THE AMERICAN PALATE - FORGIVE AMELIA - PART 2


PHILIP
Hello and welcome to the second episode of Forgive Amelia, A Triptych. Our crossover mini-series with the fantastic comedy-audio drama Forgive Me!, which is here to tide you over until season 4. But, before we begin, some exciting news! We want to tell you about the very first Amelia Fan Event, CocoaCollabs 2021! Which takes place entirely online, from the 30th of August to the 5th of September. This event is run by and for listeners, and has nothing to do with us officially. In fact, when it was announced on Tumblr a few weeks ago, it took us completely by surprise! But we happily endorse it, and we have a message here from one of the organizers, to give you more info: 


(VOICEMAIL-BEEP)


Hey! Things are happening and coming closer, so, let me tell you about the Cocoa Collabs. It’s a one-week-long event by and for the fans of the Amelia Project, where we have 7 main prompts and five alternatives for you to make fanart about, write fanfiction, cosplay - or maybe something completely else even. All kinds of fanstuffs are very welcome!  We start on the 30th of August and end on the 5th of September 2021, but you can share your fanworks whenever you want to. If you participate however on all seven days, you’ll get to call yourself a #cocoachampion and earn your place in our hall of fame! Are you curious now? Find our prompts and more info on tumblr and twitter, where we are @cocoacollabs, and where we will reblog and retweet all participations as well as updates and maybe cute pictures of ducks every once in a while. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them there as well, and our cocoa coordinators will be happy to help! And keep your eyes open, because there may be a surprise coming too, but… we can’t say much about it right now, can we?  We just hope to see you in a few weeks! Bye! 


(VOICEMAIL-BEEP)


PHILIP 

So that’s @cocoacollabs on Tumblr and Twitter, and we look forward to seeing all the Amelia-inspired creations in the week of the 30th of August to the 5th of September, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Or join in, or if you’re listening to this in the future, you can probably still find everything by searching for the hashtag #cocoacollabs all in one word.
But for now it’s time to catch up with the Amelia team in upstate New York. And maybe, just maybe, today we get a few more details of what they were up to there, before all will be revealed in the finale in two weeks time. Enjoy the episode!


(AMELIA AND ALVINA WAIT IN THE CAR. AMELIA DRUMS HER HANDS OBNOXIOUSLY ON THE STEERING WHEEL. FOR A MOMENT, THEY’RE QUIET.)


ALVINA
Must you do that?

AMELIA (REALIZING HERSELF)
Oh. Yeah, sorry. It’s something that I do when I’m feeling impatient. I don’t even think about it, it just happens.

ALVINA
I’d prefer to sit in silence for now, if at all possible.

AMELIA
Sure thing, whatever you want…


(SILENCE)


(AFTER A FEW BEATS, AMELIA BEGINS TO SOFTLY WHISTLE A TUNE. ALVINA GROANS TO HERSELF AS THE SLIDING DOOR TO THE VAN ABRUPTLY OPENS UP.)


THE INTERVIEWER
He’ll do, our secrets are safe with him.

AMELIA
Alvina, would you like to go next?

ALVINA
Alright. I could use a break from waiting around in here, anyway. 

THE INTERVIEWER
I’d tell you to be careful what you say around this chap, but I’m confident I left him in a sweet spot, somewhere between both morbidly curious and gravely aware of the consequences of crossing us…? 

AMELIA
(SARCASTIC) Oh joy. What are you sending us into?

ALVINA
I’ll be fine.


(ALVINA CLIMBS OUT OF THE VAN.)


THE INTERVIEWER
Oh Alvina!

ALVINA
What?

THE INTERVIEWER
If he offers you cocoa, do yourself a favour and decline.

ALVINA
That bad?

THE INTERVIEWER
Let’s just say I’ve had Cow Urine Soda that was tastier.

ALVINA
Good to know… 


(ALVINA SLAMS THE VAN DOOR SHUT AND WALKS AWAY.)


