The GIRL looks at the pistol on the floor, leans down, trembling, stretches her hand. Freezes in the act.)

MAN: (caresses her cheek) Of course, no. There’s a sun outside. It’s hot as hell. So you don’t have a boyfriend? Well then .. . ?

MAN: Always no! Why? My intentions are good.

MAN: Why are you squeezing your legs together? Do you want to go to the bathroom? GIRL: (nods her head) Yes. MAN: Then go! GIRL: They’re . . . watching me.

You’re not pretty with your hair all wet. But that’s not too serious.

MAN: (He pulls a pistol from his belt and cleans it with a rag.) Ah! This department isn’t worth shi. . . (The GUIDE says something. The MAN shoots him a quick look.) Right.

(always speaks softly, tenderly)

(Lights on in the middle of the room. A young GIRL sits on a chair wearing clothes that are soaking wet. A MAN stands next to her, observing her with a tender smile. The GUIDE waits for people to get comfortable, points out places. Then, with a fin- ger on his lips, he signals for silence and turns, like one more spectator, toward the characters who begin the action.)

The play speaks to our way of life: Argentine, West- ern, and Christian.

UIDE: (shrugging his shoulders, turns to the group) It’s locked. (He knocks. Nicely.) May I? Pve brought a group of specta- tors. And they’re getting anxious. VOICE: (very rudely) What’s it to me? Beat it! I’m rehearsing.

A man is seated on a chair, wearing only faded underwear. He raises his head, surprised and frightened. He covers his sex with his hands.

hen, we hear many voices, indistinct and jux- taposed, carrying on an incomprehensible conversation.

No one under eighteen will be admitted. Or under thirty-five or over thirty-six. Everyone else can attend with no problem.

Guides 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., lead their respective groups. The or- der in which the scenes are observed by these groups is left to the director’s discretion until the last scene, scene 20, when all groups converge.

The audience will be divided into groups, the number and size of which will depend on the space. A particular number or color can serve to identify each group.

The theater space can be a spacious, residential house, prefera- bly two stories, with corridors and empty rooms, some of which interconnect. A larger space is needed for the final scene.

Characters

Information for Foreigners

ree Plays

NGIE comes in. to help them get a job, why should I? ANGIE. Mum? ie? JON CE Miaabour“Angic! MARLENE. Angie? What’s the matter? MARLENE. What about Angie? PGT! Mana JOYCE. She’s stupid, lazy and frightened, so what about her? MARLENE. You run her down too much. She’ll be all right. JOYCE. I don’t expect so, no. I expect her children will say what a wasted life she had. If she has children. Because nothing’s changed and it won’t with them in. MARLENE. Them, them. / Us and them? JOYCE. And you’re one of them. MARLENE. And you're us, wonderful us, and Angie’s us / and iat Mum and Dad’s us. MARLENE. No, she’s gone to bed. It’s Aunty Marlene. ANGIE. Frightening. MARLENE. Did you have a bad dream? What happened in it? Well you’re awake now, aren’t you pet? ANGIE. Frightening.

MARLENE. I don’t mean anything personal. I don’t believe in JOYCE. No, pet. Sorry. class. Anyone can do anything if they’ve got what it takes.

ARLENE. and I will not be pulled down to their level by a JOYCE. I know I have. flying picket and I won’t be sent to Siberia / or a loony bin JOYCE.

MARLENE. Oh there’s always men. JOYCE. No one special? MARLENE. There’s fellas who like to be seen with a high-flying lady. Shows they’ve got something really good in their pants. But they can’t take the day to day. They’re waiting for me to turn into the little woman. Or maybe I’m just horrible of course.

what’s this about you and Frank? JOYCE. He was always carrying on, wasn’t he? And if I wanted to go out in the evening he’d go mad, even if it was nothing, a class, I was going to go to an evening class. So he had this girlfriend, only twenty-two poor cow, and I said go on, off you go, hoppit. I don’t think he even likes her.

