You captured the feeling so well - I remember going into an unemployment office once and slowly realizing that I was going to be waiting...maybe an entire day...and deciding I'd just deal with being broke. The feeling of waiting permeated the office unlike anything I've ever seen, lol. Super interesting to see your workflow and I know nothing about theatre
What fun! I'd never consciously thought about the tempo of a character/scene, but that makes so much sense. That interminable 30bpm is perfect for the unemployment office. In the 1st phrase, you went from the minor 3rd to the major 3rd. If I were working on this, the 2nd phrase would follow the jump to the 7th with a flat5/5 step up. Then maybe a modulation to the minor 6th, which would drag on twice as long as you think it should, before returning to the tonic (or maybe a false resolution to the 4th -- Dflat maj / B flat maj). Or not. 🙂