Normandy, The MusicalOf World War II

byTom Hendren

and Larry Cotton

Contact Tom Hendren:hapland47@gmail.com

© 2014 Tom Hendren and Larry Cotton915 West End Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

ACT 1

SCENE 1

Marche Normandie opens the play.

OUTSIDE

The NARRATOR, around age 13, and EMMA, are painting at the ir easels and are having an animated conversation. After a few moments the Narrator turns and speaks to the audience . Emma continues to paint without interacting with the audience .

Four friends (CAROLINE, MARY, PAUL, ELLIOTT) are interacting silently toward the back of the stage to one side.

NARRATOR(speaking to the audience, still holding her brush)

Oh, hello. Welcome. Have you come for the story?

It is likely that there will not be much response. She speaks to the audience again.

NARRATOR (cont’d)There is something you should know. Going way back on my mother’s side of the family--all teachers. You know how teachers are. When they ask you something, they are looking for... Responses. So, would you like to hear a story?

(pauses)Terrific! We have one for you. That’s Emma.

Emma continues to paint and does not interact.

1.

NARRATOR (cont’d)She’s busy right now. Actually, she’s almost always busy, but you’ll meet her be tter a little later. This story happens during a huge and terrible war. Wars touch people, all kinds of people, all ages, but mostly the young. The young people in our story were ready to go out and get their places in the big world. Instead, the big world came and got them.

In a minute you’re going to meet four of them. They’re right over there. Caroline, Mary, Paul, and Elliott. They’ve known each other their whole lives, so you can imagine all the things they know about one another. They refer to each other as “the boys” and “the girls.”

As we see them right now, they’re finishing school, thinking what’s next? A year or two ago they’d have been surer of the answer. But a lot has happened, and they think that a lot more might be just about to happen. They have radios. They have newspapers. And they hear the talk. They hear about terrible things going on in far away places. I think that sometimes they wish they didn’t ge t quite so much information. Places like Poland, China, France, England aren’t just colors on a map in a book now.

Their families are like a lot of other families. Some have lived here a long time and others not so long. Many people remember the old countries or at least remember stories about them. Old countries right in the middle of this new fighting. So, there they are: Caroline, Mary, Paul, and Elliott. They do think about war, what could happen. Some days they think about it a lot. And guess what. Some days they don’t think about it at all.

Mary turns from Caroline, Paul and Elliott and stomps toward center stage, where she is followed by Caroline.

MARYI cannot believe that Elliott!

CAROLINEWhat?!

2.

MARYThe nerve!

CAROLINEWhat now?!

MARYYou won't believe it!

CAROLINEMary, look at me. It's Caroline. Remember, I’ve grown up with Elliott, too. Chances are pretty good that I will believe whatever it is you're talking about.

MARYIt's just that he is so, so arrogant sometimes.

CAROLINEThis is new information

MARYNo, but I think he's getting worse now that we're almost out of school, and everybody is trying to decide what to do next. He just seems so smug. He has it all figured out.

CAROLINEWell, he is pre tty smart.

MARYI know, but he doesn't have to act like he's going to be on the first team and he ’s going to be the captain and the coach and everything else, and that everybody else is going to end up on the second team or third or behind the bench or something. I think even Paul gets sick of it sometimes.

CAROLINEAh, good old Paul.

3.

MARYYeah, good old Paul.

CAROLINEYou know Paul has always been really hard to figure out. He's quiet, he 's nice.

MARYHe hangs around with Elliott.

CAROLINEThat, too. I really like him, but I 've never quite known what goes on inside his brain. I used to think he was slow or something. Then every once in a while he would say something or do something, and I would look at him and see that there was at least a little light bulb on in his attic after all. I think the two of them are so opposite that together...

MARYThey add up to almost a whole person.

CAROLINEThat sounds kind of rude...and kind of true.

MARYI know. It's just that Elliott sometimes seems like this big balloon full of...of...

CAROLINEHot air?

MARYRight, and Paul is like...like...

CAROLINELike a string on the neck of the balloon that keeps it from flying crazy all around?

4.

MARY(looking at Caroline and nodding)

Yes! We are good together.

CAROLINEWe are very good together.

Elliott and Paul approach.

ELLIOTTHello, girls. Paul and I were just talking about plans for the next year or two or maybe even three , busy bumble bee .

PAULActually, El, I think I was listening to you talk about your plans

ELLIOTTSame thing, big man. We 're going to go right to the top, the T-bone top, and we're going to go, just like always - together. Get it? 2-gether!

PAULGot it.

ELLIOTTSeriously, ladies, let me enlighten you with the way I see the future. It’s like planning a trip, a journey. And for a journey, you need a map. This one, this trip is going to need a new map, ‘cause nobody’s been there yet. Like any map somebody has to draw it. And then fold it up. And then unfold it. That’s who I’m going to be...the...

(pronouncing it ‘map-eyay’-mock French)mappier.

MARYMappier!?

5.

ELLIOTTIt’s French for ...Map Maker!

Mary and Caroline look at each other and shake their heads.

Note: Key to abbreviations used for characters singing lyrics is at end of script.

MAKING PLANS VERSE 1[EL] I'M MAKING PLANS, MAKING LOTS OF PLANS FOR MAKING LOTS OF MONEY, I'M SURE MY OUTLOOK IS SUNNY, FOR MONETARY GAIN EXTRAORDINAIRE. SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE IN DEPRESSION ERA MAJOR DEPRIVATION. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION YOU WEREN'T THERE.

[MA] I'M MAKING PLANS I'VE BEEN MAKING THEM LONG AS I REMEMBER, I COULD BE GONE BY MID-DECEMBER. UNIVERSITY WILL OPEN DOORS FOR ME.

[EL] WHEN I AM FAMOUS I HOPE YOU'LL DROP BY, OF COURSE, I MAY BEUNAVAILABLE, BUT LEAVE YOUR CARD ON THE TABLE, YOU'LL BE GLAD THAT YOU TRIED

MAKING PLANS VERSE 2[MA] I SEE NO REASON I COULDN'T BE A SURGEON OR ATTORNEY, WOULD YOU RIDE ON MY GURNEY, OR RETAIN ME FOR A FEE? WHAT'S THE MATTER, MISTER MASTER PLANNER? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF YOUR SUDDEN CAUTIOUS MANNER?

[CE] SURELY YOU COULD NOT BE THREATENED BY A PLANFUL GIRL LIKE ME. I'D LIKE A MAN WHO'S MAKING PLANS, SHOWS HE KNOWS JUST WHERE HE'S GOING, AND HIS INTELLIGENCE IS SHOWING, UNLESS HE’S JUST SHOWING OFF BECAUSE HECAN.

[EL] QUIT YOUR MESSING, YOU'RE ONLY GUESSING, WITHOUT LUCK, TO GET STUCK HERE WOULD BE DEPRESSING SURELY YOU SEE YOU SHOULD BE LIKE ME, A MAN WITH A PLAN.

MAKING PLANS CHORUS[MA & CE] ELLIOTT, WITH HIS DREAMS OF WHEELING AND DEALING, JUST KNOWSHE'S SO APPEALING. A NATURAL BORN NATIONAL TREASURE, THE HARD TRICK IS THE YARD STICK HE'SBEEN USING TO MEASURE

[EL] FDR HAS BEEN DRUMMING, SAYS IF WE JUST PUSH ON THERE'S A NEW DEALCOMING.

6.

NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, THINGS HAVE GOT TO GET BETTER WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN, SOME ALIEN FORCE THAT WOULD FORCE US TOBATTEN WITH PLANS THAT ARE STRONG, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

MAKING PLANS VERSE 3[CE] MY SIMPLE PLANS SEEM TO BE IN LINE WITH FAMILYTRADITION, LIMITED PROFESSIONAL AMBITION JUST SETTLE DOWN WITH A VERY SIMPLE MAN.

MARY(speaking)

Well, that’ll be simple.

[CE] SOMETIMES IN A SURGE I GET THE URGE TO STRIKE OUT AND SEE THE WORLD BEYOND THE BOUNDARYOH, IT WOULD SHOCK MY MOTHER, PROBABLY KILL MY FATHER, BUT IT MIGHT BE KIND OF NICE FOR ME

[PA] I HAVE SOME PLANS, BUT NEXT TO YOURS THEY'RE LOOKINGREALLY LIGHT AND FLIMSY LITTLE SUBSTANCE LOTS OF WHIMSY. JUST BEEN GETTING BY ASBEST I CAN.I NEVER THOUGHT MUCH OF SCHOOL, PERHAPS I'VE BEEN A FOOLABOUT MY EDUCATION INSTEAD OF FOCUS ON VACATION MAYBE I SHOULD THINK ABOUTA PLAN.

MAKING PLANS ENSEMBLE SECTIONMEASURE 133[PA] I JUST WANT A CAR, AND TO KEEP THINGS [EL] BIG SHOTS WILL GIVE YOU ADVICE FREE

AND SWEAR IT’S A WONDERFUL PRICE, SEE [MA] I DON’T BELIEVE THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG [CE] WE HAVE A LOT OF ENERGY FLOWING

I’D HAVE TO SAY DIVERSITY’S SHOWING

MEASURE 137[PA] PRETTY MUCH AS THEY ARE[EL] WHEN CHOICES START TO LOOK DICEY

THEY’LL SMILE AND TRY TO MAKE NICEYMA] WITH A WOMAN WHO’S SMART AND IS STRONG[CE] WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK UP AND BE CLEAR

I’D LIKE TO HAVE A CIVIL DISCUSSION HERE

7.

MEASURE 141[PA] I’D LIKE A GIRLFRIEND[EL] PAT PAT, WINK WINK, THE SWEATY HAND

NO NEED TO THINK SAYS THE SANDMAN[MA] SOME PEOPLE TELL ME I’M LIKE A SORE THUMB

WISH I COULD TURN DOWN THE VOLUME SOME[CE] I LOVE THEM ALL AND I KNOW THEY LOVE ME

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A LAND IS FREE

MEASURE 145[PA] WHO LIKES ME, TOO[EL] YOU’RE AT THEIR MERCY UNLESS YOU’VE WORKED OUT A PLAN[MA] I SEE NO REASON A GIRL SHOULD PLAY DUMB [CE] FREE TO EXPRESS EVEN WHEN WE DON’T AGREE

MAKING PLANS FINAL SECTION

Paul is shouting out the letters of Elliott's name and the girls are responding with characteristics of Elliott that begin with that letter (as in the song Mother: M is for the many things she gave me, O means only that she's growing old, etc.)

PAUL(shouting)

Elliott!

Paul shouts out the letters of Elliott’s name, after which Mary and Caroline hold up a card for each letter. Numbers within lyrics are notations of measure.

MAKING PLANS FINAL SECTIONAt the beginning of this section, Paul is shouting out the letters of Elliott’s name and the girls are responding with characteristics of Elliott that begin with that letter, just like in the song Mother (M is for the many things she gave me, O means only that she’s growing old, etc.)____________________________________________________________________

8.

MEASURE PAUL SHOUTS. ELLIOTT MARY AND CAROLINE(HE MAY HOLD UP (AFTER PAUL SHOUTS

LETTER CARDS ) A LETTER)

149 E MY PLANS ARE RED HOT EGOTISTICAL

151 L YOUR PLANS AFRAID NOT LIKES PLANNING, HE’S LOGISTICAL

153 L WHAT IT TAKES I HAVE GOT LONG-WINDED, LOQUACIOUS

155 I TO GIVE MY BEST SHOT JUST A LITTLE BIT, INGRACIOUS*

157 O CHECK WITH ME NEXT YEAR OCCASIONALLY...OVERWEENING

159 T YOU CAN BET I WON’T BE HERE TUMULTUOUS, WHEN HE’S PREENING

161 T OR ANYWHERE NEAR SOMETIMES TOO TOO MUCH

162 NO PLACE FOR A MAN WITH A PLAN SO WE ALL SAY

163 THAT’S WHAT I AM

164 BUT THAT’S OK165 JUST AN ORDINARY (PAUL JOINS) WE STILL LOVE HIM 166 EXTRAORDINARY MAN WITH A PLAN AND ALL HIS PLANS

*The authors acknowledge that “ingracious” is not an actual word in the English language; however, we do have “ungracious,” and really is that not just a linguistic anomaly? We have “ingratitude,” “insincere,” and all manner of negated qualities using the “in” prefix. Maybe this little quirk was as simple as “gracious” coming to a developmental/linguistic crossroad and turning right toward “un” rather than left toward “in.” Besides “ingracious” meets our needs at this point. Otherwise, one of our main characters would have to be named “Elluot“ which sounds pretty foolish and may have ruined the whole play. Your tolerance is greatly appreciated.

SCENE 2

Outside . Same as Scene 1.

After singing Making Plans, Caroline, Mary, Paul and Elliott proceed toward the church. Emma enters and approaches them.

9.

All gree t her and she them. The Narrator stands apart from the group and comments.

NARRATOR(to audience)

This is Emma. You saw her earlier when she and I were working on our paintings. She is really good at painting. I am just starting and trying to learn a few things from her. Emma is, well, she is like everyone’s special aunt and favorite teacher rolled into one. She also makes the great peanut butter cookies. She has just the right fork, too, to make those tic-tac-toe lines on them. She has known The Four since they were little kids. She is kind, patient and generous, but she can also dispense what calls “inspection, de tection and correction” when needed. Even when she does that, though, she makes you feel ...almost grateful.

CAROLINE, MARY, ELLIOTT, AND PAULHi, Emma./Hello, Emma

EMMAGood morning, good morning. All of you certainly look nice on this beautiful morning. On your way to church, I guess

CAROLINE, MARY, ELLIOTT, AND PAULYes, you bet, or course .

MARYIt just couldn’t be Sunday unless we were going to church.

ELLIOTTActually, Mary, it would still be Sunday without church. The two rather arbitrary constructions, church and Sunday, are ne ither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive and...

CAROLINEAnd we’re going to sit together since this is that special day for young people that Pastor Goodman does once a year.

10.

PAULWhat? Oh, no.

ELLIOTTAre you sure? Is this the one where Goodman can’t say youth and it always comes out youths? Youths Sunday?

MARYHere, le t me check the church bulletin. Why, yes indeed. This is the very day.

ELLIOTT AND PAULOh, no. Uggh.

CAROLINEOh, boys. What would you do without our remembering things for you.

ELLIOTTMaybe forget or stay home.

EMMAI’m sure Pastor Goodman will have a very special message for all of us. Paul and Elliott, may I take your arms?

There are chairs and an elevated pulpit to one side of the stage . The five of them proceed to the church, enter, and seat themselves. It is the beginning of the service, with lots of greeting and shaking hands. As this goes on the NARRATOR continues. She stands apart, not interacting with others.

NARRATORSee. That’s one of the things Emma does so well. She guides things and gets them back on the path without squishing anybody. If Emma thinks something is a good idea, most everybody listens.

11.

(MORE)

A couple of years ago her house was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. She told everyone that she should have put lightning rods on the house like her brother had said. It was amazing. Within a day or so there must have been 15 lightning rod salesmen in town. And I will tell you, not one of them rolled on with a single rod still in his truck. Flat sold out. Samples and all.

The Narrator continues to be present in this and subsequent scenes, but she is not a participant. She is a commentator and observer but remains apart. She has direct interactions with Emma but with none of the other characters.

SCENE 3

Inside The Little Church That Could

As the congregation settles in, PASTOR EPHRAM GOODMAN greets and then ascends to the pulpit. He has an often eccentric vocabulary and pronunciation.

PASTOR GOODMANWelcome to all you brothers and sisters. If you are a visitor let me

( (speaking the next word as written here)hardly welcome you here to The Little Church That Could. Just a quick update for everyone that the church Board of Overlookers has considered the potential problem in our church’s name. They have decided to conduct a referential in which we can vote whether to change our name to The Little Church that Will, or that Has or that Does. I know some of you think that having the word Can means, I don’t know, maybe that we Can but we just sit on our pews and Don’t. Slips past me if you know what I mean.

12.NARRATOR (cont'd)

(MORE)

On the other sideline, we CAN keep our current name and be like that little train in the story we all love. ‘Tooot! Tooot! Chuggachuggachuggachugga! I knew I could, I know I should,’ and so on. Well, it’s all up to you brothers and sisters. We’ll vote next Sunday.

Well, here we are again, and here we go again. I know sometimes you must wonder what it's like standing way up here in this lovely and...extremely...strongly built pulpit

He pats the pulpit side with satisfaction.

PASTOR GOODMAN () (cont’d) Well, I will tell you that it is a lot like looking down on a

whole lot of people . . from way up on a high place. Now I wonder if that sensation isn't just a tiny, a teensy weensy tiny little bit like what God sees when he looks down on us every day, just like I look down on all of you!

Caroline, Mary, Elliott and Paul exchange smiles.

PASTOR GOODMAN (cont’d) Now, I'm not trying to be shocking or compare our puny

earthly ways with those of our Heavenly Father, but I imagine that maybe God has a similar experience. Were we not made in His image? Now being made in his image certainly does not mean we all look godlike out on Sunset Beach, in our swimming suits, slathered with sun tan oil, with ginger ale in our coolers, maybe those new big e ight-ounce bottles. If you've ever been out there on a hot Fourth of July, it is kind of hard to know what God had in mind about that "made in his image" idea. I stray, but, then...don't we all?

Now, I don't know if god has a pulpit. I 'm sure if he wanted one He could just go bam, and there it would be ! Of course , none of us knows if God ever says anything like bam, but you know what I mean.

13.PASTOR GOODMAN (cont'd)

(MORE)

If He did, you know, go bam or whatever and create Himself a pulpit, it would probably be a lot like this one , made as it is of the strong and dense wood of our beautiful local oak trees. Strong... and...dense . Those are timeless qualities around here. And today we have other timeless and important business to attend to, or to which we want to attend to to, or...let's just move on.

Today is our church's annual(pronouncing the next word as spe lled here)

Youths Sunday. Each year we take most of one whole day to give special recognition to our young people, our youths. Some people say that our youths are the future of our town, our nation, and, perhaps most importantly our church. This could actually be true, so we want to make sure our youths feel honored and included at least one day every year. So, today I would like to try and make our youths feel included by actually including them somewhat, and to explore what I believe to be the most important theme of our time by asking this

(pronouncing the next word as spe lled here)vitalis question. How is it that some things are different from others? Right is different from wrong. Right is also different from left, though not in the same way. I know that many of you have very serious worries about the events happening far across the oceans. Many of these events are happening in lands from which our

(pronouncing the next word as spe lled here)foreborers fled to this country.

So, this is my question. No matter what boats and trains brought our antecedents here from lands now fighting among themselves...are those fights our fights, those troubles our troubles? I think this may be one place our youths can help us think

through these (pronouncing the ‘n’ in dilemnas)

dilemnas. Let me first besot the stage by asking a few inquisitional

questions.

14.PASTOR GOODMAN (cont’d)

(MORE)

Think for a moment about all the strife and turmoil going on in the world. Then ask ourselves where is all that mush happening? We are all here. And all that strife in the world is where? Elliott, would you please stand?

Elliott does so with reluctance.

PASTOR GOODMAN () (cont’d)Elliott, all this crazy fighting is going on...

(beckoning for Elliott to respond.)is going on over...over...where?

Elliott does not respond but appears to be trying to think.

PASTOR GOODMAN () (cont’d)Elliott, it rhymes with...

Pastor Goodman pulls his hair.

ELLIOTTRhymes with ...hair?

PASTOR GOODMANRight, Elliott, rhymes with...hair.

ELLIOTTBear!!

PASTOR GOODMANBear? OK. OK. Over ...bear! Overbear! Overbearing!! Yes, overbearing! This is what I love about youths. Elliott is letting us know that sometimes adults can be overbearing with youths. That's great, and because I have spent so much time in prayer, which, of course...

15.PASTOR GOODMAN (cont’d)

Goodman makes the charades gesture for "sounds like"—pulling on one ear, then pointing to his hair, nodding and smiling to the congregation.

PASTOR GOODMAN What I am trying to get at is that this awful war thing is over...there! OK? So, are we over there , Elliott!? Are we over there?

