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Act One

Dodge sits watching TV and coughing. His wife, Halie, calls down to him and tells him to take a pill. As they discuss the past, with Halie still yelling down, Dodge occasionally sneaks a drink from a bottle hidden in the couch. Tilden, Dodge’s oldest son, enters with ears of corn. He says he picked the corn out back, but Dodge insists nothing has grown since the Dust Bowl and tells Tilden to take it back wherever he got it. As Tilden husks the corn, Halie calls down again. She talks about their other sons: Bradley, who lost his leg, and Ansel, who was apparently murdered.

Halie enters dressed all in black on her way out to talk to Father Dewis about a monument for Ansel. She tells Dodge to tell Tilden not to go out back and that they have to watch him because she can’t handle another loss. After Dodge has another coughing fit, Tilden tucks him in on the couch and waits for him to fall asleep. He pulls out Dodge’s bottle, takes a drink, and puts it in his pocket before he