The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks

Playwright Arthur Banks awakes in the bedroom of a girl he suspects is underage. Panicked, he flees out the window, and makes a phone call. "I think I pulled a Polanski," says Arthur. Later, Arthur visits his therapist, who explains that Arthur seeks unattainable women, and when things don't work out, it confirms his worst beliefs.

At his therapist's office nine weeks before his play opens, Arthur describes all women as crazy and says that his new girlfriend, an actress, is paranoid and prone to hysteria.

As opening night approaches, Arthur describes to his therapist his celibate relationship with a student at Columbia. Holding off having sex shows maturity, Arthur reflects. Life can be viewed like eggs, says the therapist. Optimists see the world sunny-side up; pessimists -- or latent existentialists -- see it as scrambled.