OYCE. I don’t know how you could leave your own child. MARLENE. You were quick enough to take her. JOYCE. What does that mean? MARLENE. You were quick enough to take her.

ARLENE. I think it’s a plot to take over the world. JOYCE. She’s been in the remedial class the last two years

JOYCE. You could be married with twins for all I know. You must have affairs and break up and I don’t need to know about any of that so I don’t see what the fuss is about. MARLENE. What fuss?

ANGIE. Mr Connolly killed his wife. MARLENE. What, Connolly at Whitegates? ANGIE. They found her body in the garden.

ANGIE comes in, wearing the dress.

JOYCE. I didn’t want to see you. MARLENE. Yes, I know. Shall I go? JOYCE. I don’t mind seeing you. MARLENE. Great, I feel really welcome.

you asked me to come. JOYCE. How did I ask you to come? MARLENE. Angie said when she phoned up.

Scene Two

NELL. You’ve heard Howard’s had a heart attack? WIN. No, when? NELL. I heard just now. He hadn’t come in, he was at home, he’s gone to hospital. He’s not dead. His wife was here,

WIN.

NELL. You just filled in the form with a pack of lies. SHONA. Not exactly. NELL. How old are you? : SHONA. Twenty-nine. NELL. Nineteen? SHONA. Twenty-one. NELL. And what jobs have you done? Have you done any? SHONA. I could though, I bet you.

MARLENE. Don’ -chtece! 7 . NE. Don’t you want to go sightseeing? " NELL. So how many calls have you been making a day? _ SHONA. Six. ANGIE. I'd rather stay here. MARLENE. You can stay here I suppose, if it’s not boring. a NELL. And what proportion of those are successful? ANGIE, It’s where I most want to be in the world. E SHONA. Six. MARLENE. I’ll see you later then.

u could see him you’d know what I’m talking about. What’s it going to do to him working for a woman? I think if it was a man he’d get over it as something normal.

MRS KIDD. Excuse me.

MARLENE. Never mind. ANGIE. I just walked in. I was looking for you.

WIN. Are you the only woman? LOUISE. Apart from the girls of course, yes.

Nobody notices me, I don’t expect it, I don't attract attention by making | mistakes, everybody takes it for granted that mv work is | perfect. They will netice me when I go, they will be sorry I | think to lose me, they will offer me more money of course, I will refuse. They will see when I’ve gone what I was doing for

ELL. Howard thinks because he’s a fella the job was his as of right. Our Marlene’s got far more balls than Howard and that’s that. WIN. Poor little bugger. NELL. He'll live. WIN. He’ll move on. NELL. I wouldn’t mind a change of air myself. WIN. Serious? NELL. I’ve never been a staying put lady. Pastures new. WIN. So who's the pirate?

ANGIE. I put on this dress to kill my mother. KIT. I suppose you thought you'd do it with a brick. ANGIE. You can kill people with a brick. KIT. Well you didn’t, so.

What do you want to be when you grow up, Kit? KIT. Physicist. JOYCE, What? KIT. Nuclear physicist. JOYCE. Whatever for? KIT. I could, I’m clever.

NGIE. She gets people jobs.

NGIE. I’m going to London. To see my aunt,

KIT. When there’s a war, where’s the safest place? ANGIE. Nowhere. KIT. New Zealand is, my mum said. Your skin’s burned right off. Shall we go to New Zealand?

OYCE. You there Angie? Kit? You there Kitty? Want a cup os tea? I’ve got some chocolate biscuits. Come on now I'll put the kettle on. Want a choccy biccy, Angie? They all listen and wait. | Fucking rotten little cunt. You can stay there and die. I'll lock the back door.

NGIE. You're scared of blood. ‘ KIT puts ber band under her dress, brings it out with blood ) on ber finger.

ANGIE. I'm going to kill my mother and you're going to watch.

ANGIE. Mind my hair / you silly cunt. KIT. Stupid fucking cow, I hate you.

ANGIE. Last night when I was in bed. I been thinking yesterday could I make things move. You know, make things move by thinking about them without touching them. Last night I was in bed and suddenly a Picture fell down off the wall.

still got three pounds birthday money.

