Ruminations on a Dream Sequence

"Holy Schmidt!" is becoming a piece that I'm very proud of and part of that pride is coming from the unexpected turns the play is taking, seemingly on its own. Yesterday, I had the thought that Alyssa, the true main character, was missing from a good portion of the script. In order to bring her back, I thought of a dream sequence. She's been dealing with a lot of strange events and her life was so charged with worry and stress that this dream has got to confront everything in her subconsciousness. This dream has to grapple with everything in a not-so-linear way.

Issues that Alyssa is dealing with:

1. Schoolwork
2. Paying for School
3. Her mother's pressure to find a Church
4. Boyfriend just dumped her
5. Her car's in the shop
6. Her bills are high and she can't pay 'em
7. She's been kidnapped by two religious leaders who are trying to "save her."
8. She's been influenced by Schmidt.

Thinking about dream sequences:

Talking animals
Wizard of Oz: "I'm going to miss you most of all, Scarecrow."
People are not who they seem to be
Things go from happy to scary in an instant
No sense of linear movement

So, yeah, this new sequence is one of those strange things that comes from the play itself, that asks to be written. It also presents a wonderful challenge that will hopefully propel the story forward towards the ludicrous conclusion of the play. I have about a month and a half to finish the play for my workshop. Let the countdown begin.