5th of 50 Plays: The Veto Heard Next Door

 50 Plays  No Responses »
Feb 182012
 

The Veto Heard Next Door

With “special thanks” to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for the inspiration
and real thanks to Max Richter for the motivational sounds.


In the darkness, the audience hears the sound of the ocean, waves crashing lightly along the beach.  The seas are calm, not stormy.  Lights up to find PETER and TONY sitting on a blanket, looking out into the sea.  It’s just after sunrise, on a fall day, early October, slightly overcast.  The beach is in New Jersey, maybe near Asbury Park.  PETER and TONY stand out against the grayness around them. 

PETER, thirty-six, is wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, unzipped halfway.  He is bare-chested other than the sweatshirt.  The jeans are rolled up; his feet are bare and wet.  He’s been down to the water’s edge.  TONY, thirty-eight, is wearing running shorts, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and running shoes.  He’s sweaty, maybe a bit chilly after his run.

There’s a silence between them that is slightly uncomfortable.  Something has happened.  Finally, PETER speaks.

PETER
Did you get the message that your mom called?

TONY
I did.

PETER
She was concerned.  She said you hadn’t called at your usual time on Wednesday.

TONY
I was busy.

PETER
That’s what I told her.

TONY doesn’t respond.  He begins to stretch a bit, rubbing his legs to keep them warm.

PETER
Are you cold?

TONY
No.

PETER
Are you sure?

TONY
Yes, I’m sure, Peter.  Would you stop nagging?

PETER
I’m not nagging.  I’m just making sure you’re ok.

TONY
You’re nagging.

PETER
Fine.

There is silence between the two of them again.  PETER zips up his sweatshirt a bit more and hugs his knees to his chest.

PETER
Don’t forget to call your mom back.  She’ll think I didn’t give you the message.

TONY
See?  That’s what I mean.

PETER
What?

TONY
You’re nagging.

PETER
I’m not nagging, for Christ’s sake.  I’m telling you to call your mom back.

TONY
Which you did once already, Peter.

PETER
Yes, and you need more than one reminder, Tony.  After eight years there are some things that I know about you.

Again silence.  TONY takes off his left shoe and sock and begins to rub his feet.

PETER
How far did you run?

TONY
Not sure.

PETER
Where did you run?

TONY
I left the house and ran down to the pier, then over to the high school, around the track two or three times, and then back to the house.  I found your note and then ran here.

PETER
That’s pretty far.

TONY (shrugs)
I guess.

TONY continues to rub his foot and grimaces a bit.

PETER
Did you hurt yourself?

TONY
No.

PETER
Well, what’s wrong?

TONY
Peter?

PETER
OK, OK.  Sorry.  But at least let me rub it for you.

PETER reaches for TONY’s foot.  TONY pulls it away, but PETER is too quick.  He catches the foot.  A small struggle ensues, but PETER wins.  It’s evident in this moment that PETER is actually quite strong.  He successfully swings TONY a quarter turn so that his feet are in his lap.  He rubs TONY’s bare foot.  TONY grimaces again, but eventually leans back on the blanket.  He settles down and closes his eyes.  PETER looks at him and looks back out to the sea.

PETER
I was afraid you wouldn’t come.

TONY
Peter.

PETER
Well, you didn’t come to bed last night.  You left me there alone all night.

TONY
I fell asleep on the couch, Peter.

PETER
That’s happened before but you still come get into bed.

Silence.

PETER
You’re really angry with me.

Silence again.

PETER
Tony?

TONY
I’m angry.  Yes.

PETER
I knew it.

TONY
Ahhh.  Peter, would you just let it rest for a bit.

PETER
But you’re angry with me.

TONY
And?  I’m angry with you.  It happens.

PETER
Yeah, and it seems like it’s happening a lot lately.

TONY (trying to pull his feet away, unsuccessfully)
That’s bullshit.

PETER (holding TONY’s feet tightly, not letting him get away)
I don’t think so.

TONY
There’s a lot going on lately.

PETER
So?  There’s always a lot going on.

TONY is clearly worn down by this conversation and losing his patience.

TONY
Work is stressful.  We’re not making enough with the store.  No one needs our services right now.  Who has money to redo anything in their house?  And you’re telling me that you want to move.

PETER
All of that is true.  So why are you angry with me?

TONY
Because you don’t listen to me.

PETER
How do I not listen to you?

TONY
Last week I told you that I didn’t want to move, that we can’t move right now because we don’t have the money.  You proceeded to call the realtor anyway and tell him that we wanted to put our house on the market.  I get a call at the store yesterday from one of the very few clients that we still have left, and she asks me why we’re moving when we haven’t finished her living room.  I tell her I don’t know what she’s talking about, and then she tells me that her friend, the realtor that you called, told her that we were moving to the city.

TONY pulls his feet away, sits up, and begins to put his shoe back on.  PETER doesn’t respond.  TONY looks at him for answers and PETER doesn’t have any.