THE INTERVIEWER
We really mucked it up with her this week, didn’t we?

AMELIA
Yes, yes we did.


(CUE THE COMBO AMELIA PROJECT/FORGIVE ME! THEME SONG)


(AFTER IT ENDS, ALVINA OPENS THE CONFESSION BOOTH AND SITS, LETTING OUT A LONG, EXAGGERATED SIGH.)


FR. BEN (STIFLING A YAWN)
Everything alright over there?

ALVINA
I guess… I’ve been better, you know?

FR. BEN
I would imagine so, after witnessing something as grave as the Salt City Potato Incident...

ALVINA
(DISTRACTED) I must confess, I’ve never done this whole, sit in a secret booth and unburden myself to a stranger behind a privacy screen, thing. 

FR. BEN
If you believe in the Lord, then me being here is kind of a bonus, right? The real purpose of confession is to commune with the big guy, so try to think of me as simply an antenna to help facilitate your conversation with him.

ALVINA
It’s all new to me.

FR. BEN
Would you prefer we speak somewhere else? In my office, perhaps?

ALVINA
Oh, goodness, no. I rather like the anonymity of it all.

FR. BEN
Then here it is… Do you need some help getting started?

ALVINA
No, I’ve seen a film or two in my time. I think I’ve got this down.

FR. BEN
After you, then.

ALVINA AND FR. BEN AT THE SAME TIME
In the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

FR. BEN
How long has it been since your last confession?

ALVINA
...Didn’t I just tell you that this was my first time?

FR. BEN (STUMBLING, CHUCKLING)
Right, of course, I just… it’s part of the whole theater of it, you know?

ALVINA
Well, I guess I don’t know what I might’ve done in a past life, do I?

FR. BEN
That is a very good point.

ALVINA
Then I suppose it has been at least 25 years since my last confession.

FR. BEN
And what’s brought you here tonight?

ALVINA
(BIG, EXAGGERATED SIGH) Is it possible to sin against yourself, Father?

FR. BEN
Of course it is. There are any number of ways that one is capable of failing oneself. In fact, I think we’re all guilty of it in one way or another, almost every day of our lives.

ALVINA
It’s just, I love my job. I really do. It’s challenging — there’s always some new problem to sort out — and I’m good at it, too. But I’ve been with The Amelia Project for a few years now and it’s hard not to feel like I’m constantly burning the candle at both ends, giving all of myself over to them. I haven’t taken a single day off since I started.

FR. BEN
The Amelia Project? Like Amelia Earhart?

ALVINA
You’re a clever one, aren’t you?

FR. BEN
Huh… I gotta say, I really like that!

ALVINA
Oh, I assumed he would have told you all about it by now. Or, at least the Cliff’s Notes version, anyway.

FR. BEN
No… your colleague was pretty (LOOKING FOR THE WORD) cagey with me. He preferred that I be the one to open up.

ALVINA
That does sound like him.

FR. BEN

Is he always so…

ALVINA (HUMS IN AGREEMENT)
He is.

FR. BEN
That must be exhausting.

ALVINA
It can be, sure. And he certainly doesn’t appreciate all of the work I do for him. Work that I really take pride in, by the way. He’d rather toss it out of the window and pretend he can do it all himself with that big old mouth of his. 

FR. BEN
Yeah, he did mention something about hating paperwork.

ALVINA
Hah! As if his stunts don’t create heaps more of it. I swear, he treats me like the only reason I’m even there is to fetch him his Maltesers. And you know what? I let him. I mean, sure, I have tried explaining: No, you have to read the case files. There is important background information that I have spent countless hours assembling for you. But he never listens, and no matter how many times I tell him to get his own damn cocoa, I always end up getting it for him anyway. He’s just got that kind of power over people, you know? Just look at what he’s turned Joey and Salavtore into! I mean, I know you don’t know Joey and Salvatore, but if you did, you’d understand my meaning. You get one good look at those two, and you implicitly understand that they’re supposed to be Amelia’s muscle, and yet he’s usually got them running around like proper errand boys.

