Free Angels in America by Tony Kushner Page A

it’s gone out of business. Forever. The people that make it run have up and abandoned it.
    LOUIS (Looking at the building) : Creepy.
    JOE : Well yes but. I felt that I was going to scream. Not because it was creepy, but because the emptiness felt so fast .
    Â Â Â Â Â  And . . . well, good. A . . . happy scream.
    Â Â Â Â Â  I just wondered what a thing it would be . . . if overnight everything you owe anything to, justice, or love, had really gone away. Free.
    Â Â Â Â Â  It would be . . . heartless terror. Yes. Terrible, and . . .
    Â Â Â Â Â  Very great. To shed your skin, every old skin, one by one and then walk away, unencumbered, into the morning.
    Â Â Â Â Â  (Pause. He looks at the building, then down)
    Â Â Â Â Â  I can’t go in there today.
    LOUIS : Then don’t.
    JOE : I can’t go in, I need . . .
    Â Â Â Â Â  (He looks for what he needs. He takes a swig of Pepto-Bismol)
    Â Â Â Â Â  I can’t be this anymore. I need . . . a change, I should just . . .
    LOUIS : Want some company? For whatever?
    (A possibility of sex still hangs in the air.)
    LOUIS : Sometimes, even if it scares you to death, you have to be willing to break the law. Know what I mean?
    (Little pause.)
    JOE : Yes.
    LOUIS (A beat, then) : I moved out. I moved out on my . . .
    (Little pause; Louis looks down. The sexual possibility disappears.)
    LOUIS : I haven’t been sleeping well.
    JOE : Me neither.
    (Louis licks his napkin and goes up to Joe. He dabs at Joe’s upper lip.)
    LOUIS : Antacid moustache.
    (Louis starts to walk away, then stops and stares at the courthouse. Not looking at Joe:)
    LOUIS : Maybe the court won’t convene. Ever again. Maybe we are free. To do whatever.
    Â Â Â Â Â  Children of the new morning, criminal minds. Selfish and greedy and loveless and blind. Reagan’s children.
    Â Â Â Â Â  (Looking at Joe) You’re scared. So am I. Everybody is in the land of the free.
    (Louis turns and leaves. As he’s exiting:)
    LOUIS : God help us all.
    Scene 8
    Late that night. Joe at a payphone calling Hannah at home in Salt Lake City. Joe’s a little drunk .
    JOE : Mom?
    HANNAH : Joe?
    JOE : Hi.
    HANNAH : You’re calling from the street. It’s . . . it must be four in the morning. What’s happened?
    JOE : Nothing, nothing, I—
    HANNAH : It’s Harper. Is Harper—
    Â Â Â Â Â  Joe?
    Â Â Â Â Â  Joe?
    JOE : Yeah, hi. No, Harper’s fine. Well, no, she’s . . . (He finds this slightly funny) not fine.
    Â Â Â Â Â  (With a grin) How are you, Mom?
    HANNAH : What’s happened?
    JOE : I just wanted to talk to you. I, uh, wanted to try something out on you.
    HANNAH : Joe, you haven’t— Have you been drinking, Joe?
    JOE (A bigger grin) : Yes, ma’am. I’m drunk.
    HANNAH : That isn’t like you.
    JOE : No. I mean— (Again, finding this a little funny) Who’s to say?
    HANNAH : Why are you out on the street at four A.M. ? In that crazy city. It’s dangerous.
    JOE : Actually, Mom, I’m not on the street. I’m near the boathouse in the park.
    HANNAH : What park?
    JOE : Central Park.
    HANNAH : CENTRAL PARK! Oh my Lord. What on earth are you doing in Central Park at this time of night? Are you—
    Â Â Â Â Â  (Very stern) Joe, I think you ought to go home right now. Call me from home.
    (Little pause.)
    HANNAH : Joe?
    JOE : I come here to watch, Mom. Sometimes. Just to watch.
    HANNAH : Watch what? What’s there to watch at four in the—
    JOE : Mom, did Dad love me?
    HANNAH : What?
    JOE : Did he?
    HANNAH : You ought to go home and call from there.
    JOE : Answer.
    HANNAH : Oh now really. This is maudlin. I don’t like this conversation.
    JOE : Yeah, well, it gets worse from here on.
    (Pause.)
    HANNAH : Joe?
    JOE : Mom. Momma. I’m a homosexual, Momma.
    Â Â Â Â Â  (He lowers the receiver and