Dying City

Christopher Shinn

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9781559366571
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

“The finest new American play I’ve seen in a long while... Dying City is a political play and also a psychodrama about what Arthur Miller called the politics of the soul. It’s about public conscience and private grief, and real and symbolic catastrophes.”— The New York Observer

“Anyone who doubts that Mr. Shinn is among the most provocative and probing of American playwrights today need only experience the... sophisticated welding of form and content that is Dying City.”— The New York Times

In Christopher Shinn’s new play Dying City, a young therapist, Kelly, whose husband Craig was killed while on military duty in Iraq, is confronted a year later by his identical twin Peter, who suspects that Craig’s death was not accidental. Set in a spare downtown-Manhattan apartment after dark, scenes shift from the confrontation between Peter and Kelly, to Kelly’s complicated farewell with her husband Craig. Shinn’s creepy, sophisticated drama—infused with references to 9/11 and the war in Iraq—explores how contemporary politics and recent history have transformed the lives of these three characters.

Christopher Shinn was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and lives in New York. His plays include Where Do We Live, Other People, What Didn’t Happen, and On the Mountain, which have been widely produced in New York, across the United States, and in London. He is the recipient of an OBIE Award in Playwriting, as well as the Robert S. Chesney Award. He teaches playwriting at The New School for Drama.

1.

Night. Kelly sorts through books. A cardboard box sits next to the couch. TV plays Law and Order. A bedsheet and pillow are scrunched up in the corner of the couch.

The buzzer buzzes.

KELLY

Hello?

PETER’S VOICE

Hi—it’s Peter!

(Pause.)

KELLY

Hi!

PETER’S VOICE

I tried calling . . .

(Pause.)

dp n="16" folio="6" ?

KELLY

Come up!

(Pause. Kelly throws the bedsheet over the box. Peter knocks.)

Hi! Peter . . .

PETER

Hi Kelly—sorry!

KELLY

—Come in.

PETER

You’re unlisted now!

KELLY

I am . . .

PETER

I tried calling your land line, and then I tried your cell—I was wondering, I thought maybe it was a work thing, maybe one of your clients got your numbers or something and you / had to change—

KELLY

It’s—yeah, it’s.—I’ve been meaning to call you and—it’s—I just haven’t. I’ve been so / busy—

PETER

Oh, no, of course—

KELLY

I wanted to make sure I had the, that I had enough—energy, mental space, before I called . . .

PETER

Did you, I wasn’t—did you get my letter?

dp n="17" folio="7" ?

KELLY

—I did.

PETER

I was wondering, I wasn’t sure if I had the right address—

KELLY

I did. Yeah, and I just—I’ve been meaning to call—

PETER

No—of course.

KELLY

So...

(Pause.)

Well—sit down, please! I’ll make some tea.

PETER

Oh, tea would be lovely.

KELLY

Were you—in the neighborhood or—you’re in town visiting? . . .

PETER

—I know, barging in like this, I have to apologize.

KELLY

Well—I don’t have a phone.

PETER

(Laughs) Right. No, I didn’t plan on—tonight—it’s actually a bit of a drama actually.

KELLY

Oh?

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(Pause.)

PETER

I’m sorry, is everything—did I, is it a bad—a bad / time or—

KELLY

No. No.

PETER

I just . . .

(Pause.)

KELLY

You know, honestly—when they come to tell you—

(Pause.)

When they came to tell me about Craig, they just showed up—they just / show up, no warning, they don’t call or—

PETER

Oh God. Oh Kelly, I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid.

KELLY

So I was just—a memory ...

PETER

Of course.

KELLY

. . . of the buzzer—I’m fine.

PETER

God, I’m a total idiot.

KELLY

I’m fine.

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PETER

And it’s just about a year, right?

KELLY

Last week. Yeah.

PETER

Last week. Huh. I’ve been—the date was sort of floating around in my head but I’ve been kind of distracted because of these other

. . . I’ve been thinking a lot about the funeral actually.

KELLY

Uh-huh?

PETER

Just how weird it was.

KELLY

Yeah.

PETER

No one really talking.

KELLY

Mm. No one knew what to say.

PETER

About?

KELLY

Just—you know, the shock. Everyone was in shock.

PETER

Okay. I thought you meant—knew what to say, like, weren’t sure what to say because it seemed like maybe what happened wasn’t what the military was saying.

KELLY

Oh.

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PETER

Did you feel that at all? I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, but I felt that underneath a little, that people kind of thought it wasn’t an accident maybe, and that’s why...

Table of contents

• Praise
• BOOKS BY CHRISTOPHER SHINN PUBLISHED BY TCG
• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• PRODUCTION HISTORY
• CHARACTERS
• Chapter 1.
• Chapter 2.
• Chapter 3.
• Chapter 4.
• Chapter 5.
• Chapter 6.
• Chapter 7.
• Copyright Page