by Eric Lane
MOTHER Sandra Mills Scott
CHARACTERS
DAUGHTER: Indian and black, aged late teens to mid-twenties.
FATHER: Native American, late fifties to mid-sixties.
MOTHER: Black, late fifties to mid-sixties.
NOTE: The reference in the script “boom, boom, boom boom!” should be spoken like the John Lee Hooker song “Boom, Boom!” The other reference, “Gonna shoot it right down,” also should be spoken/performed in the spirit of the song. Note that “sport high-heeled shoes” and “sporting high-heeled shoes” are references to Chuck Berry's song “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Please note also that the stage is bare. If there is a need for chairs or musical instruments that is fine, but no more than that.
DAUGHTER: My hands / red / black
Dance to Rhythms
Different / Various / similar rhythms
My Red Hand it dances to the
Rhythm of my Father's Blood / His
Blood Beat / His red
Man beat
PURE RED MAN
FATHER: My father / his mother / Tlingit from Alaska /
DAUGHTER: Died giving birth to him She died /
But she still whispered to him /
My father / his father
FATHER: Santee Lakota
DAUGHTER: My father half Tlingit
Half Lakota dreamer
FATHER: Transported
Transported
to Boston
He / my Father crying for his
Father / Drumming up the
Rhythm of his Father Through
Pent up Angers
Wearing Eagle Feathers
FATHER: Sign of the Eagle
DAUGHTER: Sign of Scorpio—Nov. 4 /
His birthday My Father /
FATHER: Eagle Born
DAUGHTER: Scorpion
beat his
hands to the rhythm of
his Father's Ghost
FATHER: His Father / My Grandfather
Spent Depleted
American Dreams / Stomped into the
Dirt of the Res /
DAUGHTER: His American
Dream /
FATHER: to pick up
a Guitar
To be a Blues Man
To be a Red Man / Blues Man—
DAUGHTER: My Father's Father / My Grandfather
FATHER: Ghost danced Lakota Style
DAUGHTER: to
his father / my Great Grandfather's rhythm
but he closed his eyes and also
Ghost dances with
FATHER: Robert Johnson /
Mississippi John Hurt
Blind Lemon Jefferson
DAUGHTER: He / my Grandfather couldn't leave it /
FATHER: The Res—
DAUGHTER: They wouldn't let him leave it/
The Res /
FATHER: —” you're not True to
your own”
DAUGHTER: —they said
FATHER: “you're not proud to
be a red man”
DAUGHTER: they said—
FATHER: “If you leave / Don't come back/
DAUGHTER: Don't come back
to the Res” —they say
He / my Grandfather Looked into my Father's Eagle eyes A Child's eyes / knowing eyes / an old child's eyes / His eyes—my Grandfather's eyes Said
FATHER: “Take the world / make it yours / Rock the world You can Rock
DAUGHTER: Rock
FATHER: Rock
FATHER/DAUGHTER: Rock the World”
DAUGHTER: My Father Glides Eagle-eyed from the Res and the Tlingit island /
FATHER: Leather-jacketed /Eagle
eyed /
DAUGHTER: Blues and Tlingit / Lakota riffs
dripping from his fingers /
FATHER: Chuck Berry/
DAUGHTER: Tlingit riffs
dripping from his fingers /
Leather-jacketed and Guitar ready
Just like Chuck Berry or
FATHER: LinkWray
DAUGHTER: —Link Wray
FATHER: —a Shawnee
from North Carolina
DAUGHTER: —A RED / Blues
Rock'n'Roll man /
FATHER: —a cool man
DAUGHTER: My Father cool—Just like Link Wray
FATHER: Slick
DAUGHTER: —Just like Link Wray
Ghost dances Lakota Style / Tlingit Style
and Rock 'n'Rolled / a Steady
Rock 'n'Roll bop
and Somebody on the Res says
“How could you do that / Leave /
us / How could you? /
You're not proud of your own
kind” / Somebody on the Res says /
they say “wanna be a white
boy? / Wait till they call you a FeatherHead” /
Someone on the Res says
My Father stares straight ahead
Eagle-eyed /
DAUGHTER: proud and
Eagle-eyed Outside
FATHER: —Standing Tall
Inside—Rumbling
The voices of the Res rumbled /
inside of him but he continued to dance /
FATHER: Ghost dance /
DAUGHTER: The Res voices Got Louder /
He continued to Blues dance /
Blues / Red / Blues /John Lee
Hooker dance / he had to
take the voices and shoot them
down / Vodka
Tequila
Bourbon
Hide himself in a woman's Skirt / to kill the voices Vodka Tequila Bourbon
Another woman's skirt / gonna shoot it right Down!
