Fable and Plot Summary

Fable

Every morning Claire Fiffle wakes up to her loving husband Richard. The only problem is that she doesn’t know Richard. Every morning when Claire wakes she doesn’t know anybody. Claire suffers from a rare type of amnesia that causes her to forget everything every morning when she wakes up. We join Claire one morning as she’s going through her discovery process. She wakes up and meets her husband, Richard, and her 17 year old son, Kenny. Richard does the best he can to jog her memory and has even built a notebook full of pictures with corresponding names and ideas. Once he has explained how the memory book works, Richard heads off to the shower. While he is in disposed a man in a ski mask pops out from under the bed. His name is not yet given, but we call him Limping man. Limping man, who we learn has a pretty bad lisp, explains to Claire that he is her brother, Zach, and that it is important that she come with him because her life may be in danger because Richard is trying to kill her. Confused she agrees and heads to his car. In the car Limping man takes off his mask and we learn that due to some sort of burn he is also deaf and blind on his right side. He then explains that they are going to Claire’s mother Gertie’s house. Once we are at Gertie’s house we learn that Gertie suffered a stroke some time ago and, although she is still sharp as a tack, she suffers from aphasia( her words won’t sound like she intends them to so she makes no sense. i.e. she says clay instead of Claire). While Gertie and Claire catch up Millet shows up with his foul mouthed puppet Binky. And we learn that Zach may not be so nice after all. All three, Millet, Binky, and Zach have what’s left of handcuffs on their wrists. While the men are in the basement taking a hacksaw to their fetters, Gertie is making an attempt to call 911. She also is trying to explain to Claire that her brother Zach fell out of a tree and died when he was eight. During all of this nonsense Richard has discovered that Claire is missing(he believes that she is most likely heading to Gertie’s house) and recruits Kenny for the search party. While on the road to Grandma’s Kenny is smoking pot in the car. After a brief “attempt” to make Kenny stop smoking his joint, Richard partakes. This causes paranoia when a local cop begins to pull them over. After fun times with the “lady cop” Heidi, she attempts to arrest the men. Having recently taken a self defense class, Richard is able to disarm Heidi and take her hostage. Finding Claire is too important to Richard to deal with the hassle of going to jail. The trio arrive at Gertie’s and stumble upon the Claire’s realization that Zach is dead and this Limping man is not her brother. Gertie takes the opportunity of the chaos to stab Limping man in the back with a knife that she’d hidden at the arrival of Limping man and Claire. There is bedlam for a moment, and her son gets grazed by a bullet, and then the bad guys prevail. When they regain control we learn that not only is Heidi on their side but that she isn’t really a cop. She was a kitchen staff member at the prison and helped Limping man (who we’ve learned is named Phil) and Millet escape.
Claire then learns what really happened to her while tending to her son. With her new found knowledge Claire decides that her incident should be in her memory book. As she falls asleep on the ride home, both Kenny and Richard talk with her about how they hope she is better, memories intact, when she wakes up.



Plot Summary

Act 1 Scene 1

• Claire wakes up
• She is introduced to her husband, Richard
• She is introduced to her son, Kenny
• We learn that Richard is taking a self defence class at the Y
• We learn that Kenny is somewhat of a troubled youth(smokes pot, does poorly in school)
• Richard tells Claire that he's her husband and Kenny's her son
• He tells her about her Psychogenic amnesia that started 2 years ago
• We learn how her amnesia works
• Richard explains her memory book
• Richard goes to take a show to avoid answering Clair's question of how she got amnesia
• While Claire reads her memory book, a man in a ski mask pops out from under the bed
• He walks with a limp and speaks with a lisp and has a hand cuff on his wrist
• The script calls him Limping man
• Limping man claims to be her brother, Zach
• Limping man claims that Richard is going to kill Claire
• Claire grabs the memory book and a word puzzle book and they head for Limping man's car.

Act 1 Scene 2

• The duo start driving
• Limping man takes off his mask at Claire's behest
• We learn that he is deaf in his right ear(that appears melted) and blind in his right eye
• Limping man tells Claire that they are heading to the country to her mother Gertie's house
• We learn that Gertie has had a stroke and can't form her sentences quite right
• Limping man throws her memory book out of the car window
• They almost get into an accident because of Limping man's blindness

Act 1 Scene 3

• They arrive at Gertie's house
• Gertie hides a knife under a towel while Claire and Limping man go around to the front door
• Gertie offers them breakfast and Limping man shows his stranger aversion to bacon and throws the pack of bacon out of the window
• Limping man goes to the cellar to get a hacksaw and Gertie tries to tell Claire something but Claire is having a memory of childhood
• Binky the foul-mouthed puppet pops into the window
• Then Millet is introduced(who's mom Freebased so he's a little special)
• The men and Claire go to the basement and Gertie tries to call 911
• Limping man comes back upstairs to get something he's forgotten and sees Gertie (who is now pretending to make small talk with a friend) and threatens to kill her if she says anything to Claire and then apologizes

