Mutants (1981)by Brad Fraser

It will be a long hard climb into professional theatre, but it will happen.

~ BRAD FRASER QUOTED IN ASHWELL, JAN 1981

Few teen-angst plays are as compelling or as merciless as Brad Fraser’s Mutants. Wrenched from his own high school experiences in the late 1970s and blasted through his infamously unforgiving and violently creative imagination, Fraser’s first produced play introduced to Edmonton audiences his now internationally familiar scathing dialogue—what Edmonton Journal reviewer Keith Ashwell called at the time “a surgeon’s appreciation of the jugular” (“Mutants”). Two decades later this same sensibility would endear Fraser to audiences and critics in the UK, particularly at Manchester’s Royal Theatre Exchange, where two of his recent plays have opened, and in the United States, where Poor Super Man premiered. Given the controversial record of Fraser’s subsequent writing, it should be no surprise that while Walterdale’s board of directors nearly denied Mutants its first production, it was the company’s highest-grossing show that season and a direct catalyst for Fraser’s professional career.

Fraser was born in Edmonton in 1959. Following a difficult childhood, one that he has characterized as “nomadic” (quoted in Kirman) and “Dickensian” (Fraser, Interview), Fraser transferred from Edmonton’s Eastglen High School to the Performing Arts program at Victoria Composite. There, theatre teachers Bill Brumbalow and Don Pimm influenced his artistic impulses while he gained something of a cult-of-personality following among his artistically inclined friends.

By the late 1970s Fraser’s work was gaining notice. His play Two Pariahs at a Bus Stop in a Large City Late at Night won in the High School category of the Alberta Playwriting competition in 1977, and With Love From Your Son won in the full-length adult category the following year. Fraser also stage managed a Walterdale Christmas show, and in the fall of 1979 he designed for and appeared as Mr. Perry in Walterdale’s production of Allen’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In early January 1980 he appeared in the ambitious new Walterdale collective creation facilitated by Kevin Burns called Shikata Ga Nai (It Can’t Be Helped), in which he played the journalist Sadeo “potently” (Ashwell, “Rewrite!”). That spring, shortly after Quebec’s first referendum on separation, Fraser assisted director Stephen Heatley on Walterdale’s production of Tremblay’s francophone identity play Les Belles Soeurs. It was heralded as a “strong and frequently touching” Edmonton premiere (Ashwell, “Belles Soeurs”), with the English version staged at Walterdale and the French version staged at the University of Alberta’s Faculté St. Jean by Théâtre Français of Edmonton. Fraser then appeared as the artist Verezzi in Walterdale’s production of Walker’s Zastrozzi, the first Walker play performed in Edmonton. By the time he began rehearsals for Mutants at the age of twenty-one, Fraser had already spent two summers in the Banff Playwrights Colony and had worked as a freelance writer for CBC Radio and ACCESS television, all while employed full-time at a graphic-arts supply company. With emerging Edmonton director Heatley as his “consultant” on Mutants, Fraser was prepared to navigate Walterdale’s production conditions as director of his own play.

The formation of professional companies such as Theatre 3, Northern Light Theatre, Theatre Network, and Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton during the 1970s had created a vibrant Canadian play atmosphere in which Walterdale was, by the early 1980s, eager to participate. The 1980/81 season was remarkable in terms of Walterdale’s Canadian play programming: Canadian writers penned half of the season’s productions.³¹ It was also remarkable for controversies related to Fraser, only part of which involved the premiere of Mutants.

The season-opening production of Walker’s Zastrozzi that October had created a stir. The board, which became aware of the play’s controversial material in the summer, voted to ban “total nudity” from the production despite the demands of the script’s stage directions and strong objections from three board members. The issue stemmed from discussions regarding the opening of scene seven, in which Fraser’s character, Verezzi, “is naked.” Despite the board’s ban on total nudity, Fraser elected to do a few performances without underwear. And he made sure, along with the actor playing Matilda, that the simulated sex that opened the scene was visually and vocally “offensive” (e-mail to author, 2007). For weeks the board fielded letters from disgruntled audience members who, in response to Fraser dropping trou, threatened to drop their season subscriptions. One such letter featured the flowery prose of a “long term supporter” who thought that in attending Zastrozzi she had sat “in the wrong pew.”

It was in this charged environment that a revised version of Fraser’s new play made its way into the hands of then board president Judy Tilley. The original draft of Mutants, Fraser estimated, would have run about seven hours: “It was everything I’ve ever wanted to say about everything” (quoted in Ashwell, “Mutants”). When some concerns were raised about the content of the now considerably shortened draft, Tilley sought advice from Walterdale’s long-time membership. The ensuing commotion divided Walterdale mainstays: some felt the play’s language and terrorist-style treatment of an adult youth worker were too much for the stage, while others “fought like hell” to keep it in the season (F. Glenfield, Interview), calling it a well-crafted piece by a promising writer.

The controversy found its way into the November board meeting, which Fraser attended. There was much discussion about the play’s initial length, its “stylistic vs. realistic presentation, offensive language, and topical subject matter” (Walterdale, Executive, November 1980). In a preview interview in the Edmonton Journal, Fraser responded succinctly to the now-public accusations: “My position is it’s colloquial. What people call offending words are not there for effect—I do nothing for effect, or I try not to” (quoted in Ashwell, “Mutants”). The board agreed to honour its commitment to produce Mutants in a vote from which eight members abstained (some admitting that they had not read the play in advance of the vote). The board agreed that a language warning would appear in all advertising. Auditions attracted a high turnout from local high school students. Years later, those board members who supported Mutants recall they did so with enthusiasm that evening, seeing in it the kernel of an already strong and undeniably promising artistic voice.

Mutants received “positive and enthusiastic” reaction, as reported at the first board meeting following the run, with solid 69 percent houses through to closing night. Fraser’s work out-drew the other six Walterdale productions that season, including Zastrozzi, Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea, and Labiche’s The Italian Straw Hat. But the production also sparked opinionated debate among audiences and reviewers. Its angry portrayal of ageism was immediately played out in the local media. Keith Ashwell opened his Edmonton Journal review as if shouting back at the play:

Brad! What did I do? Why did you beat up on me like that?
I came out of this show feeling I had to apologize. But to whom? For what?
I’ve never, not wilfully at least, been the cause of adolescents going bad. I don’t think I’ve even been guilty of denying their individuality, even by default, and yet Fraser never let up on me.
I, representing adult society, was accused and condemned of an incredible catalogue of anti-social actions committed by the six delinquents in Mutants. And from them–hardly a word of remorse! (“Writer”)

And in the University of Alberta’s student newspaper, The Gateway, Emma Goldman wrote:

But there is no way Fraser could subdue the play to make it less offensive to the middle-aged, middle-class family-type Walterdale patrons. They won’t understand the play because they cling blindly to the system of values that Fraser attacks.
For example, upon leaving the theatre Tuesday night I heard one of Edmonton’s well-known theatre critics comment, “Now that he has gotten this out of his system, maybe he’ll be able to write a play.”
Well, I’d say to that, “If the system doesn’t get anything out of this play, maybe, if we are lucky, he will write another, just as powerful as this one.”

Evidently it was not the twenty-somethings who were offended by the language and content they had been warned about in the show’s publicity, but the “middle-aged, middle-class family-type[s]” who donned their moral armour. If various demographics found little to agree on, one thing seemed clear: Fraser was a playwright with opinions and something to offer both the art form and society.

Theatre heavyweights took particular notice of Mutants. Within days of the play’s closing, Theatre Passe Muraille’s Paul Thompson (in Edmonton at the time to direct David Fox in an adaptation of Kroetsch’s novel The Studhorse Man at the University of Alberta) and Workshop West Theatre’s Gerry Potter both approached Fraser with a keen interest in staging his next play at their respective theatres.³² Fraser’s Wolfboy played at Saskatoon’s 25th Street Theatre the next year (November 1981) before he followed Thompson to Toronto, where they collaborated on what Fraser terms “a pseudo-collective” (“Biography”) called Rude Noises (For a Blank Generation) at Passe Muraille (March 1982). Fraser’s subsequent theatrical works include Chainsaw Love (1985, Edmonton Fringe), Young Art (1987, Theatre Passe Muraille), Return of the Bride (1988, Edmonton Fringe), Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love (1989, Alberta Theatre Projects), Prom Night of the Living Dead (1991, Citadel Teen Festival with Darrin Hagen), The Ugly Man (1992, Alberta Theatre Projects), Poor Super Man (1994, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati), Martin Yesterday (1997, Buddies in Bad Times), Outrageous! (2000, Canadian Stage Company), Snake in Fridge (2000, Royal Exchange Theatre), and Cold Meat Party (2003, Royal Exchange Theatre). He continues to work extensively in film, television, and print media.

Fraser’s years at Walterdale were mutually beneficial. A few months after Mutants premiered he was elected member-at-large on Walterdale’s board, but by the following November, having not had the opportunity to attend meetings, he withdrew. The next year the board considered commissioning him to write a new play, but this did not come to pass. Walterdale had given Fraser a very public start, and he had added to the company’s production history of original, well-produced, and controversial fare.

Mutants captures six young “delinquents” in a condemned office building in the midst of kidnapping their group home counsellor, Mr. Goldwyn, in order to attract media attention to their mistreatment and to their general lot in life. But their plans backfire when they also kidnap Jett’s straight-and-narrow friend Christine (daughter of the province’s minister of culture), Judy reveals to Jim that she’s pregnant with his baby (“Mutant children. How scary,” observes Jett), and Jett is shot dead during an altercation with Plato. Fraser’s skillful use of monologues and a Brechtian chorus give the play’s us-versus-the-system theme a theatrical punch that was noted in reviews at the time. It offers strong, believable parts for young actors and deals convincingly with contemporary issues, including the treatment of prostitutes and young offenders as well as the use of terrorist tactics and fear to gain advantage and public notice. And yes, the play carries a language and content warning. That it is suitable not only to be seen but also to be performed by teen actors is clear. Importantly, subsequent productions of Mutants will likely replay the same discussions in which Walterdale members and the Edmonton community engaged at the time of the play’s premiere.

Mutants ran January 27–February 7, 1981, at Walterdale Playhouse (firehall) with the following cast and creative team:

JIM	Brian Rodomski
CAL	Greg Dovell
JETT	Les Bland
PLATO	Phil Zyp
JUDY	Darcia Parada
CHRISTINE	Collette Hebert
ABRA	Kat Mullaly
GOLDWYN	David Nattress
COP (OFF-STAGE VOICE)	Keven Smith
DIRECTOR	Brad Fraser
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR	Mark Plaudis Wilson
CONSULTANT/WORKSHOP DIRECTOR	Stephen Heatley
SET DESIGNER	Jeff Unger
LIGHTING DESIGNER	Tom Robertson
STAGE MANAGER	Deb Preston

A black and white poster of “Mutants play.” A log of Walterdale is present at the top along with a text beside reads, Walterdale Theatre Associates presents Brad Fraser‘s “Mutants” during 1981 - 1982. A happy and sad expression of the joker‘s face mask is present on the poster‘s top right side. The text
“Mutants” are designed in creepy fonts. The play‘s Avenue details are present at the bottom left corner reads “at Walterdale Playhouse 10233-83rd Avenue,
Edmonton.” — *Program cover designed by Brad Fraser for his first produced full-length play,* Mutants, *for Walterdale Theatre Associates, Jan–Feb 1981*.

Mutants: A Play in Two Actsby Brad Fraser

Characters	JIM
	CAL
	JETT
	PLATO
	JUDY
	CHRISTINE
	ABRA
	MR GOLDWYN
	VOICE (OFFSTAGE)
Setting	The top floor of a condemned office building. Lots of radiators, windows, ledges and things.
Notes	Be imaginative.

This play is for Kat and Brian.

