An excerpt from Jack Neary's adaptation of THE LITTLE
MATCH GIRL. The complete script is available HERE:
Early in the play,
Dodge, a homeless girl of 12, is met by James, a well-off teenager who has run
away from home. James is trying to
get a rise out of Dodge, who would rather this kid just go away. She tries to ignore him.
JAMES: James. (Beat) ThatÕs my name. (Beat) James.
(Beat) James. (Beat) IÕm gonna keep saying it until you tell
me yours. (Beat) James.
DODGE: Dodge! Dodge! All right! My
name is Dodge! Jeez! Did you run away from home or did they
beg you to leave!
JAMES: What kind of a name
is Dodge?
DODGE: ItÕs the kind of
name a person gives to herself.
ItÕs the name I want. ItÕs
who I am. Nobody gave it to me. It is my name.
JAMES: What does it mean?
DODGE: (Beat) ItÕs from a book. You ever read a book?
JAMES: Not all the way
through, yet. But I know I will
sometime.
DODGE: (Beat) Well, when you get around to reading one all the
way through, try ÒOliver Twist.Ó I
named myself after a character in ÒOliver Twist.Ó
JAMES: Wait a minute! I think we rented this movie once. Last Christmas!
DODGE: Oh, God...
JAMES: Except it was just
ÒOliver,Ó and there was a whole lot of singing in it. Yeah!
ÒDodger!Ó You named
yourself after ÒDodger.Ó I think
his first name was Arthur.
DODGE: What?
JAMES: Arthur Dodger, I
think they called him.
DODGE: You know, I pick up
a newspaper every once in a while and I read about the shocking state of the
American system of education. Up
until now, I always thought the papers were exaggerating the problem.
JAMES: So you see yourself
like that kid, huh? That
Dodger? Do you pick pockets? You steal from people?
DODGE: (Instantly, with
conviction) No! I do not steal from people!
JAMES: Okay! Okay! I just thought...since you named yourself after that kid...
DODGE: I borrow from
people. Not that I need to explain
my lifestyle to you, but I borrow from people. And when I borrow from people, I make note of the people IÕm
borrowing from. Sometime, in the
very near future, I intend to repay these people. Do I make myself clear?
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