4 things: child’s playset, undetermined mixed dog, reading glasses, colored tissue paper

Event:  Sunset on a birthday

Location: back porch of a house

Characters: Grace; glass blower. Todd; wood worker.

At rise: GRACE and TODD sit on the bottom steps of their house. Laid out in front of them are pieces of a child’s playset (swings, slide, etc…). They look defeated. Crumpled instructions lie on top of the pile. The light is fading, beautiful, sunset colors.

GRACE: It’s the most beautiful sunset of our life.

TODD:    It will be the worse sunset of our life if we don’t get this damn thing built.

GRACE: I don’t understand. You work with wood all day long. . . .

TODD:    Grace, please—you’ve seen these directions [thrusts directions at her]. My skills are different! I start with a tree! This is. . . insanity.

GRACE:  Remind me/

TODD:    /your parents.

GRACE:  Oh.

TODD:    Look—how about you read directions and I’ll start. . . I’ll try to follow them. You. Them.

GRACE: I need my reading glasses. Can you get them?

TODD:    Where?

GRACE: I left them b y the mongrel dog.

TODD:    Don’t call him that.

GRACE:  Sounds better than “Undetermined Mixed Breed”. You’re stalling.

[TODD gets up, goes inside. There’s a lot of rustling of paper.]

TODD: [OFF] Shit!

GRACE: What’s going on?

TODD:    There’s a whole pile of tissue paper. What the hell?

GRACE:  I have to wrap up a pendant lamp for a client. Glass breaks, gotta be wrapped, duh!

[He comes back out. Hands her glasses. She dons them and picks up directions. It’s much darker. She takes out cell phone and uses its flashlight.]

GRACE:  “Take Beam A and Beam B. Connect at top with four, four inch screws. Add cross bar C.”

TODD:    I can’t see anything.

Lights out.

END OF PLAY