A decrepit Old Woman anxiously tidies and fusses, awaiting the arrival of her priest. She is Mrs. Hernandez, who is surprised when a surrogate appears, a spiritual Father new to her parish. Her urgent desire is to confess, and she braces before the stranger. The bereft woman recounts how she was a witness to – and a participant in – horrific sin and, tormented, she recounts the event that forever branded her with the mark of Cain. The memory play begins.
The evocative memory conjures the opulent and elegant setting home of Lila Pierce, Hollywood screen siren and international movie star. Radiantly beautiful Lila prepares for the arrival of her lover. She and her long-time maid, Claire DeLeon, put finishing touches into place for this special reunion. Lila anticipates every moment; the lovers have been separated for some time, and she has much to share with her high-powered man. Lila has been waiting. And waiting. She does not wait well.
Matters become complicated when “unexpected others” appear at her door. First, her best friend, acclaimed film star and bon vivant, Jimmy Leighton. Second, Joe Como, the South Shore hoodlum turned world renowned crooner. Both pose a threat to the evening Lila and Claire have so meticulously orchestrated. Yet, their rationale is simple: Lila’s been “victimized” by scalding international press, painted as a woman out of control on pills, booze and the excesses of fame . . . and they’re simply “concerned.” These unexpected guardians criticize her and dictate terms compelling modification of her behaviors. Lila’s intolerance of their presence, their intrusion, escalates. She bristles at this moralizing chorus.
Then, yet another visitor arrives: her lover’s brother, the man behind the powerful one, who has his own “concerns” about Lila. It’s Chip Sullivan, the A.G. of the United States. Each man has an agenda, a mission. The three men are confused by the others’ presence, but won’t disclose why they’ve come at the same time. The relationships between them are strained. Lila plays upon these tensions to manipulate truth out of them, only to reject it vehemently. She is certain that her most precious reunion with the President of The United States will take place . . .
Meanwhile, as readily as this fractious, waiting quartet pours their liquor, the assumptions, accusations, and recriminations come forth. Dark history comes to light as the night wears on, and Lila struggles to contain herself and refute their claims that her lover will not show. The viciousness intensifies.
President Mickey Sullivan arrives. Ecstatic, and believing it to be the confirmation of his love, Lila is devastated by the realization that he is there to end it all with her. The King condemns Lila, the Courtesan, for her brazen overreach to the throne.
What ensues beyond this shocking revelation is a woman’s struggle for her life. Pleading, negotiating, baiting and dueling with these intimates, Lila rises to choose her own course. She stands up against these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Church, Show Business, Crime, and Government, who might just kill her because they can.
She hurls herself and them through the five stages of grief in the way she knows that her public will grieve for their goddess – their butterfly. Truth is tortured to the final betrayal, the secret revealed, that seals her fate. And invites her call for justice.
The Old Woman’s sin-filled confession is stunningly transformed to her Confessor by love and mercy … and into that just revenge.
(This project is currently being adapted into 7-Part Limited Series.)
