Middletown (TCG Edition)

Will Eno

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781559363808
• eBook ISBN: 9781559367653
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

"Will Eno is an original, a maverick wordsmith whose weird, wry dramas gurgle with the grim humor and pain of life."—Guardian

A moving and funny new play exploring the universe of a small American town. As a friendship develops between longtime resident John Dodge and new arrival Mary Swanson, the lives of the inhabitants of Middletown intersect in strange and poignant ways in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and points between.

ACT TWO

Months later. Middletown.

Scene 1

Mechanic enters the dimly lit stage and comes to the window of John Dodge’s house. John Dodge, illuminated, is staring out, intently. He cleans a piece of lint from the window, revealing that he was just staring at the pane of glass. Mechanic hides nearby, watching.

MECHANIC (Imitating the sound of a crow): Ca-caa. Ca-caa.

(John Dodge barely reacts, except to shake his head in a very small way, as if quietly but deeply pained by the sound, and then moves from the window. Mechanic moves across stage, to where Mrs. Swanson, visible in her window, is looking at herself in a mirror. She is very pregnant. Mechanic makes a heavy long breathing sound:)

Hhhhaaahh. Hhhhaaahh. (Crow sound, again) Ca-caa.

(Mrs. Swanson moves toward the window, looking frightened. Mechanic hides.)

MRS. SWANSON (Muffled): Is someone there? (She moves from the window)

MECHANIC (Steps out of his hiding place. To audience): Just some regular sounds from nature. Probably nothing to be too afraid of. (Makes a few long whooshing sounds like the ocean or the wind in the trees) Whhhshhhhhhh. Whhhshhhhhhh. That’s my impression of a cell dividing—or, I don’t know, metastasizing. Same thing, probably, for a while—until it isn’t. I learned that word through relatives. (Brief pause) By the way, I started drinking, again. I don’t know if people know that I’d stopped for a while? I did. Everything was better. But I decided to start up again. You might be asking yourselves, “Why?” (Pause. He stays still and looks through the audience, suspiciously, but also with a kind of open curiosity) That was a little chance to let your minds wander, to let you come up with some reasons for me. (Another pause, same as above) That was some time just for you. (Takes a sip from a bottle) Away! (Pause. He slowly exits)

Scene 2

Entrance and lawn of Middletown Hospital. Bright day. A sign that says emergency is staked into the grass. Landscaper is on his knees on the grass, preparing to plant a tree, a young sapling. Cop enters and quietly approaches Landscaper from behind. Cop holds his hand out in the shape of gun, aimed at the back of Landscaper’s head.

COP: Bang!

LANDSCAPER (Startled. Recovers): Jesus. Hey.

COP: I could have killed you, just then.

LANDSCAPER: And that’s somehow my fault?

COP: Planting a tree?

LANDSCAPER: Great work—you solved the case of what I’m doing.

COP: Don’t be smart.

LANDSCAPER: Done.

COP: How’s my sister?

LANDSCAPER: She’s good. She wants you to come over for dinner, next week. We finished the new patio and we’re having a cookout. (Some business with the tree)

COP: Sounds good. (Very brief pause) What type is it? Elm?

LANDSCAPER: White Ash, I think. Although it could be a Green Ash. They’re surprisingly hard to tell apart.

COP: Fair enough. (Brief pause) Pretty day.

LANDSCAPER (Looking for a place to plant the tree): Where do you think this should go?

COP: A lot of possibilities. (Brief pause. Shaking his head, contemplatively, somewhat disdainfully) People.

LANDSCAPER: I know. (Brief pause) You know what, I don’t know—what, specifically, about people?

COP: Just: people. The things they do. You think you know people. You don’t. You think you caught some nonsuicidal gleam in their eye. You didn’t. You never know what people are going to do.

(On Cop’s lines above, Landscaper picks a spot on the grass, stands straight and still. Immediately after Cop has finished speaking, Landscaper gently sways for a few moments, his eyes closed, pretending he’s a tree, making the sound of wind in the leaves.)

LANDSCAPER: Whhhshhhhhhh. Whhhshhhhhhh. This feels good, right here. What do you think about here?

COP: It’s got potential.

LANDSCAPER (Digging, preparing): So they just wheeled some guy past here. He lifted his head up, you know, “Wait, wait, one more look.” That was a sight. Then a pregnant lady went in, crying, trying to carry all her stuff. She looked so lonely, which, you know, when you think about it, she totally isn’t. It made me wish the thing was already done. I think it’ll be soothing, you know, this tree, just nice for people. Bald kids going in on sunny school days. Shattered families leaving in the rain. Just a good old sturdy old tree. Year in, year out—a good tree.

COP: Sure.

LANDSCAPER: Maybe some day some young lovers’ll carve their initials into it. (He pinches the tree, not even an inch in diameter, with thumb...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Prologue
• Act One
• Act Two
• Acknowledgments