TRUE NORTH FULL SYNOPSIS
ACT IOpen water. A boat lays adrift in calm seas with three ragged passengers: a girl, nicknamed Beau, who is way out of her element, her reluctant but loyal cohort, Adam, and a strange young girl, who speaks only in an island dialect, named Pidgin. All three are refugees of sorts, having taken to the seas to avoid varying levels of civil unrest back on the mainland. Pidgin, having come from afar, is endowed with the amazing skill to navigate in open waters, by dead reckoning. Although barely intelligible, she has become a major asset to Beau and Adam, who fear looting and piracy, which has become rampant among the throngs of other kids fleeing their responsibilities on the mainland. (PROLOGUE) Their situation is made more urgent by the strains of Old Luce, an older refugee who has turned to piracy, watching them from afar.Adrift and out of gas, the three wait uncomfortably for another boat to come along and help. Beau’s parents call her and she feels obligated to answer, having ignored their prior calls. She dodges their attempts to find out her whereabouts and when she hangs up, her father reveals that they have been pushed to make a desperate decision.
Their anxiety heightened by the phone call, Adam and Beau recall images of unrest as their school principal, Sheehan, addresses the student body the day their school is taken over by political terrorists. (CALMER WATERS) We see Adam and Beau along with another student, Edison, being detained in Sheehan’s office, after a peaceful demonstration they planned turned sour. The three argue amongst themselves, but manage to escape the authorities Sheehan has been coerced into calling. She lets them go on the promise of a revolution and decides to flee, herself.Pidgin sights a boat approaching, and the others snap to their senses, attempting to identify it and making ready to flag it down. Beau, using a compact mirror to signal thesunlight, recalls the day of her Affirmation, a familial right a passage where a student of age adopts the political views of the family. In her own memory, Beau tries to impress upon her mother the seriousness of her situation as school, but is brushed off in the flurry of excitement about her Affirmation. Coming back to reality, Adam notes that the approaching boat belongs to none other than Edison, their old partner in crime. He and his brother, Jonas, are expert sailors, and notice that Adam’s ship has been pathetically mishandled. Their meeting turns into an altercation where bad blood arises again. (LARGER LANDS)
Edison and Jonas are about to leave them stranded when they realize their GPS equipment is uncharged. In exchange for a bearing and heading, they decide to tow the other three into Woodside marina.Although doubtful of Pidgin’s abilities, the two brothers follow, secretly planning to keep the child’s special abilities in their thoughts for future exploitation. At the marina, throngs of people are making deals, run- offs are fleeing from the Truancy Department, and people running businesses out of makeshift shanties, all a bustle with dirty commerce. (AGAIN AND AGAIN) Ben Woodside has become such an institution on the waterfront they named him after the docks. Although taciturn and moody, he is a force to be reckoned with, providing the only diesel available to run-off kids, looking to stay shy of the mainland. Having come of age, Ben’s business is legitimate, but he frequently runs afoul of the authorities for aiding and abetting kids under the age. The five run-offs bargain with him for supplies. Ben’s sympathies side with the three, rather than the brothers, but neither Adam nor Beau have anything to barter. Edison and Jonas rub Ben the wrong way, as well, and cannot reach an agreement, blaming the other three for their misfortune.
They leave in anger, motivated for revenge now more than ever. Beau opts to trade her cell phone with Ben in exchange for fuel, just intime to hear the Lieutenant of the Truancy Department call out. Apparently, Beau’s parents have alerted them of her absence. The TD seeks to bring her in, along with any other kids who were involved in the uprising at the school. The three run-off again, while Ben, haphazardly covers for them. Amidst his banter with the Lieutenant, Beau’s phone goes off and he confiscates it, listening in. Ben is found guilty and the scene leaves him in a questionable state.Back on boat, Adam and Beau argue about her parents’ serious lack of sympathy to their plight. They shove off as the TD chases them down, and make way to Devil’s Island, where they have made safe port before. Unbeknownst to them, Luce had “befriended” Edison and Jonas on their way out to sea and has pumped them for information. She intercepts them. (IN THIS DAY AND AGE) Adam and Beau hide Pidgin down in the hold while Luce’s crew ransacks what little supplies they have, concealing their real purpose for the robbery. They take the spare gas, leaving them stranded with what’s in the tank. The three believe to be in the clear, until nightfall when Luce comes back to kidnap Pidgin. Side by side, onstage, we see Ben’s shanty getting razed to the ground as the curtain falls on act one.
