CHARACTERS
SMOKEY, female,
a dog. She moves on all fours. She holds things in her mouth. She growls a little. Other than this, there should be no behavior
or costume choices that illustrate she's a dog. No ears, no painted noses.
In other words, she should be as human as possible. She has great dignity.
OLD DYSON, Mid
40s, Male. Scar on cheek. Has made his mark on the world. Filled with regret.
YOUNG DYSON,
late teens, early 20s, Male. Is eager
to make his mark on the world. Somewhat
disdainful.
SETTING
Place: In front of
Dyson's house, in the woods; a desert island.
Time: Manhood. Childhood.
Between. Manhood.
A NOTE ON THE SONG
"Hard Times" is an American folk standard. No acquisition of rights is required.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
The Dog was
produced as a part of Lost and Found at
the Arthur Seelan theatre, May 2006, in New York City, with the following cast:
SMOKEY Courtney Keim*
OLD
DYSON Justin Heneveld
YOUNG
DYSON Robert Libetti*
The production was directed by Scott Olmstead.
* Actor appeared courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
Scene 1
(SMOKEY, old, lies in front of the door to a
house. OLD DYSON enters, in worn
fatigues, carrying an old duffle. He has a scar on his cheek.)
SMOKEY (growling:)
This isn't your home anymore. Verrrmin.
Deserrrter. No, better
yet...strangerrr.
(O. DYSON freezes, wary of her.
SMOKEY tries to rise.
She is ill.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
I smelled you halfway up the drive, even over the rotting
logs and the raccoon piss. This isn't
your home. You're not in my pack. You left the pack.
(O. DYSON moves to her. She bites:)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
No!
(He jumps back.
She collapses a bit.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
You smell like machine oil, corpses on fire, strange poisoned
soil...
(She recovers.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
She's happier without you.
We're all happier without you.
Twenty years of fetching tumbling belly-scratching happiness. What did you think? You leave for the sake of your shadows, and
the house freezes, preserved for your homecoming? The sun rises and sets, but not because of you.
(From the house, a baby cries. O. DYSON looks at the house.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
Yes...she found a new mate, and that happiness of the
litter. He's good to me. When the ground's cold, sometimes he gives
me an old newspaper to lie on...
(MORE)
(O. DYSON moves toward the house. With effort, SMOKEY blocks his path.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
You'll harm her with your presence. Is that why you've come back?
(Beat. He
offers his hand to her.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
What? You bring your
wet eyes here to comfort me? To whip my heart into submission? No.
I tried to keep you.
I took that bag of yours in my mouth, but you tore it from me. Better remember that scar on your
cheek. My teeth are sharp from twenty
years of the absence of you. I'll give
you a worse scar than that. That wound
was from anger. The next one will be
from bitterness, and those are fatal.
(She collapses.
He moves toward her, but hesitates, afraid.)
SMOKEY (cont'd,
weakly:)
I stood at your door and waited...I tear you apart in my
mouth...my heart smells like a broken clock...like an empty house...why did you
leave me?...
(O. DYSON kneels, away from her. He begins to pray to himself.
Lights out, with the report of distant artillery.)
Scene 2
(Lights up.
The same house, twenty years earlier.
SMOKEY, young, runs in on all fours, with a duffle in
her mouth, like the one O. DYSON had, but new.
She drops it. YOUNG DYSON runs
in.)
SMOKEY
You need this. You
can't leave without it. I dare you to
steal from my mouth.
(She picks it up in her mouth. They wrestle. Y. DYSON ends up on top of SMOKEY, their faces pressed
cheek-to-cheek. She drops the bag. He scratches her belly.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
When I'm near you, I smell sweet shit, the sun rises, fills
the gullies with joy. Was anyone ever
as happy as all of us together?
(Y. DYSON stands and pets her head.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
What's that? It
smells like you locking your heart...I saw you kiss her good-bye. Wait.
You're leaving for a long time, aren't you?
(Y. DYSON turns and starts to leave. SMOKEY jumps in front of him.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
Wait. Who will teach
me? Not the woman. She's stupid. She was lucky to get you for a mate. You still have so much to show me...teach me how to pick up a
glass and drink.
(He pets her again, tries to move past. She presses herself against his legs.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
It's shadows that you chase.
Phantom lights flying down the road at the end of the drive. You're not free to go.
(MORE)
(He puts down his duffle and pushes her out of the
way. She steals his duffle, and runs
across the stage.
SMOKEY (cont'd)
You were born owing.
You owe us...you owe me.
(Angry now, Y. DYSON wrestles on top of her quickly,
cheek-to-cheek. In the excitement, she
bites his cheek.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
I'm sorry...that was an accident...
(Y. DYSON strikes her on the head. She cowers and tries to get away.)
SMOKEY (cont'd)
I'm sorry! I'm
sorry! I'm sorry...
(Y. DYSON wipes the blood from his cheek. He picks up his bag and exits. She looks up to find him gone.
SMOKEY (cont'd)
I'm sorry. I love
you. Come back.
