BURIED CHILD.doc

- 114 -buried childby sam shepardfinal script 12/12/2011cast of charactersdodgehalietildenbradleyshellyvincefather dewisact onescene: day. old wooden staircase down left with pale, frayed carpet laid down on the steps. the stairs lead offstage left up into the wings with no landing. up right is an old, dark green sofa with the stuffing coming out in spots. stage right of the sofa is an upright lamp with a faded yellow shade and a small night table with several small bottles of pills on it. down right of the sofa, with the screen facing the sofa, is a large old-fashioned brown tv. a flickering blue light comes from the screen, but no image, no sound. in the dark, the light of the lamp and the tv slowly brighten in the black space. the space behind the sofa, upstage, is a large, screened-in porch with a board floor. a solid interior door to stage right of the sofa, leads from the porch to the outside. beyond that are the shapes of dark elm trees.gradually the form of dodge is made out, sitting on the couch, facing the tv, the blue light flickering on his face. he wears a well-worn t-shirt, suspenders, khaki work pants, and brown slippers. hes covered himself in an old brown blanket. hes very thin and sickly looking, in his late seventies. he just stares at the tv. more light fills the stage softly. the sound of light rain. dodge slowly tilts his head back and stares at the ceiling for a while, listening to the rain. he lowers his head again and stares at the tv. he starts to cough slowly and softly. the coughing gradually builds. he holds one hand to his mouth and tries to stifle it. the coughing gets louder, then suddenly stops when he hears the sound of his wifes voice coming from the top of the staircase.amb light rain, outdoors perhaps pattering through onto the screened-in porch tv white noise in background (fades under)halies voicedodge? (dodge just stares at the tv. long pause. he stifles two short coughs.) dodge! you want a pill, dodge? (he doesnt answer. takes a bottle out from under cushion of sofa, pulls the cork and takes a long swig. puts the bottle back, stares at tv, pulls blanket up around his neck.) you know what it is, dont you? its the rain! weather. thats it. every time. every time you get like this, its the rain. no sooner does the rain start than you start. (pause) dodge? (he makes no reply. pulls a pack of cigarettes out from his sweater and lights one. stares at tv. pause.) you should see it coming down up here. just coming down in sheets. blue sheets. the bridge is pretty near flooded. whats it like down there? dodge? (dodge turns his head back over his left shoulder and takes a look out through the porch. he turns back to the tv.)dodge(to himself.) catastrophic.halies voicewhat? whatd you say, dodge?dodge(louder.) it looks like rain to me! plain old rain!halies voicerain? of course its rain! are you having a seizure or something! dodge? (pause.) im coming down there in about five minutes if you dont answer me!dodgedont come down.halies voicewhat!dodge(louder.) dont come down! (he has another coughing attack. stops.)halies voiceyou should take a pill for that! i dont see why you just dont take a pill. be done with it once and for all. put a stop to it. (he takes a bottle out again. cork. another swig. returns bottle.) its not christian, but it works. its not necessarily christian, that is. a pill. we dont know. were not in a position to answer something like that. theres some things that ministers cant even answer. i, personally, cant see anything wrong with it. a pill. pain is pain. pure and simple. suffering is a different matter. thats entirely different. a pill seems as good an answer as any. dodge? (pause.) dodge, are you watching baseball?dodgeno.halies voicewhat?dodge(louder.) no! im not watching baseball.halies voicewhat are you watching? you shouldnt be watching anything thatll get you excited!dodge nothing gets me excited.halies voiceno horse racing!dodgethey dont race here on sundays.halies voicewhat?dodge(louder.) they dont race on sundays!halies voicewell they shouldnt race on sundays. the sabbath.dodgewell they dont! not here anyway. the boondocks.halies voicegood. im amazed they still have that kind of legislation. some semblance of morality. thats amazing. dodgeyeah, its amazing.halies voicewhat?dodge(louder). it is amazing! halies voiceit is. it truly is. i wouldve thought these days theyd be racing on christmas even. a big flashing christmas tree right down at the finish line.dodge(shakes his head.) no. not yet.halies voicethey used to race on new years! i remember that.dodgethey never raced on new years!halies voicesometimes they did.dodgethey never did!halie”s voicebefore we were married they did!dodge“before we were married they did!” (dodge waves his hand in disgust at the staircase. leans back in sofa. stares at tv.)halies voice i went once. with a man. on new years.dodge(mimicking her.) oh, a “man.”halies voicewhat?dodgenothing!halies voicea wonderful man. a breeder.dodgea what?halies voicea breeder! a horse breeder! thoroughbreds.dodgeoh, thoroughbreds. wonderful. you betcha. a breeder-man.halies voicethats right. he knew everything there was to know.dodgei bet he taught you a thing or two huh? gave you a good turn around the old stable!halies voiceknew everything there was to know about horses. we won bookoos of money that day.dodgewhat?halies voiceevery single race.dodgebookoos of money?halies voiceit was one of those kind of