"The Bed". Ohh, the complexities that lie betwixt a mattress and box spring.

One of the most poignant moments for me, I think, during my trip to Ireland this fall was when I read my 10-minute play to my friend, Michael. His father passed away in June and I accompanied Michael to Ireland to bury his father's ashes. "The Bed" recaps the life of a dying man, who narrates the story, relating the significance of his bed throughout the phases of his life.

It's a reflective piece. And a reflective "peace". Michael became quite emotional and thanked me for sharing it with him. I posted it today because all of us at one point are faced with either our own mortality or the loss of someone close to us. Many of us are going through those emotions as we speak. No one likes to think of his or her mortality and yet, we all do at one time. Reflection helps us to remember the moments in our life that shaped our character, as well as help us to remember the people who were significant in our lives.

Click on READ MORE! to read the play. It's ten minutes...not that long in the course of a lifetime.

"The Bed"
by Jeffrey James Ircink

To Justyna – who consistently crafts a five-star bed.

“Oh the bed
Oooh the bed
Ahhh the bed
Oh the bed
Mmmm the bed
I love the bed
You can lie in bed
You can lay in bed
You can die in bed
You can pray in bed
You can live in bed
You can laugh in bed
You can give your heart
Or break your heart in half in bed......You can eat in bed
You can beat in bed
Be in heat in bed
Have a treat in bed
You can rock in bed
You can roll in bed
Find your cock in bed
Lose your soul in bed...”

- excerpt from “The Bed”, © Copyright 1967, from the musical, HAIR, lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, music by Galt McDermott

Cast of Characters

MALE VO, 60+, Standard British accent
(d) FATHER / MAN, 30
MOTHER / WIFE at 30
WIFE at 75
(d) TEEN GIRL, 18 / NURSE
YOUNG BOY, 7
TEEN BOY, 18
(d) MIDDLE-AGED MAN, 55 /
OLD MAN, 80

The BOY, TEEN BOY, MAN, MIDDLE-AGED MAN and OLD MAN represent the baby at various stages of its life. Suggested roles may be double-cast (d) if convenient.

Setting

A bedroom. Initially, the bedroom is decorated for a baby boy. As each scene shifts to coincide with the boy’s aging, the bedroom should be decorated appropriately – 2-4 items may be brought in and taken away as the actors enter/exit the stage. Also, regardless of how the light in the room is turned on and off, it should appear as if the lights are manipulated by an actor (i.e. light switch or table lamp).

The prominent piece of furniture in the bedroom is a queen-sized bed, including bed frame, headboard and baseboard, and a nightstand with lamp.

“Adagio in G Minor” plays throughout this piece.

Time

The past, present and future.

(MUSIC CUE: “Adagio in G Minor”. A door opens and the lights are switched on by a FATHER and MOTHER entering a baby boy’s room. A queen-size bed is the prominent fixture – and a sock monkey sets on the bed. The couple has arrived home from the hospital with their new baby in tow. The couple’s movements – the requisite playing with the baby, feeding the baby, changing the baby – jive with the music and have a 50’s/Capra-esque feel, yet the characters and settings are nondescript. The FATHER exits, the music fades and the MOTHER sings a lullaby as she settles into a rocker to rock her baby to sleep. MAN VO is heard. The MAN VO is an older man’s voice – the baby grown up, reflecting on his life. His tone is contemplative. MUSIC FADES.)

MAN VO:
“After my birth and upon my arrival home from hospital, the first place my parents took me was to my bedroom. It was there that I was introduced to “the bed” – my bed. Not a crib like most infants – but my very own queen-sized bed. As a child, my mother taught me many things, the three most important of those being: do onto others, wear clean underwear and the importance of home décor. Notwithstanding its obvious versatility, ‘One’s bed’, my mother would quip, ‘is the most important piece of furniture in the home’.”

(The MOTHER places the baby in the bed, pulling up the guard rails on either side to keep it from falling out.)

“The bed and I were inseparable. During those early years, it was nothing more than a practical appendage of my own self – a utilitarian object in my life I neither understood nor questioned. I was simply ‘being’ with the bed.”

(The MOTHER walks to the door, turning to have one last moment with her baby, then switches off the light and exits. BEAT. MUSIC FADES UP. The door opens and a YOUNG BOY – age 7 – turns on the light and runs into the room. He has a box of animal crackers with him. The MOTHER and FATHER follow, exchanging the “baby” motif for “young boy” decor. The sock monkey sets atop a pile of other toys. The MOTHER and FATHER kiss the child on the head and exit. The YOUNG BOY jumps up and down on the bed while eating his crackers. MUSIC FADES.)

MAN VO:
“As I matured from an infant to a young boy, I began to comprehend the significance of my mother’s wisdom."

(The MOTHER re-enters, taking the crackers away from the boy and chastising him, then exits. The YOUNG BOY constructs a tent on the bed out of sheets and blankets.)

"The bed was more than just a place to sleep, more than respite to cure my ills – it was my playground; my pirate ship; my fort; it was my stage and my cinema. My altar and my alter-ego. My refuge…where I commanded the world to do my bidding or hide under the covers when my bidding fell miserably short or the world frightened me. It was my castle and I was the king."
(The lights FADE TO BLACK and a flashlight appears from within the “tent”.)

"It is where I dreamt and where my dreams came true.”

