The Hearts of Blue Whales

By Dave Malone and Kerry McIntosh

Jessie and Chance have a history. In this two-act play set in Kansas City, Jessie and Chance are the sole characters who meet up again six years after their last meeting.

Chance, a musician, finds out his band's gig is cancelled, so stuck in his motel room, he invites his former lover, Jessie, to dinner.Soon, Chance can't help but want to date Jessie again, but the distant-from-her-feelings Jessie backs away. While they sip bourbon in Chance's room, Jessie’s struggle to stay sober is revealed. She claims to be damaged goods and blames her meth-dealing Ozark father and absent mother. Undeterred by her murky past, Chance believes Jessie can love and be loved, but can she overcome her troubled background and insecurities?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dave Malone
• Release date: Mar 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311259387

Dave Malone

Dave Malone is the author of seven books of poetry, including You Know the Ones. He has also authored two novelet series and coauthored the stageplay, The Hearts of Blue Whales. His poem, "Spring Dress," was featured on Michel Martin's NPR program Tell Me More. Dave lives in West Plains, Missouri, and hosts the weekly Friday Poems series at his website, davemalone.net.

Book preview

What I appreciate about this play is that we never arrive at an answer. The blue whale is always in the room. And that’s what makes the journey worthwhile—the anticipation that becomes longing nestled in the hearts of Chance and Jessie. Fear holds them together, but their fearlessness keeps them running. And the tension creates a kind of blues. Malone and Doan have written a play that captures the complicated relationship status of our times—where desire and commitment are independent of each other and held to a past that dictates the present.

—Arisa White, author of A Penny Saved

The Hearts of Blue Whales is a witty and pithy exploration of the challenges of putting the past and present in their places in order to live and love in the present, a contemplation of intimate regrets, and recognition of the lost possibilities of the roads of love not taken.

—Dr. Phil Howerton, Co-editor of Cave Region Review

This play is a big-hearted two-hander as witty as it is poignant. Haunted by a re-emerging past that hinders the present, fiery Jesse has resigned herself to a life free of encumbrance, especially the male variety. But when sometime love Chance hits town after a gulf of six years and invites her to dinner, Jesse can no longer hide her feelings. With characters as real and raw as their Ozark roots, The Hearts of Blue Whales is a testament to the relentless pursuit of love in all of its intricate, awkward, and chaotic beauty.

—Katherine Kirkaldie, Theatre Coordinator, University of Wyoming

The Hearts of Blue Whales

Dave Malone and Kerry Doan

Smashwords Edition

First Edition

Trask Road Press

West Plains, MO

Copyright © 2014 by Dave Malone and Kerry Doan

Cover design by Jenni Wichern.

Photo, whale engraving, is in the public domain.

Author photo of Dave by Jenni Wichern.

Author photo of Kerry by Kara Bond.

Discover other titles by Dave Malone at Smashwords.com:

Purgatory: A Good Way to Die (Butterworth)

Not Forgiven, Not Forgotten

View from the North Ten: Poems after Mark Rothko’s

No. 15

Seasons in Love

Under the Sycamore

Poems to Love and the Body

23 Sonnets

This play is a work of the authors’ imaginations, and all characters and events are fictitious. This play is subject to a royalty. Professional and amateur live stage performance rights are controlled by the authors. Performance rights must be obtained and a royalty paid in advance of performances of this play.

Except for fair use in reviews and/or scholarly considerations, no part of this book may be reproduced, performed, recorded, or otherwise transmitted without the written consent of the author and the permission of the publisher.

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for Jenni and Larry

CONTENTS

Production Notes

Act One, Scene One

Act One, Scene Two

Act Two, Scene One

Act Two, Scene Two

About the Authors

PRODUCTION NOTES

The Hearts of Blue Whales debuted at the Avenue Theatre in West Plains, Missouri, on June 1, 2012. The play ran during the 2012 transit of Venus.

Dave Malone directed the play. The cast included Candi Williams as Jessie and Dustin Collins as Chance. Jenni Wichern created the set design.

The Hearts of Blue Whales was originally a screenplay written by Kerry McIntosh Doan and Dave Malone. On the weekend