FR. BEN
If you’ve got a boss that doesn’t appreciate all of the hard work you’re putting in, I can see why you’ve begun to feel burnt out. But how, exactly, do you think that counts as sinning against yourself?

ALVINA
Uh… First of all: whoever said he was my boss?

FR. BEN
Oh, jeez, I’m- I’m so sorry, I guess I only assumed that because he’s… so charismatic and… demanding and… 

ALVINA
No, he is not my boss. No matter how many times he may tell himself that he is. His day to day role may be a bit flashier than mine is, and the one that the clients will take home remembering, but mine is JUST as important. If not even more so.

FR. BEN
And what is it, exactly, that you do for the Amelia Project?

ALVINA (HUMORLESS CHUCKLE)
Anything and everything that they need me to.

FR. BEN
Ah. Hence the burning your candle at both ends.

ALVINA
Look, don’t get me wrong, I genuinely enjoy what I do. And Amelia? She plucked me out of one hell of a sticky situation back home that I was … more than happy to get out of. 

FR. BEN
Wait… the Amelia Earhart’s your boss?

ALVINA
(CHUCKLING) She’d have to be pretty old to be the Amelia Earhart, wouldn’t she?

FR. BEN (EMBARRASSED CHUCKLING)
Yeah, I guess you’re right. How soon after you started did you begin to feel underappreciated for the work you were doing?

ALVINA
It wasn’t immediately. Amelia spoke very highly to the Interviewer about my organizational skills, but that didn’t strike him as a useful skill. It took a while for him to get comfortable enough around me to start making direct demands. 


FR. BEN
So it was never established, from the beginning, what the corporate structure would be now that you were a part of it?

ALVINA
No. Amelia isn’t always the most hands on person to be around. She set me up with my new life and wrote an address down for me on a scrap of paper. I was to show up there the next morning, bright and early. When I got there, it didn’t look like much. A small two room office in a shared building with a drab sign on the door offering estate planning services, (A LITTLE LESS UPSET) but when I walked inside I was assaulted by the delicious smell of fresh hot cocoa.

FR. BEN
That’s really a priority for him, isn’t it?

ALVINA
He says he can’t think properly without it. Anyway, I showed up and he was in the middle of an Interview. He regarded me curiously, after it was complete, but barely said a word to me after that. Instead, I set myself up at my desk and began pouring through the random mish mash of files that Amelia had faxed in that week, and whittle away at them until they were in a good, clean, working order. I’d drop them off in his office, every night at the end of the day. ... Even though I did eventually notice a pile of them unread starting to spill out of his wardrobe. 


(PAUSE)


Which is when I made my first mistake.


FR. BEN
What was that?

ALVINA
I tidied up for him. 

FR. BEN
And?

ALVINA
Pah! It was all open season after that. He continued to ignore the work that I was doing, but he had a whole lot more to say to me day in and day out. Ordering me around like I was some chambermaid. Not that there’s anything wrong with that profession, it just wasn’t what I was there for, and yet he just didn’t seem to realize it.


FR. BEN
What kept you still going after that?

ALVINA
It was all just so interesting, everything I was learning about these people. Everything that we had to do in order to make each disappearance work. It was all like… like a brilliant maths equation that I couldn’t pull myself away from. Who cares if some dingbat thought I was beholden to him, if it kept me doing something I so dearly loved, I could live with it.

FR. BEN
Okay, so, you like what you do, but you could use a break, and wish you only had to focus on your actual responsibilities. What does any of this have to do with the Salt City Potato Incident?

ALVINA
What doesn’t it have to do with the Salt City Potato Incident?

FR. BEN
I don’t know, that’s what you’re supposed to be telling me.

ALVINA
This trip was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be full of excitement and adventure and surprises. But instead… They brought me here.

FR. BEN
Yeah, I can see why that might be a bit disappointing.