days.dodgenew years!halies voiceyes! it mightve been florida. or california! one of those two.dodgecan i take my pick?halies voiceit was florida!dodgeaha!halies voicewonderful! absolutely wonderful! the sun was just gleaming. flamingos. bougainvilleas. palm trees.dodge(to himself, mimicking her.) flamingos. bougainvilleas. palm trees. halies voiceeverything was dancing with life! colors. there were all kinds of people from everywhere. everyone was dressed to the nines. not like today. not like they dress today. people had a sense of style.dodgewhen was this anyway?halies voicethis was long before i knew you.dodgemustve been.halies voicelong before. i was escorted.dodgeto florida?halies voiceyes. or it mightve been california. im not sure which.dodgeall that way you were escorted?halies voiceyes.dodgeand he never laid a finger on you i suppose? this gentleman breeder-man. (long silence.) halie? are we still in the land of the living? (no answer. long pause.) halies voiceare you going out today?dodge(gesturing toward rain.) in this rain?halies voiceim just asking a simple question.dodgei rarely go out in the bright sunshine, why would i go out in this?halies voiceim just asking because im not doing any shopping today. and if you need anything you should ask tilden.dodgetildens not here!halies voicehes in the kitchen. (dodge looks toward l., then back toward tv.)dodgeall right.halies voicewhat?dodge(louder.) all right! ill ask tilden!halies voicedont scream. itll only get your coughing started.dodgescream? men dont scream.halies voicejust tell tilden what you want and hell get it. (pause.) bradley should be over later.dodgebradley?halies voiceyes. to cut your hair.dodgemy hair? i dont need my hair cut! i havent hardly got any hair left!halies voiceit wont hurt!dodgei dont need it!halies voiceits been more than two weeks, dodge.dodgei dont need it! and i never did need it!halies voicei have to meet father dewis for lunch.dodgeyou tell bradley that if he shows up here with those clippers, ill separate him from his manhood!halies voicei wont be very late. no later than four at the very latest.dodgeyou tell him! last time he left me near bald! and i wasnt even awake! halies voicethats not my fault!dodgeyou put him up to it!halies voicei never did!dodgeyou did too! you have some fancy, idiot house social planned! time to dress up the corpse for company! lower the ears a little! put up a little front! surprised you didnt tape a pipe to my mouth while you were at it! that woulda looked nice! huh? a pipe? maybe a bowler hat! maybe a copy of the wall street journal casually placed on my lap! a fat labrador retriever at my feet.halies voiceyou always imagine the worst things of people!dodgethats the least of the worst!halies voicei dont need to hear it! all day long i hear things like that and i dont need to hear more.dodgeyou better tell him!halies voicewell he wont do it again.dodgetheres no guarantee. hes a snake, that one.halies voicei promise he wont do it without your consent.dodge(after a pause.) theres no reason for him to even come over here.halies voicehe feels responsible.dodgefor my hair?halies voicefor your appearance.dodgemy appearance is out of his domain! its even out of mine! in fact, its disappeared! im an invisible man!halies voicedont be ridiculous.dodgehe better not try it. thats all ive got to say.halies voicetildens the oldest. hell protect you.dodgetilden cant even protect himself!halies voicenot so loud! hell hear you. hes right in the kitchen.dodge(yelling off l.) tilden!halies voicedodge, what are you trying to do?dodge(yelling off l.) tilden, get your ass in here!halies voicewhy do you enjoy stirring things up?dodgei dont enjoy anything!halies voicethats a terrible thing to say.dodgetilden!halies voicethats the kind of statement that leads people right to an early grave.dodgetilden!halies voiceits no wonder people have turned their backs on jesus!dodgetilden!halies voiceits no wonder the messengers of gods word are shouting louder now than ever before. screaming to the four winds.(dodge goes into a violent, spasmodic coughing attack.)halies voicedodge, if you dont take that pill nobodys going to force you. least of all me. theres no honor in self-destruction. no honor at all.dodge(between coughs.) tilden! (tilden enters from l., his arms loaded with fresh ears of corn.)fx door open rustling of corn in arms(tilden is dodges oldest son, late forties, wears heavy construction boots covered with mud, dark green work pants, a plaid shirt and a faded brown windbreaker. he has a butch haircut, wet from the rain. something about him is profoundly burned-out and displaced. he stops c. with the ears of corn in his arms and just stares at dodge until he slowly finishes his coughing attack. dodge looks up at him slowly. dodge stares at the corn. long pause as they watch each other.)dodge(to tilden.) whered you get that corn?tildenpicked it.dodgeyou picked all that?tilden(nodding in assent.) mm.dodgeyou expecting company?tildenno.dodgewhered you pick it from?tildenright out back.dodgeout back where!tildenright out in back.dodgetheres nothing out therein back.tildentheres corn.dodgethere hasnt been corn out there since about nineteen thirty-five! thats the last time i planted corn out there!tildenits out there now.dodge(yelling at stairs.) halie!halies voiceyes dear! have you come to your senses? dodgetildens brought a whole bunch of sweet corn in here! theres no corn out back is there?tilden(to himself.) theres tons of corn.halies voicenot that i know of!dodgethats what i thought.halies voicenot since about nineteen thirty-five!dodge(to tilden.) thats right. nineteen thirty-five. that was the last of it.tildenits out there now.dodgeyou go and take that corn back to wherever you got it from!tilden(after pause, staring at dodge.) its picked. i picked it all in the rain. once its picked you cant put it back.dodgei havent had trouble with neighbors here for fifty-seven years. i dont even know who the neighbors are! and i dont wanna know! now go put that corn back where it came from!