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Please note that all dialogue is under United States
Copyright protection.
Love and Whiskey
A drama by Allyson Currin
4 men, 3 women
This script is currently slated for production as
an Equity Member’s Project through Charter
Theatre in January and February of 2009.
It will run at the National
Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington DC from
February 6-22, 2009.
The play was developed through Charter Theatre and
the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat at the Hamner Theatre.
Synopsis:
Based on the Depression-era diaries kept by the playwright’s
grandmother, this play chronicles the journey of Lucy Mae, unmarried
caretaker of her ill mother, and the last unmarried daughter of
the Knott clan. As she balances the demands at home with her own
unfulfilled desires and thwarted dreams, she struggles to define
her independence and find her ultimately triumphant way in a world
that provides few options for women without means. Sample dialogue:
Luke, Lucy Mae’s unattainable love, arrives
back in town suddenly after a lengthy absence. He surprises her
in the smokehouse.
LUKE
Ain’t nobody snatched you up yet?
LM
Luke.
LUKE
I’m back.
LM
You’re back! Oh!
LUKE
Don’t mess with that, you look fine.
LM
I look like seven devils – I need to wash my neck.
LUKE
Well, I ain’t looking at your neck, am I?
LM
No. No, of course not – I didn’t mean –
LUKE
Mm-hmm.
LM
When, when, when did you get back?
LUKE
A while back.
LM
A while back.
LUKE
There’s an echo in here.
LM
No, I just meant – “Oh, a while back!” That’s
all I meant.
Silence.
LM
Where did you go this time?
LUKE
Canada.
LM
Canada.
LUKE (imitating an echo)
“Canada, Canada, Canada...”
Silence.
LM
What did you do in Canada?
LUKE
Logging.
LM
Well! Logging?
LUKE
Dangerous job, you know. Pays more.
LM
Were you in an awful lot of danger?
LUKE
Worried?
LM
No.
LUKE
Saved up enough for two new suits. Maybe a down payment on a car.
Silence.
LUKE
(new beat) Got stuck in Buffalo.
LM
How was Buffalo?
LUKE
Got stuck there.
LM
In the snow?
LUKE
Yeah, there was snow. ‘Bout up to the roofs of the cars.
LM
No!
LUKE
Oh, yeah. But I was stuck because I ran out of money. Not a red
cent to my name.
LM
Law!
LUKE
Nothing but that hat on my head, the clothes on my back, a broke-up
old satchel and half a ham sandwich. It was dire.
LM
Lost all your money?
LUKE
Every penny.
LM
You weren’t drinking, were you?
LUKE
Naw. I mean, yeah, I was drinking, but that’s not what happened
to the money.
LM
What then?
LUKE
Got rolled.
LM
Rolled? Good Lord above, you got rolled! I just KNEW it! Rolled!
LUKE
That means robbed.
LM
Oh.
LUKE
Two guys chatted me up in New York City. Decided we’d hop
the freight train to save on dough. Next thing I know I’m
coming to right outside Buffalo with empty pockets and a bump on
my head the size of your fist.
LM
Gracious mercy me! What did you do?
LUKE
Put some snow on it.
LM
Quit messing! I mean about the money being gone.
LUKE
I didn’t quite know what to do. But as I was walking around,
shaking it off and trying to come up with a plan... I saw a sign.
LM
A sign from God?
LUKE
A sign on a wall. And it said three beautiful words. Sal. Vation.
Army.
LM
Well, I never!
LUKE
So I marched right in there and told them of my plight. They clucked
and fussed and read me a couple passages from the bible.
But once I started quoting word for word they gave up on that. Never
mess with a Baptist boy when it comes to quoting, even if he has
laid off of it. They gave me soup, bread, cup of coffee. Best meal
of my life. Brother Elam gave me a thick old overcoat and enough
money to make the rest of my ticket to Canada. So that’s how
I got to Canada.
LM
I am overcome.
LUKE
Sure was a good thing I got that overcoat. It’s a new kind
of cold up there in Canada!
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