Act One

	A lone spot on Jim.
JIM	(Whispers) Are you here? (Pause) Hello. (To Audience) Hello. (Pause) I’m Jim. (Pause) Hot in here, isn’t it? (Pause) I – I – uh – have some things to say. I have – you know – words. (Pause) It’s just so hard to do. It’s finding the right words. I know them, but I don’t know them, if you understand any of that. No. I didn’t think you did. It’s like – sometimes you get fed up. The rules. You know. After a while you can’t put up with it anymore. You’ve got to do something about it. You’ve got to say…
	The others speak from the darkness.
ABRA	We’ve had it!
PLATO	We’re through!
JUDY	We’re finished!
JETT	We’re done!
JIM	And we’re finally going to do something about it.
	A lone spot on Cal.
CAL	In my house it’s very warm. In my house it’s dim and all the shadows are very soft. My house is on a hill, beside some trees and in front of some clouds. In my house it’s very soft. And I never hear anything but the sounds I like to hear. (Pause) Except sometimes, when I hear the far away, muffled sound of thunder in the distance. I don’t like the thunder. But it’s far away. In my house I’m always safe. And not even the thunder can get me.
JIM	Cal?
CAL	Not even the thunder.
JIM	Cal?
CAL	Not even the thunder.
	Blackout. Lights up on set. The others enter. Cal follows Jim blankly. Jim holds a gun to Goldwyn’s head.
JIM	(Pushing Goldwyn down) Sit there.
PLATO	And don’t move!
JETT	Christine?
ABRA	Where is she?
JIM	I don’t think she’s here.
JETT	She’s got to be. Christine.
PLATO	I thought you said we could rely on this broad Jett.
JETT	I did.
JUDY	I don’t think there’s anyone here but us.
JETT	Maybe she’s in one of the other rooms. (He wanders off to find her) Christine. Christine?
ABRA	We’re fucked if she’s not here!
JIM	We’re not fucked yet. Don’t go and get all excited until we know what’s happening. (Jim sits down) Now you stay there.
JETT	(Entering) She’s not here.
ABRA	Now I’ll get excited. (To Jett) What the hell do you mean she’s not here?!
JETT	I can’t find her anywhere.
JIM	Jett, are you sure you told her to meet us here?
JETT	Yes Jim.
JIM	And she knew it was this building? She didn’t get it confused with someplace else?
JETT	She knows the building.
JIM	Well maybe she’s just late.
PLATO	And maybe she’s on the phone with the cops right now.
JETT	Christine wouldn’t do that!
PLATO	How do we know that?
JUDY	She gave Jett the gun didn’t she?
PLATO	Lota good that was. It didn’t even have bullets in it.
JETT	I told you, she couldn’t find the bullets.
JIM	At least it got us out.
ABRA	That’s right. And if it weren’t for the gun we never woulda got Goldwyn to come with us.
PLATO	(Pulling out a switchblade) I could’ve got Goldwyn to come with us.
ABRA	Would you put that thing away.
JIM	And what would you have done if someone had seen us. Fought off six guards with a knife?
PLATO	I might’ve.
JUDY	I don’t blame Jett’s friend for not coming up here. This place gives me the creeps.
PLATO	I think it’s great.
ABRA	You would. It’s a dump.
PLATO	Some people like dumps.
ABRA	Yeah, and some people like vanilla.
PLATO	You’re a real riot.
ABRA	And you’re a royal pain in the ass!
JIM	Alright! Let’s not start fighting already. We’ve got a lot to do tonight.
JUDY	We can’t do much until Jett’s friend gets here.
JETT	Her dad probably wanted her to do something, so she couldn’t get out when she was supposed to.
JUDY	How well do you know this girl Jett?
JETT	I’ve known her for years. She’ll be here Jim. I wasn’t lying.
JIM	I know.
JETT	Good. I wouldn’t lie to you.
JIM	I know that.
ABRA	What if they found out she was the one who gave Jett the gun, and picked her up?
JETT	She wouldn’t talk.
ABRA	Jesus, they could be surrounding this place right now.
JIM	Alright Abra. That’s enough.
ABRA	This isn’t a good place to hide out. It’s right uptown.
PLATO	And where would you suggest we go?
JIM	We didn’t exactly have time to get a car and get outa town.
ABRA	But why this building? It’s so obvious.
PLATO	I told you, this is the best place. We used to come up here and party all the time. No one ever caught us.
JUDY	I don’t like this place either.
JIM	If this thing’s going to work we’ve got to stick together.
PLATO	It’s gonna be a piece of cake.
JIM	If we’re lucky.
ABRA	All we gotta do is make one phone call, right?
PLATO	Hell, I can make that phone call as easily as she could.
JIM	I don’t think that would be very smart.
PLATO	Why not?
JIM	Because they’re going to be looking for us by now.
PLATO	So I’ll stick to the alleys. They won’t see me. Which paper do you want me to call?
JIM	Maybe later.
PLATO	You think I’d go out there and just fuck it up.
JIM	Don’t be stupid.
PLATO	Don’t you trust me?
JIM	Look, there are all kindsa people out on the streets right now. You might be able to get away with it, but what if you don’t?
JETT	Jim’s right.
PLATO	Jim’s always right.
ABRA	It must be thirty in here.
JETT	At least.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be… (He trails off)
JIM	(Goes to Cal) You okay? You need anything?
JUDY	He’s not going to answer you.
JETT	(Going to window) It seems like years since I’ve seen downtown. All those lights…
JIM	Get out of the window – someone might see you.
JETT	Sorry.
ABRA	I wonder if our parents have heard yet.
PLATO	They’re the first ones who those bastards’ll get in touch with.
JETT	My dad’s going to be pretty upset.
ABRA	Mine too.
PLATO	I’d give anything to be able to see my old lady’s face when they tell her I’ve escaped. She won’t sleep for weeks. I hope she gets ulcers worrying about me. I hope she gets fucking bleeding peptic ulcers.
	Cal rises and wonders around the set. Jim goes to him.
JIM	You’d better sit down.
PLATO	Night of the living dead or what?
JIM	(Sits Cal down) Just stay here.
JETT	(To Jim) Does he ever answer you?
JUDY	(Before Cal can answer) No.
	Goldwyn begins banging his feet against the floor. Plato walks up and slaps him, almost casually, across the head.

A set of two black and white photos shows the actor‘s performance in the “Mutants” play. The photo on the left side shows Jett (Les Bland) condole with Jim (Brian Rodomski). The photo on the right side shows a scene in the “Mutants” play where Plato (Phil Zyp) kidnaps group home counselor Mr. Goldwyn (David Nattress). — *LEFT: Jett (Les Bland) commiserates with Jim (Brian Rodomski) while upstage Plato (Phil Zyp) lets their kidnapped group home counselor Mr. Goldwyn (David Nattress) have it in Brad Fraser’s* Mutants, *Jan–Feb 1981. RIGHT: Plato (Phil Zyp) gives it to Mr. Goldwyn (David Nattress). Photo: Phil McCallum for Walterdale Theatre Associates.*

