centerpieces
The Child  by Sarah Schulman

Casting

With this casting structure, each of the actors inhabits both the gay family and the straight family. Alice Through The Looking Glass. The women are lovers and mother/daughter. Dearest friends are later father/daughter or husband/wife, law-breakers become law-enforcers, The reconfigurings and transitions happen on stage as the actors move between worlds. The director can enrich this by using artful staging repetitions between the two families.

Casting (Seven Actors)

Eva Pollack/Brigid Mulcahey
Mary Morgan/Carole Holder/Bernadine South
Hockey Notkin / Martin Mulcahey
David/Dr. Krasner/ Dan Wisotscky, CSW/receptionist/Kevin Bart
Stew Mulcahey
Victor
Alicia /Bethany Bliss/Dr. Gita Kumar/Wendy

Both Stew and Victor will be played by young adults.


Characters

Eva Pollack Forty, lawyer.
Eva finds light in two ways- through giving love, and the revelation of ideas that open doors. An attorney, she develops arguments and can reason on her feet on behalf of others.

Mary Morgan Thirty-four, Playwright, Eva's lover
An impulsive, expressive woman who can't hide her own desires from herself and so, lets the chips fall. A writer, she has access to different kinds of speech.

David Ziemska Forty-five, video store clerk
A practical man with a high-risk life who cuts his losses

Stew Mulcahey Fifteen, small and thin.
He is in trouble, he can't control his feelings, he needs other people to be quiet so he can think. But they won't be.

Alicia Twenty-eight, medical technician

Dr. Krasner Forty-six, breast doctor

Mrs. Brigid Mulcahey Forty, Stew's mother
She is so aware of what she needs that she is at the mercy of those who can give it to her, and so her own sense of order can be compromised if others insist.

Mr. Martin Mulcahey Fifty, Stew's father
He wants to do the right thing but he can't change, so he wants it to be that whatever he needs to be doing is right. Struggling to breathe.

Kevin Bart Police Lieutenant

Hockey Notkin Fifty, long term AIDS survivor, lawyer
A canny attorney, very persuasive. Regaining his physical strength and all its accompanying intentions.

Dan Wisotscky, CSW Sixty-six

Carole Mulcahey Holder    Stew's twenty-five year old sister

Victor Holder Her seven year old son

Dr. Gita Kumar Park Avenue breast doctor

Receptionist

Wendy Twenty-three, police officer

Bethany Bliss Thirty-three, big haired lawyer

Bernardine South DA for Van Buren Township


Time Line for The Child

Action runs from Friday, April 16-Tuesday, May 25, 1999

ACT ONE
Scene One: Mary and Eva at Home. Friday, April 16, 1999 at 9pm
Scene Two: David's Home Saturday, April 17 at 11:30 a.m.
Scene Three: Dr Krasner Saturday, April 17 at 1:00 pm
Scene Four: The Mulcaheys' Saturday, April 17 at 8 pm
Scene Five: Mary and Eva's Home Thursday, April 22, at 6:45 pm
Scene Six: Dan Wisotscky Friday, April 30 at 9 am
Scene Seven:Eva,Mary/Krasner Monday, May 3 at 8pm
*Scene Eight: Lunch at Mulcaheys Wednesday, May 19 at noon

INTERMISSION

ACT TWO
Scene One: Mary and Eva/waiting room Tuesday, May 4, 3:55 pm.
Scene Two:Ossining Correctional (David)    Wednesday, May 5, 8:30 am
*Scene Three: Mulcahey-John Wayne Wednesday May 19 at 5:30 pm
Scene Four: Mary, Eva/Ilene, Mom call Monday, May 10, 8 pm
*Scene Five: Stew, Brigid and Marty Wednesday, May 19 at 6 pm
Scene Six: Eva and Hockey at Clinic Tuesday, May 11, 9:30 am
Scene Seven: Del Sol-Wendy and Mary Tuesday, May 18 3 am
Scene Eight: Hockey's Office Thursday, May 20th 10 am
Scene Nine: Ossining (Stew)/DA Monday, May 24 at 2 pm
Scene Ten: Del Sol-Eva Tuesday, May 25 at 4 pm

* scenes occurring on the same day- Wednesday, May 19, 1999



ACT ONE

Scene One

(Mary and Eva are at home. The table is set. Eva, in her coat, is holding a bag of groceries and flowers. She just walked through the door and heard the news before the lights came up. She is frozen. Tight light on Mary.)


