Asylum Page #3

Doug recognises someone and goes to talk with him.

CHRIS:

(to Katka)

What are you having?

KATKA:

A coke, if they have it?

CHRIS:

Hey Doug, you want a beer?

ANGLE Doug shaking hands with LUBOSH nearby and turns to Chris.

(Lubosh:
Czech scraggy-haired man in thirties)

DOUG:

Yeah, what else?

ANGLE some occupants of bar. Chris hands a coke to Katka and gives

Doug a beer.

CHRIS:

Cheers Katka!

KATKA:

Naz dravi!.....What do you like

about this place, these people, Chris?

CHRIS:

I don't know. It's kind of

underground. Doug's right, there's

too much crap in this town.

KATKA:

I used to think he was right about a

lot of things but now I don't know.

I thought he was going somewhere but

now I think I am wasting my time.

CHRIS:

No, you guys are great together.

He'll come through, I'm sure.

ANGLE Doug rejoining Katka and Chris.

CHRIS:

Who's your friend?

DOUG:

That's Lubosh, the greatest fiddle

player in Prague. You must have seen

him playing with Johnny on the bridge.

......Come on, let's grab a table.

FOLLOW Doug, Katka and Chris to a table with black tablecloth and

suspended light above. ANGLE two guys smoking dope at the other end

of the table. Doug glances at the dope smokers.

DOUG:

Hmm..Smells good. Cheers!

DOUG:

What did the beer cost?

CHRIS:

Fifteen crowns.

DOUG:

This place is getting expensive too,

used to be twelve.

CHRIS:

Still, fifty cents ain't bad.

Doug looks at label on beer bottle. ANGLE a teenage BOY strumming on

a guitar in the corner while his GIRLFRIEND plays with a PUPPY.

DOUG:

You know this place could be the answer

to what we've been looking for.

Chris spins his signed, commemorative baseball around.

CHRIS:

Oh yeah, what's that?

DOUG:

An alternative literary venue!

CHRIS:

I ain't sure poetry will go down too

well here.

DOUG:

No, it's the whole idea behind it.

How did they get this place?

CHRIS:

Squatted it.

DOUG:

Right and not just the bar, Lubosh and his

mates took the whole freakin' building.

CHRIS:

So?

DOUG:

Well, there's tons of empty buildings - why

don't we get one?

Chris checks Katka with a glance.

CHRIS:

We? Doug they're Czech you're not.

You can't go taking people's property.

Doug takes a cigarette from Chris's pack and lights it up.

DOUG:

What we need is a space for real performance

art. A cultural exchange for radical

expressionism.

CHRIS:

You've got to stop using that word "we"

it's getting kind of scary. Right Katka?

KATKA:

It's just talk, he's drunk.

DOUG:

No I'm not, I came to Prague looking for

something - this could be it!

CHRIS:

He's not drunk, he's crazy.

DOUG:

Maybe, but someone's got to make a stand.

CHRIS:

Like Custer huh?

DOUG:

These guys think the West is just MTV

and Hollywood movies. We've got to show

them there's more to it.

Chris turns to Katka

CHRIS:

There's "we" again. Do you think

he means us?

Katka shakes head and takes a drink.

DOUG:

I've got to talk to Lubosh and get a

handle on this.

FOLLOW Doug walking over to Lubosh who is talking with JAHN.

(Jahn:
Czech man early twenties)

ON KATKA/CHRIS with DOUG/LUBOSH/JAHN in SHOT.

CHRIS:

So how's your work?

KATKA:

It's okay, they're training me on the

cash register and after I hope to work

on one of the jewellery counters.

CHRIS:

Sounds cool.....Do you think he's

serious about squatting a place?

KATKA:

I don't know, I don't care. I see too

much of him and he's changed. He used

to be busy at the magazine. But now he's

been doing nothing for months, like he

doesn't care about anything, including me.

CHRIS:

Well, he sure seems fired up all of

a sudden.

KATKA:

It won't last, believe me. And you,

when will you go back to the States?

CHRIS:

I don't know, maybe I'll enrol for

postgrad' studies next Autumn.

ON KATKA/CHRIS

KATKA:

Did you ever see Marketa again?

CHRIS:

No, she's a great girl but I couldn't

keep up with her. Thanks for trying

but I think I'll stay single for now.

KATKA:

Your a good guy Chris you deserve a

nice girl.

CHRIS:

Like you?

KATKA:

No, better than me. You know, I have

many friends, you should meet more of

them.

Doug returns to the table with Jahn.

DOUG:

Jahn, this is my girlfriend Katka

and an American friend, Chris Freeman.

Doug and Jahn sit down.

DOUG:

Good news comrades, it's better than we'd

hoped. Lubosh filled me in on the legal

side of squatting here and it's a piece

of cake.

CHRIS:

Care to elaborate?

DOUG:

Well, providing we're treated like Czechs

and we squat something that's not privately

owned, we should be in the clear; at least

DOUG (Cont_d)

until they get an eviction order and bring

in the bailiffs.

CHRIS:

(to Katka)

Amazing, he didn't even say "if".

DOUG:

No "if's" or "but's" it's a cinch.

Do you want to know what the icing is?

Doug takes a drink.

KATKA:

No Doug, we don't and I have to be going.

Doug hits bottle on the table.

DOUG:

Don't give me this Kat, I'm doing it

for you and your country.

KATKA:

What? You are crazy!

DOUG:

Look, just hear me out, okay?

CHRIS:

Okay, we're listening. But I'm with

Katka on this one.

DOUG:

Well, it's like I said, there's a

ton of empty buildings around here and

most of them were apparently given back

to the city, so they're not private....

Now, Jahn here is an drama student

at the University. He knows of a building

that they were going to turn into a puppet

theatre - they even began work on it, until

they ran out of money.

CHRIS:

Puppet theatre, don't you need something

a little bigger?

DOUG:

It's big, right Jahn?

JAHN:

Yeah, for sure.

DOUG:

And, since it's only two streets away,

I suggest we go take a look. Now!

KATKA:

Doug I can't, I've got to be at work by

eight. You promised to take me home.

DOUG:

Look Kat it'll only take ten minutes.

Without Jahn I might never find it...

We'll just have a quick look and then

you and I'll hit a tram.

The four of them get up and put on jackets and grab belongings.

KATKA:

I don't want to get in trouble.

DOUG:

Don't worry it's okay!

FOLLOW them to exit from squat bar.

EXT - PRAGUE STREET - DOUG/KATKA/CHRIS/JAHN - NIGHT

Doug and Jahn walk ahead down narrow cobbled street.

ON DOUG/JAHN

JAHN:

The place will need lots of work, I

think you might need some help.

DOUG:

You mean you'd like to help?

JAHN:

No, I am an actor not a labourer, I

am just warning you, that's all.

DOUG:

Don't worry, I've got lots of friends.

Jahn directs Doug to a passage way. Across the street is a building

undergoing reconstruction and there is a rubbish skip outside.

JAHN:

You can get in through windows at the

back, through here. The main entrance

is round the corner on Betlemska street,

but it's locked.

Doug and Jahn come to a halt and Katka and Chris catch up.

DOUG:

Okay, it's in here somewhere. Let's keep

it quiet.

CHRIS:

(to Katka)

We could make a run for it?

KATKA:

I'm not going in Doug. I'll wait

for you here.

DOUG:

Okay, whatever. Come on Chris!

EXT - COURTYARD - DOUG/CHRIS/JAHN - NIGHT

There are old apartment buildings on two/three sides and a large

single level structure with intermittent broken glazing and a side

entrance.

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