PLATO	Shut up ya old fart.
JIM	Don’t hit him Plato.
PLATO	But I like to hit him.
JIM	Well don’t. (Takes Goldwyn’s gag off) What is it?
GOLDWYN	I can’t breathe through that thing.
JIM	You’ve done fine up to now.
GOLDWYN	Look, Jim, you’ve got to let me go…
JIM	(Putting the gag back on Goldwyn) Don’t want to hear it.
JETT	Christine should be here any minute now.
PLATO	Y’know, this building’s been condemned for years. (To Judy) You want to see the rest of it?
JUDY	I don’t know…
PLATO	C’mon, it’s not haunted.
JUDY	Well, okay.
PLATO	This way for the guided tour of Plato’s House of Horrors.
JUDY	Oh good, a tour.
PLATO	(As they exit) Looking to your left we have the De Sade room.
ABRA	(Referring to Plato) He pisses me off so much sometimes.
JIM	You know what Plato’s like.
ABRA	He’s always so fucking down on everything.
JETT	I don’t think he tries to be like that.
ABRA	I don’t think we should’ve brought him Jim. I don’t trust him.
JIM	I can handle Plato.
ABRA	You sure of that?
JIM	Yes.
JETT	Maybe if I went out onto the roof I could see Christine from there.
JIM	Just make sure no one sees you.
JETT	It’s just that ... I’d feel so horrible if she didn’t show up after you guys trusted me and everything.
ABRA	I think I’ll go with him. It might be cooler.
	Abra and Jett exit.
JIM	(To Goldwyn) Guess you’re pretty pissed at me huh? Can’t blame you really. But we had to do this Mr. Goldwyn. We did. But don’t worry. No one’ll hurt you. We just need you – to make sure they listen to us. You’ll be okay.
CAL	(Begins rocking) Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker...
JIM	That all you’ve got? Nursery rhymes? (Goes to him) You’re not fooling me Cal. I know you’re still in there. Somewhere. And I’m going to get you back here. Somehow.
ABRA	(Entering) No cooler. What’re you doing?
JIM	Nothing.
ABRA	How are you?
JIM	Huh? Oh, okay. You?
ABRA	I’m scared.
JIM	Don’t start doubting Abra.
ABRA	You know if anyone else tried to get me to do what we’re doing now I would’ve told them to piss off. But I really think you can do it Jim.
JIM	We’ve got to try.
JETT	(Enters) No sign.
JIM	We’ll give her a little longer. If she’s still not here we’ll have to try something else.
ABRA	What?
JIM	One of us’ll have to call the papers.
ABRA	Not Plato!
JIM	Of course not.
ABRA	Who then?
JIM	I’ll go. But we’ll have to wait until pretty late.
	Abra finds a discarded newspaper.
ABRA	Look at this.
JIM	Anything in it?
ABRA	No.
JETT	I’ve always wanted to be in the paper.
ABRA	As long as it’s not the obituary section.
JETT	(To audience) In the newspaper! Wow, would that be great! We could be heroes. Celebrities! People would know our names. I can see it already. My name in the newspaper. It would be just like in the movies. Or all those comic books I used to read. (Pause) They don’t make comic books like that anymore. I – I don’t usually tell people this, but I love comic books. Always have. I collect them. Or I used to. But I stopped when they changed. Comic books now, they aren’t like they used to be. When I was a kid. They were really great then. I mean, the heroes were really heroes. Superman, Batman, the Creeper, the Shadow, Captain America. Now those guys were great. They never stopped to worry about whether or not what they were doing was right. They just went in there and slapped the shit out of those criminals. But they’re not like that anymore. People don’t want to read that kinda thing. They want their heroes to be just like they are. They want them to have problems and hang-ups and neuroses just like everyone else. Or they want them to be movie stars, or junkie rock and roll singers, or people who write about all the crappy things in life. They don’t want heroes at all anymore. They want people just like themselves, with maybe a bit more talent. No one wants to be someone better than who they are anymore. Maybe that’s why there are no heroes.
ABRA	I can just see it on the four p.m. newsflash. Fat Girl and Friends Take Guidance Counselor Hostage. Details at six.
JETT	Or, Courageous Youths Risk Lives to Blow Whistle on Provincial Institution.
ABRA	That’s not bad.
JETT	We could be in Maclean's.
ABRA	Or Chatelaine.
PLATO	(Entering with Judy) Yeah, and maybe someone’ll set fire to the bottom floor and we’ll all burn up here.
ABRA	And just where have you two been?
PLATO	We were off – chatting. You know Jim this was the best place to come. There’s only one entrance onto this floor of the building.
JIM	Good.
PLATO	(To Jett) Well, your friend show yet?
JETT	No. Not yet.
JUDY	That’s really great! (To Jim) Have you figured out what we’re going to do if she’s chickened out?
JIM	One of us’ll have to make the call.
JUDY	Which one?
JIM	We’ll decide that when we do it. We can’t go out for a while anyway.
JUDY	So we wait.
JIM	Yes. We wait.
PLATO	We wait.
	Pause. They all wait.
ABRA	I hate waiting.
PLATO	Me too.
	Pause.
JETT	You know, when my father reads this in the paper tomorrow, he always reads the paper first thing, I hope he understands.
JUDY	I’m sure he’ll try.
PLATO	I think your father’s going to disown you the minute he hears about this.
JETT	Plato…
PLATO	Aw c’mon “buddy” you know I’m only funnin’ ya because you’re such a great kinda guy.
JETT	(Quietly) No. I guess you’re right. He won’t understand.
JUDY	Do they ever?
JETT	Sometimes they try.
PLATO	But do they ever succeed.
JIM	How can we expect them to?
ABRA	They don’t know anything but where they’re from. And Christ knows that’s a different place.
	Theatrical light change.
JUDY	Different planet.
JETT	Father?
ABRA	Mother?
JIM	Do you...?
JUDY	Can you…?
PLATO	Will you…?
ABRA	Have you ever tried to understand me Mother? Have you ever really made the effort to look beyond the image of me you’ve always held in your eyes?
JETT	I’m a person father. I laugh. I cry. I get in trouble. I win. I fail. I have things to say. I have opinions. I have ideas. I have feelings.
JUDY	I’m desperate and I’m angry and I’m lonely and sometimes I want to punch you in the face and sometimes I just can’t make myself care anymore.
JIM	And sometimes I want you to stop existing.
ABRA	And sometimes I want to hurt your feelings as much as you’ve hurt mine.
JUDY	Tramp!
JETT	Fairy!
ABRA	Fat!
PLATO	Loser!
JUDY	Irresponsible!
JETT	Immature!
ABRA	Lazy!
PLATO	Destructive!
JUDY	Just like your father.
JETT	Just like your mother.
ABRA	Good for nothing.
PLATO	More trouble than you’re worth.
ABRA	You should be ashamed!
ABRA	Did you pray for me mother? Did you say make my daughter smart? Make my daughter beautiful? Maker her slim and svelte and attractive to men?
JETT	Did you pray for me father? Did you say, make my son strong? Make him handsome and tall and good at all things. Make him a football player or a hockey player or a prize fighter?
JUDY	Father.
PLATO	Mother.
JIM	My parents divorced when I was seven years old. My father was an asshole who didn’t want anything out of life but a bottle and a lot of snatch to sleep with and when he left for the last time my mother had a type of breakdown and they took her away from my brother and me. My old man filed for a divorce and since neither of my parents would take responsibility for us we were put in an orphanage. I never saw my mother again after that. They tell me she killed herself. My father we never heard from again. We were in the orphanage for about three months before someone adopted my brother Tommy. He was four then. I felt bad about it, but a little bit relieved too. Because now that he was gone I didn’t have to feel like I had to stay there to take care of him. I missed him sure, I missed him a lot. But I knew he was better off with his new family. And with him okay I could start making plans to get out of the fucking orphanage. So two days after he was gone I ran away. They caught me of course. But I never stopped trying to run after that. Every time one of the nuns turned her head I was gone. Usually they caught up with me within a couple of days.
	Lights return to normal.
PLATO	No one’s going to believe us. They’ve never believed us before, why the hell should they start now? Why don’t we drop this whole thing and get the hell out of the province?
JIM	Because we have to do more than just get out of the home.
PLATO	So why can’t we just ride write them a letter from Saskatchewan or something?
JIM	It’s not just for us Plato. It’s for the other kids there too.
PLATO	Fuck the other kids. They’ve never done anything for me.
JIM	We can’t lose sight of things now that we’re out.
PLATO	Why won’t any of you ever listen to me?
	Plato walks away from the others.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, and the candle stick maker…
JUDY	Can’t you stop him from doing that?
JIM	What do you want me to do? Gag him?
JUDY	It’s starting to get on my nerves.
JIM	What did Plato say to you to make you so bitchy?
JUDY	Why do you always try to blame everything on him?
JIM	Forget it.
ABRA	I think I liked you two better when you were in love.
JIM	Stay outa this.
ABRA	Fine. (Abra walks to Cal and sits beside him) I’ll spend my time with someone who appreciates the true sensitivity of my nature. (To Cal) Hiya chatterbox, read any good books lately?
JIM	(To Judy) Why are you so mad at me?
JUDY	I’m not mad at you.
JIM	Well there’s something wrong.
JUDY	Is there?
JIM	What did you have to talk to Plato about?
JUDY	Nothing important.
JIM	Suit yourself.
	Jim begins to move away.
JUDY	Later. Okay?
JIM	Okay.
ABRA	(To Cal) So, what do you think of Kubrick?
JIM	Leave him alone.
ABRA	Sorry. You guys know how manic I am. Just ignore me. I’ll – uh – sit in this corner and read the paper or something.
	Abra sits in the corner and reads the paper.
JETT	(To Jim) He really did a lot of acid huh?
JIM	Yeah. We all did.
JETT	How come you didn’t turn out like him then?
JIM	I’m not sure.
JUDY	(Joining Abra) Anything interesting in the paper?
ABRA	Not much.
PLATO	Has that thing got a sports section?
ABRA	(Handing it to him) There ya go.
PLATO	Thanks.
ABRA	You really used to hang around up here?
PLATO	We used to skip school up here.
ABRA	Why didn’t you just hang around the Seven Eleven like everyone else?
PLATO	Seven Elevens have no style.
JETT	How long have you known him?
JUDY	Since about grade six.
JETT	Jeez, that’s a long time to be friends.
JIM	Yeah, I guess it is.
JETT	Any of the friends I’ve had have never lasted more than a few months.
JIM	Really? Why not?
JETT	I don’t know.
JIM	Well how long have you known this Christine?
JETT	Christine doesn’t really count. She’s more like my sister or something.
ABRA	(Who has returned to reading the paper) Listen to this. “Mother puts Baby in Microwave Oven to Exorcise Demons.”
JUDY	Lovely.
JETT	(To Jim) You ever done cocaine?
JIM	Oh yeah.
ABRA	Here’s another one. “Nun Bludgeons Mother to Death With Crucifix.” (Laughs) I love it!
JETT	I’ve never really done anything but smoke drugs.
JIM	Reefer is a real downer. I like something that’s going to pick me up.
JETT	Acid picks you up?
JIM	Acid shoots you right into the fucking sky.
ABRA	“Newborn Baby Thrown From Moving Car.” Christ!
JUDY	That’s sick.
JETT	You ever done heroin?
JIM	Couple of times. It was just chipping though.
ABRA	“Terrorist Group Bombs Cathedral.”
PLATO	Boring.
JETT	Was Cal, like an addict?
JIM	He was like an addict.
ABRA	“Drinking Water Contaminated By Nuclear Wastes.”
JETT	What do you mean?
JIM	I don’t think he was physically addicted to drugs.
JETT	There are other ways to be addicted?
JIM	Sure.
ABRA	“Acid Rains Exterminate Wildlife.”
JETT	Like how?
JIM	Like when nothing’s fun anymore unless you’re stoned right out of your mind.
JETT	Is it really that great?
JIM	Yes.
ABRA	“Junior High Suicide.”
PLATO	Sounds like a song.
JETT	Can you describe it?
JIM	No.
ABRA	“Unidentified Remains Found by School Children.”
JETT	Try.
JIM	I can’t.
ABRA	“Father Rapes Four Year Old Daughter.”
JETT	Why not?
JIM	I don’t know the words to use.
ABRA	Oh good, another article about the energy crisis.
JUDY	Which one?
JETT	Is it anything like being drunk?
JIM	No. It’s nothing like that. It’s like – like being in a good mood.
ABRA	This newspaper is the most fucking depressing thing I’ve ever read.
JIM	If everything was made outa chrome and lit with trails of moving neon that’s what acid’s like.
ABRA	Even the weather report’s depressing.
JETT	I don’t think I understand.
JIM	Don’t you ever want to get away?
JETT	Sure. I like to escape.
JIM	That’s what it’s all about. Escaping.
	Lights change theatrically.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker…
ALL BUT JETT	Acid. Acid. Acid. Acid. There are only three things to soothe my soul. They’re sex. They’re drugs. They’re rock and roll. I’ll fuck ’til I drop. I’ll dance ’til I die. But without drugs I’ll never really fly. Acid. Acid. Acidacidacid.
PLATO	An ode to acid.
ABRA	Ah little piece of paper. It is you that makes Friday nights fun again. It is you that gives life to all the old discos and sparkle to the conversation of mundane people. It is you that brings me up when I’m falling down and gives me the energy to go on and not care when I would be ready to stop. It is you that lets me soar above the heads of the boring and laugh at the frustrating.
JIM	Ah little pill, little paper, little tablet, soothe me once more with the reality you alter and the brain cells you destroy.
JUDY	Tingle my body and distort my vision. Make me witty, make me beautiful. Set the world afire and stop the bleeding in my soul.
PLATO	Save me once more from the bondage of mediocrity. Lift me my little piece of paper.
ABRA	My little bug of fun.
JIM	My little lover of life.
ABRA	My little friend.
JIM	My little piece of paper.
BOYS	But I’ll pay your evil price if you’ll take that away. I may forget my name but I’m alive today. Suck onto my body, bore into my head. If you live your life fast it doesn’t matter if you’re dead.
GIRLS	It doesn’t matter if I’m not loved. I don’t care anymore. Once I’ve popped you into my mouth, I’ve evened the score. Rents can rise and atomic bombs can fall. The children unborn don’t care at all.
ALL	But give me for a moment the luxury of escape. Enter my system, don’t make me wait. Take away the loneliness, take away pain, and when it rises once more, kill it again. I’m tired of caring and I’m sick of this shit. So I’ll pay my five dollars and hide away from it. Acid. Acid. Acidacidacid.
	Lights return to normal.
PLATO	Where the hell is she?
JETT	I don’t know.
PLATO	It’s like a fucking oven in here.
ABRA	So take some of your clothes off.
PLATO	Very funny.
ABRA	I will if you will.
PLATO	Abra the last thing I want to see right now is your humongous sagging tits.
ABRA	Slightly sagging tits.
	Goldwyn begins to bang his feet against the floor.
JETT	Now what?
	Goldwyn continues to bang his feet.
PLATO	(To Goldwyn violently) Shut the fuck up!
	Goldwyn stops.
JIM	(To Goldwyn) Don’t be difficult, please. You’ve got nothing to worry about.
PLATO	I wouldn’t be too sure of that.
JIM	And you leave him alone.
PLATO	You gonna make me?
JIM	If I have to.
PLATO	I’d like to see that.
JIM	Don’t fuck with me Plato.
PLATO	Sure boss.
JIM	What the hell’s wrong with you?
PLATO	I’ll bite, what’s wrong with me boss?
JIM	You never used to be like this.
PLATO	I guess I’ve changed.
JIM	Yeah Plato, you’ve changed.
PLATO	I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
	Christine enters, unseen by the others. She stands at the back of the set and watches for a moment.
JIM	Don’t fuck this up.
PLATO	You threatening me?
JIM	I’m not going to let you ruin this.
PLATO	How are you gonna stop me?
CHRISTINE	Jett?
	They all turn, very startled.
JETT	Christine!
ABRA	Well, it’s about time.
JETT	We were beginning to think you’d never show.
CHRISTINE	The stuff you need’s in that bag.
JIM	Thanks.
JETT	Boy Chris, you really had us worried for a while there. But I’m glad you’re here anyway. And don’t worry about being late. How are you?
CHRISTINE	Fine.
JETT	There’s some buns and stuff in here if anyone’s hungry.
ABRA	(Going for the bag) Let me at it.
CHRISTINE	There’s a bottle in there too. I though you might like something to drink.
PLATO	(Pulling bottle out of bag) Alright!
	Plato begins to drink. He will continue to drink throughout the act.
JETT	Where’d you get that?
CHRISTINE	Dad’s bar.
JETT	Is there something wrong?
CHRISTINE	No. No. I’m fine.
JETT	You look sorta funny.
CHRISTINE	Do I?
JETT	Yes.
CHRISTINE	Oh.
ABRA	Well aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend Jett?
JETT	Of course. Christine, this…
