by Craig Lucas
Prayer for My Enemy
BOOKS BY CRAIG LUCAS AVAILABLE FROM TCG
The Light in the Piazza
Book by Craig Lucas
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Prayer for My Enemy
Prelude to a Kiss and Other Plays
ALSO INCLUDES:
Missing Persons
Three Postcards
Reckless and Other Plays
ALSO INCLUDES:
Blue Window
Stranger
What I Meant Was: New Plays and Selected One-Acts
ALSO INCLUDES:
The Dying Gaul
God’s Heart
Prayer for My Enemy is copyright © 2009 by Craig Lucas
Prayer for My Enemy is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156
All Rights Reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the author’s representative: Seth Gelblum, Esq.; Loeb & Loeb LLP; 345 Park Avenue, 20th Floor; New York, NY 10154; (212) 407-4931.
This publication is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Lucas, Craig.
Prayer for my enemy : a play / Craig Lucas.
p. cm.
eISBN 978-1-55936-809-4
I. Title.
PS3562.U233P69 2009
812’.54—dc222009033299
Book design and composition by Lisa Govan
Cover design by Chip Kidd
Cover photos: PhotoAlto/Alamy (top),
David Leeson/Dallas Morning News/Corbis Sygma (bottom).
First Edition, October 2009
Contents
Production History
Characters
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5
Scene 6
Scene 7
Scene 8
Scene 9
Scene 10
Scene 11
Scene 12
Scene 13
Scene 14
About the Author
For André Bishop
Prayer for My Enemy
Production History
The world premiere of Prayer for My Enemy was co-produced by Intiman Theatre in Seattle, WA (Barlett Sher, Artistic Director; Laura Penn, Managing Director) and Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director; Joan Channick, Managing Director). The world premiere production opened at the Intiman Theatre in July 2007 under the direction of Bartlett Sher. The set design was by John McDermott, the lights by Stephen Strawbridge, the costumes by Catherine Zuber and the sound by Stephen LeGrand. The stage manager was Lisa Ann Chernoff and the production manager was Julia L. Collins. The cast was:
BILLY NOONE
Daniel Zaitchik
AUSTIN
John Procaccino
KAREN
Cynthia Lauren Tewes
MARIANNE
Chelsey Rives
TAD VOELKL
James McMenamin
DOLORES ENDLER
Kimberly King
TONY
Conor Gormally
Prayer for My Enemy was originally commissioned by and made its East Coast premiere at the Long Wharf Theatre, where it opened in September 2007 under the direction of Bartlett Sher. The set design was by John McDermott, the lights by Stephen Strawbridge, the costumes by Catherine Zuber and the sound by Stephen LeGrand. The stage manager was Lisa Ann Chernoff. The cast was:
BILLY NOONE
Daniel Zaitchik
AUSTIN
John Procaccino
KAREN
Cynthia Lauren Tewes
MARIANNE
Katie Rose Clarke
TAD VOELKL
James McMenamin
DOLORES ENDLER
Julie Boyd
Prayer for My Enemy made its New York City premiere at Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) in October 2008 under the direction of Bartlett Sher. The set design was by John McDermott, the lights by Stephen Strawbridge, the costumes by Catherine Zuber, the sound by Scott Lehrer and the music by Nico Muhly. The production stage manager was Lisa Ann Chernoff and the production manager was Christopher Boll. The cast was:
BILLY NOONE
Jonathan Groff
AUSTIN
Skipp Sudduth
KAREN
Michele Pawk
MARIANNE
Cassie Beck
TAD VOELKL
Zachary Booth
DOLORES ENDLER
Victoria Clark
Characters
BILLY NOONE, twenties
AUSTIN, Billy’s father, fifties
KAREN, Billy’s mother, fifties
MARIANNE, Billy’s sister, slightly older than Billy
TAD VOELKL, twenties
DOLORES ENDLER, around forty
Setting
The action takes place in America and Iraq in 2003 and 2004.
Note
Dialogue appearing in italics represents the psychic interior of the character, the running commentary of thoughts and justifications and questions, the emotional tide within, which is not necessarily any more true or reflective of objective reality than the things we actually say out loud; it is simply all the stuff we keep to ourselves, and therefore it includes the lies we tell ourselves. These italicized passages are spoken by the actor, but never heard or responded to by the other characters, except in Scene 12 where indicated.
A slash indicates the point at which the next speaker begins overlapping.
Scene 1
Tad and Billy are both filling their gas tanks.
BILLY: Hey. (Pause) Hey.
TAD (A silent?): Huh?
BILLY: How’re you doin’? . . . I’m the guy you were tailgating. (Pause) Why’d you do that?
TAD: You were going really slow, / look, I—
BILLY: I was driving the speed limit.
