She’s Leaving Home

Written by Dimitri Keogh.  Genre: Coming of Age Dramedy.
Logline
In the Swinging Sixties, a headstrong adopted teen, alongside her best friend, runaway to England in hopes of finding her birth mother.
BEATRICE WALKER is a normal girl growing up in the sixties – she
loves music, hates her parents, and hopes to one day leave her
Podunk hometown of Moscow, Idaho. One day when rummaging through
the attic, she finds adoption papers. She’s thrown for a loop –
how could this be? Her real mother is OLIVIA SMITH? She
questions her parents – FRANK and EMILY WALKER - but they keep
mum. She confides in her best friend LOLA – what should she do?
The two come up with a plan to runaway to England and find
Beatrice’s birth mother.
The two girls fly the coop and arrive in London! The center
Beatrice was adopted from is in Aberdeen, but our girls have no
way to get from one end of the U.K. to the other. Luckily, they
meet HUGH, who’s going that way. They strike up a friendship and
head off. Meanwhile, Frank and Emily discover that Bea is
missing! The two set off to England and follow her tracks.
On the road, our trio gets into all sorts of shenanigans – going
head-to-head with bikers, sneaking into dressing rooms, meeting
talk show hosts – but Beatrice just wants to find her mom. The
mood turns sour as they make their final push towards Aberdeen.
On the outskirts of town, their car breaks down! Beatrice leaves
her friends behind and walks, making it, only to be told at the
adoption center that Olivia’s not from here. She lives in a
small town a few kilometers out.
When Bea arrives in Oldmeldrum, she finds her mother’s address
and summons the courage to knock. The door opens to reveal...
VIOLET. Very much not Olivia. She sits Beatrice down and breaks
the news – Olivia passed away. It’s been a few years now.
Beatrice reels – what does she do now? She visits Olivia’s grave
and tells all. She’s sad, angry, resentful – lets it all out.
Afterwards, Beatrice loiters around town. She knows she’s made a
mistake, left people behind who loved and cared for her. But
it’s too late to make amends... that’s when Frank and Emily
arrive, with Lola and Hugh in tow! Frank and Emily apologize for
keeping the secret from her and not being the best they could be
– and Beatrice apologizes for running off, taking them for
granted. It doesn’t matter who her birth parents are – Frank and
Emily Walker are all she wants and needs. They return home,
Beatrice now recognizing the love she has in her life.
Please contact the writer to read the full script. keogh@chapman.edu

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