MARY
(at her computer. to audience-sweetly, invitingly, gently)
If your only relationship to life is to live it, then to say "this is my story," means it all happened to me. That's why some people...when they go to see a play?...want there to be one clear protagonist who they can follow and identify with. They're used to thinking of life in terms of themselves, primarily. But when it is your story because you wrote it, it means you noticed it, you built a relationship with other people, with their...simultaneity, without having to be them. Can you watch my play the way I wrote it? Where different people's lives resonate. And in that space between their experiences...that's where the story is told, like the wind. One wind. This is not one person's story, it's cumulative. This is my story.

(Lights up on Eva)

EVA
I don't get it. Why did he turn you down?

MARY
I'm so glad you're home.

EVA
(Kisses her hello)
Me too, but I don't understand. I thought he loved it.
(Mary takes the bag)

MARY
(Eva hangs up coat and briefcase.)
I walked into the theater and he said "I can get this play produced and I can do it soon."

EVA
Wow! The Public Theater said that?

MARY
That's what I thought, "Wow, this is finally going to happen." These radishes are gorgeous.

EVA
They're so white, they're like stars, you could wish on them. Put them on a blue plate, they'll look incredibly weird.
(starts cutting flowers)

MARY
OK. So then he says "But we have to make the play work. It needs one good story."

EVA
How frustrating.

MARY
"I love the part about the boy," he says. "But those two gay women will have to go. They're a distraction from the real story. What in the hell do they have to do with that boy?"

EVA
I like them. I like those two gay women.
(Puts flowers in vase.)

MARY
"This play needs one solid narrative arc," he says. "It needs to be about the boy. The boy is solid. Those women?"

EVA
Did you explain?

MARY
I tried. It's not easy to get through when people can only see in one way.
(Eva puts vase on table.)
I told him that art creates worlds.

EVA
Did he understand?

MARY
No. So I tried again. I told him that I grew up in Del Sol, California where the wind changes direction many times a day. It taught me that in life there is momentum on all paths at once.

EVA
Was he still breathing?

MARY
There was a pulse. I told him that the women are interesting but the audience doesn't know how to watch them. They're not used to them. They're used to boys. In ten years when they've seen a lot of plays with two gay women, they'll know how to watch them. And then they'll realize that we're all in the same world, together. And they won't need to see a boy in order to see themselves. I told him that the boy and the women...that they are each other's story. One story.

EVA
What did he say?

MARY
He said "Keep me posted." I'm going to have a glass of wine.

EVA
No thanks. I had a drink at the Bar Association cocktail party.

MARY
How was it?

EVA
Something creepy happened. I'll tell you later. That is so disappointing. I really thought this guy was going to say "yes."

MARY
Rejection is bad enough, but stupid rejection is more than I can take. I have to find someone to open the door for me. Someone who is going to see me for who I am and say "yes".

EVA
Yes.

MARY
Not you. You can't do it. Where's the corkscrew? You can't open the door.

EVA
I can love you. Not impressed? I can kiss you, please you, fuck you til you're grateful. Still not good enough? I will make you open your credit card bills and I'll hold your hand while you pay them off. I'll be there at your mother's Christmas table and watch her consume a bottle of vodka. I will say "You can do it."

MARY
But you can't open the door.

EVA
No, but love also creates worlds.
(Hands her the corkscrew)

MARY
What happened at the Bar Association?

EVA
My sister...its so ridiculous.

MARY
Of course you're upset.

EVA
It was bad enough finding out that she had a baby and didn't tell us, but I actually ran into someone today who had been at the baby shower. Isn't that bizarre? I had to confess that we didn't know anything about it.

MARY
Did you find out if it's a boy or a girl

EVA
No. I was embarrassed to ask. All the way home I looked at little children on the street and thought about our phantom niece/nephew. It felt so bad. I don't know how to fight this. I can't go into court and sue for the right to be an aunt. I can't fight and I can't win. I'm weak.

