By His Grave (2-part Audio Drama)
velmaisbest for Adult 3
The adult version of Cora Jefferson. She's kept her tough exterior, but learned how to talk like she means it. She's less angry and has made great strides in her self-esteem since high school. She sees through both of the other adults and often has to mediate their arguments. Lower voice. She's given up on being angry, and has now just become tired. She has some outbursts of emotion, but keeps herself calm and level-headed through most of the show.
Almost every actor will play other characters. ADULT 3 is written to double as
MS. PERCY: An English teacher. She's excitable and loves her job, even if the students aren't necessarily the biggest fans of her. Described as having a "therapist's voice".
MS. BELL: A science teacher. She gets right into her class and loves to watch reactions. Later faced with the unlucky task of notifying students about a death.
[After describing losing your only friend for a petty reason] ADULT 3: Alright, sure… I- Well, as you can imagine, after all of that, having to deal with school was the last thing I wanted, so I just… didn’t go. I’d never skipped before, but at that point, all I could think was, well, “why should I care?”
[Snapping at the other two adults for their constant bickering] ADULT 3: Listen! I don’t think either of you will ever agree, alright? It doesn’t matter now. It’s all in the past! You! You need to learn that people can change, and people you might not like sometimes win, and that’s okay. And you! You need to learn that some people are unredeemable, and just because they might not be here right now, doesn’t mean that you have to excuse what they did. I don’t know what Arianna is doing with her life now. If I’m honest, I don’t really care. That chapter of all of our lives is over. I don’t know if I believe Arianna changed for the better, and I don’t know if I believe she stayed the same, but I do know that the only person that needs to matter to is herself. Right now, we’re- all of us- here to give our respect to him. Maybe our respect just involves these stories, but it feels like closure to me to talk about this. I know I want to hear the rest. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel better. I really think the only thing we have in common with each other is him, but as long as we’re here, we might as well, right? (Pause.) Please, finish the rest of your story. We’re getting all sides in, right? Right? There’s no point arguing over something that none of us could fix. Please, for my peace of mind, stop. Stop with the fighting, I can’t listen to it anymore. I don’t want to listen to it anymore.
[Describing a science experiment to the class] ADULT 3/MS. BELL: And finally, vinegar. Here’s a tip for all of you, don’t drink the stuff we’re using. That would be bad for you.