JEANINE. I might not be alive in ten years. MARLENE. Yes but you will be. You'll have children.

MARLENE. There’s no need to mention it when you go for an interview.

NIJO is laughing and crying. JOAN gets up and is sick in a corner. MARLENE is drinking ISABELLA’s brandy. So off I went to visit the Berber sheikhs in full blue trousers and great brass spurs. I was the only European woman ever to have seen the Emperor of Morocco. I was seventy years old. What lengths to go to for a last chance of joy. I knew my return of vigour was only temporary, but how marvellous while it lasted.

OAN. Something something something mortisque

You just keep running on and fighting / you didn’t stop for nothing. Oh we give them devils such a beating.

MARLENE (to JOAN). Shut up, pet.

uave, mari m

when His Majesty came in Genki seized him and I beat him till he cried out and promised he would never order anyone to hit us again. Afterwards there was a terrible fuss. The nobles were horrified. ‘We wouldn’t even dream of ~~ stepping on your Majesty’s shadow.’ And I had hit him with a ~~ stick. Yes, I hit him with a stick.

They make a special rice gruel and stir it with their sticks, and then they beat their women across the loins so they’Il have sons and not daughters.

NIJO. My father and the Emperor both died in the autumn. So much pain. JOAN. Yes, but don’t cry.

GRISELDA. He suffered so much all those years. ISABELLA. Hennie had the same sweet nature.

ell I fainted. Then I cried and kissed the children.

GRISELDA. They all went in to the feast I’d prepared. And he stayed behind and put his arms round me and kissed me. / I felt half asleep with the shock. NIJO. Oh, like a dream. MARLENE. And he said, ‘This is your daughter and your son.’ GRISELDA. Yes.

JOAN. I didn’t live a woman’s life. I don’t understand it.

GRISELDA. But he told me to come. I had to obey him. He wanted me to help prepare his wedding

sent me away. He said the people wanted him to marry someone else who'd give him an heir and he’d got special permission from the Pope. So 1 said I’d go home to my father. | came with nothing / so I went with nothing.

I kept my son till he was two years old. A peasant’s grandson. It made the people angry.

Walter’s child to do what he liked with.

I asked him to give her back so I could kiss her. And I asked him to bury her where no animals could dig her up.

why did your husband take the child? GRISELDA. He said all the people hated me because I was just one of them. And now I had a child they were restless. So he had to get rid of the child to keep them quiet. But he said he wouldn’t snatch her, I had to agree and obey and give

MARLENE. And at first he seemed perfectly normal? GRISELDA. Marlene, you’re always so critical of him. / Of course he was normal, he was very kind. MARLENE. But Griselda, come on, he took your baby.

JOAN. I never obeyed anyone. They all obeyed me.

GRISELDA. I'd rather obey the Marquis than a boy from the village.

GRISELDA. But of course a wife must obey her husband. / And of course I must obey the Marquis.*

he Marquis said it wasn’t an order, I could say no, but if I said yes I must always obey him in everything.

NIJO. How old were you? GRISELDA. Fifteen.

MARLENE. Now who do you know? This is Joan who was Pope in the ninth century, and Isabella Bird, the Victorian traveller, and Lady Nijo from Japan, Emperor’s concubine and Buddhist nun, thirteenth century, nearer your own time, and Gret who was painted by Brueghel. Griselda’s in Boccaccio and Petrarch and Chaucer because of her extraordinary marriage.

They are quite drunk. They get the giggles.

Yes, a chair made out of solid marble with a hole in the seat / and it was in the Chapel of the Saviour, and after he was MARLENE. You're not serious. JOAN. elected the Pope had to sit in it. MARLENE. And someone looked up his skirts? / Not really? ISABELLA. What an extraordinary thing. JOAN. Two of the clergy / made sure he was a man.

MARLENE. Oh God, why are we all so miserable?

I saw my daughter once.

