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. Tyson, a former Army soldier who got fed up with “don’t ask, don’t tell” and didn’t reenlist, now works alongside Nicholas, providing temptation as well as a reality check. When Seth returns home for an unexpected leave, with Jonas at his side, and post-traumatic stress following him from the battlefield, old relationships are tested, and new ones bloom.
The scene immediately preceding this one, in which Seth and Nicholas argue, is also available here online under the title”
Betrayal Argument
“You shouldn’t feel bad about walking away from a game that’s been stacked against you before it even starts.”
ANNE walks out of another part of the dark.
As she speaks, SETH dresses and goes to her.
ANNE
You need to get out.
SETH
It’s my decision.
ANNE
I hear it in your voice. You’re wavering.
SETH
It’s Nicholas.
ANNE
You wanted to change the Marines, but the Marines changed you. It’s affecting your whole family.
SETH
Nothing gets better if people like me stop trying.
ANNE
How much should you have to give up to prove a point, Seth?
SETH
A Marine is who I am now. I can’t just “stop.” I carry that with me, always. What else would I do for a job?
ANNE
There are no limits to what you can do.
SETH
That’s a mother talking.
ANNE
That’s the mother of a Marine talking. If you can do that, you can do anything.
SETH
Mom, I kill people for a living.
ANNE
You don’t take any pleasure in it.
SETH
Then it’s OK. If I kill people, as long as I have the decency to feel bad about it afterwards.
ANNE
You do it only as a last resort.
SETH
We get to the last resort pretty quickly over there these days, Mom. I’m actually quite good at it. One of the best in my unit. Jonas could tell you stories.
ANNE
It’s no good trying to shock me.
SETH
I shoot. I stab. I break. I twist. I snap. I crush. I’m remarkably versatile.
ANNE
Are you trying to get me to hate you?
SETH
Is it working?
ANNE
No.
I’m your mother.
SETH
Well, it’s no fun if you’re not going to play along.
ANNE
We both know killing isn’t all you do. Regardless, did you ever stop to think you’re too compartmentalized? Over there, you’re only a Marine – here, you’re only a man? That’s what they’re forcing you to do. If both parts of your life could blend together a little more, maybe —
SETH
I’m pretty sure all the other guys, even the straight ones, are having challenges getting back to “normal” after what we’ve been doing. That’s just military life. Being a happy gay man writing letters to my husband isn’t going to change that.
ANNE
But it might make it more bearable.
SETH
That’s not the world we’re living in.
ANNE
Then get out.
SETH
I’m in the middle of it now.
ANNE
There was a way in. There has to be a way out. If you want to find it. The Marines losing you would be a big loss. But it should be. They should feel it. They should know what it costs them.
SETH
If I leave, it feels like giving up. Like they win. Like the wrong people, the wrong way of doing things, win.
ANNE
You shouldn’t feel bad about walking away from a game that’s been stacked against you before it even starts.
SETH
If everybody quits, nothing changes.
ANNE
If everybody quits, something will have to change.
No one person can change this. No one person should be required to try. And that includes you.
(photo: (left to right) Ryan Henderson as Seth and Tina Sigel as Anne in the 2011 Minneapolis production of “Leave” by Urban Samurai Productions; photography by Ron Ravensborg; scenic design by Erica Zaffarano)
Leave a Reply