Elliott just stares at him, looking puzzled without speaking.

PASTOR GOODMAN (cont’d)No, Elliott, we're not over there are we? We are over . . where? Elliott, one more charade clue chance, just one. We are over...

He pulls his ear for ‘sounds like’, and then points to one of his ears.

ELLIOTTSounds like ...ear?

PASTOR GOODMAN(Showing a hint of hope and relief)

Yes, Elliott. Rhymes with ear. Sounds like...

He points again at one of his ears.

ELLIOTTBeer!!

PASTOR GOODMANOver beer? OK, Elliott, thanks very much for your help.

ELLIOTTYou're mostly welcome.

16.

PASTOR GOODMAN Let me try to ge t back to whatever it was that I was

trying at which to get. I think the point was that, in the end, and I do mean the BIG END, there is a great and glorious and heavenly . . over there, which will be so much better than our earthly . . over here.

And maybe we need to make a little bit of that kind of distinction in our daily lives. These wars we’re hearing about are over there , and we are all over here. And maybe we should just keep it that way. All of us...here. All those wars... there. On earth as it is in heaven. Amen!

I think this is a good time to go to one of your favorite hymns and one of mine as well, located as it so appropriately is as number one in the hymnal, or, as I like to call it, the pole position of praise. So let's all stand and sing hymn number one, Over There !

HYMN 1-OVER THEREFIRST TIME THROUGH

[PG & ALL (CONGREGATION)]WHEN WE MEET OUR MAKER OVER THEREHE WILL LIFT EVERY BURDEN, EVERY CAREHE WILL COMFORT ALL OUR PAIN AND OUR DESPAIRTHEN SHOW US TO THAT CHAPEL IN THE AIROVER THERE WE'LL FORGET EARTHLY DELIGHTIN A LAND THAT KNOWS NO DAY OR NIGHTEVERCLEAR WHAT'S WRONG AND WHAT IS RIGHTPLEASURES WE IMAGINED WILL BE GONE FROM SIGHT.

Pastor Goodman now begins speaking over the singing of the congregation, his words simultaneous with the lyrics sung [as aligned in lyrics.]

HYMN 1-OVER THERESECOND TIME THROUGH[ALL (CONGREGATION) BUT NOT PG]

Congregation Sings: Pastor (spoken over the singing)WHEN WE MEET OUR MAKER OVER THERE OH, WON’T THAT BE A DAY!

HE WILL LIFT EVERY BURDEN, EVERY CARE HE’LL LIFT OUR BURDENS, ANDSEPARATE THEM FROM US

17.

HE WILL COMFORT ALL OUR PAIN LIFTING AND SEPARATING, AND OUR DESPAIR LIFTING AND SEPARATING

BOY, IS THAT GOING TO FEEL GOOD.

THEN SHOW US TO THAT CHAPEL IN THE AIR AH, AND WHAT A GORGEOUS SIGHT THAT WILL BE

OVER THERE WE’LL FORGET EARTHLY DELIGHT WE WON’T THINK ABOUT ANY OF THOSE AWFUL THINGS

IN A LAND THAT KNOWS NO DAY OR NIGHT WE CAN THROW AWAY CALENDARS AND WATCHES

NEVER EARLY, NEVER LATE! EVERCLEAR WHAT’S WRONG AND WHAT IS RIGHT EVERCLEAR! EVERCLEAR!

SOUNDS DELICIOUS!

PLEASURES WE IMAGINED WE WON’T EVEN BE TEMPTED TO LOOK!

WILL BE GONE FROM SIGHT OH, SWEET BLINDNESS! PRAISE BE !

OVER THERE, EVERY PLEASURE WON’T THAT BE HEAVENLY RELIEF! AMEN

Elliott and Paul sing an alternate to the Congregation’s “Amen”.AH...MEN. [ EL & PA] OH...MAN]

SCENE 4

Outside the Church

The church service ends. Mary and Caroline move to one side of the stage, close to the audience. Paul and Elliott move to the other, away from the audience . Mary appears somber. Caroline is, at first, engaged in waving goodbye to the boys and Emma. As she turns to Mary she is aware that Mary is preoccupied.

18.

CAROLINEOK, what’s the matter? Something’s been cooking in your little brain all day. Now what is it? I am invoking the Holy Oath No Secrets Rule. Truth, Truth, John Wilkes Booth!

MARYHm, OK. No secrets. Truth is, I’m scared. All our talk about plans. I really thought I finally had a ticket out. Caroline, you’ve always known you wanted to be and were going to be --a teacher. I never counted on anything like that until just a few months ago. I got that beautiful letter. I got accepted at the university. I got the scholarship. You went with me to Woolworth’s, and I got . . a suitcase. A thing to put stuff in because you’re getting ready to go somewhere else. I never thought...

CAROLINEAnd...

MARYYesterday I re-read the letter from the university. Near the end it said something like, “if there is a national emergency, please understand that we may change any terms of acceptance, financial aid, e tc.,” and so on and so on. You know what that means...Everything about my chance could go away. All this time, all this focus, all this... All of it could just vanish, if this war comes. That seems to be what everyone is thinking about and thinking is going to happen. It feels like a big hole in the floor, just like every other time in my life when I thought things were going to be ...better...

CAROLINEShhhh. Shhh, I know, I know.

She soothes Mary for a moment.

19.

CAROLINE (cont’d)OK, listen. You know, all the things you said, all the things you’re worried about...might happen...but maybe they won’t or maybe even if they do, we’ll stick together and make some other plan. Whatever happens, you won’t have to look at that big hole in the floor by yourself. One thing I know, you’re very smart and very strong. You forget it sometimes, but you are one tough...

MARYPlease don’t say ‘cookie.’ I’ve never understood what a tough cookie would be anyway.

CAROLINEOK, how about tough biscuit?

MARYTough biscuit? I don’t get it.

CAROLINEIt’s French for cookie.

Caroline comforts Mary as music for the next song comes up, which they sing.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 1-FRIENDSFIRST SECTION[MA] IT RATTLES ME BADLY, NOT KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ONEVERYONE ELSE SEEMS SO SURE SHE CAN CARRY ON, FEELING QUITE STRANGE, BUT STRANGELY FAMILIAR (HERE) SEPARATE, TRYING TO ACT LIKE IT'S ALL CLEAR.

[MA] THIS IS WHERE I HAVE ALWAYS DEPENDED ON YOU.TO HELP ME STOP SHAKING, TO HELP ME SORT THROUGHSOMETHING'S HAPPENING, SOMETHING BAD I CAN SMELL ITI CAN'T PUT IT IN WORDS, BUT I KNOW, I CAN TELL IT.

[CE] OH, MARY, MY SWEET MARY, MY DEAR. AGAIN, IT'S SO PAINFULLY CLEAR.ALL THOSE YEARS, YOU LIVED IN FEAR, IT WAS SO WRONG.

[MA] CAROLINE, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME, YOU HAD OPTIONS AND LOTS OF OTHER OPPORTUNITY. NO NEED TO TAKE UP WITH THE CHOPPED OFF INVISIBLE MESS I USED TO BE,

20.

YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO.

[CE] MARY, AGAIN, PLEASE LOOK AT ME, LISTEN, THIS WORRY'S ABOUT ALL THE THINGS YOU WERE MISSING, BUT NOW YOU'RE GROWN UP, YOU'VE OUTRUN YOUR DISASTERNO NEED TO KEEP RUNNING EVER FASTER. YOU WERE THERE. I WAS, TOO. WE BOTH LOOKED UP, AND WE KNEW,

[MA & CE] WE KNEW, WE KNEW, WE KNEW.

Paul and Ellioitt, on the other side, step forward.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 1-FRIENDSFIRST SECTION PAUL AND ELLIOTT[PA] I'M GLAD WE HAVE SOME TIME TO TALK, IT'S SOMETHING WE DON'T OFTEN DO. MY FRIEND, THERE'VE BEEN TIMES WHEN YOU'VE DRIVEN ME CRAZY, BUT I KNOWTHAT I CAN LEVEL WITH YOU.

[PA] I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS HAPPENING, SOMETHING QUITE OUTOF OUR HANDS, THE WORLD'S CUP IS TILTING SO DANGEROUSLY, I'M NOT SURE IT CAN HOLD ALLTHESE BOILING DEMANDS

[EL] PAUL, I KNOW JUST WHAT YOU MEAN, IT'S ALREADY STARTED, IT 'S ALREADYOBSCENE, NEXT IT'S OUR BODIES TO BE PULLED IN, OUR BLOOD TO BE SPILLED, OUR PLANS TO BE BLED WHITE, OUR FUTURES KILLED

[PA] THIS MAY SURPRISE YOU, WHAT'S BEEN ON MY MIND, WHEN I'VE THOUGHT WE'D BE GOING AWAY. I'VE THOUGHT OF THE GIRLS, THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT CAROLINE, HOW MUCH I WOULD MISS HER, UNNERVING, SINCE SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN LIKE ASISTER

[EL] PAUL, THIS IS SO STRANGE, I'VE BEEN THINKING, QUITE OFTEN, OF MARY. WE'VE ALWAYS GRATED, SHE SEEMED SO CONTRARYWHY SHOULD I THINK OF HER NOW? WHY SHOULD I BE THINKING ABOUT HERRIGHT NOW? HAVE YOU EVER HAD FEELINGS, SURPRISING AND STRONG, AT ABSOLUTE ODDS WITH THE WAY YOU'VE BEHAVED AND BELIEVED ALL ALONG?

21.

[PA] WE MUST DECIDE ON A NEW COURSE OF ACTION, STRANGE AS IT SEEMS, I THINK WE MUST SOMEHOW COMMUNICATE, THIS NEW FOUND ...ATTRACTION.

Bass riff begins

[PA] I...THINK I HAVE A SOLUTION, BOLD, MASCULINE MOVE, CUTTING RIGHT TOTHE CORE. WE . . . COULD GO OVER AND TALK TO THEM,

[EL] EVEN THOUGH WE'VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE

[PA] I'M SURE...ALL WE DO IS JUST OPEN, OPEN OUR MOUTHS AND THE WORDS WILL COME OUT

[EL] ALL THAT WE'RE PLANNING AND HOPING, OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR FEELINGSAND ALL WE'RE ABOUT.

[PA] THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO, WE'LL JUST GO AND TALK TO THEM.

[EL] RIGHT, JUST TALK TO THEM, SIMPLE AND PLAIN.

[PA] I'M HAVING UNUSUAL SENSATIONS,

[EL] NAUSEA? DIZZINESS?

[PA] DULL, THROBBING PAIN

[PA] I KNOW, WE'LL JUST SAY, “MARY AND CAROLINE, WE HAVE SOME THINGS WE WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU.”

[EL] THAT WILL AT LEAST GET US STARTED, I'M PRETTY SURE THEN THAT THEREST WILL COME THROUGH.

[PA] WHY DON'T WE JUST START WALKING OVER, TRY NOT TO BE NERVOUS ORLOOK SO DOWNCAST

[EL & PA] MAYBE WE COULD ASK THE GIRLS TO HELP US, THEY PROBABLY WILL, THEY HAVE IN THE PAST.

Music begins.

Elliott and Paul approach the girls. There is focus on the girls, who are talking about them.

22.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 1-FRIENDSFIRST SECTION MARY AND CAROLINE[MA] TELL THEM? WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?

[CE] I'D LIKE TO TELL THEM WE'RE GROWN UP, WE'RE NOT LITTLE GIRLS ANY MORE, NOW WHEN THEY LOOK AT US, THEY'LL HAVE TO SEE US THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES THAN BEFORE.

MA & CE] WE HAVE CHANGED. SO HAVE THEY. WE'VE ALL CHANGED.

[CE] I KNOW THAT I'VE ALWAYS BEEN QUIET AND NAIVE BUT LATELY IT'S DIFFERENT I'VE COME TO BELIEVE SOMETIMES I FEEL GIDDY I JUST WANT TO SHOUT IT FEELS LIKE THE NEW ME IS TRYING TO BURST OUT.

Paul approaches Caroline, singing.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 1-FRIENDSFIRST SECTION PAUL ELLIOTT MARY AND CAROLINE

[PA] CAROLINE, THAT GIRL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, THE ONE IN MY FIRST MEMORY, YOU WERE STANDING OUT IN FRONT OF WOOLWORTH'S, YOU AND MARY, LOOKING AT YOURSELVES IN THATBIG GLASS WINDOW,YOU HAD ONE FINGER PUSHING UP YOUR NOSE, AND TWO OTHERS PULLING DOWN YOUR EYES, MAKING FACES. YOU TURNED AND YOU SAW ME, YOU DROPPED YOUR HANDS AND YOU WERE SMILING, AND YOU THREW UP YOUR HAND TO COVER YOUR BRACES. AND RIGHT FROM THAT MOMENT, I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT, YOU WERE ...BEAUTIFUL

CAROLINE (cont’d)Beautiful?!?

[PA] BEAUTIFUL

CAROLINE (cont’d)( voice unsteady)

Beautiful. . . .

[MA] OH, MY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THE TIME, DON'T YOU KNOW WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN HOME ALMOST AN HOUR AGO.

23.

ELLIOTT(mostly spoken)

Mary, I remember the first time I really looked at you steady. You got up in class to recite a poem by Christina Rosetti. You blanked on the first line, you took a deep breath, and you just started making things up Lots of “thous” and “willts“, and “doths“, It was very impressive , of course, I had it memorized. I thought this girl is resilient, this girl is unusual, this girl is ... brilliant.

MARYBrilliant!?

ELLIOTTBrilliant...and...beautiful, yes, beautiful.

Mary and Caroline are pleased but taken aback.

[CE] APPARENTLY,

[MA] AS WE'VE SUSPECTED ALL ALONG

[CE & MA] WE'RE...BEAUTIFUL

[CE] WHAT COULD'VE GOTTEN INTO THEM BOTH, TALKING THIS WAY?

[CE] THINGS I THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER, NEVER, EVER HEAR THOSE TWO SAY

[MA] EMMA SAYS WHEN THERE'S A REAL CRISIS LOOMIN',

[MA] SOME MEN ARE AFFECTED, AND THEY START ACTING HUMAN.

CAROLINE(speaking)

Well, I like it. Makes me think of the good things about them.

MARY(spoken, smiling)

And I suppose now we'll have to te ll them!

24.

[CE] YES, WE WILL!

Mary and Caroline laugh at Mary’s line “I suppose now we'll have to tell them!”

Caroline and Mary begin singing Something Is Happening 1: Friends. Paul and Elliott join in, singing counterpoint with the girls’ lyrics -- until they converge near the end of Something Is Happening 1: Friends.

[CE] TELL THEM? YES!

[CE & MA] WHAT SHOULD WE TELL THEM?

[CE] HOW ABOUT . . HANDSOME?

[MA] THAT’S A VERY STRONG WORD.[MA] AND HOW ABOUT STRONG?

[CE] A VERY HANDSOME WORD.

[CE] FUNNY [PA] LOVELY

[MA] SOMETIMES [EL] TALENTED

[CE] OUTRAGEOUS [PA] PATIENT

[MA] USUALLY [EL] AND KIND

[CE & MA] OUR TORMENTORS [PA & EL] REALLY JUSTOUR BUDDIES GOOD FRIENDSOUR PALS IS WHATOUR FRIENDS COMES TO MY MIND

[CE & MA] ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE [PA & EL] ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE

[CE & MA] WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDS [PA & EL] WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDS

(RETARD) (RETARD)(ALL) AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE [PA & EL] AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONEWE’LL ALWAYS BE FRIENDS! WE’LL ALWAYS BE FRIENDS!

25.

SCENE 5

Outside , on the Street

After they finish Something Is Happening 1- Friends, Paul, Elliott, Caroline and Mary walk down the street. There is increasing activity there --paper vendors shouting ‘read all about it!,’ etc. People point to headlines and show great agitation. People stand on boxes making speeches, etc. Non-named voices (O1, O2, 03, 04) begin to shout and the overall level of noise and agitation rises.

O1Didn’t we learn anything last time!

O2Do you think Hitler’s just going to stop in Poland?

O3Who cares where he stops. It’s not our problem!

O4So you just want to bury your head, huh?

O3Better I bury my head than my son, or yours.

Caroline, Mary, Elliott, and Paul are disturbed by the tumult. They move apart a bit and then back together. The slow introduction to Something Is Happening 2-What Will Happen?” begins. They talk over one another.

CAROLINEI don’t understand all this.

26.

PAULI think I do. But I really don’t like it. Understanding is not...

ELLIOTTThis is all so ridiculous. Weren’t we just talking about how things finally seem to be getting back on track, getting back to...

MARYI know it. I just know this is all going to blow up in our...

CAROLINENo, no. Just, just think about it. This is not the first...first time...

MARYI can’t, I just can’t...do...

ELLIOTTI...I...won’t...I won’t...I ...

PAULEasy, easy. Le t’s just settle down. Let’s just...try and...slow down...for a minute.

ELLIOTTI...don’t think it’s going to slow down...I think...

All become silent. Music continues and they sing.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 2-WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

Measures are marked by |

[EL] SOMETHING IS HAPPENING | IT HASN'T BEEN CLEAR | SOMETHING IS HAPPENING | SO LONG I HOPED IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN HERE

[MA] SOMETHING IS HAPPENING | JUST BECOMING CLEAR | WHAT ONCE SEEMED SO FAR AWAY | NOW SEEMS VERY NEAR.

27.

[EL] WHERE DID THIS COME FROM | HOW DID IT EVER BEGIN | THE SMELL OF ALL THESE FIRES | THE TERRIBLE HEAT ON OUR SKIN

[MA] I DON'T HEAR THE REASONS | ALL THESE BLOODY SWORDS GLISTENING | EVERYONE IS JUST SHOUTING | SO NO ONE IS LISTENING

[PA] LOOKS LIKE IT'S HAPPENING |

[MA] ALL OVER THE WORLD |

[CE] ALL THESE BUGLES AND BANNERS |

[PA] THESE BLOODY FLAGS UNFURLED

[EL] I THINK NO ONE IS LISTENING, HASN'T ANYONE HEARD ME, DOESN'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND,I HAVE PLANS, DON'T YOU GET IT, I HAVE PLANS!!

Interlude with lots of frantic movement by those in the street.

Singers are Others, not identified by name. Again, measures are marked by |[O1] I HATE ALL THESE HEADLINES | SCREAMING OUT FROM THE TOPS OF THE PAPERS | AND I HATE THE SOUND OF THE RADIO NEWS | DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY

[O2] WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH US | THIS FAR AWAY FIGHT | AND WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN NOW? | JUST WHEN EVERYTHING WAS STARTING TO GO RIGHT

[O3] WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE | AND WHERE ARE THESE PLACES | ALL THESE STRANGE SOUNDING PLACES | THESE STRANGE SOUNDING NAMES, VERY STRANGE SOUNDING NAMES

Others (O1, O2, O3, O4) sing in round form, (singing at the same time):I HATE ALL THESE HEADLINES | SCREAMING OUT OF THE PAPERS | WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE | WHERE ARE THESE PLACES

O1, 02, 03, and 04 sing at the same time:[O1] I WON'T READ THE HEADLINES | I'LL TURN OFF THE WIRELESS | THOSE WHO ARE UPSET | THEY ALL SEEM TO BE TIRELESS

[O2] THIS IS NOT ABOUT US | THIS FAR AWAY FIGHT | IT IS THEIRS, IT IS THEM | IT 'S NOT US, IT'S NOT RIGHT

28.

[O3] WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE | AND WHERE ARE THOSE PLACES | STRANGE SOUNDING PLACES | STRANGE SOUNDING NAMES |

[O4] THEY STARTED THIS MESS | IT'S NOT OURS TO ENDURE | SEND THEM BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM | THAT WAY WE'D BE SURE

Paul has become more and more agitated as the Others sing.

[PA] WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! | WHAT CAN YOU BE THINKING?! | THOSE . . PEOPLE !?! ...THOSE...PLACES !?!

PAUL.(shouting,at measure 133)

STOP!!