OAN. They took me by the feet and dragged me out of town « and stoned me to death.

ut Nijo, I wasn’t used to having a woman's body.

It was only a girl but I was sorry to lose it

OAN. Wouldn’t that be a worse sin than having it? / But a Pope with a child was about as bad as possible. MARLENE. I don’t know, you’re the Pope.

Yes, if it hadn’t been for the baby I expect I'd have lived to an old age like Theodora of Alexandria, who lived as a monk.

And I realised I did know the truth. Because whatever the Pope says, that’s true.

I had thought the Pope would know everything. I thought / God would speak to me directly. But of course he knew I was | a woman.

JOAN. Yes, what is it exactly, Marlene? MARLENE. Well it’s not Pope but it is managing director.* JOAN. And you find work for people. MARLENE. Yes, an employment agency.

gnificent all of you. We need some more wine, please, two bottles I think, Griselda isn’t even here yet, and 1 want to drink a toast to you all.

There was nothing in my life. The doctors said I had gout

IJO (to ISABELLA). I wasn’t a nun, I was still at court, but he was a priest, and when he came to me he dedicated his whole life to hell. / He knew that when he died he would fall into one of the three lower realms. And he died, he did die. JOAN (to MARLENE). I’d quarrelled with him over the teachings of John the Scot, who held that our ignorance of God is the same as his ignorance of himself. He only knows what he creates because he creates everything he knows but he himself is above being — do you follow?

ARLENE. Yes, all that silk must have been very .. . The WAITRESS starts to clear the first course. JOAN. I dressed as a boy when I left home.* NIJO. green jacket. Lady Betto had a five-layered gown in shades of green and purple. ISABELLA. *You dressed as a boy? MARLENE. Of course, / for safety.

ome on, Nijo, have some wine. NI JO. Haven’t you ever felt like that? Nothing will ever happen > again. I am dead already.

e don’t all have to believe the same.

ut I didn’t know what. He sent me an eight-layered gown and I sent it back. So when the time came I did nothing but cry. My thin gowns were badly ripped. But even that morning ‘when he left / — he'd a green robe with a scarlet lining and "MARLENE. Are you saying he raped you? NIJO. very heavily embroidered trousers, | already felt different about him, It made me uneasy. No, of course not, Marlene, | belonged to him, it was what I was brought up for from a __ baby. I soon found I was sad if he stayed away.

nnie was happy. She was good. I did miss its face, my own pet. But I couldn’t stay in Scotland. I loathed the constant murk.

I said, Hennie we'll live here forever and help the natives.

ISABELLA BIRD (1831-1904) lived in Edinburgh, travelled extensively between the ages of 40 and 70. LADY NIJO (b.1258) Japanese, was an Emperor’s courtesan and later a Buddhist nun who travelled on foot through Japan. DULL GRET is the subject of the Brueghel painting, Dulle Griet, in which a woman in an apron and armour leads a crowd of women charging through hell and fighting the devils. POPE JOAN, disguised as a man, is thought to have been Pope between 854-856. PATIENT GRISELDA is the obedient wife whose story is told by Chaucer in The Clerk’s Tale of The Canterbury Tales.

SHONA

MARLENE

82 w

here I shall stay.

es, a=en mye ee will be'f fice. Go, . my sweet. hope:you will not be bored:.

PERO: {very calm) The worse’ for-you. You've lost your chance. Stupid as a slave! Arid now,-enough of this farce. Abalone) Ariel! id Ee faiths Bakes eee of the puseness! * . EES TRINCULO a ‘STEPHANO aré taken ‘prisoners

t’s another of Prospero’ s tricks. Its part of. his arsenal. STEPHANO: What do'you méan' By that? “' fai CALIBAN: I mean his anti-riot arsenal! He’s got a lot of gadgets like these . . fadgets to make you deaf, to blind you, to make you sneeze, to make you cr

