The Dancers by Horton Foote (script)

THE DANCERS

Horton Foote

[Scene: The stage is divided into four acting areas: downstage left is the living room of INEZ and HERMAN STANLEY. Downstage right is part of a small-town drugstore. Upstage right is the living room Of ELIZABETH CREWS. Upstage left, the yard and living room of MARY CATHERINE DAVIS. Since the action should flow continuously from one area to the other, only the barest amount of furnishings should be used to suggest what each area represents. The lights are brought up on the drugstore, downstage right. Waitress is there. INEZ STANLEY comes into the drug store. She stands for a moment thinking. The waitress goes over to her.]

WAITRESS: Can I help you?

INEZ: Yes, you can if I can think of what I came in here for. Just gone completely out of my mind. I've been running around all day. You see, I'm expecting some company tonight. My brother Horace. He's coming on a visit.

[ELIZABETH CREWS and her daughter EMILY come into the drugstore. EMILY is about seventeen and very pretty. This afternoon, however, it is evident that she is unhappy.]

Hey...

ELIZABETH: We've just been by your house.

INEZ: You have? Hello, Emily.

EMILY: Hello.

ELIZABETH: We made some divinity' and took it over for Horace.

INEZ: Well, that's so sweet of you.

ELIZABETH: What time is he coming in?

INEZ: Six-thirty.

ELIZABETH: Are you meeting him?

INEZ: No-Herman. I've got to cook supper. Can I buy you all a drink?

ELIZABETH: No, we have to get Emily over to the beauty parlor.

INEZ: What are you wearing tonight, Emily?

ELIZABETH: She's wearing that sweet little net2 I got her the end of last summer. She's never worn it to a dance here.

INEZ: I don't think I've ever seen it. I'll bet it looks beautiful on her. I'm gonna make Horace bring you by the house so I can see you before the dance.

WAITRESS: Excuse me....

INEZ: Yes

WAITRESS: Have you thought of what you wanted yet? I thought I could be getting it for you.

INEZ: That's sweet, honey ... but I haven't thought of what I wanted yet. [To ELIZABETH and EMILY.] I feel so foolish, I came in here for something, and I can't remember what.

WAITRESS: Cosmetics?

INEZ: No ... you go on. I'll think and call you.

WAITRESS: All right. [She goes.]

INEZ: Emily, I think it's so sweet of you to go to the dance with Horace. I know he's going to be thrilled when I tell him.

ELIZABETH: Well, you're thrilled too, aren't you, Emily?

EMILY: Yes, ma'am.

ELIZABETH: I told Emily she'd thank me some day for not permitting her to sit home and miss all the fun.

EMILY: Mama, it's five to four. My appointment is at four o'clock.

ELIZBETH: Well, you go on in the car.

EMILY: How are you gonna get home?

ELIZBETH: I'll get home. Don't worry about me.

EMILY: OK. [She starts out.]

INEZ: 'Bye, Emily.

EMILY: 'Bye. [She goes on out.]

ELIZABETH: Does Horace have a car for tonight?

INEZ: Oh, yes. He's taking Herman's.

ELIZABETH: I just wondered. I wanted to offer ours if he didn't have one.

INEZ: That's very sweet-but we're giving him our car every night for the two weeks of his visit. Oh-I know what I'm after. Flowers. I have to order Emily's corsage for Horace. I came in here to use the telephone to call you to find out what color Emily's dress was going to be.

ELIZABETH: Blue.

INEZ: My favorite color. Walk me over to the florist.

ELIZABETH: All right.

[They go out as the lights fade. The lights are brought up downstage left on the living room Of INEZ STANLEY. HERMAN STANLEY and his brother-in-law, HORACE, come in. HERMAN is carrying HORACE's suitcase. HERMAN is in his middle thirties. HORACESE is eighteen, thin, sensitive, but a likable boy.]

HERMAN: Inez. Inez. We're here.

[He puts the bag down in the living room. INEZ comes running in from stage right.]

INEZ: You're early.

HERMAN: The bus was five minutes ahead of time.

INEZ: Is that so? Why, I never heard of that. [She kisses her brother.] Hello, honey.

HORACE: Hello, sis.

INEZ: You look fine.

HORACE: Thank you.

INEZ: You haven’t put on a bit of weight though.

HORACE: Haven't I?

INEZ: Not a bit. I'm just going to stuff food down you and put some weight on you while you're here. How's your appetite?

HORACE: Oh, it's real good. I eat all the time.

INEZ: Then why don't you put on some weight?

HORACE: I don't know. I guess I'm just the skinny type.

INEZ: How are the folks?

HORACE: Fine.

INEZ: Mother over her cold?

HORACE: Yes, she is.

INEZ: Dad's fine?

HORACE: Just fine.

INEZ: Oh, Herman, did you ask him?

HERMAN: Ask him what?

INEZ: Ask him what? About his tux.

HERMAN: No, I didn't....

INEZ: Honestly, Herman. Here we have him a date with the prettiest and most popular girl in Harrison and Herman says ask him what. You did bring it, didn't you, Bubber?

HORACE: Bring what?

INEZ: Your tux.

HORACE: Oh, sure.

INEZ: Well, guess who I've got you a date with. Aren't you curious?

HORACE: Uh. Huh.

INEZ: Well, guess.... [A pause.] He thinks.]

HORACE: I don't know.

INEZ: Well, just try guessing....

HORACE: Well ... uh ... [He is a little embarrassed. He stands trying to think. No names come to him,] I don't know.

INEZ: Emily Crews. Now isn't she a pretty girl?

HORACE: Yes. She is.

INEZ: And the most popular girl in this town. You know her mother is a very close friend of mine and she called me day before yesterday and she said I hear Horace is coming to town and I said yes you were and she said that the boy Emily is going with is in summer school and couldn't get away this week-end and Emily said she wouldn't go to the dance at all but her mother said that she had insisted and wondered if you'd take her....

HORACE: Her mother said. Does Emily want me to take her?

INEZ: That isn't the point, Bubber. The point is that her mother doesn't approve of the boy Emily is in love with and she likes you . . .

HORACE: Who likes me?

INEZ: Emily's mother. And she thinks you would make a very nice couple.

HORACE: Oh. [A pause.] But what does Emily think?

INEZ: Emily doesn't know what to think, honey. I'm trying to explain that to you. She's in love.

HORACE: Where am I supposed to take her to?

INEZ: The dance.

HORACE: But, Inez, I don't dance well enough.... I don't like to go to dances ... yet ...

INEZ: Oh, Horace. Mother wrote me you were learning.

HORACE: Well ... I am learning. But I don't dance well enough yet.

INEZ: Horace, you just make me sick. The trouble with you is that you have no confidence in yourself. I bet you can dance.

HORACE: No, I can't....

INEZ: Now let's see. [INEZ goes to the radio and turns it on. She comes back to him] Now, come on. Show me what you've learned....