Act 1 Scene 4

• Richard and Kenny are in the car looking for Claire(Kenny is smoking pot)
• As they are driving Richard keeps trying to connect with Kenny with no luck
• Richard Decides that Claire must be hitchhiking to Gertie's
• Richard asks Kenny for a hit of his joint
• There are sirens so Richard throws the joint out the window as Heidi pulls them over
• Heidi is wondering why they were speeding and Richard claims to be out for a drive to Friendly's for a treat
• She doesn't buy it but that is irrelevant because she says they were clocked doing 84 in a 55
• They go back and forth about license and registration and the scent of pot and why she smells it
• Heidi pulls her gun and tells him to get out of the car
• They get out of the car and hand her the paperwork
• She tells them that she's going to radio back to check out the info
• That sets Richard off because of his questionable past so he uses his new self defence skills to disarm her
• Richard demands that she get into the car thus kidnapping her

Act 1 Scene 5

• Claire and Millet are playing with Claire's old toys in Gertie's basement
• Millet notices a ring that looks like one that his old boss( the principal of a grade school where Millet was a janitor) had and he was accused of beating her to get it from her the same day he was fired by her because she said he scared the children
• We find out that this incident was what landed Millet in prison and that this is where Millet met Limping man
• Claire uses a monster mask and Millet's simple mind to get information on why she has amnesia out of him
• Binky lets slip that she was hit in the head by a paperweight thrown by her husband and that another time she joked that his shirt was girly and he threw her across the floor, poured cereal on her, then slammed her head into the cabinet after which she was unconscious for 3 hours
• Claire assumes that it is Richard that did these things
• Claire asks Limping man about these things (letting him know that Millet squealed)
• Claire goes upstairs for breakfast and Limping man finishes cutting off Binky's cuff

Act 1 Scene 6

• Richard and Kenny still have Heidi hostage
• They cross the state line towards Gertie's house
• They all bicker
• Heidi is starting to get claustrophobic
• Richard decides that they are stopping at Denny's

Act 1 Scene 7

• Gertie is looking for something and Claire is doing a word search
• Claire has a childhood memory about a neighbor's dog
• Gertie finally finds what she's been looking for(a cookie tin)and sits down with Claire
• The tin is full of old photos and keepsakes
• One of the photos is of her brother Zach in a fun house mirror or funny mirror (aka fuddy meers in Gertie speak)
• The men come back into the kitchen so Gertie stops trying to Help Claire remember
• Limping man announces that they (himself, Millet, and Claire) are going to get moving, but Claire wants to stay
• Gertie, Claire, and Limping man go back and forth for a while
• After a while Gertie pulls out a newspaper article from the tin to show Claire
• Claire reads it (its Zach's obituary)
• Just as Claire reads what happened, Kenny Richard and Heidi appear in the window
• Claire still believes that Richard is her abuser so she is frightened of him
• The three go around front
• as Limping man is trying to convince Claire to go out the window 'to escape Richard' Gertie stabs him in the back with the knife that she had hidden earlier
• Gertie then calls 911 again
• There is a jumble of words and actions- Heidi is trying to get the gun from Kenny, Richard is trying to calm Claire down and explain, Millet is confused and back and forth as Binky, Limping man is bossing Millet around, Gertie takes Binky off Millet's hand and begins to stab the puppet
• They all speak at once and then Claire yells over all of them and tells them to stop
• The Gun goes off then there is a blackout

Act 2 Scene 1

• This act opens with the gun going off and the the lights going up
• Kenny's arm has been grazed
• Heidi tells Millet to get the knife and stab anyone who moves and it is revealed that they all know each other and that she and Limping man are involved romantically
• Heidi tells Millet to take Richard and Gertie to the basement
• Claire finds out that she was a school nurse
• Kenny decides to tell Claire what happened but is stopped by both Limping man and Richard as Richard reminds him about the doctor's instructions not to tell her what happened
• Claire begins to work on Kenny's arm

Act 2 Scene 2

• Millet has Richard and Gertie in the Basement
• Gertie goes off to search for a sewing kit for Millet to fix Binky
• Richard begins to try and talk Millet out of their plans and his 'life of crime'
• Gertie finds a photo album and then goes upstairs to look for the sewing kit. Richard continues
• Gertie finds the sewing kit and hands Richard the photo album
• Gertie goes off to look for her Shovel
• Richard continues
• Richard tells the story of his not so clean past revealing that it was actually Richard who beat the principal for her ring
• Millet chases Richard and Gertie hits Millet with the shovel off stage

Act 2 Scene 3

• Claire is bandaging Kenny's arm
• We learn that Heidi helped the jailbirds break out and that she is really a prison kitchen worker and only stole the cop uniform from the laundry truck
• Claire, Heidi, and Limping man go back and forth about if Limping man loves Heidi or not while Claire stitches up Limping man's back wound
• Kenny starts to tell Claire about her past involving Limping man and that he's Kenny's biological father
• Kenny and Limping man tell her the whole ugly truth the whole time Limping man is trying to apologize and win Claire back
• As the story goes on Claire starts to remember the facts as well and starts to tell the story too
• Heidi realizes that Limping man is inviting her to Run away with all of them because he wants her back...she's just been used
• Kenny gets a hold of the gun when Heidi leaves to get Millet
• Claire makes Kenny give it to her and she throws it out of the window
• Limping man looses his temper and the plan to win her back fails
• From the basement there is a struggle and Richard hits Heidi on the head with the shovel and then comes into the kitchen with Gertie
• Richard, Kenny, Gertie, and Claire head for the car to drive home

Act 2 Scene 4

• Claire tells Richard to add her past to the front of the memory book and he agrees
• Claire asks about how they got married
• Richard tells the story
• As Claire starts to fall asleep Richard and Kenny have hope that she might retain her information when she wakes up
• The lights go down after Claire falls asleep