Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Line in the Sand
    A Line in the Sand
    A Line in the Sand
    Ebook144 pages52 minutes

    A Line in the Sand

    By Guillermo Verdecchia

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In the autumn of 1990, during Operation Desert Storm, two young men, one a troubled Canadian soldier, the other a teenage Palestinian black-marketeer, meet in the scorched Qatari desert. Breaching the divide of a profound cultural misunderstanding and against a backdrop of massive global conflict, these two become unlikely and secret friends. This tenuous friendship is severed by the torture and murder of the 16-year-old Palestinian inside the Canadian base—an act to which the Canadian soldier was at least a witness and perhaps a willing participant.

    Weaving poetic drama with myriad documentary sources, A Line in the Sand rips the benevolent mask off recent western peacekeeping operations and challenges Canada’s long treasured national mythology that it is a nation of quiet diplomats. It asks us to imagine how horrors like these could be perpetrated with our money, in our name and by people much like us.

    Cast of 3 to 5 men.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTalonbooks
    Release dateApr 14, 2016
    ISBN9781772010831
    A Line in the Sand
    Author

    Guillermo Verdecchia

    Guillermo Verdecchia is a writer of drama and fiction as well as a director, dramaturge, translator, and actor. He received the Governor-General's Award for Drama for his play Fronteras Americanas and is a four-time winner of the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. His work includes the critically acclaimed Feast, The Art of Building a Bunker (with Adam Lazarus), the Governor-General shortlisted Noam Chomsky Lectures (with Daniel Brooks), the Seattle Times' Footlight Award-winning Adventures of Ali & Ali (with Marcus Youssef and Camyar Chai), A Line in the Sand (with Marcus Youssef), bloom, and Another Country. His work has been recorded, anthologized, translated into Spanish and Italian, produced in Europe and the US, and is studied in Latin America, Australia, Europe, and North America. He lives in Toronto with Tamsin Kelsey, his partner of many years, and their two children.

    Read more from Guillermo Verdecchia

    Related to A Line in the Sand

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Line in the Sand

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Line in the Sand - Guillermo Verdecchia

      A Line in the Sand

      by

      Guillermo Verdecchia and Marcus Youssef

      TALONBOOKS

      Contents

      Production History

      Characters and Setting

      ACT ONE

      Scene One  •   Scene Two  •   Scene Three  •   Scene Four  •   Scene Five  •   Scene Six  •   Scene Seven

      ACT TWO

      ACT THREE

      Scene One  •   Scene Two

      ALTERNATE SECOND ACT

      Scene One  •   Scene Two  •   Scene Three  •   Scene Four  •   Scene Five

      Endnotes

      About the Author

      Copyright

      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 shoot!

      MERCER:

      Shut up! Who the fuck are you?

      SADIQ:

      Mohammed Sadiq Hamid. Not soldier—Palestinian. Look, look, nice, nice, no gun, no gun …

      MERCER:

      You’re trespassing. This is a militarized zone under the jurisdiction of the United Nations.

      SADIQ:

      No soldiers here. Only water and sand.

      MERCER:

      It’s close enough.

      SADIQ:

      As you say.

      MERCER:

      So fuck off.

      SADIQ:

      Please, just small moment … It’s OK, I got what you want.

      MERCER:

      Why’s your English so good?

      SADIQ:

      I study extra in school.

      MERCER:

      What for?

      SADIQ:

      My uncle in City of Kansas. Owns many homes. Soon I will go. To America.

      MERCER:

      You Palestinians are the guys we’re supposed to watch out for. Might try to car bomb our air base.

      SADIQ:

      Not me, Military Man. I don’t care about that.

      MERCER:

      You part of the uprising, that—uh—in-ti-faggot thing?

      SADIQ:

      Intifada.

      MERCER:

      Whatever the hell it’s called.

      SADIQ:

      That is West Bank, Israel. Is one thousand kilometre from here.

      MERCER:

      Saddam is going to get his ass kicked, you know.

      SADIQ:

      You are right. Big tough American soldier like you—must win for sure—

      MERCER:

      I’m not American, kid, I’m Canadian.

      SADIQ:

      Oh. Canadian. Yes! The peacekeepers. Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques. Dormez-vous … They teach us this song in school …

      MERCER:

      Oh, yeah.

      SADIQ:

      Oui. It is big part of your culture, yes? You speak French, yes?

      MERCER:

      No, I’m from Vancouver.

      SADIQ:

      I could not live like that, all the snow … I like sun—get dark in the Canada for eight months in year, yes?

      MERCER:

      No.

      SADIQ:

      You lying. I know, we learn all about the Canada. Special textbook donated from your government. We look in book and laugh at clothes you people wear. You cut big bear open and climb inside.

      Your skin is like snow, Canada. Maybe you going to melt.

      So tell me, what would you like. I got much for sell to Canadian soldier.

      MERCER:

      Like what?

      SADIQ:

      (cautiously pulls photographs from his bag) Pictures, ­photograph, look at this.

      MERCER:

      (Relaxes, finally puts gun down) Holy shit.

      SADIQ:

      Good hey? Very popular with American soldier. Good for Canadian, too huh. And this.

      MERCER:

      Fuck—where do you get this?

      SADIQ:

      My boss, Salim. He is big merchant, buy from Americans in Cairo. They sell to US Army. For men on base. Is good for Canada too, hey. You like?

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1