The Third Wheel: Going up
- Natasha Langridge-Thorpe
- May 8, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 15, 2022
Going Up (2017) is a short, fictional, comedy script. The main characters include friendship trio Cheryl, Ryan and Lenny who decide to take a trip abroad. Cheryl hatches a plan to convince her friends to confess their feelings for one another. However, things take a disastrous turn as she learns that love comes naturally and cannot be forced.
The World of the Story
The story takes place in the hotel where the three friends are staying. However, the main conflict takes place in the lift where Cheryl tries to put her plan into action by flirting with Lenny in an attempt to make Ryan jealous. I wanted the conflict to take place in an enclosed space so that the audience feels the entrapment that the three characters do - they are not being open with each other about how they feel. I also wanted to explore with the idea of creating characters interesting enough that their setting can be something as simple as a lift and the content will still be entertaining.
Cheryl uses the lift setting to her advantage by pressing the emergency stop button so that the characters can spend more time together before they go to their hotel rooms. She tries to sort the situation out, but makes it worse when she momentarily forgets that Lenny has claustrophobia. Cheryl also tries to use the setting of the hotel rooms to her advantage by announcing that she could only book two rooms; one that includes a double bed and the other one a single bed. In this sense, Cheryl is trying to manipulate the setting to convince her friends to be together.
Characters
Cheryl
Out of the three friends, Cheryl is the one that the audience spend the most time with. For example, the audience stay with her when Ryan and Lenny exit her hotel room.
By showing the events from Cheryl's perspective, the audience are able to gain a deeper understanding of why she thought this plan would be a good idea even if they disagree with her. She had good intentions, but unfortunately ending up hurting her friends' feelings. She feels immediately guilty after Lenny's panic attack and starts to realise that she should not have interfered in her friends' love life.
One of my main aims for the script was focusing on the unexpected. I wanted to uncover the surface identity of the three main characters and how that identity can be challenged throughout the script due to hidden feelings and motives. The reason I chose to use Cheryl's perspective instead of Ryan or Lenny's is because I wanted to take the narrative perspective of the character who could best portray the unexpected. I also wanted to use Cheryl as a character who could be just as surprised as the audience are at the conclusion.
Lenny and Ryan
Lenny and Ryan are shown to have two very different personalities. For instance, Lenny is shown as the peacemaker who stays out of conflict. On the other hand, Ryan shows that he is not afraid of conflict and his dialogue is mainly centered around reprimanding Cheryl. For example, the first scene shows the differences between Lenny and Ryan's personalities in the way they interact with Cheryl.
Cheryl chooses to flirt with Lenny in an attempt to make Ryan jealous. She knows that flirting with Lenny will elicit a reaction from Ryan, due to his reactive attitude that the audience have previously witnessed.
The conflict between Ryan and Cheryl creates the tension needed so that the comedic interaction at the end between the characters is one the challenges the audiences' perceived expectations. For example, the running joke of "a fiver" from the start to end.
I enjoyed writing this script because I was able to explore how to portray character dynamics in a limited amount of pages. This allowed me to experiment with establishing the relationship between Cheryl, Lenny and Ryan through both dialogue and visual cues.
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