TAD: Billy?
BILLY: Tad!? How long?! Remember? I didn’t know you were alive, remember all you did for me, how we talked about Being and Nowhere and the universe and what God might be and how you helped me make it through those years of grade school when I was such a geek getting straight A’s and everybody called me a faggot when I wasn’t and you said what’s wrong with playing with each other until we can get girls and so we did until you started crying that one time and you said you were turning us both gay you couldn’t do that to someone so nice, and then your dad got transferred and we said we’d be best friends for life but we weren’t, we both kept moving apart and I just assumed somehow you’d gone with guys and I went with women but still there was something so r
omantic about what happened and I’ve never told anybody especially with the shit my dad’s put me through he went kind of off the deep end or maybe he was always there but anyway wow—
TAD: You still call me Tad!
BILLY: What do they call you now? Theodore?
TAD: Fuck you! Man, I would’ve recognized you anywhere, what the fuck’s that guy’s problem, I thought, better not look him in the eye, that’s the only reason it took me so long! You probably think I just like guys from all that shit back then but I don’t I’ve been married oh it’s a long story you’re not gonna want to hear, that’s why I’ve moved back.
BILLY: Where are you living now?
TAD: I’ve moved back, can you believe it?
BILLY: Your parents? / You—?
TAD: No, I’ve been married, I got married in high school!
BILLY: You’re straight?
TAD: Long story.
BILLY: I feel like I’m gonna cry.
TAD: Long fuckin’ sob story.
(A honk.)
BILLY (To unseen driver): What? We’re utilizing the fuckin’ services!
TAD: Dude, pull around!
BILLY: Come on, let’s both check our oil and drive the fucker crazy.
TAD: No, he’s gonna drive around.
BILLY: You look so the fuck the same, what sob story?
TAD: Oh, man.
BILLY: No, come on, I’ll buy you a drink.
Scene 2
Tad and Billy are in a bar.
TAD: She was pregnant, you know, I was sure the baby was mine though now, I don’t know, we decided to go for it, got married, then she started getting cold feet, you know, adoption, abortion, you sure you want to hear this? So she aborts the baby, I start getting all wigged-out about not maybe going to college, how are we gonna do this, I go on one of those antidepressants, can’t practically get it up, she suddenly one day says she has a crush on this other guy, can we try polyamory, you know what that is?
BILLY: Threesomes.
TAD: Bingo, well, she wanted this guy to herself, me to herself, so she goes, starts going back and forth, I get more depressed, more pills, now I can’t come even if I could get it up, she leaves me for him, I decide to try a different approach, you know, so I decide to go to one of those retreats, like health yoga in the mountains kind of place where they teach you to let go let, god, I’m drinking like a fish, too, which you’re not supposed to do when you’re on the other pills, so I give up the pills, but I do it too quick, start hearing voices in my head, back on the pills, go to the retreat, it turns out tantric does not mean learning to medicate, meditate, Jesus, on the breath, it means learn to take the energy you use ejaculating to lighten and I mean would have used, ’cause you stop doing that, you can learn how to not shoot, right?, so that’s what I do, I can be really enlightened and energized and concentrated on another person now without, I mean, I can come, I can come like crazy, I can have multiple orgasms, and this drives women wild, but it also makes them kind of nervous about settling down, so I’ve got this little bevy of beauties, my wife then sues me for mental and emotional cruelty, wins, she wants half the house, my dad bought us the house, she never worked a day in her life, so I sold the house and ran, here I am. What’s going on with you?
BILLY: I’m going . . . tomorrow I’m leaving for Iraq.
TAD: Iraq?
BILLY: I’m stationed in Baghdad.
TAD: What the fuck are you doing in the military? I thought you’d have a Ph.D. in particle fuckin’ physics.
BILLY: Yeah, no, I mean, I decided, you know, I joined the reserves that’s all. I’m not gay!
TAD: The reserves.
BILLY: Yeah, I don’t know. I didn’t want to take any more dough from my father, though . . . well, I’m still living at home, but I’m paying rent with the cash from the, anyway, they called us all up, I’m infantry. He started calling me “Missy” my father, “Missy,” “Fagboy,” didn’t matter how many girls I brought home ’cause I’m not all bluster and I know I’m effeminate, I don’t know what the fuck that’s got to do with the price of beans, being a fag and being girly they’re two different things, it’s not like I dress up in women’s clothing, I love women but still “Liberace,” “Lady William” —He’s out of his mind no I mean really he’s crazy, bipolar—
TAD: Your dad?
BILLY: Wouldn’t take his meds, the whole family, all we did was try to hold him in place and my older sister married this jackass just to get away from him, my mom spent all her time at the deli it was a fuckin’ mess, I joined the reserves thinking he was in Vietnam he’d be, but— What meds?