MARY
You need to get over it. You've been crying every day for a month.

EVA
I can't stop thinking about it. My family doesn't want us, but I don't know how to compensate. Because I can't just be loved for myself by my own family, I have to be extra to belong to anyone else. Extra kind, extra caring, be indispensable. But then I feel extra bad when it doesn't work. Like when you get humiliated by those men, I feel terrible. I wish I could make your dream come true.

MARY
I wish I could make my dream come true.

EVA
Me too. That smells great. Is it curry?

MARY
Dinner's ready. I'll serve you. Does that mean that you want to have your own child?

EVA
Me? A child? I know you're joking.

MARY
Just checking. People change you know. There are a lot of lost kids around. What if there was a child who really needed you?

EVA
If she needed me?

MARY
Or he.

EVA
If he needed me?

MARY
Well, maybe someday our niece/nephew will be that child. But maybe it'll be someone else. Let's keep our eyes open in case a child needs you. Needs me.
(Lifts glass)
Cheers. To the two gay women and someone else's child. Dear God let them share the same narrative arc.

EVA
I need you but I'm not a child. I've only done two things right in my whole life. You and no children.

Scene Two

(In David Ziemska's Westchester home. Dirty shag carpeting. The TV is on. Doorbell. Drinking a Coke and glancing back to catch the last moment of a commercial, David, forty, opens the door to find Stew, fifteen, awkward, smiling.)


DAVID
Get in here. I didn't know you were coming. Why didn't you e-mail me?

STEW
I hitched to Newburgh and got the Greyhound. Then I got out at Port Authority and asked the token lady which subway to take. So, I got to the other side of Manhattan and then I was in Grand Central. There, I talked to the guy at the information booth who told me how to get the Metro-North. I got out at White Plains and I asked the deli guy and then I asked a lady with her kid and I walked and I found it. I recognized the street.

DAVID
Oh, God. You talked to the deli guy?

They kiss.

STEW
I love you.

DAVID
I love you.

STEW
I had to see you.

DAVID
I'm glad. I could have picked you up in the city. Want a Coke?
(Pulls one off the six pack)

STEW
Got any new videos?

Stew plops on the couch and grins coquettishly.

DAVID
Flirt. Here's a new one. Manrod In Space. It's about those Russian Cosmonauts stuck up in the fucking Mir. Then NASA sends some American astronaut to the rescue and he's...

STEW
...Jeff Stryker ?

DAVID
Jeff Stryker? You've been watching vintage porn.

STEW
He's my favorite video star. School sucks. Everyone hates me and I hate them. I want to get out of my house.

DAVID
If you leave home now you'll be poor forever. You'll pedal your ass and be totally fucked up. You've got to finish. You'll graduate soon. High school is their party. Then get out and never look back.

STEW
Not soon. Three more years. Put on the video.

DAVID
Okay, okay Mister Frisky. I remember when I was like you. Blueballs morning, noon and night.
(Puts in video.)
I hated school. Everyone called me a fag. Everyone hated me. No one would stand up for me. No one. Let me tell you one thing, Stewie. Fags have to stick together. Never squeal on another fag. Never. I hated those kids and I still hate every one of them. There is nothing bad enough that could happen to them that would be too bad as far as I am concerned.

STEW
I want to kill them.

DAVID
No one is killing anyone, open your Coke.

They watch Manrod In Space.
DAVID
Hey stallion.
(Rustles Stew's hair.)
Look at the gonzo on that one.

STEW
Yeah. In Grand Central Station they have this thing called "The Great Hall," this high ceiling with gold stars and planets painted on its slope. It is huge, old and elegant. Then, on the train, I passed all those houses in Westchester that are just like the ones upstate.

DAVID
In what way?

STEW
They are new and shabby. But you know why Grand Central Station is better?

DAVID
Why?

STEW
Because it's old and solid.

DAVID
Hey, you have your own taste. Its an important day.

STEW
This is the happiest day of my life.

Stew puts his hand on David's thigh and then on his crotch. Dave puts his hand up Stew's shirt and twists his nipples. David and Stew kiss. Stew unzips his own pants, and puts David's hand on his dick. The dialogue from the video is inane. The doorbell rings.

