THE AUCTIONEER: LOT THIRTEEN.

 

The four other characters spring to life. They speak rapidly, their words trailing in and out of another, creating a kind of vocal symphony. Most of the time, they address the audience directly. Occasionally, they speak among themselves. A few times, they re enact snippets of dialogue from the past.

 

 

THE MOTHER: I never wanted to play the violin. I don’t even like classical music.

THE FATHER: The Stones. Led Zeppelin. To me, that’s classic.

THE MOTHER: Psychologists say we’re always thrusting our dreams onto the shoulders of our children. Well, I wanted to be a dog groomer.

THE DOCTOR: Nature or nurture?

THE MOTHER: No lie. A dog groomer.

THE DOCTOR: The chicken or the egg?

THE MOTHER: You dream bigger for your kids.

THE DOCTOR: The zygote? Andover?

THE MOTHER: I went to a genealogist once. He said one of my ancestors had been a harpsichordist. In Prague.

THE FATHER: Went back eight generations, just to come up with that.

THE DOCTOR: Ph…