Chimera. Wendy Lill
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Contents
Acknowledgements
The playwright would like to thank Marti Maraden for commissioning Chimera at the National Art Centre and Lise Ann Johnson for her steadfast support.
In terms of the subject matter, the play could not have been written without the tremendous help and guidance of Dr. Françoise Baylis, Chair in Bioethics and Philosophy, Dalhousie University. Thanks also to Jason Scott Robert, at the Centre for Biology and Society, Arizona State University; Margaret Somerville, author, and professor of Law and Medicine, McGill University; and Dr. Jane Roskams, Department of Zoology, the University of British Columbia. Any errors or exaggerations in the area of science and bioethics are purely the responsibility of the playwright.
I would also like to acknowledge the enormous contributions made by actors during the development of the play: (NAC) Mary Long, Mary Ellis, Lorne Pardy, John Koensgen, Pierre Simpson, and Paul Rainville; (Banff playWrites Colony) Ian Leung, Carmen Aguirre, Raoul Bhaneja, David Beazely, Brian Dooley, Val Pearson and Birgitte Solem; (Tarragon Theatre) John Dolan, Philippa Domville, David Fox, Joan Gregson, David Jansen and Geoffrey Pounsett. I would also like to thank Luisa Appolloni, Joanna Falck and Richard Rose. And as always, Mary Vingoe for her patience, her passion and her quest for ideas.
Finally, the playwright acknowledges the assistance of the 2006 Banff playWrites Colony—a partnership between the Canada Council for the Arts, the Banff Centre and Alberta Theatre Projects.
Chimera was first performed at Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, January 2, 2007, with the following cast and crew:
| ROY RUGGLES | David Jansen |
| RICHARD DOYLE | Geoffrey Pounsett |
| GEORGE FANNING | David Fox |
| CLARE McGUIRE | Philippa Domville |
| EDWARD LLOYD | John Dolan |
| NELL HARRIER | Joan Gregson |
| VOICE OF BOONE | Tom McCamus |
| Director | Mary Vingoe |
| Set and Costume Designer | Judith Bowden |
| Lighting Designer | Andrea Lundy |
| Sound Designer | John Gzowski |
| Stage Manager | Alison Peddie |
Characters
CHIMERA
(Key-meer-ah)
Ottawa, Canada, 2004.
ROY RUGGLES, reporter; narrator
CLARE McGUIRE, MP, Summerside, PEI; Minister of Justice; mid-forties
RICHARD DOYLE, McGuire’s Executive Assistant; late-twenties to early-thirties
GEORGE FANNING, MP, White Cloud, Alberta
NELL HARRIER, scientist; gardener; late-sixties
EDWARD (EDDIE) LLOYD, lawyer; lobbyist
Act One
Light up on ROY RUGGLES, dressed in jeans and a sports jacket, wearing a pair of swimming goggles. He is holding a well-thumbed paperback edition of The Origin of Species.
ROY:
In this story, only the strongest, the fittest, the fiercest survive. Only the wily remain standing when the dawn breaks. The Origin of Species. Charles Darwin. Wrote it about a million monkeys ago. Friend of mine gave it to me, thought I needed some winter reading. (opens book, flips through and reads) “If we could but dimly see ... if we could turn our imaginings to this teeming awesome race, the true nature of this struggle ...” (closes the book) Charles Darwin. Now there’s a guy who knew all about stalling. He stumbled upon the very essence of life, but decided to keep it to himself. Didn’t want to tell his friends they’d come from pond scum, not angels. Couldn’t bear to break his devout wife’s heart. So instead of broadcasting his news to the world, he stuffed it in a drawer for fifteen years and went off to study butterflies. I mean it’s one thing to want to pick your spots ... but fifteen years? Come on. That’s a helluva long time to sit on a ... (stops, takes a deep breath) But this isn’t Darwin’s story. It’s mine.
Lights change.
1/1 MINISTER’S OFFICE
Six months earlier. Light up on RICHARD DOYLE entering with a pile of mail and reports, already on the phone.
DOYLE:
Hey Leah. What’s up? Vaccines. Really? Linked to ADD and ADHD? Leah, we went to the seminar, we read the books, we made a decision and now because of some flyer that came through the mail you’re not going to get Victoria vaccinated? I gotta go. PMO’s on the other line, (switches lines) Good morning, Jay. (listens) No, not back yet. She went on a tour of a biotech lab in Orleans and then was heading straight to the press conference to launch Science on the Hill ...
1/2 THE HOT ROOM
ROY sits down at his desk in the House of Commons newsroom, “The Hot Room.” Disheveled, he begins plowing through a stack of press releases.
ROY:
(reads) Improvements to the RCMP pension plan. How about a decent pension plan for the rest of us? (another) MP, Winnipeg South—Curfews for teenagers. I could get behind that ... (another) Ban transfats in beer. That’s going over the top. (another) Finding birth parents. Leave ’em buried, (throws the press releases aside and starts searching for something) Where the hell is the government directory?
1/3 MINISTER’S OFFICE
DOYLE:
Really? You thought it was too bright? I thought it was rather bold ... but in a good way ... good bold. It’s a great colour on her. He wants women, Jay—that’s the new mantra, and women like ...