Scene opens with full cast singing reprise of "Blessing (us)"
Spirit of love, surround us.
Spirit of joy, sustain us.
Spirit of hope, call us onward.
Spirit of life, bring us home.
Spirit of life, bring us home.
or view at http://youtu.be/X7WjP0Xzkgo
As the lights come up, JOHN sits, crying. BILL enters
BILL:
John, what is it? What's wrong?
JOHN:
I went to the doctor about my shortness of breath. It's what I was afraid of. This KS cancer has spread to my lungs.
BILL:
We'll get through this. When do they start treatment? What are they going to do?
JOHN:
Honey, there is nothing they can do. This is it. He says I have about two months to live.
BILL:
John, there has to be something you can do. You have to think positive. We'll get through this together, OK? OK, honey? You're going to get well. I know it.
JOHN;
And what if I don't?
JOHN and BILL embrace, sobbing. Lights down on JOHN and BILL, up on HENRY, reading.
HENRY:
...turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Four. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Five. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Six. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Seven. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Eight. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Nine. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Lights down on HENRY, up on JAN as CAROLE enters
JAN:
You're on time! I don't believe it!
CAROLE: (kissing Jan on the cheek)
It's the new me. Just one of many things I'm going to do differently from now on.
JAN:
So, you did your fourth step with Bob today?
CAROLE:
We got all the way through eight. Now I'm ready to start making amends. Jan, I'm sorry. But just saying I'm sorry can't be enough. For me, to make amends means to make things right. I have to make things right with you. So if I can't make it over here on time for our dates any more, then I shouldn't make any more dates. I shouldn't make any more plans to visit you for the evening.
JAN:
What are you saying?
CAROLE:
So......I decided that instead of making dates to come visit you, I should just.......say "Yes" to your offer of letting me move back in with you!
JAN and CAROLE both make little yelps of delight, and embrace. Lights down on JAN and CAROLE, up on JO, talking on the telephone.
JO:
Henry? It's Jo. You said to call you before I took a drink. Well, I'm getting close. (pause) No, not yet. (pause) He hit me again. (pause) Yeah, I think so, just a little dazed. (pause) No, he went out for air, he said. Probably be gone all night. (pause) My bags? Why? (pause) But I don't have anywhere to go. (pause) Do you have room? (pause) Are you sure? (pause) OK. Maybe you're right. Just hurry. I'm scared. I'll be waiting on the porch.
Lights down on JO, up on BOB, downstage center for his monologue
BOB: (to the audience)
- My name is Bob and I'm an alcoholic. (wait) I like to make people laugh. Can you tell? When I was drinking, I wasn't just the life of the party, I WAS the party! Give me a bottle of scotch and your guests were en-ter-tained. Royally! Hey, who called me a queen? You? Maybe not, but you thought it. Real loud. Doesn't hurt me. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me! But really, when you've had the entire student body of Central High School yelling "queer" at you in the halls every time you changed classes, you develop a thick skin. I turned it into a joke. Everybody laughed. My mother didn't laugh, though. She could see through all my joking, and she knew how much it hurt inside. I could talk to her. I didn't tell her about being gay for the longest time. She knew, though. She said she was waiting for me to be ready to talk about it. When I started A.A. she final told me she knew, and didn't care. She wanted to talk about it because she knew my worrying about her finding out was something I would probably drink over. She didn't want me to relapse on my program. It really scares me that she's sick. For the longest time I've been praying to God to help me accept this horrible thing that was happening in my life. Then Ronny told me in a meeting that calling it horrible was not acceptance at all. Then Jan told me her mother had died of cancer, and that I was not the only person that things like this happen to. She got through it, and so could I. One day at a time. None of this sank in until one Sunday morning I was flipping channels on the TV and came across a church service. Someone was reading Psalm 100. "Come before His presence with singing." And I realized, that's what my mother was going to do. She was going to come before God's presence singing her heart out with joy! I could almost see it and hear it in my mind.
or view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0voDe2D6ko&feature=youtu.be
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands.We are His people, the sheep of His pasture
Give thanks when you enter His gates
Give praise, and bless his name
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands
And His truth endures to all generations
Be glad when you serve the Lord
And sing when you come before Him!
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you lands
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, praise him all you landsBOB (continuing):
- Come before His presence with singing! I got OK with it. I quit calling it a horrible thing. I quit judging. And I finally figured out what "acceptance" means. It's like in that Serenity Prayer we say a lot in the meetings. I'm learning the difference between what I can change and what I can't. I CAN change my attitude.
BILL:
She hung up on you?
JOHN:
She said, "Is this some kind of a cruel joke? Our son John is dead." And then she hung up.
BILL:
They don't even care that you're sick?
JOHN:
Bill, I've told you. Once they found out I was gay they stopped caring about anything. I'm dead to them. Please, just drop it.
BILL:
It'll help if you talk....
JOHN
I said drop it.
REST OF CAST enters, talking on top of each other
JAN:
My name is Jan and I'm an alcoholic
RONNY:
My name is Ronny and
JOHN
John and I'm an
CAROLE:
I'm an alcoholic. This is the regular Sunday night
HENRY:
Welcome to the regular Wednesday night
JO:
This is the Saturday midnight meeting of the Lambda
BILL:
Open discussion meeting of the
BOB:
This is the Lambda group of Alcoholics Anonymous
BILL:
I'd like to open this meeting
CAROLE:
Open with a moment of silence followed
JOHN:
Of silence followed by the serenity prayer
(pause)
ALL:
God, grant me the serenity
JO:
I've been sober for four months now
RONNY:
Grateful to be celebrating three years of
BOB:
Years of staying sober
JAN:
I'm just grateful to be here and sober
BILL:
I need to talk about gratitude
(pause)
ALL:
To accept the things I cannot change
BILL:
Sometimes the just doesn't understand
BOB:
Found out my mother has cancer
RONNY:
I just got back from my high school reunion
JO:
I thought we could talk about acceptance
JOHN:
It's getting harder and harder to catch my breath
JO:
Says he wants me to come back and try again
CAROLE:
My boss has been giving me a lot of shit
BOB:
It's inoperable. She's going on hospice care
JAN:
I've been there. I know.
(pause)
ALL:
Courage to change the things I can
JAN:
I realized it was my attitude that I had to
HENRY:
Maybe my attitude about myself and the kind of relationships
BILL:
The way I was looking at our relationship
JO:
The doormat is OUTSIDE
JOHN:
My feelings about being sick and being rejected
CAROLE:
I don't have to be lonely
JO:
Wipe your feet on IT, not ME!
RONNY:
I have to find a way to open up to the group. I need to share this.
(pause)
ALL:
And the wisdom to know the difference
Lights up to full, go directly into Act II scene 2.
