The Boys of Winter by Barry Brodsky
CHARACTERS
1. Narrator, male, also plays Hockey Coach, Doug’s dad, Army recruiter
2. Doug, male high school senior
3. Bean, male high school senior
4. Big Al, male high school senior
5. Cathy, female high school senior
6. Female – Doug’s mom, Physics Teacher, Kathy as adult
SYNOPSIS
1. PROLOGUE
A homeless looking man...
CHARACTERS
1. Narrator, male, also plays Hockey Coach, Doug’s dad, Army recruiter
2. Doug, male high school senior
3. Bean, male high school senior
4. Big Al, male high school senior
5. Cathy, female high school senior
6. Female – Doug’s mom, Physics Teacher, Kathy as adult
SYNOPSIS
1. PROLOGUE
A homeless looking man (the Narrator) takes center stage and tells the audience that what they are going to see is the story of his youth. He introduces three young men, high school seniors on their school hockey team in White Lake, Minnesota in 1966. He says that one of the three is him, but he doesn’t say which one. They need to win their last two games in order to be the first White Lake team to make the state tourney in 20 years. As he leaves the stage to take the role of the hockey coach, the narrator lets the audience know that all three went to Vietnam, and he was the only one to return.
2. ACT ONE
The three boys, Doug, Bean, and Big Al are excited that they are close to the tourney. Their coach, Arne, will probably retire after this year and wants to go out a winner. Doug is in trouble in his physics class and his girlfriend, Cathy, is helping him study. If he fails the test, he will be off the team right before the big games. Doug’s father, Merle, tells Doug that a young man should serve his country during wartime, as he did in WW2. Doug’s mother, Sandy, wants Doug to go to college and stay away from the military. The tension in the house around this issue is palpable. Cathy talks with Doug about her cousin Jill who is living the hippy life in San Francisco – why don’t they both go and join her? Doug doesn’t consider this an option.
At school, Al tells the other two that he’s seriously considering joining the Army. He isn’t doing that well in school either, and the Army recruiter is promising he will get training to be a mechanic. Bean is running with a “bad crowd” and belittles Al for thinking of joining the Army. The team wins its next game; one more win and they’re in the Tourney. A hockey scout from the U. of Minnesota was in the stands and Doug feels confident about being offered a hockey scholarship. But Cathy informs him that he’s failed his test. Doug is devastated. Meanwhile, Bean has gotten arrested for stealing a car and is bounced off the hockey team.
Arne visits Mrs. Milton, Doug’s Physics teacher, to plead his case. It turns out they have a history and Mrs. Milton seems adamant. But when Arne informs her that Doug will probably join the military if he doesn’t get the hockey scholarship, she relents and allows him to re-take the test. At home, Merle is not happy with Doug and they continue to argue. Sandy tells Merle she’ll drive him to Canada if she has to.
3. ACT TWO
Doug passes the test and the team wins its final game to make the Tournament. The judge offers Bean a deal – join the Marines and we’ll wipe your record clean. Bean accepts the deal and leaves for boot camp.
Al is disenchanted with his life and Doug goes with him to visit the Army recruiter. Despite Doug’s pleas, Al signs on the dotted line and soon leaves for Basic Training. Doug and his Dad continue to bicker over his future; Doug says that if he doesn’t get the hockey scholarship, he will join the military. Cathy tells Doug that she’s pretty much decided to move to California and wants him to join her. Doug is now considering this, though he knows it will displease his parents, especially is father. After losing the Tournament game, Doug finds out that Bean has been killed in Vietnam. Distraught and confused, he rushes down to the recruiter’s office to sign up.
The narrator recalls, and the audience sees, Doug and Big Al’s paths crossing during a battle in Vietnam. Doug is depressed that Cathy has broken up with him and thinks he made a big mistake turning down the hockey scholarship. Al tells him that they’ll rebuild their lives when they return home, and that Doug should keep his mind on staying alive. The two friends part.
4. EPILOGUE
The narrator tells the audience that Doug was killed soon after that meeting, and that he, the Narrator, is Big Al.
Al, now in his 60’s and surviving on a small disability pension, tracks down Cathy in San Francisco where she has settled and lived a satisfying life. They reminisce about their youth and voice their regrets and sadness over the deaths of their friends.
The narrator regularly visits the Vietnam memorial in Washington, DC and camps out nearby. As he sits on a bench, Doug and Bean re-appear, skating across the stage and calling out to Al. The Narrator reaches out for them, but the young Big Al comes skating out and the Narrator watches sadly as his younger self and his best friends skate “home.”