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"There is an old story about a worker suspected of stealing:
every evening, as he leaves the factory,
the wheelbarrow he rolls in front of him is carefully inspected.
The guards can find nothing. It is always empty.
Finally, the penny drops:
what the worker is stealing are the wheelbarrows themselves."
-Slavoj Zizek, Violence
"Now near the end of the middle stretch of road
What have I learned? Some earthly wiles. An art.
That often I cannot tell good fortune from bad,
That once had seemed so easy to tell apart."
-Robert Pinsky, "Jersey Rain"
PEOPLE
DARJA (dar-ya): 20, 34, 42
TOMMY: early 40s
MAKS: 30s
VIC: a teenager
PLACE
A bus stop at night, a quarter mile from a factory in Elizabeth, NJ.
Or where there used to be a factory, depending on the year.
The play spans 22 years. In 2006, Darja is 34.
DIALOGISTICS
Slashes ( // ) indicate overlap.
Ellipses (...) are active silences.
Polish is italicized.
A NOTE ON STAGING
The play should be performed without an intermission.
Darja does not leave the stage until the very end of the play.
A NOTE ON PERFORMANCE
It can be tempting to play the circumstances of these characters' lives and end up missing the comedy. It is my hope for an audience to laugh and understand.
A NOTE ON NEW JERSEY
The Jersey I know is gravel and cattails. Empty quarter drinks and Buds litter parking lots. A marsh, a highway, bridges. Almost everyone is from somewhere else. And, yes, there's a reason they're not living in New York.
SCENE ONE: 2014. WINTER.
A streetlight zaps on.
Night. An environment of black.
Stars exist beyond smog; we don't see them.
A bus stop. Perhaps a faded sign. But probably not.
This world is one of constant less.
The chill of winter is just stoning to set in. Two people fight. Darja in sweats, a scarf.', and a hoodie-the clothes of a cleaning lady. She carries a large tote bag with her. Polish accent. Tommy wears a Jersey Devils jacket over his postal worker's uniform. Shorts. A tribal calf tat.
DARJA: What you don't understand is how so much you // hurt me.
TOMMY: I'm sorry!
DARJA: And I suppose to do with...