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.

​

Excerpt:

​

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?