ABRA	(Interrupting) Hi there. My name’s Abra. You must be Christine. I’ve heard so much about you. I have no morals.
CHRISTINE	Uh – hello.
JETT	Abra’s such a card.
ABRA	Yeah, funny fat girl. I’ve heard it all before.
JETT	And this is Judy.
JUDY	Hi.
JETT	Plato.
	Plato waves indifferently.
JETT	And Jim.
JIM	Hello Christine.
ABRA	How do you like us so far?
CHRISTINE	(Indicating Goldwyn) Why is that man tied up like that?
ABRA	It’s the only way we know how to tie people up.
CHRISTINE	Jett, what’s going on here?
JETT	I told you. We escaped from the home.
CHRISTINE	You never told me you were going to tie other people up.
JETT	We had to take him.
CHRISTINE	Why?
JIM	We need something to make sure that if the cops find us they can’t do anything. Taking someone from the home hostage was the best way to do that. We’re not going to hurt anyone. We just need some insurance.
CHRISTINE	I don’t like any of this.
PLATO	We’re not doing it for you.
CHRISTINE	Well I brought the stuff you needed. I think I’d better go now.
	Christine begins to exit. Jim motions for Jett to stop her.
JETT	Chris, wait.
CHRISTINE	What?
JETT	Why are you taking off so fast?
CHRISTINE	I really should get home.
JETT	But don’t you want to stay and talk to me or anything?
CHRISTINE	Look Jett, I’m sorry, but the only reason I came was because I promised I would. But I’m not going to stay. I could get into a lot of trouble.
JETT	I know that Chris, but – I’ve missed you.
CHRISTINE	Jett, do you know the police are looking for you?
JETT	Yeah, well I figured they would be.
CHRISTINE	You’re going to be in a lot of trouble.
PLATO	Too late.
JETT	We’re already in a lot of trouble.
CHRISTINE	I don’t think I want to be involved in this.
ABRA	I thought you said we could trust this chick.
JETT	We can trust her.
CHRISTINE	Jett, if my dad found out I was helping you he’d have a fit. You know that.
JUDY	I don’t think I want her to help us.
JETT	I know I’ve asked a lot of you Chris. But really, I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t very important.
CHRISTINE	Jett, you’re me best friend. But you know what dad’s like.
ABRA	What is this with her father? She makes him sound like Hitler.
JETT	Chris’s father is with the provincial government. He’s very uh – aware of his public image.
JUDY	With the government?
CHRISTINE	He’s the Minister of Culture.
PLATO	Well La-de-fucking-da.
ABRA	Great Jett, you didn’t tell us she was one of them.
JETT	One of whom?
ABRA	One of them.
CHRISTINE	I’m not one of them.
PLATO	Who’s them?
ABRA	Shut up!
JETT	Stick around for a while. Please.
CHRISTINE	Well I suppose a few minutes won’t hurt.
PLATO	(To Judy) Drink?
JUDY	Yeah, thanks.
PLATO	When’re you gonna tell him?
JUDY	As soon as we know what’s happening.
PLATO	I was thinking that maybe, you know, if you didn’t want Jim to know, we could like take off.
JUDY	Take off?
PLATO	Yeah, leave. Jim would never have to know.
JUDY	You want me to leave with you?
PLATO	Yeah.
JUDY	Plato, I can’t do that.
PLATO	Why not?
JUDY	It’s Jim’s baby.
PLATO	He’s not going to care. He’s more interested in his faggot friend Cal.
JUDY	That goddamn Cal.
PLATO	I’ll take care of you Judy. I’ll get a job and be just like the kid’s real father. You’ll see.
JUDY	I don’t think so Plato.
PLATO	Why not?
JUDY	It just wouldn’t work.
ABRA	(To Jim) What’re those two whispering about over there?
JIM	Who knows?
PLATO	(To Judy) Why do you all follow him around?
JUDY	He means a lot to me.
PLATO	And what about me?
JUDY	You’re a very good friend Plato. I like you. But I want to stay with Jim.
PLATO	Jim’s an asshole! Come with me?
JUDY	I can’t!
	Judy walks away from Plato.
ABRA	What are you two fighting about?
JUDY	Nothing.
	Abra goes to Plato.
JETT	(To Christine) Have you seen Aaron lately?
CHRISTINE	Not since you went into the home.
JETT	He didn’t come visit me or anything.
CHRISTINE	You know what Aaron’s like Jett.
JETT	Yeah. (Short pause) It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’ve got a whole new set of friends now.
CHRISTINE	These people are really your friends?
JETT	You’ve just got to look past what they show people. They’re – nice.
PLATO	(To Abra) If you don’t quit breathing down my fucking neck I’m gonna cut your tits off!!
ABRA	Yell at someone you can scare fuckface!
CHRISTINE	Nice?
JETT	Well Plato’s sort of an off one.
CHRISTINE	He looks like a lunatic to me.
JIM	(Approaching Jett and Christine) Excuse me. I’d like to talk to you for a moment Christine, if I may. I think it’s very – kind of you to help all of us out. Considering you don’t even know us.
CHRISTINE	Oh, it wasn’t much trouble.
JIM	No, I’m sure it was a lot of trouble.
CHRISTINE	Okay, it was, kind of.
JIM	It takes a very – concerned person to stick her neck out for a group of strangers like you have.
CHRISTINE	I never thought of it that way.
JIM	I can see why Jett’s always spoken so highly of you.
CHRISTINE	Jett, what have you told them?
JETT	(Not quite sure what’s happening) Oh, you know…
JIM	Christine…
CHRISTINE	Yes?
JIM	I realize it’s not very fair of me to ask anything else of you…
ABRA	Here it comes.
CHRISTINE	What is it?
JIM	Well we have one more thing I need.
CHRISTINE	One more thing?
JIM	Yes.
CHRISTINE	(Her suspicion returning) What is it?
JIM	I don’t know how much Jett told you about what happened in the home.
CHRISTINE	Not that much.
JIM	Well, you see, we didn’t escape from that place just to get away. I mean, there were some very heavy things going down.
CHRISTINE	What kind of things?
JIM	The things aren’t really important. What is important is that we’ve got to do something about it. And we’ve got to do it fast.
CHRISTINE	What do you want me to do?
	Cal rises.
CAL	Thunder.
	Pause.
JIM	We have to call the newspapers.
CHRISTINE	What?
JIM	We have to call the newspapers and get some publicity happening. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to tell people what’s going on.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett, indicating Cal) What’s wrong with that guy?
JETT	Drugs.
CHRISTINE	Figures.
JIM	All it’ll take is one quick phone call.
CHRISTINE	What kind of drugs?
PLATO	(Violently) Never mind that! Listen to what the hell he’s trying to say to you!
CHRISTINE	Don’t you yell at me you bloody psychopath!
PLATO	What did you call me?
JIM	Plato, she didn’t mean it.
PLATO	She called me a psychopath!
JETT	She didn’t mean it.
CHRISTINE	Yes I did.
PLATO	Loud-mouthed little bitch!
JIM	Slow down.
CHRISTINE	Jett, I’m getting out of here right now.
JETT	Wait a minute...
CHRISTINE	These people are all crazy!
PLATO	(Very loud) No!
	Pause.
PLATO	We can’t let her go. She thinks we’re all crazy. She’ll probably be on the blower to the cops the minute she gets out of here.
JETT	No.
PLATO	Her father works for the provincial government – the bourgeois slut.
JUDY	I think you’re going a bit too far.
PLATO	Am I? Do you want to take a chance?
ABRA	Maybe he’s right.
PLATO	Do you want to see all your precious little plans turn to shit. All it’ll take is one wrong word from her and bang.
JETT	Stop it Plato.
PLATO	Bang.
ABRA	Jim, we can’t take the chance.
CHRISTINE	(Turning to exit) I don’t believe this.
PLATO	You’d better stop her.
JIM	(Going to stop Christine) Goddamn you Plato!
CHRISTINE	Let go of me!
JIM	I’m sorry – we can’t let you leave now.
CHRISTINE	(Slapping Jim) Get your hands off me.
JIM	(To Christine, reasonably) I can’t let you go.
CHRISTINE	You are all crazy!
JIM	Just a few hours until we can get out to make that phone call ourselves.
CHRISTINE	You can’t do this. This is illegal. This is – this isn’t right.
JIM	I’m sorry.
	Christly begins to scream, very loud. Jim slaps her.
JIM	Please don’t make this any harder.
CHRISTINE	(Trying to escape) Let go of me you bastard! Let me go! Jett, make them let me go. (Pause) Jett? (Very shocked) Jett! You can’t keep me here! I’ll – I’ll have you all arrested. I’ll scream! I’ll run away!
JIM	Abra, give me the rest of that rope.
JETT	Jim, do we have to?
JIM	I’m afraid so.
CHRISTINE	You wouldn’t dare.
	Judy and Abra hold Christine. Jim goes to the chair Cal is hiding under.
CHRISTINE	Someone’s going to pay for this.
ABRA	So call the cops angeltits.
CHRISTINE	Jett you little coward, how can you let them do this to me?
JETT	I’m sorry.
	Jim ties Christine to the chair.
JIM	(To Christine) There. That’s not too tight is it? If it’s uncomfortable just say so and I’ll loosen it.
	Christine begins to scream again. Jim raises his hand. She stops quickly.
JIM	It doesn’t make me feel good, hitting girls. But don’t fuck with us.
JETT	Christine...?
CHRISTINE	You’re supposed to be my friend.
JETT	I am your friend.
CHRISTINE	Friends don’t tie each other up.
ABRA	My friends do.
JETT	We just can’t take any chances.
CHRISTINE	But I wouldn’t tell anyone anything.
JETT	It’s only for a few hours. We’ll let you go as soon as we call the reporters.
CHRISTINE	I hope you all get caught!
JETT	Don’t say that!
CHRISTINE	I do! I hope you all get caught and they put you in prison for life!
JETT	If we do get caught we probably will go to prison. Most of us’ll be eighteen next year.
CHRISTINE	Good.
JUDY	(To Jim) Things don’t seem to be going according to plan.
JIM	I know.
ABRA	Don’t go getting drunk.
PLATO	Don’t worry about me.
JETT	(To Christine) You don’t mean that do you? About us getting caught.
CHRISTINE	No. I didn’t mean it.
JETT	I didn’t think so.
CHRISTINE	But I’m really mad at you.
ABRA	(To Plato) Gimme a swig a that there bottle partner.
	Plato hands her the bottle. Abra drinks and chokes.
ABRA	You – uh – sure you’re not drinking too much?
PLATO	(Warningly) Abra…
	Plato takes out his switchblade and begins to clean his nails with it.
ABRA	I’ve always liked you Plato.
PLATO	Yeah?
ABRA	I used to like you more though.
	Pause.
ABRA	You’re going to cut yourself with that thing.
PLATO	(Laughs) I doubt it.
ABRA	Can I see it?
PLATO	No.
ABRA	Why not?
PLATO	No one touches my spike but me.
ABRA	Hmmph, a phallic surrogate. I knew it all along.
PLATO	I think it’s more of a subliminal defense mechanism made tangible in slight phallic representation.
ABRA	Is that the knife you got that teacher with?
PLATO	Yeah.
ABRA	Did he need stitches?
PLATO	Sixteen I heard.
ABRA	You’re really scary sometimes.
PLATO	(Rising) He never shoulda came at me like he did.
ABRA	Where are you going?
PLATO	Out onto the roof.
ABRA	Why?
PLATO	It’s too hot in here
ABRA	Someone might see you.
PLATO	So what?
ABRA	Why don’t you care about this thing as much as the rest of us?
PLATO	Because it’s a stupid idea Abra. (Forming his hand into a gun and pointing it at Abra) Bang.
ABRA	Stop being so stupid.
PLATO	(Aiming at Jim) Bang.
ABRA	Stop that.
PLATO	(Aiming at Goldwyn) Bang.
ABRA	Jeez!
CHRISTINE	Jett, I have a Chemistry exam tomorrow.
ABRA	So what?
	Judy touches him.
JUDY	You’re so soft. I love the way that hair feels right there.
PLATO	(Who is observing all this from outside) Fucking Jim. Why do they all look up to him so much?
ABRA	Because he’s handsome and has a big dick.
PLATO	He’s as fucked up as the rest of us.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker…
	Cal begins to rock.
JIM	Cal?
JUDY	There’s nothing you can do for him Jim.
JIM	He looks so… (He trails off)
CAL	(The rocking increases) Rub a dub dub. Rub a dub dub. Rub a dub dub. Rub a dub dub… (The rocking becomes nearly violent)
JIM	(Shaking Judy off) Cal. (And going to Cal)
JUDY	Jim?
JIM	Cal? What’s wrong Cal?
	Cal rocks harder.
JIM	Stop it.
	The rocking grows.
JIM	Stop it!!
	Cal suddenly goes limp in Jim’s arms.
JIM	Jesus Fucking Christ!
CAL	(Remaining limp) In my house, it’s very warm.
	Lights change theatrically.
JIM	Cal? Shit Cal… When’s it going to stop? How many times do I have to say I’m sorry? I’m so tired Cal? I want to talk to you again. I need you here. They’re all watching me all the time. I didn’t mean it. Really. It was just that – I was tired. It was all going too fast. We were losing touch with things. You always said we lived life like characters in a movie or a book. That we had an obligation to do all the things the hung up people wouldn’t do. And we could do all the drugs and all the drinking and all the driving and all the fucking they were too scared to do. Hey, do you remember the time we picked those four chicks up at the club? What a riot! The looks people gave us when we walked out of there! And that time we booted that MDA and played on the swings in the park all night? But something happened. Somewhere we lost sight of things. We were doing things because that’s what people expected us to do. We stopped being a couple of friends out for a good time and became what everyone wanted Jim and Cal to be. I got busted three times in a year. I got kicked out of school. You got kicked out of the house. I don’t know what was happening – but things were changing. It was like we had to keep getting faster or things – I don’t know what – things would catch up with us. I think – I think maybe we were trying to destroy ourselves. And I don’t know why. Well except for our really fucked up families.
CAL	In my house it’s very warm.
JIM	That’s why I had to get away.
CAL	In my house it’s very nice.
JIM	But I never thought you’d do – this.
CAL	And no one can get in.
JIM	I know you can hear me in there.
CAL	Not even the thunder.
JIM	Cal?
	Lights return to normal.
CHRISTINE	Jett, I’ve got to study for that exam.
ABRA	Get off his back, would ya?
CHRISTINE	I wasn’t talking to you.
ABRA	Ooh, the cheerleader’s got a little fight in her after all.
CHRISTINE	You don’t scare me. And I’m not a cheerleader.
ABRA	Don’t be stupid. Of course you are.
JETT	No Abra, she’s not.
ABRA	Well she should be.
	A spot on Plato.
PLATO	It’s like an anger. It’s like a loneliness. It’s like some wired indefinable emotion welling up inside you. It’s like you’re the only person in the world and no one else can understand. (Pause) Mostly it’s anger. (Pause) Mostly it’s not knowing. (Pause) When I was in tenth grade they kicked me out of school for the first and last time. I’d always been a super student. I mean, I’m not talking nothing, but a ninety average since the first grade practically. And I didn’t even have to try. No studying, nothing. I just knew things.
	Anyway, when I hit high school I finally decided to hell with it. I mean, being brilliant and dependable had never gotten me anything but in fights with the other kids anyway. So I stopped going to classes. I still turned in my assignments. I still wrote the tests. I still got the highest marks in class. But within a week the principal was on the blower calling me down to his office. It started out pretty funny. I mean, the old fart was trying his hardest to be diplomatic and understanding about the whole thing. He hemmed and hawed for a while until finally I got fed up with the whole stupid thing and said Look man, why don’t you cut the shit and get to the point. Well, that kinda shocked him. There was this sorta pause. And he said, Alright. I’m afraid if you don’t start attending class we’re going to have to ask you to withdraw from school. I said, why should I go back to class when I can maintain my marks without being there? He said if they were to make an exception for me they would have to make an exception for everyone in the school and they were running a school with some thirteen hundred students in it and they couldn’t go about catering to individuals. I told him he could shove his school and his goddamn classes up his fat cocksucking asshole. He told me to get the hell out of his office. I said I’d love to and kicked the window out of one of his bookcases. He came at me across the desk. I don’t like it when people rush at me. He called me a crazy little bastard and grabbed me. That was it. The old anger came up again. I tried to control it, but I couldn’t. As soon as he grabbed me I pulled my spike outa my boot. I ended up cutting his arm open. Someone heard the noise and called the cops. I’m not sure what happened after that. Someone said I tried to knife the cops too. I don’t know. (Pause) Sometimes you gotta fight back. Sometimes you gotta let them know that even if you can’t win you’re going to fight them.
	Plato sits on the ledge and pretends to shoot people on the street. Goldwyn interrupts them by banging his feet against the floor.
JIM	Jesus! (Going to Goldwyn and removing his gag) What is it now?
GOLDWYN	Jim, this isn’t going to work.
JIM	We’ve got to do this.
GOLDWYN	Why?
JIM	Because – because we have to.
GOLDWYN	Who are you doing this for?
JIM	Us. We’re doing it for us.