HORACE: Aw, sis...

HERMAN: Inez. Why don't you let the boy alone?

INEZ: Now you keep out of this, Herman Stanley. He's my brother and he's a stick. He's missing all the fun in life and I'm not going to have him a stick. I've sat up nights thinking of social engagements to keep him busy every minute of these next two weeks-I've got three dances scheduled for him. So he cannot dance. Now come on, dance with me.... [He takes her by the arm awkwardly. He begins to lead her around the room.] Now, that's fine. That's just fine. Isn't that fine, Herman?

HERMAN: Uh. Huh.

INEZ: You see all you need is confidence. And I want you to promise me you'll talk plenty when you're with the girl, not just sit there in silence and only answer when you're asked a question.... Now promise me.

HORACE: I promise.

INEZ: Fine. Why, I think he dances real well. Don't you, Herman?

HERMAN: Yes, I do. Just fine, Inez.

INEZ: Just a lovely dancer, all he needs is confidence. He is very light on his feet. And he has a fine sense of rhythm-why, brother, you're a born dancer -

[HORACE is smiling over the compliments, half wanting to believe what they say, but then not so sure. He is dancing with her around the room as the lights fade. They are brought up on the area upstage right. EMILY CREWS is in her living room. She has on her dressing gown. She is crying. ELIZABETH, her mother, comes in from upstage right.]

ELIZABETH: Emily.

EMILY: Yes, ma’am.

ELIZABETH: Do you know what time it is?

EMILY: Yes, ma’am.

ELIZABETH: Then why in the world aren't you dressed?

EMII.Y: Because I don't feel good.

ELIZABETH: Emily ...

EMILY: I don't feel good ... [She begins to cry.] Oh, Mother. I don't want to go to the dance tonight. Please, ma’am, don't make me. I'll do anything in this world for you if you promise me ...

ELIZABETH: Emily. This is all settled. You are going to that dance. Do you understand me. You are going to that dance. That sweet, nice brother of Inez Stanley's will be here any minute....

EMILY: Sweet, nice brother. He's a goon. That's what he is. A regular goon. A bore and a goon....

ELIZABETH: Emily ...

EMILY: That's all he is. Just sits and doesn't talk. Can't dance. I'm not going to any dance or any place else with him and that's final.

[She runs out stage right.]

ELIZABETH: Emily ... Emily ... You get ready this minute ... [The doorbell rings. Yelling.] Emily ... Emily ... Horace is here. I want you down those stairs in five minutes ... dressed.

[She goes out stage left and comes back in followed by HORACE, all dressed up. He has a corsage box in his hand.]

Hello, Horace.

HORACE: Good evening.

ELIZABETH: Sit down, won't you, Horace? Emily is a little late getting dressed. You know how girls are.

HORACE: Yes, ma’am.

[He sits down. He seems a little awkward and shy.]

ELIZABETH: Can I get you something to drink, Horace?

HORACE: No, ma’am.

[A pause.] Elizabeth is obviously very nervous about whether EMILY will behave or not.]

ELIZABETH: Are you sure I can't get you a coca-cola or something?

HORACE: No. Thank you.

ELIZABETH: How's your family?

HORACE: Just fine, thank you.

ELIZABETH: I bet your sister was glad to see you.

HORACE: Yes, she was.

ELIZABETH: How's your family? Oh, I guess I asked you that, didn't I?

HORACE: Yes, you did.

[Elizabeth keeps glancing off stage right, praying that EMILY will put in an appearance.]

ELIZABETH: I understand you've become quite an accomplished dancer. . . .

HORACE: Oh ... well ... I ...

ELIZABETH: Inez tells me you do all the new steps.

HORACE: Oh well. . .I ...

ELIZABETH: Excuse me. Let me see what is keeping that girl.

[She goes running off stage right. HORACE gets up. He seems very nervous. He begins to practice his dancing. He seems more unsure of himself and awkward.... We can hear ELIZABETH offstage knocking on EMILY'S door. At first HORACE isn't conscious of the knocking or the ensuing conversation and goes on practicing his dancing. When he first becomes conscious of what's to follow he tries to pay no attention. Then gradually he moves over to the far left side of the stage. The first thing we hear is ELIZABETH'S genteel tapping at EMILY's door. Then she begins to call, softly at first, then louder and louder.]

EMILY: Emily. Emily Crews. Emily Carter Crews.... [The pounding offstage is getting louder and louder.] Emily. I can hear you in there. Now open that door.

EMILY: [Screaming back.] I won't. I told you I won't.

ELIZABETH: Emily Carter Crews. You open that door immediately.

EMILY: I won't.

ELIZABETH: I'm calling your father from downtown if you don't open that door right this very minute.

EMILY: I don't care. I won't come out.

ELIZABETH: Then I'll call him. [She comes running in from stage right. HORACE quickly gets back to his chair and sits.] Excuse me, Horace.

[She crosses through the room and goes out upstage right. HORACE seems very ill at ease. He looks at the box of flowers. He is very warm. He begins to fan himself. ELIZABETH comes back in the room from upstage right. She is very nervous. But she tries to hide her nervousness in an overly social manner. ELIZABETH has decided to tell a fib.]

Horace, I am so sorry to have to ruin your evening, but my little girl isn't feeling well. She has a headache and a slight temperature and I've just called the doctor and he says he thinks it's very advisable that she stay in this evening. She's upstairs insisting she go, but I do feel under the circumstances I had just better keep her in. I hope you understand.

HORACE: Oh, yes ma’am. I do understand.

ELIZABETH: How long do you plan to visit us, Horace?

HORACE: Two weeks.

ELIZABETH: That's nice. [They start walking offstage left.] Please call Emily tomorrow and ask her out again. She'll just be heartbroken if you don't.

HORACE: Yes, ma’am. Good night.

ELIZABETH: Good night, Horace. [HORACE goes out. ELIZABETH calls out after him.] Can you see, Horace? [In the distance we hear HORACE answer.]

HORACE: Yes, ma’am.

ELIZABETH: Now you be sure and call us tomorrow. You hear? [She stands waiting for a moment. Then she walks back across stage to upstage right, screaming at the top of her voice.] Emily Carter Crews. You have mortified me. You have mortified me to death. I have, for your information, called your father and he is interrupting his work and is coming home this very minute and he says to tell you that you are not to be allowed to leave this house again for two solid weeks. Is that perfectly clear?

[She is screaming as she goes out upstage right. The lights are brought down. They are brought up immediately downstage right on the drugstore. It is hay an hour later HORACE comes in. He seats himself at the counter. He still has the box of flowers. The drugstore is deserted. A WAITRESS is up near the front with her arms on the counter. She keeps glancing at a clock. HORACE is examining a menu

HORACE: Can I have a chicken salad sandwich?

WAITRESS: We're all out of that.

HORACE: Oh.