y his eae cae he’s eating} into questing the: ae aes of the * world. Maybe thé Divinity can afford to let’ him get Reh ase it, but I have a sense of responsibility! | 2 a, ARIEL: Very well, Master. 80 PROSPERO: But a thought! arrange some glass trinkets, sone’ ‘tlipery ‘and some second-hand clothes too ... but colorful ones... . by the side ofthe road along which General Caliban and his OPS are iavetinig ee ae ‘loud, gaudy clothes . ARIEL: Master . ? 85 PROSPERO: Yous re going to make me angry. There’s ature to See? There is a punishment to be meted out. I will not Sqmipromise with evil. eae Unless you want to be the next to feel ay wrath,

shu can play many tricks, Give him twenty dogs! You will see his dirty tricks.

BsHU:

Gods and Goddesses continue their aed FERDINAND: What a nena and smngjesti vision! ey I be so bali & i6 think ee spirits? oe Hee Lote PROSPERO:?:: Yés; spirits opie ry: my: art T a from dhieis confines: you and to bless you.

ou might as well say: it:.’m-a died-in-the-wool be- liever in the people first, a republican i in my guts! Down, with tyrants!

Judging from the way os can: soll ‘it wai he a t seem to ee stu- pid. P'll try to civilize him: Oh . : . not too much, of course. But enough so that 55 - he:can be of some use.

Ah, an Indian!Dead or alive? 'You never know: with: these tricky ‘races: Yukkk! - Anyhow, this. will-do: me fine. If.hé’s. dead, I can-use. his clothes for shelter, for a coat, a tent, a covering. If he’s alive I’ll- make him.my: prisoner and take him .. back to,Europe and then, by golly, my- fortune will be-made!-’

‘Now I really don’t.understand:-. We fs ANTONIO: What a dope! Consider my Bete i ‘Pm Diike of: met, Well, I wasn’t » always ...I:had an older brother. That was ‘Dtike Prospero: And.if P mnow Duke 20 Antonio, it’s because I:knew when to:shake. the coconut palm. . SEBASTIAN: And Prospero? oi ‘ ANTONIO: What do you mean by that? When you aie: a tree; someone is bound -, to fall. And obviously it wasri’t me who-fell, because here I am: to assist and serve you, Majesty! aS ‘ : 25 SEBASTIAN: Enough! He’s my brother! My were won't afl sen me to .. You take care of him while I deal with the old Counsellor.

o dep and to forg

ARIEL: It’s evil to play with their hunger as you is ait their anxieties. sand their HERES PROSPERO: That is how power is measured. I am Power.

he Elves ‘velurh, bringing ‘the food with them.

GONZALO: I mean. that if the. island is inhabited, as I believe, and.if we-colonize it, as is my hope, then we have to take every precaution not to import.our shortcom- ings, yes;-what we call civilization. They niust stay.ias they are:savages, noble and 39 = Seod savages, free, without, any complexes. or-complications.:Something like a pool granting eternal youth where we periodically.come to restore our.aging, eevetitified soulsey

SEBASTIAN: Guano? What ind ce ee is lite Are you sure you. doe ’¢ mean se iguana?.

rospero i is the one we've got ‘to chi so that he’s finally forced to acknowledge his own injustice arid | put an end to it.

Uncle Tom patience

obedience

ARIEL: No; I’ve come on:my own. I came to. warn you. Prospero is:planning horrible “acts of revengevagainst you. I thought it my duty to alert you. a CALIBAN: I’m ready for hime

May he who eats his corn heedless of Shango

FERDINAND:

eyrare men of my-race, and ofhigh rank.

s for those «i, people on the boat,I've changed my mind about ther 1.,Give them a scare, but for God’s sake don’t touch a hair of their heads!