GOLDWYN	But you broke the law. Probation didn’t work. Foster homes didn’t work. You had to go into the home.
JIM	There are things you don’t know about.
GOLDWYN	What kind of things?
PLATO	Don’t tell him anything.
JUDY	You wouldn’t believe us anyway.
GOLDWYN	Is this that Lucy Jordan thing again?
	Lights change theatrically.
ABRA	Lucy Jordan.
JETT	Lucy Jordan.
JUDY	Feet swinging.
JIM	Lucy Jordan.
JUDY	Neck angled.
PLATO	Lucy Jordan.
JUDY	Dried blood around her mouth.
ABRA	Lucy Jordan,
JIM	Lucy Jordan.
JUDY	Lucy…
JIM	Yes. It’s got a lot to do with the Lucy Jordan thing.
	Lights return to normal.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) Who was Lucy Jordan?
JETT	Lucy was a friend of ours – theirs.
CHRISTINE	What happened to her?
JUDY	They say she killed herself!
GOLDWYN	But she did kill herself!
JUDY	She wouldn’t kill herself.
GOLDWYN	Judy, the coroner’s report said that…
JUDY	I know. I’ve heard it all before.
GOLDWYN	How else could she have died?
JUDY	There’s no use talking to you!
GOLDWYN	I don’t understand what any of you are talking about?
JIM	Leave it alone Mr. Goldwyn.
	Jim moves to put the gag back on.
GOLDWYN	No! I’ll keep quiet. Please.
JIM	(Considers a moment) Well okay, but you’ve got to keep your mouth shut.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) How long have you known these people?
JETT	I told you, since I went into the home.
CHRISTINE	I take it they all knew each other before that.
JETT	Yeah, they’ve known each other for a long time.
CHRISTINE	Why were they in there?
	Lights change theatrically.
ABRA	(Stands) Runaway. Truancy. Shoplifting.
PLATO	(Stands) Breaking and entering. Auto theft. Assault with a deadly weapon.
JUDY	Illegal possession. Runaway. Prostitution.
JIM	Assaulting a police officer. Narcotics. Trespassing.
JETT	(Stands) Shooting six dogs.
	Lights return to normal.
ABRA	What?
JETT	Shooting six dogs.
ABRA	Why the hell did you shoot six dogs?
JETT	I hate dogs.
PLATO	Don’t worry Jett. I understand. Sometimes you just have to kill dogs.
GOLDWYN	Jim?
JIM	Yeah?
GOLDWYN	You’d better watch Plato Jim. He’s very – unstable.
JIM	He’s a little pissed right now, but he’ll come around.
GOLDWYN	He’s angry because the others follow you, not him.
JIM	No one’s following anyone.
GOLDWYN	They’re all following you. They’re all depending on you. And you know it.
JIM	We’re doing this thing together!
GOLDWYN	Plato could ruin everything you’re trying to do here.
JIM	Isn’t that what you want?
GOLDWYN	I think I understand what you’re doing.
JIM	Don’t patronize me.
GOLDWYN	I know where you’re coming from.
JIM	Oh Christ!
GOLDWYN	I understand your position. Jesus Jim, I come from practically the same background you do. I grew up in foster homes.
JIM	Good for you.
GOLDWYN	If this thing fails you won’t go back to the home.
JIM	I know.
GOLDWYN	You’ll go to prison.
JIM	(Indifferently) I know.
GOLDWYN	If you go to prison Cal won’t go with you.
JIM	What?
GOLDWYN	If this thing falls apart you’ll go to prison and they’ll put Cal somewhere where they can take care of him.
JIM	It won’t fall through.
GOLDWYN	They probably won’t let you see him. They’ll say you forced him to come here with you. That he’s not responsible for his actions.
JIM	There’s nothing wrong with him!
GOLDWYN	How can you say that? Look at him
JIM	He’s just fucking around.
GOLDWYN	Jim he’s retreated from reality completely!
JIM	No. He’s still there. He’s just – hiding or resting or something for a while.
GOLDWYN	Come on Jim. I grew up in the sixties. I saw what those kinds of drugs did to people. Speed. Mesc. Acid. It was a lot stronger and a lot cheaper then than it is now.
JIM	He’s not dead.
GOLDWYN	Why do you feel so obligated to him Jim?
JIM	He’s my best friend.
GOLDWYN	What happened? I really thought we were making progress in the home.
JIM	You also thought Lucy Jordan committed suicide.
GOLDWYN	Who would want to hurt her?
JIM	There was so much going on there that you never knew about.
GOLDWYN	What?
JIM	The drugs, the sex, the fights. Couldn’t you see any of that?
GOLDWYN	We were – aware of some of the things the kids were doing.
JIM	You stupid asshole! I’m not talking about the kids! I’m talking about the fucking guards!
	Pause.
GOLDWYN	The guards?
JIM	(Putting the gag back on Goldwyn) So fucking blind. You don’t deserve to hear anything else!
	A spot on Judy.
JUDY	I met Lucy Jordan the last time I ran away from home. It was just after my sister’s funeral, and my dad and I were fighting again, and I finally decided “to hell with it.” I was so goddamn tired of hearing about what a disappointment my sister was, and how I’d turn out just like her, that I figured I had to get out or lose my mind. So I packed my things and left. I’d met Lucy before, through some kids I knew, and since she was the only person I knew who didn’t live at home, I went there. She was great. I mean she really cared about me. Well I moved in with her and we started hanging around with Jim and his gang. It was Lucy that first got me into working the streets. I was sort of nervous at first, but Lucy’d been at it since she was fourteen and she didn’t seem to have any trouble handling it. It wasn’t all that bad. You got some weird tricks sometimes, and the occasional dose, but nothing really awful happened. Jim and Cal were hustling then too, so it wasn’t all that bad. And after the night was over we’d all get together and laugh about what we’d done. (Pause) In the home, Lucy was the bravest of us all. Braver than Jim even. I mean, she didn’t take shit from anyone. When she didn’t like something she said so. No one messed with her. She was a tough BITCH. I guess that’s what finally did her in. (Pause) In a lot of ways Lucy was a lot like my older sister. They were both very brave. Now they’re both dead. (Pause) I hate to think it, but maybe there’s something to be said about being afraid. At least the rest of us are alive. (Pause) But I’ve got to admit, if I could start back in the home again I’d carry a knife with me, just like Plato does. And the first time one of those bastards came up to me I’d run it up his belly so fast he wouldn’t have time to fall before his guts spilled all over his feet.
	Lights return to normal.
ABRA	This waiting is driving me out of my mind.
JIM	I’ll go out right away.
JETT	Do you want me to come with you Jim?
JIM	Thanks but no.
JUDY	Are you sure? What if someone catches you?
JIM	They catch me.
ABRA	Maybe Judy or I should go. They’re less likely to stop a girl than they are a guy.
JIM	I think I stand a better chance of getting away.
JUDY	But we need you here if something goes wrong.
PLATO	(Entering) I could go. Maybe I should go, huh Jim?
JIM	Maybe.
PLATO	You mean you might let me go?
JIM	I’ll think about it.
PLATO	I wouldn’t screw anything up.
JIM	Okay. Don’t get all excited. We’ve got a little while yet.
PLATO	I know what to do.
JIM	Okay. I’ll let you know.
ABRA	(Confidently, to Jim) You’re not serious?
JIM	Of course not. But if it’ll keep him quiet for a minute...
PLATO	I’d just phone the paper and say, let me talk to the editors.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) Do you really think that’s such a great idea?
JETT	What?
CHRISTINE	Calling the papers like that?
JETT	Of course it’s a good idea. Jim thought of it.
CHRISTINE	Please, let’s get out of here.
JETT	I’m sorry. I can’t. They’ll let you go when Jim goes out to make that phone call though.
CHRISTINE	But I want you to come with me.
JETT	I can’t do that Chris.
CHRISTINE	I’ll find someplace to hide you.
JETT	I just can’t.
ABRA	(Who has been listening) Good stuff!
CHRISTINE	You’ve been listening!
ABRA	I had to listen to something.
CHRISTINE	That’s rude!
ABRA	So my manners are bad. Sue me. Jett’s not going to let you go.
CHRISTINE	What have you done to him?
ABRA	We made friends with him.
CHRISTINE	Tried to make him just as sick as the rest of you.
ABRA	He’s comfortable with us.
CHRISTINE	He doesn’t know any better.
ABRA	You talk just like a TV commercial.
CHRISTINE	And the filthy way you talk is better I suppose?
ABRA	I say what I’ve got to say. People understand me. That’s the important thing.
CHRISTINE	If people understood you, you wouldn’t be where you are right now.
ABRA	What would you know about it?
JETT	Abra, please...
CHRISTINE	I know your type.
ABRA	It takes a type to know a type.
CHRISTINE	You’re a cliché!
ABRA	And you’re going to get a punch in the mouth in about three seconds!
CHRISTINE	You’re really tough when I’m tied up!
ABRA	Tied up or not, I could rip your face off anytime!
CHRISTINE	Fat girls don’t scare me!
ABRA	You bitch! (To Jett) Untie her, I’ll show the stuck up scuz a thing or two!
JETT	Stop it Abra.
ABRA	I’ll rip her arm off and beat her with the wet end!
CHRISTINE	(Loughs) You’re ridiculous!
ABRA	Shut your mouth you fucking FAG HAG!
	Long pause.
ABRA	Sorry Jett.
JETT	Don’t worry about it.
ABRA	I didn’t mean to say that.
CHRISTINE	I’m not a fag hag.
JIM	Abra, leave them alone.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) Why did she have to call me that?
JETT	She didn’t mean it.
CHRISTINE	I was your friend before I knew you were gay.
JETT	I know.
CHRISTINE	I’m not a fag hag.
JETT	Of course you’re not.
CHRISTINE	I’m not afraid of men – or sex.
JETT	Don’t let it get to you Chris.
CHRISTINE	Other people have said that too.
JETT	What the hell do they know?
CHRISTINE	They all know about you too?
JETT	Sure.
CHRISTINE	It didn’t bother you to tell them?
JETT	No.
CHRISTINE	You’ve changed.
JETT	Whatever I do is cool with them.
PLATO	Judy, hey Judy. C’mere. Tell’im yet? Jim? You tell him the news? I will if you’re scared to.
JUDY	Don’t you dare!
PLATO	I will.
	Abra joins them.
ABRA	What’s going on?
PLATO	Mind your own business Pork.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Rub a dub dub…
	Jim goes to Cal.
JUDY	You think they’ve ever made it with each other?
ABRA	I dunno.
JUDY	Most guys do when they’re close like that.
PLATO	I slept with you Abra.
ABRA	Please...
JUDY	You ever sleep with Cal?
ABRA	No. You?
JUDY	Once.
ABRA	How was he?
JUDY	Not bad. Thick.
PLATO	Remember when I slept with you Abra?
ABRA	I don’t like to Plato.
PLATO	Why not?
ABRA	We were both very drunk.
PLATO	How was I?
ABRA	You were a two.
PLATO	A two?
ABRA	On a scale of one hundred.
PLATO	A two?
ABRA	You’re a real sloppy drunk.
PLATO	Sometimes I cry too.
JETT	(To Christine) Okay, so maybe they’re not the most stable people in the world. But they make me feel like one of them.
CHRISTINE	You’re so different.
JETT	A place like that changes you. (Pause) There were a lot of really rotten things happening there.
CHRISTINE	What things? People keep talking about these things, but I still don’t know what they are.
JETT	Just things.
JUDY	(To Abra) What’re we going to do if we’re caught?
ABRA	Who knows? I know I won’t go back to the home.
CHRISTINE:	What kind of things?
JETT	I don’t know if you’d understand.
CHRISTINE	I’ll try.
JETT	Well, there are these guards that work the night shift...
CHRISTINE	Uh huh?
JETT	They – uh – they do things to the kids in there...
CHRISTINE	Things again.
ABRA	Are you retarded? Do we have to spell it out for you?
	Lights change theatrically.
JIM	The home.
ALL	The home.
ALL	Grey walls. Dark corridors. Cement floors. Unbreakable windows. Wire fences. Small rooms. Communal cans. Cries in the night. Echoes in the dark. Blood on the tiles of the bathroom floor. School. Counseling. Recreation. Sleep. Smells of vomit in the halls. Graffiti scrawled on bedroom walls.
JETT	Let me out.
JIM	In black marker.
ABRA	Fuck the world.
JUDY	Scratched into the paint.
PLATO	There are no heroes.
JETT	I wrote that.
PLATO	Slaughter the rich.
JUDY	He wrote that.
ABRA	Girls are virgins. Girls are sluts.
JIM	I’m losing my mind. I’m going nuts.
ALL	Watching your back. Watching your front. Fighting with the boys. Fighting with the girls. Knives made from razor blades. Scars across a wrist. Drugs smuggled in. Porn for trade. Secrets in the shower room. Someone planning an escape. The night staff...
JIM	The night staff.
ABRA	The night staff who take the place over when it’s been shut down and all the kids have gone to bed.
JUDY	Four men with the power and lack of intelligence to stop any rebellion that might form in the night.
JETT	Four men in one of the lounges playing cards. Drinking beer. Waiting for the safety of midnight.
PLATO	Then, when the lights are out.
JIM	And they’re sure most everyone is asleep.
ABRA	They throw down their cards and hitch up their pants.
JUDY	Step into the halls and tap on your doors.
JETT	And you can hear them moving your way from the bed. And with every step they get closer to your door. And you hear their feet, and you hear the heaviness of their breathing. And they’re getting closer and you shut your eyes and you pray, not me. Please not me. Not again tonight. Not me.
ABRA	And their whispered voices carry the dirtiest words of all.
PLATO	And those words are...
JETT	Delinquents.
JIM	Fuck ups.
PLATO	Useless garbage.
JUDY	Good for only a few things.
ALL	And they tap on your door. And they tap on your head. And they enter your room. And they enter your bed. And they say, “Wake up little boys. Wake up little girls. Get out of your bed and get out of your underwear and get onto the floor and get onto your knees and get onto your back and get onto your belly” and they run your hands over their thighs and they run their fingers through your hair and they fill you up and make you hurt and make you choke and they pinch you. And they pant in your face and they let their sweat splash on your skin.
JUDY	Leave me alone!
JIM	And there’s not a goddamn thing you can do to keep them from coming in.
ALL	You hear the grunts and you hear the cries and you hear the moans and you hear the screams. And you want to yell out and you want to pound the floor and hit at the walls and claw at the windows and smash your head against the cement and yell “Make it stop. Make it stop!”
JUDY	But you can’t.
ALL	Because how the hell do you fight the ones who are abusing you when everyone thinks they’re helping you.
PLATO	And even if you told them they wouldn’t believe you anyway.
JIM	And they’d make you very sorry.
JUDY	Just like they made Lucy Jordan very sorry.
ABRA	It’s not the acts.
PLATO	Because in another situation you might even enjoy the acts.
JUDY	And it’s not the pain.
JETT	Because pain never lasts forever.
JIM	It’s knowing that they’re using you. It’s knowing that they’re fucking you in every way possible because they honestly believe that that’s all you’re good for.
PLATO	And the other kids may tolerate it. May even enjoy it.
ABRA	But not us.
JIM	Because we will not be used!
JUDY	Lucy was the only one who ever stood up to them. She didn’t care about their threats, or the fact that they slapped her around. She still fought them. Fought them with everything she had. She never gave in. They never got to her.
PLATO	Never?
JUDY	Until that last time. The time she told the guard to piss off and kicked him in the nuts. He slapped her, but went away. And we all laughed and celebrated and told her she’d finally shown them.
ABRA	We should’ve known better.
JIM	We should’ve protected her.
JUDY	I found her the next morning.
	Lights return to normal.
PLATO	(To Goldwyn) Suicide! Fuck you suicide!
CHRISTINE	Jett, why didn’t you tell me?
JETT	I didn’t know how to.
CHRISTINE	It would’ve made so much difference.
JIM	I’m going to make that phone call now.
PLATO	I thought you said I could go.
JIM	You’ve had too much to drink!
PLATO	You always treat me like a fucking kid!
JIM	I’ll be back as soon as possible. If I’m more than an hour try to get the hell out of here.
PLATO	(Pulling his switchblade) No!
JIM	Put the knife away Plato.
PLATO	I’ll cut you Jim. If you move I’ll cut you bad!
JIM	I’m going now.
PLATO	Don’t make me do it Jim.
JIM	I’m leaving.
	Jim begins to exit. Plato steps in front of him, his knife to Jim’s throat.
JETT	Leave him alone you crazy bastard!
JIM	If you’re going to use that you’d better mean it.
	Jim steps around Plato and continues to exit. Plato watches him, ready to pounce with the knife at any second. The others wait breathlessly. Finally Plato drops the knife. Jett picks it up quickly.
PLATO	Judy’s pregnant.
	Pause. Jim stops and turns.
JIM	What?
PLATO	You’re fucked up good boy.
JIM	I don’t believe you.
PLATO	Ask her.
JUDY	Plato…
JIM	Judy?
	Judy nods.
JIM	We’ll talk about this when I get back.
	A flashing red light suddenly fills the stage. An amplified voice is heard offstage.
VOICE	City Police. We’re coming in.
	Blackout.