[He goes back to reading the menu.]

WAITRESS: If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not make a sandwich. I'm closing my doors in ten minutes.

HORACE: Oh. Well, what would you like to make?

WAITRESS: Any kind of ice cream or soft drinks. [She looks up at the ice cream menu.] Coffee is all gone.

HORACE: How about a chocolate ice cream soda?

WAITRESS: O.K. Coming up. [She starts to mix the soda. She talks as she works.] Going to the dance?

HORACE: NO.

WAITRESS: The way you're all dressed up I thought for sure you were going.

HORACE: No. I was, but I changed my mind.

[MARY CATHERINE DAVIS comes in the drugstore from downstage right Somehow in her young head she has gotten the idea that she is a plain girl and in defiance for the pain of that fact she does everything she can to make herself look plainer.]

WAITRESS: Hello, Mary Catherine. Been to the movies?

MARY CATHERINE: Yes, I have.

[The WAITRESS puts the drink down in front of HORACE. He begins to drink.]

WAITRESS: What'll you have, Mary Catherine?

MARY CATHERINE: Vanilla ice cream.

WAITRESS: O.K. [She gets the ice cream. She talks as she does so.] There weren't many at the picture show tonight, I bet. I can always tell by whether we have a crowd in here or not after the first show. I guess everybody is at the dance.

MARY CATHERINE: I could have gone, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to miss the picture show. Emily Crews didn't go. Leo couldn't get home from summer school and she said she was refusing to go. Her mother made a date for her with some bore from out of town without consulting her and she was furious about it. I talked to her this afternoon. She said she didn't know yet how she would get out of it, but she would. She said she had some rights. Her mother doesn't approve of Leo and that's a shame because they are practically engaged.

WAITRESS: I think Emily is a very cute girl, don't you?

MARY CATHERINE: Oh, yes. I think she's darling.

[HORACE has finished his drink and is embarrassed by their talk. He is trying to get the WAITRESS's attention but doesn't quite know how. He finally calls to the WAITRESS.]

HORACE: Miss ...

WAITRESS: Yes?

HORACE: How much do I owe you?

WAITRESS: Twenty cents.

HORACE: Thank you.

[He reaches in his pocket for the money.]

WAITRESS: Emily has beautiful clothes, doesn't she?

MARY CATHERINE: Oh, yes. She does.

WAITRESS: Her folks are rich?

MARY CATHERINE: She has the prettiest things. But she's not a bit stuck up....

[He holds the money out to the WAITRESS.]

HORACE: Here you are.

WAITRESS: Thank you. [She takes the money and rings it up in the cash register. HORACE goes on out. WAITRESS shakes her head as he goes.] There's a goofy nut if I ever saw one. He's got flowers under his arm. He's wearing a tux and yet he's not going to the dance. Who is he?

MARY CATHERINE: I don't know. I never saw him before.

[The WAITRESS walks to the edge of the area and looks out. She comes back shaking her head. She sits on the stool beside MARY CATHERINE.]

WAITRESS: [While laughing and shaking her head.] I ought to call the Sheriff and have him locked up. Do you know what he's doing?

MARY CATHRINE. No. WHAT?

WAITRESS: Standing on the corner. Dancing back and forth. He’s holding his arm up like he’s got a girl and everything. Would it kill you? [Goes to the front and looks out.] To see him?

MARY CATHERINE: No. He's stopped.

WAITRESS: What's he doing?

MARY CATHERINE: Just standing there. Looking kind of lost.

[MARY CATHERINE comes back to the counter. She starts eating her ice cream again.]

WAITRESS: Well-it takes all kinds.

MARY CATHERINE: I guess so.

[She goes back to eating her ice cream. The lights are brought down. The lights are brought up on the area downstage left. The living room of the STANLEY. INEZ is there reading a book. HERMAN comes in.]

HERMAN: Hi, hon.

INEZ: Hello.... HERMAN. What's the matter with you? You look down in the dumps.

INEZ: No, I'm just disgusted.

HERMAN: What are you disgusted about?

INEZ: Horace. I had everything planned so beautifully for him and then that silly Emily has to go and hurt his feelings.

HERMAN: Well, honey, that was pretty raw, the trick she pulled.

INEZ: I know. But he's a fool to let that get him down. He should have just gone to the dance by himself and proved her wrong.... Why like I told him. Show her up. Rush a different girl every night. Be charming. Make yourself popular. But it's like trying to talk to a stone wall. He refused to go out any more. He says he's going home tomorrow. HERMAN. Where is he now?

INEZ: Gone to the movies.

HERMAN: Well, honey. I hate to say it, but in a way it serves you right. I've told you a thousand times if I've told you once. Leave the boy alone. He'll be all right. Only don't push him. You and your mother have pushed the boy and pushed him and pushed him.

INEZ: And I'm going to keep on pushing him. I let him off tonight because his feelings were hurt, but tomorrow I'm going to have a long talk with him.

HERMAN: Inez. Leave the boy alone.

INEZ: I won't leave him alone. He is my brother and I'm going to see that he learns to have a good time.

HERMAN: Inez ...

INEZ: Now you just let me handle this, Herman. He's starting to college next year and it's a most important time in his life. He had no fun in high school ...

HERMAN: Now. He must have had some fun....

INEZ: Not like other people. And he's not going through four years of college like a hermit with his nose stuck in some old book ... [She jumps up.] I'll never forgive Elizabeth for letting Emily behave this way. And I told her so. I said Elizabeth Crews. I am very upset ...

[She is angrily walking up and down as the lights fade. They are brought up downstage right on the drugstore area. The WAITRESS is there alone. MARY CATHERINE comes in from downstage right.]

WAITRESS: Did you go to the movies again tonight?

MARY CATHERINE: Uh-huh. Lila, do you remember when I was telling you about Emily's date and how she wouldn't go out with him because he was such a bore?

WAITRESS: Uh ...

MARY CATHERINE: Oh, I just feel awful. That was the boy sitting in here ...

WAITRESS: Last night ... ?

MARY CATHERINE: Yes. I went riding with Emily and some of the girls this afternoon and we passed by his sister's house and there sat the boy.

WAITRESS: Sh ... sh ... [She has seen HORACE come in to the area from downstage right. He comes to the counter. He seems very silent. He picks up a menu.] Back again tonight?

HORACE: Uh-huh.

WAITRESS: What'll you have?

HORACE: A cup of coffee....

WAITRESS: All out. We don't serve coffee after eight unless we happen to have some left over from supper time....

HORACE: Thanks. [He gets up.]

WAITRESS: Nothing else?

HORACE: NO, thanks.

[He goes over to the magazine rack. He picks up a magazine and starts looking through it. EMILY CREWS comes in from downstage right. She doesn't see HORACE She goes right over to MARY CATHERINE.]

EMILY: Leora and I were riding around the square and we saw you sitting here ...