SCENE 6

Outside

Emma, obviously distraught, hurriedly approaches Caroline, Mary, Elliott and Paul.

Slow intro to Something Is Happening 3-The Time Has Come begins as the music plays in the background while the scene progresses.

EMMAI’m so glad I found you. Have you been listening to the radio?

MARYNo, we were...just...out...

EMMAThen you haven’t heard.

ALLHeard what?

29.

EMMA...It’s started. The war. We’re in it.

MARYI knew it. I knew it was going to come to this.

PAULI guess we all knew it, but I still can’t believe it.

ELLIOTTThis whole thing is just . . crazy.

Something Is Happening 3-The Time Has Come is sung by Emma, Paul, Caroline, and Mary.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 3-T HE TIME HAS COME

Dividing lines indicate when characters are singing simultaneous lines.

*PAUL-LOWER MELODY LINE **PAUL-HIGHER LINE[PA]* I THINK IT’S CLEAR, WHAT WE CAN DO, WHAT WE REALLY MUST DO,

I DON’T LIKE WHAT I KNOW, BUT I SEE__________________________________________________________________________________[PA]* I GUESS WE’VE BELIEVED WE WERE SOMEHOW ABOVE ALL THIS NOISE,

WE COULD JUST CLOSE OUR EARS AND NOT HEAR

[EM] FIND WHAT IS RIGHT, GROW TO THE LIGHT, CARRY ON__________________________________________________________________________________

[EM] I CAN’T TAKE IT, CAN’T BELIEVE IT, IT’S NOT HAPPENING,

CAN’T BE HAPPENING, I WAS SO CLOSE, LET ME WAKE UP,

ALL MY PLANNING, COMES TO NOTHING.__________________________________________________________________________________

[PA]** DON’T WE RECALL, ALL THE STORIES ABOUT OUR GRANDMOTHERS, FATHERS, AND SONS,

WHO SAILED AWAY, BRINGING US TO THIS PLACE, WITH THEIR WORLD IN THEIR ARMS.

[EM] NO ONE CAN SAY, YOU MUST GO THIS WAY, FIND YOUR OWN __________________________________________________________________________________

30.

[PA]** IF THEY HAD STAYED, WE’D BE RIGHT IN THE EYE AND THE HEART OF THIS HORROR THIS MESS I CONFESS THAT I’D LIKE TO FORGET, BUT I KNOW WHAT I KNOW

[EM] HOLD ON TO YOUR LOVE, THINKING OF, WHAT YOU BELIEVE __________________________________________________________________________________

[PA]* I‘D LIKE TO CALL TO THEM ALL, HOW DID YOU FIND THE COURAGE THEN,

FOR I MUST FIND IT NOW.

[EM] I CAN’T TAKE IT, CAN’T BELIEVE IT, IT’S NOT HAPPENING,

CAN’T BE HAPPENING, I WAS SO CLOSE, LET ME WAKE UP,

ALL MY PLANNING, COMES TO NOTHING.__________________________________________________________________________________

[MA] I THOUGHT I HAD FOUND A WAY, TO MOVE ON-WARD__________________________________________________________________________________

[CE] I’VE ALWAYS WORRIED THAT MY FRIENDS WERE MUCH SMARTER, THAT THEY KNEW MORE THAN I KNEW, IT WAS HARD.

[EM] YOU COULDN’T SEE, SO CLEAR TO ME, FEARS RELIEVE__________________________________________________________________________________

[MA] CANDLES SWEPT FROM ALTARS BURN WITHOUT MERCY

[EL] I CAN’T TAKE IT, CAN’T BELIEVE IT, IT’S NOT HAPPENING,

CAN’T BE HAPPENING, I WAS SO CLOSE, LET ME WAKE UP,

ALL MY PLANNING, COMES TO NOTHING.

[EM] NO ONE CAN TELL YOU, WHAT YOU SHOULD DO, GO GODSPEED______________________________________________

[CE] I CANNOT TELL YOU JUST HOW MUCH I HAVE LOVED ALL OF YOU,

HOW I WISH THERE WERE TEARS I COULD DRY._______________________________________________

[CE] I’M VERY FRIGHTENED, BUT SOMEHOW I BELIEVE THAT,

IF WE WORK AND KEEP OUR HEADS, WE’LL PULL THROUGH

31.

[MA] PUSHED BACK, INTO DARKNESS, JUST WHEN I SAW LIGHT

[PA]* SOMETIMES AT NIGHT, I AWAKE FROM A LINGERING DREAM,

OF MY GRANDFATHER’S FACE, OF HIS EYES.__________________________________________________________________________________[CE] MY BIGGEST WORRY, THAT WE WON’T STICK TOGETHER,

WE’LL BE TORN, END UP AFRAID AND ALONE

[MA] I’VE HAD SO MANY LEAVINGS, THIS IS JUST ONE MORE

[PA]* HE DOESN’T SMILE, HE’S JUST WAITING TO SEE WHAT I DO, WHAT WE ALL CHOOSE TO DO, THERE ARE TEARS.

[EL] I CAN’T TAKE IT, CAN’T BELIEVE IT, IT’S NOT HAPPENING, CAN’T BE HAPPENING, I WAS SO CLOSE, LET ME WAKE UP,

ALL MY PLANNING, COMES TO NOTHING.__________________________________________________________________________________

([DOUBLE TIME)(EM) COME TAKE MY HAND, I UNDERSTAND, PLEASE, LOOK AT ME,

OPEN YOUR EYES, SEE TRUTH AND NOT LIES, BE BRAVE AND FREE

YOU’VE GROWN SO STRONG, BEEN FRIENDS SO LONG, GROW FROM HERE,DON’T PULL APART, LEAD WITH YOUR HEART, CALM THE FEAR

Interlude

During the Interlude Emma tries to reach out to them. They do respond to her but are distracted. As Paul, Elliott, Caroline and Mary move off, they begin to reconnect, making eye contact, touching, etc.

(EM) ONCE I WAS YOUNG, AND WE, TOO, HAD WORLDS TO SAVEI WAVED GOODBYE, DIDN’T CRY, I WAS...BRAVE.

32.

SCENE 7

Outside , near the church

As Emma finishes her singing in Something Is Happening 3-The Time Has Come Caroline, Paul, Mary and Elliiott make eye contact with Emma and begin to reach out and touch one another and move toward the church. They seem to be reconnecting.

The music for Something Is Happening 4- Stand With Me comes up. Caroline, Paul, Mary and Elliiott sing the song.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 4-ST AND WITH ME [CE] ALL OF US KNOW JUST WHAT WE HAVE HELD TRUE AND TOGETHER WE HAVE HANDLED PAIN BEFORE

While singing the next line, Caroline faces Mary.

[CE] WHEN YOUR MOTHER DIED WE GATHERED YOU AND HELD YOU AND SHARED YOUR TEARS UNTIL THERE WEREN'T ANY MORE.[PA] AND THE NIGHT WHEN EMMA'S HOUSE WAS LOST TO FIRE SHE SAID AT LEAST WE'RE SAFE, AND THINGS CAN BE REPLACED.AT DAWN, WE ALL ARRIVED WITH HAMMERS, WOOD, AND WIRE.IT WAS SO SWEET TO SEE THAT LOOK UPON HER FACE.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 4-ST AND WITH MECHORUS 1 [CE & PA] STAND WITH ME, I'LL STAND WITH YOUAND TOGETHER THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN'T DO. JOINING HANDS, JOINING HEARTS.,THIS IS WHERE THE DARKNESS ENDS AND MORNING STARTS

[MA] WHEN THE FLOOD CAME DOWN THE VALLEY WITH THE SPRING RAINCHILDREN CRYING ALL AROUND FOR SOMEONE NEARSTRANGERS CAME FROM EVERYWHERE TO EASE EACH CHILD'S PAIN. WE SANG AND ROCKED THEM THROUGH THE NIGHT TO CALM THE FEAR.

[EL] MY FRIENDS I WISH THAT I'D BEEN BETTER SHARING MY HEART

33.

AND TOO OFTEN I HAVE ACTED SELFISHLYBUT RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW I PROMISE I'LL DO MY PARTAND FROM THIS MOMENT YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 4-ST AND WITH ME CHORUS 2[EL] YOU'VE STOOD WITH ME, I'LL STAND WITH YOU.AND TOGETHER THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN'T DO. WE'VE JOINED OUR HANDS, WE'LL JOIN OUR HEARTSTHIS IS WHERE THE DARKNESS ENDS AND MORNING STARTS.

[CE & PA & & MA & EL] NOW THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO MAKE OUR CHOICESWE KNOW NOTHING EVER COMES FROM MERE INTENT.EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON STANDING WITH OUR VOICES.FOR THE FUTURE WE MUST ONCE AGAIN INVENT.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 3-ST AND WITH ME CHORUS 3[CE & PA & & MA & EL] WE MUST STAND, WE MUST SHOW, THAT WE REMEMBER WHAT'S BEEN GIVEN, THAT WE KNOWWHEN WE UNITE, AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT, IN THAT MOMENT WE CAN CHANGE THE DARK TO LIGHT. STAND WITH US, WE'LL STAND WITH YOU, AND TOGETHER THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN'T DO. JOINING HANDS, JOINING HEARTS, THIS IS WHERE THE DARKNESS ENDS AND MORNING STARTS.

SCENE 8

Stage ready to evolve into two sides

As Something Is Happening 4-Stand With Me ends, the music of Something Is Happening 5-The Farewell March begins. It plays during the scene.

Quick transition: The men are heading off to the army training camps. The other characters rush out. Paul, Elliott, Caroline and Mary go offstage and quickly return with the ir belongings.

34.

The men and women begin to move to separate sides of the stage. Men are carrying bundles, suitcases, etc. Lots of departure interactions, waving, hugs, etc. Caroline runs to Paul, pressing a gift into his hand.

CAROLINEI want you to have this.

She holds up and hands him a pocket watch.

CAROLINE (cont’d)It was my grandfather’s. It was his very favorite thing. He gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday.

PAULCaroline, I can’t take this, it should go to...

CAROLINEIt should go with someone, to somewhere, . . where time means something, means everything...

PAULBut...

CAROLINEShhh. Time to go.

They move to kiss, but the train horn blows and they move apart without kissing. Mary & Elliott have been in the background as Caroline and Paul part. Mary and Elliott move forward.

ELLIOTTSo, I’ll see you.

35.

MARYSure ...And soon, I’m sure. Really soon. Really sure.

She is holding a book with a place-marker ribbon dangling down. They extend their hands as if to shake , look down at their hands and then look back at one another, and step forward. Instead of kissing, perhaps they will each reach out and tenderly touch the face of the other )or they could just kiss or both. Both seem good). The train horn sounds again and they move apart.

Elliott runs to the train, waving. Mary looks down and realizes she is still holding the book she meant to give him.

MARY (cont’d)Wait, wait!

She waves the book in the air.

MARY (cont’d)Wait!!

She makes as if to throw the book to him but then pulls it back down.

As Something Is Happening 5: Farewell March continues, the friends and the other men and women say and act their good byes and move apart to their respective (male and female ) sides of the stage.

The men proceed to a military setting (barracks). They do all the induction routines-uniforms, shots, haircuts, e tc.

36.

All is done silently. They are constantly hurried by the cadre.

There are lots of comic possibilities in this scene.

The women simultaneously make their transformations. They may discard civilian clothes and don work clothing, e .g. the Rosie the Riveter shirt and headband.

Part of the scene is the construction of some type of barrier between the two sides of the stage. It should be a clear boundary. The rest of Act 1 and Act 2 will use the separation of the two sides of the stage, demonstrating the two separate experiences of the war.

There will be times when the characters will go to the boundary and pin notes, photos, etc. during the course of the ensuing scenes. Generally, these postings will be incidental to the action and not commented on in the dialogue. There can also be moments when posting a given note or object, etc. to the boundary is at the center of focus. There might be imagine a gradual accumulation of “stuff” on the wall. The accumulation will be clear to the audience.

SCENE 9

Two sides of stage, with barrier

During this scene,, the men will be on other side of the stage/barrier going through some representation of the ir basic training.

37.

So as not to distract from the women’s scenes/songs, the men are mostly in the background , but with occasional focus on them to give humorous break. All the men’s training activities will be done silently but with vigor.

Ideas: In early basic training, there can be bad marching (“close order drill”), bad saluting, etc. Drill Instructor may be issuing lots of punishment pushups. Drill Instructor can point angrily to the ground and use his fingers to indicate “5” then “0” (50) for the order to drop and give 50 pushups. The recruit can point questioningly to himself in disbelief, clearly indicating 50 pushups is not something he can do. Recruit might shake his head indicating “No, I can’t do it.” The Drill Instructor would then walk up to him menacingly, mockingly shake his own head “no” and then use fingers to sign “1” “0” “0” (100 pushups) after which the recruit collapses.

By the time How Could You Know? (below) ends, the men have completed basic. training. There needs to be a way to clearly indicate that the men have made great progress in their training. Perhaps they could be given medals or stripes or just formed into a line and saluted by cadre . They could also form up and present their rifles for inspection, be given a nod by the Drill Instructor and saluted, after which they celebrate and maybe stack the rifles.

After the separating of the men and women during the Farewell March, the mood of the women shifts. Hymn 2 serves as the transition from the excitement of the send-off to the reality of the separation. The six other female characters, in addition to Caroline , Mary and Emma, are involved in this scene when the singing of Hymn 2- Please Help Us begins below.

38.

CAROLINEWow! I guess they’re really gone, huh.

MARYAll signs point to this truth. That sounds kind of like a fortune cookie .

CAROLINEPretty crummy fortune .

MARYWell, you know what we always say down at the meat packing plant.

CAROLINEI’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me . Go ahead.

MARYThey can’t all be wieners. That used to seem a lot funnier.

They hug.

MARY (cont’d)It really is kind of hard to imagine all of this. The boys are gone off doing who knows what. And who knows where they’ll be going to do it. And here we are. Doing everything else. Whatever that is. Or whatever that will be.

CAROLINEDo you think we can really do all this?

MARYWell, you know what we always say down at the bakery.

CAROLINE AND MARY(pausing first)

Piece...of...cake.

39.

Hymn 2-Please Help Us First Run Through is sung by Mary and Caroline while Emma and Narrator observe but do not sing.

HYMN 2-PLEASE HELP USFIRST RUN THROUGH[MA] MANY THINGS WILL FALL TO THEM. EVERYTHING ELSE FALLS TO US. AND I AM SURE WE WILL COME THROUGH, WE'VE BEEN READY ALL ALONG.

[CE] THOUGH WE CAN'T KNOW EVERYTHING WE WILL HAVE TO DO, BUT WITH OPEN MINDS AND OPEN DOORS, WE WILL LEARN.

[MA] OUR LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVER

[CE] NEVER CAN WE SACRIFICE, DOING WHAT'S RIGHT, FOR DOING WHAT'S NICE,

[MA] AND SAY THAT IT'S OK.

[CE] SO PLEASE HELP US AS WE GO

[MA] AND KNOW THAT WHEN WE FALL

[MA and CE] With your help we 'll always rise again.

Six new female characters (SHEILA, POLLY, QUINN, CATHERINE, CATE and ANGELA). join Mary and Caroline in singing Hymn 2-Please Help Us Second Run Through and Hymn 2-Please Help UsDescant. Emma and Narrator observe but do not sing. No striking characteristics are inherent in these new characters, except that they are diverse. Their individual attributes can derive from those cast to play them.

HYMN 2-PLEASE HELP US SECOND RUN THROUGH[MA, CE, SH, PO, QU, CH, CT AND AN]MANY THINGS WILL FALL TO THEM. EVERYTHING ELSE FALLS TO US. AND I AM SURE WE WILL COME THROUGH, WE'VE BEEN READY ALL ALONGTHOUGH WE CAN'T KNOW EVERYTHING WE WILL HAVE TO DO, BUT WITH OPEN MINDS AND OPEN DOORS, WE WILL LEARN.

40.

OUR LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVERNEVER CAN WE SACRIFICE, DOING WHAT'S RIGHT, FOR DOING WHAT'S NICE,AND SAY THAT IT'S OK.[SO PLEASE HELP US AS WE GOAND KNOW THAT WHEN WE FALLWITH YOUR HELP WE'LL ALWAYS RISE AGAIN.

The same eight characters, plus Emma, sing Hymn 2-Please Help Us Descant. The Narrator continues to silently observe .

HYMN 2-PLEASE HELP US DESCANT[MA, CE, SH, PO, QU, CH, CT, & EM]SO MUCH WILL FALLWE HAVE HEARD THE CALLWE CANNOT KNOW ALL WE WILL STAND TALLEVERYTHING HAS CHANGEDIT CAN NEVER BE THE SAMEKEEP US IN YOUR LOVEAND HELP US RISE ABOVE

After the completion of Hymn 2-Please Help Us Descant, Mary, Caroline, Emma and Narrator withdraw, as they begin to be prepared for Scene 10.

SCENE 10

Two sides of stage, with barrier

Days of Waiting 1 (Verse 1, Verse 2 and Chorus), sung by Sheila, Polly, Quinn, Catherine , Cate and Angela immediately starts the scene.

DAYS OF WAITING 1VERSE 1[AN] DAYS OF WAITING, IMPATIENTLY FOR A LETTER, A PICTURE, JUST SOMETHING FROM YOU FOR ME

41.

[CT] I DON'T REALLY EXPECT THEM, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH DAYS OF WEARY AND WORRIED...WAITING FOR YOU.

DAYS OF WAITING 1 VERSE 2[QU & PO] DAYS OF WAITING, DAYS OF PLANS,FOR A FUTURE WHOSE COMING IS OUT OF OUR HANDS

[CH & SH] GOING ON WITH TOMORROW AS IF IT WILL COME TRUEDAYS OF DOING AND DREAMING, WISHING AND WAITING FOR YOU.

DAYS OF WAITING 1 CHORUS 1[AN] SOME SAY I SHOULD TRY TO THINK OF YOU EACH HOUR, EVERY DAY

[QU & PO] SOME SAY I SHOULD PRETEND THAT WE NEVER BEGAN

[CH & SH] BUT NO ONE CAN TELL ME, WHAT TO THINK, HOW TO FEEL, WHAT TO SAY

[CH,SH, PO, QU, CH, CT & AN] WE'LL BE WITH THOSE WHO ARE LONELY, SHARING WHAT COMFORT WE CAN.

SCENE 11

Two sides of stage, with barrier

As Days of Waiting 1 ends, the scene shifts to Emma at home. Emma and the Narrator are painting on their canvasses. When Caroline arrives, the Narrator moves to the background but stays and observes the scene without interacting.

CAROLINE(heard from offstage, loud and distressed. voice)

Emma!!

EMMA(hurrying to her window)

My goodness! What...

42.

Caroline knocks on the door and speaks with more urgency from offstage.

CAROLINEEmma! Emma!!!

EMMA(ushering the distraught Caroline inside)

Caroline, what in the world is going on?

CAROLINEEmma!

EMMAYes, yes dear, it’s Emma. It’s Emma. And it’s Caroline, and this is about ...?

CAROLINE(with re lief, relaxing just a bit.)

Oh. . Emma!

EMMAYes, it’s Emma...Shhh. There , now.

(pausing)Let me guess. This has something to do with the boys going away. Is that it? Caroline, is that it?

Caroline nods but says nothing.

EMMA (cont’d)Caroline, my dear, we have gone through this several times over the years. When I nod sympathetically and speak your name gently, that is a signal for you to say more, OK?

CAROLINERight!

43.

She says nothing more but is obviously relaxing.

EMMA(in sing-song voice )

Car – o – line.

CAROLINEOh, right. Sorry, Emma. Could we go back to the part where you nod sympathetically? And could you then maybe smile and say ‘please go on, my darling.’

EMMACertainly. Please go on, my darling.

CAROLINE(relaxing)

Oh, that is so nice, Emma.(smiling; then resuming her distressed voice)

Emma!!!!

Emma takes Caroline into her arms.

EMMASo, tell me the whole story.

CAROLINEThere was this moment. We were all talking. And they, they said these things, these shocking things, these unbelievable things...

