First published in 2018 by Oberon Books Ltd
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Copyright Jean Ann Douglass, 2018
Jean Ann Douglass is hereby identified as author of this play in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted her moral rights.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
PB ISBN: 9781786825902
E ISBN: 9781786825919
Cover: design by Christopher Calderhead,
photography by Kent Meister
Printed and bound by 4edge Limited, Essex, UK.
eBook conversion by Lapiz Digital Services, India.
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Printed on FSC accredited paper
For Eric,
who knew I was a playwright before I did
and
For Alley,
who supported this play since before it was written
The Providence Of Neighboring Bodies received a workshop on 2 June 2015 at Collaborative Arts Project 21 in New York City produced by Dutch Kills Theater, Artistic Director, Alley Scott, with the following cast and creative contributors:
DORA Kate Benson
RONNIE Anne Gridley
JANE Anna Abhau Elliott
Director Jess Chayes
Design Sara C. Walsh
Stage Manager Tegan Ritz McDuffie
The Providence Of Neighboring Bodies had its world premiere on 23 February 2017 at Theater 511, an Ars Nova Fling, in New York City produced by Dutch Kills Theater, Artistic Director, Alley Scott, with the following cast and creative contributors:
DORA Lori Elizabeth Parquet
RONNIE Amy Staats
JANE Dinah Berkeley
Director Jess Chayes
Production Stage Manager Allison Raynes
Scenic Design Carolyn Mraz
Lighting Design Derek Wright
Costume Design Evan Prizant
Sound Design Asa Wember
Music Composition Chris Chappell
Properties Design Jess Adams
The Providence Of Neighboring Bodies had its UK premiere on 3 August 2018 at Underbelly, in Edinburgh produced by Dutch Kills Theater, Artistic Director, Alley Scott, with the following cast and creative contributors:
DORA Lori Elizabeth Parquet
RONNIE Amy Staats
JANE Dinah Berkeley
Director Jess Chayes
Production Stage Manager Allison Raynes
Scenic Design Carolyn Mraz
Lighting Design Derek Wright
Costume Design Evan Prizant
Sound Design Asa Wember
Music Composition Chris Chappell
Properties Design Jess Adams
Characters
DORA
RONNIE
JANE, A BEAVER
Setting
An apartment complex in North Providence, Rhode Island.
Time
Now-ish.
A note on casting
This show must not have an all-white cast.
If Jane is cast with a woman of color, she should not be the only person of color in the cast.
A note on performance
The text in Berthold Baskerville font is directed to the audience. While this font is used, the actors are speaking directly to the audience, letting us in on whats going on inside their heads. They are not acting out what theyre saying, but telling a story about a thing that is happening to them in the present moment. DORA and RONNIE are more confident inside the stories in their heads than they are in the world. Their perception is not always reality.
The text in Courier New font is showing us their external reality, and should be played as a relatively naturalistic scene.
Since the first colonies were settled in the Americas, the industrious, herbivorous, family-oriented beaver has been treated as a nuisance. Nearing extinction in the early 20th century, laws protecting the beaver population were put into place, and they flourished. However, the beavers role in reshaping landscapes with dams and flooding, while effective at preventing drought and preserving land, wreaked havoc on housing built in low-lying areas. From the 1950s-1970s, Rhode Island, prevented from killing beaver by protection laws, trapped their beaver population and released them in neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts. The state successfully eradicated beaver within its borders. While no formal beaver removal program is currently sanctioned by Rhode Island, there are still no beavers there.
Contents
We open with morning light.
DORA : I get up in the morning without an alarm. The sun streams into my bedroom in this really beautiful way that makes this part of the day so easy. Then from there, its over to the kitchen to put a kettle on the stove. While the water is heating up, I go for a pee, get out my foam roller, and do weight lifting with cans of soup that I keep on the counter for this very purpose.
The water boils and ah ah ah! I realize I forgot to grind the coffee. I do so, holding my finger on the button until the grinding changes its musical key. I am looking out the window. I do my best not to stare, even though I know she cant see me, due to the fishbowl effect and it being lighter outside than it is in my kitchen, but I am afraid its rude to let my eyes linger too long on Ronnie, as she fusses in her balcony garden.
The coffee has been ground sufficiently for a good long time now, and I notice this with a start, and stop pressing the button. I pour the grounds into my french press, pour the water on top, slowly, allowing the coffee to bloom first. In my head I start considering what I will say when I take this press pot for two out to my balcony, notice she is there, and invite her to come sit on my respectable and only a bit outdated outdoor furniture.
I head back to the bedroom to change, and think better of it. Its Saturday. Its casual. A bathrobe is normal.
A bathrobe and a fresh swipe of eyeliner and a little lip tint and some sunscreen on my dcolletage.
I grab the unpressed pot, a mug just one, I dont want to be presumptuous and sway breezily onto the balcony, careful not to lay my eyes on Ronnie before I get there, lest it seem rude I dont already have a mug for her.
I face my apartment as I press down the press pot, thinking Oh, hell- o Ronnie! and Oh! You startled me! I didnt realize you were up so early and Ronnie! Hi!