[MARY CATHERINE points to HORACE. She turns around and sees him. EMILY looks a little embarrassed. He happens to glance up and sees her.]

HORACE: Hello, Emily.

EMILY: Hello, Horace.. . . Do you know Mary Catherine Davis?

HORACE: No. How do you do.

MARY CATHERINE: How do you do.

EMILY: I feel awfully bad about last night, Horace. My mother says that you know I wasn't really sick. I just wanted to tell you that it had nothing to do with you, Horace. It was a battle between me and my mother. Mary Catherine can tell you. I promised the boy I go with not to go with any other boys ...

HORACE: Oh, that's all right, I understand.

EMILY: You see, we've gone steady for two years. All the other boys in town understand it and their feelings are not a bit hurt if I turn them down. Are they, Mary Catherine?

MARY CATHERINE: NO.

EMILY: Mary Catherine is my best friend and she can tell you I'm not stuck up. And I would have gone, anyway, except I was so mad at my mother ...

MARY CATHERINE: Emily is not stuck up a bit. Emily used to date all the boys before she began going with Leo steadily.... Didn't you, Emily?

EMILY: Uh-huh. How long are you going to be here, Horace?

HORACE: Well, I haven't decided, Emily.

EMILY: Well, I hope you're not still hurt with me.

HORACE: No, I'm not, Emily.

EMILY: Well, I'm glad for that. Mary Catherine, can you come with us?

MARY CATHERINE: No, I can't, Emily. Velma came in after the first show started and I promised to wait here for her and we'd walk home together.

EMILY Come on. We can ride around and watch for her.

MARY CATHERINE: No. I don't dare. You know how sensitive Velma is. If she looked in here and saw I wasn't sitting at this counter she'd go right home and not speak to me again for two or three months.

EMILY: Velma's too sensitive. You shouldn't indulge her in it.

MARY CATHERINE: I'm willing to grant you that. But you all are going off to college next year and Velma and I are the only ones that are going to be left here and I can't afford to get her mad at me.

EMILY: OK. I'll watch out for you and if we're still riding around when Velma gets out, we'll pick you up.

MARY CATHERINE: Fine....

EMILY: 'Bye....

MARY CATHERINE: 'Bye....

EMILY: 'Bye, Horace.

HORACE: Good-bye, Emily. [She goes out downstage right.]

MARY CATHERINE: She's a lovely girl. She was my closest friend until this year. Now we're still good friends, but we're not as close as we were. We had a long talk about it last week. I told her I under stood. She and Eloise Dayton just naturally have a little more in common now. They're both going steady and they're going to the same college. [A pause.] They're going to Sophie Newcomb. Are you going to college?

HORACE: Uh-huh.

MARY CATHERINE: You are? What college?

HORACE: The University....

MARY CATHERINE: Oh. I know lots of people there. [A pause.] I had a long talk with Emily about my not getting to go. She said she thought it was wonderful that I wasn't showing any bitterness about it. [A pause.] I'm getting a job next week so I can save up enough money to go into Houston to Business School. I'll probably work in Houston some day. If I don't get too lonely. Velma Morrison's oldest sister went into Houston and got herself a job but she almost died from loneliness. She's back here now working at the Court House. Oh, well ... I don't think I'll get lonely. I think a change of scenery would be good for me.

[VELMA MORRISON comes in downstage right. She is about the same age as MARY CATHERINE. She is filled with excitement.]

VELMA: Mary Catherine, you're going to be furious with me. But Stanley Sewell came in right after you left and he said he'd never forgive me if I didn't go riding with him.... I said I had to ask you first. As I had asked you to wait particularly for me and that I knew you were very sensitive.

MARY CATHERINE: I'm very sensitive. You're very sensitive.... I have never in my life stopped speaking to you over anything.

[A car horn is heard off stage.]

Velma: Will you forgive me if I go?

MARY CATHERINE: Oh, sure.

[Velma goes running out.]

VELMA: Thank you.

[She disappears out the door.]

MARY CATHERINE: I'm not nearly as close to Velma as I am to Emily. I think Emily's beautiful, don't you?

HORACE: Yes. She's very pretty.

MARY CATHERINE: Well, Lila's going to kill us if we don't stop holding her up. Which way do you go?

HORACE: home

MARY CATHERINE: I go that way, too. We can walk together.

HORACE: O.K. [Go out of the area.]

MARY CATHERINE: Good night, Lila.

WAITRESS: Good night.

[They continue walking out downstage left as the lights fade. The lights are brought up on the living room of the CREWS' house. ELIZABETH CREWS is there, crying. EMILY comes in.]

EMILY: Mother, what is it? Has something happened to Daddy?

ELIZABETH: No. He's in bed asleep.

EMILY: Then what is it?

ELIZABETH: Inez blessed me out and stopped speaking to me over last night. She says we've ruined the boy's whole vacation. You've broken his heart, given him all kinds of complexes and he's going home tomorrow....

EMILY: But I saw him at the drugstore tonight and I had a long talk with him and he said he understood ...

ELIZABETH: But Inez doesn't understand. She says she'll never forgive either of us again.

[She starts to cry.]

EMILY: Oh, Mother. I’m Sorry. . .

ELIZABETH: Emily, if you'll do me one favor. I promise you I'll never ask another thing of you again as long as I live. And I will never nag you about going out with Leo again as long as I live....

EMILY: What is the favor, Mother?

ELIZABETH: Let that boy take you to the dance day after tomorrow....

EMILY: Now, Mother ...

ELIZABETH: Emily. I get down on my knees to you. Do me this one favor ... [A pause.] Emily ... Emily ... [She is crying again.]

EMILY: Now, Mother, please. Don't cry. I'll think about it. I'll call Leo and see what he says. But please don't cry like this.... Mother ... Mother.

[She is trying to console her as the lights fade. The lights are brought up on upstage left. It is MARY CATHERINE's yard and living room. Music can be heard in the distance. HORACE and MARY CATHER INE come walking in downstage left, go up the center of the stage until they reach the upstage area.]

MARY CATHERINE: Well, this is where I live.

HORACE: In that house there?

MARY CATHERINE: Uh-huh. [A pause.]

HORACE: Where is that music coming from?

MARY CATHERINE: The Flats....

HORACE: What's the Flats?

MARY CATHERINE: I don't know what it is. That's just what they call it. It's nothing but a bunch of barbecue restaurants and beer joints down there and they call it the Flats. There used to be a creek running down there that they called Willow Creek but it's all dry now. My father says when he was a boy, every time the river flooded, Willow Creek would fill up. The river doesn't overflow any more since they took the raft5 out of it. I like to come out here at night and listen to the music. Do you like to dance . . . ?

HORACE: Well ... I ...

MARY CATHERINE: I love to dance.

HORACE: Well ... I don't dance too well.

MARY CATHERINE: There's nothing to it but confidence.