EMMAThey?

CAROLINEEmma! Who are we talking about? Paul and Elliott. Try to stay with me here!

44.

EMMACertainly, dear. So, it was you and Paul and Elliott. Was anyone else there, too?

MARY(offstage: loud, distressed)

Emma!!

EMMACome in! Come in! We’re all here!

Mary enters. There is touch, hug or some acknowledgment of Caroline. She turns to Emma. Mary is tearful, distraught.

MARYEmma, could we talk about the boys?

EMMAWhy, yes, dear. I think we could make time for that.

MARY(jumbled)

Well, you know, we were all together, me, Caroline, the boys, before they left, you know, and they, the boys, both said some things, some, some...

EMMASome shocking things?

MARY(surprised)

Oh, Emma, you always know. They were shocking...things.

CAROLINEVery...shocking!

EMMASuch as . . ?

45.

CAROLINE AND MARY(talking simultaneously in a jumbled torrent with lots of facial and body language)

They said that they saw us at Woolworth's, that we were looking at ourselves in that big window, that like the way we looked when we pushed our noses up like this

(demonstrating the action )that braces were beautiful, that they like poetry, that they thought it was OK if we messed up in school, that we were resilient, that we were brilliant..., that...we ...were... beautiful...

They pause.

EMMAReally!? Anything else?

CAROLINE AND MARY(again with the jumbled torrent)

We said we were really all friends…but you know it was obvious that there was more to it . . .we didn’t really know they were going off. We would be staying here and doing everything else...and... and...

EMMASo you’re worried that maybe they didn’t know that you... loved them . .? Maybe you didn’t say everything you meant to say?

CAROLINE AND MARY(pausing and looking at each other, then throwing their arms around Emma)

Emma!

They hug and rock brie fly. Emma sings How Could You Know? The Narrator stays, silent, through the singing.

46.

HOW COULD YOU KNOW?[EM] HOW COULD YOU KNOW. THE WORLD WOULD EVER COME TO THISYOU GREW IN PEACE AND LIGHT, YOUR NIGHTS AWOKE TO LOVE AND LAUGHTER. NOT RAGE AND PAIN. HOW COULD YOU KNOW?

SHORT YEARS AGO. I THOUGHT THE HOURS RAN ON AND ON. NO END TO DREAMS AND DAYS, NO NEED TO TALK UNTIL TOMORROW. I WAS SO WRONG. I DIDN'T KNOW.

EACH OF US MUST FEEL THE NIGHT. EACH OF US MUST LEARN TO LIGHT THE CANDLE AND PASS IT ON, SO THEY CAN KNOW

NO NEED FOR TEARS, ABOUT THE THINGS WE'VE LEFT UNDONE. THE KISSES UNBESTOWED, THE SMILES UNSHARED, THE WORDS UNSPOKEN. WE'LL PRAY FOR TIME TO LET THEM KNOW.

WE ALL MUST LEARN, AND FEEL THE EMPTINESS OF NOW.NOTHING IS PROMISED US, TREASURES ON LOAN FOR OUR SAFEKEEPING. PROTECT AND CHER-ISH, NOW WE KNOW.

OUR DAYS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. WE WILL BE ALIVE IN EVERY MOMENT. THIS GIFT OF PAIN THAT NOW WE KNOW.

MY DARLING GIRLS, YOU KNOW I'D GLADLY GIVE MY LIFE. IF IT WOULD CHANGE YOUR WORLD, IF IT COULD END YOUR TEARS TOMORROW. BUT ONLY TIME WILL LET US KNOW. TIME WILL MOVE ON AND WE WILL KNOW

SCENE 12

Two sides of stage, with barrier

As How Could You Know? ends, Caroline and Mary linger with Emma.

CAROLINEDo you really think they’re OK, Emma?

EMMAWell, we can’t know for sure, but we do know that they’re not little boys anymore, and you’re not little girls.

47.

MARYWell.

EMMAYes.

CAROLINE AND MARYThank you, Emma.

EMMAOf course.

Mary and Caroline exit. The Narrator is still present having watched the scene. She now stands. Emma rises and makes her way to the window. Waves to C & M. She turns to a photo on a shelf or mantle and touches the frame. Dries her hands on her dishtowel or apron. Looks at the Narrator, touches her cheek, and smiles. Narrator returns the touch and exits.

SCENE 13

Two sides of stage, with barrier: focus on men’s side

On the men’s side a representation of having finished basic training.

Could be lined up, brief manual of arms with good skill and snap. Could have Drill Instructor salute and do “Company, dismissed,” after which the men shout, toss hats, congratulate each other

The music for Hard As A Rock begins, and Carolina, Harley and Jack each sing their section of the song.

48.

HARD AS A ROCKCAROLINA[CA] I WAS BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA, I WAS A CHILD OF THE SOIL THOUGHT I WAS FULLY FAMILIAR WITH THE SWEAT AND THE TOILMY FIRST DAY IN THE ARMY, AMID THE HEAT AND THE THUNDERI WAS TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY, SMILED AT MY SERGEANT, STUCK OUT MY HAND, HE SAID, “BOY, WHY DON'T YOU DROP AND GIVE ME A HUNDRED.

”EXCUSE ME SERGEANT, I'M SURE I MISUNDERSTOODI CAN'T DO A HUNDRED PUSHUPS, NOBODY COULD.BUT THAT WAS MONTHS AGO, HEAR MY NEW EXCLAMATION.NOW I THINK I CAN DO ANYTHING, AND I'M LOVIN' THIS TRANSFORMATION 'CAUSE NOW I'M HARD AS A ROCK. MAYBE STRONGER THAN STEEL. IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE JUST HOW MIGHTY I FEEL HARD AS A ROCK. MORE SOLID THAN STONE. I LOOK AROUND AT MY BUDDIES. I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE.

NOW I'VE REALLY GOT THE MUSCLE, THE PUSH AND THE FLEX I ONLY DREAMED ABOUT BEFORE. WHO'D OF EVER THOUGHT I COULD DROP DOWN, GIVE YOU A HUNDRED PUSHUPS, JUMP RIGHT UP, JUMP BACK DOWN AND GIVE YOU A HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE MOREI'D LOVE TO GET OFF THE BUS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL,AND WALK UP THE DIRT ROAD TO MY FOLKS' PLACEAND I'D GIVE A MONTH'S PAY, 22 WHOLE DOLLARS, TO SEE THE DISBELIEF AND WONDER AND MAYBE EVEN ADMIRATION ON EVERYBODY'S FACE

HARD AS A ROCKHARLEY[HA] BACK HOME IN INDIANA, I WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND I CARRIED THAT BIG OLD SOUSAPHONE, I USED TO THINK I CARRIED IT LIKE A MAN I WALKED STRAIGHT AND STRONG, START TO FINISH THROUGH SOME BIG, OLD LONG PARADESTHE RECRUITER PROMISED ME HE'D GET ME IN AN ARMY BAND, SAID I'D SURELY HAVE IT MADE

WHEN I GOT OFF THE BUS AT BASIC, I SAID THERE'S CLEARLY BEEN AN ERROR. I AM A TUBA PLAYER, I FELT A MOUNTING TERRORA TOTAL LACK OF SYMPATHY ECHOED ACROSS THE ROOM AS I WAS HANDED A GREASY OLD SPRINGFIELD RIFLE,THEY SAID “HERE, BUGLE BOY, WHY DON'T YOU PLAY US ALL A TUNE.” BUT NOW I'M HARD AS A ROCK. MAYBE STRONGER THAN STEEL. IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE JUST HOW MIGHTY I FEEL. HARD AS A ROCK. MORE SOLID THAN STONE. I LOOK AROUND AT MY BUDDIES. I KNOW THAT I'M NOT ALONE.

I COULD THROW THAT BIG OLD HORN UP OVER MY SHOULDER,

49.

AND MARCH RIGHT ON THROUGH TO THE DAWNBLOW REVEILLE AT THE COURTHOUSE, BLOW ASSEMBLY IN THE SCHOOLYARD, THEN GIVE A BASS CLEF SERENADE TO MY FOLKS ON THEIR FRONT LAWN. I'D LOVE TO BE THE GRAND MARSHAL OF MY CHRISTMAS PARADE, RIGHT UP FRONT WITH ME WOULD BE MY RECRUITER. I'D WANT HIM TO BE JUST A LITTLE BIT NERVOUS BEING AROUND ME, BUT I'D SAY, “HEY, NO HARD FEELINGS,BUT WHEN MY LITTLE BROTHER COMES YOUR WAY, TRY TO BE MORE OF A STRAIGHT SHOOTER.

HARD AS A ROCKJACK[JA] WELL, I GREW UP IN THE CITY, I LOVED TO HUSTLE AND FIGHT. MY MOTHER LIT A CANDLE FOR ME AT MASS EVERY SATURDAY NIGHTONE DAY MY DAD SAID, “YOU KNOW HOW YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO CAMP, I FOUND A GREAT ONE CALLED CAMP BASIC ARMED FORCE,THEY ONLY TAKE REALLY SMART GUYS AND IN 90 DAYS HELP THEM GET ON GREAT CAREER COURSE.”

IN TRUTH I WAS KIND OF TIRED OF JUST SLIDING AROUND THE JERSEY SHORE. HE SAID THIS CAMP WOULD HAVE MARTIAL ARTS, RIFLERY AND MORE. I LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW, SAW MY FATHER LAUGHING HARD AS THEY

STARTED UP THE BUS. I SHOUTED TO MY FRIEND, “OH MY GOD, VINNIE, WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO

US?”BUT NOW I'M HARD AS A ROCK. MAYBE STRONGER THAN STEEL. HARD TO IMAGINE JUST HOW MIGHTY I FEEL. HARD AS A ROCK. MORE SOLID THAN STONE. LOOK AROUND AT MY BUDDIES. I'M NOT ALONE.

I'D LOVE TO GO BACK TO JERSEY AND FIND SOME OF THOSE BULLY BUMS ON THE BEACH. SEE I USED TO GET KICKED AROUND A LITTLE BIT, BUT I'VE LEARNED SOME NEW TRICKS, IT MIGHT BE MY TURN TO TEACH I THINK I'VE FORGIVEN MY OLD MAN NOW, I'M SURE HE HAD MY BEST INTEREST AT HEART. I'D PUT ON MY BEST UNIFORM, ESCORT MY MOTHER TO CONFESSION, LAY A COUPLE OF EYE POPPERS ON FATHER MANCINI. I MIGHT EVEN DO MY PENANCE, BE A GOOD START

As Hard as a Rock finishes, there is a short snare /bass drum march tempo. The women march out onto stage with various implements carried like rifles.

50.

Introductory bars to this song begin with no intervening dialogue. Perhaps the women will be carrying large mockups of tools-hammers, wrenches, rivet guns, etc. They could be dressed in the poster style of WW II, with head scarves, rolled up muscle sleeves, e .g., the Rosie the Riveter posters, coveralls.

Caroline and Quinn begin the song Before The War (Caroline and Quinn). Other women sing, as noted. The Narrator, silent, remains apart. Emma does not sing and is not fully involved, except to to limited degree, e .g., she may nod along with the music.

BEFORE T HE WARCAROLINE AND QUINN[CE] BEFORE THE WAR I WAS SAD AND LONELY, I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD SET MYSELF FREE. I THOUGHT I HAD TO FIND MY ONE AND ONLY, HE'D BE THE ONE WHO WOULD RESCUE ME

Interlude-with trumpet fill

[QU] BEFORE THE WAR I THOUGHT I JUST LACKED ELEVATION, I WAS FIVE FOOT THREE IN MY STOCKING FEET. REALLY WHAT I NEEDED WAS A FIRM EXPLANATION, GIRL, PUT ON YOUR SHOES AND PUT THEM OUT ON THE STREET

Caroline and Quinn plus Mary, Sheila, Polly, Catherine, Cate and Angela sing Before The War Chorus I and 2 together, with individual characters singing between the choruses..

BEFORE T HE WARCHORUS 1[CAROLINE AND QUINN PLUS MARY, SHEILA, POLLY, CATHERINE, CATE & ANGELA]SEE US RISE. GROWING AND CHANGING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES

51.

NEW DAY DAWN, COME ALONG, SHARE THE LOAD AS WE MARCH ON

BEFORE T HE WARSHEILA AND CATE[SH] MY MOTHER SAID, “DARLING, DON'T BUILD UP YOUR MUSCLE, DON'T SPEAK UP IN CLASS, SOME BOY MIGHT WORRY YOU'RE SMART OUT ON THE FIELD, BE SURE NOT TO HUSTLE, YOU MIGHT GET SWEATY AND IT COULD HURT YOUR HEART.”

Interlude-with trumpet fill[CT] I HEARD THE SAME, WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO QUESTION, GIRLS JUST CAN'T DO THIS AND THEY JUST CAN'T DO THAT BUT I HAVE FOUND I OFTEN MAKE THIS SUGGESTION, TAKE ALL THAT “CAN'T DO” STUFF AND STICK IT IN YOUR HAT!

BEFORE T HE WARCHORUS 2 ;CAROLINE AND QUINN PLUS MARY, SHEILA, POLLY, CATHERINE, CATE & ANGELA]SEE US RISE. GROWING AND CHANGING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES KNOW NO WALLS, STAND UP TALL, AS TOGETHER WE ANSWER THE CALL

BEFORE T HE WARCATHERINE AND ANGELA[CH] SOMEHOW I THOUGHT I WAS REALLY MOVING, RAN ALL THE RACES, THOUGHT I WAS GETTING MYSELF SOMEWHERE FAST. THEN IT DAWNED ON ME THAT I WAS JUST BEHOOVING, I WASN'T FIRST, I WASN'T SECOND,I WAS RUNNING DEAD LAST.

Interlude-with trumpet fill

[AN] I LIKE TO BRING MY MOM DOWN TO THE PLANT WHERE I'M WORKING,PUT ON MY COVERALLS, PICK UP MY RIVET GUN. I HIT THE TRIGGER AND THAT BIG OLD TOOL STARTS POPPING AND JERKING, HER EYES GET SO BIG, IT'S REALLY SO MUCH FUN

BEFORE T HE WARCHORUS 3[CAROLINE AND QUINN PLUS MARY, SHEILA, POLLY, CATHERINE, CATE & ANGELA]SEE US RISE. GROWING AND CHANGING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES. NO SURPRISE, REALIZE, WE CAN REACH FOR THE SKIES

BEFORE T HE WAR-REFRAINMARY[MA] IT MAKES ME SORE, IT TOOK THIS HORRIBLE WAR TO OPEN DOORS, FOR YOU AND ME. AFTER THIS TERRIBLE FIGHT, WE'LL TURN SOME WRONGS INTO RIGHT, AND STAND TOGETHER IN THE LIGHT, PROUD AND FREE

52.

BEFORE T HE WARPOLLY[PO] YOU REMEMBER MARIE, MY BEST FRIEND ALL THROUGH SCHOOL, GORGEOUS, PETITE, EVERY HAIR IN PLACE. I RAN INTO HER AT CLASS, WE WERE LEARNING A NEW TOOL, I WAS BLOWING MY NOSE, SHE HAD GREASE ON HER FACE

(No pause)WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, WITH UNSURE RECOGNITION, HAD WE SUNK SO LOW OR HAD WE COME SO FAR. WE HUGGED AND WE LAUGHED AT OUR IMPERFECT CONDITION,SHE ASKED IF I'D COME OVER AND HELP HER WORK ON HER CAR

BEFORE T HE WARCHORUS 4

Before The War Chorus 4 is the same as Before The War Chorus 3[CAROLINE AND QUINN PLUS MARY, SHEILA, POLLY, CATHERINE, CATE & ANGELA]SEE US RISE. GROWING AND CHANGING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES. NO SURPRISE, REALIZE, WE CAN REACH FOR THE SKIES

SCENE 14

Easels

As the song Before The War ends, the other women exit or recede leaving the Emma and the Narrator alone. They quietly move to se t up the ir easels without dialogue.

EMMA (cont’d)So, what’s on your mind, my dear? You’ve been pretty quiet lately.

NARRATORI’m not sure , Emma. I’m confused

EMMAHow could you not be? We’re all confused.

NARRATORYes, but I think I’m more confused than anybody else.

53.

EMMAHow so, dear?

NARRATORWell, it seems to me that I’m OK smart, I know what’s going on, I understand most everything. I know the . . the boys, they’ll be going to some place over some ocean. And sometimes I almost think I can tell . . no this is silly, it makes no sense.

EMMAPlease go on. I’m pretty sure it’s not silly at all.

NARRATORSometimes, I almost think I can see ahead or maybe just feel ahead, you know...into the future . And when that happens, England keeps coming into my head. Sometimes the boys are there. In England. This is really odd...sometimes I’m there, too. But what really feels strange is...sometimes I’m not there at all. I’m watching and hearing, but...I’m not there.

EMMAYes.

NARRATORWhen it’s confused, I can’t pin it down, can’t get it clear. It’s like when I’m swimming and I come up from underwater, and for a moment it’s blurry and glary and I have to keep blinking until it clears up a little . But if I’ve been swimming for a long time it can take a while to really clear up, usually until after I’ve been out of the water for a while. And right now, with this thing, I haven’t been out of the water long enough. And I wait for the blurry to clear, and...I wait, and...I know that makes no sense at all.

54.

EMMAActually, sweetie , it makes perfect sense. Would you be surprised if I told you I have spent a lot of years feeling like I just surfaced from underwater? Blurry and glary indeed.

NARRATOREmma, I think you’re just being nice. I can’t imagine you be ing confused.

EMMA(smiling, reaching out to the Narrator)

Sit down, darling. I think it’s time I told you a story, one I’ve not told to very many people.

NARRATOROK.

EMMAYou know this is not the first time people have gone crazy with war, right?

NARRATORSure , there was the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War...

EMMA(speaking sharply and cutting Narrator off)

Wars in books!

NARRATORWhat? Oh...?

EMMA(softening again)

There was another one, another war that didn’t come out of a book, at least, not for me. Just like now there was lots of noise and lots of leaving and lots of not knowing what in the world was going on. People were excited, and it felt like we almost never slept.

55.

(MORE)

Then men, boys, really, started leaving, started kissing their families, and going away, then more left, and more...and...one day...a boy kissed me goodbye, and he was gone, too. Here at home we tried hard to keep up with what was happening. We gathered in the evenings. We brought newspapers and went over them and over them, cutting out things and putting them in stacks. We shared letters. There were even a few people who kept their homemade radios going, even though the president had said they had to be shut down. So we sometimes thought we were getting secret and mysterious information about those far away places. We made maps and stuck them on the walls. And guess what country we began to hear a lot about...yes, England...the soldiers, our soldiers, were in England...things were building up in England. In my mind I put together a picture of this “England” place. I imagined my...my...friend...there. I began to think that I should be in England, too. I think one time I even asked my mother if she would mind if I went to England for the weekend. I remember she stopped folding the towels for a moment and looked at me, then reached out and stroked my hair...for a long time. It took quite a while quite a lot of months before I sort of understood why I couldn’t really go to England, how far away it was and all. But I surely used to think about going there...a lot. Sometimes I even sang about it, little verses late at night. I was very determined that I would go sometime.

NARRATORSo when did you get to go?

EMMAI didn’t. I mean . . I haven’t.

NARRATORReally? Would you still like to?

56.EMMA (cont'd)

EMMAFunny...no one has ever asked me that . .ever...Yes...Yes. I think I would.

NARRATORSo would I. Maybe we could go together.

EMMAYes, maybe we could.

Narrator and Emma sing If I Ever Get To England.

IF I EVER GET TO ENGLAND[EM] IF I EVER GET TO ENGLAND, I'LL QUICKLY LEARN MY WAY AROUND

[NA] HOPE THE QUEEN IS SAFE AND HAPPY, AND LONDON BRIDGE ISN'T FALLING DOWN

[EM] GOT A LETTER ONCE FROM PORTSMOUTH, WITH A PICTURE HOLDING FLOWERS BY THE SHORE[EM] THE LETTER CAME IN AUGUST, THERE WEREN’T ANY MORE[EM] I’VE KEPT THAT LETTER AND THE PHOTOGRAPH, THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES I KNOW OF[EM] IN IT HE TEASED HE COULD ONLY WRITE WHEN THE FULL MOON FELL ON TUESDAY.

