I told you I don’t want no women down there!
In the dramatic scene from In the Murk of Night, Edith questions why her son is making strange noises during the middle of the night.
Featured Scene – In the Murk of Night
EDITH: Who’s down there with you?
JOAQUIN: No one.
EDITH: Speak up, damn it!
JOAQUIN: I’m by myself.
Joaquin rips off another piece of masking tape to help seal his leaky wound.
EDITH: What’s that sound?!
JOAQUIN: What?
EDITH: That sound!
JOAQUIN: I didn’t hear anything.
Pause.
The hallway light turns off. Joaquin rips off another stretch of masking tape.
The hallway light instantly turns back on.
EDITH: There it is again!
JOAQUIN: What?!
EDITH: That damn sound like something’s ripping!
JOAQUIN: No, there’s no ripping sound!
EDITH: I know I heard it. I know what I heard!
JOAQUIN: It’s probably the wind.
EDITH: Who??
JOAQUIN: The wind. It’s probably the wind.
EDITH: I don’t hear no wind.
JOAQUIN: I’m telling you. I was just outside. There’s a ton of wind ’cause there’s a storm approaching.
EDITH: I didn’t hear no –
JOAQUIN: The sound you keep hearing, Mother, is the sound of a branch rubbing up against the front living room window is all it is. That’s all it (whispering) f’cking (resuming) IS!
Pause.
The hallway lights go off.
JOAQUIN (to himself): She just won’t leave me the f’ck alone, I swear –
The lights turn on.
EDITH: Who are you talking to?!
JOAQUIN: Mother, please, this is exhausting. I’m getting exhausted. Just lemme eat my sandwich, everything is alright, lemme just eat my smoked turkey and onion sandwich for the love of someone, please.
EDITH: I didn’t buy any smoked turkey, and we’re out of onions!
JOAQUIN: I picked up a few things at Lenny’s after you’d already gone to bed.
EDITH: Hmm! Are you crazy or something?
JOAQUIN: No.
EDITH: Why do you talk to yourself?
JOAQUIN: It helps me think.
EDITH: I told you I don’t want no women down there!
JOAQUIN: Mother, are you joking?
EDITH: I’m dead serious.
JOAQUIN: And I’m thirty-five years old!
EDITH: My house, my rules!
JOAQUIN: There aren’t any women!
Joaquin puts back on his hoodie and zippers it up.
EDITH: I don’t give a sh’t!
Joaquin goes to the base of the stairs. He looks up at his mother.
The arguing intensifies as they overlap one another’s sentence endings.
JOAQUIN: Nobody, and I mean nobody, is here but me. What is wrong with you? Why don’t you ever believe me when I tell you something? I’m not lying. I don’t lie –
EDITH: Why are you all sweaty? –
JOAQUIN: What do you mean—I’m hot! –
EDITH: HOT?! Hot from what?! –
JOAQUIN: You work me up! –
EDITH: And you WOKE ME UP! –
JOAQUIN: Get off my back, always up my ass with your investigations as if I’m a criminal living in my own house –
EDITH: You are a criminal living in MY house – is that understood?! –
JOAQUIN: I didn’t have to become this –
EDITH: Don’t you dare start blaming me on what you are! –
JOAQUIN: GO TO BED! –
Joaquin shuts the hallway light from the switch downstairs. He walks away, and for a moment there is silence.
Joaquin gathers the garbage bag, masking tape, paper towels and household vinegar and heads for the kitchen when –
The hallway light turns on.
EDITH: What’s that smell?
JOAQUIN: (softly) What, mother?
EDITH: I smell vinegar.
JOAQUIN: Why? I honestly couldn’t tell you why.
EDITH: But you are down there, aren’t you?
JOAQUIN: Yes, I am down here, Mother.
EDITH: And you’re the one making all the rummaging.
JOAQUIN: I’m making a sandwich!!!
- To read the full ePlay In the Murk of Night, find purchase button below:
Scene Summary
In the one act eplay In the Murk of Night, Joaquin comes home with a serious stomach knife wound when his mother interrupts him and throws herself down a flight of stairs.
- Genre: Drama
- Length: ~5 minute scene
- Characters: 2 men
- Themes: family
- Best For: drama scenes
FAQ
A: There is a play script titled In the Murk of Night wherein the character Joaquin is wounded and must secretly try to bandage his wound while keeping it secret from his mother who is listening upstairs from where he is.
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Scene Source: In the Murk of Night
In the Murk of Night is a dramatic play script by Joseph Arnone, 2026.
