Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth Read online

  Copyright © 2008 by Richard Schenkman

  Cover art by

  The Drawing Board Art Studio / David E. Wilkinson

  www.dbastudio.com

  Motion picture photos © 2007 Man From Earth, LLC

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that JEROME BIXBY’S THE MAN FROM EARTH is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, the British Commonwealth, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. In its present form the play is dedicated to the reading public only.

  The amateur live stage performance rights to JEROME BIXBY’S THE MAN FROM EARTH are controlled exclusively by Samuel French, Inc., and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation. PLEASE NOTE that amateur royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances. When applying for a royalty quotation and license please give us the number of performances intended, dates of production, your seating capacity and admission fee. Royalties are payable one week before the opening performance of the play to Samuel French, Inc., at 45 W. 25th Street, New York, NY 10010.

  Royalty of the required amount must be paid whether the play is presented for charity or gain and whether or not admission is charged.

  Stock royalty quoted upon application to Samuel French, Inc. For all other rights than those stipulated above, apply to: Samuel French, Inc., at 45 W. 25th Street, New York, NY 10010.

  Particular emphasis is laid on the question of amateur or professional readings, permission and terms for which must be secured in writing from Samuel French, Inc.

  Copying from this book in whole or in part is strictly forbidden by law, and the right of performance is not transferable.

  Whenever the play is produced the following notice must appear on all programs, printing and advertising for the play: “Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.”

  Due authorship credit must be given on all programs, printing and advertising for the play.

  9780573803970

  Printed in U.S.A.

  #12930

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHARACTERS

  ACT I

  PRODUCTION STILLS FROM THE MOTION PICTURE JEROME BIXBY’S THE MAN FROM EARTH

  No one shall commit or authorize any act or omission by which the copyright of, or the right to copyright, this play may be impaired.

  No one shall make any changes in this play for the purpose of production.

  Publication of this play does not imply availability for performance. Both amateurs and professionals considering a production are strongly advised in their own interests to apply to Samuel French, Inc., for written permission before starting rehearsals, advertising, or booking a theatre.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, now known or yet to be invented, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, videotaping, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  IMPORTANT BILLING AND CREDIT REQUIREMENTS

  All producers of JEROME BIXBY’S THE MAN FROM EARTH must give credit to the Author of the Play in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play, and in all instances in which the title of the Play appears for the purposes of advertising, publicizing or otherwise exploiting the Play and/or a production. The name of the Author must appear on a separate line on which no other name appears, immediately following the title and must appear in size of type not less than fifty percent of the size of the title type.

  “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth”

  Motion Picture Production Credits

  FALLING SKY ENTERTAINMENT

  Presents

  A Film By

  RICHARD SCHENKMAN

  JEROME BIXBY’S THE MAN FROM EARTH

  Directed By

  RICHARD SCHENKMAN

  Written By

  JEROME BIXBY

  Produced By

  RICHARD SCHENKMAN

  ERIC D. WILKINSON

  Executive Producers

  EMERSON BIXBY

  MARK PELLINGTON

  Director of Photography

  AFSHIN SHAHIDI

  Production Designer

  PRISCILLA ELLIOT

  Editor

  NEIL GRIEVE

  Music Composed By

  MARK HINTON STEWART

  Casting by

  ELISABETH JERESKI

  Costume Designer

  JILL KLIBER

  Unit Production Manager/First Assistant Director

  MICHAEL R. MELAMED

  Second Assistant Director

  DANIEL R. SUHART

  Sound Supervisor

  JAMEY SCOTT

  Art Director

  LAUREN RUGGERI

  Co-Producer

  ROBBIE BRYAN

  Associate Producer

  MICHAEL R. MELAMED

  Line Producer

  STEVEN ALEXANDER

  2nd Second Assistant Director

  CHAD STEINER

  Cast

  (in order of appearance)

  John DAVID LEE SMITH

  Dan TONY TODD

  Harry JOHN BILLINGSLEY

  Edith ELLEN CRAWFORD

  Sandy ANNIKA PETERSON

  Art WILLIAM KATT

  Linda ALEXIS THORPE

  Gruber RICHARD RIEHLE

  Moving Man #1 STEVEN LITTLES

  Moving man #2 CHASE SPRAGUE

  Officer ROBBIE BRYAN

  CHARACTERS

  JOHN OLDMAN – About 35, good looking, competent, easygoing history professor

  DAN – 60-ish professor of anthropology; big, fit

  HARRY – 50’s professor of biology; stocky, likable

  EDITH – 50’s, art history professor; a hint of the spinster about her

  SANDY – Late 20’s; fiercely intelligent, but reticent

  ART – 50’s, but holding desperately onto youth; archeology professor

  LINDA – Very pretty young student; wide-eyed, yet smart

  WILL GRUBER – 75, large, mustachioed, bluff

  MOVING MAN #1 – Burly, uniformed mover from “Charity Now”

  MOVING MAN #2 – Another uniformed mover from “Charity Now”

  PARAMEDIC – Uniformed EMS worker (can be played by a Moving Man)

  COP – Young uniformed officer (can be played by a Moving Man)

  SCENE

  A cabin in the California desert.

