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1 S lichot by Kim Yaged CHARACTERS: (8 Actors) RUTH LEVY, Mom, mid 50s, flighty but grounded, attempts to be stern but can almost never pull it off. IRA LEVY, her husband, mid 50s, aloof and needy. Anger is his favorite form of self-expression. Insecure, especially when he seems to be his least insecure. He hides this insecurity with anger and volume. LEVY, her son, early 30s. He s in denial, denial, denial. Vulnerable, especially when he seems to be his least vulnerable. He hides this vulnerability with anger and volume. SIMA LEVY, his sister, slightly younger, energetic, assertive, frequently annoying, and self-righteous. She has inherited her father s proclivity for anger and volume. SIMON LEVY, Ira s father, 75-ish, slow, cumbersome, and methodical, not because he has to be but almost because he knows it irritates people. LIBBY LEVY, late 60s, Simon s wife. At one point, she was everything Simon s wife should be. *, a male worshipper. +, a female worshipper. CONGREGATION, a collective of voices. NURSE+, all the female nurses. MALE NURSE*, a male nurse. MRS. BERKOWITZ+, about Ira s age, a woman in the waiting room.
2 CHRISTINE+, Jason s girlfriend from college, pristine, cute, kind, and Christian. GREG SHAPIRO*, Healthy Healing Representative. RESIDENT*, about Jason s age, a male resident in the hospital. MRS. BARKER+, a patient. *These roles can be played by the same male actor. +These roles can be played by the same female actor. Playwright s Note: S lichot is a play about a family of non-communicators. The subtext of their interactions as opposed to what they seem to be talking about is often the real issue. As a result, the Levys are frequently humorous to us if not one another. Comedy is a key component to this play. It should also be noted that the Levys are culturally Jewish, not religious Jews., and CONGREGATION are auditory memories used to transition scenes. They can function as a chorus, voiceover or a combination of the two. Feel free to explore the possibility of using multiple actors for these parts. However, a male voice or voices should always be used for, and a female voice or voices should always be used for. The desired effect is that of responsive reading. The scenes are intended to flow into one another, clipping along rapidly. The characters move fluidly from the present to the past to the future, sometimes even sharing the same memory or conjecture. Clarinet and jazz as well as Hebrew songs and prayers may be used throughout as counterpoint. Music and musicality are central to the play. ACT I (BLACK OUT. The Present. As each VOICE speaks, scenes foreshadowing the action flash out of the darkness. These flashes might be images running through s mind as he sits in the Surgery Waiting Area.)
3 For the sin we have committed before You by untruthfulness. And for the sin we have committed before You by idle talk. For the sin we have committed before You publicly and privately. And for the sin we have committed before you by evil thoughts. (BLACKOUT. SPOTLIGHT UP on in his own Space. He will return here whenever he needs to think things through, aloud, to himself.) My grandfather was born December 8, 1923. Fourteen years, seven months and twenty-two days after Benny Goodman. If you asked him, he might swear that s not the case. He d prefer Benny Goodman s birthday. He prefers Benny Goodman to everything. (Flashes continue with VOICES.) For the sin we have committed before You with false pride. For the sin we have committed before you through greed. For the sin we have committed before you by being obstinate. (SPOTLIGHT on.) Of course, if my sister were around, she d find it necessary to point out that, more importantly, on May 30th Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. (Flashes continue.) For the sin we have committed before You by foolish talk. For the sin we have committed before You by passing judgment.
4 (SPOTLIGHT on.) May 30th, for my dad, let s see. May 30th for my dad was...the day Voltaire died. Okay, for my fictitious dad it was the day Voltaire died. (Another flash.) And for the sin we have committed before you intentionally and unintentionally (SPOTLIGHT pulls back on revealing the Surgery Waiting Area.) Do you ever have one of those days where you just can t stand to be awake, but you know you can t sleep? Then the phone rings. It s one of those phone solicitors. And for the slightest second you actually debate having a conversation with them. You hang up and frantically start dialing the phone number of every known human in the universe. But no one s home. So, you dutifully leave them all messages per the various answering machines instructions and sulk. You even debate calling your first girlfriend, the one who turned down your marriage proposal, thank God. Alright, maybe not thank God, but no one needs to know that. Finally, you stop. It s a crisp autumn night. Not fall, autumn. Tonight s the night, the reason, they invented the word autumn. You open all the windows in the house and go out on the porch and sit. The night air gives warmth despite its chill. And you notice, enjoy even, your aloneness. There is nothing better, superior, to you and your self. Power in preoccupation. Peace...And just then you hear through the open windows the telephone ring. All the calls will start now. You ll find yourself on the phone for hours talking to people of various levels of familiarity about their little life traumas because, Nothing s bothering me really. And that s why, when they call to inform you that your mother has been rushed to the hospital, they can t get through. For all these sins, O God of forgiveness, Forgive us, Pardon us,