385 ws} tCésaire °-A Tempest 349 ‘ PROSPERO:Oh, I suppose it’s mine! Sota mo, CALIBAN: It’s the name given me by your hatred and every. time it’

've decided I-don’t want'to be calls Caliban’ any long: PROSPERO: ‘What kitid of rotiis that? don’t understand. =: +3. oa CALIBAN: ‘ Put it this way: Tm ene you that from'iow © on ‘Twon swersto the ‘namie Caliban.” : ve i een ae BROSPERO! Where did’ Fou eke that idéa’ CALIBAN: “Welly because Caliban isn’t my name: I

I know that Sycorax i is alive... : Le Sycorax: Mothiens. =. Serpent, raiti, lightning, through’ the clishes,. +: in. the gesture made by: ee root =F its awaiting ae ‘Inithe night; the all-seeing blindéd ee ia” the nostrilaléss:all-smelling night

What-would you be without me? crest ear CALIBAN: Without you? I'd be the king, that’s: what I’d be; the King:of the Island; The king of the island biven mé-by.my mother, Sycorax-.

CALIBAN: I said, Uburu! ; eg aioe hi 7 PROSPERO; Mumbling your native language again! I’ve already told: you, I don’t like _ ‘Ht-You could.be polite, at:least;a-simple “hello? wouldn't kill-you: 4... CALIBAN: Oh, I forgot ...But make that as froggy, waspish, pustular and, dung-filled tv Shello”.as possible: May today. hasten ‘by-a‘decade.the day when dll the -birds.of «21 the sky.and beasts ofthe earth will feast upon your‘corpse!

ARIEL; You've promised me my freedom a thousand es, and.J’m still waiting, PROSPERO: Ingrate! And who freed you from Sycorax, may. Fask?

r all this-talé.of treason and félony there is but one honorable name: Gonzalo, counsellor to the King of: Naplés'and fit to-serve a better raster. By furnishing tné-with food and clothing, by supplyirig me with my ‘Books’ and in- - struizients, he has doné all in his power to maké iny exile in this disgustirig place - bearable. And’s How, thidtgh a singular turn, Fortune has brought to these shores ‘the very mei involved in’ the plot‘against me.

hose—evei worse—to maroon me e here with you on this‘desertisland. <

given that you have hith- erto escaped punishment owing to ‘your temporal authority and havé,if not ’ usurped; then transformed that authority and made it into a tyranny, doth-heteby . strip you of your titles, positiotis‘and honors

ilan:is the city-of-your “ai »-birth,and the city where, for many, years Lwas the Duke,

hit! We're sinking!

Did-yowsée. that?There; at the top. of ale masts; in gee see that glit- ter of blue fire, flashing, flashing?:They’re right when they call these-magic lands, so different.from: our. homes:in Europe.«’. :Look, even: Ge pod Ad ee is different! ANTONIO: ao its a: foretdste ‘of the hell that awaits us..

Get back below where you belong! We’ Ve 8 GONZALO: My dear fellow, I can quite understand ‘your being nervous, but a man should be able to control, himself in any situation,vén’ the’ most upsétting BOATSWAIN: Shove it! If you want to save your skins, you'd better eet weasels “back down below to’thésé first-class cabins of yours:

Charactéts

MASTER OF CEREMONIES:

As in Shakespeare

Stepsforwardandpointshis .fingeraroundtheaudience.)Look-there'sa wholeforestof sticksaroundyou.Allthoseinnocentpeople,eachonedeterminedto turnintoa stickslightlydifferentfromeverybodyelse,butnobodyoncethinkingof turningintoanythingbesidesa stick....Allthosesticks.Youmayneverbe judged,butat leastyoudon'thaveto worryaboutbeingpunished.

Satisfied?Me?Stupidfools.Woulda satisfiedmanrunOWIIchildandjumpoffa roof?

ometimesyougetconfusedbythefalsefrontspeople1'1111111.Butonceyourealizethata stickwasa stick,evenwhileit wasII \'1

WOMANFROMHELLWeshouldgiveit to thechild.Don'tyouthinkthat'stheleastwecando?Aslongas we'regoingto getridof it,anyway...MANFROMHELLDon'ttalknonsense.A stickis nothingmorethana stick,nomatterwhohasit.WOMANFROMHELLButit'ssomethingspecialto thatchild.

