An old man narrates and acts out the memory or fantasy of an escape from the nursing home where he lives. He wanders the streets, goes to a bar, meets a hooker, joins a protest march, and meets with a pair of runaway kids and an obnoxious salesman. He gradually decides to follow the example of dogs who crawl off to a hiding place to die, as a more dignified end to his life than the nursing home, but the attempt fails. While the setting provides a realistic framework within which the flight, remembered or imagined, occurs, it should reinforce a sense of ambiguity. Props such as an institutional bed, bedside table with drawers, an armchair, and an overbed cart for meals convey the sparse blandness of a typical nursing home, where life is measured with none of the distinguishing features accumulated over a life.
Stage directions are suggestions only.
The Old Man carries the bulk of the play through narration and performance. The other characters derive from the staff who care for him, and the actions they perform in his mind blend with their professional duties. The rest of the cast can consist of one man and two women, with the optional addition of a child, whose part could also be done as a voice-over.