PETER
I’m sorry.

TONY
That’s not going to work so well this time, Peter.  “Sorry” has worked for so many things in the past, but I need more than “sorry” this time.

PETER

I get it, OK?

TONY
Do you?  Really?  It doesn’t seem like it.

PETER
So all of this is why you didn’t come to bed last night?  Why couldn’t you just tell me that then?  Instead you just give me the silent treatment and don’t talk to me and make me think that we’re like ending our relationship or you’re kicking me out or you’re having an affair or—

TONY
Whoa, what?  What are you talking about?   Either you’re nagging me or you’re making up these crazy scenarios in your head.  Why is that?  You and I’ve been together for ten years.  When are you going to believe me when I tell you I’m not going anywhere?

PETER
But you’re angry with me about all of this, and I’m afraid.

TONY
Afraid of what?

PETER
That it’s a deal breaker.

TONY
Was the broken china a deal breaker?

PETER
No.

TONY
Was the fight with my sister’s husband the first time you met my family a deal breaker?

PETER
Almost.

TONY
Am I standing here now?

Silence

TONY
And what about the twenty-five year old?

PETER
Well, that’s a little different.

TONY
How so?

PETER
You were an active participant in that.

TONY
Yes, but only after YOU made the initial contact and told me.  That could’ve been a major deal breaker.  You’re just lucky that guy had a nice ass.

PETER
Not as nice as mine.

TONY
I’m just saying.

This is a bit of an icebreaker for them.  PETER unzips his sweatshirt, and TONY notices.  He reaches out and rubs PETER’s bare chest with his hand, and PETER takes his hand and holds it.  PETER looks at TONY.

PETER
I’m just not sure that I can stay in a place where we’re not wanted.

TONY
What do you mean?

PETER
I mean that New Jersey is not the place for us.  Or at least for me.

TONY
Oh, c’mon.  Is that what this is about?   That’s why you want to move?

PETER
Yeah, that’s why I want to move.  Why is that so hard for you to understand?  Do you want to stay here?

TONY
Of course, I want to stay here.  Our lives are here.  Your parents, my parents, our siblings, our friends.  Not to mention our business.  Why should we leave all that behind because of some fat, overweight governor who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.

PETER
Because it’s not fair, Tony.

TONY
Life isn’t fair, Peter.

PETER
That’s not the response that I need in this conversation.  I want you to have some empathy for what I’m feeling here.

TONY
I do have empathy for what you’re feeling.  I just don’t want to take that empathy to the point of abandoning everything we’ve worked so hard for just to get out of a state that won’t let us get married.

PETER
Why isn’t marriage important to you?

TONY
We’ve had this discussion so many times and—

PETER
And what?

TONY
And I don’t understand why I have to keep repeating myself.

PETER
Maybe if I believed you, you wouldn’t have to keep telling me.

TONY
What don’t you believe?

PETER
I don’t believe that you can love me like you say you do and not want to marry me.

TONY
What?

PETER
I said I don’t believe that you really love me.  If you loved me, you would marry me.

TONY is kind of stunned by this.  He gets up from the blanket.

TONY
That’s really what you think?  That after all of these years together, all of the sacrifices that we’ve made TOGETHER, that I don’t love you?

PETER doesn’t answer him.  He zips up his sweatshirt again.

TONY
Peter, is that really what you think?

PETER
I don’t know what I think.

TONY
Well, you just said that you think I don’t—

PETER
I know what I said.

TONY
Is that what you meant?

Silence.

TONY
I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself here.  I thought we were headed in the right direction a couple of minutes ago, but now I’m not so sure.

PETER
Me either.

TONY
What?

PETER
I’m really confused, Tony, OK?  I’m really confused.  I don’t know what I think.  I love you so much.  So so much.  But—

TONY
But?

PETER
Let me finish.  This vetoed marriage bill really made me think about us, about how we have nothing that lets people know we exist as a couple.

TONY
How can you say that?  All of the memories that we have, the pictures together? Our families love us together.  Plenty of people acknowledge us as a couple.

PETER
But what about strangers?  What about hospitals?  What about the government?  What about—

TONY
Why do those things matter to you?  Who cares about those things?  Men and women have been together for years without those acknowledgments.  Why do you think we need them now?

PETER
We should’ve had them years ago.  And I don’t understand why they aren’t important to you.

TONY
Are those acknowledgements by those other “things” more important to you than me?

PETER is silent.  He looks out to the sea.  The sound of the sea gets a little louder. A seagull squawks above them.  Loudly.

TONY
Peter?  I asked you a question.  Are those acknowledgements more important to you than me?  Than our life together for the past ten years?

PETER is silent.  TONY is becoming emotional.  The sea gets louder.  The waves are crashing against the beach.

TONY
Peter?  Answer me.

PETER
I don’t know, Tony.  I don’t know.

