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OLD FLAME
© 2008 by Richard Ploetz
All Rights Reserved
After 50 years Barbara’s high school sweetheart, Mike Ripley, calls her out of the blue. Mike and his much younger Serbian girlfriend, Leonora, arrive for a visit, and an unlikely friendship develops between them and Barbara and her blue collar husband, Frank. As time passes, Frank becomes jealous of Barbara’s friendship with Mike – and then accuses her of betraying him. Marshall, Frank and Barbara’s 50 year old son, with marital problems of his own, attempts to mend the break between his parents, and in the process takes a vertiginous look into his own identity. For Barbara – and Frank – a new door in their relationship has opened. The question is will they go through it?
OLD FLAME is a play that considers how we approach love and sex as we grow old.
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Excerpt:
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Barbara Marchand: 69, youthful, attractive, smart, sense of humor
Frank Marchand: 72, blue collar, set in his ways
Marshall Marchand: 50, son of Barbara and Frank, a CPA, somewhat obsessive
Mike Ripley: 70, high school sweetheart of Barbara, former football player,
dentist, philanderer, a powerful figure
Leonora Todorovich: 38, Serbian, girlfriend of Mike, strong character
Time of play: 2000
Location: New York City
ACT 1
SCENE 1
(Marchands’ livingroom; FRANK, BARBARA, MARSHALL. A cream-covered cake with single extinguished candle in it. The two men are
finishing up their slices; BARBARA has only eaten a couple bites of hers.)
FRANK
Good cake. You make it?
MARSHALL
Me?
FRANK
Annette?
MARSHALL
Veniero’s. The usual. Mom likes rum cake. Don’t you.
(Pause)
BARBARA
Do I?
MARSHALL
Don’t you?
BARBARA
I’m not 70.
FRANK
Ah . . .
BARBARA
69 isn’t 70.
FRANK
Sorry about that.
(Beat)
BARBARA
You’re finished?
(She takes plates and exits)
FRANK
Where’s Annette?
MARSHALL
For Christ sakes, pop, you coulda got a card or something.
FRANK
Yeah, well . . . I forgot.
MARSHALL
Flowers?
FRANK
I forgot! At our age I don’t see what . . .
(Pause)
MARSHALL
I gotta hit the road. Traffic’s let up by now.
(Beat)
Goddamn L.I.E. Someday I’ll be going when everyone’s coming.
FRANK
Where’s Annette?
MARSHALL
You get something out of the city. Safe. Quiet. Good place to raise a kid . . .
FRANK
She couldn’t make it to her mother in law’s birthday?
MARSHALL
(Looks at him)
You couldn’t make it except you live here.
FRANK
Why’d you marry her?
MARSHALL
What kind of question is that?
FRANK
What’s she do all day at “Lake Ronkonkoma”? Hang her feet in the water?
MARSHALL
You know, you’ve finally made a decision. Taken an action. Ballocks. . .
FRANK
What’s that?
MARSHALL
Ballocks
FRANK
Balllocks?
(Pause)
MARSHALL
You oughta come out some time. Fshing’s pretty good I hear.
FRANK
(Dismissing)
Ah . . .
MARSHALL
You used to like it. (no response) Get you out.
FRANK
I get out with the tires.
(Phone rings off – we hear Barbara’s voice, off, “I’ll get it.”)
FRANK
What’s that? Eleven o’clock at night?
MARSHALL
Ennyhoo . . . gotta hit the road, Pop. No hit the road, no get there. No get there, no start over again. Right?
FRANK
What do you do out there?
MARSHALL
Hmm?
FRANK
You’re always going “out to Ronkonkoma”. You ever get there?
MARSHALL
What’s that supposed to mean?