The Cave Painter & The Woodcutter (10 page)

So now they won't.

He lies down, his head on the coat.

He curls up, starts to rock slowly. After a few moments he starts to sing in rhythm to the rocking.

“Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;

Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here;

Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,

Stories of Jesus, tell them…”

He stops singing. He lies shivering as the light fades.

End.

This book is for Doug

“I am happyhappyhappy to be here with the stars and the logs”

—Mary Ruefle, “Timberland”

Playwright's Thanks

The playwright would like to thank:

The Canada Council for the Arts

Jenny Munday

Kim McCaw

Joan MacLeod

André Alexis

Mark Jenkins

The Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre

The Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation

Playwrights Theatre Centre

Green College

NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival

Len Falkenstein

Diane Martin

Martin Kinch

Jane Heather, Trevor Leigh, Garry Williams and Marilyn Norrie

Betty Lou Daye

Gary Akenhead

The Parkdale branch of the Toronto Public Library

DON HANNAH
is a playwright, dramaturge, and novelist who divides his time between Toronto and Nova Scotia. He was the inaugural Lee Playwright in Residence at the University of Alberta, and, most recently, was writer in residence at UBC's Green College, and for the NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival. As a dramaturge, he has worked with playwrights from across the country, and for five years was on the faculty of the Banff Playwrights Colony. His published plays include the collection Shoreline and While We're Young. His novel Ragged Islands received the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. The Cave Painter was awarded the 2012 Carol Bolt Award.