boxes from three houses by dave malloy

BECKETT
my new place was humble;
just a little utah-shaped room
in the basement of a butcher shop.
one little window
looking out on a graveyard.

it was the first place i found.

i didn’t have any furniture.
i let jackie have it all.
wanted to be as low-conflict as possible.
so all i had was a bunch of frayed cardboard boxes
borrowed from a friend
who had just left a poet.
they had sharpie scrawls all over them
naming rooms that i didn’t have.
“office”
“attic”
“den”

i started out sleeping on the floor,
thinking, ok tomorrow i’ll run out to the store,
get an air mattress or something.
but—i don’t know, i just kind of got used to it.

it felt monastic.
like i was doing penance.

(a giant marionette spider descends from the rafters, operated by susan.)

SHELOB
such a good boy.

BECKETT
oh yeah, the place had spiders too.

SHELOB
atone for the darkness within.

BECKETT
that’s right shelob!
yeah, i named her shelob.
so fucking basic.

SHELOB
you belong here with us spiders.
hidden away in the basement
with the other cursed things.

BECKETT
i had had plans to you know, do the place up—
but i just kind of lost my drive.
i ordered some basics on amazon:
a beanbag chair, a bath mat, a couple sauce pans,
a…colander?
not like i cooked.

honestly the grocery store freaked me out,
and i really didn’t want to leave the house.

BECKETT, SUSAN & SADIE
that’s death out there!

BECKETT
actual, literal death.

i could hear it,
going door to door—

WOLF
<howl>

BECKETT
yeah no thanks.

mostly i did delivery—
a lot of delivery.

tracking the driver on my phone,
watching them out the peephole,
waiting till they’re gone.
crack open the door,
snatch my food,
slam it shut.

BECKETT, SUSAN & SADIE
sanitize—

BECKETT
eat my dindin with a plastic fork.
reclining on my boxes
while binging old horror movies:
night of the living dead,
bride of frankenstein,
and the wolfman.

(a knock at the door. beckett freezes)

• Experimental
• theatre
• New York