Late Henry Moss/Eyes for Consuela/When the World Was Green Three Plays

Prelude to Act One: (Drunken Rumba) Lights go to black on set. In the dark, very sultry Mexican rumba music comes up. A white spotlight hits the couple of Henry Moss and Conchalla wrapped in a tight embrace, cheek to cheek. They are amazingly drunk and yet synchronized in tight, fluid coordination with only the occasional stumble and foot crunch to give them away. They begin extreme down left on the apron in front of the set and careen their way across the stage, doing a couple twirls and deep waist bends along the way. Their cheeks stay pressed together the whole time, and they seem oblivious to the world. The dance is brief and somewhat shocking. They disappear off right. Spotlight goes to black, then lights ease up on set to begin Act One. Act One: Scene: Night. A run-down adobe dwelling on the outskirts of Bernalillo, New Mexico. The roof is open; just bare, rough-plastered walls. A mesquite door with black iron hinges in stage right wall. A deep-silled window up right. A single cotlike bed set horizontally into a small alcove, center of upstage wall with a small barred window directly above it, like a jail cell. There is a blue curtain on a rod in front of the bed that can be opened or closed by hand and sometimes mechanically. The curtain is open for now, revealing the corpse of Henry Moss, a man in his late sixties. He lies face up on the bed with the crown of his head toward stage right. A heavy Mexican blanket in yellow and red designs covers him from the forehead down to his ankles. Over the blanket a white sheet has been spread smoothly. Only the top of Henry's head and his bare feet are revealed. Nothing is seen of his face. There is an old-style bathtub with claw feet upstage left of the bed. A sink, gas stove and small refrigerator are set against upstage wall; all very run-down and dirty. Extreme downstage left of center is a simple round Formica table with two metal S-shaped chairs set across from each other; one upstage right, the other downstage left. Earl Moss, Henry's oldest son, sits in the downstage chair with his back partially to audience, thumbing through an old photo album of Henry's, studying the pictures. Ray Moss, Earl's younger brother, stands upstage of the table, facing audience and idly going through an old red tool chest of Henry's placed on the table in front of him. A bottle of bourbon sits in the center of table with two plastic cups. An ashtray; cigarettes. Nothing else. Long pause after lights come up as Earl thumbs through album. Ray fiddles with tools. earl: [Thumbing through album.] Well, you know me, Ray--I was never one to live in the past. That never was my deal. You know--You remember how I was. ray: Yeah. Yeah, right. I remember. earl: But, these days now--I don't know. Something like this--Outta the blue. [He nods toward Henry's corpse.] Maybe it's age or something. ray: Age? earl: Yeah. ray: Whose age? earl: Mine. ray: Oh. I thought you meant his. earl: No--me. Gettin' older. You know. I mean at eighteen, nineteen, my mind was going in a whole different direction. You remember how I was. [He suddenly sings.] "Gonna tie my pecker to a tree, to a tree. Gonna tie my pecker to a tree." You remember that? [Pause. Ray just stares at him.] earl: Well, do ya? ray: I thought that was him. I remember him singing that. earl: That was me! ray: Oh. earl: 1956, '57? When was that? ray: What? earl: When I used to come home singing that. ray: I don't know. Musta been later. earl: Not that much later. Couldn't a been. Ripple wine and Mexican Benzedrine! Those were high times, Ray! High old times. [Pause.] ray: I remember you leaving. That's all I remember. earl: [Looking up at Ray.] What? When? ray: When you first left. When the big blowout happened. earl: Big blowout? ray: You know what I'm talkin' about.Shepard, Sam is the author of 'Late Henry Moss/Eyes for Consuela/When the World Was Green Three Plays', published 2002 under ISBN 9781400030798 and ISBN 140003079X.