"Theywhorumcupforjudgment,butwerenotjudged,haveturnedintosticksandIilledtheearth.TheMasterhasdeparted,andtheearthhasbecomea graveor rottensticks...." That'swhytheshortageof helpin hellhasneverIw('omeespeciallyacute.

NQwcalmyourself,andjustthink...I realizethisis yourfirsttasteof on-the-jobtraining,butit'sdisturbingto hearanythingquitso wideoffthemark

nshort,thestickis therootandsourceof alltools.

Wein hellhavea differentapproach.Toourwayof thinking,thisstick,whichhasputupwitheverykindof abuse,untilitswholebodyis coveredwithscars,neverrunningawayandneverbeingdiscarded,shouldbecalleda capableandfaithfulstick.

kunderhis jacket,andfinallydownintohistrousers.Hestands""IIr!.rli/!forseveralseconds.Then,

HIPPIEBOYI'msellingit becauseI don'twantto sellit. That'sa contradictionof circumstances.Doyoufollowme?HIPPIEGIRLThat'sright.He'ssellingit becausehedoesn'twantto.Canyouunderstandthat?MANFROMHELL(Annoyed.)Allright,I guess...(Hepullssomebillsfromhispocketandselectsfromthema five-dollarbill.)Hereyouare....ButI'lltellyouonething,myfriend,youmayimagineyou'vestrucka cleverbargain,butoneof thesedaysyou'llfindout.It wasn'tjusta stickyousold,butyourself.

ButI turnedintoa stick....WhyI IIhnpprni'Whyshouldsucha thinghavehappenedto me?

Thenthechildgavethematrontheslipandranoutof theIlII'c',lookingforhisfather.

HIPPIEGIRLMysister.MANFROMHELLWhathappenedto her?HIPPIEBOYShebecamea corpse,naturally.MANFROMHELLOfcourse.That'snotsurprising.HI.PPIEGIRLThat'swhyI don'tunderstandanythinganymore.Everythingiswrappedin riddles.

HIPPIEGIRL(Witha wiselook.)Thisis theageof thegenerationgap.We'realienated.

(ToHIPPIEBOY.)It'skindof hardto explain,butthefactis,wehavebeenentrusted,forthetimebeing,withthecustodianshipof thatstick....I wishyou'dtrysomehowto understand.HIPPIEDOYI don'tunderstandnothing.

Thestickliesforgotteninthegutter,Thestreetsfromaboveforma whirlpool.A boyis searchingforhisvanishedfather.

Today,onceagain,a manTurnedintoa stickandvanished

A veryordinarystick,'''11I11fourfeetlong.(Itcanbe manipulated,perhapsin themannerof GrandGuignol,"1' 11",actorplayingthepartof themanbeforehe turnedintoa stick.

ot,stickySundayafternoonin June

KOBOABE

Combat injustice but in moderation: Such things will freeze to death if left alone. Remember: this whole vale of tribulation Is black as pitch and cold as any stone.

On the occasion of her Coronation, our Gracious Queen commands that one Captain Macheath shall at once be ‘releaséd.

Not a soul’s gone to the Corona- tion; they all want to see you.

We will not keep the people waiting. Ladies and gentlemen, you see here the vanishing representa- tive of a vanishing class. We bourgeois artisans, who work with honest jimmies on the cash boxes of small shopkeepers, are being swallowed up by large con- cerns backed by banks.

creed that you should become my son-in-law with-" out my knowing you. The circumstances in which I meet you for the first time are very tragic. Mr. Mac- heath, you once had white kid gloves, a stick with an ivory handle, and a scar on your neck, and you fre+ quented the Octopus Hotel. There remains the scar: om your neck, which is probably the least valuable of your distinguishing marks, and now you only frequent jails, and very soon you won’t frequent anywhere

So we're not to get our contractual fee for having Mr. Macheath nabbed, madam?

A man can only live by absolutely Forgetting he’s a man like other folk!

