on the sofa. No evidence was to prove what caused his death. No fighting or struggling. Then the London police came to investigate it, but in vain. Now, all the guests and the servants are asked to stay in the building, until the murderer is caught. B) INSTRUCTION This a role-playing game for eleven people to play. Each one takes one character and play it. The one who plays Tennyson, the dead, is a ghost, and nobody sees or hears him. Besides, he is the Game Master for this game, who is going to make this game run fluently. For example, it is him to decide when to state an act, or to announce something that is important to the game. As for the other players, they are supposed to talk in groups of two or three persons to get information which might be helpfu l to solve this problem. (Suppose that everyone wants to declare his or her innocence by finding out the killer) There is only one important rule: no body but the killer can lie. So, once one is asked about his or her secret, he or she must be frank. Thus, it would be helpful to take notes if vital clues is asked. In the end of the game, everyone write down on a piece of paper who does he or she thinks the murderer is, and then the killer confesses it. Are you ready to prove your innocence? C) LIST OF CHARACTERS 1. Alfred, Lord Tennyson-Male, 43, the poet who was killed 2. Arthur Hallam-Male, 37, a very close friend of the dead 3. Thomas Rich-Male, 55, a famous, rich publisher, also Alfred's friend 4. Emily Bronte-Female, 41, Alfred's wife 5. Shalotte Bronte-Female, 39, Emily's sister 6. George Eliot-Male, 45, a new boyfriend of Shalotte 7. John Ruskin-Male, 34, servant of Alfred 8. Ann Smith Ruskin-Female, 30, John's wife 9. Christina Rossetti-Female, 38, the maid 10. Matthew Arnold-Male, 44, Alfred's main rival in the field of poetry 11. Robert Browning-Male, 51, a druggist, a friend of Matthew D) CHARACTERS' BACKGROUND a. Alfred Lord Tennyson (Game Master) Of course, you are indeed a gifted poet of your time. However, it is your unusual experiences that drive to write those masterpieces. In fact, you are bisexual. So, you love both men and women. You think that nobody knows it but your best friend, Arthur, who is in fact your sex partner. As for your wife, Emily, although you look love her very much on public occasions, you don't sleep together. Even though, she is still the beneficiary in your will. That is, if you were dead, (truly you are dead,) she would get all what you posses. b. Arthur Hallam Public: Like your best friend, Alfred, you are also a poet, but not so famous as him. Originally, you were not a poet at all. You were a book agent in a big publishing company of Thomas, but you were sacked for your mistake. Then the time you lost your job, you wife left you. Thus, you met Alfred, and decided to devote yourself to writing. Secret: As a matter of fact, you are a homosexual, and Alfred is your partner. The reason why you fired by Thomas is he found you were a homosexual, and he could not endure a man like that. And, although you are not such a talented writer like Alfred, sometimes you work out excellent pieces. Actually, it is your work with which Alfred won the Laureate Prize. He stole it from you! c. Thomas Rich Public: You are a so called millionaire. You made a great fortune by publishing the current favorite poetry and novels. Alfred, so to speak, made a great deal of money for you for his works are always so popular. Recently, you and Alfred had several argues over the copyrights of his work. He threatens you to pay him more, but you don't agree. Secret: To tell the truth, you are a sex pervert. You prefer virgins, especially those who are not mature. Every one or two years, you travel long to buy a slave in the black market, and carry her to your castle. Then, like a cat playing its rat in hand, you mistreat her to death. You invited Alfred to play this crazy game with you, but he refused. d. Emily Bronte Public: You married Alfred when you graduate from college. He is your first love, so your cherish it very much. Every of your friend envies you have a good husband. To many people's disappointment, you don't have a baby since you have married so long. Secret: No body knows how much you hate your marriage. Except for the first decade, Alfred seldom touches you. You hate him for sure! However, since you are the beneficiary in his will, you think you can stand it until he dies. As a result, in order to solve your desire, you secretly ask your servant, John, to satisfy you in that way. e. Shalotte Bronte Public: You are Emily's sister. You, like your sister, are a tender and charming woman. Nevertheless, you remain single since you are in your late thirties. Many people try to introduce you to some noble, gentle rich men, but you refused. Thus, some of them think you are too proud or just insane, but you don't care. Secret: In fact, you are just too afraid of men, for you had been raped by your sister's husband, Alfred. It happened not long before your sister' marriage. After that, you dare not to get along with men. So, even your new boyfriend, George, is a woman in disguise. f. George Eliot Public: You are a stranger here. No body knows you but Shalotte. The only thing that people know about you is that you make a living by selling stuffs for women. As everyone says, you are a mysterious man. Secret: The truth is that, you are a woman in disguise. The reason why you dress in man's suit and wear artificial beard is that it excites you. Originally, you are Arthur's wife, who left him when he was in need of support after he lost his job. You don't think it is your fault. Instead, you think that he should act like a man, for he often looks sissy. That's why you left him, and tried to be a "real" man. Your real name is Mary Eliot. John Ruskin Public: You came to this house as a servant with your wife three years ago. You think that your master and his wife are good people, for they pay you higher than the average. You appear to be very obedient to them. Secret: Things are not what it seems. For many times, you found that your master, Alfred Tennyson, tried to harass you wife, but in vain, because you always appeared on the proper time. (As for what Mrs. Tennyson asks you to do, you think it is nothing but your work. She is a lonely woman, you think, who her husband hasn't touched her for years. So, when she asks to have sex with you, you think you are just doing