Bodies, Rest and Motion by Roger Hedden

THE STORY: The place is a small and rather rundown house in Enfield, Connecticut, the “pad” shared by Nick and Beth. Rootless and undecided about what to do with their lives, Nick keeps them going by selling TVs, but his plan (to which Beth reluctantly agrees) is to head off to the Miwest for a fresh start. As the play begins Nick is lounging about, drinking with their mutual friend (and his former lover) Carol, while waiting for Beth to return with more booze. When she arrives they discuss their imminent departure for Ohio but then, and abruptly, Nick takes off—alone—for parts unknown. Left in the lurch, Beth is drawn into a brief but fervid affair with a hip young house painter, Sid, who shows up to redecorate the house for the next tenants. But while Sid begins to take their relationship seriously, Beth does not, and echoing Nick, she sells the furniture (except for the color TV Nick copped from his former employer) and vanishes without a goodbye. When Nick, having had a change of heart, returns, it is to an empty house which, in a very real way, symbolizes the inertia and rootlessness that have brought them all to where and what they are. As the play ends Nick drifts back into a relationship with Carol, while Sid, abandoning his buckets and brushes, goes off in search of Beth. But the lesson of the play is that nothing has really changed, nor will it until those involved find something to truly believe in and pursue. IN GREAT CONDITION!