Jasper Station

By Norm Foster and Steve Thomas

Six travellers wait in a train station in Jasper, Alberta, hoping to fulfill their dreams at the other end of the line.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9780369103208

Norm Foster

Norm Foster has been the most produced playwright in Canada every year for the past twenty years. His plays receive an average of one hundred and fifty productions annually. Norm has over sixty plays to his credit, including The Foursome, On a First Name Basis, and Hilda’s Yard. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for his play The Melville Boys and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He lives in Fredericton.

Book preview

ACT ONE

The station features a smattering of benches, a pay phone, and a counter where the tickets are purchased. At the ticket counter is a computer screen and keyboard. The entrance to the station is U.C. The exit to the station platform is D.L. The ticket counter is S.L. Offstage behind the ticket counter is a small office.

In the distance we hear a diesel train horn. Lights up.

1. THERE’S A TRAIN

MAN 1:

There’s the sound

Third time today

The westbound diesel’s passing towns far away

There’s a train

On it’s journey

On it’s way

WOMAN 1:

Who’s aboard

The westbound train?

Distant faces, to places we’ll never know

Who are they meeting?

How far still to go?

It’s their journey

On their way

There’s a train

MAN 2 & WOMAN 2:

Homeward bound

Or returning?

Do they know where they’re going

Or when it will end?

There’s a train

On it’s journey

Round the bend

MAN 3:

It’s the train

WOMAN 3:

That guides them through their journey

MAN 3 & WOMAN 2:

It’s the train

WOMAN 3 & MAN 1:

That leads them to their goal

MAN 2, 3 &WOMAN 2:

It’s the train

MAN 1 WOMAN 1 & 3:

That takes them to their new way of life

WOMAN 2 & MAN 3:

Starting over

MAN 1 &WOMAN 3:

Starting over

MAN 2:

Starting over

WOMAN 1:

Starting over

ALL:

Who’s aboard the westbound train?

And why did they go?

Are they running, or moving on? (moving on)

Who are they leaving?

How far have they gone?

It’s their journey

On their way

To take a chance and do it

There’s a train

Do they notice the towns?

Do they notice us watching?

Do they notice the lives they pass by?

I could be free

The dreams I had survive

What journey is there for me?

Who’s aboard the westbound train?

And why do they go?

Are who do they leave behind? (moving on)

How many will ride

To the end of the line?

It’s their journey

On their way

There’s a train

WOMAN 2 & MAN 3:

Who’s aboard the westbound train?

MAN 1, 2 & WOMAN 1, 3:

There’s a train

WOMAN 2 & MAN 3:

Who’s on board the westbound train?

MAN 1, 2 & WOMAN 1, 3:

There’s a train

WOMAN 2 & MAN 3:

Who’s aboard the westbound train?

Who’s on board the train

MAN 1, 2 & WOMAN 1, 3:

There’s a train

ALL:

There’s a train

The cast exits as the music fades out. REBECCA Townsend enters through the doors U.C. She looks around the station for a moment.

REBECCA: Hello? …Anybody here? (to herself) Of course there’s nobody here. What’s the matter with you? You didn’t really think they’d show up, did you? So, I drove all the way from Vancouver for nothing. Well, actually it wasn’t for nothing. I did get to see Chilliwack. (beat) Oh, well.

REBECCA turns to leave. BERT Calivetti enters from the platform.

BERT: Rebecca?

REBECCA: Bert! Oh, Bert, you made it.

BERT: Well, of course I made it. You didn’t think I’d let you down, did you?

REBECCA: I should have known you wouldn’t. Oh, it’s good to see you. (She gives BERT a hug.)

BERT: And it’s good to be seen.

REBECCA: So, they closed the old station down, did they?

BERT: Yeah, they built the new one next-door right after the accident.

REBECCA: What accident?

BERT: Oh, you didn’t hear?

REBECCA: No, I’ve been out of this area for about four years now.

BERT: Well, we had a derailment here a while back. Train went off the tracks a couple of hundred yards up the line and the engine came to rest right outside the door there. Took out the loading platform, two benches and the Coke machine.

REBECCA: Wow. Were any of the passengers hurt?

BERT: Just one. A man who was waiting here for the train that day. We both rushed out onto the platform to see what all the noise was and we arrived at about the same time the engine did. Poor fella sprained his ankle trying to get out of the way.

REBECCA: Oh, my God.

BERT: But what about you now? How have you been?

REBECCA: Oh, I’ve been busy. Very busy.

BERT: But, not too busy for a reunion of old friends, huh?

REBECCA: Well, yeah, if anyone else shows up. Do you think we’ll be the only ones?

BERT: Hard to tell. Jasper’s a long ways from most places. And we don’t even know where the others are at this point.

REBECCA: Oh, I hope they’re doing all right. What do you think they’re up to?

BERT: No, idea. That’s what I’m here to find out.

REBECCA: Boy, it’s hard to believe it’s been five years already.

Off we hear the sound of a train in the distance.

BERT: (He checks his watch.) Oh, that’ll be the Canadian coming.

REBECCA: Maybe they’ll be on it. Do you think so?

BERT: Well, it’s the only train due in this afternoon. If they’re coming by rail, it’s this train or no train.

REBECCA: No, it was probably idealistic of me to think that they’d show up just because we made a silly pact.

BERT: Hey, you showed up.

REBECCA: Well, it was my idea. I had to.

BERT: I showed up.

REBECCA: Yeah, but you didn’t have to make a special trip. I mean, if you had to come from far away, would you have?

BERT: Without a doubt.

REBECCA: Really?

BERT: Oh, yes. That day five years ago was very special to me.

REBECCA: Well, I’m going to go have a look. See if anyone’s on that train. Come on.

REBECCA rushes out.

2. FIVE YEARS AGO (PART 1)

BERT:

Where are all the passengers from before?

Where are all the signs on the doors?

It’s strange to see her quiet all these years.

Funny how this room seems so small

Look at all the memories on the wall

And now the passing trains are all she hears

It was long ago, the day I last set foot here

It was long, long ago, the day I started work here

And all the people who walked these