DAVID
Shit.

Doorbell rings more urgently. Loud banging on the door.

STEW
Don't stop.

Doorbell ringing incessantly. Endless banging on door. Fierce.

OFFSTAGE
It's the police.
(Bangs again)
The police.

Scene Three

(In an examining room. Eva is sitting on an examination table that is pushed against the wall. Her shirt is off and she is wearing a paper covering, about as functional as a napkin. Enter Alicia, a lab technician.)

ALICIA
Good morning, my name is Alicia and I am...

EVA
Alicia, you look great.

ALICIA
Oh, hi. How weird.

EVA
It's okay. I helped you fight your landlord and now you're helping me. It's great. How's your family?

ALICIA
My boyfriend's okay and my son is doing very well. He's in third grade. Do you have a lump?

EVA
I think I have a little thickening, some kind of mass in my breast. My lover found it. I never would have found it. Did your landlord sell the building?

ALICIA
Yeah, now we got a management company. It's okay. I just started here a week ago. Medical technician. I like it.

EVA
Do you like it?

ALICIA
Yeah. That data entry was getting tired.

EVA
You get benefits?

ALICIA
A lot. Too bad that law clinic closed. It was a good place.

EVA
You know we didn't fight hard enough. Now I realize I could have done more to keep it open.

ALICIA
That's a shame.

EVA
Yeah, I'm ashamed.

(Enter Dr. Krasner)

KRASNER
Hello. I'm Dr. Krasner. This is Alicia.
(Holds film up to the light.)
Okay, lie down. Let's see what we've got here.

Because the table is against the wall, the Dr sits on it and leans over Eva's body to examine her. We see him feel her breasts.

KRASNER
Your breasts are very fibrous, I can't see anything on those mammograms. Let's try a sonogram. Alicia, write down large breasts with significant markings.

EVA
What exactly is a sonogram?

KRASNER
I put this electricity conducting gel on this tiny machine that fits into the palm of my hand. See? I run the machine over the breast like this and then...on this video we can see a picture of the inside of your breast.

Because the table is against the wall, the Dr sits on it and leans over Eva's body to examine her. We see him feel her breasts.

As he moves his hand around her breasts they can both see little cysts coming in and out of focus on the monitor.

KRASNER
Look, you're full of cysts.
(Phone.)
Hello.

He is leaning against her body with a hand on her breast, watching the monitor and talking on the phone. Her breast is a mousepad.

KRASNER
Mrs. Westin. I'm glad you called. Yes, I'm afraid I have bad news. The tumor was malignant. You need to make an appointment for a double mastectomy. No, we won't know until we see the nodes. I'm telling you the truth Mrs. Westin, there's no need to count on the worst. Nowadays, with radiation, chemo and meds, you may have a good chance. Call your surgeon and make an appointment. Who is your surgeon? He's good. If I knew for certain that you were dying I would tell you.
(Hangs up.)
Eva, we need to aspirate two cysts and do a biopsy.

EVA
Right now? I'm not ready. I have to talk it over and I need to call my insurance company.

KRASNER
What's the matter, you have bad insurance?

EVA
Terrible. I have to pay first and then they decide if and what they will reimburse.

KRASNER
What are you, an actress?

EVA
No, a lawyer. I mean, I was a lawyer. I helped people get Welfare when there used to be Welfare. Now I teach a few courses.

KRASNER
And they don't give you health insurance?

EVA
I have to buy my own.

KRASNER
That's terrible. Between the two mammograms and the sonogram you've had this morning, the cost is already around fifteen hundred dollars.

EVA
I'll have to put it on a credit card. I'm turning forty this year. My mother had cancer at forty-nine.

KRASNER
I'm sorry to hear that.

EVA
She survived.

KRASNER
I'll tell you what. I won't charge you for the cysts. That'll save you about five hundred bucks. You still need the biopsy, but the cysts are on me.

EVA
Thank you, Doctor. Five hundred dollars will make a big difference.

KRASNER
Okay, let's aspirate those cysts before the big boss comes in and charges you. Iodine.

Alicia hands him an iodine dipped q-tip.