  TIME

  The present.

  ACT I

  Scene 1

  (SETTING: Low desert in California. Winter. Late afternoon. An expanse of tan dirt, dotted with cacti. A small cabin a distance from the road, a log fence, an irregular patch of lawn.)

  (A pickup truck is parked nearby; in it and near it are boxes of various items, many books, utensils, clothing, etc.)

  (NOTE: Most of the action will take place inside the cabin, and some on the porch, but some will also occur in the yard and by the truck and so there should be a representation of the exterior, even if it is more stylized than realistic. Nearly everything will play out in real time. Over the course of the next eighty minutes or so, the sun will sink lower into the sky until finally darkness falls.)

  (AT RISE: JOHN OLDMAN, wearing a sweater and jeans, lifts a box off the ground and hefts it into the bed of the truck.)


  (JOHN picks up a snowboard, finds room for it in a box. This act exposes something that looks like a small van Gogh, leaning against another box.)

  (We hear a car arrive O.S.; the door opens, closes. JOHN glances toward the sound… for a split-second, he looks impatient. He then waves at the visitor, DAN, who walks onstage wearing a warm winter jacket.)

  DAN. (coming up) You don’t waste time.

  JOHN. I try not to.

  (JOHN struggles to lift a heavy box of books onto the wagon’s gate.)

  DAN. Give you a hand?

  JOHN. Sure.

  (DAN grabs the other end of the box, and it’s done. We hear another car arrive O.S., accompanied by O.S. chatter as the passengers get out. )

  (The new arrivals are EDITH, HARRY, and SANDY, who doesn’t look entirely happy.)

  (All wear warm garb, carrying plates of wrapped food. They are all somewhat upset with John.)

  HARRY. Would you like to tell us what the hell that was all about?

  (JOHN’s eyes meet SANDY’s, and he looks away.)

  JOHN. I don’t like good-bye’s.

  HARRY. Kind of the point of a goodbye party.

  (SANDY’s eyes are on JOHN. She wants to say something, but doesn’t. There’s clearly something between them.)

  HARRY (cont’d) We went to a certain amount of trouble, John. You could have at least stayed a few minutes, eaten some of the food we so feverishly prepared.

  JOHN. I apologize.

  (HARRY wants an explanation, but decides to let it go. EDITH gives JOHN a hug.)

  EDITH. Why are you moving so quickly? You only resigned two days –

  DAN. You got the history chair at Stanford!

  JOHN. I wish.

  (HARRY hefts the plates. Tries to lighten it up:)

  HARRY. Pork chops, tacos, tuna salad, and Pom. If we’d had time, we’d have done something more grandiose. Candlelight dinner at McDonald’s, strippers…

  JOHN. (smiles) Pork chops will do. Thanks.

  DAN. Art’ll be along, too. He’s… talking to a student.

  (All generally acknowledge what Art is really up to.)

  EDITH. (changing the subject) Is George taking over for you?

  JOHN. Or Trimble. (looks at SANDY) The Dean made up his mind yet?

  SANDY. He hasn’t called.

  (EDITH has spotted the “Van Gogh.” Stares, bends over for a closer look.)

  EDITH. My God! What is this? It looks like a van Gogh, but I’ve never seen it before!

  DAN. It can’t be an original.

  JOHN. ’Course not. Just a gift.

  EDITH. Still…it’s a superb copy. Contemporaneous, I think. (glances at JOHN) May I?

  (Off JOHN’s nod, she picks up the painting reverently.)

  EDITH (cont’d) These are the same stretchers van Gogh used.

  DAN. Hey, there’s writing on the back, in French.

  EDITH. (reading) “To my friend, Jacques Borne.” I wonder who he was.

  JOHN. Somebody he knew, I guess.

  HARRY. That’s a brilliant deduction.

  (HARRY continues on into the house.)

  EDITH. Surely you’ll have it looked at sometime. Appraised?

  JOHN. Maybe sometime. I wouldn’t be interested in money for it.

  (JOHN has been putting stuff into the wagon. EDITH gives him the painting. He puts it carefully in, slams the tailgate. )

  JOHN (cont’d) That’s about it, for now. Come on inside?

  (They walk toward the porch. EDITH looks back once.

  The Van Gogh. JOHN calls out to HARRY:)

  JOHN (cont’d) Just put the stuff in the kitchen. Electricity’s on, the gas is off.

  (They enter the cabin. The room is barren of almost everything except furniture. Empty bookshelves, no pictures or knickknacks. A fire burns low in the fireplace.)

