Living in the House of Angels - A Play

By Joseph K. Adams

Set in the late 1980s, while the AIDS crisis was in full bloom, a house becomes hospice for people who are dying with no place to go. It is a small snapshot at the reality of service and compassion during a trying time. This play premiered at the Miyako Hotel as part of a national conference on AIDS human services, was produced three times in the Bay Area and has been produced around the country in readers theater form as a fund raiser for local AIDS services.

A two act play on a static, three area stage, the play has be cast with a mix of ethnicities and genders to great effect. It is available for new productions through the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oak and Lotus Publications
• Release date: Aug 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497740419

Book preview

Oak & Lotus Publications

Raleigh, North Carolina

© 1988, 1990 and 2010 by the Author, All Rights Reserved LIVING IN THE HOUSE OF ANGELS was presented as a staged reading at the ELCA Social Ministries Conference at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco on October 30, 1989 and then premiered as the full production as ANGELS on January 26, 1990 at the St. Paulus Lutheran Church parish hall in San Francisco, California under the direction of the author. It was subsequently used by ELCA as a staged reading and fund raiser for local AIDS service programs in more than 40 cities around the US.

The original cast included

Willie - James K. Doyle and Charles Stephanski

Rev. Green - Susan Allen

Gail - Susan Wishingrad

Neal - Johnnie Rodriguez

Craig - Michael Greene

Stan - Willard Chin

Lou - Patrick Poon Quan Lee

Estelle - Tara Shannon

Diane - Deborah Beere

Jim - David Hines.

Stage Manager - Harry Bernstein

Produced by - Rev. Jeremy McLeod for New Wine Skins

Javier did not appear in the original productions.

The author wishes to express his gratitude to the members of the first production for their efforts to bring the play to this final form, and to John Beckman and Tom Ashworth, who helped to shape the early development form of this play.

CAST

In Order of Appearance

JAVIER - A healthy ghost and former resident at the House. His unearthly reality is conveyed by non-colored clothing, possibly sweat-clothes.

WILLIE - A nurse and home care professional. This role can be played male or female.

REV. GREEN - Formerly a fundamentalist AIDS-is-God's-Punishment preacher who has been converted as AIDS began to affect members of his congregation. This part can be played male or female.

GAIL - A caretaker who seems to be a functioning workaholic, possibly driven by guilt.

NEAL - A dedicated, sometimes feminine caretaker who refuses to believe that he is adequate for the job.

CRAIG - The oldest (in terms of survival) living resident at the house. He is not healthy; his clothes are ill-fitting and his face is pulled into an almost constant, pained smile. He has breathing difficulties. *

STAN - The younger brother of Lou, a new resident. *

LOU - A frail and bitter gay man who has come to the David House for lack of other choices.*

ESTELLE - The mother of a new resident. *

DIANE - Estelle's Daughter, a young mother with AIDS. Possibly anorexic and/or bulimic; she was once quite pretty but is now very thin and drawn. *

JIM - A street tough who may have hustled (‘Gay For Pay’), but on the whole an angry young man who is very aware of how cheated he has been. 

These parts should be cast culturally and ethnically diverse to appropriately reflect the democratic, colorblind nature of AIDS. (The first productions and later readings for ELCA Social Services mixed ethnicities and genders for the various communities where the play was staged.)

SET

The set consists of the David House, a semi-legal AIDS hospice in Southern California.

The largest room of the set is the living room. It is furnished with mismatched donated furniture, but is clean and well cared for. There is a desk, phone, letter rack, and two-drawer file by one wall where GAIL and NEAL conduct house business. There is a partially opened stairway that leads to the visible rooms, and a doorway that leads to the ground floor.

Far stage left is the Entry to the house.

Upstage, slightly above the Living Room, is a bedroom. This is Lou's room for most of the play. It has a dresser, a bed, and the transient feel of a hotel room.

Above the level of the living room, upstage and opposite Lou's room, is another bedroom. (When possible, a separate stairway may lead to this room.) This is Diane's room for most of the play. It has more matching furniture than any other (visible) room of the house, but the harmony is still just a little off.

On the floor to the side of the set is a small space with a filing cabinet, typing table (used as a desk), and a chair. This is WILLIE's nursing agency workstation.

On the other far side of the set is another desk with files and books as appropriate to a pastor's study. This is GREEN's office.

LIVING IN THE HOUSE OF ANGELS

By Joseph K. Adams

Act One

SETTING: The story is set in the late 1980s.

AT RISE: LOU and STAN are in Lou's room. GAIL works at her desk as CRAIG dozes. JAVIER ENTERS from behind the audience. He is wearing matching color sweatshirt and sweat pants.

JAVIER: Ah—Monday morning. This is where I used to live. At least... (indicating the living room and bedrooms) ... this place is. The David House. Oh—I should tell you, this isn't 'now'—this is back in the old days. The Dark Ages—way back in the 1980s. A few people moved into little frame houses and opened them up as AIDS hospices. David means beloved. My name is Javier. Don't I look good? This is the way I like to think of myself. [JAVIER STRIKES A FEW MUSCLE POSES.]

JAVIER: I didn't look this good when I lived here. AIDS does that to you: ruins your image—to say the least.

[JAVIER GOES TO EACH AREA AS HE DISCUSSES THE OCCUPANTS. WILLIE ENTERS.]

JAVIER: This is Willie—our nurse.

[WILLIE BEGINS TO SPEAK, BUT NOT DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE. WILLIE DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE JAVIER.]

WILLIE: I hate this job. There just aren't enough hours in the day. (BEAT) I've been saying that for years. I've seen too much, heard too much and put up with too much bullshit. Every morning, I come in, I go through my files, assign new cases to the other nurses with the agency,