[NA] IF I EVER GET TO ENGLAND, EVERY TUESDAY AT THREE[NA] I'LL SIT WITH MY TEA IN PORTSMOUTH, WRITE YOU A LETTER AS I SIT BESIDE THE SEA.

[EM] IF WE EVER GET TO ENGLAND. I'D LIKE TO PAINT THE FLOWERS THERE.

[NA] TAKE A CLASS IN WATERCOLORS, TAKE OUR EASELS EVERYWHERE[NA] WHEN THE FULL MOON KISSES ENGLAND, I'M SURE WE'LL PAINT RIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT

[EM] NOTHING FLIES QUITE LIKE MOONLIGHT, SO LITTLE TIME TO GET THINGS RIGHT

[EM] I'LL MAKE COPIES OF THE PHOTOGRAPH, LEAVE ONE AT HOME, FOR SAFETY

[NA] ENGLAND IS A LONG WAY, THERE COULD BE PROBLEMS ON THE JOURNEY

[NA] REALLY HOPE WE GET TO ENGLAND.

57.

[EM] SO MANY LOVELY THINGS UNDONE

[NA] WISH WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO ENGLAND,

[EM & NA] BUT WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN

FADE TO BLACK:

END ACT ONE

58.

ACT 2

SCENE 1A

A living room

Scene begins with all female characters except Narrator looking at mail and talking. Narrator is present in the background but does not interact.

SHEILAI think it’s a great idea to share our mail-makes it seem like we get more.

POLLYWell, sweetie , I’ll share most of mine but some parts are...off limits.

There is laughter.

ANGELAI wish I were getting more stuff I’d want to put off limits.

She turns over the le tter, a little annoyed and disappointed.

QUINNI’m getting a lot of chow letters.

ALLChow letters?

QUINNYou know, what chow we had this morning, what chow we had yesterday, the chow the guys next to us are getting is be tter than the chow we been getting and on and on.

59.

(MORE)

Don’t get me wrong, I want them to have good food, good chow, but come on, honey, is nothing crossing your little pea brain but your belly?

POLLYJust chow and...off limits!

There is laughter.

SHEILAIf I didn’t know better I might think that’s all the guys think about, chow and...that other stuff.

POLLYAnd now you know better than that?

CATEHey, mine has some more stuff about that funny teacher they have .

POLLYTeacher?

CATEOh, you know, their sergeant with the funny name, the name that sounds like an ice cream.

OTHERSIce cream? Vanilla. Chocolate chip. Butter pecan. Neapolitan. Sgt. Parfait Neapolitan.

CATERaisin! Maybe raisin rum! Or buttered rum or something like that, maybe rum butter. Anyway, he says that they have these get togethers...

POLLYYou mean training?

60.QUINN (cont'd)

CATETraining, get togethers, same thing. Anyhoo, he says the Army is so weird in how it names stuff, you can’t just call a thing a thing, you have to sort of go at it backwards. So if you have a...a little brown metal thing when you write it down you would go: thing comma metal comma brown comma little .

CATHERINEIs that true? Do they really have something called that?

POLLYWell, of course, and I, for one, am relieved knowing they are getting good training using those little brown metal things, or things, metal, brown, little . I’m sure there will be lots of good jobs in that fie ld after the war.

The Women’s scene fades as the men’s comes in.

SCENE 1B

Inside a troop ship.

The troop ship is little different from the barracks of Act 1.

There are noises and movements from time to time to remind us of their location. The boat location indicates they are on their way to their destination.

As scene shifts from the women, the first voice heard is that of Staff Sergeant Alton Rumbutter. He always pronounces his name with emphasis but slurred, sounding something like “Rombottah.” This will be an issue in the scene. He is a not unusual type for a Drill Instructor or Staff Sergeant.

61.

He is gruff and regularly speaks with emphatic diction and pauses be tween words and phrases he considers vital. Hyper-clarity in pro-nun-see-a-shun is a hallmark.

RUMBUTTERGood morning, gentlemen, and I use the term very loosely.

The men mumble without energy or unison.

ALL THE SOLDIERSGood morning, Staff Sergeant.

RUMBUTTER(with his typical intensity)

I can’t hear you!

ALL THE SOLDIERSGood morning, Sergeant.!

RUMBUTTERMarginally improved! Once again, good morning, troops. I know we are all deeply delighted to be here in the guts of this iron cracker box. Just hold on. We’re on our way, and it won’t be long now. In the meantime we are going to use our time well and review some basic essentials. I will be your instructor for...

(looking at his watch)Say, quite some time.

The men groan.

Harley catches Rumbutter’s eye.

62.

RUMBUTTER (cont’d)(pointing to Harley)

Excuse me. You, there. Stand up. You seemed to be in pain there for a moment. Naturally I am concerned primarily with your individual welfare. If you are having a medical crisis, it is my incumbent duty to attend to your personal needs, despite any over-riding responsibilities I might have for the well-be ing of your fellow warriors. Do you, in fact, have such over-riding personal, medical needs, soldier?

HARLEYNo, Sgt.

RUMBUTTER(pausing)

Then I will proceed on the assumption that the impending commencement of the battle for the liberation of the entire continent of Europe and the restoration of freedom to the oppressed masses contained therein might actually take precedent over any personal discomforts you might be experiencing at this time?!?

He pauses, looks around.

HARLEYYes, Sgt.

Sgt. pauses, looking intently at Harley.

RUMBUTTERThen I guess you may be seated. As I indicated a short while ago, I will be your instructor for a large portion of the coming 24-hour period. Our focus will be on the Table of Organization and Equipment, the T, O, & E. This document might easily be considered the...Bible, of Army life . And if it is the Bible, it is most certainly the King James Translation of that document. For all I know, the T, O & E may have been the pro-to-type for old King Jim as he went about his handiwork.

63.

(MORE)

The T, O, & E lists every item that you or any combatant in the service of the United States Army could conceivably need, want, or desire. It is all there. You must listen very carefully. If an item you might ever think you would like to have is in the T, O, & E, then you will have it, know who has it, or know where you might go and find it. Now, this next fact is the more important truth. If an item that you think you want, or need, or desire is NOT in the T, O, & E, ...then ...What Harley?!?,

He pauses.

HARLEYThen I don’t need it, Sgt.

RUMBUTTERExactly right, Harley, you do not have it, you will not want it, you will not need it, and you need not want it...and you want. Need. Have not. Sit down, Harley. Now, unless any of the rest of you have urgent matters overriding our assigned task, we will proceed. The T.O. & E. tells us how to identify, describe, request, and requisition any item of clothing, supply, or equipment in the entire 48 red stripes, white stripes, white stars on a blue field United States of American...Army. Perhaps the monumental nature of this document is not immediately apparent to you. Just try to imagine for a moment making a list of every single conce ivable tool, device, constituent part, and assemblage of any and all...things ...required by an entire army. Every needle, every bullet, every button, every bomb, every bomber, every quart and pint and cup of every imaginable and unimaginable fluid, ever needed by so vast an enterprise as our current undertaking. Just stop for a moment...Ponder the enormity of such a document... Appreciate the awesome magnitude of this compilation. If we have no other evidence of the existence of a divine providence, would this semi-holy volume not suffice...?

64.RUMBUTTER (cont'd)

(MORE)

Men, this work is the one that forms the basis of the Army’s unique and enduring contribution to civilization, our Nomenclature . Our Nomenclature, men. Our system by which every soldier can proudly declare “I label (requisition/name) therefore I am.”

Men may remove caps, etc.

RUMBUTTER (cont’d)So with that introduction, let me give you an unusual opportunity. I will exit your presence and allow you to peruse and pursue this true work of art and admonition, the T, O, & E. Embrace it, embrace its subtleties, and it will surely embrace you in its labyrinthine complexity and beauty, just as it has held me for all these many years. I have spent much of my life in the warmth of this embrace, and, gentlemen, I am a happy man. I shall re ....Let’s just say... I’ll be back.

[Note: In the section that follows, commas (,) are noted as (c) and are spoken, i.e . (c) =”comma”]

ELLIOTTI hate this as much as anybody, but I guess we have to do it. All right, here’s one . It’s a mess kit

(holding one up)right. But no.

(reading from T,O & E )It is, instead, an apparatus, (c) rations delivery (c) metal (c) bifurcated (c) hinged (c) individual (c) one each (c) silver-gray in color.

PAULWhew, so does that thing contain the fork and...

ELLIOTTOh, please! Include? As in assume logically that a plate might benefit from the companionship of a...a...

(reading from T, O & E)

65.RUMBUTTER (cont'd)

(MORE)

utensil (c) rations insertion (c) oral (c) personal (c) short-handled (c) tri or tetra-tined.

John speaks up.

JOHNOh, my gosh, listen to this one. I think this is a helmet or rather a device (c) protective (c) metal (c) ballistic-pellet-deflecting (c) cranium-encompassing (c) individual (c) one each (c) OD in color.

Billy chimes in.

BILLYWhat is it with this OD? Half the stuff in this stupid book is OD in color.

All pause and look at Billy. Then Jack adds his two cents.

JACKYou’re kidding right? You haven’t gotten this far without knowing what OD is? Olive Drab? Olive green! US Army green?

BILLYOh, sure, I know that. But why doesn’t it just say ‘green?’ I think we would all know that green is basically...well, green.

Jack pauses, then explains, seriously, mock-seriously, or somewhere in between.

JACKSoldier, there is puke green, pond scum green, Saturday night with too much to drink green, bad cheese green, and, after those inconsequential, civilian greens there is OD, our green, our very own, personal and collective green. And, there is no comparison. Gentlemen, le t us proclaim our loyalty to our color!

66.ELLIOTT (cont'd)

ALLOlive Drab! OD! OD! OD! OD!

ELLIOTTYou know, it kind of helps me if I think of this Nomenclature foolishness as just another slop cup full of the Army way. If something makes good sense, it’s probably not right. If it sounds like the most...ridiculous, ine ffective , contradictory thing you’ve ever hear you’re probably on the right track.

Music comes up for Nomenclature, which Elliott begins to sing.

NOMENCLAT URE[EL] IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED ARMY LIFE HAS CONTRADICTIONS, ESCHEW THE OBVIOUS, EMBRACE THE FICTIONSSTANDING AT ATTENTION, NAKED, IN THE SHOWER, DOUBLE TIME TO BREAKFAST, WAIT THERE FOR AN HOURTHESE THINGS ARE STRANGE, BUT EVEN MORE CONFUSING,THE WAY THEY NAME EVERYTHING WE'RE USINGWHAT DO YOU CALL THIS?

While singing, Elliott holds up a blanket.

[EL] SHOULD BE UNCOMPLICATED, BUT I ASSURE, IN THE ARMY, IT WILL BECOME OBFUSCATED.

[CHORUS OF MEN] OB BOB BOB BOB, OB BOB BOB F-SCATED...

[EL] OBFUSCAY-YAY-TED

NOMENCLAT URE-REFRAIN 1

[EL] IS THIS A BLANKET?

[CHORUS OF MEN] HA, HA!

[EL] I WISH IT WERE SO, IT'S NOT SO SIMPLE, BY NOW YOU SHOULD KNOWTHERE IS ONLY ONE WAY, TO GIVE DESCRIPTION, AND IT MUST FOLLOW UNWAVERING PRESCRIPTION.THIS ABERRATION, LIKE A FREAK OF NATURE, HAS AN APPELLATION,THE ARMY CALLS IT...NO-MEN-CLA-TURE...

67.

[CHORUS OF MEN] NO NO NO NO NO MENCLATURE, NOMENCLATURE, IF YOU'RE TO MAKE IT, YOU CAN NEVER FAKE IT, NOMENCLATURE

[EL] NO...MEN...CLA...TURE. YOU'LL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER IF I GIVE AN EXAMPLE, SO LET ME SHARE WITH YOU JUST A LITTLE SAMPLE,DON'T GET HOW IT MEETS THE ARMY'S NEEDS, BUT HERE WE GO.

Elliott may hold up the blanket.

Chorus of Men sing the word ‘comma’ multiple times at each place in the

three bolded sections where there is a comma (,). The bolded sections are within Elliott’s Army descriptions of a blanket, an egg and a rifle , and he sings with pauses for commas, during which the Chorus of Men chimes in.

[EL] Apparatus, sleeping, warmth enabling, natural fiber, sheep derived, medium weighty, inches 48 by 80, individual, one each, O.D. n color. That's a blan...ket[EL] IT CAN BE A COMFORT, TO ELIMINATE COGNITION, INSTEAD OF REASON, JUST USE RECOGNITIONONCE YOU CAN NAME IT, YOU CAN REQUISITION,IN TRIPLICATE YOU CLAIM IT, REGARDLESS OF POSITIONLET'S TRY ANOTHER, IT CAN BE QUITE AMUSING, AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT, REALLY STUCK WITH USING NOMENCLATURE...

[CHORUS OF MEN] OH NO NO NO NOT NO MENCLATURE

Elliott holds up an egg for inspection be fore he starts singing.

[EL] FOODSTUFF, HIGH PROT EIN CONTAINING, SHELL ENCASED, VISCOUS INT ERIOR RETAINING, OVOID IN PRESENT ATION, OF POULT RY DERIVATION, ONE OR T WO EACH-EACH MORNING, WHIT E OR BROWN IN COLOR.

[EL} POACHED, SCRAMBLED, SOFT BOILED, OR FRIED, ON A SKILLET, WELL-OILED

NOMENCLAT URE-REFRAIN 2[EL] I'M REALLY FEELING RENEWED, PERHAPS I'VE MADE A BREAKTHROUGH, IF IT'S TO BE CONTINUED, I'LL BE GLAD TO TAKE YOUTHIS LAST ITEM THAT I SHOW YOU, WILL BE A TOUGH ONE, WHATEVER YOU DO NEVER, NEVER CALL IT A GUNI DID THAT ONE TIME, NEVER FORGET IT, MY SERGEANT MADE GOOD ON HIS PROMISE IF I DID, I WOULD REGRET IT, I DO TO THIS DAY.

68.

Elliott holds up a rifle for inspection be fore he starts singing.

[EL] WEAPON, SHOULDER, COMBAT, INDIVIDUAL, SEMI-AUTOMAT IC, CLIP-FED, 30 CALIBER, BOLT ACTION, GAS ASSIST ED SHELL CASE EJECT ING[EL] ONE THING YOU DISCOVER, EARLY IN THE MILITARY,THINKING OFFERS YOU NO COVER, THAT CAN BE SCARYUNTIL YOU LEARN THAT THERE IS A SYSTEM, THOUGH DEVOID OF LOGIC, AND STRANGER TO WISDOMSO MANY SOLDIERS SO OFTEN GET IN TROUBLE, REMAINING IN THAT REASONABLE CIVILIAN BUBBLEIF YOU WISH TO STAY SURE, LEARN YOUR NOMENCLATURE,IGNORE THE WAYS OF NATURE, LEARN TO LIVE AND LOVE NOMENCLATURE.

SCENE 2A

Outside a factory

Mary, Caroline, Cate, Catherine, Quinn, Sheila, Angela and Polly are emerging from work. They are smudged, sweaty, tired.

Emma approaches them carrying a basket. She offers wet towels, drinks, snacks, and some accept. Narrator watches, slightly removed, not dressed in work clothes.

The women are checking themselves out for dirt, etc. Several have mirrors.

MARYCan you believe this?

CAROLINE, CATE, CATHERINE, QUINN, SHEILA, ANGELA, POLLY AND EMMA

What?

69.

MARYI think I have more dirt on me right now than my total dirt for the rest of my life before. And getting to wearing these lovely and very flattering...outfits is pretty special, too.

CATEYou know what else is strange? I have trouble sometimes even remembering how it used to be, what I used to do.

POLLYHm...Used to...used to...implies a prior life ...you used to do something else? What?

CATEWell, I worked a little at the laundry and a little at Anderson’s Grocery and-that’s about it.

SHEILAWell, as you know, I fixed the hair of all the upper crust in town, such as Miss Caroline Goldpockets here.

CAROLINEAnd your work was stunning, my dear. Of course , you had such fabulous material to work with.

CATE(to Sheila & others)

The rich and important are always so vain like that.

They laugh.

QUINNYou pretty much stayed at home didn’t you Catherine. How was that?

CATHERINEHm. It certainly had ...good parts. You know, taking care of the kids, cooking, cleaning, shopping... cooking, kids, cleaning...you know.

70.

QUINNSounds familiar. Except for keeping Roy’s books at the freezer locker, that was pretty much what I did, too. I liked it like that...most of the time.

CATHERINEWell, I liked it some of the time, not all, not even most to be honest. Emma, is that bad?

EMMANo, I think that’s fine. I think we need to try to find our places and not feel locked up or locked out. If something is good for you, then ...good for you!

MARYI guess it was different in your day, Emma. Oops, I guess that sounds like your day is...like this isn’t your day...or...or...

EMMAYou’re being much clearer than you realize, dear. And I think of it the same way you seem to...There was a day that was my day...and this is not my day, it’s your day. All of you. Your days. And I hope in your days, you can have babies, work, go to school, whatever...

CATEMy grandmother went to college .

EMMAYes, she did. I knew your grandmother. She was something. And she had something that the rest of us didn’t. It took that special ...special...quality back then. I didn’t have it.

CAROLINEBut Emma, you had...have so many things...you’ve been so...

71.

EMMADear, I appreciate that, and I know I have been very blessed. The only change I wish for all of you is that you get to choose your blessings.

Emma smiles. There is laughter.

CAROLINEI might even choose this. I kind of feel like this is OK, too. I mean maybe not forever right here, but maybe here at some other place . . doing some other thing, and...I don’t know.

EMMAIf I can be Old Emma for a second, ...try to value what you do, and what you’ve already done. Try to value those around you, what they’ve done and do. It all fits together somehow.

CAROLINE, MARY, CATE, CATHERINE, QUINN, SHEILA, ANGELA AND POLLY

Hm. Really. OK.

They speak over one another, unintelligibly.

A whistle blows to end break.

VOICE OVER LOUDSPEAKEROK, everybody. Let’s get back to it.

SCENE 2B

Divided stage, focus on men

ELLIOTTSo, Carolina, what did you do before you had the great honor of serving your country in this glorious manner?

72.

CAROLINAHey, you already heard my best shot. I was a full-fledged, probably permanent sharecropper. It was my legacy, and I kind of miss it already.

ELLIOTTYeah? What do you miss?

CAROLINAHmmm. Well, maybe lying there on top of the bedcovers in July trying to keep that sweet sweat from leaking out of my skin. Maybe priming tobacco all day and scraping that gummy tobacco goop off my fingers before dinner. Maybe running out into the garden with big old pieces of cardboard trying to keep the hail from ripping the leaves off the tomatoes and every other dang thing.

ELLIOTTYeah, that does sound great. You know, I hear you...but I have no idea what you’re talking about.

CAROLINAYeah, I guess you just have to really live it to really love it.

ELLIOTTWhat about you, Rudy? Did you actually have a life before the delights of Company F?

RUDYYeah, I did.

PAULSo...what did you do?

RUDYI was in the circus.

Others show general disbelief and derision.

73.

OTHERSOh, man. Come on. You were not.

HARLEYNobody is really in the circus. People go to the circus, but no one is actually in it.

Rudy does not reply. He just looks at the others. Hoots gradually subside. They realize he might be serious.

BILLYSo, were you really, in the circus?

RUDYI already told you that I was.

JACKWell, what did you do? Feed the zebras or something? Shampoo the clowns’ wigs? Clean up the e lephant stuff or what?

Jack laughs loudly but there is only a little laughter from the others.

PAULCome on. Ease off, Jack. Le t the man talk. So, seriously, Rudy. What did you do in the circus?

RUDYI walked the high wire .

There is silence for a moment. Some but not all of the men express skepticism.