My Black Hand—
My Mother's hand / A Black Girl
MOTHER: Girl from Virginia / my mother /
a Sharecropper Black Girl from Virginia /
Her mother / my Grandmother Lynched /
MOTHER: it is Hard Time Virginia /
DAUGHTER: no
Different from Hard Time Mississippi
MOTHER: “Don't walk anywhere
except in Dark Town”
DAUGHTER: they told my
mother
MOTHER: “Just stay in Dark Town”
DAUGHTER: —they told
my mother
MOTHER: “Dark Town” was where the
Dark people lived
DAUGHTER: they
weren't Black Then They were colored then
and where they lived was
“Dark Town”
My Mother / Sharecropper Black Girl / Big
Black Girl
Knew about Trees
MOTHER: Knew about the Bodies that hung from
those trees
DAUGHTER: and the people who wore billowing
white sheets
My mother's bare feet
MOTHER: were blistered
from Tar and Dirt Roads /
DAUGHTER: Those feet Shifted themselves
MOTHER: into high heels /
DAUGHTER: She wanted to Chuck Berry Bop
in her high heels / She wanted
MOTHER: to “Sport high-heeled shoes”
DAUGHTER: She wanted
MOTHER: her hair slicked back
pressed and curled /
DAUGHTER: She wanted
MOTHER: to Lip Balm
her lips—” Ruby” Red Just Like
The Ray Charles Song /
DAUGHTER: She wanted
MOTHER: to snap her fingers /
Slick headed and curly sporting
high-heeled Shoes to the
rhythm of cities /
DAUGHTER: She wanted to Enter a
New Rhythm
Explore
MOTHER: —not just the
Rhythm of Southern men
Clinging to Mojo /
MOTHER /
DAUGHTER: She wanted a city
DAUGHTER: She leaves Dark Town
Slick / curly headed
hig
h heels and fingers snapping and
clicking /
She goes to Boston /
sporting high-heeled shoes
FATHER /
MOTHER: There are Dances /
DAUGHTER: yes
There are Dances
People will always Dance
My Father sees her /
He sees her at a dance /
His Eagle eyes / connect to her
Brown / Black Girl Eyes
FATHER: Eagle-eyed RED man /
MOTHER: red-lipped high-heeled Black Girl
DAUGHTER: The Hucklebuck Dance
meets The Ghost Dance
And the Colored People / Before
They were Black / The
Colored people said
MOTHER: —” Whachoo doin'
with him / Some Red Man /
What do you want with him /
Some Red Man / That FeatherHead
dancer /whachoo doin'
with him”
DAUGHTER: And the Skins on the Res
said
FATHER: —” You didn't get
an Indian Girl / one of our
Girls / Got a Dark /
Darker / NIGGER Girl / not
a Girl from the Res /
What are you doing with her /
Why didn't you Get a Girl
From the Res! /
Come back to the Res!” /
DAUGHTER: They—my Father
my Mother
They both hear the voices /
FATHER: Voices from the Res /
DAUGHTER: The Tlingit Voice that whispers in his ear
MOTHER: Voices from the Virginia Fields
DAUGHTER: They—both—my Mother and Father
try to Ghost Dance / Blues Dance
Drink away the
Voices
FATHER: —Western / Northern Red voices /
MOTHER: Southern Black voices
DAUGHTER: They dance
Snap their fingers
Guitar Lick / try to Shoot
it on Down
FATHER: Vodka
MOTHER: Tequila
DAUGHTER: Bourbon
They try to shoot the voices down /
FATHER: Boom
DAUGHTER: Boom
MOTHER: Boom
DAUGHTER: Boom /
Shoot them all Down—
A year later—they marry—
A year after that
Icrash through amniotic Fluid
and blood /
I crash but
silently my mother says
MOTHER: —” She's so quiet” /
DAUGHTER: my Mother says
FATHER: —” Makes no noise”
DAUGHTER: my Father says
I hear his voice but rarely—him / he usually
Speaks through guitar fingers / his fingers speak
on his guitar I see him /
longhaired / this man / red man who just spoke /
my father—this red man
this big red man / beautiful man
I am a part of him
My Father
I hear him
But
I can't speak
But I can hear
I can't explain / I'm a baby
But I feel it
I feel them
Turning on themselves
Turning on each other
not always with words
There's looks
MOTHER: shrugs
FATHER: silence
MOTHER /
FATHER: more silence /
DAUGHTER: I feel it /
I feel them
Shooting Themselves
Down—
FATHER: Boom
MOTHER: Boom
FATHER: Boom
MOTHER: Boom
DAUGHTER: Later I'm a child
not a baby / a child
I see it / smell it
FATHER: Vodka
MOTHER: Tequila
DAUGHTER: Bourbon
I hear it my Mother's
Black Southern voice slurry / shot-down voice
MOTHER: I love
him / He's my husband /
my man /I'm
NEVER Gonna Leave / I love him!