Lights fade out on the two men looking at each other.  The waves crash loudly against the beach in the darkness.

Please watch this video clip. Please.

 culture  No Responses »
Nov 252011
 

For those of you who have followed my blog, you know that I’m not running around waving the “Gay Marriage” flag.  I’ve struggled with the issue, wondering how I relate to it, how my past, present, and future relate to it, and whether it’s something that I really completely understand.

Jay Jackson, a great dancer/choreographer that I worked with in LA this month, posted this video on his Facebook page, and I stumbled upon it in the top right hand corner stream.  I read his comment and clicked on the link.  I watched the video, and in the last few moments, I gasped.

I knew what was coming, and I still gasped and got really choked up about it.

Take a look.  It’s full of truth.  Deep truth about what it means to be committed to someone.  And why people deserve the right to be recognized as living in a committed relationship, if that’s what they want.

I don’t mean to insinuate that all committed relationships have to be named the same way or look the same way.  Absolutely not.  I’d prefer that we maintain the freedom to be different and to define our relationships on a case by case basis, but this video clip is the most effective statement I’ve seen about marriage equality.  And there’s no protesting or flag waving.

Simply put, lives are on display.  Nothing more or less.  Make sure you watch to the end.

Please take a look.  And share with your friends and families.

Something just clicked…loudly

 culture  3 Responses »
Jul 212011
 

As New York ramps up to begin marrying gay and lesbian couples on Sunday, July 24, Frank Bruni of The New York Times shared a story of one gay couple and their two children that drove the importance of this new legislation all the way home for me.  Much to my embarrassment, I found myself getting a little choked up as I read it on the subway today.  You can read it by clicking here.

I like Bruni’s writing a lot.  There’s a snappiness to his voice without being bitchy or condescending, and his intelligence and wit come through without ripping others a new one.  Maybe when he wrote as the food critic for The Times it was a different story.  My boyfriend brought him to my attention when we first started dating almost four years ago, and I’ve become a fan of how simply he outlines an argument and then finds a way to drive his viewpoint home.  It’s an elegant style that I enjoy.

Bruni’s description of this family helped me to understand why marriage equality has had so many people jacked up for so long now.  It’s been difficult for me to understand because I’m not so into viewing myself as “less than” other people just because I couldn’t get married.  In general, I think that we Americans of all races, creeds, and orientations spend way too much time thinking up ways to view ourselves as “oppressed” in some way, shape, or form.  I remember watching the march on Washington for marriage equality on television back in October 2009 and seeing someone holding a sign about being a second class citizen because he couldn’t marry.  There I sat, on my comfortable couch in my nice apartment, drinking a glass of chocolate milk after an 18-mile run in preparation to run a marathon, and I thought, “Am I a second class citizen?”  I certainly didn’t feel like one.  And I’ve witnessed countless other examples of people assigning themselves the “second class” or “oppressed” title for reasons that I find trivial.  Granted, I am white, male, and supposedly privileged out the whazoo, and I also recognize that one’s perception is one’s reality.  So if a person thinks that he or she is oppressed, then I guess that’s fair.  However, I do think that there’s a difference between oppression that is self-imposed and/or self-actualized and then accepted as truth versus the oppression that is institutionalized and historical and out of one’s control.  Like the kind of oppression I witnessed on a trip to India, where I got my clock cleaned in terms of thinking that I had anything to feel oppressed about.

But this article by Frank Bruni got me today because he explains how two little girls have found it difficult to understand why their parents–two dads–were not married like their other friends’ parents.  And for some reason that clicked for me.  In my opinion, adults should be able to separate out the differences between institutionalized oppression and self-imposed oppression, and then make some decisions about how to navigate their way through the world with that information.  Children cannot and should not have to make these distinctions, should not have to feel “less than” because their family hasn’t been validated and acknowledged.  It’s these children that helped me to understand why this whole marriage equality argument makes sense and why for many gay and lesbian couples who have children or who want to have children that this legislation levels the playing field.

The “marriage nomenclature” is the only real way that most of our society understands “family.”  It’s unfortunate that our view is so limited, as lots of different family constructions exist.  I know that viewpoints are changing and expanding, but less than 400 years out from our Puritan roots isn’t quite enough time yet.  Change like this is glacial, and we need to be patient.  It’s part of the reason why I’ve stopped expecting “equality.”  Puritans came to the New World to escape religious persecution (read “oppression”), I would imagine with the hopes that they could remain homogeneous and insular on this very large hunk of land.  Clearly, that didn’t happen, and we’ve been trying to figure out how to co-exist with each other ever since.  Americans don’t have a stranglehold on this ditty, as it’s the oldest conflict story in the world.  Yet we Americans keep working for and demanding an egalitarianism that I’m not sure will ever exist.

However, if you read the article by Bruni, you’ll learn that seeing your two dads get married and having the cupcakes and icing to go with it may just help us to stick it out as the glaciers continue to shift and melt.