her a favor.) However, one day you went to you master's study, you found he is rapping your wife. What a terrible view for you! Then you decided it: to kill him secretly. That evening on the party, you dosed a few poisoning powder into his tea cup, and when he drank too much that he went upstairs to his study to get a hot tea, he died voicelessly. h. Ann Ruskin Public: You are John's wife. You always act decently and gracefully so your husband is proud of you. You really like this place because everyone here are so nice to you and your husband. Secret: To be frank, you like everyone in the house, especially the master. You often imagine that someday you can make love with a different guy. So, you try to induce your master to have it and you make it. However, for some times your husband rushed in at the proper time so that you could not but pretend you were innocent. i. Christina Rossetti Public: You have served as a maid in this house for more than 10 years. You seems to be a little bit nervous when you talk about your family. Even so, everyone thinks you are a fine, harmless person, and devoted to your job. Besides, your cooking is very expressive, like Italian. Or you are an Italian, some people guess, but you always deny it. Secret: Why not, you are indeed an Italian for sure! The reason why you don't like to talk about your past is that you had been in jail in Rome for two years, when you were still 21. You got a scattered family that you had to make a living by stealing and cheating. After you out of jail, you came to here to serve as a maid. However, old habit dies hard. You are still apt to steal items in this house and sell them. j. Matthew Arnold Public: Were it not for Alfred Lord Tennyson, you would be a poet second to none at your time. However, you still pay high esteem to him, though he usually makes severe criticisms about your writings. Secret: As a matter of fact, no body could hate Alfred more than you. He is always in your way to get the all kinds of local literary prizes. You are so jealous of him that you come up with many ways to disturb him, even to murder him. You had talked about it with you druggist friend, Robert, but he didn't think it work. k. Robert Browning Public: You have been a local druggist for more than 20 years here. You import all kinds of medicine into this city, and make a big fortune. Thus, just like Thomas Rich, also a friend of you, you are a so-called millionaire. However, unlike other rich men, you are a philanthropist, who donate ten percent of yearly revenue to the churches and those who need it. Not to mention, you are pretty good at pharmacy. Secret: You are not a good man by nature. Before you started your druggist career, you were a wanted theft in America. There you killed a family and took all the money here, to begin you first company for importing medicine. Sorry for what you had done, you donate money regularly in order to reduce your sense of guilt. E) START THE GAME ACT -I Arthur: Several days ago, you saw Alfred had a furious argue with Thomas. Thomas: I know that Arthur still hate me for I fire him, but it was not my fault. Besides, I know there is something weird between Arthur and the dead. They are homosexual. Emily: Once in his dream Alfred murmured this: " Thomas, you're sick. Why did you kill those innocent girls?" Shalotte: My sister resents his husband long, for he was always so cold. Thus, she had a affair with their servant, John. John: Shalotte got a really weird boyfriend. One day I went to Mr. George Eliot 's room, and I forgot to knock the door. Do you know what I saw? A naked woman was standing in front the mirror. God! He is a woman! George: Once Shalotte got drunken and she told me that how she hate man, for she was rapped by Alfred. Ann: Two months ago, in Mr. Tennyson's study I saw Mr. Hallam and Mr. Tennyson fought violently. It seemed that Mr. Tennyson stole some work of Mr. Hallam. Christina: It would be hard on John if he knew that his wife had had affair with the master. It is incredible that he believed she was clean and innocent! Matthew: Robert was not what he is now. He was a notorious killer who killed a family for money. Robert: Matthew once wanted to kill Alfred by poison, so he came to me for help, but I declined. INTERMISSION (Declare the following document) According to the London Police, the cause of Alfred Tennyson's death is checked out: He died of poisoning by drinking the tea on the table in his study. For the time being, the police identify this case with a murder and are investigating it. There is also a will found in his safe. It says that after his death, all his properties are to be successed by his wife, Emily Bronte. ACT -II Arthur: The reason why Thomas argued with Alfred is that Alfred wants Thomas pay more for his copyrights, but Thomas doesn't want to. So Alfred threatens him that he would get another publishing company to publish his works in the future. Thomas: Alfred had told me that he had caught his maid, Christina, stealing the silver ware for many times. And everytime he got her, he always asked her to sleep with him! That pig! Emily: I know who should be responsible for Shalotte's hatred for men. It was Alfred. God, how could he do that to her? Shalotte: The servant, John, seemed to be very rude in recent days. It is not what he used to be. And to tell the truth, George is not a man. He is a woman, named Mary Eliot, the ex-wife of Arthur Hallam. George: That evening on the party, I went to Arthur to say hi, but he didn't recognize me, for he was half drunken, murmuring that" Alfred, give my poem back. That prize is mine..." Then I think Alfred must stole something from him. John: That day I did saw someone slip into the study, and it looked like a woman. But I cannot make sure who it is. Ann: In recent days, Christina seemed to be very upset. Maybe it is because the things Mr. Tennyson forced her to do. Christina: Yesterday I told John what I saw when he was not in this house, but he said he didn't believe it; He said his wife could not do that dirty things; it must be Alfred Tennyson who threatened her to do. Matthew: Robert told me that the publisher Thomas is a sex pevert who likes to kill young ladies. And it is a secret between he and Alfred. Robert: The guy who named George Eliot is weird. His voice sounds strange. And I don't like the way he walks and smokes. All in all, he looks a littlt bit sissy. THE END