HORACE: That's what my sister says . . .

MARY CATHERINE: I didn't learn for the longest kind of time for lack of confidence and then Emily gave me a long lecture about it and I got confidence and went ahead and learned. Would you like to come in for a while?

HORACE: Well ... if it's all right with you....

MARY CATHERINE: I'd be glad to have you.

HORACE: Thank you.

[They go into the area. MARY CATHERINE'S father TOM DAVIS, is seated there in his undershirt. He works in a garage.]

MARY CATHERINE: Hello, Daddy.

TOM: Hello, baby.

MARY CATHERINE: Daddy, this is Horace.

TOM: Hello, son.

HORACE: Howdy do, sir. [They shake hands.]

MARY CATHERINE: Horace is Mrs. Inez Stanley's brother. He's here on a visit.

TOM: That's nice. Where's your home, son?

HORACE: Flatonia.

TOM: Oh, I see. Well, are you young people going to visit for a while?

MARY CATHERINE: Yes, sir.

TOM: Well, I'll leave you then. Good night.

MARY CATHERINE: Good night, Daddy.

HORACE: Good night, sir. [He goes out upstage left.] What does your father do?

MARY CATHERINE: He works in a garage. He's a mechanic. What does your father do?

HORACE: He's a judge.

MARY CATHERINE: My father worries so because he can't afford to send me to college. My mother told him that was all foolishness. That I'd rather go to business school anyway.

HORACE: Had you rather go to business school?

MARY CATHERINE: I don't know. [A pause.] Not really. But I'd never tell him that. When I was in the seventh grade I thought I would die if I couldn't get there, but then when I was in the ninth, Mother talked to me one day and told me Daddy wasn't sleeping at nights for fear I'd be disappointed if he couldn't send me, so I told him the next night I decided I'd rather go to business school. He seemed relieved. [A pause.]

HORACE: Mary Catherine. I ... uh ... heard you say a while ago that you didn't dance because you lacked confidence and uh ... then I heard you say you talked it over with Emily and she told you what was wrong and you got the confidence and you went ahead ...

MARY CATHERINE: That's right....

HORACE: Well ... It may sound silly and all to you ... seeing I'm about to start my first year at college ... but I'd like to ask you a question....

MARY CATHERINE: What is it, Horace?

HORACE: How do you get confidence?

MARY CATHERINE: Well, you just get it. Someone points it out to you that you lack it and then you get it....

HORACE: Oh, is that how it's done?

MARY CATHERINE: That's how I did it.

HORACE: You see I lack confidence. And I ... sure would like to get it....

MARY CATHERINE: In what way do you lack confidence, Horace? ...

HORACE: Oh, in all kinds of ways. [A pause.) I'm not much of a mixer6...

MARY CATHERINE: I think you're just mixing fine tonight.

HORACE: I know. That's what's giving me a little encouragement. You're the first girl I've ever really been able to talk to. I mean this way....

MARY CATHERINE: Am I, Horace ... ?

HORACE: Yes.

MARY CATHERINE: Well, I feel in some ways that's quite a compliment.

HORACE: Well, you should feel that way. [A pause.] Mary Catherine...

MARY CATHERINE: Yes, Horace?

HORACE: I had about decided to go back home tomorrow or the next day, but I understand there's another dance at the end of the week ...

MARY CATHERINE: Uh-huh. Day after tomorrow.

HORACE: Well ... I ... don't know if you have a date or not ... but if you don't have ... I feel if I could take you ... I would gain the confidence to go ... I mean ...

MARY CATHERINE: Well, Horace ... You see ...

HORACE: I know I'd gain the confidence. My sister is a swell dancer and she'll let me practice with her every living minute until it's time for the dance. Of course I don't know if I could learn to jitterbug by then or rumba or do anything fancy, you understand, but I know I could learn the fox trot and I can waltz a little now ...

MARY CATHERINE: I'm sure you could.

HORACE: Well, will you go with me?

MARY CATHERINE: Yes, Horace. I'd love to....

HORACE: Oh, thank you, MARY CATHERINE: I'll just practice night and day. I can't tell you how grateful Inez is going to be to you.... Mary Catherine, if we played the radio softly could we dance now?

MARY CATHERINE: Why certainly, Horace.

HORACE: You understand I'll make mistakes....

MARY CATHERINE: I understand....

[She turns the radio on very softly.]

HORACE: All right.

MARY CATHERINE: Yes....

[He approaches her very cautiously and takes her in his arms. He begins awkwardly to dance. MARY CATHERINE is very pleased and happy.]

Why, you're doing fine, Horace. Just fine.

HORACE: Thank you, Mary Catherine. Thank you. [They continue dancing. HORACE is very pleased with himself although he is still dancing quite awkwardly. The lights fade. The lights are brought up on the area downstage left. It is early next morning. Inez is there reading. HORACE comes in whistling. He seems brimming over with happiness.]

INEZ: What are you so happy about?

HORACE: I'm just happy.

INEZ: Wait until you hear my news and you'll be happier.

HORACE: Is that so?

INEZ: Miss Emily has seen the light.

HORACE: What?

INEZ: She has succumbed.

HORACE: What do you mean?

INEZ: She has crawled on her knees.

HORACE: She's crawled on her knees? I don't get it....

INEZ: She has eaten dirt.

HORACE: Sister, what's this all about?

INEZ: Last night around ten o'clock she called in the meekest kind of voice possible and said, Inez, I've called up to apologize to you. I have apologized to Horace in the drugstore. Did she?

HORACE: Uh. Huh.

INEZ: And now I want to apologize to you and to tell you how sorry I am I behaved so badly....

HORACE: Well. Isn't that nice of her, Inez?

INEZ: Wait a minute. You haven't heard the whole thing. And then her highness added, tell Horace if he would like to invite me to the dance to call me and I'd be glad to accept. And furthermore, Elizabeth called this morning and said they were leaving for Houston to buy her the most expensive evening dress in sight. Just to impress you with.

HORACE: Oh ... [He sits down on a chair.]

INEZ: Brother. What is the matter with you? Now are you gonna start worrying about this dancing' business all over again? You are the biggest fool sometimes. We've got today and tomorrow to practice.

HORACE: Inez ...

INEZ: Yes?

HORACE: I already have a date with someone tomorrow....

INEZ: You do?

HORACE: Yes. I met a girl last night at the drugstore and I asked her.

INEZ: What girl did you ask?

HORACE: Mary Catherine Davis.. . .

INEZ: Well, you've got to get right out of it. You've got to call her up and explain just what happened.

HORACE: But, Inez ...

INEZ: You've got to do it, Horace. They told me they are spending all kinds of money for that dress. I practically had to threaten Elizabeth with never speaking to her again to bring this all about. Why, she will never forgive me now if I turn around and tell her you can't go.... Horace. Don't look that way. I can't help it. For my sake, for your sister's sake you've got to get out of this date with Mary Catherine Davis ... tell her ... tell her ... anything ...

