Issue #20 (2011) PDF - myweb - Long Island University

DOVES AND MARTYRS
Cast of characters
FRITZ KINZELMAN: A heavy-set Caucasian male in his mid-fifties. He wears a worn plaid shirt
and rubber boots.
DR. EMAMI ABED: A fit Indian male in his mid-fifties. He wears a long white coat. His hair is
feathered back.
LYDIA: A multiracial female in her mid-twenties. She wears khaki pants and a Chelsea soccer jersey.
Doctor’s office. The Present. Albany, New York. Spring.
Morning.
The room has a cozy, homestyle vibe. Pictures of the doctor‟s daughters adorn the far wall.
Lights come up on FRITZ KINZELMAN, who sits on one of those beds with the paper sheets, fully dressed.
DR. EMAMI ABED enters the room. Unlike the archetypal doctor, he does not hold a clipboard. Instead, he
carries a stuffed bear holding a big red heart. Upon seeing FRITZ, he turns his back.
Emami.
FRITZ
Pause
EMAMI
We need to talk about something very important. Okay I want you to put on your big listening ears.
This is what I‘ve been worried about since your seizure.
Pause. EMAMI faces FRITZ.
You do have cancer.
Pause. EMAMI hands FRITZ the bear. FRITZ gazes at it.
It‘s in the back of your head. Now, we can‘t take it out safely since the tumor‘s pushing on the
surrounding tissue. So we‘re not left with many options. We‘re starting you on radiation on Monday.
Pause
I wish this were a dream.
Pause
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