(a haunted love story in two acts)
Byron’s been dead nearly two years but Cian’s still having conversations with him. Cian’s brother, Vince, was Byron’s best friend in life. Haunted by fading memories of Byron, Vince is angered by the visits his brother is receiving, particularly because Vince was a constant presence at Byron’s hospital bed during Byron’s last days, while Cian could hardly bring himself to visit twice.
As the brothers fight for custody of Byron’s ghost, the two people who love them push for Vince and Cian to get on with their lives. Gabby, a bartender and Vince’s long-term girlfriend, defends her religious convictions against Vince’s feelings that God has betrayed him by allowing Byron to die. At the same time, Andrew, a reformed hustler, courts Cian but is frustrated by Cian’s continuing devotion to Byron’s memory.
Moving fluidly between past and present, “Heaven and Home” is about the different kinds of love and friendship, grief and loss. How a sense of humor and a hand to hold are sometimes the only things that can lead you out of a dark place. A story of the afterlife and the life after.
Cast of Characters
CIAN McCULLOUGH (pronounced KEE-ann)
male, late 20s, works at a bookstore
VINCENT McCULLOUGH
male, early 30s, Cian’s brother, works at video rental store
GABRIELLE (GABBY) HILLEGAS (pronouned HILL-uh-gus)
female, early 30s, Vincent’s girlfriend, bartender
BYRON WOLF
male, early 30s, best friend to Vincent, mutual friend of Gabby and Cian, ticket agent for airline, dead but still quite active
ANDREW JOELSON
male, late 20s, street hustler (same actor also plays USHER at movie theater)
TIME
The end of winter, 1996, and memories mostly between late 1980s and mid 1990s
PLACE
A college town in Pennsylvania, USA
LOCATIONS
Action moves fluidly between various times and locales, indicated with lighting and a piece or two of furniture as needed — the front stoop of the building Cian lives in; a kitchen table and chairs in Gabby’s apartment; the bar where Gabby works, a rolling cart of books for the bookstore where Cian works; a bed which does duty as the bed in both Vincent and Gabby’s bedrooms; a small grouping of seats in a movie theater; a hospital bed and chair; a hospital waiting area, suggested by a pool of light with a courtesy phone; a pool of light for an area to play basketball (no net necessary); and Byron’s grave.
(photo: 1997-1998 production by The Subterranean Theatre Company (Los Angeles); Doug Sutherland as Cian, Jason Farmer as Andrew)
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