A Cold Day in Hell
50 Minutes
1 Male 0 Female Max/Min 1
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Play Excerpt:
Cast List: Charley – middle-aged.
Time: The present
Place: Charley’s home.
Approximate Running Time: 40-45 minutes
Play Excerpt:
Charley:
I was just . . . going through my mind . . . how I can. . . sit next to Betty there and talk about the weather or a ballgame or the leak in the roof- – nothing serious, just another goddamn annoyance when I least need it- – but I’m sitting there making small talk, and . . . I didn’t use to, you-know. I used to talk about reasons for living, stuff like that. I’d say, like, ‘Betty, what you are going through is like a hibernation, so do not worry about it ’cause your body knows what it is doing, and what it is doing is fixing itself up from the inside and keeping you asleep . . . (patting his leg hard): . . . so you do not stir things up!’
(He brings his hands up helplessly, and shrugs; then):
I do not talk to her about her brain. I do not talk to her about that ’cause that is the center of her problem as far as I can understand from what the doctors tell me. You’d need a dictionary to understand them half the time. But, anyway, there is this thing about one side of her brain taking over the workload of the other side- – they told me to think of it like changing shifts in a factory – – but what I am saying is if I was talking to her about her brain I don’t know what side I’m talking to, and if she is hearing me I don’t wanna go and screw things up in there.
(He stares a brief moment- – apologetic, baffled; then):
Hey, maybe you think that’s stupid, but there’s alot of things that look stupid in this world which, believe me, if you knew more about it they might be smart. And I don’t pretend to be a genius like there’s alot of phonies that do!
(Squirms, relaxes a little, then):
So . . . what I do not do is I do not talk to her about her brain. And for a while there, I was talking to her about what sounded to me like some pretty good reasons for living. (Pauses; then): Usually, though, I’d end up with me as being the main reason.
(Pauses., then):
Maybe you think that’s a joke, but I was trying to give her something to hang her hat on.
Yerevan, Armenia, 21 April 2024
Armenia State Song Theatre / HK productions
A Cold Day in Hell portrays one man’s effort at resolving his despair at his dilemma of having a hospitalized, comatose wife, apparently with no hope of recovery, and grown children who seem to him to be self-absorbed and detached from his plight.
A tour-de-force single-character play by author Jan Quackenbush, its actor, Michael Liscio was awarded a 1988 Los Angeles Dramalogue Award in a long-running production by the California Cottage Theatre, 1988-1991.
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Play Details
Play Excerpt:
Cast List: Charley – middle-aged.
Time: The present
Place: Charley’s home.
Approximate Running Time: 40-45 minutes
Play Excerpt:
Charley:
I was just . . . going through my mind . . . how I can. . . sit next to Betty there and talk about the weather or a ballgame or the leak in the roof- – nothing serious, just another goddamn annoyance when I least need it- – but I’m sitting there making small talk, and . . . I didn’t use to, you-know. I used to talk about reasons for living, stuff like that. I’d say, like, ‘Betty, what you are going through is like a hibernation, so do not worry about it ’cause your body knows what it is doing, and what it is doing is fixing itself up from the inside and keeping you asleep . . . (patting his leg hard): . . . so you do not stir things up!’
(He brings his hands up helplessly, and shrugs; then):
I do not talk to her about her brain. I do not talk to her about that ’cause that is the center of her problem as far as I can understand from what the doctors tell me. You’d need a dictionary to understand them half the time. But, anyway, there is this thing about one side of her brain taking over the workload of the other side- – they told me to think of it like changing shifts in a factory – – but what I am saying is if I was talking to her about her brain I don’t know what side I’m talking to, and if she is hearing me I don’t wanna go and screw things up in there.
(He stares a brief moment- – apologetic, baffled; then):
Hey, maybe you think that’s stupid, but there’s alot of things that look stupid in this world which, believe me, if you knew more about it they might be smart. And I don’t pretend to be a genius like there’s alot of phonies that do!
(Squirms, relaxes a little, then):
So . . . what I do not do is I do not talk to her about her brain. And for a while there, I was talking to her about what sounded to me like some pretty good reasons for living. (Pauses; then): Usually, though, I’d end up with me as being the main reason.
(Pauses., then):
Maybe you think that’s a joke, but I was trying to give her something to hang her hat on.
Yerevan, Armenia, 21 April 2024
Armenia State Song Theatre / HK productions