HORACE: O.K. [A pause. He starts out.] What can I say?

INEZ: I don't know, Horace. [A pause.] Say ... well just tell her the truth. That's the best thing. Tell her that Emily's mother is your sister's best friend and that Emily's mother has taken her into Houston to buy her a very expensive dress ...

HORACE: What if Mary Catherine has bought a dress ...

INEZ: Well, she can't have bought an expensive dress....

HORACE: Why not?

INEZ: Because her people can't afford it. Honey, you'll be the envy of every young man in Harrison, bringing Emily Crews to the dance.... Why, everybody will wonder just what it is you have ...

HORACE: I'm not going to do it.

INEZ: Horace ...

HORACE: I don't want to take Emily, I want to take Mary Catherine and that's just what I'm going to do.

INEZ: Horace ...

HORACE: My mind is made up. Once and for all....

INEZ: Then what am I gonna do? [She starts to cry.] Who's gonna speak to Elizabeth? She'll bless me out putting her to all this trouble. Making her spend all this money and time ... [She is crying loudly now.] Horace. You just can't do this to me. You just simply can't....

HORACE: I can't help it. I'm not taking Emily Crews

INEZ: Horace ...

HORACE: I am not taking Emily Crews.

[He is firm. She is crying as the lights fade. The lights are brought up on the upstage left area. MARY CATHERINE'S father is seated there. He is in his undershirt. In the distance dance music can be heard. MRS. Davis comes in from stage left.]

MRS. DAVIS: Don't you think you'd better put your shirt on, Tom? Mary Catherine's date will be here any minute.

TOM: What time is it?

MRS DAVIS. Nine o'clock.

TOM: The dance has already started. I can hear the music from here.

MRS. DAVIS: I know. But you know young people, they'd die before they'd be the first to a dance. Put your shirt on, Tom.

TOM: O.K.

MRS. DAVIS: As soon as her date arrives we'll go.

TOM: 0. K.

[MARY CATHERINE comes in from stage left. She has on an evening dress and she looks very pretty.]

MRS. DAVIS: Why, Mary Catherine. You look lovely. Doesn't she look lovely, Tom?

TOM: Yes, she does.

MRS. DAVIS: Turn around, honey, and let me see you from the back. [She does so.] Just as pretty as you can be, Mary Catherine.

MARY CATHERINE: Thank you.

[HORACE comes in downstage left in his tux with a corsage box. He walks up the center of the stage to the upstage left area.]

That's Horace. [She goes to the corner of the area.] Hello, Horace.

HORACE: Hello, Mary Catherine.

MARY CATHERINE: You've met my mother and father.

HORACE: Yes. I have. I met your father the other night and your mother yesterday afternoon.

MRS. DAVIS: Hello, Horace.

TOM: Hello, son.

MRS. DAVIS: Well, we were just going. You all have a good time tonight.

HORACE: Thank you.

MRS. DAVIS: Come on, Tom.

TOM: All right. Good night and have a nice time.

MARY CATHERINE: Thank you, Daddy. [They go out stage left. HORACE hands her the corsage box. She takes it and opens it.] Oh, thank you, Horace. Thank you so much. [She takes the flowers out.] They're just lovely. Will you pin them on for me?

HORACE: I'll try. [He takes the corsage and the pin. He begins to pin it on.] Will about here be all right?

MARY CATHERINE: Just fine. [He pins the corsage on.] Emily told me about the mix-up between your sister and her mother. I appreciate your going ahead and taking me anyway. If you had wanted to get out of it I would have understood. Emily and I are very good friends ... and ...

HORACE: I didn't want to get out of it, Mary Catherine. I wanted to take you.

MARY CATHERINE: I'm glad you didn't want to get out of it. Emily offered to let me wear her new dress. But I had already bought one of my own.

HORACE: It's very pretty, Mary Catherine.

MARY CATHERINE: Thank you. [A pause.] Well, the dance has started. I can hear the music. Can't you?

HORACE: Yes.

MARY CATHERINE. Well, we'd better get going...

HORACE: All right. [They start out.] Mary Catherine. I hope you don't think this is silly, but could we practice just once more ...

MARY CATHERINE: Certainly we could....

[They start to dance. HORACE has improved although he is no FRED Astaire. They are dancing around and suddenly HORACE breaks away.]

HORACE: Mary Catherine. I'm not good enough yet. I can't go. I'm sorry. Please let's just stay here.

MARY CATHERINE: No, Horace. We have to go.

HORACE: Please, Mary Catherine ...

MARY CATHERINE: I know just how you feel, Horace, but we have to go. [A pause.] I haven't told you the whole truth, Horace. This is my first dance, too....

HORACE: It is?

MARY CATHERINE: Yes. I've been afraid to go. Afraid I wouldn't be popular. The last two dances I was asked to go and I said no.

HORACE: Then why did you accept when I asked you?

MARY CATHERINE: I don't know. I asked myself that afterwards. I guess because you gave me a kind of confidence. [A pause. They dance again.] You gave me confidence and I gave you confidence. What's the sense of getting confidence, Horace, if you're not going to use it?

[A pause. They continue dancing.]

HORACE: That's a pretty piece.

MARY CATHERINE: Yes, it is.

[A pause. They dance again. HORACE stops.]

HORACE: I'm ready to go if you are, Mary Catherine.

MARY CATHERINE: I'm ready. [They start out.] Scared?

HORACE: A little.

MARY CATHERINE: So am I. But let's go.

HORACE: O. K.

[They continue out the area down the center of the stage and off downstage right as the music from the dance is heard.]

Sabina by Severino Montano (Complete Script)

Characters:

       Sabina - a young farm girl

       Mamerto - their grandfather

       Rustica - their grandmother

       Cleta - Sabina's aunt

       Ariston - Cleta's husband

       Ursula - their young daughter, Sabina's cousin

       Antero - Sabina's older brother

       Mr. George Price - an American

Place:

       Kawakan - a small farm village near the sea coast, to the far north of Luzon.

Time:

       The present, April evening. Ten o'clock.

Scene:

       The living room of a rather prosperous-looking but old farmhouse in a Kawakan, a small farm village not far from the sea.

It is a bamboo house with sloping bamboo rafters, sturdy teakwood post and shiny handsome floors. A spacious platform upstage center. To the right of the platform and above it is a door leading into Sabina's room. On the right wall is a big window with mother-of-pearl shellpanes facing the altar table. Below this window is the main door leading to the entrance porch. On the left wall is the door to the kitchen. Another window, a small one, is above the altar platform, center. The windows are luxuriant with ferns and air plants, gleaming under the April moonlight.

The room is almost bare of furniture, for the villagers are used to sitting on these shiny floors. But a bamboo couch, a heavily carved teakwood chair, a camphor chest, a cupboard and a cane easy chair are placed about the room.