TAD: Was I on? Lexapro.
BILLY: Yeah, I tried that, same thing: no squirt, but . . .
TAD: You still on it?
BILLY: I’m on some new shit, but I’m not going to be able to get it in Baghdad, fuck, I’m subscribing to all these heavy girly magazines like Xtreme just to keep the guys off my back, they started calling me all kinds of shit. Like “Helen.”
TAD: What kind of shit?
BILLY: Just shit.
TAD: Fuck.
BILLY: I loved you did you know that?
TAD: Iraq.
BILLY: I know.
(Pause.)
TAD: What the hell kind a world.
BILLY: They’re throwing a going-away thing for me in the backyard in a little bit, you want to come?
TAD: Oh, I don’t to want break in on—
BILLY: No, no, no, you’d be doing me a favor. It’s great to see you.
TAD: Yeah! You were my first love really I don’t care what anybody says you were it. Sure?
BILLY: You’ll stop by?
TAD: Yeah, I’m gonna try.
BILLY: Okay. (Pause) That’s very cool.
(They pummel each other; the tussle becomes an embrace, then they violently shove apart.)
Scene 3
Dolores alone.
DOLORES: Mother didn’t want us to postpone the wedding: “It’s only a stroke, I’m not an invalid,” but that’s exactly what she is, long as she needs to be in the wheelchair. Mom says, “I can talk, I can move my arms.” As if this were proof of anything. (Short pause) Frankly, I’m glad to get out of New York City. Charles, my fiancé, loves all that frenzy, the noise, the endless possibilities. To me, it’s one long shriek of rage, that’s what I hate most about the city—the fury of so many people’s resentment and frustration and, well, they’ve been put in a space too small for so many, a big filthy loud dangerous ugly unsanitary uncivil and foul-smelling cage. Like rats, they start biting off their own feet, not to mention yours.
(Bell.)
Coming! And here I have a clear mission: Keep her occupied, fed, cleaned. It’s payback for all the wretched things I put her and Dad through, though to hear them tell it, you’d think I was born a schizophrenic porcupine, or something, instead of a normal—
(Bell.)
Coming! Anyway, Dad’s dead, so—
(Bell.)
There must be something wrong. (Exiting) Mom? Mom?!
Scene 4
The backyard of Billy’s parents’ house. Austin is grilling. Tad and Billy are standing with him.
AUSTIN: Their call is different for family members than others outside their clan. Every single elephant in the world, not special ones. All. They perform ceremonies. They can recognize the skeletons of dead relatives . . .
TAD: Uh.
AUSTIN: . . . and they perform a grieving ritual, running their hind feet over the remains, and they sing a grieving song, a heartbreaking noise, nothing else like it on Earth.
BILLY: They have more than one hundred thousand muscles in their trunks alone.
AUSTIN: Highly evolved, their memories are indeed as complex and deep, really, they probably have a larger network of relationships than any other land mammal.
TAD: Huh.
AUSTIN: They do.
(Marianne arrives with a drink for Tad.)
TAD: Thanks.
AUSTIN: What’s
that?
MARIANNE: Don’t listen to him he’s an asshole he’ll keep you nailed to this spot for hours and then when you think you’ve been really nice about it he’ll tell you what is wrong with every choice you’ve ever made.
AUSTIN: . . . so deep we can’t even hear, but from miles away they hear and the sounds have exact meanings, they can tell what one another are thinking.
TAD: That’s . . .
MARIANNE: Boring it’s insane a grown man knows all this and—
(Karen approaches.)
KAREN: How ’bout our soldier boy, hmm?
TAD: You must be very proud. So cheerful when you’re talking about slaughter.
MARIANNE: He’s made her life impossible refusing to do anything about his / mania.
TAD: Off to the morgue her son she raised her only son decapitated probably from some huge piece of flying—and she’d feel so warm and / gooey—
MARIANNE: And only when he crashed the / car—
TAD: And all their friends and church buddies telling them how wonderful and brave they are!!
MARIANNE: Only then does he agree to take his meds and stop drinking and of course lecture everybody about how evolved he is now—
KAREN (Looking at Billy): He knows how to watch out for himself, I know, so I’m not going to worry.
AUSTIN: I’ll give you a documentary to watch. (Short pause) On elephants.
TAD: Oh.
BILLY: Oh yeah, we’ve got them all.
TAD: Great.
KAREN: He’s going to be fine. (To Billy) Why did you enlist? Are you an idiot?! What good are all the things we’ve taught you and all the things you’ve learned all the memories you’ve stored up and all the experiences all the effort and washed cars and finals and after-school work and cleaning your room and French and calculus if you’re gonna let it all spill out of your skull with the rest of your brains? / In sand?