DAUGHTER: The Black Southern / voices /the
voices are now Black from
the Virginia Fields / The 1960s
and the voices are now Black
tell her / my Mother
MOTHER: —” your child
is a Nigger / FeatherHead / a Nigger Feather-
Head” —
DAUGHTER: My MOTHER / she Vodka
MOTHER: Tequila
DAUGHTER: Bourbon
MOTHER /DAUGHTER: Cries
DAUGHTER: I hear it in my
Father's voice—more so
in his fingers / Fingers
sliding up and down his guitar
Vodka
Tequila
Bourbon crying
FATHER: Lakota / Tlingit guitar / Blues a shot-down
Red
Blues
Bruised
Man
DAUGHTER: His voice thundered / sometimes
there was thunder in his voice
FATHER: “She's my wife / I love her /
Never Gonna give her up /
I love her!”
DAUGHTER: I grow up—my body
can make a
child
I Do not but I can—make a child
A child / a life / can come through me
can come crashing through amniotic
Fluid and Blood /
It can come silently
It can come thunderously
My Grandfather / Long Dead
Ghost dances in the hills /
His wife / my Grandmother
calls me—” Dark Girl
Monkey Girl
animal / Dark / Monkey
Girl! / The
elders don't want you /
WE don't want you!” She says /
my Grandmother says
My cousins on my mother's side /
My Black hand side says—
MOTHER: “You're Black / what's this
Indian / no such thing as
HALF BLACK!”
DAUGHTER: They / my cousins / my Black hand
mother side cousins say put
down my Father's Tlingit walk / Ghost dance /
put aside sweet guitar licks and
the Red / Blues of my
Grandfather / Put aside his slick / sleek
Rock 'n'Roll res / Boston Bop /
Put it Down /
Shoot in on
Down
My Red hand / my Father's
hand / His mother / my
Grandmother / cousins
Don't call my name
I'm the “dark” / Monkey Girl /
Don't have a name—
An uncle / he calls my name /
says my name /
only him / my Father's Brother /
my uncle / he says
FATHER: “Drop the
Black Blood / walk like a
Skin / Drop the Dark / Darkey
walk / You're a SKIN”
DAUGHTER: How can I drop the
walk of Southern Black
Girls / the walk heated / hip
walk of Southern high-heeled Black
Girls
MOTHER: (repeating) You're Black / no such thing as HALF
BLACK
FATHER: (repeating) Walk like a Skin
DAUGHTER: I answer to the voices
I answer to the voices in
Dark Town /
I answer to the voices in
Black Town / The Town where
Black people live
I answer to the voices My Grandmother's Tlin-
git voice
That whispers in my ear
I see / dance with my Grandfather /
We sing a Red man Blues
I am Tlingit / Lakota and Blues
I am an electric slider / Tlingit / Lakota Ghost
Dancer
I've got Red / Black hands
I answer to all the voices
I know that Blind Lemon Jefferson did the
Ghost dance with Robert Johnson
and Robert Johnson before
selling his soul to the
devil pulled out the
Mojo and gave it to my
Grandfather who kissed it
and passed it on to my Father who
passed it to me—I've got Red / Black hands
Don't tell me not to Ghost
dance on the Res
Call for my ancestors
on the Res /
whisper Tlingit secrets to my Grandmother /
dance / Link Wray style
Down at the Res /
I will rock the Res
I've got
FATHER: Red /
MOTHER: Black
DAUGHTER: hands
Don't anybody expect me to
Shoot it
Shoot
Shoot
it
on Down
Night Visits
Simon Fill
Night Visits was first presented by Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky, in January 2000. It was directed by Sullivan Canaday White; scenic design was by Tom Burch; lighting design was by Andrew Vance; costume design was by Jessica Waters; the dramaturg was Kelly Lea Miller; and the stage manager was Nichole A. Shuman. The cast was as follows:
TOM Tom Johnson
LIZ Samantha Desz
EMILY Rachel Burttram
CHARACTERS
TOM A second-year resident in medicine, twenty-eight.
LIZ: A nurse, twenty-seven.
EMILYEMILY: Gentle, looks about twenty-three.
TIME: The present.
PLACE: An examination room in a hospital.
(A hospital examination room. White. Patient gowns hang all over. We hear wind outside. TOM lies on the examining table, asleep. Twenty-eight. In a doctor ' s outfit. LIZ enters. Twenty-seven. Nurse ' s uniform. Quiet moment to herself, then notices the gowns and TOM.)
TOM: (eyes closed) I' m not seeing patients anymore, Liz. (Quickly, lightly, sounding upbeat and energetic.) It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. Do you have a problem with it being over? You better not. Is it not really over? I don' t think so.
LIZ: Tom. One more. That's all.
TOM: Seeing one patient in your thirty-fifth hour of being awake is the equivalent of seeing fifteen hundred in your first.
LIZ: You can' t refuse to see patients. You're a resident.
TOM: Shit. (He gets up.) You look … nice.
LIZ: Got a date.
TOM: Doctor?
LIZ: No.
TOM: Yes. Yes. YES! Good for you.
LIZ: You are such a freak. (Looks out window.) Windy outside.
TOM: It's a bad night.
LIZ: I know. We all do.
TOM … What? Oh. I' m … fine.
LIZ We all loved Katie, Tom.
TOM Yeah. Thanks. No, I mean it.
LIZ She was a great nurse. I wish I'd known her more.