Beautiful April Morning

Adapted by Max Welton

Based on
"On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April
Morning"
by
Haruki Murakami
 The set is a subway train.
Pre-show: The musicians and actors, apart from
Man, get on and sit down amongst some of (or all)
the audience members

House lights. Man enters.

MAN & BOY
One beautiful April morning..

MAN
On a narrow side street in Tokyos fashionable Harujuku
neighbourhood..
BOY
on the corner of a street in Lyon, France...

MAN & BOY

I walked past the 100% perfect girl
There is a song. It basically sums up the first 3 paragraphs
of the story. It discusses how the 100% perfect girl does
not need to have a description. They have the same
conversation and thought process. Emphasis on the April
morning bit. Descriptive
MAN
She is walking east to west and I west to east

BOY
I was eighteen and she, sixteen
MAN
we are 50 yards apart
BOY
I was not particularly handsome
He pulls Girl out of the audience on the train

GIRL
and she not particularly beautiful
MAN
Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair
is still bent out of shape from sleep
BOY
We were just an ordinary lonely boy
 2.

MAN
She isnt young, either must be near thirty, not even
close to a "girl," properly speaking
GIRL
and an ordinary lonely girl
BOY & GIRL
like all the others
MAN
but the moment I see her, theres a rumbling in my
chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert
GIRL
But we believed with our whole hearts that somewhere in
the world there lived the 100% perfect boy for her

MAN
I know from fifty yards away./Shes
BOY
and

MAN & BOY

the 100% perfect girl for me
As the Boy talks, we fade into his world leaving
the Man in a kind of slow-mo. A substantial in the
Boys life is a moment for the Man
BOY
Yes, we believed in a miracle. And that
miracle actually happened

The boy and the girl walk towards each other

oblivious to each others presence but both look
up just in time to see theyre near enough in each
other arms

BOY
One day the two of us came upon each other
GIRL
on the corner of a street

There is an awkward bit of side side shuffling as

they try to get out of each others way which
turns into a waltz as they realise. They dance
together
 3.

BOY
This is amazing, Ive been looking for you all my life.
You may not believe this, but youre the 100% perfect
girl for me

GIRL
And you are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as
Id pictured you in every detail. Its like a dream
The dance ends. They sit together holding hands

In this bit, they tell personal stories to each other. I

cant be bothered to write one yet but you get the idea or
maybe a song
BOY
We were not lonely anymore

GIRL
We had found and been found by their 100% perfect other
BOY
What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by
your 100% perfect other. Its a miracle. A cosmic
miracle
The Man speaks. Even though he speaks normally he
is still in this slow motion. He is speaking his
thoughts whilst time has slowed

MAN
Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour
would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell
her about myself, and what Id really like to do,
explain to her the complexities of fate that
have led to our passing each other on a side street in
Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This
was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets,
like an antique clock build when peace filled the world

Song. Something about talking. It links the boy and girl

talking about cosmic miracles and the man rehearsing what to
say about how they met.
MAN
Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen
yards. How can I approach her? What should I say?
"Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half
an hour for a little conversation?"
Ridiculous. Id sound like an insurance salesman.

(MORE)
 4.

MAN (contd)
"Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an
allnight cleaners in the neighbourhood?"
No, this is just as ridiculous. Im not carrying any
laundry, for one thing. Whos going to buy
a line like that?

Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You

are the 100% perfect girl for me."
No, she wouldnt believe it. Or even if she did,
she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say,
I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but
youre not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if
I found myself in that situation, Id probably go
to pieces. Id never recover from the shock. Im
thirty two, and thats what growing older is all about

BOY
As we sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of
doubt took root in our hearts
GIRL
Was it really all right for ones dreams to
come true so easily?
BOY
Lets test ourselves, just once. If we really are each
others 100% perfect lovers, then sometime,
somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when
that happens, and we know that we are the 100%
perfect ones, well marry then and there. What
do you think?
GIRL
Yes, that is exactly what we should do
BOY & GIRL
and so they parted
GIRL
she to the east
BOY
and I to the west

MAN
We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air
mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch
the scent of roses. 5 yards away. I cant bring myself
to speak to her. She wears a white sweater,
and in her right hand she holds
(MORE)
 5.

MAN (contd)
a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: Shes
written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night
writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes.
The envelope could contain every secret shes ever had

BOY
The test we had agreed upon, however, was utterly
unnecessary. We should never have undertaken it,
because we really and truly were each others 100%
perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that we
had ever met.
Or a song which sums up the above paragraph and also links
the man and the boy
But it was impossible for them to know this, young as
we were. The cold, indifferent waves of
fate proceeded to toss us unmercifully
GIRL
One winter, both me and the girl came down with
the seasons terrible influenza, and after drifting for
weeks between life and death they lost all memory of
our earlier years. When we awoke, our heads were as
empty as the young D. H. Lawrences piggy bank
MAN
I take a few more strides and turn: Shes lost in
the crowd.
Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have
said to her. It would have been a long speech, though,
far too long for me to have delivered it properly.
The ideas I come up with are never very practical
GIRL
We were two bright, determined young people, however,
and through our unremitting efforts we
were able to acquire once again
the knowledge and feeling that qualified us to return
as full fledged members of society
BOY
Heaven be praised, we became truly upstanding citizens
who knew how to transfer from one subway line to
another
GIRL
who were fully capable of sending a special delivery
letter at the post office
 6.

BOY
We even experienced love again, sometimes as much
as 75 or even 85%
MAN
Oh, well. It would have started "One beautiful April
morning" and ended "A sad story, dont you think?"
One beautiful April morning, on a street corner in
lyon, france, a girl and a boy met

The two stories should be spoken at the same time

so that they sync up for the unison lines
MAN
The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. "This is
amazing," he said. "Ive been looking for you all my
life. You may not believe this, but youre the 100%
perfect girl for me."
"And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy
for me."

They sat on a park bench, held hands. The boy said to

the girl, "If we really are each others 100% perfect
lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again
without fail."
"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."

And so they parted, she to the east, and he to

the west.
One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with
influenza, and they lost all memory of their
earlier years.
One day the boy was walking from west to east,
while the girl was walking from east to west. They
passed each other. And they knew:

BOY
Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon I was
thirty two, the girl thirty. One beautiful April
morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day,
I was walking from west to east

GIRL
while she, intending to send a special delivery letter,
was walking from east to west,
but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku
neighbourhood of Tokyo
 7.

BOY
We passed each other in the very centre of the street.
The faintest gleam of our lost memories glimmered for
the briefest moment in our hearts

GIRL
Each felt a rumbling in our chest. And we knew:
MAN & BOY
She is the 100% perfect girl for me

MAN & GIRL

He is the 100% perfect boy for me
The Boy and Girl get off the train
MAN
But the glow of their memories was far too weak,
and their thoughts no longer had the clarity
of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed
each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever
A sad story, dont you think?

He stands up to get off the train

Yes, thats it, that is what I should have said to her
The Man gets off the train

Lights down