The Goodnight Bird

By Colleen Murphy

Lilly and Morgan Beaumont are comfortable in their routine until Parker, a homeless man, lands on the balcony of their new condo. After scaring the older couple half to death, he pours himself into the holes of their relationship, agitating them with talk of sex—talk that drives Lilly out into the night and sends Morgan on the road to another heart attack.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: Mar 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781770911215

Colleen Murphy

Colleen Murphy is an award-winning author who was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, and has since relocated to Toronto. Her plays include The December Man (L'homme de décembre)—winner of the 2007 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, the Carol Bolt Award, and the Alberta Theatre Projects Enbridge playRites Award—Beating Heart Cadaver, The Goodnight Bird, and The Piper, among others. She is also a librettist (The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G.) and an award-winning filmmaker whose distinct films have played in festivals around the world. For more information, visit colleenmurphy.ca.

Book preview

The Goodnight Bird received its world premiere in May 2011 at Finborough Theatre, London, UK, as a part of In Their Place, a three-month season dedicated entirely to the voice of the female playwright. The play was presented by Little Bridge Productions in association with Neil McPherson, artistic director of Finborough Theatre, with the following company:

Lilly Beaumont: Karen Archer

Morgan Beaumont: David Weston

Parker: Damien Lyne

Directed by Bethan Dear

Set design by Holly Seager

Costume design by Fiona Albrow

Lighting by Dan Cloake

Sound and music by George Dennis

Characters

Lilly Beaumont, sixty-six, a retired teacher

Morgan Beaumont, sixty-four, Lilly's husband, a businessman

Parker, thirty to forty-five, a stranger

Setting

Scene One takes place in Lilly and Morgan's bedroom from 11:45 P.M. to 12:45 A.M.

Scene Two takes place in their bedroom the next morning from 7:30 A.M. to 8:15 A.M.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Scene One

A tastefully decorated bedroom cluttered with too many things and not enough space to put them all. Paintings of landscapes dot the walls. A duvet on the bed matches the drapes that cover the window, and a lone geranium plant perches on the window ledge.

There are three doors… one to the closet, one to the bathroom, and one leading out of the bedroom to the rest of the world.

MORGAN is in bed. A big man with a low voice, he snuggles into his pillow. He exudes an air of jovial resignation—a successful man who had the air punched out of him by a heart attack.

The light is on under the bathroom door. Silence, until…

LILLY

(off) The squalor you leave in your wake is really unacceptable.

MORGAN

Sorry.

LILLY

(off) You spit on the mirror again.

MORGAN

I didn't spit—it flew out of my mouth when I was flossing.

The sound of running water stops.

LILLY

(off) How many times do I have to tell you to wipe the mirror when you're done brushing? The spray's under the sink, the paper towel is beside it.

A spraying sound is heard followed by the squeak of paper towel rubbing against a mirror—squeak, squeak.

(off) When you've finished wiping the mirror use the same paper towel to wipe along the toilet rim—don't do it the other way around—and when you've done the rim wipe up the dribbles on the floor.

MORGAN

What dribbles?

LILLY

(off) Your dribbles.

MORGAN

I don't dribble.

LILLY

(off) Everyone dribbles, Morgan, it's part of life.

MORGAN

Bernice can wipe them up in the morning.

LILLY

(off) Bernice doesn't come in on Mondays.

LILLY comes out of the bathroom wearing a nightgown. At sixty-six she is a well-preserved, taut-looking woman, her face plastered with cream. Used to dominating a classroom of high-octane high-school students, LILLY's heart never strays too far from her mental whip.

When you're feeling better I'll put your things back in the hall bathroom.

LILLY sits down on the bed and kicks off her slippers. She takes a pill from a vial on her night table and washes it down with water then slides into bed and reaches for a book.

MORGAN

The Housemans are moving into their retirement home next week. It has three bathrooms.

LILLY

Four. Sal drove me around there this morning—massive grounds, two acres of landscaped rock gardens… it reminds me of the Aunties' mansion.

MORGAN

Merv's happy to retire.

LILLY

Sal won't have time to retire—she'll be too busy organizing cleaning staff and gardeners. It's ridiculous.

MORGAN

He wants to grow orchids.

LILLY

What is it about men and orchids?

MORGAN

He likes the way they look.

LILLY

They're complicated things to grow.

MORGAN

The secret is never to touch them.

LILLY

Well, that's no fun.

MORGAN

Did Sal show you the conservatory?

LILLY

Yes—and the library and the five bedrooms—why would anyone their age want five bedrooms?

MORGAN

Grandchildren.

LILLY

Grandchildren, grandchildren—it's a virus.

Silence… LILLY reads.

MORGAN

When I retire I'm going to take up a little hobby.

LILLY

When you retire we're going to Siberia.

MORGAN

I don't really feel like travelling nine thousand kilometres on a train from Moscow to Vladivostok—

LILLY

Open your mind, Morgan. That's what I used to tell my students—open your mind to the world—to history, to art. It's perfectly safe—we won't even have to step off the train. We'll pay station babushkas to bring us food from their kiosks.

MORGAN switches off the lamp on his night table. He turns and lightly kisses LILLY on the cheek.

MORGAN

Goodnight, Lilly.

LILLY

Goodnight, dear.

Silence… LILLY reads.

(absently) Did you lock the door?

MORGAN

Yes.

LILLY

Sometimes you forget.

MORGAN

I locked the door.

LILLY

You often forget, dear.

MORGAN

Lilly, I have a breakfast meeting early in the morning.

LILLY

Are you excited?

MORGAN

Yes… as excited as I'm allowed to get these days.

The sound