Namesake
Namesake is an homage to my own namesake, my great-grandfather, Rex. Rex was different than me. While I was raised in the city and lived a comparatively pampered life, Rex was a country man. Born in the harsh eastern OH part of the Appalachians. A farmer and a dairy plant manager, Rex spent much of his adult life as an engineer on the old Ohio River and Western Railway. I was a boy in the 60’s but in tune with the rebellion and strife brought about by the Vietnam war. It was in this backdrop that I imagined an older city boy, soft like me and the namesake of his grandfather, coming to share the news that he was going off to war.
The play runs approximately 15-minutes.
Excerpt from Namesake: Scene 1
REX ARMSTRONG
What brings you around, boy? We haven’t seen you in a spell…Do you need money?
(Rex Armstrong strains to reach the shelf next to him and pulls off a mason jar filled with coins and a few bills.)
I have some of my fold’n money here. I used to keep it in the bank, but you can’t trust them since the run.
REX GARRETT
I think they fixed that (pauses). And, no, grandpa. I don’t need money. I came here to tell you something.
REX ARMSTRONG
Here’s five dollars. I can get you more, but it’s buried in the barn.
REX GARRETT
No, thank you, grandpa…I don’t need the money!
REX ARMSTRONG
Well, I’m almost 90 years old and have a prostate the size of a cantaloupe. I don’t need it either.
(Rex Armstrong continues to hold the $5 bill out. Rex Garrett submits and takes it…)
Namesake: Performed at Scripts on Tap, 2025