SOME OF THE MENOh, come on. You did not. That is so ridiculous!

74.

Rudy does not reply. He continues to just look at the others.

PAULYou know, Rudy, I hate to hit you with this, because I really want to believe you. But just saying that isn’t gonna fly. If you really did that flashy stuff you gotta show a little something here. We’re gonna have to have a little demonstration, if you know what I mean.

RUDYOK. Fine.

PAULSo how are we gonna do that?

RUDYI guess that’s up to you.

PAULI guess you’re right. OK, you guys. Let’s get the engineers or something and put up some kind of wire thing here. Let’s go, let’s go. Come on. You guys never been in show biz be fore. Come on, Come on, Come on! et’s move, let’s get this circus on the road here .

There is lots of movement.

RUDYThere’s one more thing.

PAULYeah, what?

RUDYA costume. No one goes on the wire without a costume. It’s bad luck.

75.

JACKA coss-toom. What in the heck does that mean, a guy wearing a coss-toom...?

The others turn and look at Jack silently, disapprovingly. He stammers and stops.

JACK (cont’d)Oh, you mean like a uniform, an outfit, something to wear up on the high wire. Well, hey, of course, you need one of those. In fact, I could probably help you put something together. My mother used to sew, and I used to like to sit and watch her and help and... sometimes she would let me he lp, and I really liked it, and...and...

PAULCome on, Rudy, I’ll help you, too. This is gonna be pretty impressive ...

ELLIOTTWait, wait. I just thought of something. Don’t all of you hot shot show biz guys have, like, special stage names or something like that? Something that goes up on the posters and stuff?

JACKYeah, what did they call you? Rudy the Magnificent? Rude the Marvelous? Rudy the ...

RUDYI was called...the Rogue of the Rafters.

JACK(Derisively at first)

What?!,,,The Rogue of the Raf...?

All the others are silent, looking at Jack with disapproval. Jack changes tone .

76.

JACK (cont’d)You know, I like it. Rogue of the Rafters.

Jack gestures with his hands as if framing a large banner or poster.

JACK The...Rogue...of...the...Rafters. Nice .

Rudy, Paul, and Jack move offstage to do the costume.

JOHNSo, where are we gonna get a high wire? We’ve got that phone cable but that’s not heavy enough to hold anybody, and...

ELLIOTTWait, we don’t need wire. We have wood. We’ll just take some pieces from those racks, put them together and stick them between a couple of bunks, and - tada - a perfectly good US Army highwire.

HARLEYWire, comma, high, comma, Army, comma, US, sir!

The men take down pieces of wood and hammer a couple of them together to make one strong enough to support a man. Others pull two bunks close enough to span them with the piece of wood. After the wood is set and secured, Rudy emerges in “costume”- standard issue green boxers and skivvy shirt, both with the letters “R/R” in rough white le tters pinned on. Much hoop and holler. Rudy strikes a pose, then smiles.

77.

Rudy proceeds to the bunk. He sings Highwire-Part 1 (perhaps up to the last line of Part 1) before walking the “wire.” He might also walk it while singing. He walks the wire/plank to the other bunk using some sort of balancing pole-perhaps a rifle .

HIGHWIRE-PART 1.[RD] ]WHEN I STOOD ALONE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD, AND LOOKED DOWN ON THE NORMALS, THE BOYS AND THE GIRLSIN THAT MOMENT ABOVE ALL THE CLATTER AND NOISE AND THE FOOLISH DEMEANOR OF THE GIRLS AND THE BOYSTHE LIGHTS WERE UPON ME AS I RAISED MY HAND AND GESTURED BELOW TO THE HATS IN THE STANDTHEY SEE CONFIDENT GRACE IN MY ELEGANT STANCE AND NEVER IMAGINE THE PERILOUS CHANCESOMEHOW THEY THINK IT'S ONLY A TRICK TO STAND IN THE CLOUDS WITHOUT LOOKING SICKTHE MUSIC FLOWED UP WITH THE SMELL OF IT ALL, I EMPTIED MY MIND OF THE SLIP AND THE FALLIN THE BACK WAS A STRETCHER I HOPED NOT TO NEED, OUR CONTRACTS WERE CLEAR, NOTHING GUARANTEEDNO MONEY TO MEND THE EMERGENCY NET, ON THAT TIRED OLD CIRCUS, WE KNEW NOT TO BETTHEN I PUSHED ALL OF THESE THOUGHTS FROM MY HEAD AND STEPPED TO THE WIRE WITH NOTHING TO DREADTIME WAS SUSPENDED, I WALKED ON THE AIR, LIVED ALL OF MY BALANCING FANTASIES THEREAND JUST FOR A MOMENT, ALONE IN THEIR EYES, GRAVITY'S EQUAL, THE LORD OF THE SKIESNOTHING COULD BIND ME, THE GROUND DISAPPEARED, FORGETTING THE HEART ALWAYS BEATING IN FEARNO TEARS, NO TAUNTING, NO BULLIES OR WORSE, THOSE GLORIOUS MINUTES, SO FREE FROM THE CURSE.SHINING EYES ON THE WIRE, HERS SMILED INTO MINE, EVEN AFTER THE SPOTLIGHTS, REFLECTING AND KIND.SHE SEEMED TO SEE ME AS THE BEST I COULD BE, MY HEART RESPONDED UNBURDENED AND FREE.SO FRIENDS NOW YOU KNOW-- JUST HOW HIGH I HAVE FLOWN--AND THE ROGUE OF THE RAFTERS--IS ONE OF YOUR OWN.

As cheers die down, Rudy walks away from the group toward front of stage. When he completes the walk, he is wildly cheered. The others lift and lower him to the floor.

78.

before receding to the back of the stage. Rudy walks forward to sing Highwire-Part 2. The others do not listen to Part 2. Rudy is alone.

HIGHWIRE-PART 2[RD] THE SCREAMS FELL UPON ME, MY REVERIE SPENT, MY MORTAL, MY DARLING IN RAPID DESCENTTHE ENDING IN SILENCE, WITH DUST IN THE AIR, SO FAR BELOW ME, SO FAR FROM REPAIRI DOVE TO THE ROPE, IT CARRIED ME DOWN, THE HANDS TOOK ME GENTLY, MY FEET TO THE GROUNDWE'D ONLY JUST FOUND US, WE'D ONLY BEGUN, THIS SWEET REVELATION, THIS AERIAL SUNTHE STARS ON HER COSTUME SHOULD BE ON THE WIRE, IN THE COOL OF THE DARKNESS, NOT BLEEDING ON FIRETHE THIN WIRE ABOVE CAUGHT THE GLINT OF THE LIGHT, AND ALL OF OUR MORNINGS WERE ENDED THAT NIGHTI THINK THERE WERE KISSES, I KNOW THERE WERE TEARS, AMID CONFIRMATION OF ALL OF OUR FEARSI JUST WANTED OUT OF THAT TERRIBLE SPACE, TO BREATHE IN AND EXHALE IN SOME BEARABLE PLACE.THE NEXT I REMEMBER WAS WALKING AWAY, THE COOL OF THE MOONLIGHT, THE HEAT OF THE DAYHOW LONG I SPENT MOVING IS LOST IN THE CLOUD. THE PAIN OF FOREVER KEPT SPILLING OUT LOUD.AND NOW I AM HERE, WHO WOULD EVER HAVE KNOWN, PREPARING TO WALK THIS NEW WIRE ALONE.IF WORSE COMES TO WORST, WELL, AT LEAST THEY CAN SAY, HE CLIMBED BACK TO WIRE AFTER WALKING AWAY.

SCENE 3

Divided stage, focus on women

Angela,Cate, Quinn and Catherine gather to sing Days of Waiting 2.

DAYS OF WAITING 2[AN] DAYS OF HOURS, DAYS OF TIMEMOVING SLOWLY, MY HEAD OUT OF STEP,MY HEART OUT OF RHYME

[CT] AS THE CLOCKS AND THE CALENDARS HOLD US AND CAN'T LET GODAYS OF CARING AND COUNTING AND MINUTES AND MISSING YOU SO.

79.

CHORUS

[QU] BUT SOMETIMES IN THE NIGHT, AS I'M SITTING ALONE OUR OLD SIMPLE PLANS SEEM SO DISTANT AND DIM

[CH] I TRY TO IMAGINE I SEE YOU, YOU'RE FINALLY HOMETHEN SOMEONE WALKS IN AND SAYS “DEAR, ARE YOU THINKING OF HIM?”

SCENE 4

Divided stage

Caroline, Mary, Paul and Elliot move forward on their respective sides of the stage as they hear a familiar tune . The melody of Hymn 1-Over There is heard in the background. played on a small portable reed organ. The four of them alternate dialogue on the ir respective sides of the stage.

CAROLINEDo you hear that?

MARYOh my gosh, does that ever sound familiar.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ELLIOTTI think that’s pastor Goodman’s favorite hymn, that one about how great heaven is gonna be since there won’t be a darn thing interesting to do there.

MARY(sings in bawdy baritone)

EVERY PLEASURE WILL BE GONE FROM SIGHT.

80.

PAULRemember sitting there with the girls, making up our own words? Remember that verse that had ‘everclear’ in it?

ELLIOTTYeah, they would always act embarrassed shush us when we did it, but I think they kind of liked it when we fooled around.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAROLINEWow, that feels like just a few days ago, doesn’t it?

MARYYeah, but it’s been, what, how long?

CAROLINEI don’t know exactly. I ’m embarrassed...for a long time, I knew exactly how many days they’d been gone...but I...lost count.

MARYI never counted. It was too hard seeing those numbers go up all the time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul and Elliott from the men’s side of the stage sing Hymn 1-Over There Reed OrganVerse 1.

HYMN 1-OVER THERE-REED ORGANVERSE 1[EL] OVER THERE, WE'LL PURSUE EARTHLY DELIGHT

[PA] NEVER CARING IF IT'S DAY OR NIGHT

[EL] CHECKING OUT WHAT'S WRONG, AVOIDING WHAT IS RIGHT

[PA] RAISE OUR GLASSES TO THE MORNING LIGHT

81.

Both men's and women's side of the stage are involved in singing Hymn 1-Over There Reed Organ Verse 2-Minor Section, but Paul, Elliott, Caroline and Mary do not sing but hear and observe the words as all the others sing.

HYMN 1-OVER THERE REED ORGANVERSE 2 MINOR SECTION[ALL ONSTAGE EXCEPT PAUL, ELLIOTT, CAROLINE AND MARY]AS OUR MAKER AWAITS US OVER THEREHE'S PREPARED TO UNBURDEN US FROM CARETHE SKY IS FULL OF THUNDER, SO BEWARETAKE THE TIME TO LET YOUR HEART/SOUL PREPAREDON'T CROSS OVER IF YOU'RE UNPREPARED.

SCENE 5

Divided stage

Both the women and men return to routine activities. The men are inspecting, fixing, arranging their equipment, individually and/or in small groups. Harley is sitting toward the front of the stage and appears serious as he adjusts straps on his pack. Carolina approaches him.

CAROLINASo, what’s on your mind, compadre?

HARLEYNothing, really. Just, getting ready.

CAROLINAOK ...If you want me to buy that I will, but...

82.

HARLEYHm...Remember when we went into town that night just be fore they locked us down and canceled our leave and all our passes and everything.

CAROLINASure . What about it?

HARLEYWell, it was kind of strange. Like always since we got over here , I would try to talk to the local girls whenever there was chance. And we had some nice times, they were always real sweet, real nice.

CAROLINAYep. All kidding aside, those English girls really were nice. I had never be fore looked forward to just seeing girls smile, really lit up 100 watt light bulb smiles.

HARLEYYeah...yeah.

CAROLINAI even started drinking that hot tea they like so much, because I finally learned that when the girls offered it to you and you took it, they would just flip that switch and light up. You know, after a while, when they asked me about the tea, I would do my little tea cup hand

(demonstrates holding cup with thumb and forefinger, pinkie raised)

and say in my little fake limey accent “oh, yes, with cream and sugar please.”

HARLEYYeah. But for me, right after whatever little routine I would try, things would just kind of bog down. The girls would be working hard at be ing cheerful, and we would be working hard at, whatever, and sometimes it would just get to be a lot of work being so. so cheerful and outgoing and all.

83.

CAROLINASounds familiar.

HARLEYThen, that last night I started talking to this one girl, and...and it was...different. There was some kind of...I don’t know...some kind of...connection or something.

CAROLINAWhoa, connection or something, huh.

HARLEYNo, no. Not like that. It was...I don’t know...it really doesn’t make much sense, I guess.

CAROLINA(patting Harley’s arm)

I don’t worry too much about things making sense anymore. Good luck, buddy.

HARLEYThanks.

Harley sings English Girls.ENGLISH GIRLSVERSE 1[HA] HERE'S TO ALL THE ENGLISH GIRLS, WHO STOOD THERE IN THE STATIONS AND WAVED TO US AS WE PASSED BYTHOSE LOVELY ENGLISH GIRLS,WITH FLOWERS IN THEIR HAIR, AND GIFTS THEY BROUGHT TO GIVE USBUT THE TRAIN BEGAN TO ROLL, THEY TRIED TO THROW THEM TO USLITTLE BOXES FLYING EVERYWHERE, AND EVERYONE WAS LAUGHINGWE SHOUTED WE'D BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS TIME.WE'D BE BACK TO GET OUR PRESENTSWHEN WE RETURNED THIS WAY BY CHRISTMAS TIME.

ENGLISH GIRLSVERSE 2THOSE LAUGHING ENGLISH GIRLS.SO MANY MONTHS AND MILES BETWEEN US AND THELAUGHTER OF THE GIRLS BACK HOMEAND WE ARE HERE.

84.

THEY'VE HELPED US TO REMEMBER, THEN HELPED US TO FORGETTHIS SPRING MIGHT BE THE LAST ONE WE WILL EVER SEE.THEY'VE MADE US WANT TO JOKE AND MAKE SURE WE SELDOM SPOKEABOUT THE BLOODY STORY WE ARE SOON TO TELL.SO LET'S NOT DWELL, LET'S SMILE, REMEMBERING THE LAUGHING ENGLISH GIRLS.

ENGLISH GIRLSVERSE 3ONE SPECIAL ENGLISH GIRL, WE TALKED FOR ONLY HOURS,ONLY HOURS BEFORE THEY TRUCKED US ALL AWAYWE'D JUST ARRIVED, BUT SHE'D SURVIVED THROUGH MANY TEARSSOMETIMES SHE FELT HER LIFE HAD BECOME ONE LONG GOODBYESHE SAID SHE SHOULDN'T BURDEN ME OR MY BRAVE COMPANIONSTHAT'S WHAT SHE CALLED US--BRAVE COMPANIONS. ON BEHALF OF ALL MY BRAVE COMPANIONS I WOULD LIKE TO SAYWE'RE SO LUCKY TO HAVE MET YOU, WE WON'T FORGET YOUTHANK YOU, BLESS YOU, EACH AND EVERY SPECIAL ENGLISH GIRL

SCENE 6A

Living room

Focus shifts to the women’s side. In a living room talking together. They are looking at newspapers, letters, listening to the radio etc.

CATEYou know, I’ve been thinking.

POLLYNo kidding. What about dearie?

CATEAbout where all the guys might be heading, where they might be going next.

MARYWhat do you mean?

CATEWell, we’re all but certain they’re in England now, right?

85.

ANGELAI guess so, but those censors are pre tty thorough. Every time I ge t a lette r it is marked up, has holes chopped out. I guess what they take out are the clues about where they are.

CAROLINEYeah, but I think England is a pretty good bet.

CATEOK, we know England has been getting clobbered for years, bombed and all. But the guys are not going to be doing any fighting in England. They’re in England ge tting ready for someplace else.

MARYYeah?

CATESo, they’re going somewhere else after England.

SHEILAI’m actually following this.

QUINNI need a little more information, I think.

CATEAll right, well, what’s the most like ly place they will go?

QUINNHow in the world would we know that?

CATEWell, what is the next country over from England?

There is a pause .

86.

ANGELAI know...Ireland!!

SHEILAThey’re going to attack Ireland? My grandmother is going to be very upset!

CATEI don’t really think we’re going to be invading Ireland. The other direction, my fluffies!

SHEILAYou don’t have to act so smart! Mrs. Taylor says there are no bad answers, only bad questions!

POLLYI think it’s the other way around, dear.

SHEILAWhat?

POLLYNo bad questions, only bad answers.

SHEILAWell, I think it works either way.

ANGELASo back to your point...the other way...is...France...I guess.

CATE(nodding her head, with some satisfaction)

Bingo!

SHEILAThat part I said earlier about following this...I’m not any more

87.

CATEOK. Let me explain.

ALLThat would be nice , oh good, thank you

CATELet’s assume they go to France. Then after they do that winning thing and push out the enemies, they’ll have some time off, I’m sure.

There is a pause . Silence.

CATEAnd who lives in France?

SHEILAI don’t know anyone who lives in France.

QUINNLots of people live in France.

CATEI mean what kind of people?! The French, sillies, the French!

ALL That sounds right, oh, OK, I see, I see.

QUINNI’m afraid to say anything else .

CATEI’m sorry. Let me back up a little . In France are the French food, the French wine, the French Riviera, the French attitude, French...

SHEILAFrench poodles!

88.

CATE...yes, French poodles, and French...peo...ple .

Cate pauses and looks around at the others. They nod silently, as if pondering, waiting for someone to speak, acting as if they are not getting Cate ’s point.

CATE (cont’d)The French...Men ..And the French...

She pauses, then gestures with her hand, inviting someone to finish the thought.

CATE (cont’d)(with some exasperation)

The French . . women!

She smiles triumphantly and nods slowly. Others nod and look around at each other, but are still not quite in sync with Cate , who, after a moment, continues.

CATE (cont’d)And when you think about...all ...those...French...things...French food, French...women...What goes through your mind, what do you see in your...imagination, what do you think about?

There is another pause.

ALLFrance!!

Focus shifts to the men’s side .

SCENE 6B

89.

SHIP, FOCUS ON MEN

Scene shifts to the men looking at French “phrase books” which have been provided to them. They are supposed to be practicing their language skills.

RUMBUTTEROK, men, I want everybody to get serious and focus on today’s lessons. Get out your phrase books. Feel free to make any notes in the margin of your books which you be lieve will be of assistance in your mastery of parlez-vousing the Francais, if you translate my meaning... a little joke.

CAROLINA(to his friends close by)

Uh, I hate these sessions. Don’t we have enough to do without worrying about trying to learn to talk French.

RUMBUTTEROK, Together now in French, use the little guides about how to say it, the ones with lots of spaces in the words. Let’s review a couple of things from . . Let’s do “Greetings.” First things first, I guess.

Rumbutter first says the phrase or word. in English and then in French. Men then repeat what the Sgt. has said.

RUMBUTTER () (cont’d)Hello! Bonjour! [bawngzhoor]

MENHello! Bonjour! [bawngzhoor]

RUMBUTTERHi! Salut! [salew]

90.

MENHi! Salut! [salew]

RUMBUTTERPlease S’il vous plait [seel voo pleh]

MENPlease S’il vous plait [seel voo pleh]My name is Je m’appelle [zher mahpehl] Then say your name.

MEN (cont’d)My name is Je m’appelle [zher mahpehl] Then say your name.

RUMBUTTERListen that was pretty cute the first time, but not any more. Pay attention! OK, here’s one you will need. I’m an American. Je suis de nationalite’ Americaine [zer swee der nahssyonahleetay ahmayreekehn] Are you married? Etes-vous marie [eht voo mahryay]

ELLIOTTWell, now, that might come in handy.

RUMBUTTERHey, who says I can’t be a fun person. Here are a couple of unofficial terms that sometimes come in handy in the army. Terrible ! Pas du tout [pa dew too] Nonsense! quelles be tises! [kel beteez]

There is modest laughter.

RUMBUTTER (cont’d)All right. Not too bad. Let’s flip over to... Part 4 Entertainment. Same as before, I’ll say it then you say it. Where is the cathedral?...Ou est la cathedral [la lateral]

91.

There are general groans from the men. Rumbutter pushes on.