An old-fashioned oil lamp hangs from the sloping ceiling. Another lamp, a very new one of the “Aladdin” variety, stands conspicuously on the cupboard. This lamp, however, is not lighted.

A novena is going on as the curtain rises. The mourners, led by Rustica, and old woman who is apart from the rest, are kneeling on the platform facing the altar table which is lighted with several candles. The mourners are Antero, son of the house; Cleta, his aunt; Ariston, Cleta’s husband; and Mamerto, grandfather of the household. The prayers are said in an emotional litany like monotone, and more or less chanted. The cry of a turtle is heard faintly coming from the sea. It is about ten o’clock at night; but for prayers and the voice of the turtle, the late April evening is still.

OLD WOMAN:   Death is loneliness! Death is sadness!

MOURNERS:      God have mercy upon us!

OLD WOMAN:   We pray, O Lord, for the soul of our departed sister, Maria!

MOURNERS:      My God! My God! Let Thou not forsake her! In the kingdom of Thy golden city, in the realm of life eternal, receive Maria into Thy care!

OLD WOMAN:   Dark is the mist that covers us, and weak indeed is the clay house! Look upon us, O God, who are living!

MOURNERS:      God have mercy upon us!

OLD WOMAN:   We also pray, O God, for Maria’s living and only daughter, Sabina! She is but a frail jar against the mighty tides! Spare her, O Lord, from evil!

                The old man rises and turns coldly towards the big window.

MOURNERS:      (Casting quick glances at the Old Man, their prayers becoming faster): My God! Let Thou not forsake her from the rages of sin and the scorching heat of hell-fire, deliver Sabina, O Lord, from evil!

OLD WOMAN:   Amen! (She makes the sign of the cross.)

                Crossing themselves too and rising briefly, the mourners look questioningly at the old man.

OLD WOMAN:   What made you rise just now, Mamerto? Is it the crying of the black turtle that worries you, she that’s grieving deeply by the river’s mouth?

OLD MAN:           No Rustica! I’m getting tired hearing you pray for Sabina every night. Isn’t it enough that we mourn for the dead?

OLD WOMAN:   It’s also a blessed thing to pray for the living, Mamerto!

CLETA:                  Indeed, it’s our duty to look after Sabina! I passed by the village store this evening, and the women are laughing. “How’s Mr. George?” they asked me. “Is it true your Aunt Maria died because of Mr. George?”

OLD MAN:           Your Aunt Maria didn’t die of any such thing, Cleta!

CLETA:                  Didn’t she? Aunt Maria herself left heavy the day Sabina was fool enough to go out with Mr. George!

URSULA:              The doctor said it was her weak heart she died of, Mother, not Mr. George!

CLETA:                  Keep quiet!

OLD WOMAN:   Maria’s heart was heavy that day, God save her soul! I fear her spirit will come back if Sabina’s not careful this evening. Mamerto, what are we to do with Sabina?

OLD MAN:           Nothing, Rustica! It would be wiser if we leave Sabina alone!

OLD WOMAN:   Wiser? Once there was a strange sailor who came roaming round this village; a clean chap he looked like. But soon one of the young girls bore him a child. The sailor left, and the poor girl died of sadness!

OLD MAN:           Mr. George is not a sailor, Rustica!

OLD WOMAN:   He is a man, nonetheless, Mamerto!

CLETA:                  Do you know what the women in the market are saying? This is the night Mr. George is coming back!

ARISTON:            It’s gossip such as yours that brings the devil, Cleta! Stop it!

CLETA:                  Surely, it’s no gossip, Ariston!

ARISTON:            Well, what if he is coming back?

CLETA:                  Sabina will want to light that lamp again in this house, instead of the candles.

ARISTON:            What lamp?

CLETA:                  (Indicating the lamp on top of cupboard) That new lamp there, brought by Mr. George the day Aunt Maria died!

ARISTON:            And what’s so terrible about lighting that lamp?

CLETA:                  The village will be noisy with gossip in the morning.

ARISTON:            Don’t be foolish!

OLD WOMAN:   Where is Sabina?

URSULA:              I’ll look into her room, Grandma.

CLETA:                  Stay in the corner there, and be quiet. You are too young to meddle in such things! (Peeping into Sabina’s room and turning away quickly, shocked.) Oh! Oh!

 ARISTON:           What is the matter?

CLETA:                  Why, she’s taking off her mourning this very minute!

OLD WOMAN:   What is it you say?

CLETA:                  Indeed she is! She is throwing off her black dress and she’s slipping on a shameful one!

URSULA:              Mother, I don’t like my black dress.

CLETA:                  Close your sinful mouth!

OLD WOMAN:   It’s a bad enough for her not to come to prayers these nine nights, and now for her to cast off mourning so soon!

CLETA:                  The neighbors will pass any minute now, and they’ll see her in that shameful dress! Hide that lamp, Antero! And we’d better close the windows.

She closes a window, while Antero closes another. Ursula peeps through the door behind the camphor chest.

URSULA:              Grandma! Grandma!

ARISTON:            What is it now?

URSULA:              She’s combing her hair before the looking glass!

OLD WOMAN:   It’s a bad omen to look into the glass, Cleta. This will be a night of evil! Tell her to cover the glass.

CLETA:                  Quiet! She’s coming now! Oh, my God the Lamp! Hide the lamp, Antero!

                Antero takes the lamp but she grabs it from him and hides it behind the camphor chest.

OLD WOMAN:   Sabina is undone tonight! She’s undone, Mamerto!

SABINA:               (Cheerfully but simply) Good evening to you all. (Kissing the old man’s hand in reverence) Your blessing, Grandpa! I’m glad to see you, Grandpa! Isn’t dark enough for prayers in this house without closing the windows?

CLETA:                  (Pointedly) The prayers are over Sabina!

ANTERO:              Sabina, are you deaf? Don’t you touch the windows! It’s Granma’s wish!

(Silence, Sabina leaves the windows alone)

SABINA:               I’m sorry, Grandma! I only wanted to let in the light of the moon. (Sabina looks about for the lamp.)

CLETA:                  And what is it you are looking for now?

                                There is another silence as she continues looking around.

SABINA:               The new lamp that was brought from the city… Oh, here it is!

CLETA:                  On such a night, it’s more fitting to light the candles!

ANTERO:              Drop the lamp, Sabina!

OLD MAN:           You can’t blame a girl for wanting things brighter in a dark house, son!

Sabina looks for a match.

CLETA:                  And is it tonight Mr. George is returning again to the village?

                                Sabina is silent.

ANTERO:              Why don’t you answer us? (Another silence)

CLETA:                  We are talking to you, Sabina!

SABINA:               (Coldly) And what if he’s returning tonight, Aunt Cleta?

