RECOVERY
Recovery was commissioned and first produced by the National Arts Center in Ottawa in April 2006.
Ben: Ian Leung
Clare: Kate Hurman
Ash: John Koengsen
Leroy: Jeff Lawson
Mya: Alix Sideris
Alex: Paul Wernick
Director: David Oiye
Set and costume design: Kim Nielson
Lighting design: David Fraser
Original music and sound design: Robert Perrault
Stage Manager: Stephanie Seguin
Dramaturge: Lise Ann Johnson
It has since been produced by Rumble Theatre (Vancouver, BC) and the University of Toledoâ;s School of Theatre and Film (Ohio, USA).
My thanks to the National Arts Centre, Playwrightsâ Workshop Montreal, the 2004 Banff playRites Colony and the many directors, actors and designers across the country who have contributed to this script.
CHARACTERS
Ben (thirties)
Clare (thirties)
Ash (sixties)
Leroy (twenties)
Mya (twenties)
Alex (twelve)
PRODUCTION NOTES
Although the play has very few stage directions, it should still have a strong physical, auditory and visual quality.
The use of slides, projections, video, holograms, recorded voices, sound effects and children are encouraged.
âLet me be weak, let me sleep, and dream of sheep.â
â Kate Bush
PART ONE
SCENE ONE
BEN: In a banquet room at a hotel downtown they offer us warm croissants and espresso. They give us brochures and show us slides. Pictures of rotting teeth, infected skin and a man lying on a cot, emaciated. Pictures of people wandering naked down streets. Pictures of bodies lying dead in alleys, unattended, floating in pools of water, grey and bloated, people poking them with sticks and mothers holding dead, limp children.
They say, âThis isnât happening yet, but it could happen. They say, âItâs not a question of if, itâs a question of when.â They say, âYou may not think you have a problem, but thatâs often the first sign you have a problem.â They say, âIf you love yourself or thereâs someone you love.â
I sign a release form and give them a series of cheques. The next day my mother and I take a limousine to the airport. I get on a chartered flight. I am allowed to bring one piece of luggage. Just the essentials: toiletries, clothing. Personal items â photographs, stuffed animals, CDS, jewellery â arenât encouraged.
âEverything will be waiting for you when you come home.â
SCENE TWO
CLARE: You probably have a lot of questions. How was the travel?
BEN: Planes I find disorienting. You get on, youâre somewhere. You get of, youâre somewhere else. Itâs jarring.
CLARE: Yes, and the seating is often cramped, and the recycled air. Although you can buy your own vials of oxygen now, so âŚ
BEN: There was a large person beside me who was constantly shifting back and forth like aâ
Well, constantly fidgeting. I requested another seat, and luckily there were a few empty seats on the plane, but even still the attendant gave me a condescending look.
CLARE: There are some people who donât enjoy doing things for others, even if it costs them nothing.
BEN: Regardless â
CLARE: Here you are, in one piece.
BEN: When we were landing, I thought I saw some penguins.
CLARE: Yes, they like to flop about on the coastline.
BEN: Well, thatâs something.
CLARE: Some of the Residents will get a little adventurous, plan a little expedition, pack a lunch, make a day of it, out to the coast with the penguins. Itâs not encouraged, but â
BEN: Are they friendly?
CLARE: Well, theyâre not unfriendly. I wouldnât want one for a pet, I donât think.
BEN: No, I wouldnât imagine.
CLARE: Some of the Residents, on the other hand âŚ
BEN: I beg your pardon?
CLARE: Oh, I was making a joke.
BEN: Iâm sorry, I donât understand.
CLARE: Well, perhaps now is not the best time for -â Youâre probably feeling a bit fuzzy.
BEN: A bit, yes.
CLARE: Now that youâre hereâ
BEN: What did you say? Fuzzy, but âŚ
CLARE: Itâs an adjustment, but I think youâll find it can be fun, it can be an adventure.
BEN: I mean, you hear so many contradictory things these days from so many people. Do this, try that.
CLARE: Youâve made a good choice. Weâre a relatively new outfit, but I think weâre making a lot of progress.
BEN: Yes, well, it was either this one, or there was one off the coast of Japan that sounded â
CLARE: Thatâs a popular spot.
BEN: I thought it sounded exotic, but in the end â
CLARE: No penguins, of course, but lots of bamboo, if thatâs your thing.
BEN: I saw your advertisements on the television, the celebrity endorsements, and I thought â
CLARE: Weâve received some nice exposure over the past few months.
BEN: I thought, if itâs good enough for John Stamos â
CLARE: He has such an honest quality to him, donât you think?
BEN: And your treatment sounded â
CLARE: Weâre working primarily with ventilation.
BEN: I have a funny taste at the back of my mouth.
CLARE: Youâll get used to that.
BEN: It wasnât easy getting a spot. There was a waiting list but my mother pulled some strings so they managed to squeeze me in.
CLARE: We have close to 5,000 people staying with us.
BEN: Wow, thatâs â
CLARE: Itâs all very well organized, so you shouldnât feel too overwhelmed by it all. Weâve tried to make it as intimate and homey as possible, little personal touches here and there.
BEN: Yes, I saw the large Chinese vases and the small marble tables in the corridors, and I think theyâre really â
CLARE: There are ten wings or arms â separate little communities really â each with their own restaurant, and a games room, and a sunshine room, and an exercise room with blue mats, and a music room with some instruments â
BEN: I used to play in a chamber quartet.
CLARE: Really?
BEN: Yes, the violin.
CLARE: Well, I donât know about violins. I think we have some recorders, a xylophone, a few trombones, a tambourine. You know, odds and ends.
BEN: That would be funny.
CLARE: Whatâs that?
BEN: Oh, I was just imagining the musical possibilities, the combination of those instruments all thrown together.
CLARE: Yes, that would be funny.
BEN: Iâm sorry, I feel as though I should lie down.
CLARE: I just wanted to make sure everything was okey-dokey.
BEN: Everyone has been very helpful and generous. It will probably take me a few days to get a sense of the place.
CLARE: Itâs a complicated system at first, but in the end I think youâll find it makes some kind of sense.
BEN: I havenât heard that expression in a long time.
CLARE: Whatâs that?
BEN: Okey-dokey.
CLARE: Oh, my son has taken it up. I donât know where he got it. You can find you own way to your room?
BEN: Iâm in the Woodpecker Wing, so thatâs ⌠?
CLARE: Just down two flights and then straight ahead on your left.
BEN: Yes, I think I can remember that.
CLARE: Well, sweet dreams.
SCENE THREE
BEN: The first night, itâs uncomfortable. Everything feels strange. I unpack. I arrange things in my room, flicking light switches, looking at the floor tiles, arranging hangers, keeping myself occupied. I lie on top of the bed. The bedspread is synthetic and has a green kind of jungle pattern on it.
The sound of a violin. A woman and a boy appear.
BEN: I think of my mother at the airport. At the gate, waving goodbye, wearing a long coat, short white gloves and a mink stole. She was of that pedigree where just leaving the house was a formal occasion.
She gave me a card with a...