Act Two

	Lights up. All in same position as act one. Red lights still flashing. Pause.
VOICE	Can you hear me?
	Pause.
VOICE	We know you’re up there!
	Pause.
VOICE	We’re coming in.
JIM	(Running to window) No!
VOICE	Who is that?
JIM	My name’s Jim!
VOICE	I can hardly hear you.
JIM	My name’s Jim!
VOICE	Jim?
JIM	That’s right.
VOICE	Jim Stark?
JIM	Yes.
VOICE	Are the others up there too Jim?
JIM	Yes.
VOICE	All of them?
JIM	Yes.
VOICE	Mr. Goldwyn too?
JIM	Yes.
VOICE	Is he alright?
JIM	He’s fine.
VOICE	Are you going to come down Jim? Or do we have to come after you?
	Pause.
JUDY	Let’s give up.
JETT	No!
JIM	We’re not coming down.
VOICE	You’re only making things difficult for yourselves.
JIM	Jett, bring Goldwyn here.
	Jett leads Goldwyn to Jim. Jim sets him out on the window ledge.
VOICE	Don’t do anything you’ll regret.
JIM	If anyone sets a foot in this building I’ll push him.
VOICE	Jim...?
JIM	Do you hear me?
VOICE	Yes, but...
JIM	(Cutting the voice off) Listen to me! We have a gun. We’ll kill him if we have to. Do you understand? We’ll blow his brains out!
VOICE	I hear you Jim.
JIM	We don’t want to hurt anyone. We don’t want any trouble.
VOICE	What do you want Jim?
JIM	Reporters.
VOICE	What?
JIM	Reporters. Newspaper reporters. TV reporters. Any kind of reporters. I don’t care. Just bring us as many of them as you can. Bring us reporters, or we’ll kill him. Do you understand me?
VOICE	Yes.
JIM	Then do it. Now!
	Jim pulls Goldwyn out of the window.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) He wouldn’t really kill him, would he?
JETT	(To Jim) What do you want us to do?
JIM	Get over there by the ledge. Keep your eyes open. Let me know if anything funny is happening.
	Jett goes to the ledge and stands look-out.
JIM	Abra, Judy, go block the stairway. I don’t care what you use, but make sure no one can get through without us hearing them.
ABRA	Sure.
	Judy and Abra exit. Pause.
PLATO	And me?
JIM	I don’t care. Do whatever you want. Just don’t fuck this up any more than it already is.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be?
JIM	(Low, but with force) Stop it Cal. Now.
	Cal stops.
JIM	There’s still a chance.
JETT	Jim, you’d better come here.
JIM	(Going to him) What is it?
JETT	Look. Three cars just went into that alley. And there’s men on top of that building over there.
JIM	They don’t fuck around, do they?
JETT	They can see everything we do from up there.
JIM	So let them see. (Calling down) Hey!
	A spot hits Jim from the street below.
VOICE	What is it Jim?
JIM	Turn the fucking lights out!
	The spot goes down.
JIM	That’s better.
VOICE	What is it Jim?
JIM	Why’ve you men on those buildings?
VOICE	We just want to keep an eye on things Jim.
JIM	I don’t want anyone to get hurt.
VOICE	That’s good Jim.
JIM	And if you cooperate with us, we’ll cooperate with you.
VOICE	That’s all we want.
JIM	As soon as we’ve talked to those reporters you can do whatever you want to do. But if you do anything to stop that from happening, we’ll kill Goldwyn.
VOICE	Can’t you talk to me Jim?
JIM	No! Just get the reporters! And tell those men to watch themselves!
PLATO	(Quietly to Goldwyn) This is all your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.
JETT	I’m not worried Jim.
JIM	No.
JETT	I know you’ll make this thing work.
JIM	Thanks Jett.
JETT	You look kinda – kinda tired?
JIM	Do I?
JETT	Yeah. You’re feeling okay, aren’t you?
JIM	Yeah. I’m fine.
	Pause.
JETT	You want me to stay here and keep watching?
JIM	Sure.
PLATO	I suppose you blame me for this whole thing.
JIM	Drop it!
PLATO	It’s not my fault you know.
JIM	I said drop it!
	Pause.
PLATO	You can’t be sure it was me they saw. You don’t know that for sure.
	Pause.
PLATO	And if they did, I didn’t mean it. I just went out there to cool off. It was too hot in here. Too smoky. I was frying. I had to cool off. I had to… (He trails off)
	Judy and Abra enter.
ABRA	Well, we did the best we could.
JIM	Great.
	Pause.
ABRA	What now?
JIM	I guess we wait and hope they bring the reporters.
JUDY	They’re not going to bring the reporters.
ABRA	Shut up Judy.
JUDY	They’re not going to come.
JIM	So leave.
JETT	They’re up on some of the other roofs now.
ABRA	They’re on the roofs?
JETT	Yep. All around us.
ABRA	Shit! (To Plato) You ruin everything you stupid asshole!
PLATO	You can’t blame it all on me.
ABRA	Why not? It’s all your fault!
PLATO	It’s not my fault! (Pointing at Goldwyn) It’s his fault!
ABRA	That’s right. Always someone else’s fault!
PLATO	If it hadn’t been for him and his stupid home we wouldn’t be here right now.
ABRA	Yeah, and if you hadn’t been so goddamn stupid that last time we got busted none of us would’ve ever been in the home at all!
	Pause.
CHRISTINE	(To Jett) What’s she talking about?
JETT	They all got busted together one night. They were on this fire escape and Plato…
PLATO	(Cutting him off) Shut up Jett!
ABRA	Why the hell should he? I’ll tell you. We were all on this fire escape, drinking and talking on Friday night. Well there was this lounge across the street and all these disco queens and their boyfriends came out. We were sorta drunk and we all got up and started yelling at them. You know, just being rude. Nothing really heavy. The disco people weren’t even worried about it. They were just laughing. Lucy yelled something like “Fuck the draft.” And I yelled “piss on the world.”
PLATO	Stop it Abra!
ABRA	Shut up. Anyway, I yelled “Piss on the world” (Indicates Plato) And this jerk off did it. I mean, literally. He whipped it out and pissed down four floors to the street below.
	Christine giggles.
ABRA	Sure, it sounds funny now. And it was funny at the time. But one of the disco ladies didn’t think it was such a riot and called the cops.
PLATO	I was drunk.
JIM	Yeah Plato, you’re always drunk when you do something stupid, or stoned.
JUDY	I wouldn’t talk if I were you.
ABRA	The cops got us for illegal possession, trespassing, public indecency and about four other things I can’t remember.
CHRISTINE	None of those things sound so bad to me.
ABRA	They weren’t that bad. Except for like we were all on probation already, and Jim and Cal had just scored a hundred lot of acid that night. And the cops found it.
CHRISTINE	Oh.
JIM	Two weeks later we were all in court.
ABRA	And shortly thereafter we were in the home. But none of it was Plato’s fault. Oh no! Not his!
PLATO	I hate you!
ABRA	Yeah? So what’re you gonna do. Knife me? Strangle me? Or just fuck me up like you have everyone else?
PLATO	Go to hell!
JETT	Look at them, just standing up there like that. It’s kinda scary.
JUDY	I bet there are fifty guns aimed at us right now.
JETT	Jim’s going to get us through. I know he is. And us, we’ll be like little heroes, for helping him out. You know…
ABRA	Heroettes?
JETT	That’s right.
CHRISTINE	I hope so Jett.
JETT	You mean that?
CHRISTINE	I didn’t realize – I mean, you never told me. It must have been awful.
JETT	It was.
CHRISTINE	No one deserves to be treated like that.
JETT	I know.
ABRA	Maybe you’re right Jett. Maybe we will come out of this thing alright.
JETT	Sure. Just like in Rebel Without a Cause. Jim’ll be James Dean and I’ll be Sal Mineo. Now those guys were real heroes.
	Lights change theatrically.
PLATO	Marilyn Monroe.
JUDY	John F. Kennedy.
JETT	Jimi Hendrix.
JIM	Judy Garland.
ABRA	Jack Kerouac.
ALL	Lenny Bruce. Janis Joplin. Billie Holliday. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Jim Morrison. Freddy Prinz. Edgar Allan Poe. Keith Moon. Peter Sellers. Neal Cassady. Brian Jones. Vincent van Gogh. John Lennon. (Repeat) Be a hero. Be a rebel. Live in a leather jacket. Die in a sports car. Do it today. It may not be there tomorrow. Live life like a book. Live life like a movie. Squeeze it in. Cram it in. Fill it in. Colour it in. Ram it in. Stick it in. Jam it in. Stuff it in. Breathe it in. Suck it in. Make every second. Make every minute. Make every hour. Make every day of every week of every year of every lifetime count. Make it count. Never stop running. Never stop looking. Never stop searching. Never stop trying. Never stop laughing. Never stop crying. There’s more. Somewhere there’s more. There’s more than money. There’s more than sleeping. More than conflict. More than hurt. More than loneliness and more than death. And more than… more than… Look for it. It’s there. It’s got to be there. There is more than this. There must be more than this. There is more than this. There must be more than this.
ABRA	There is.
PLATO	There must be.
JUDY	It’s there.
JETT	It has to be.
JIM	There must be more than this.
	They all chant, “There is more than this. There must be more than this” as Jim speaks.
JIM	There is more. Somewhere there is more. More than getting up for a school you hate every morning. More than parents who don’t understand and cops watching every move you make. More than nine to five jobs that pay shit for money and crush any creativity that there might be. More than getting drunk every weekend and scrambling to be one of the gang and trying constantly to prove yourself. More than getting married and buying a condominium and having two point three children and more than starting to die at thirty. There is more than that. I know there is because if there’s not then there’s no reason for us to exist. No reason at all.
ABRA	Pray for me mother.
JETT	Pray for me father.
ABRA	John Lennon.
JETT	Vincent van Gogh.
JUDY	Brian Jones.
PLATO	Neal Cassady.
JIM	Elvis Presley.
All	(Very fast) Peter Sellers. Keith Moon. Edgar Allan Poe. Freddy Prinz. Jim Morrison. Billie Holliday. Janis Joplin. Lenny Bruce. Jack Kerouac. Judy Garland. Jimi Hendrix. Marilyn Monroe. Montgomery Clift.
	James Dean. James Dean. James Dean. Rock and Roll casualties. Live fast. Die young. Stay pretty. Live fast. Live fast. Die young. Live fast. Die young. Live fast. Die young. Live fast. Die. Live. Die. Live. Die. Die. Die. Die. (Pause) Heroes!
	Lights return to normal.

A black and white photo shows a group of artists performing on stage for the “Mutants” play. — LEFT to RIGHT: Judy (Darcia Parada), Abra (Kat Mullaly), Jim (Brian Rodomski), Plato (Phil Zyp) and Jett (Les Bland) speak in a Brechtian chorus moment. Upstage their kidnapped group home counselor Mr. Goldwyn (David Nattress) sits tied up while their friend Cal (Greg Dovell) grows worse on a bad acid trip in Mutants, *Jan–Feb 1981. Photo: Phil McCallum for Walterdale Theatre Associates.*

