blackbirdonline journalFall 2009  Vol. 8  No. 2
poetryfictionnonfictiongalleryfeaturesbrowse
GALLERY

Bookmark and Share Share
DAVID CAUDLE | The Common Swallow

Characters and Setting

The play takes place in a small town on the Wabash River dividing southern Indiana and Illinois.  A Sunday in summer, the present day. 

Act One:
Scene 1: A bridge over the Wabash. Mid-afternoon.
Scene 2: A park along the river. Late afternoon.

There will be a ten-minute intermission.

Act Two:
Scene 1.  A roadside.  Evening.
Scene 2.  A motel room on the Illinois side.  Dusk.
Scene 3.  A home in town. Late evening.
Scene 4.  The motel and the home. Night.
Scene 5.  The park; the motel parking lot; the home. Late night.
Scene 6.  The bridge over the Wabash.  Dawn.

Six actors portray eleven characters and two voice-overs.

1.  JIM, 19, a gangly, eccentric, troubled youth. Gay. Recently      homeless.
2.  CORINTHIA, 50s, a sweet, awkward woman.
     BABUSHKA, non-speaking, an old crone.
     OPERATOR  (A voice-over)
     MELINDA, 40s, Jim's mother.
3.  KAREN, 42, a big city girl from a small town on a final visit home.
4.  TRIPP, 39, Karen’s underachieving brother who never left home.
5.  ABRA, 20, a pampered young woman and drug dealer.
     RED, 24, a working-class, emotionally-abused, young wife.
     MARCY (A voice-over)
6.  POLICEMAN, late 30s.
     PORTER, 40s. Jim's father.
     EDDIE, late 20s, Abra's slacker henchman. (Off-stage voice only)  bug

   Act One  |  Act Two