ALVINA
You know, it’s my own fault because I’d done plenty of research for the job, but never bothered to look at a map to see how far away we’d be from New York City.

FR. BEN (CHUCKLING)
Yeah, I’m afraid New York is a pretty big state.

ALVINA
This was to be my first time in the field. Normally I’m stuck back at the office, doing prep work that will never be read for our next batch of clients. But this job was special, they told me. I’d get a chance to get out of the country for a bit and not only see my plans in action, but it fell on my birthday, so there’d be a chance to celebrate as well.
FR. BEN
That’s nice. Happy birthday to you.

ALVINA
Hah. (BITTERLY) Happy birthday indeed. Only, none of that happened the way it was meant to, and instead I’m stuck here in this dingy little building with you.

FR. BEN
St. Patrick’s is here for all who need it. And, frankly, it’s as big as you want it to be, on the inside.

ALVINA
Like a TARDIS?

FR. BEN
A what now?

ALVINA
(GROANING) I thought Americans loved Doctor Who now.

FR. BEN
I’m sorry, I don’t get a whole lot of chances to watch TV. This place might not look like much, but I’ll tell you—I can empathize with feeling underappreciated for the work you’re doing. It doesn’t necessarily make the job itself any less appealing, but it can certainly make it harder.

ALVINA
As of about 17 minutes ago, I’m now 25 years old. A quarter of a century. Do you think I’m having a quarter life crisis? That’d be pretty cliche now, wouldn’t it?

FR. BEN
I think it’s natural for us as human beings to take stock of ourselves at every big milestone. But I also think you’re very young and have a long life ahead of you. You’ll have plenty of chances to get it right. And, if I’m being honest, to get it wrong, too.

ALVINA
You really don’t understand how The Amelia Project works, do you? For me, from now on, this job is it. 

FR. BEN
It doesn’t have to be though, not if you don’t want it.

ALVINA
Well, yes. It kind of does.

FR. BEN
(CONCERNED) Are you here under some kind of duress? Is- is is there someone I can call for you?

ALVINA
Hah! That’s rich. (COMFORTING) No, I’m not here under duress. I made every single decision that brought me here today myself. And I understood, when I signed that contract, that it was a lifetime deal.

FR. BEN
That doesn’t sound like a very safe or sound deal to me. Especially not if your field work is to travel to another country and take part in a sowing such chaos and upending countless people’s lives.

ALVINA
I wouldn’t call it countless. In fact, I don’t think it’d be that hard to count them at all.

FR. BEN
(EXASPERATED) You know what I mean.

ALVINA
I do. But do you know what I mean? That when this job was put in front of me, there was no other real choice?

FR. BEN (FRUSTRATED CHUCKLE)
No, honestly, I don’t. I don’t know a single person that would consciously make a decision like that.

ALVINA
Then why he said you were clever is entirely beyond me at this point.

FR. BEN (PROUD OF HIMSELF)
He said I was clever?

ALVINA
Well, not exactly. But he said you could handle this.

FR. BEN
Have I proven myself incapable, in any way?

ALVINA
Kind of, yeah. You barely even know me and you’ve already being a bit of a tosser.

FR. BEN
I don’t know what that means.

ALVINA
You wouldn’t.

FR. BEN (SIGHS)
I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand what would drive a person to willingly work for a company like The Amelia Project.

ALVINA
Have you ever committed fraud, Father?

FR. BEN
I’d say that all of us, at one time or another, feel like a fraud. Like we have no business being in whatever position of power that we’re in at any given moment. I think that’s pretty universal, yeah.

ALVINA
Of course it is, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about real, criminal fraud.

FR. BEN
Oh… uhm… then, my answer is no.

ALVINA
That’s what I thought.

FR. BEN
So your contract at the Amelia Project was about blackmail, then. They had something over you, so you signed the dotted line?

ALVINA
Oh, it wasn’t nearly as threatening as that. They made me an offer that I had a very hard time finding any reason to refuse. It was either work for them, or find myself in prison for an undetermined length of time. So, I chose freedom. 