CHRISTINE	But don’t you want to grow up and get married and have babies and things?
ABRA	Things I might be able to handle, but babies repulse me.
JUDY	(To Jim) I’m sorry.
JIM	So am I.
JUDY	I didn’t mean to ... I – I guess I just forgot one of my pills.
JIM	Yeah.
JUDY	Everyone makes mistakes.
JIM	What’re we going to do?
JUDY	I’ll have an abortion.
JIM	I guess there’s no other choice.
JUDY	No.
JIM	Do you know what to do. Who to see and all that?
JUDY	Yeah.
JIM	Good.
JUDY	Yeah.
VOICE	Jim! Jim!
JIM	(Going to ledge) What?
VOICE	Could we see Mr. Goldwyn?
JIM	What for?
VOICE	We just want to talk to him.
ABRA	They want to make sure we haven’t disemboweled him or anything.
JIM	Yeah, I guess so. (To Goldwyn) You heard him. Get up.
	Jim leads Goldwyn to the ledge and removes his gag.
VOICE	Samuel Goldwyn?
GOLDWYN	Yes?
VOICE	You’re alright?
GOLDWYN	Yes. I’m – fine.
VOICE	You haven’t been hurt?
GOLDWYN	No.
VOICE	We’re going to get you out of this.
GOLDWYN	Good.
VOICE	Don’t hurt him, Jim.
JIM	Then get the fucking reporters.
	Jim takes Goldwyn away from the ledge and makes to put the gag back on.
GOLDWYN	No.
JUDY	They’re not going to call those reporters Jim.
JIM	They have to.
JUDY	They’ve got all the guns. We’ve only got one. They don’t have to do anything.
JIM	You don’t have to stick around you know.
JUDY	I know.
JIM	If you’re so sure we’re going to fail why haven’t you left already?
JUDY	(Pause) Because.
JIM	You can leave if you want to.
ABRA	You don’t mean that?
JIM	Look, none of you have to stay up here. I’ll finish this thing alone if I have to.
JUDY	Maybe we should just take Cal and leave. All of us.
JIM	Cal stays with me.
JUDY	You’ve always got to be the rock.
JIM	Any of you want to go?
JETT	(To Jim) I’m staying with you.
ABRA	Judy, they’ll just take us back to the home.
JUDY	(To Plato) Looks like you were right. He’s not so special.
PLATO	Yeah?
JUDY	You coming with me?
	Pause.
JUDY	Plato?
PLATO	I – uh – I... (He trails off)
JUDY	Plato?!
PLATO	Judy, I’m the one who fucked this whole thing up. I can’t run out now. I – I have to stick here.
JUDY	You’re as bad as the rest of them.
PLATO	I’m sorry.
JUDY	(Indicating Christine) Well what about her? There’s no reason to keep her here now. You can let her go.
JETT	That’s right.
JIM	Yeah Judy, she can go with you.
	They untie Christine.
CHRISTINE	Thank you.
JETT	I’m real sorry about all this.
CHRISTINE	(Pause) Be careful.
JETT	I will.
	Jett and Christine embrace.
JUDY	Let’s go.
JIM	Judy…?
JUDY	What?
JIM	You – you don’t have to do this.
JUDY	I thought you didn’t care.
JIM	Look, I’m not very good at saying what I feel. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I just… (He trails off)
JUDY	Just what?
JIM	Just don’t know what to say.
JUDY	You always know what to say to Cal.
	Pause.
CHRISTINE	(To Jim) You take good care of Jett.
JIM	I will.
JUDY	Let’s go.
	Judy and Christine exit.
CHRISTINE	(Turning suddenly) I can’t do it!
ABRA	What?
JETT	Chris?
CHRISTINE	I can’t just leave. Now that I know why you’re doing this, I feel like I’m part of it. I can’t just leave you like this Jett.
JETT	Christine…?
CHRISTINE	I’ve never in my life had to do something – you know – fight for something. I’m probably crazy. But I can’t just walk out.
JUDY	You’ll go to jail just like the rest of them.
JETT	She’s right Chris.
CHRISTINE	Only if it fails. And I don’t think it will. (To Jim) I want to stay with you Jett.
JUDY	You’re crazy.
CHRISTINE	Jett’s been my best friend for years. I want to stay with him.
JUDY	Suit yourself.
	Judy exits. Pause.
PLATO	Jim?
JIM	What?
PLATO	I’m sorry.
JIM	I know.
PLATO	It’s just that sometimes – you know?
JIM	Sure.
PLATO	I don’t know why I do things like that. (Pause) I guess ... fuck! I don’t know I’m just sorry.
JIM	It’s okay.
PLATO	I want to be your friend again.
JIM	Okay.
JETT	(At window) My father’s down there!
ABRA	Where?
PLATO	Right there. Beside the car.
ABRA	And there’s my parents. I don’t believe it! (Calling down) Hi Ma, ya old wazoo!
JIM	Cut it out Abra.
ABRA	Sorry. (Going to Jim) I don’t believe Judy really walked out on us like that.
JIM	Neither do I.
ABRA	Pregnant. Wow!
JIM	Yeah. Wow.
ABRA	I don’t think she understands you very well.
JIM	You’re right.
ABRA	It bothers her just about as much as it bothers you.
JIM	It just gets in the way.
ABRA	I guess it’s not just something you can control.
JIM	No, it’s not.
ABRA	I’m glad I’ve never loved anybody.
JIM	Yeah. (Going to ledge) Hey! Hey down there!
VOICE	What is it Jim?
JIM	Where the hell are those reporters?
VOICE	They’re on their way.
JIM	It’s been too long.
VOICE	We had to get most of them out of bed. They’re coming.
JIM	Well hurry it up.
GOLDWYN	It’s not working Jim.
PLATO	Shut up, or we’ll gag you again.
	Judy enters.
JUDY	I just couldn’t.
PLATO	Why’d you come back?
JUDY	(Quietly) Because.
PLATO	Because why?
JUDY	Just because!
ABRA	Great! I know what we’ll do now that we’re all back together.
JETT	What?
ABRA	When this whole thing is over, we’ll all move to Saskatchewan and start our own commune. You guys can work out in the fields, growing brown rice and whole wheat and us girls can stay in the house and macramé cars and pigs and stuff. Then Judy can have her baby and name it something like Cranberry or Alfalfa or Rover and we’ll all raise it. And we can put a sun porch just off the kitchen for Cal and Jim can go scrape moss offa his north side once a week.
CHRISTINE	Sounds great to me.
ABRA	I don’t remember inviting you.
CHRISTINE	Oh.
JIM	I don’t want to be a father.
JUDY	You don’t have to be. I already told you. I’m not having the fucking thing!
JIM	There’s nothing else we can do.
JUDY	Guess not.
JIM	What do you want me to do? Marry you? Get a job?
JUDY	I’m not asking you to do anything.
	Pause.
GOLDWYN	You know Jim…
JIM	What?
GOLDWYN	You haven’t hurt anyone yet. Except for escaping from the home you haven’t really done anything wrong. If you let me go now, if you give yourselves up, I’ll put in a good word for you all. I’ll make sure you don’t go anywhere but back to the home. And those guards, you won’t have to worry about them anymore either. I’ll make sure charges are brought against them. We’ll work things out. You might have to spend a little more time in the home, but after that you’ll be free to go.
JIM	That’s a great offer. But what are the conditions?
PLATO	Conditions?
GOLDWYN	Yes. I want you all to promise me that you won’t say anything about the guards to the media.
ABRA	Aha!
GOLDWYN	We’re a provincial institution. Funding is bad enough as it is. If people were to find out about that – well the bad publicity could ruin us.
JUDY	Not to mention you’d probably lose your job huh?
GOLDWYN	That’s not important. If people find out about this thing they could well close us down. And if they did that there would be no place for people like you.
JIM	And how would you make sure the guards were punished if you don’t want to tell anyone about what they’ve done?
GOLDWYN	We could take care of that privately. There’s no use making a big stink about it anyway.
ABRA	And what about Lucy Jordan?
PLATO	That’s right.
GOLDWYN	What happened to Lucy was very unfortunate…
JUDY	Very unfortunate?!
GOLDWYN	But it’s already been looked into. There’s not much more that I can do.
JIM	There it is. He can’t do anything about Lucy, and he can’t really do anything about the guards, but he can take us back to the home and make us healthy, productive members of society.
ABRA	No doubt.
JIM	In a year or so we can all get out of the home, and get jobs and get married, and never break the law again.
JETT	No more guns.
PLATO	No more fire escapes.
JIM	No more drugs.
ABRA	But a clean record and lots of security.
JUDY	And we won’t have to think about Lucy Jordan anymore.
PLATO	Or getting fucked up the ass by a guard with whiskey on his breath.
JETT	Or being beaten with the buckle of a belt.
JIM	All we have to do is keep our mouths shut and watch out step. Now guys, what do you say to that?
	Pause. They all turn their backs to Goldwyn.
JIM	Thank you.
GOLDWYN	You’re all going to be sorry for this.
JIM	Plato, gag him again.
	Plato puts the gag back on.
PLATO	(To Judy) I’m sorry I couldn’t leave with you.
JUDY	It doesn’t matter.
CAL	Rub a dub dub…
JIM	(To Cal) Cal?
ABRA	I wish he’d talk to us again.
PLATO	You always say that.
JUDY	What?
PLATO	It doesn’t matter.
JUDY	Oh.
PLATO	But things always do matter.
JUDY	I guess I want them to stop mattering.
PLATO	I know that feeling.
JUDY	If there was just some way you could turn your feelings off. Like Cal did.
PLATO	Do you think he did that?
JUDY	Sure.
PLATO	You’re really going to have an abortion huh?
JUDY	Guess so.
PLATO	That doesn’t bother you?
JUDY	Should it?
PLATO	It would bother some people.
JUDY	Not Jim.
ABRA	He has – trouble with girlfriends.
JUDY	But how can he – not like me as much as I like him?
ABRA	Some people are like that.
JETT	Jim likes everyone equally I think.
JUDY	Everyone but Cal.
JUDY	But I tried to give him – so much.
PLATO	Maybe you gave it too easily.
JUDY	Huh?
ABRA	I think I know what he means. Sometimes, nothing makes a person more uncomfortable than someone liking them too much.
JETT	I don’t like it when people like me as much as I like them, either. I get real suspicious when that happens.
PLATO	I think I can sorta understand that.
JUDY	Well I don’t.
ABRA	He loves you too Judy. He kinda loves all of us.
JETT	There’s nothing wrong with that.
ABRA	You’re one of his friends he slept with.
JETT	I slept with him?
JUDY	What?
CHRISTINE	You did?
JETT	Yeah. But there was no sex. One night, after the guards came to my room, I was pretty upset. Jim came and got me and took me to his room. And I slept with him. That’s all. It made me feel — safe.
JUDY	I just hoped…
ABRA	That you were getting a little more from him than the rest of us?
JUDY	Yes.
ABRA	You’re his friend. Is that so bad?
JUDY	I’ve always wanted to be special to someone. Really special. My sister, Darlene, I was special to her. She looked out for me. And after she died, Lucy looked out for me. I wanted Jim to be like that. I need someone to look out for me.
JETT	Jim looks out for all of us.
PLATO	How did your sister die?
JUDY	Overdose.
JETT	Smack?
ABRA	Heroin’s pretty heavy shit.
JUDY	But I lost her, and I lost Lucy, and the way it’s going, I could lose Jim too.
ABRA	Don’t you worry. Jim’s going to get us out of this.
CAL	Rub a dub dub. Three men in a tub. And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker and they all… they all...
JIM	Not looking too good buddy. I think they’re fucking with us Cal.
JUDY	Jim?
JIM	Yeah?
JUDY	You’ve done the best you can.
JIM	Don’t start talking like it’s all over yet.
JUDY	I didn’t mean...
JIM	It’s okay.
JUDY	We can’t say anything without one of us taking it the wrong way.
JIM	I guess not.
	Pause.
ABRA	Young love, ain’t it wonderful.
JETT	She wants to marry him, doesn’t she?
PLATO	Sure.
ABRA	The girl’s crazy.
CHRISTINE	Don’t you ever want to get married?
ABRA	Me? No way.
CHRISTINE	Why not?
ABRA	Too boring. I’m a real slut.
JETT	Oh Abra, you are not.
ABRA	I am so. Deep down.
PLATO	Me too.
JETT	(To Plato) How about you? You ever want to get married?
PLATO	Naw.
ABRA	(Referring to Judy) I think she made the right decision about not wanting to have this baby.
CHRISTINE	Why?
ABRA	After all the drugs Jim’s done, who knows what she’d give birth to.
PLATO	It could be anything.
ABRA	Like an eight pound four ounce foot.
JETT	Mutant children. How scary.
CHRISTINE	Does that really happen?
ABRA	I don’t think so.
PLATO	I know a lot of people who’ve done a lot of drugs. Real heavy shit. And their kids all turned out fine. Big. Healthy.
ABRA	Able to lift things with their minds.
JETT	Those reporters are taking an awful long time.
JIM	They’ve got an ambulance down there now.
ABRA	An ambulance? What for?
PLATO	There’s a fire truck too.
JETT	They always call in ambulances and fire trucks. Don’t you guys ever watch TV?
JIM	Maybe we should pack it in.
CHRISTINE	You can’t just give up now.
JIM	If the reporters were going to be here they would’ve arrived by now.
ABRA	Maybe the reporters don’t care.
JIM	I guess we aren’t as smart as we thought we were.
CHRISTINE	I have – oh forget it.
JIM	What?
CHRISTINE	I had an idea. But it’s dumb.
JETT	What is it?
CHRISTINE	It’d never work.
JIM	Let’s hear it.
ABRA	Yeah. At this point I don’t think we can get too fussy.
CHRISTINE	Well I don’t think it’s very good. But this is it. What if I were to go down there and tell the cops that you guys made me come up here. You know, like your prisoner or something. Then maybe they’d take me home. I’d pretend to be real upset so they had to take me home, and I’d call the reporters for you.
JETT	That’s a great idea.
CHRISTINE	You really think so?
JIM	Sure.
JETT	You’d do that for us Christine?
CHRISTINE	Yes. I mean – I’m sort of part of this thing aren’t I?
JIM	Let’s do it then.
CHRISTINE	Okay.
JUDY	Good luck.
CHRISTINE	Thanks.
JETT	Be careful Chris.
CHRISTINE	I will.
	Christine exits.
ABRA	Now there goes one hell of a woman.
JIM	We’re gonna make it Cal.
JUDY	Jim, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe Cal really is burnt out and’s going to stay that way permanently?
JIM	No Judy. I’ve never considered that.
JUDY	It’s a possibility.
JIM	No. It isn’t.
ABRA	Judy might be right Jim.
JIM	No. She’s not. I know Cal. I know what he’s doing. He can’t keep it up forever.
JETT	What do you mean?
JIM	You wouldn’t understand.
ABRA	We knew Cal too Jim.
JIM	Not like I did. There are things none of you knew.
JUDY	Like the fight on the fire escape?
JETT	(At ledge) I hope Chris is alright.
JIM	What about the fight on the fire escape?
JUDY	Wasn’t it just after that that Cal did all that acid?
JIM	How did you know about that?
JUDY	You told me. Remember?
JIM	No.
JUDY	Don’t you remember the night you came to my place. Drunk out of your mind? You cried on my shoulder all night long.
JIM	And I told you about that?
JUDY	Yes.
	Pause.
ABRA	What fight?
JIM	It doesn’t matter.
JUDY	You can’t feel guilty for the rest of your life Jim.
JIM	I didn’t mean to ...
PLATO	To what? I thought Cal just went out and did lots of drugs one night.
JUDY	No. There was a reason.
ABRA	What reason? Jim, you never told me about any of this.
JETT	Jim doesn’t have to tell us if he doesn’t want to.
JIM	I was so tired.
JUDY	No one blames you for that.
JIM	It wasn’t fun anymore.
JUDY	We’ll understand.
ABRA	Understand what?
JIM	You can’t run forever. It all catches up with you, eventually.
ABRA	What did you do?
JIM	I told him to get the fuck out of my life.
	Pause.
JIM	After that last time we got busted, when we were waiting to go to court, I told him to meet me on the fire escape one night. Then I told him I couldn’t do it anymore.
ABRA	You said that – to Cal?
JIM	He didn’t understand at first. He thought I was joking or something. I said, I’m sorry Cal, but it’s stupid. Then he got mad, called me a pussy. Said I was selling out. He told me I was a chickenshit. That I didn’t have the guts to enjoy myself, to really live. I told him he was a...
CAL	Thunder?
JIM	Fuck up. I called him a fuck up and took off!
	Pause.
JIM	Two days later his mother called me. Said Cal was in the hospital. Some kind of overdose. The doctors said he’d recovered fine, physically. But something had happened. To his head.
	Pause.
JIM	Even his mother said it was my fault.
PLATO	You did what you thought you had to do.
JIM	I should’ve known what he would do.
JUDY	No one knows anyone that well.
JIM	Cal and I did.
CAL	Thunder.
JIM	(Going to him) Cal?
	Jim and Cal are singled out. The others all disappear into the darkness.
JIM	Cal? I’m running out of time. Why the fuck do I always let people down? I don’t know. I’ve got to talk to you Cal. Cal? Cal? (Jim pulls Cal to a standing position and slaps him across the face) Prick! (Jim slaps him again) You’re dead meat! (Slapping him again) You stupid son of a bitch! You fucking asshole! You goddamn fucking stupid...
	Jim pushes Cal away angrily.
JIM	I’m too tired. I-need-you-Cal.
	Pause. Slowly Cal begins to rise. Cal changes slowly to the person he once was. He walks to Jim, who doesn’t see him at first.
CAL	Jim.
JIM	Cal?
CAL	Yes.
JIM	I don’t believe it.
CAL	It’s true.
JIM	But Cal...
CAL	You said you needed me.
JIM	I need to talk to you.
CAL	So talk.
JIM	I’m not sure what to say.
	Pause.
JIM	I’ve – I’ve missed you.
CAL	Yeah?
JIM	Yes. (Pause) Have – have you missed me?
CAL	I don’t miss anything Jim.
JIM	What?
CAL	I don’t miss anything anymore.
JIM	That’s not like you.
CAL	I’m not like I used to be.
JIM	I don’t understand.
CAL	I don’t expect you to. What did you want to talk to me about Jim?
JIM	Everything. All the thing’s you’ve missed. All the things that’ve been happening.
CAL	I know what’s been happening.
JIM	You do?
CAL	Yes.
JIM	But how...?
CAL	I’m still aware of what’s happening. I just don’t let it matter to me anymore.
JIM	Nothing matters to you anymore?
CAL	No.
JIM	I don’t believe that.
CAL	I don’t expect you to.
JIM	Judy’s pregnant.
CAL	Yes.
JIM	I don’t know what to do.
CAL	Neither do I.
JIM	I’m not ready.
CAL	Is anyone ever ready?
JIM	And the cops are down there. I don’t think they’re going to bring the reporters.
CAL	Of course they’re not.
JIM	You believe that too?
CAL	They always win.
JIM	No. No they don’t.
CAL	Oh yes, they do.
JIM	They can’t.
CAL	They will.
JIM	Don’t say that.
	Pause.
JIM	I wasn’t selling out. I was just – tired.
CAL	Tired?
JIM	Sick.
CAL	Fed up?
JIM	Yes.
CAL	Scared?
JIM	No.
CAL	Scared!
JIM	Alright then. Scared. I just wanted to stop it for a while. Slow it down.
CAL	Slow it down?
JIM	We were burning ourselves out.
CAL	We were living!
JIM	We were dying!
	Pause.
CAL	Dying isn’t so bad, if you live right.
JIM	I want to live.
CAL	Live or exist?
JIM	Live. But there’s got to be a medium somewhere. An in between ground.
CAL	Sure. Mediocrity.
JIM	And are you any better? You’re dead. Or as good as dead.
CAL	I’m safe.
JIM	Safe? You’re a fucking vegetable!
CAL	I don’t hurt like you do. Not anymore.
JIM	You can’t live if you don’t hurt.
CAL	I’m tired of being hurt.
JIM	It wasn’t the drugs at all. Was it?
CAL	They helped.
JIM	You just – stopped.
CAL	Yes.
JIM	How can you do that?
CAL	It wasn’t so hard.
JIM	And you tell me I don’t know how to live?
CAL	I know what I’ve done. I’m weak. I admit it. I’m just as weak as you are.
JIM	We were strong when we were together.
CAL	Yes.
JIM	We can be strong again Cal. Together. We can get all of us out of this thing.
CAL	No.
JIM	Why not?
CAL	I don’t know anymore.
JIM	You’re still mad at me.
CAL	I don’t feel anything anymore.
JIM	That’s worse than being dead!
CAL	Only in your mind.
JIM	Why didn’t you just take a razor and slice your wrists? Why didn’t you run your car off a bridge? Why didn’t you die? Do the job right? Any of those things would’ve been easier for both of us. Why didn’t you just die?
CAL	I used to think you were different. That you knew.
JIM	Knew what?
CAL	The things I knew.
JIM	But I did know.
CAL	I thought you knew about living. About turning on the night and going underground and taking everything that was offered. Because experience is the only lasting thing in this fucked up world today. I thought you knew about being friends and remaining safe from everyone else. I really thought you knew.
JIM	Come back. I’ll make it this time. I’ll know. I’ll live. Just come back to me.
CAL	I can’t.
JIM	Why not?
CAL	Because – because, I won’t be hurt again. By anyone. Not ever again.
JIM	I won’t hurt you!
CAL	You have to.
JIM	Why?
CAL	Because you’re my friend!
	Pause.
JIM	Please.
CAL	No. (Pause) You’re going to fail.
JIM	You’ve got as much to lose as any of us.
CAL	You forget. They’ve decided I’m no longer responsible for my own actions.
JIM	You bastard!
CAL	I’ll survive.
JIM	I hate you.
CAL	You can come with me Jim.
JIM	Never.
CAL	It’s not such a bad place.
JIM	You’re insane!
CAL	And it’s not hard to get there.
JIM	Not in a million years.
CAL	And you won’t be hurt. Ever again.
JIM	Fuck you!
CAL	It’s very warm, and it’s very nice. And no one gets in unless you want them to. (Cal returns to his childlike state) It’s soft and warm and nice. Nice Jim. It’s very very nice.
JIM	Cal? Cal?
	Sudden pandemonium from outside. Horns going off. Many voices yelling. Lights return to normal. The others return.
VOICE	Come back! Come back here! Someone stop her!
ABRA	What is it?
PLATO	What’s going on?
JIM	I don’t know. They’re sure excited down there.
	Sound of someone running up the stairs. Christine bursts in, very out of breath.
JETT	Chris.
JIM	What happened?
CHRISTINE	Those bastards!
ABRA	What happened?
CHRISTINE	They wouldn’t even take me home. They thought I was involved in this somehow. They were going to make me sit in that car until they got you guys.
ABRA	Got us guys?
CHRISTINE	Look at the roof of that building over there!
JIM	Holy Jesus.
JETT	What is it?
CHRISTINE	It looks like a whole goddamn SWAT team.
ABRA	Oboy!
CHRISTINE	They’ve got them up on every roof that faces this place.
JUDY	Goldwyn was right. They’re never going to let us out of here.
	Pause.
VOICE	We’re losing patience, Jim.
PLATO	Those assholes.
ABRA	What’ll we do now Jim?
JETT	Jim?
JIM	I don’t fucking know!
PLATO	Look at them up there. Looking down on us.
JETT	(Taking gun out) Maybe we should load this now.
PLATO	It’s so goddamn hot in here.
ABRA	One gun? What the hell will we do with one stupid gun?
JIM	We’re so close.
JETT	Jim, should we load it?
JIM	Let me think a minute.
PLATO	They’re going to kill us. They’re going to shoot our fucking brains out.
JUDY	Plato?
JIM	I don’t know what to do.
PLATO	Assholes! Assholes!
JUDY	Plato, are you okay?
	Plato sudden rushes at Jett and takes the gun away from him.
PLATO	Assholes!
JETT	Plato!
	Plato rushes to the window, brandishing the gun wildly.
PLATO	Bastards! Goddamn fucking bastards! You can’t win. We’re right! We’re the ones who are supposed to win! You can’t get us! We’ve tried too hard!
JUDY	Plato!
JETT	Get down from there!
PLATO	I should blow your fucking brains out! I should kill every one of you!
JUDY	Plato, put the gun down. They’ll…
	Pandemonium. Plato continues to rant at the cops. The others try to talk him down. The Voice calls out “Hold your fire. Don't shoot.” Jett rushes Plato to get the gun away. Plato and Jett fight for possession of the gun on the ledge. Judy and Abra scream. Jett gets the gun. A shot rings out. Plato and Jett waiver on the ledge. Jett falls dead. Christine screams.
CHRISTINE	Jett?!
JIM	Jett?
CHRISTINE	Jett, get up.
JIM	C’mon buddy. Get up.
	Abra goes to Christine and holds her.
CHRISTINE	No! No!
	Jim goes to Jett and cradles his head in his arms.
JIM	Why him? Why did it have to be him?
CHRISTINE	(To Jim) This is your fault! It’s all your fault! He respected you! You were his hero!
JIM	Please, don’t say that.
CHRISTINE	All he wanted to do was be your friend. He – he said he loved you.
JIM	Don’t say that.
ABRA	(Gently, to Christine) Leave him.
JIM	Please...
PLATO	We’re finished.
JIM	Not quite.
	Jim begins to load the gun.
JUDY	Jim?
JIM	Not quite.
JUDY	What are you doing?
JIM	Don’t touch me.
	Jim stands and aims the gun and Goldwyn.
JIM	Someone stand him up.
	Goldwyn rises on his own.
ABRA	Jim don’t...
JIM	Jett’s dead.
JUDY	Killing Goldwyn won’t accomplish anything.
JIM	We’re all dead anyway.
JUDY	It’s murder. You’ll lose everything Jim.
PLATO	Don’t do it Jim.
JIM	(Aiming the gun at Goldwyn’s head) For Jett.
CHRISTINE	It’s not for Jett, and you know it!
JIM	And Lucy Jordan.
JUDY	No!
JIM	And for Cal.
PLATO	No!
	Jim pulls the trigger. There is a loud gunshot. The lights go red. Goldwyn falls, dead. The others scream and twist in pain.
JIM	(Dropping the gun) Now we’re even.
	The others rise. Lights return to normal.
ABRA	Jim.
PLATO	Jim.
JUDY	Jim.
CHRISTINE	Jim.
JIM	Keep away.
	The lights change, they get dim and ghostlike. They will stay like this until the end of the play.
VOICE	Jim...
ABRA	Jim?
JIM	Don’t any of you come near me.
VOICE	Can you hear me in there?
JUDY	Jim?
JIM	Just-leave-me-alone.
VOICE	Was that a shot?
JUDY	What’s wrong with you?
JIM	Cal?
CAL	(Rising) I hear you.
VOICE	Jim, anyone – talk to me.
JIM	I’m caught Cal.
JUDY	Jim?
CAL	It’s not so hard.
JUDY	You look so…
CAL	Jim?
JUDY	Strange.
CAL	It’s warm.
JUDY	Like…
CAL	It’s nice.
JUDY	Like Cal.
CAL	And no one can hurt you.
JUDY	You look just like Cal!
CAL	Come.
JUDY	Jim, no.
CAL	Come into my house.
	The others begin to move about the stage. They do bits and pieces of their monologues and dialogue. Judy and Cal stand on either side of Jim.
JUDY	Don’t escape Jim. You can still make it.
CAL	It’s not hard Jim. It’s not hard at all.
JUDY	I’m having your baby.
PLATO	Jim?
CAL	Just let go.
JIM	Judy?
JUDY	Jim?
JIM	Cal?
CAL	Jim.
ABRA	Don’t go.
	The others stop moving around. They stand in place and continue to do their monologues without making a sound.
JIM	I – I don’t know.
CAL	It’s warm.
JUDY	You can’t escape everything.
CAL	No responsibilities.
JUDY	You have to face life.
CAL	No feelings.
CHRISTINE	Stay.
JIM	I’m so sorry Jett.
JUDY	I need you.
CAL	Come Jim.
JUDY	I love you.
CAL	Join me.
JUDY	You don’t have to be alone.
CAL	It’s not hard Jim.
JUDY	Jim.
CAL	Just let go.
JUDY	Jim?
CAL	Just let go.
JIM	I…
	Jim walks to Cal.
JUDY	Jim. Please.
JIM	What – what do I do?
CAL	Sit. Here. Beside me.
JIM	Sit.
	They sit.
CAL	Now rock.
JIM	Rock.
	They rock.
CAL	In my house.
JIM	In my house.
CAL	It’s very warm.
JIM	It’s very warm.
CAL	Very nice.
JIM	Very very very nice.
	The light on Jim and Cal fades very slowly as they continue to rock. The sound of the sirens and the flashing of the red light fade with the main lights until all is black.