RUMBUTTER (cont’d)Quiet down now. Here you go, smart guys. More culture. When does the museum open? Quand le musee est-il [kahng ler mewzay ehteel oovehr]

CAROLINAWell, that just about takes care of my entertainment needs.

RUMBUTTERNext, Part 6 - Injuries and Medical Problems. Something a lot of us are going to need.

There is a brie f pause as all realize what he has said. Rumbutter continues, saying the individual parts one at a time without the whole phrase.

RUMBUTTER (cont’d)Arm ...le bras [ler bra] Back...le dos [ler doh] Leg ...la jambe [la zhangb] Nose...le nez [ler nay] Tonsils...les amygdales [layz ameegdal] Gland...la glande [la ghlangd]

ELLIOTTOh, please. Not the gland.

RUDYNot funny, my friend.

ELLIOTTNo kidding!

RUMBUTTERYou know, this is a little creepy even for me , let’s go to something else. How about “Section 14, Food, drink,

(pronouncing the next word as spe lled here)

92.

(MORE)

elcetera.”

ELLIOTTDid he say elcetera?

PAULI’m pretty sure he did.

ALLGood idea. Yes. Fine.

RUMBUTTEROK, here we go. This is the food part. Again, fill in the blanks...May I have some...Puis-je avoir [pweezh avwar] Potatoes: des pommes de terre [day pom der tahr]

PAULAre you kidding? I’m going to go all the way to France and then ask for potatoes!?

RUMBUTTERMeat...viande [veey and]

ELLIOTTWell, that’ll make us sound sophisticated. Pardon me, sir, I would like some meat!

RUMBUTTERCheese...fromage [froh mahj]

CAROLINAI do like that word. Fromage. Sounds so many much better than cheese.

RUMBUTTERSnails...escargot [ess kar go]

93.RUMBUTTER (cont'd)

PAULOh, yes. Please whip me up a big mess of them fried snails and potatoes, with a big hunk of melted fromage on the top, S’il vous plait.

RUMBUTTERAll right, boys. Let’s close this shop with some of your favorites. Beverages.

JOHNHah! Now we’re getting somewhere at last! Beverages.

Rumbutter is tired of the exercise; he just says the single words.

RUMBUTTERBeer...bieres [byehr]

ALL(shouting after each of the drinks is named)

Beer!

RUMBUTTERWhisky...whisky [whi skee]

ALLWhisky!!

RUMBUTTERWine...vin [va’]

ALLVin!!

RUMBUTTERCheap wine...vin ordinaire [va’ oar dih nare]

ALLVin ordinaire!!

94.

All may keep repeating Vin ordinaire ! several times as a chant.

RUMBUTTERAll right, all right. Quiet! Break up into groups and go over this stuff together. OUT LOUD! Remember, you’ve gotta talk it and hear it.

Jack, Elliott, Billy, Paul form a group. They sing What Do We Know About The French?

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH? PART 1[CA] WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH?

[EL] NOY VERY MUCH I HATE TO ADMIT, I'VE ASKED AROUND QUITE A BIT, WHAT I'VE HEARD, DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF MOST OF IT

[PA] BUT THEY MIGHT OPEN DOORS, THESE SOURCES OF YOURS, THOUGH THE TEXT IS SUSPECT

[CA] WITH CERTAIN CIVILIANS WE'LL WANT TO CONNECT, WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT

[BI] ALL THAT I KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH I'VE READ IN MAGAZINES, MOST OF THEM SLIGHTLY OBSCENE,

[PA] GUESS THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN

[BI] I HEAR THEY EAT THE LEGS OF FROGS, DO THE FROGS GLADLY DONATE, OR DO THE FRENCH AMPUTATE?

[EL] YOU'VE BEEN STAYING UP MUCH TOO LATE!

After the singing of Part 1, Jack bursts forward shouting excitedly.

JACKI don’t believe it! I don’t honkin’ believe it! Hey, everybody, I have a very important announcement. We have located the source of all continental knowledge. John says he has lived in...France!

95.

PAULJohn, is that true?

JOHNYes, I lived there for six months when I was in school. Be fore the war. I lived in Paris most of the time but I also traveled around some.

HARLEYThis is great! You can tell us what we need to know.

ELLIOTTWait just a minute. No offense but I think we need a little information to support this. Rudy made a believer out of us. So, if you wouldn’t mind, could you maybe give us a little assurance that you actually, you know, know what you’re talking about, that you have really been there .

JOHNNo offense taken. Let me just show you a little bit about France. Could you come up and help me?

(to Billy)Hold up your hand.

Billy holds up his left hand.

JACKNo, I think your right hand would be better. That’s good. Now tilt it a little , hold your thumb out more. There. Okay. This is France, sort of. This thumb is what they call the Cotentin. Right at the top is a city called Cherborg. Over here ...

(pointing around his first knuckle)...is Calais. Calais is the closest part of France to England, just across the English Channel. In between, down here , is Dieppe, then a whole section that the French call Normandy. Probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen. All these little fields surrounded by hedgerows. Cows. These brown and white cows.

96.

(MORE)

And apple trees right in the pastures. And they really know what to do with apples. They turn them into . .

BILLYApple pies, I bet!

JACKThey do make some wonderful pies--one of them they call tarte aux pommes, but what they really do best is turn them into this incredible apple brandy stuff. They call it ...Calvados. Makes you wish it were cold just so you could drink some to warm you up.

There are sighs all around.

JACK (cont’d)Then just over here roughly, is...Paris.

Jack points to Billy’s second knuckle. Billy takes his hand down, touches his second knuckle, then points to the knuckle and shows it to his buddies.

BILLYWow. Look. Paris.

JOHNWell, when I went there, before the war, even then it was a little tricky to get into France. There was a lot of talk and a lot of confusion, really. I didn’t think all that much about it at the time. I took a look at a lot of ways to get into France , Calais and so forth. But I ended up coming in through Cherborg and making my way from there.

Music begins for What Do We Know About The French? Part 2 and John sings, Elliott and Paul joining in.

97.JACK (cont'd)

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH? PART 2[JO] I THOUGHT I MIGHT STAY NEAR THE SEA AT CALAIS, THERE WAS A SECRET WELL KEPT,SOME FRIENDS HAD TRIED TO ENTER AT DIEPPE, THAT FELL APART, SO OUT OF STEPAT CHERBORG TO COTENTIN, THEN ON TO CARENTANTHROUGH LOVELY ST. MERE EGLISE, INTO BELLE NORMANDIE, WHERE BOCAGE MEETS THE SEA.THERE I FELT I'D COME HOME THOUGH I TRAVELED ALONE, NO LONELINESS NO SENSE OF LOSSI CAME TO KNOW THE SWEET GLOW OF CALVADOS, THE PRIZE WAS MORE THAN THE COST

[EL] I'M VERY IMPRESSED, I WOULD NOT HAVE GUESSED, OUR QUESTIONS JUST SEEKING WHAT'S TRUE

[PA] WE MEANT NO OFFENSE TO YOU, COULD WE GO ON TO PARIS

Paul looks at the phrase book, then up.[PA] AVEC VOUS

[JO] I LIVED NEAR THE SEINE, ON BOULEVARD ST. GERMAIN,WENT TO THE LOUVRE EVERY DAY, EACH NIGHT I SAMPLED A DIFFERENT CAFÉ,AS I STROLLED DOWN THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES.FRENCH FOOD WAS SUPERB, RICH WITH BUTTER AND HERB, CRUSTY BREADS AND CROISSANTSLOVELY WINES FROM MEDOC AND PROVENCE, CRÈME CARAMEL THAT STILL HAUNTSSOME PEOPLE DECLARE THAT THE FRENCH HAVE AN AIR, ARROGANT AND ALOOFOF THAT I'M STILL AWAITING THE PROOF, HERE IS MY PERSONAL TRUTH.ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU'RE IN ANOTHER MAN'S LAND, BECOME A WELL-BEHAVED GUESTLET THE FRENCH TAKE CARE OF THE REST. TO THIS APPROACH I CAN ATTEST.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH?PART 2 CHORUS 1[PA] I HEAR THE FRENCH ARE ALL SMART

[EL] THEY LOVE MUSIC AND ART.

[JO] THEY DO LIVE FROM THE HEART

[CA] I HEAR EVERYDAY THIRST WITH CHAMPAGNE THEY QUENCH

[BI] AND EVEN THE CHILDREN KNOW HOW TO SPEAK FRENCH.

98.

[CA] I THINK IT'S TRUE WE HAVE NOT ASKED OF YOUOUR MOST PRESSING CONCERN, WHAT WE WOULD MOST LIKE TO LEARN, PERHAPS TO THAT WE CAN TURN.

[HA] THIS IS REALLY ABOUT, ALL THIS TALK AND THIS SHOUTTHE MADAME, MADEMOISELLE, I HOPE YOU KNOW THIS TOPIC QUITE WELL, AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO TELL

John sings, to an apache beat.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FRENCH?PART 2 CHORUS 2[JO] PARIS IS KNOWN AS THE CITY OF LIGHT,AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY ON A WARM SUMMER NIGHTSOUND ALL AROUND , SMILES, MUSIC, AND DANCING,EACH STREET FULL OF HEAT, HOPE, JOY, AND ROMANCINGEACH LOVELY FACE FULL OF LIFE, FULL OF GRACE, LET YOUR HEART TAKE CONTROL, LET IT CHERISH YOUR SOULLET IT TAKE YOU AWAY, BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY,YOU'LL HAVE NO SENSE OF TIME, ONLY PASSION AND RHYME WHEN YOU WAKE UP, YOU MAY WONDER, WAS IT ALL JUST A DREAMTHEN YOU'LL SMILE AS YOU REMEMBER, AND WHISPER “GOD BLESS THE FRENCH!”

[ALL THE MEN] GOD BLESS THE FRENCH.

[CA] JOHN, THANK YOU SO MUCH

[BI] YOU HAVE PUT US IN TOUCH, WITH THE KEYS TO SUCCESS

[HA] OUR GRATITUDE WE HUMBLY EXPRESS

[BI] HOPE I'LL HAVE SOME SINS TO CONFESS

[JO] WHAT YOU EXPECT PLEASE DON'T INFLATE, THEY ARE HUMAN, THEIR FATE IS UNCERTAIN AS OURSIF WE ARE BLESSED WITH A FEW PRECIOUS HOURS, TREAT THEM GENTLY...BRING FLOWERS.

After the singing, during the bass and rhythm, without lyrics, characters engage in various descriptions of what they will do in France, all at the same time, talking and gesturing excitedly.

99.

SCENE 7

Women’s side

Angela, Cate, Quinn, and Catherine reflect. They sing Days of Waiting 3. Mary and Caroline, Emma and Narrator may be present.

DAYS OF WAITING 3[AN] DAYS OF WORKING, DOING WHAT'S RIGHT,

[CT] DAYS OF SUNLIGHT THAT SLOWLY GIVE WAY TO THE NIGHT

[QU]THROUGH THE NIGHT I GIVE IN TO THE NEED TO RECALL

[CH] DAYS OF HAVING AND HOLDING, THANKFUL I HAD YOU AT ALL.

SCENE 8

Both sides of stage

This scene is done in parallel. Both the men and the women are listening to radios or phonographs which are playing the same big band swing music. The dialogue bounces back and forth from one side to the other.

QUINNHow much would you give to be back at the Pavilion with a live band like that playing?

CATEHow much is there?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JACKHearing this music just drives me...crazy!

100.

ELLIOTTWhy is that?

JACKWell, I never used to want to get out on the dance floor and cut... Loose, you know. I was always worried about how I might look silly.

Jack is wearing very baggy boxers, mismatched knee socks, loud shirt, etc.

ELLIOTTI guess you’ve gotten over that, huh?

JACKYou know it!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POLLYHe promised me he would take me dancing the first night he gets back.

SHEILAYou gonna hold him to it?

POLLYAre you kidding? And, honey, I think I have figured out just how to hold him so he pays attention.

SHEILAThat’s more than I want to hear about.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JACKActually, I was pre tty impressive out on the old hardwood.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

101.

CAROLINEWell, mine had this cute delusion about his dancing. He would always call the dance floor the “old hardwood” and work it into every sentence. “Hey, baby, want to join me out on the old hardwood” or “looks like everybody here is just waiting for the master of the ‘old hardwood.’

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JACKI don’t want to brag, but it was not unusual for my name to be mentioned in a sentence with Astaire .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAROLINEHe likes to describe himse lf as the next Astaire. The truth is he was a total klutz. The closest he ever came to Astaire was once he was swinging around to some tune on the radio, and he fell down ‘a stair’ case.

SHEILAHe sounds kind of cute.

CAROLINEWell, he is, and when he gets home he can talk about the ‘old hardwood’ all he wants.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JACKYep, when I get home, I’m gonna be heading to the old hardwood to do some serious hoofing.

BILLYHoofing?

Music for When I Get Home begins.

WHEN I GET HOMEMEN

*lyrics in parentheses in the verses are spoken/sung rapidlyWHEN I GET HOME, SHE'LL CALL MY NAME

102.

AND RUN TO MEET ME WHEN I STEP DOWN FROM THE TRAIN.IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME, I HOPE SHE WON'T MIND,(IF I'M CLUMSY AND NERVOUS), AND KNOW THAT I'M JUST TRYING TO GET THINGS RIGHTI'LL SLOWLY ENFOLD HER, TOUCH HER SKIN, HER HAIRI'LL PINCH MYSELF, EVERY KISS OR TWO, TO MAKE SURE SHE'S REALLY THEREWE'LL PRO-CEED WITH REDISCOVERY OF EVERY DREAM AND FANTASY,(START MAKING THEM COME TRUE], I THINK THAT'S ONLY FAIR

Interlude with dancing for 2 Verses.In Verse 1 the men dance; in verse 2 the women dance

WHEN I GET HOMEWOMEN

*lyrics in parentheses in the verses are spoken/sung rapidlyWHEN HE COMES HOME, I'LL WANT TO HOLD HIM TIGHTBEGIN TO MAKE UP FOR LONG AND LOST AND LONELY NIGHTSMY LOVE I'LL TOUCH AND HEAR AND SEE, NO LONGER JUST A MEMORY,(AND I'LL BE EXPECTING) HE'LL DO THE SAME WITH ME.I KNOW OUR HEARTS WILL DANCE, IF WE CAN HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE,(AND I'M REALLY HOPING) ROMANCE REMEMBERS HIM AND ME.

SCENE 9

Set with barrier

Paul and Caroline sing to one another across the barrier.

He is in the ship getting ready for the invasion, which is imminent.

She is he lping at the home of a friend who has children. She is looking at a baby in the crib, perhaps an old style one on rockers.

Paul and Caroline move to the center front of the ir respective sides. As they sing Heroes they look at one another from time to time. We know they cannot see each other, but they are very present and connected.

103.

HEROES [PA] IN THE SHIP AWAITING THE CALL TO THE BOATS.

[CE] SOOTHING SOMEONE'S CHILDREN AT BEDTIME

[CE] HEROES CROSSING DARKENED WATERS, WAIT FOR SLEEPING. HEROES COUNTING BEADS WITH WHISPERS, SOULS ARE KEEPING.HEROES LONGING, HEROES SIT BY CANDLES WRITING, HEROES STARING. WORDS UNSPOKEN FLOW LIKE FEARS, HEARTS ARE BARING.HEROES LOOKING, HEROES LAUGHING. GENTLY SLEEP MY DARLINGS. HEROES WILL PROTECT YOU. THEY ARE KEEPING WATCH 'TIL MORNING COMES.

[PA] HEROES RISE IN SILENCE, MOCKING DARKNESS, MOVINGHEROES STIRRING, HEROES POURING, DAILY PROVING. HEROES YAWNING. HEROES HEARING CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, LOOK FOR ANSWERS. KNOWING DAUGHTERS' TWIRLING DREAMS, THEY TEACH THEM TO BE DANCERS. SONS MUST SEE THEM, KNOW THEY NEED THEM.

[PA] SINCE WE MUST STAY, DARK HOURS AWAY, GOD BLESS THE HEROES, WE KNOW OUR HEROES, WILL BE THERE 'TIL THE BRAND NEW DAY

[CE] THE HARDEST PART IS WAITING, FOR ANSWERS THAT MAY NEVER COME

[CE] IN THE QUIET THE HEROES STRETCH TO EASE THEIR BREATHINGIN THE GRAY LIGHT DISTANT THUNDER, FEAR UNSHEATHING, HEROES PRAYING.

[PA] HEROES HAVE NO OPEN MOMENTS, AND NO RESTING. SONS AND DAUGHTERS, YEAST AND WATER, TWISTING, TESTING HEROES TALKING, WEARY WALKING

[CE] HEROES HANDED DAYS OF DANGER, HEROES HOLD THEM

[PA] HEROES HEAR THE WORRIED WATCHERS AND ENFOLD THEM

[PA & CE] HEROES TOUCHING.

[CE] THE CURVING WALL OF OCEAN CUTS OUR WORLDS IN TWO. OUR TERRORS LIVE IN DARKNESS, YOURS GO ON WITH DAWNSUNSET MAY BRING US REST, AT BEST, BRIEF RELIEF FOR YOU.SOMETIMES I WORRY EVEN IF WE SURVIVE, CAN WE CARRY ON.

[PA & CE] HEROES OVER TROUBLED OCEANS, WATCH ARE KEEPINGHEROES WEARILY AWAIT THEIR CHANCE FOR SLEEPING, HEROES CLOSING, THEIR EYES, REPOSING

[CE HEROES HOLD THE HARM IN HAND PROTECT YOUR DREAMING

[PA] HEROES SHADE 'TIL YOU AWAKE, HARSH SUN AND NIGHTMARE SCREAMING.

104.

[CE & PA] HEROES ARE HERE, HEROES ARE THERE, HEROES.

SCENE 10A

A room

The women are gathered, talking.

MARYDoes Paul ever write to you about how superstitious everybody in the Army is?

CAROLINEYeah, once in a while, but he thinks some of it is kind of funny.

MARYWell, Elliott does, too, but he says sometimes, it gets a little crazy. He said they had this really big deal about superstitions about warts and how to get rid of them or something. It sounded really disgusting.

Emma enters.

EMMAHello, girls. You look very nice today. What’s the news?

MARYWe were just talking about how the guys are so superstitious over there .

EMMAOh, really? You know everybody says that soldiers are very serious about their superstitions. ut I’ll tell you a little secret-I love superstitions! My great grandmother, Meemaw, had all kinds of things she would or wouldn’t do. And she would talk about them in a little creaky, witchy kind of voice .

105.

ANGELADoesn’t everybody have some little things like that-things they always do or never do or...try not to do because something would or wouldn’t happen if they did or...didn’t...or

SHEILAAgain, I’m having a little trouble following that.

CAROLINESo what kind of superstitions did your Meemaw have?

EMMAWell, let’s see. Meemaw had a big thing about graveyards, hold your breath when you walk past a graveyard so you don’t breathe in a spirit or ghost, I guess. Then there was the one that if you walked over a railroad track you had to lift your feet up really high or you would never get married.

POLLYDoes anybody have a piece of paper? I need to write that one down.

MARYI remember hearing one about going into a house through a certain door, and when you left you had to go out the same door, or you’d have bad...

CAROLINEWait, I thought it was that you had to go out a different door than the one you came in...

EMMAHow about if I get with Meemaw in my prayers tonight, and maybe she can get us straightened out on the door thing?

ALLOK, sounds good, thanks Emma.

106.

ANGELAI have a good one. If two people say the same thing at the same time, like Mary and I both say ‘balloon’ at the same time, then we would have to

(demonstrating)hook pinkies, touch thumbs and say back and forth ‘needles and pins, needles and pins, when a man marries his trouble begins.’

POLLYHis trouble begins when he marries? I thought when you ge t married you get to start, you know, get things going good.

SHEILAI am really having trouble following this.

CATEYou all do know that if you lose a tooth, and if you never touch your tongue to the place where the tooth was, the new tooth will come in gold, you knew that, right?

