ACT I
Scene 1
The Rubicon Roadside Inn & Diner, the parlor with panoramic windows. There are a few tables and a bar counter.
Evening. The storm is raging outside.
Andrey is standing in front of the bar counter. He looks around, then approaches the tableware stand, takes a fork, and puts it in an inside pocket of his jacket. After that, he picks up a knife, stabs an invisible opponent in the neck a number of times — his movements well-practiced, — tests the knife sharpness and puts the knife back on the table. Polina enters the stage. She goes down the stairs from the second floor carrying a tray.
Polina. Have you no shame? Stealing cutlery.
Andrey. No idea what you are talking about. I was just about to ask for the menu and order a bottle of good wine.
Polina. Garbage. You don’t have enough money to order a bowl of soup, let alone a bottle of wine.
Andrey produces a fat wad of shabby banknotes out of his pocket but then quickly puts it back.
Andrey. What are you doing here?
Polina. None of your business.
Andrey. You are a movie star, I’d wager. An actress? A supermodel?
Polina. I’m not. Who do you think I am?
Andrey. A waitress.
Polina. [Pause]. Well, and what are you up to when you are not busy stealing cutlery?
Andrey. To be perfectly blunt, I am looking for a job.
Polina. And what did you do before?
Andrey. Spent days in an asylum, served time, holed up in various places.
Polina. You were in a loony bin?
Andrey. That’s right.
Polina. After falling across a mean waitress, huh?
Andrey. Kinda. Do you see this foot?
Polina. So?
Andrey. I cut off my big toe with an axe.
Polina. What?! Why would you do that?
Andrey. To dodge the draft. Wanna take a look?
Polina. No way. I have no intention to see your stump. Damn, you really did that?
Andrey. Yep.
Polina. For crying out loud, what a place! It seems that our Rubicon is not really a poky hole of a place, considering its loony visitors.
Andrey. May I take a picture of you?
Polina. Why?
