Character Relationships: Fiction/Drama Practice Test

In a contemporary drama set in a hospital corridor outside an ICU room, Rowan waits while their older sister, Elise, speaks with a doctor offstage. Rowan holds a paper cup of coffee; Elise returns, rubbing her forehead.

ELISE: They’re keeping him overnight.

ROWAN: So he’s stable.

ELISE: Stable is a word they use when they don’t want you to ask for promises.

ROWAN: Did you sign the forms?

ELISE: I did.

ROWAN: You didn’t call me.

ELISE: I called you when it mattered.

ROWAN: It mattered when they asked about the DNR.

ELISE (sharp): Don’t.

ROWAN: Don’t what? Have an opinion?

ELISE: Have a performance.

ROWAN (laughs once): A performance. Right.

ELISE: You weren’t here.

ROWAN: I was on the train. I texted.

ELISE: Texting isn’t being here.

ROWAN: And being here isn’t owning him.

ELISE (steps in close): I’m not owning him. I’m holding the whole ceiling up while you critique the beams.

ROWAN: You like being the one who holds it.

ELISE: Someone has to.

ROWAN: You don’t let anyone else try.

ELISE (voice cracks, then hardens): If I let go, it falls.

ROWAN (quiet): Or we catch it together.

Which interpretation best captures the dynamic between Elise and Rowan in this scene?

In a one-act drama set in the cramped back office of a neighborhood restaurant after closing, Mara (the manager) confronts Jules (a longtime cook) about a missing deposit. Jules is wiping down the counter; Mara stands by the safe with an envelope.

MARA: The bank slip’s blank.

JULES: I didn’t go.

MARA: You didn’t go.

JULES: I stayed. Someone had to.

MARA: We all stayed.

JULES (without looking up): Not like I did.

MARA: Tell me what that means.

JULES: It means I keep this place from tipping over when you decide to balance on one heel.

MARA: I decide? I’m the one who signs my name.

JULES: And I’m the one who scrubs it clean when it gets dragged through mud.

MARA (holds up the envelope): There’s six hundred missing.

JULES (finally looks at her): You always count the money like it’s the only thing that can leave you.

MARA: Don’t turn this into—

JULES: Into what? Into the thing we don’t say?

MARA (quiet): I said thank you.

JULES: You said it like a receipt.

MARA: I can’t afford softness.

JULES: You can’t afford to admit you need anyone.

MARA (steps closer): I need you to answer.

JULES (after a beat): I lent it. To Tessa. For her rent.

MARA: Without asking.

JULES: I asked you last month. You stared through me.

MARA: I was doing payroll.

JULES: You were doing armor.

MARA (voice tight): If the owner finds out—

JULES: The owner won’t. I’ll bring it back.

MARA: And if you don’t?

JULES: Then you’ll fire me like you’ve been practicing in your head.

MARA (a long pause): Stop acting like you’re the only one who stays.

Based on the exchange, which interpretation best characterizes Mara and Jules’s relationship?