QUINNUh, sure, sure. And my Aunt Edna said it was bad luck to leave your hat on a bed.

MARYThat doesn’t sound like a superstition, really. It sounds like just a good idea so that if somebody comes jumping into the room and plops on the bed, well, your hat would...

CAROLINEYou know I just remembered something my mother said about purses, uh, wait, let’s see, never leave your purse sitting on the floor.

POLLYYeah, honey, I’ve been to your house. I wouldn’t leave my purse on the floor.

107.

CATEHeck, I might not even bring my purse into your house!

Caroline knows they are playing. She sticks out her tongue at them.

CAROLINEI just thought of another one. Can’t remember where I got it, but it goes ‘women should never give a man a watch or a pair of shoes. Because he’ll be looking at his watch and say it’s ...it’s time to go...and then he’ll put on his shoes...and... leave you...

Everyone is quiet.

ANGELASo, what was the thing Elliott said about warts?

SCENE 10B

Ship bunk room

The men remain in the bunk room on the ship. They continue to prepare their equipment, etc. Jack is on his bunk, examining his feet.

JACKOh, man. I can’t believe I’ve got another wart on my foot. I just got rid of the last one.

HARLEYWarts? Did I hear someone mention warts? You are probably not aware, but you are in the presence of the number one , primo practitioner of the science and art of...removal of...abnormal growth of papillae and thickening of the epidermis, i.e , warts.

108.

PAULJust when you think there is nothing else you could not know about somebody...

ELLIOTTI just know this is going to lead to much more...stuff...than I want to know.

HARLEYAll right now. We have a little bet going on pretty much anything possible around here , right? Well, let me wager that not one of you knows more than I do about the removal of those horribly annoying and deforming little ... protuberances.

CAROLINAActually, I have a pretty good one from my grandmother on my father’s side, she grew up in Lithuania or Louisiana, and she ...

HARLEYNot the geographics, just the therapeutics, please, the...cure.

CAROLINAOK, well she always told us to count the number of warts we had and...

HARLEYSo, there was an issue with multiple, personal...outbreaks, in your family...

CAROLINAUh, I guess so. So you count the number of warts you have, pick up that many little rocks, put them in a box, wrap it up so it looks like a present or something, and carry the box to a fork in the road. Put the box there and just wait. If somebody came along and picked up the box, tada, they got the warts!

109.

ALLYuck. That can’t work. Come on. [Etc...]

CAROLINAI know a guy, Billy, who fell for that trick seven times! You did not want to be next to him in the shower in gym class. Truly overwhelming!

HARLEYWell, of course, Carolina. The direct transfer method, such as you have described, is well known and well proven, but not, well, nove l. Anyone else?

JOHNI know one about dishrags.

ALLDishrags?!

HARLEYGentleman, please, I assure you this method is not out of line , as long as John really knows his methodology. Dish rags may also be call dish cloths. Continue, please.

JOHNWell, it’s pretty simple. You take an old dish...cloth and rub it over your warts, then you take the dish...cloth...out into the woods and throw it backwards over your shoulder and walk away without looking back to see where the cloth lands. Anybody who comes through the woods and picks up the cloth gets the warts.

HARLEYSo this is more of a bulk transfer method rather than a numerical transfer as in the rocks in the box technique .

JOHNYeah...I guess so.

110.

RUDYYou know I hate to be dense , but dish rag, dish cloth, what are we talking about here?

HARLEYWhat? Does your family not have dishes? Do you just eat out of your hands or off the table?

RUDYNo, we have dishes, smart guy.

HARLEYWell, son, if you have dishes, and you eat off of them, and you use forks and spoons...

He pauses to look at Rudy.

RUDYYeah, yeah we use them, too.

JACKOnly when the priest comes to dinner I bet.

HARLEYIf you use them, you got to clean them. After you wash them, you got to dry them. That’s what the dishcloth or dishrag is for.

RUDYSo, what could that stupid rag, or cloth, have to do with warts?

ELLIOTTMaybe we’d have to go and eat at John’s house to find out.

HARLEYAll right, all right gentlemen. Calm down. Enough amateur information. It may be time to move to a much more serious leve l of technique in the removal of...

111.

(MORE)

excess epidermis. Who knows a wart cure which can only be done under the first new moon of the spring?

ELLIOTTI knew it. This kind of weird stuff always ends up doing some stupid thing under some stupid full moon.

He beckons to two of the guys to join him.

HARLEYMidnight, under the full moon. The Sacred Ring of Tobacco.

He hands cigarettes to the other two guys and takes one for himse lf. They ignite the Torch of Clarity. Harley strikes the match and lights the first cigarette , then the next, then moves to light his own. Sgt. Rumbutter has been watching from the side to this point. As Harley moves the match to light his own, Rumbutter moves quickly and knocks the match from his hand.

RUMBUTTERYou idiots! Didn’t they teach you anything in basic?!

ALLWhat? Hey!

RUMBUTTERDo you not know that what you almost did here is, without doubt, the worst thing you can possibly do--light three cigarettes off the same match.

ALLWhat. What are you talking about. What. What?

112.HARLEY (cont'd)

RUMBUTTERThe third guy...he always gets it, gets shot, gets blown up. Look, where we’re headed, there’s always some guy on the other side who’s just waiting, just out there looking over at us. Just hoping one of you will stick your head up over a wall, or step out into the open...or keep a match burning long enough for him to put you in his sights, and...

Harley looks at his cigarette and drops it. The other two toss theirs down as well.

Music begins for Third Man On A Match, sung by Rumbutter. The piano interludes offer possibilities for dance involving both women and men. Stylized movements might draw on the specific superstitions evoked in the dialogue.

T HIRD MAN ON A MAT CH[RM] THIRD MAN ON A MATCH DON'T LET IT BE YOU, UNLESS YOU'RE EAGER FOR ST. PETER SEE YOU. OH, YOU'RE A WARRIOR BOY WITH YOUR BOMBS AND BULLETS. FATE AT THE GATE, MIGHT FIND YOUR OFF SWITCH AND PULL IT. TAKE HEED IF YOU NEED TO SPEED YOUR DEMISE. LEAVE YOUR BOOTS ON YOUR BLANKET, CONNECT TO THE COBRA'S EYES. BUT THE SUREST MEANS TO SHUFFLE TO YOUR LONG TERM REST. TAKE A THIRD HIT ON THE MATCHSTICK, PULL THE SMOKE DEEP IN YOUR CHEST. MIGHT NOT HAPPEN RIGHT AWAY, LIKE A SUCKER PUNCH FROM A FIST. ALL THE SAME YOUR NAME'S BEEN ADDED TO THE CASUALTY LIST. CONSIDERING WHERE WE'RE GOING TOMORROW AND WHAT WE'VE GOT TO DO. GO BE ALL FEARLESS IF YOU LIKE. IT'S ALL UP TO YOU.

[RM]EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT THE LADDER AND THE CATBROKEN MIRRORS AND THE 13TH OF THIS AND OF THATTHE SIDEWALK CRACK, YOUR POOR MOTHER'S BACKSPILLED SALT HALT AND THROW SOME TO GET YOU ON TRACKTHEY SAY THERE WAS A DEAD MAN'S HAND, WHEN OLD WILD BILL HICKOCK DIEDBLACK ACES AND BLACK 8'S, THE 5TH CARD NOBODY COULD DECIDEBUT ALL THIS STUFF IS SILLY IF YOU'RE REALLY CONCERNEDSTOP DREAMING OF TOMORROWS THAT YOU HAVEN'T EARNED

Instrumental Interlude 1

[RM]

113.

THE RABBIT'S FOOT IN YOUR POCKET, A HORSESHOE IN YOUR HAND,A FOUR LEAF CLOVER IN YOUR HELMET, I DON'T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND. YOU'VE GOT ALL THESE AMATEUR DELUSIONS ABOUT CONTROLLING YOUR FATE. IF YOU'RE THE THIRD MAN ON A MATCH, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS TOO LATE.

Instrumental Interlude 2[RM]I KNOW YOU'LL ALL BE SMILING JUST AS SOON AS I AM GONE. IT'S OK, HAVE A GOOD TIME, LAUGH AND CARRY ONBUT REMEMBER AS WE'RE SLOSHIN' IN THOSE BOATS IN THE MORNING AT FIVETHE ONLY THING I'M TRYING TO DO IS KEEP EVERY ONE OF YOU ALIVE.

IMMEDIATE TRANSITION TO FINALE

114.

FINALE

The Finale is composed of eight parts, each a reprise of an earlier song with repeated and/or revised lyrics. Numbers in ( ) indicate the time into the Finale at which events

occur (minutes:seconds).

FINALE PART 1

The stage is divided as before.

Paul, Elliott, Caroline and Mary, through song, express the ir concern to the acce lerating beat of the music. Final words come from the Minister and from Sgt. Rumbutter.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING PART 1: WHAT IS HAPPENING? REPRISE [PA] SOMETHING IS HAPPENING | I THINK IT'S ALL COMING CLEAR | THE PLACE IS NOT FAR | AND THE TIME IS QUITE NEAR

[CA] SOMETHING IS HAPPENING | NOT SURE HOW I KNOW | I DON'T FEEL QUITE ACCUSTOMED | AND IT WORRIES ME SO

[EL] AT LEAST NO MORE WAITING | THAT'S THE WORST PART FOR ME | ANYTHING MUST BE BETTER | I'M SO SICK OF THE SEA[MA] THIS IS FEARFUL FAMILIAR | AND IT RUNS TO MY BONES | EVERY NERVE SAYS GET AWAY GIRL | YOU'LL BE SAFER ALONE

[PG] MAY HEAVEN PROTECT YOU | AS YOU GO ON YOUR WAY | MAY WE ALL MEET TOGETHER | AT THE CLOSE OF THIS DAY

[RM] REMEMBER THESE WORDS | I'VE BEEN AROUND VERY LONG | YOU'RE THE BEST I'VE EVER SEEN |YOU'RE PREPARED YOU ARE STRONG

*Interlude-Music becomes intense as the men and women prepare for the climax.

Soldiers make final adjustment to gear, then form up in a line. Women look at papers, listen to radio, mark spots on the map hanging on the wall. Soldiers form up in line. Standard half-spacing with hand on hip, elbow out, then return to standing at attention.

115.

Beginning here three soldiers sequentially step forward at about 5 second intervals indicating that they have been killed.

Each death is punctuated by a percussive orchestral hit. At the hit the just struck soldier makes a gesture of having been hit, whatever looks right, e .g., he pushes his hands at his sides to having his palms forward and/or he tilts his head slightly backward, eyes upward, eyes closing as the percussion hits. The first three to die are as follows: Carolina, John, Rudy. In the brief interlude in the music preceding his death, each steps forward into a light.

Then Paul steps forward. He does not get the hit at this point, but prepares to sing the next section.

FINALE PART 2

Paul sings Something Is Happening The Time Has Come Reprise and is joined by Elliott, Mary, Caroline and Narrator.

In this interval, soldiers care for their fallen comrades. The dead are not limp and continue to interact with friends. Each of the fallen is given a white shirt to replace their uniform blouse. Rudy’s white shirt has “RR” on it like his performing shirt. A few belongings of each of the fallen are boxed by the others. These boxes are carried out of the scene.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 3-THE TIME HAS COME REPRISE*PA-LOWER MELODY LINE **PA-HIGHER LINE

116.

[PA] I THINK IT'S CLEAR, WHAT WE CAN DO, WE REALLY MUST DO, I DON'T LIKE WHAT I SEE, BUT I KNOW

[PA] DON'T WE RECALL, ALL THE STORIES ABOUT OUR GRANDMOTHERS, FATHERS, AND SONSWHO SAILED AWAY, BRINGING US TO THIS PLACE, WITH THEIR WORLD IN THEIR ARMS.

[PA]* I'D LIKE TO CALL TO THEM ALL, HOW DID YOU FIND THE COURAGE THEN, FOR I MUST FIND IT NOW.

[CE] I CANNOT TELL YOU JUST HOW MUCH I HAVE LOVED ALL OF YOU, HOW I WISH I COULD DO MORE, SO MUCH MORE

[PA] WE'VE COME SO FAR, IT'S SO HARD TO IMAGINE ONE YEAR AGO, ONE THING WE KNOW, WE'RE FRIENDS TO THE END

[EL] WE HAVE SO MUCH, WAITING FOR US, STAY TOGETHER, CLOSE TOGETHER,KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN, JUST KEEP MOVING, COVER EACH OTHER, JUST LIKE ALWAYS

CE] KEEP YOURSELVES SAFE NOW, SLEEP, DREAM OF TOMORROW, WE'LL GET THROUGH ALL OF THIS NOISE, AND BE FINE

[MA] THEY ARE SO FAR FROM US, CAN WE SIT CLOSER.

While others freeze motion and do not look at them, Narrator sings to Paul, and he to her, across the wall. We learn that Narrator is Paul’s daughter who would have been born later had he not been killed.

[NA] SO, SO CLOSE AND YET, WE'LL NEVER GET, THROUGH TO THE END

[NA] LOVE, WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, IF YOU'D COME HOME, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN.

[PA] SOMETIMES AT NIGHT, I CAN SEE THINGS THAT NEVER HAVE BEEN,HOW I'D HOPED TO GET THROUGH, AND MEET YOU

A noisy storm builds to a hit indicating Paul has been killed. He dies.

117.

FINALE PART 3

HYMN 1-OVER THERE-REED ORGAN REPRISE[ALL CHARACTERS IN NORMANDY]AS WE FACE OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE NIGHT, WALK WITH COURAGE TO THE LIGHTWE HAVE COME TOGETHER HERE WE STAND AS ONEMAY WE JOIN AGAIN AT MORNING SUNSEE EACH OTHER ONCE AGAIN AND GREET THE SUN

FINALE PART 4

HIGH WIRE-REPRISE[RD] AND JUST FOR A MOMENT, ALONE IN THEIR EYES, GRAVITY'S EQUAL, THE LORD OF THE SKIESSINCE WORSE CAME TO WORST, I HOPE YOU WILL SAY, HE WENT BACK TO THE WIRE BEFORE FALLING AWAY

FINALE PART 5

The box containing Paul’s be longings is brought to Caroline.

DAYS OF WAITING 4 [CE] DAYS OF SILENCE, DAYS OF PAINEMPTY WITH LOSSES, UNSURE WHAT REMAINSALL THIS WAITING AND HOPING, WHAT GOOD HAS IT DONE?WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT WE'D BE ENDING, BEFORE WE'D BEGUN

FINALE PART 6

The Narrator, now all dressed in white , gives a short narration before she and Emma sing.

IF I EVER GET TO ENGLAND-REPRISE[NA] THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME THE PHOTOGRAPH

[NA] SUCH A LOVELY SCENE SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

[EM] ENGLAND WAS A LONG WAY, THERE WERE PROBLEMS ON THE JOURNEY

[NA] GUESS I'LL NEVER GET TO ENGLAND

118.

[EM] SO MANY LOVELY THINGS UNDONE

[NA] HOPE YOU GET THERE, SEND A PICTURE, WRITE A LETTER, HAVE LOTS OF FUN.

FINALE PART 7

All characers are onstage. Paul, Rudy, John, Caroline , Emma and Mary sing Heroes-Reprise.

HEROES-REPRISE[PA] WE HAD TO STAY, THOSE HOURS AWAY

[RD] IT WAS NO SECRET, THAT BEING HEROES

[JO] SOMETIMES MEANS NEVER COMING HOME

[CE] THE HARDEST PART IS WAITING, FOR ANSWERS THAT WILL NEVER COME

[EM] IN OUR MEMORIES THE HEROES LIVE FOREVERMISSING FROM OUR DAYS AND DREAMS, FORGETTING NEVER.

[PA, RD, JO, CE, EM & MA] HEROES SINGING

[MA] EVER PRESENT, EVER AFTER, OFTEN TEARFUL

[CE] HEROES WHISPER “CARRY ON, BE NEVER FEARFUL”

[MA] BELLS ARE RINGING, KEEP THEM RINGING.

[CE] THERE ARE HEROES ALL AROUND US, EVERY MINUTE

[EM] NOT JUST IN SOME DISTANT MOMENT, WE ARE IN IT.

[PA, RD, JO, CE, EM & MA] BE THE HEROES

119.

FINALE PART 8

All sing.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 4-ST AND WITH ME-REPRISE

[EM] OR EL? WE MUST TALK AND WE MUST TELL AND SHARE THE STORYAND HOPE THAT NONE MUST EVER PASS THIS WAY AGAIN

[MA] SIMPLE PLANS AND SIMPLE DREAMS ALL LOST IN...GLORYSACRIFICED BEFORE THEY CAN BEGIN

[CE] MAKE NO MY-STE-RY OF ALL THAT HAS TRANSPIREDOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW WHAT WE HAVE FACED.TIME AGAIN TO BRING OUR HAMMERS, WOOD, AND WIREAND TO BUILD ANEW WHAT CANNOT BE REPLACED

[WHO IS CHORUS] STAND WITH US, WE'VE STOOD WITH YOUAND KNOW TOGETHER, THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN'T DOJOIN YOUR HANDS, JOIN YOUR HEARTSALWAYS THERE THE DARKNESS ENDS, AND MORNING STARTS

[NA] THE SWEETEST GIFT...TO BE...REMEMBEREDSOMETIMES WITH JUST A SMILE TO MARK WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEENEACH TIME THE CALENDAR RETURNS TO DARK...DECEMBER, PLEASE,COME TOGETHER HERE, AND SING OUT ONCE AGAIN.

SOMET HING IS HAPPENING 4-ST AND WITH ME-REPRISESILENT VERSE

During Something Is Happening 4-Stand With Me-Reprise Elliott screams in pain and rage at the loss of Paul and his other friends. He charges the wall between the two sides of the stage and begins to kick and tear it down. After a moment of shock, all characters join him and proceed to destroy the wall. With the wall torn down, the two sides reunite .

**Suggested staging idea--As the music without lyrics (after the Narrator sings “Come together here, and sing out once again),” all the dead characters (in their

120.

various white costumes) move together on one level probably slightly elevated above the surviving characters. **During this period as the music without lyrics continues to play, the characters complete the tearing down of the wall and begin to move to their reunited respective places (the dead with the dead and the living with the living) there is a moment in which Emma and the Narrator embrace and hold and look deeply into

each others' faces. There should also be a fleeting moment of contact/recognition between the Narrator and Caroline, who would have been the Narrator's mother--I see

them looking at one another with a clear but vague sense of recognition and briefly pausing, perhaps even reaching out and briefly touching each other's cheeks--not

lingering but with a clear sense of connection. Paul appears to introduce his daughter to the other dead, his friends from the army. As the music without lyrics concludes, all

characters turn to the audience and sing the finale ending.

FINALE-ENDING

All sing.

NOW IT'S TIME TO JOIN OUR SISTERS AND OUR BROTHERSNO NEED FOR ANYONE TO STAND ALONE, APARTTEAR DOWN THE WALLS DIVIDING US FROM ONE ANOTHERAND MARCH TOGETHER TO THE BEATINGS OF OUR HEARTS.WE MUST STAND, WE MUST SHOW, THAT WE REMEMBER WHAT'S BEEN GIVEN, THAT WE KNOWWHEN WE UNITE, AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT, IN THAT MOMENT WE CAN CHANGE THE DARK TO LIGHTSTAND WITH US, WE'LL STAND WITH YOU, AND TOGETHER THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN'T DOJOINING HANDS, JOINING HEARTS, THIS IS WHERE THE DARKNESS ENDS AND MORNING STARTS

Marche Normandie

THE END

Key to Characters Who Sing Specific LyricsAN = ANGELA

BI = BILLYCA = CAROLINACE = CAROLINE

CT = CATE CH = CATHERINEEL = ELLIOTT

EM = EMMA

121.

HA = HARLEY JA = JACK JO = JOHN MA = MARY

NA = NARRATOR PA = PAUL

PO = POLLY PG = PASTOR GOODMAN

QU = QUINN RD = RUDY

RM = RUMBUTTER SH = SHEILA

© 2014 Tom Hendren and Larry Cotton915 West End Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

122.