FR. BEN

You have to see why this all looks very complicated to me.

ALVINA
Sure I do, but you also have to see why I made the choice I did.

FR. BEN
…It makes a certain sort of morbid sense, yes.

ALVINA
So you’re done putting on your fake little concerned act and I can continue with my confession, then?

FR. BEN (FEELING A LITTLE BOLD)
I wasn’t even aware that it had started yet.

ALVINA
You’re really a terrible listener, aren’t you.

FR. BEN
(OFFENDED) I certainly am not.

ALVINA
Well, you fooled me.

FR. BEN
Could we get back to you telling me about the festival, then?

ALVINA
I suppose. But, you’re from around here, aren’t you? Have you ever been to one of those things?

FR. BEN
I’ve been known to salt a potato or two in my time, yes.


ALVINA
When Amelia told me we were going to a food festival, I was so excited. I was convinced I’d be able to try all of these incredible worldly delicacies that I’d never had a chance to experience in my life. 

FR. BEN (CHUCKLING)
Yeah… I wouldn’t exactly call any regional Upstate New York food festival full of worldly delicacies, I’ll give you that much.

ALVINA
Imagine my surprise when we arrived here and I realized it really was just booth after booth of salty potatoes.

FR. BEN
Well, do they make them this good where you’re from?

ALVINA
You call that good? All it is boiled, potato-textured salt.

FR. BEN
You must have forgotten the butter, then.

ALVINA
(GRAVELY) No, Father. I didn’t.

FR. BEN
I think they’re delicious. They’ve been a graduation party and backyard barbeque staple for my entire life.

ALVINA
(ACTUALLY SOUNDING SORRY) That’s just so sad. The food where I came from was better than that, and I was basically raised on a rock.

FR. BEN
Not every food has to be for everyone.

ALVINA
But salt potato ice cream? Have you ever tried that monstrosity?

FR. BEN
No, I can’t say that even I’ve been that adventurous.


(THE SOUNDS OF SLOW MUSIC AT A FAIR BEGIN TO CREEP IN UNDER THE CONVERSATION.)


ALVINA
When I saw the stall, I thought: thank god. A sweet reprieve from this sea of savory. I ran right up and got my scoop, and when I took the first lick, I was woefully disappointed. This wasn’t a sugary treat, at all. It was some lumpy, salty frozen milk, full of little bits of boiled potato.

FR. BEN
Yeah, I can’t imagine that’d be very good.


ALVINA
It was dreadful. I couldn't even finish a single bite before I threw it out. Amelia wouldn’t let me expense it, either. She said:

AMELIA
(WITH A SLIGHT RESOUND) Uh-uh. You are entirely on your own with that one. If you wanna make that kind of mistake, you can pay for it yourself.

ALVINA
And so I took it as a challenge. I won’t be taking that kind of challenge again.


(THE MUSIC STOPS)


FR. BEN
I’ve always thought that foods like that, the kind you find at big State Fairs and carnivals, are more about the novelty than the actual flavor, don’t you think? Like, who really enjoys chocolate covered bacon. Or a slab of deep fried butter?

ALVINA
(DISGUSTED) Eugh. I will never understand the American palate.

FR. BEN
Look, ma’am, neither will I, and I grew up here. But, please. For the love of all that is holy, people were seriously injured at that festival. A historic cathedral was destroyed. You and your colleagues showed up here in the middle of the night, moaning about being in a pickle and eating salt potato ice cream, but the more and more I learn about you all and what you do, coupled with the fact that not one, not two, but dozens of people are now nursing broken bones, makes me think we’re nowhere near the heart of this situation.(SLOWLY GETTING LOUDER AND MORE UPSET) Can you try telling me, as succinctly as possible, what you were doing that day at the festival? And how it has anything to do with the incident that followed?

ALVINA
Someone’s feeling a little touchy today, aren’t we?

