ACT ONE – THE WAKE – APRIL 2016
SCENE ONE – 10:00AM
A melancholy song plays as lights rise on the living room of a house in a Chapel Hill, North Carolina retirement community. The room is furnished with chairs and two couches, two dog bowls labeled “BRUCE”, and end tables holding varied ashtrays. Family photos and painted landscapes adorn the walls alongside US Army regalia. The front door is stage right. A swinging door to the kitchen is stage left. Along the walls are a bathroom door, a door to a study, and hallway leading to two bedrooms.
Tires brake in the driveway. A dog barks offstage in the study as car doors open and slam shut. The front door opens, and in come a family all clad in black suits and dresses.
Enter BRUCE JR, late 50s, grabbing some M&Ms from a bowl near the entrance. He is followed by his wife, EMILY, early 30s, also well-dressed, wiping away running mascara.
Bruce Jr’s sister KIM, mid 50s, weary, holding a plastic box of ashes, enters with her husband TOM, 50s, a calming presence. RALEIGH, daughter of Kim and Tom, 19, tattoos, follows her parents. She holds the door for DAN, early 40s, brother of Bruce and Kim, wearing a loosely fitting suit. Dan seems shaken, unsure where to go once inside.
Bruce Jr sits on the couch to look at his phone. Emily heads to the bathroom.
BRUCE JR
You okay, honey?
EMILY
(as she exits)
I just need to get this makeup off.
Kim puts the urn on the mantle then walks with Tom to the other couch, exhausted.
TOM
(to Kim)
I’m gonna grab a water. Do you want some? Or tea, or anything? Maybe I try to figure out where the M&M stash is hidden?
BRUCE JR
(not looking up from his phone, as Kim sits and shakes her head)
I’ll take some water, Tom. Thank you.
Tom and Kim share an annoyed look. As Tom approaches the kitchen, he notices Dan standing idly, Dan’s fingers fidgeting in a pattern, so he gives him a smile as he exits. Raleigh opens the door to the study and greets the (unseen) dog, also named Bruce.
RALEIGH
(partly offstage)
Someone’s got the butt wiggles… I think it’s you. It’s you! You have them!
KIM
(to Bruce Jr)
Is Emily still…?
BRUCE JR
Yeah. She calmed down after we left, but on the drive back… hit her again.
(noticing fresh dog fur on his couch, standing to check his pants)
God… damnit. The damn… from now on that dog’s not allowed on the furniture.
KIM
Got a little fur on your butt? Just take a couple extra Claritin.
BRUCE JR
I left it at the hotel.
KIM
Speaking of the dog, can somebody walk him?
RALEIGH
I can do it!
KIM
(noticing how distant Dan seems)
Dan, could you do me a favor and walk Bruce? Dan? Dan.
Dan looks up, ripped from a trance. He takes a moment to process what Kim said.
DAN
Huh? I… yeah. Yeah! I can walk him. Yeah.
KIM
Thanks, Dan.
Dan moves toward the door to grab the leash hanging on a hook, and then he walks to an entrance table to grab a dog dropping bag. Dan approaches the study.
BRUCE JR
Take him out through the back? There’s enough fur in here.
DAN
Sure, okay. Back in a little bit.
Dan exits into the study, closes the door, then clomps out a garden door with the dog.
DAN
(offstage)
Good boy! That’s a good dog. Let’s go get you empty. Good dog.
Raleigh joins Kim on the couch, leaning her head on Kim’s shoulder. Tom returns with two glasses of water, placing one next to Bruce Jr and the other in front of Kim. Bruce Jr doesn’t acknowledge Tom, but Kim smiles warmly as Tom sits next to her.
Silence, perhaps for the first time today.
BRUCE JR
(suddenly looking up from his phone)
So what are we gonna do about Danny?
KIM
Can we please talk about that later? I just need a sec to –
BRUCE JR
How many days does he have left here again?
TOM
The woman at the main building said we have to vacate the house in three days.
RALEIGH
Three days? That’s it?
TOM
There’s a long waiting list. It took your grandparents years to get in here.
BRUCE JR
Well, they’re not moving people in here any time soon. They’ll have to deep clean the place to get the smell out. Not to mention the stains on the ceiling.
KIM
It’s so weird being here without her chain-smoking.
A somber beat. Raleigh studies the ashtrays.
RALEIGH
The ashtrays are all still full. Where’d she get this one?
KIM
Mom got that one when they lived in Boston, before you were born.
RALEIGH
She has so many… What about this one? “World’s Best Mom.”
BRUCE JR
That one’s from me. Mother’s Day a few years ago.
RALEIGH
You bought her an ashtray for Mother’s Day?
BRUCE JR
She liked it a lot more than when I got her Nicorette.
KIM
Prob’ly woulda died sooner if she had quit. All that tar was holding her together.
RALEIGH
It’s pretty crazy she was even allowed to smoke inside here. There’s literally a sign at the entrance that says “This is a Smoke Free Community.”
TOM
Nothing ever came between your grandmother and her Lucky Strikes. When I first started dating your mom, Beatrice would make me run ahead to the host stand whenever we went out to eat just to ask for a table in the smoking section.
BRUCE JR
Kim, you remember flying with Mom? When we were very young, she would make us sit in the smoking section of the airplane every time we flew.
RALEIGH
Oh my god, that was a thing? That’s like having a peeing section in the pool.
KIM
She always said “If I have to hear those babies crying, they should have to smell my smoke.” Raleigh, you wouldn’t have minded. You and those cigarette butts.
RALEIGH
Cigarette butts?
TOM
(to Kim)
Your mom was so mortified we never talked about it again.
KIM
Did we never tell you about this, Raleigh?
RALEIGH
Tell me what? You’re making it sound like she put cigarettes out on me.
KIM
Oh wow, okay. So, you were two, and we were visiting your grandparents back at their old house. I guess we left you alone in the living room for a bit, and I came back and saw you holding a cigarette butt. You had it between your lips like you were smoking, your fingers like this. I laughed at first, but then you swallowed it.
RALEIGH
No… Did I really?
KIM
I rushed over and then saw that all the cigarette butts in the ash tray were gone.
RALEIGH
Little nicotine fiend!
KIM
I was so mad at her for leaving them out. I thought that might make her quit.
BRUCE JR
She did stop smoking for a few months. She felt bad.
KIM
Not bad enough.
RALEIGH
Dad, can dogs get lung cancer, too?
TOM
Um… yeah, in theory, sure. It’s probably more common with cats whose owners smoke, actually. Shorter noses. But I’ve never seen it at my clinic.
RALEIGH
Bruce has prob’ly inhaled a lotta smoke. He might need patches from now on.
BRUCE JR
We’re not calling the dog Bruce anymore.
RALEIGH
You don’t like sharing a name with the pup?
BRUCE JR
I shared a name with Dad my whole life. The moment he dies, Mom gets a dog and names it after him. From now on, I am the only Bruce.
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