KRASNER
Okay, here we go. Kootchie-Koo. Look on the screen. You can see everything. Needle. These sonograms are amazing. Mammograms show nothing with large, cystic breasts like yours. Okay, here comes a little prick. Look, you can see it on the screen. Open your eyes. Eva? Eva? Look. There's the cyst and there's the needle. There it goes. Watch, watch. I'm right inside you. Perfect entry. Look at all that fluid. The cyst is getting smaller. Amazing. Okay, out comes the needle. There you go, Eva. Open your eyes. One more time. Here comes a little prick.

EVA
Oh boy.

KRASNER
Now, out comes the needle. There you go, Eva, open your eyes. See the fluid? It's yellow. That means everything's fine. If it was bloody then we'd have to worry. What classes do you teach? Law?

EVA
Freshman Composition.

KRASNER
You know, Eva, now that I can see more clearly I think you don't really need that biopsy after all.

EVA
Really?

KRASNER
Why? You want one?

EVA
No.

KRASNER
Good. See, I saved you money and you don't need a biopsy. I must be a good doctor.

EVA
I'm a little confused.

KRASNER
If anything comes up we'll call you. Bye now, Eva.

(Exits)

Alicia, I'll be with Mrs. Guzman.
EVA
That was weird. Was it?

ALICIA
You're probably not used to men touching you.

EVA
Maybe that's it.

ALICIA
He's a doctor. He does it all day long.

Scene Four

(The Mulcahey family home in Van Buren Township, New York. Everyone is staring at Stew. Brigid is still in her coat. She walked in on this scene.)

BRIGID
Mulcahey
I don't get it.

MARTIN MULCAHEY
(To Stew) Just write it.
(To Brigid) I don't know what to do.

BRIGID
Officer Bart, of course we're very upset by this. You burst in on my husband with this incredible story.

MARTY
I'm so glad you're home.

BRIGID
I'm sorry you had to deal with this by yourself.

MARTY
Where were you?

BRIGID
At Carol's. My husband and I need some time alone to talk this over so we can calm down. Can you come back later?

MARTY
No, he can't come back later. Where is Carole, she should be here.

BRIGID
That's our daughter. We're a very close family. What should we do officer?

MARTY
He can't tell us what to do. We have to figure that out.

BRIGID
But he can make a suggestion, can't you? Is it too windy in here?

KEVIN BART
Mrs. Mulcahey. Stew is only fifteen. He's a minor. In fact, he's a boy. According to the law, he's not responsible for his actions here. The blame, Mrs. Mulcahey, rests entirely on that pedophile.

BRIGID
Of course he's not responsible.
(To Marty)And neither are you.

KEVIN BART
What I'm trying to say...Mr and Mrs Mulcahey, your son is a victim. He was molested, repeatedly.

MARTY
Jesus Christ.

KEVIN BART
In fact, he has confessed to having been molested on at least...three occasions. All of these involved interstate transport of a minor for illegal sexual purposes. He was molested. This is a clear-cut case of child abuse here by a twisted predator who, I assure you, will be put away for a long time, but only with your son's cooperation. He needs to write down everything he knows.

BRIGID
Why would someone act that way?

MARTY
This is unbelievable. These things only happen to me.

BRIGID
I'm sorry.

MARTY
Carole, our daughter, got pregnant, but she wanted it and that was bad enough. You never think some guy's going to get into your son's pants.

BRIGID
What is the right thing to do?

KEVIN BART
I know it's hard to understand. But there is another world of people, like this pedophile. They have nothing to do with us. All they do is ruin our lives. Otherwise, we're strangers. You spend your life taking care of your son. Then in one day, they ruin it. Everything you've done. Encourage your son to cooperate. Then you will be helping him.

BRIGID
Okay.

MARTY
Okay. Stew, I want you to cooperate. How did you get to Westchester?

STEW
Bus.

BRIGID
I'm sorry this happened to you.

MARTY
I'd like to hurt this guy. He tricked you. Officer, whatever it takes to get this guy. How did you meet him?

STEW
On line.

KEVIN BART
Good, now Stew, you tell me exactly how this man entrapped you. How he coerced you into meeting him. How he initiated the molestation. Tell me everything that he said and did and it will be a lot easier for you. Here's a piece of paper. Write down what happened.

