MISHA: I know! I know! I will die… (Smiling) May be not from smoking…
XENIA: You promised me, and your doctor… and you still…
MISHA: OK! That is the last! Don’t nag me any more… I’m calling…
XENIA (off stage): Who are you calling?
MISHA: Yul…
XENIA: (off stage) Yul Brynner? Why? Is he starting lessons again?
MISHA: I heard that he will be in “The Brothers Karamazov”…
XENIA:(entering) You want to congratulate him?
MISHA: I have an idea… I want to help Marilyn Monroe…
(Sighing Misha sets down the receiver) Nobody answers…
XENIA (indignant): Agh! Are you up to your old games!
MISHA: What do you mean?
XENIA: Oh! He doesn’t understand! I’ve had enough of your escapades… Sally, Anne, and Margaret that vamp back in Connecticut…
(Xenia exits)
MISHA: Listen, we were working on “The Cherry Orchard”… This was one of my first lessons with Marilyn. She played, Anya, the daughter of the heroine. To my surprise, I felt a strong sense of excitement… sexual excitement.
XENIA (entering with a tray of tea): No surprise there! It is not the first time…
MISHA: Marylyn projected a powerful feeling.
I stopped her… and asked Marylyn if she was thinking about sex while she was acting the role of Anya.
XENIA: Uh-huh…
MISHA: My sudden question shocked her. She said that in no way was she thinking about sex… She was concentrating only on playing the role.
XENIA: You believed her?
MISHA: It became clear that she completely unconsciously radiated a sexual aura… When I explained this to her she said she wanted to be a serious actress and not just a sex symbol… and… yes… I believed her.
XENIA: Uh huh, so… where does Yul come in? Why do you want to call him?
MISHA: Maybe Yul will talk with the studio bosses about
a role for Marylyn in “The Brothers Karamozov”…
XENIA: What role do you have in mind?
MISHA: Grushenka. Grushenka, the heroine…
XENIA: (astounded) Michael!
MISHA: I’m not Michael; (with shy smile) I’m Misha!
XENIA: Naïve!…You aren’t on the moon, you’re in America!… Marilyn Monroe as a Dostoevsky Russian enchantress!
MISHA (dreamy voice): I can see Marilyn as Grushinka…
XENIA: Misha you are batty. Crazy!… She is another passing fancy of yours.
MISHA: Marilyn is not passing fancy, she is my student.
XENIA: Margaret was your student too and she had no acting talent. But in your craziness you gave her leading roles in your productions…
MISHA(compassionately concerned): Xenia, calm down…
XENIA: I can’t calm down… Have you completely forgotten your mooning outside Margaret’s dorm window in plain view of all your students?