FR. BEN
(OUT OF BREATH) CAN YOU BLAME ME?!

ALVINA
Well. Besides taste testing some really awful potato concoctions, I was there to witness a potato concoction of my own. 


(WE HEAR THE SOUND OF BUBBLING, BOILING WATER.)


Or, well, a potato boiling concoction anyway.


FR. BEN
(UNDER HIS BREATH) Finally, we’re getting somewhere.

ALVINA
You see: these kids were super particular. Their death had to mean something. And it HAD to involve these dreaded salt potatoes. So what better way for it to happen than to have them jump into their own respective boiling vats of the things.

FR. BEN
(SHOCKED) Good god, that sounds awful.

ALVINA

Yes, exactly. That is the point. Only, you know, they had to be able to survive without being horrifically disfigured in the process.


(BOILING FADES OUT)


FR. BEN
And how were you able to manage that?

ALVINA
It was a lot easier than you’d think, even though there were multiple problems we had to solve.

FR. BEN
And those were...?

ALVINA
My colleague, he ate this idea up when they pitched it to him. But, as always, he didn’t think very hard about the engineering a task like this would require. How were we supposed to swap out two giant vats of boiling potatoes that would be on display for the festival goers to see, all day long? Right out from under their noses?

FR. BEN
I have no idea.

ALVINA
By adding a false second pot, of course! We needed to create an insulated middle chamber that, when entered at the perfect angle, would allow our clients to dive into the water completely unscathed. All the while still having a rim full of the things boiling up around the edges.
FR. BEN
(CLEARLY LOST) And how the heck were you able to pull that off?

ALVINA
With days of practice. You see, rigging up the mechanism was easy enough. Those pots are so big, and they fill them so deep with potatoes, that hiding a second, smaller person-sized pot in the middle of it was easy enough.

FR. BEN
But wouldn’t the families have immediately seen that, when they were getting ready for the day?

ALVINA
No. Not at all, since it was our clients’ turn to do the honors of making the potatoes this year. Pfft, I thought you were from this area. You think you’d understand the intricacies of such a long running festival.

FR. BEN
Well, excuse me for not knowing everything, then.

ALVINA
Anyways, after getting them safely into the vat, we had to get them out without raising too many suspicions. But that was alright, because this festival happens right out in the middle of the street, and the vats were each situated above a manhole. Easy enough to build in a trap door attached to a hose mechanism, in order to refill the false second vat.

FR. BEN
But what about the heat source underneath them?

ALVINA
(AS IF HE SHOULD REALIZE THIS BY NOW) We only had to boil the outside ring of the vat so we rigged that up so it wouldn’t be in the way of the escape hatch. Obviously.

FR. BEN
Sure… yeah… obviously. But there’s one thing I still don’t understand

ALVINA
What’s that?

FR. BEN
In all that commotion, getting them into and then immediately out of the sub-vats, wouldn’t there still need to be bodies for this whole thing to work?

ALVINA
(AMUSED) Hah! That’s the easy part. The Amelia Project’s got bodies for days. And since they were jumping into boiling water, we didn’t even have to bother finding ones that looked right. They only needed to match our clients’ heights.


FR. BEN
That is concerning in a way I have absolutely no idea how to approach.

ALVINA
It was really special, if I’m being honest. Getting to see my work in action. Thrilling, actually. Almost enough to make up for the fact that the trip so far had been so bollocks. I even gave your salt potatoes another try. Still not for me, but that last batch was almost bearable.

FR. BEN
Ma’am, I can see that you get something out of working with these people. I really do, and I don’t want to begrudge you any of your accomplishments...

ALVINA
Then why do I sense a giant “but” coming?

FR. BEN
… BUT people got hurt that day. And not even only the ones who hired you to fake their deaths.

ALVINA
And…?

FR. BEN
And you still haven’t told me how the hell that happened. You’re over here blathering on about feeling unappreciated and burnt out, when clearly you’ve put yourself in an extremely dangerous position. Now, I know I don’t know you but…

ALVINA
No, Father. You definitely don’t.

