Murphy - The Goodnight Bird

Also by Colleen Murphy The December Man (L'homme de dcembre) The Piper Beating Heart Cadaver

The Goodnight Bird Copyright 2013 by Colleen Murphy Playwrights Canada Press 202-269 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5V 1X1 phone 416.703.0013 No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, or used in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for excerpts in a review or by a licence from Access Copyright, www.accesscopyright.ca. For professional or amateur production rights, please contact Michael Petrasek, Kensington Literary Representation 34 St. Andrew Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1K6 416.979.0187, Cover design by Katy Lemay Book design by Blake Sproule Author photo by Theresa Ho The Alegreya serif typeface used was designed by Juan Pablo del Peral. The typefaces is used under the SIL Open font license version 1.1. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Murphy, Colleen, 1954 The goodnight bird [electronic resource] / Colleen Murphy. A play.

Electronic monograph in multiple formats. Issued also in print format. ISBN 978-1-77091-122-2 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-77091-121-5 (EPUB) I. Title PS8576.U615G66 2013 C812'.54 C2012-907933-2

We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC)an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,681 individual artists and 1,125 organizations in 216 communities across Ontario for a total of $52.8 millionthe Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. for my friend Sheila Moore The Goodnight Bird received its world premiere in May 2011 at Finborough Theatre, London, UK, as a part of In Their Place, a three-month season dedicated entirely to the voice of the female playwright. to 12:45 A.M. to 12:45 A.M.

Scene Two takes place in their bedroom the next morning from 7:30 A.M. to 8:15 A.M. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. Ralph Waldo Emerson Scene One A tastefully decorated bedroom cluttered with too many things and not enough space to put them all. Paintings of landscapes dot the walls. A duvet on the bed matches the drapes that cover the window, and a lone geranium plant perches on the window ledge.

There are three doors one to the closet, one to the bathroom, and one leading out of the bedroom to the rest of the world. MORGAN is in bed. A big man with a low voice, he snuggles into his pillow. He exudes an air of jovial resignationa successful man who had the air punched out of him by a heart attack. The light is on under the bathroom door. Silence, until LILLY (off) The squalor you leave in your wake is really unacceptable.

MORGAN Sorry. LILLY (off) You spit on the mirror again. MORGAN I didn't spitit flew out of my mouth when I was flossing. The sound of running water stops. LILLY (off) How many times do I have to tell you to wipe the mirror when you're done brushing? The spray's under the sink, the paper towel is beside it. (off) When you've finished wiping the mirror use the same paper towel to wipe along the toilet rimdon't do it the other way aroundand when you've done the rim wipe up the dribbles on the floor. (off) When you've finished wiping the mirror use the same paper towel to wipe along the toilet rimdon't do it the other way aroundand when you've done the rim wipe up the dribbles on the floor.

MORGAN What dribbles? LILLY (off) Your dribbles. MORGAN I don't dribble. LILLY (off) Everyone dribbles, Morgan, it's part of life. MORGAN Bernice can wipe them up in the morning. LILLY (off) Bernice doesn't come in on Mondays. LILLY comes out of the bathroom wearing a nightgown.

At sixty-six she is a well-preserved, taut-looking woman, her face plastered with cream. Used to dominating a classroom of high-octane high-school students, LILLY's heart never strays too far from her mental whip. When you're feeling better I'll put your things back in the hall bathroom. LILLY sits down on the bed and kicks off her slippers. She takes a pill from a vial on her night table and washes it down with water then slides into bed and reaches for a book. MORGAN The Housemans are moving into their retirement home next week.

It has three bathrooms. LILLY Four. Sal drove me around there this morningmassive grounds, two acres of landscaped rock gardens it reminds me of the Aunties' mansion. MORGAN Merv's happy to retire. LILLY Sal won't have time to retireshe'll be too busy organizing cleaning staff and gardeners. It's ridiculous.

MORGAN He wants to grow orchids. LILLY What is it about men and orchids? MORGAN He likes the way they look. LILLY They're complicated things to grow. MORGAN The secret is never to touch them. LILLY Well, that's no fun. MORGAN Did Sal show you the conservatory? LILLY Yesand the library and the five bedroomswhy would anyone their age want five bedrooms? MORGAN Grandchildren.

LILLY Grandchildren, grandchildrenit's a virus. Silence LILLY reads. MORGAN When I retire I'm going to take up a little hobby. LILLY When you retire we're going to Siberia. MORGAN I don't really feel like travelling nine thousand kilometres on a train from Moscow to Vladivostok LILLY Open your mind, Morgan. That's what I used to tell my studentsopen your mind to the worldto history, to art.

It's perfectly safewe won't even have to step off the train. We'll pay station babushkas to bring us food from their kiosks. MORGAN switches off the lamp on his night table. He turns and lightly kisses LILLY on the cheek. MORGAN Goodnight, Lilly. LILLY Goodnight, dear.

Silence LILLY reads. (absently) Did you lock the door? MORGAN Yes. LILLY Sometimes you forget. MORGAN I locked the door. LILLY You often forget, dear. MORGAN Lilly, I have a breakfast meeting early in the morning.

LILLY Are you excited? MORGAN Yes as excited as I'm allowed to get these days. The sound of a siren drifts up from the street. LILLY Remember Ruthshort, fat, Catholic, but attractive in her own way? MORGAN Vaguely. LILLY Every time she heard a siren she'd make the sign of the cross. One day we were walking past the hospitals, and with all the ambulances racing by her arm nearly fell off. When I quipped that her gesture was both conspicuous and futile, she stopped in her tracks and said, "Lilly Beaumont, a wailing siren tells us that someone somewhere may be dying, and our tiny, compassionate thought will get to them long before a speeding ambulance ever will." MORGAN Where's your earplugs? LILLY When I hear a siren I think of Ruth.

MORGAN Put your plugs in. LILLY Then I won't hear the alarm. MORGAN Is it set for six? LILLY Five forty-five. MORGAN Put it on my side of the bed. LILLY I can wake you up. MORGAN You sleep in.

I'll bring you your tea before I leave. LILLY No, keep it on my side. I love to be woken up then remember that I don't have to get out of bed. It's a pleasant mind game. MORGAN Often your mind games make you fall asleep again and forget to wake me. LILLY I won't forget.

MORGAN I know you won't forget but it's easier for me to wake up first. Exasperated she hands him the alarm. He puts it on his night table then snuggles against LILLY, barely touching her. LILLY Oh, you're squishing my shoulder. MORGAN Sorry. He moves back to his side of the bed.

LILLY My shoulders need room to breathe. Silence. Poor thing had both breasts lopped off then chemo then radiation then despite copious amounts of prayer, she died. MORGAN Who? LILLY Ruthdead at fifty-six. MORGAN Goodnight, dear. Silence.

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