THE SET-UP
Seth is a young Marine serving during wartime. Nicholas is his civilian longtime companion who waits back home. In addition to the strain on their relationship caused by distance and absence, they must hide their love for one another behind code words and secret identities because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the United States military. Seth’s mother Anne assists them by providing the cover of a woman’s handwriting for Nicholas’ daily letters, but Nicholas and Seth’s resolve is starting to weaken. Jonas, another young gay Marine in Seth’s unit just coming to terms with his identity, forms an intense bond with Seth overseas.
Here, Jonas tries to explain to Seth just what meeting Seth means to him.
The full scene this speech is from is also available here online under the title
Desert Night Watch
“Soap and dirt and blood and sand.”
JONAS
You’re the only one. I grew up in a state that was one big walk-in closet. I grew up in a town so small it isn’t on most maps. You’re the only one.
Meeting you was a miracle.
You’re the only one I can trust. Here.
I remember that first day. The showers.
Seeing you. All of you. The tiny streams of water pulling the sand down and out of the creases in your skin. The lines of muscle. The places the sun had burned you, and the places it couldn’t reach. The mounds, and planes. The gooseflesh. The scars and scabs. Everything that makes you human and beautiful. Breathing. In and out. Caressing. Soap and dirt and blood and sand.
(photo: (left to right) Ryan Henderson as Seth and James Doyle as Jonas in the 2011 production of “Leave” by Urban Samurai Productions; photography by Ron Ravensborg; scenic design by Erica Zaffarano)
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