FR. BEN
But, if I were you, I’d cut and run. Hell, I’d have cut and run years ago, if I’m being honest.

ALVINA
And that’s why you’ll stay right here, while my colleagues and I? After this whole stupid technicality is out of the way? We’ll push past Joey and Salvatore, and we’ll get on that plane, and we’ll fly back home so we can get right back to work.

FR. BEN
So there’s really no part of you that can look back on the decisions that brought you here and realize that you’ve made a mistake?

ALVINA
Oh, sure I can. I agreed to do this.


FR. BEN
You know full well that that’s not what I was talking about.

ALVINA
I do, do I?


(THERE’S ANOTHER UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE BEFORE AN OBNOXIOUS PHONE ALARM GOES OFF.)


ALVINA
That’s my cue.

FR. BEN
You have to be kidding me. You still haven’t told me about the incident.

ALVINA
No, I haven’t. But, Father, that’s not what I needed to get off my chest.


(FAINT ORGAN MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND)


FR. BEN
Are you at least feeling any better, then? 

ALVINA (CHUCKLES)
I’ll be alright. Thanks for asking.

FR. BEN
Wait, wait. Before you go… Do you think I’ll be able to actually get anywhere with Amelia? Or is this just a waste of everyone’s time?

ALVINA
No, the boss is a straight shooter. And she’s itching to get out of here. I’m sure she’ll give you what you need.

FR. BEN
Alright, then.

ALVINA (PAUSING, AND THEN LETTING OUT A SIGH)
Honestly, though, Father. We may not quite see eye to eye on everything, but I really do appreciate you taking the time to listen.

FR. BEN
(EXHAUSTED) Yeah, well. That’s my job. It’s what I’m here for.

ALVINA

You must be good at it, if everyone else who comes to you is half as hard to wrangle as we’ve been.

FR. BEN
They are, ma’am. They really are.


(ALVINA OPENS UP THE BOOTH, STANDS, AND LEAVES. BEN LETS OUT A DEEP SIGH.)


(THE END CREDITS MUSIC BEGINS TO PLAY PROPERLY)


ADAM
Forgive Amelia - A Triptych is a production from Imploding Fictions and Rogue Dialogue. This episode was written and directed by Bob Raymonda and Jack Marone. 


Story editing by Philip Thorne and Øystein Brager. 


Here’s our cast in order of appearance: 

Julia Morizawa - Amelia

Julia C. Thorne - Alvina

Alan Burgon - The Interviewer

and: 

Casey Callaghan - Father Ben


The Amelia Project theme song originally composed by Fredrik Baden. 


Music arrangement, sound design and mixing for this episode by me, Adam Raymonda. 

Production assistance from Maty Parzival. The graphic design for this crossover series by Anders Pedersen and Sam Twardy. 


This is the second episode in a three part crossover series. On Friday, the 30th of July 2021, we put on a livestream performance of this episode and we will be doing the same for the final installment. If you missed the live performance, you can watch a replay of the stream by supporting the Amelia Project or Forgive Me! on patreon. To become a Patron of The Amelia Project, head over to patreon.com/ameliapodcast, and to support Forgive Me!, make your way over to patreon.com/roguedialogue. 


The final Livestream event for the second event will be taking place on the 27th of August 2021. We’ll be back on your feed with the final episode of Forgive Amelia - A triptych on the 2nd of September 2021. 


(Music plays for a moment longer) 


PHILIP

Thank you to Sophia Anderson, Kate Sukeyasu, Sophie Levezow, Jem Fidyk, Alban Ossant, Travis Kirton, Rushabh Shukla, Amelie Harris, Stefanie Weittenhiller, Chloe Leferman, Elizabeth Curry, Mints and such, Rafael Eduardo Wefers Verastegui, and I am Trash! without whom the Amelia Project would not be possible. 


End of Episode.