02: AND THIS IS SEPARATION

Written by
Joseph Frost
Draft
8/2/16
written for the 2016 31 Plays in 31 Days project

Joseph Frost, 2016

4550 Normandy Dr
Jackson, MS 39206
FrostJosephD@gmail.com
* member, Dramatists Guild of America

A man hangs from above by a rope around his waist.

On the floor below lies a woman.
A single light from above the man.
WOMAN
And this is separation
And this is separation
four times fallen
three times arise
And this is separation
The woman rises up, sits.
The man hangs above.
MAN
You were
You were all those things to me
You were
those things and more
More than what youd promised
More than I could imagine
More than
WOMAN
Whispers from miles away
so far gone
a message from a place long abandoned
the childhood pen pal who stopped writing a month after you moved away
but still thought of you as her best friend
but still thought of you

2.
MAN
I couldnt be
I couldnt be any of my own promises
I couldnt be
I didnt know what they were
those words
Those things
a foreign language
A letter in a glass bottle
Trash from the sea
rescued from waves
and misused
I didnt know
WOMAN
I didnt know.
Woman rises.
MAN
I can say them
the words
I can say them again
I can repeat them
say all the things
That would heal it
would that heal it
that would
The woman turns and takes a step upstage, turning her
back.
The man begins to lower to the floor.

3.
WOMAN
A silent dance in an empty house
floors creaking with weight
And without
barefoot steps across hardwood
sticks and leaves from an open door
snap underfoot
and above
And all the time
and all the time
I thought it was your footsteps
in step with mine
all the time
The man reaches the floor, then rises.
Woman circles around him.
MAN
What do I say
WOMAN
A vow
tell me a vow
MAN
I cant
WOMAN
Promise me
That I am
For you
Set apart
Separate
From all others
is that a promise
MAN
You have belief left for me

4.
WOMAN
Belief is all I have
Woman drops man down to his knees.
MAN
Your belief is all I have
Woman grabs the rope. She twists it around him.
WOMAN
Words written on pages of air
penned with tongue and breath
blown into the eyes of a believer
taken in by lungs, deep
sustaining
sustaining
sustaining
Woman stands behind Man. She turns the rope around
him and herself, binding her to him.
Man flops over dragging her down with him.
He rolls until he gets free.
He rises, and leaves her on the floor.
He goes upstage, back to the audience.
WOMAN (CONTD)
And this is separation
And this is separation
four times fallen
three times arise
And this is separation
Woman stands, rope in her hands.
She drops the rope.
Lights down on her. He is backlit.
Backlight out.