  (People shed their jackets. HARRY unpacks food in the kitchen.)

  (EDITH moves toward the kitchen, joining HARRY. SANDY moves near the fire, gazes absentmindedly.)

  JOHN (cont’d) (to others) Get comfortable while you can. Furniture’s going this afternoon.

  DAN. It’s been years since I sat on a floor. I’ve forgotten her name.

  HARRY. It’s good for the back.

  EDITH. Can we do yoga exercises?

  HARRY. That’s even better.

  (JOHN and DAN settle into chairs. A moment of silence. )

  DAN. So you’re leaving good old We Teach U. Rather suddenly, you’ll admit. Truth time. Is there a problem, John?

  (JOHN shakes his head.)

  DAN (cont’d) You know we’d want to help.

  JOHN. That’s appreciated. But, no, there’s no problem.

  (SANDY’s face shows concern, and a little resentment.)

  DAN. Well, I guess I’m plain curious. Where are you going?

  (JOHN indicates that he doesn’t know.)

  HARRY. (still in kitchen) You’re giving up tenure?

  DAN. – a decade of professorship, in line to chair the department, and you don’t know where you’re going? Now I am curious.

  JOHN. Call it cabin fever. After a while my feet get itchy. I’ve done it before.

  DAN. You’re too young to have done it before.

  EDITH. (in kitchen) And he hasn’t aged a day in ten years!

  Every woman on the faculty would give anything for his secret.

  HARRY. (in kitchen) Is that what you’re after!

  EDITH. (in kitchen) Oh, Harry, you stop that!

  (SANDY has moved near a fine hunting bow, leaning by the door. A rack of arrows. Several packed boxes nearby. She leans over to pick it up. Tries the tension and winces.)

  SANDY. Whoa! Can you pull this?

  DAN. What do you hunt?

  JOHN. Deer, mostly. Up around Big Bear.

  HARRY. What – ?

  (HARRYand EDITH return from the kitchen.)

  DAN. Some people can’t bag a deer with a rifle and telescopic sight.

  HARRY. With a bow and arrow?

  DAN. Good eating.

  JOHN. The best. Wild game. It eats naturally, lives naturally –

  (JOHN falls silent, hearing a motorcycle pulling up O. S. Opens the door, steps outside…

  The motorcycle is turned off and we hear O.S. chatter as two people remove their helmets and approach the cabin: ART JENKINS, and LINDA, a student.)

  JOHN (cont’d) Art.

  ART. John.

  (They shake hands.)

  You remember Linda? Had her last year. Now she’s one of my victims. I’m…taking her home, she wanted to say hi and good-bye to you.

  JOHN. Hi, Linda. Is Art as tough as I hear?

  LINDA. Archeology’s tough. Dr. Jenkins is a fine teacher.

  (As ART and LINDA enter the house:)

  ART. Very politic.

  LINDA. Very true!

  (As JOHN closes the door, ART hands him a book:)

  ART. To read on the road.

  JOHN. (reading) “Shadows of the Cave – Our Parallels to Early Man,” by Arthur M. Jenkins. Thanks, Art.

  ART. Publish or perish, eh?

  JOHN. I’d certainly rather read than write another book.

  ART. Where are you going? Like we care.

  DAN. We’ve already covered that. He gets itchy feet.

  HARRY. There are over-the-counter remedies for that.

  (JOHN doesn’t laugh.)

  DAN. Then there is a problem?

  JOHN. No. I just like to move on now and then. It’s a personal thing.

  DAN. Not to pry.

  (A long, uncomfortable beat. JOHN has shut them all down. They wonder if they should leave …He suddenly warms:)

  JOHN. Well, I can’t offer you much, except seats for your behinds, and conversation. But I do have this!

  (pulls out a bottle)

  HARRY. Johnny Walker Blue? I didn’t even know they made it in blue! What do they pay you?

  JOHN. Nothing’s too good for my friends. But we’re down to paper cups.

&
nbsp; DAN. A sacrilege I’ll tolerate.

  (JOHN pours whiskey for them. As he pours SANDY’s cup, their eyes meet. Again, she wants to say something, but doesn’t. JOHN starts to pour LINDA a cup, and she shakes her head.)

  LINDA. Thanks, Dr. Oldman. I don’t drink.

  HARRY. We won’t card you, sweetheart…

  (Still, she demurs. Those with cups raise them.)

  DAN. Long life and good fortune to our friend and colleague, John Oldman. May he find undeserved bliss, wherever he goes. Skoal!

  (They drink.)

  (Moment of silence. Now what?)

  ART. Well, John, we’re all sorry to see you go. Truly. Now what do we do with the rest of the afternoon?

  HARRY. Anyone got a good topic?

  (DAN has been looking over the bow again. Now he spots something in one of the boxes nearby.)