(Lights out, with the report of distant artillery.)
Scene 3
(Lights up.
Days later. An island in the
sea. We hear the tide.
Y. DYSON enters, bandage on his face. He carries a tall prayer candle, a bowl and
a plastic baggy of orange powder.
He pours the powder into the bowl, spits into it,
stirs with his finger.
He goes to the water's edge, takes a handful of
sea-water, and pours it into the bowl.
He drinks the concoction. It's
not good.
He lights the candle and sets it down. He kneels and
prays, in the same way O. DYSON did at the end of Scene 1.)
Y. DYSON
Blessed Virgin of Guadeloupe, I offer my prayer to you, let
me see my future.
(He opens his eyes and looks. Nothing.
He prays again.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
Blessed Virgin of Guadeloupe, I offer my prayer to you, let
me see my future.
(Opens his eyes, nothing.
Behind him, O. DYSON enters. Y. DYSON doesn't see or hear him, but prays.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
Blessed Virgin of Guadeloupe, I offer my prayer to you, let
me see my future!
(He opens his eyes.
Nothing.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
Ah dammit to hell!
O. DYSON
Hey there.
(Y. DYSON startles, turns to O. DYSON.)
Y. DYSON
Damn, soldier, you near on scared the piss outta me.
O. DYSON
I'm just out walkin', thinkin' 'bout my dog back home.
Y. DYSON (not
interested:)
Yeah?
O. DYSON
I see you been on to the botanica.
Y. DYSON
That damn old bat ripped me.
Sayin' I could see the future with this stuff...
O. DYSON
You sure she ripped you off?
Y. DYSON (over.)
...I must look a fool, sneakin' off base down to the
beach...what d'you mean, am I sure she ripped me off?
(Y. DYSON looks closely at O. DYSON.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
Holy shit...you're me.
It's me. I'm an old man.
O. DYSON
You're right, that sludge don't let you see no future. But it do let the future come see you, just
once, if it wants to real bad. A long
time from now I come home to somethin', makes me wanna talk to you.
Y. DYSON
Well talk then, man!
Do we win the war?
O. DYSON
Yup.
Y. DYSON
And how do we do? You
know, how do we...perform?
O. DYSON
I'll tell you on one condition. After I say, you turn on around and go home to your dog.
Y. DYSON
What? What, go AWOL?
O. DYSON
Whatever you gotta do.
But you go back to who's waitin'.
Fix maybe the damage we done.
This door is shut to you.
Y. DYSON
What 'n'...miss out on...on the war, the fun?
O. DYSON
Fun? Fun?!
Y. DYSON
Easy. What happens
anyhow? Do I lose my balls, or
somethin'?
O. DYSON
I'll tell you what happens: you kill yourself inside, inch by
bleedin' inch, and then when you're all through with that, you find you lost
everythin' important in the world.
Y. DYSON
Like what?
O. DYSON
Like your dog.
Y. DYSON
Why you keep bringin' up that damn bitch? She bit me...bit us. Looks like it never healed right neither.
O. DYSON
She's the only one tried to warn you, and she's the only one
waitin' for you.
Y. DYSON
My girl's waitin'. I
just got a letter from her.
O. DYSON
She won't wait.
(Beat.)
O. DYSON (cont'd)
But that dog, she'll wait 'til...There ain't no one loves
you, where you're goin'. Only sex you
buy, 'n' boredom, 'n' terror, 'n' sellin' everythin' good in you for victory.
(MORE)
(Beat.)
O. DYSON (cont'd)
There's a piece of you that's scared. That's why you lit that candle. 'Cause part of you knows the dog's
right. Don't you try'n' lie on me.
Y. DYSON
What about what we're fightin' for?
O. DYSON
That ain't nothin'.
Y. DYSON
It's somethin' to me.
My God, did you forget? Them
back home, they don't know what's worth what, their lives are so easy. All mixed up in their priorities. 'Member?
We're more than just a house, and a woman, and a dog. We're a god damn hero. 'Member?
Now tell me somthin' I can use, what bullets I should watch for.
O. DYSON
Yeah.
(He hurls Y. DYSON to the ground.)
O. DYSON (cont'd)
You listen you god damn fool: It ain't bullets you gotta
watch for. I killed every man shot at
me. So many I can't hardly count. I got medals and ceremonies. It don't mean nothin'. Our dog's what matters. The door you turned your back on. I ain't gonna let you put all the pain I
been through to waste. You don't know
what you're doin'. I do.
Y. DYSON
'Cause of me, you know.
O. DYSON
Yeah, it's your fault.
Y. DYSON
'Cause of me and my spirit, you know. 'Cause I wanna go and find out what it's
like, you know. Without me, you'd be in
the dark!
(Beat.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
You wouldn't know nothin' of what you know without me. You
owe me.
(Beat. O.
DYSON releases him. He stands.)
Y. DYSON (cont'd)
I'm gonna try to 'member that, when I get my medals.
(He exits.
O. DYSON sits and looks at the ocean.
Lights out with the report of artillery.)