(tilden stares at dodge. he walks slowly over to him.)tildenhere. its all yours.(tilden dumps all the corn off dodges lap and steps back. dodge stares at the corn then back to tilden. long pause.)dodgeare you having trouble here, tilden? are you in some kind of trouble again?tildenim not in any trouble.dodgeyou can tell me if you are. im still your father.tildeni know that.dodgei know you had a little trouble back there in new mexico. thats why you came out here. isnt that the reason you came back?tildeni never had any trouble.dodgetilden, your mother told me all about it.tildenwhatd she tell you? dodgei dont have to repeat what she told me! she told me all about it!tildencan i bring my chair in from the kitchen?dodgewhat?tildencan i bring in my chair from the kitchen?dodgethats not a chair, its a stool. milking stool.tildencan i bring it in here?dodgesure. bring it in here. bring it on in here. just dont call it a chair when its a stool.(tilden exits l. dodge pushes all the corn off of his lap onto the floor. he pulls the blanket off angrily and tosses it at one end of the sofa.) goddamn corn(he pulls out the bottle. cork. takes another swig. tilden enters again from l. with a milking stool and a pail, which loudly announce his reappearance. dodge hides the bottle quickly under the cushion before tilden sees it.dodgewhats that pail for?tildenshuckin.tilden sets the stool down by the sofa, sits on it, puts the pail in front of him on the floor. tilden starts picking up the ears of corn one at a time and husking them. he throws the husks and silk in the center of the stage and drops the ears into the pail each time he cleans one. he repeats this process as they talk. after pause.) pretty good-lookin corn.tildengolden.dodgehybrid?tildenwhat?dodgesome kinda fancy hybrid? tildenyou planted it. i dont know what it is. (pause.)dodgei never planted it. (pause.) tilden, look, you cant stay here forever. you know that, dont you?tildenim not.dodgei know youre not. im not worried about that. thats not the reason i brought it up.tildenwhats the reason?dodgethe reason is im wondering what youre gonna do with yourself.tildenyoure not worried about me, are you?dodgeim not worried about you. no. im just wondering.tildenyou werent worried about me when i wasnt here. when i was in new mexico.dodgeno, i wasnt worried about you then either.tildenyou shoulda worried about me then.dodgewhys that? you didnt do anything down there, did you? nothin serious.tildeni didnt do anything. no.dodgethen why should i have worried about you?tildenbecause i was by myself.dodgeby yourself?tildenyeah. i was by myself more than ive ever been before.dodgewhy was that? (pause.)tildencould i have some of that whiskey youve got?dodgewhat whiskey? i havent got any whiskey.tildenyouve got some under the sofa.dodgei havent got anything under the sofa! now mind your own damn business! judas priest, you come into the house outa the middle of nowhere, havent heard or seen you in twenty-some years and suddenly youre making accusations.tildenim not making accusations.dodgeyoure accusing me of hoarding whiskey under the sofa!tildenim not accusing you.dodgeyou just got through telling me that i had whiskey under the sofa!halies voicedodge?dodge(to tilden.) now she knows about it!tildenshe doesnt know about it.dodgeshe knows!halie”s voicedodge, are you talking to yourself down there?dodgeim talking to tilden!halies voicetildens down there?dodgehes right here!halies voicewhat?dodge(louder.) hes right here!halies voicewhats he doing?dodgedont answer her.tilden(to dodge.) im not doing anything wrong.dodge(to tilden.) i know youre not.halies voicewhats he doing down there!dodge(to tilden.) dont answer. whatever you do, dont answer her.tildenim not.halies voicedodge! (the men sit in silence. dodge lights a cigarette. tilden keeps husking corn.) dodge! hes not drinking anything is he? you see to it that he doesnt drink anything! youve gotta watch out for him. its our responsibility. he cant look after himself anymore, so we have to do it. nobody else will do it. we cant just send him away somewhere. if we had lots of money we could send him away. but we dont. we never will. thats why we have to stay healthy. you and me. nobodys going to look after us. bradley cant look after us. bradley can hardly look after himself. i was always hoping that tilden would look out for bradley when they got older. after bradley lost his leg. tildens the oldest. i had no idea in the world that tilden would be so much trouble. who wouldve dreamed. tilden was an all-american, dont forget. dont forget that. fullback. or quarterback. i forget which.tilden(to himself.) halfback.dodgedont make a peep. just let her babble. (tilden goes on husking.)halies voicethen when tilden turned out to be so much trouble, i put all my hopes on ansel. of course ansel wasnt as handsome, but he was smart.