STEW
Uhh.
(Shakes head no)

MARTY
Well, that computer is going in the garbage right now.
(Picks up the computer and starts taking it to the trash. Stew runs after him and grabs it.)

STEW
No, I need it. Give me that you fucker.

MARTY
What did you say, you fucking asshole?

STEW
No, no, don't take it. Daddy.
(Stew is using his full strength, trying to get it out of Marty's's hands. But Marty gets control.)

MARTY
I'm taking this to work on Monday. Jesus, you're out of control.

BRIGID
Well, that's settled then. Marty, its going to be okay. We'll get over this, Stew. Life goes on.

KEVIN
Go ahead, Stew. Write it down. Everything.

STEW
You'll never get me.

KEVIN
Technically, we already have you.

BRIGID
Do what the officer says. We all want to help you Stew. You have no choice. He'll arrest you.

MARTY
(To Brigid)No he won't. What are you, insane?
(To Stew) What is this? This is not the time to be a wise ass. Look, we're on your side. Be on our side. Write down what happened.

STEW
I can't explain it.

MARTY
What do you mean, you can't explain it? What did the guy do, he touched you? Just write it down. No one's ever gonna bring it up again.

STEW
No. I don't know what to say.

MARTY
I don't understand.

KEVIN BART
I made the arrest, Mr. Mulcahey. I know what was going on in there, I saw it. You want me to tell your parents or do you want to write it down?

MARTY
I want to know everything about my son.

BRIGID
I don't feel that way. And neither does Marty.

KEVIN
When I walked into the house, your son was sitting on...

STEW
OK.
(Stew starts to write.)

KEVIN
Good boy. It's the only way out.

Scene Five

(Eva and Mary's apartment, waiting for Hockey. These are three people who are very used to each other. )

EVA
What are you going to wear tomorrow?

MARY
I don't know. This guy is a really big producer. If he's a nice fag, I can be myself and flirt a little and be smart. If he's an asshole fag, I have to be really competent and smart, no flirting, but I can't be smarter than him. If he's straight, I have to flirt as long as there are no straight women in the room, because they will be able to do it better and I'll look dumb. If there is a straight woman in the room, I have to remember not to flirt with her and not to be smarter than her in front of him. Sisterhood, you know.

EVA
What if there's a lesbian in the room?

MARY
There won't be. What time is Hockey coming over?

EVA
We said seven thirty so he should be here at seven. Should we get a movie?

MARY
Well, Steve gave me five episodes of that new series, OB/GYN. I thought that we could watch them, so I can figure out the formula.

EVA
Have I ever seen that one?

MARY
Remember, the Black guy got shot, the white girl got breast cancer and died, the nurse used to be a dominatirx and the radiologist needed a green card.
(Buzzer)

EVA
They're all like that.

MARY
No, in this one the blind girl was kidnapped, someone stole a 6 train, the orderly fell in love with the el
EVA
tor and the opera singer got breast cancer and died.

EVA
Oh, ok.
(Enter Hockey with a bag of take out food. He is energized from just having infused at home for four hours and has been looking forward to this all day.)

HOCKEY
Hi girls.

MARY
What's for dinner?

HOCKEY
Everybody's favorite. Eva gets a salad, no dressing and herbal tea.

EVA
Yuch.

MARY
You have cystic breasts.

HOCKEY
Mary gets her usual, chicken burrito mole. And I got something with a lot of lard.

EVA
Onion rings?

HOCKEY
Yeah. And wheat grass juice. I'm trying to balance this new medication I'm on.

EVA
We are not eating out of containers. This is a home.

MARY
Give me the bag, I'll do it.
(Starts putting everything on plates.)
What is it this week?

HOCKEY
I take the big blue ones, three of them, every five hours. I take the big white ones after having eaten fat. The little white ones and the middle-sized red ones are for one hour before eating fat. The middle sized white ones are for an hour after eating sugar. The orange capsules, I take four times a day, but I have to take the orange pills, four of them, once a day. Swallowing is a big part of my day. Thanks to modern medicine and AIDS activism. Cheers. <