ACT II(ENTR’ACTE) Devil’s Island. Beau and Adam are stranded. Without Pidgin and with barely enough gas to return to the mainland, taking chances seems far too risky. While maintaining the boat, they find a list of coordinates and bearings safely hidden in the gas tank, realizing that Pidgin had been using them all along to keep her sense of direction. Their guilt renders them even more shipwrecked. Even with the navigational journal, Adam and Beau still lack the boating confidence to maneuver correctly back to shore... not that they wanted to go there anyway. Their tempers rise again when Adam suggests that they go backhome for good. Much to their surprise, however, Ben shows up, beaten, bedraggled, and furious at them for leading the TD right to his front door. He brings with him, his last few belongings (books taken from his library before being burned) a rucksack with supplies, and a compass. Although not an experienced sailor, he managed to navigate his way using a book on sailing, determined to confront the two of them. In his eyes, Beau still owes him for the gas he provided. They decide they must at least try and get Pidgin back from Luce and they set off, Beau assumes responsibility for her debts to Ben, and vows to remain with him until they are paid. (FINALLY)Back on land, Adam and Beau decide to divide and conquer before heading back out again. Without a cell phone, Beau feels as though she must go home and confront her parents. Adam also realizes that he must face facts, and vows to find someone more adept at sailing to join them. They decide to rendezvous late in the evening. Beau invites Ben go with her to her parents’ house, promising at the very least a decent meal and a shower, but his bitterness forbids him. He too, goes off on his own. Adam heads off to the Warehouse, an underground club known to run-offs, to try and drum up support for their mission to get Pidgin back from Luce.At home, Beau’s banter with her parents turns into a full out confrontation regarding her beliefs, or lack of them, and their desire for her safety. Beau accuses them of ruining Ben’s life by trusting the authorities, while they accuse her of running off leaving her responsibilities behind. (THE WORST OF ME)
Beau leaves again, to their dismay, trying to allay their fears. Her father, surprisingly gives her a compass from his navy days, and tells her to stay the course, even if that means revolution. On her way back to the docks, she comes across a homeless person, begging for change, literally and figuratively. After a small altercation, Beau tells her she has nothing to offer, so the bum asks fora revolution instead. Beau realizes it is none other than her old principal, Mrs. Sheehan. Sheehan never recognizes her in her inebriated stupor, and Beau makes another idle promise to her once again before leaving.Back at the Warehouse, Adam moves through the dancing crowds, looking for help. (UPSIDE DOWN) He bumps into Luce. Adam tries to walk away, accusing her of kidnapping Pidgin. She dodges the accusation and suggests that anyone could’ve taken her. She speaks to his disquiet, and invites him to join her crew. Meanwhile, on her way back to the rendezvous spot, Beau finds Ben at the place of his old Shanty. He asks her if she really wants there to be a revolution and accuses her of being apathetic in a time where the world is in need of people of conviction. They join back up with Adam who has brought Luce along with him. Luce claims innocence, trying to encourage them all to join her, for she feels she can incite the rebellion. Beau bombards her with insults and demands her compliance even when Adam tries to reason with her. He admits to wanting to join her, breaking Beau’s heart, and Beau threatens Luce, whose men jump on her. Luce pulls her knife and spares her life, but warns her to keep her distance.
Ben and Beau head off to the docks, looking back at Adam one last time. To ease the blow, Adam tells her to keep the boat. Once they are gone, the Lieutenant shows up. He and Luce have been teaming up ever since he discovered Ben’s boat anchored on Devil’s Island. He reveals that the party leaders believe her and Ben to be extremists who could threaten the status quo. When Luce asks if Adam can still be a team player, he agrees, stone-faced, but resigned. (FINALLY REPRISE)Ben and Beau head off to Devil’s Island to strategize where, much to their surprise, Pidgin is waiting there. She tells them that Luce left her stranded some time ago, once she found out the truth about her abilities. Beau apologizes for taking her for granted and vows never to let anyone takeadvantage of her again. Pidgin shows no desire to be anyone’s cause. Off in the distance, on Luce’s boat, she and the Lieutenant are spying on them. Luce has bargained with the TD to overlook her operations in return for giving up Ben and Beau’s location. Adam watches in horror as the Lieutenant reveals a remote detonator, bragging about tying up loose ends in such a way. This turn of events has surprised Luce, too, who had no idea of the TD’s intentions. Adam, quickly whips out his cell phone and dials Beau’s parents, using what leverage he can.
The Lieutenant grabs the phones and speaks to them directly. His explanations are terse and cold. Seeing that his decisions have not been swayed, Luce and Adam jump him and apprehend him. The cell phone goes overboard, leaving the parents in the dark. The lieutenant is bound and, snake-like, dismisses their actions, saying that stopping him here one time will never amount to anything looking like a revolution. Adam and Luce exchange glances.Back on Devil’s Island, the three have made a meager camp, and somewhat are reveling in the simplicity of their moment. Ben asks Beau what she’s going to do now that Pidgin is safe. She that her lack of conviction is a result of her choice to be unbiased, and that opting out of either side is the only way she can go. Adam and Beau are reunited when Luce docks at the island to pick them up. The lieutenant is no where to be seen and Adam tells her to go home. He has enough rebellion inside for the both of them. (THE SECOND TIME AROUND)