MACHEATH: And you have the heart to chatter about me being married to you? Why, Polly, must you add to my misery? (Shakes his head reproachfully.) Polly, Poll

MACHEATH: Lucy, have you no heart? When you see your own husband in this condition? Lucy: My husband! You brute! So you think I know nothing about what you’ve been up to with Miss -Peachum? I could scratch your eyes out!

business with:Lucy will come out..And when Brown hears what I’ve done to his daughter behind his friendly back,

GINNY JENNY: Hey Jacob! Something’s happened. JAcoB (who, on account of his intensive reading, has noticed nothing): Where’s Mac? GINNY JENNY: The coppers-were here! gacos: No! And here was I quietly reading . . . boys, boys, Dboys!

asked him more‘than once: how did he have the cheek? © Then he would pummel me, would my good pal And I would end up in the hespital. Life was all honey from the honeycomb In that bordello which was home from home.

MACHEATH: Finished? gJacos: No, I’m just at the “rapes.”

MACKIE THE KNIFE IS ALREADY AMONG’ HIS WHORES AT WAPPING. THE GIRLS BETRAY HIM.

ac, last night I had a dream. I was looking out of the window and I heard laughter in the street, and when I looked up I saw our moon, and the moon was quite thin, like a penny that’s all worn away. Don’t forget me, Mac, in the strange cities.

How can you look them in the eye when you're going to double-cross them

MACHEATH: Well then, if I must go, you'll have to take over the business,

My father threatened. something terrible, and Brown stuck up for you at first; but he gave in later, and he thinks you ought to disappear for a while.

POLLY AND MRS. PEACHUM: I fear he’s right, TY dear old dad: : your The world is poor and men are bad.

Oh, Jonathan, you'll never succeed, for it’s, Mackie the Knife you’re dealing with. They say he’s the greatest criminal in London. He takes what he wants. PEACHUM: Who is Mackie ‘the Knife?

Whenever they had a cocktail together, they’d stroke each other’s cheek and say, “Tf you'll have another, I’ll have another.” And when- ever one went out, the other’s eyes grew moist and he’d say, “Whither thou goest; I will go too.

His name is Brown. But you’d only know him as Tiger Brown. Because all who are afraid of him call him Tiger Brown. But my husband, you see, calls him Jacky. They were boyhood friends, PEACHUM: I see, they’re friends, are they?

ou’re married. What do you do when you’te married? Don’t bother to think. You get a divorce. Eh? Is that so hard to arrange?

Between “giving people a shock” and “getting on their nerves” there’s obviously a difference, my friend. I need artists. Today, only artists give people the right sort of shock. If you'd work properly, your public would be forced to ap- preciate you.

If you're already so immoral as to marry at all, why must it be a horse thief and a footpad?

And as he was.not rich And as he was not nice And eyen his Sunday collar was black as a crow And as he didn’t know how he should treat a real lady I could not tell him: No.

And if he’s a nice fellow And his collar is as white as snow And if he knows how he should treat a real lady Then I must tell him: No. That way I can hold my head up high And be a lady comme il faut.

she flings herself in the gutter like a rotteri tomato. Have you really gone and got married?

In Scotland Yard there is not the slightest thing against you, Mac. MACHEATH: Of course not. . BROWN: I saw to that. Good night.

seldom have I undertaken the smallest job without giving my friend Brown a share of the proceeds (a considerable share, Brown) as a token and a proof of my unswerving loyalty to him. And seldom has the all-powerful Sheriff — take that knife out of your mouth, Jacob — organized a raid without previously giving a little tip-off to me, the friend of his youth.

Of uncongenial races They'll maybe chop them up to make some beefsteak tartare

PIRATE’ JENNY

Well, don’t you.want to sing a song? Nothing to brighten up the day a bit? It’s to be just another damn, sad, ordinary, dirty day like any other? And is anyone keeping watch at the door? Maybe you’d like me to do that? Perhaps I should stand guard at the door, today of all days, so you can stuff yourselves here at my expense?

You think Lucy hasn’t told me the things you've said to her? ’'m a kid-gloves gent compared to that. MACHEATH gives him a look.