A black and white photo shows Judy (Darcia Parada) hugs shirtless Jim–s (Brian Rodomski) and poses a picture together. — Jim’s (Brian Rodomski) magnetism draws in Judy (Darcia Parada) as their kidnapped group home counselor Mr. Goldwyn (David Nattress) looks on helplessly. Photo: Phil McCallum for Walterdale Theatre Associates.

A black and white photo shows a group of artists who performed in the “Mutants” play is posing for a picture. — *Cast and crew for* Mutants. BACK ROW (Left to Right): Greg Dovell (Cal), Brian Rodomski (Jim), David Nattress (Goldwyn), Tony Dawkins (lights). SECOND ROW (Left to Right): Tim Preston (hairstylist), Phil Zyp (Plato), Kat Mullaly (Abra), Keven Smith (Off-stage voice of Cop), Les Bland (Jett), Deb Preston (Stage Manager). FRONT ROW (Left to Right): Collette Hebert (Christine), Brad Fraser (playwright, director), Darcia Parada (Judy).Photo: Phil McCallum for Walterdale Theatre Associates.

Swipe (1981) by Gordon Pengilly

Show the following:

Adjust appearance:

Notes

Mutants (1981)by Brad Fraser

Mutants: A Play in Two Actsby Brad Fraser

Act One

Act Two

Annotate