A Line in the Sand
by
Guillermo Verdecchia and Marcus Youssef
TALONBOOKS
Contents
Scene One • Scene Two • Scene Three • Scene Four • Scene Five • Scene Six • Scene Seven
Scene One • Scene Two • Scene Three • Scene Four • Scene Five
For
Souad and Mark Moussa, in memory
—M.Y.
Alejandro and Roberto Verdecchia
—G.V.
Thanks to: Karim Alrawi, Robin Benger, Mordecai Briemberg, Dennis Foon, Urjo Kareda, Laila Maher, Doug and Janette Pirie, George Youssef, Roleene Youssef; Norman Armour and Darren Copeland at Wireless Grafitti; Roy Surette at Touchstone Theatre and Donna Spencer at the Firehall Theatre; friends on and around Commercial Drive.
Special thanks to Tamsin Kelsey for tremendous support, patience and more; to Amanda Fritzlan for love, wisdom and level-headed advice; and Zakaraiya Youssef, born the night of our first preview.
The authors also wish to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the actors who performed in the Vancouver and Toronto productions.
A Line in the Sand was first produced in Vancouver at the New Play Centre in April of 1995 with the following cast:
MERCER: Vincent Gale
SADIQ: Camyar Chai
COLONEL: Tom Butler
NORMAN: Norman Armour
MARCUS YOUSSEF: Marcus Patrick Youssef
Directed by Guillermo Verdecchia
Stage Managed by Michel Bisson
Designed by Adrian Muir
The play was revised and presented in Toronto at the Tarragon Theatre in April of 1996 with the following cast:
MERCER: Vincent Gale
SADIQ / ACTOR 2: Camyar Chai
COLONEL / ACTOR 1: Tom Butler
Directed by Guillermo Verdecchia
Stage Managed by Kristen Gilbert
Designed by Glenn Davidson and Sue Lepage
The text that follows is from the Tarragon production.
Characters
MERCER, a Canadian soldier, approximately 20 years old
SADIQ, a Palestinian boy, approximately 17 years old
COLONEL, a Canadian soldier, at least 45 years old
Setting
The play is set in the desert just outside of Doha, Qatar, during Operation Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf in the late fall of 1990.
Act One
Scene One
MERCER is alone in the sand. His gun is out of reach. He splashes water from a canteen onto his face. SADIQ enters.
SADIQ:
Hey.
Mister. Man.
Hey. Military man.
MERCER stops.
MERCER:
Paul James Mercer. Private. 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. I am serving with the multinational coalition—
SADIQ:
It is OK. I have no gun.
MERCER:
Who are you?
SADIQ:
No one. I come in peace.
SADIQ sets his large nylon bag down and MERCER grabs his gun.
MERCER:
Get your fucking hands in the air!
SADIQ:
Please, please, it is OK—
MERCER:
I said, get ’em in the air!
SADIQ:
Don’t