(Flashlight goes off. Beat. MUSIC FADES UP. Door opens and a 18-year-old TEEN BOY enters and turns on the light – with him is a TEEN GIRL. It’s the whole teenage thing – he’s shy, she’s coy – and then suddenly they start making out on the bed. The sock monkey sits under the bed, staring out at the audience. MUSIC FADES.)

MAN VO:
“As a young man, the bed turned from pirate ship to boudoir – a veritable playground where I was consumed with pleasures of the flesh. I took full advantage of my coming of age, delighting myself in the exploration of all the sights, sounds and smells that make a woman tick."

(Pause VO. The TEEN GIRL gets off the bed and turns the lights off. LIGHTS UP to minimum – just enough to see the couple’s silhouettes. We hear the couple writhing under the sheets. The TEEN GIRL can be seen while the TEEN BOY is under the covers between the TEEN GIRL’S legs. We hear the sound of sex.)

"To eat, to sleep, to read, to work, and yes – to fuck. It is said that these are the best days of one’s life. I couldn’t have agreed more.”

(Beat. MUSIC FADES UP. A MAN in his early 30’s sits on an unmade bed – paperwork spread all over. The MAN is wearing an untucked dress shirt and tie, both unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up. The room décor has changed to reflect that of an adult. There’s a coffee cup on the nightstand. The sock monkey is lying on the floor. MUSIC FADES.)

MAN VO:
“As I progressed into my adult years, I occupied myself with things I did not understand about my father nor cared for while I was a child. Work, taxes, work, mortgages, work, bills, work...the bed became my desk, my ledger, my calculator, my change purse and my bank."

(Pause VO. The MAN’S WIFE enters, bringing him a sandwich. She attempts affection but is turned away. She exits.)

"I am consumed with going out into the world to find my fortune. Along the way, I marry and have my own children and bestow my wisdom upon them. At an early age, they ask me, ‘Father, will we ever comprehend the importance of “the bed” as you have?” And I smile, for I see they are already wise. They plod through life as I did; they leave the nest, go off to university, marry and have their own children to whom they attempt to explain the significance of ‘the bed’.”

(LIGHTS FADE. Beat. MUSIC FADES UP and LIGHTS UP on a MIDDLE-AGED MAN, 55, sitting on the end of his bed, in a white tank top tee shirt, boxers and socks. A bottle is visible on the nightstand. He looks “contemplative”, as if he’s having a mid-life crisis – quietly. He shows little emotion and stares blankly. The sock monkey is setting on a shelf. MUSIC FADES.)

MAN VO:
“I have accomplished much in my life and yet, I ponder ‘what if?’. Was I a good husband? A good father? A good friend? How do others see me? How do I see myself? Was the joy and contentment I experienced proportionate to my pain and suffering? Did I live up to the expectations of those I love? Was I a success or a failure? Could I have done more? Did I make a difference on this earth? I am haunted by s-o-o-o many questions."

(Beat.)

"I do not want to get out of bed this morning.”

(LIGHTS FADE. Beat. MUSIC FADES UP. The door opens and a NURSE enters and turns on the lights. She is carrying a tray full of medicine. An OLD MAN is lying in bed hooked up to an intravenous. The guard rails are up on the bed. The sock monkey sets on a rocker next to the bed. The NURSE tends to him, making him feel comfortable in much the same way as the MOTHER did earlier. MUSIC FADES. VO begins.)

MAN VO:
“I cannot feed myself. I cannot walk myself. I cannot go to the bathroom by myself. Instead, I rely solely on the kindness of strangers. I barely speak and the choices I make are not of my own volition. My mind is, at best, capable of remembering snapshots from my past but unable to remember the thoughts I had just moments ago.”

(Pause. MUSIC FADES UP. The NURSE walks to the door, turning back to have a moment with the OLD MAN. She exits. Pause. The MAN’S WIFE enters. She takes a moment, then crawls into bed with him. MUSIC FADES.)

“I have regressed to the days of my infancy, when my mother and father brought me home from hospital. Once again, I am a child – yet, I cannot run, jump, skip or play as children do. I am confined to the very thing I have been unable to escape throughout my life. It has sustained me. It has nurtured me. And it will become my tomb.”

(MUSIC FADES UP. The WIFE takes a pillow from underneath the MAN’S head. CUT MUSIC. She smothers him. He is quiet in his struggles. Beat. She walks to the door, turning back to have a moment with the dead OLD MAN. She exits, turning out the lights. LIGHTS FADE UP to ¾. The bed is made up as it appeared in the opening vignette and the sock monkey sets on the bed. The YOUNG BOY enters, jumps on the bed and begins bouncing on it – eating his crackers, and staring out at the audience.)

MAN VO:
“The circle of life is complete. My tasks and place in society as deemed by society are finished. I have achieved and I have failed. I have laughed and cried, smiled and frowned, experienced wonder and disappointment. I followed my parent’s lead, clinging to their ideals and making them my own. I listened to their wisdom and imparted that wisdom onto those I met along life’s journey."

(The YOUNG BOY stops bouncing.)

" ‘When I was a child, I spake as a child; I felt as a child; I thought as a child; now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.’ ”*

(Pause.)

"But I never put away…my bed.”

(Beat. BLACKOUT.)

*King James Bible, 1 Corinthians, 13-11

(END OF SCENE.)

(END OF PLAY.)