OLD WOMAN:   Leave that lamp alone, child. It’s wisdom to be careful. The wings of the moth get badly burned, Sabina, if it leaps into the flame.

SABINA:               What are the moth’s wings compared to a woman’s happiness, Grandma?

OLD WOMAN:   It’s a pity if you won’t listen to the wisdom of ripened years, and you merely a slip of a young girl of tender mind!

SABINA:               I’m tired of sadness in this dark house, Grandma! Let’s light this lamp, and smile with the brightness of it.

CLETA:                  Light it yourself. We don’t ask a part!

OLD WOMAN:   If you don’t listen to us, you’ll be lonely, my child. You will be alone even before the moon has waned and both of you have sunk deeper into the sea! What good is there when you’ll be sorry forever? Think, my child!

SABINA:               It’s your years won’t to stand the brightness of the lamp, Grandma, for your life’s nearly broken!  I’ll light the lamp!

CLETA:                  It’s useless to waste breath over a stubborn girl who won’t listen! Good heavens, she’s lighting the lamp, Antero!

ANTERO:              (Jumping toward her sister) For God’s sake, will you listen or not?

 ARISTON:           (Holding Antero back) Antero! Take it easy!

ANTERO:              (Insistently) What has happened, we are asking you!

OLD MAN:           You have no need to raise a hand against your sister, son!

ANTERO:              My only sister! God, what a shame!

SABINA:               (Resentfully) I’ve no call but to be happy, Antero!

ANTERO:              Happy? It’s your doings that drove Mother to her grave.

OLD WOMAN:   (Kindly) Sabina, what is it that has happened between you and Mr. George?

CLETA:                  Whatever it was, the whole village is jeering and laughing!

ANTERO:              (Insistently) What has happened, we are asking you!

SABINA:               (Breaking down helplessly) Stop it, all of you! Stop it! You’ll drive me crazy with your wailings.

ANTERO:              For God sake, will you listen or not?

SABINA:               No! No, I won’t listen! You can’t destroy my little share of happiness now. You can’t kill the love I bear for him. Maybe death’s between us this evening, but who was ever happy in this house before he came? Nothing! So get out and go your own way from this house! Get out! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!

ANTERO:              (Shocked) Do you realize what are you saying?

CLETA:                  Since it’s your wish, we shall go. Come, Ursula! But whatever happens to you from now on, don’t ever call upon us! Are you coming, Ariston?

ARISTON:            Don’t be so hard on the poor girl, Cleta!

CLETA:                  Don’t come if you don’t want to! You can stay! You’d best be coming along, Grandma! It’s easy to see we are not wanted in this house anymore!

                                She goes dragging Ursula with her. Ariston follows them. The Old woman rises slowly.

ANTERO:              For God’s sake, Sabina, think of what you’re doing!

OLD WOMAN:   Perhaps you better walk me home, Antero.

ANTERO:              Sabina, you’re a heartless fool!

OLD WOMAN:   Come, the cool night will calm your anger, son! (The turtle is heard again.) Tell me, isn’t that the sobbing of the black turtle, weeping sadly by the river’s mouth? (Silence) Well, good night, and may God bless you, Sabina!

                 They go, Sabina is left alone with the Old Man. She rushes to him and cries.                        

SABINA:               Oh Grandpa! Grandpa!

OLD MAN:           Don’t cry.

 SABINA:              Am I wrong, Grandpa? Am I very much mistaken?

OLD MAN:           Outside love, nothing lives, Sabina! That’s what a wise man said long ago. Surely, whatever the heart feels richly must be right! And hearts, I’m saying to you, haven’t changed very much since then.

SABINA:               I’m trying to build me a nest, trying to weave threads of laughter through it, but my wings are tied with sorrow. It’s for that my poor heart will be crying forever.

OLD MAN:           Well, don’t cry!

SABINA:               But it seems they’d name my cry!... Oh, I mustn’t cry Grandpa.

OLD MAN:           There, that’s better!

 SABINA:              I mustn’t cry, for Mr. George is coming back tonight. Mr. George is coming back! And for him my heart is singing! God would be unkind to me if He didn’t bring back Mr. George.

OLD MAN:           Mr. George promised you that?

SABINA:               Many times, Grandpa! But sometimes there’s fear in my heart, for before he came I never knew what it was to be happy.

OLD MAN:           Are you happy now?

SABINA:               Yes, again and again he has told me! A month ago, he told me. I well remember that day! We went out to the sand hill by the sea. He felt happy, he said, every time we were together. He said that at the foot of the hill by the sea.

OLD MAN:           Yes?

SABINA:               (Confidingly, Softly) We were there still when the twilight was coming... he lying happily on the warm sand, and me very happy beside him! We stayed on, for the sky in the west was like a rainbow, and the hill to the east was dark with the full moon rising slowly behind it! It was beautiful, Grandpa!...

OLD MAN:           (Answering her reverie with his) Yes, child. What else can be more beautiful than that?

SABINA:               Then I haven’t done wrong? People like me haven’t done wrong?

OLD MAN:           (Very Kindly) When you’re happy at last?... No, AVIN!

Surely, its wrong to know happiness, when the glorious beginnings come! Or if it is, perhaps love itself is a mistake, and maybe... Man couldn’t be forgiven.

SABINA:              But the people... they’re so selfish, Grandpa!

OLD MAN:           Yes, indeed, men can be funny sometimes.

SABINA:               And miserly with their loves, Grandpa!

OLD MAN:           Yes, my child, there shouldn’t be any selfishness in a heart that loves to the end!

                                The closing of the front gate is heard. Sabina is startled.

SABINA:               That must be Antero now! Listen, Grandpa, he’s locking the front gate!

OLD MAN:           Antero shouldn’t matter at all! (She opens the big window and looks out)

SABINA:               Oh, he has locked the gate Grandpa! What am I to do? He will keep on tormenting me!

OLD MAN:           Look to your heart, for it is your own best counsel! It’s the best safest way to be happy! (Rising) Good night, my child!

                                He starts for the main door, but turns and walks back to the door.

SABINA:               They say it’s ill omen to go by the back door at night!

OLD MAN:           I don’t believe in omens!... Well, goodnight again!

                                Sadly, Sabina watches him go out slowly by the back door. After a while, she picks up a little cheerfulness again. Antero enters frozenly from the front door. There is a brief moment of cold silence between them.

SABINA:               (Cheerfully) Is there great need for us to be locking the gate, Antero?

ANTERO:              (Sternly) The curfew has rung!

SABINA:               Even so, let’s not close the front gate for just this evening. The night itself is bright enough with the full moon, the streets are looking like day.

ANTERO:              Are you so set on waiting?

SABINA:               Don’t begin that all over again. Antero! Would you have me growing old, like a sour old maid?

ANTERO:              That’s not the trouble!

SABINA:              It is! You should be well pleased I’m happy at last, after doing my goodly share of hard work these long years since Father Died! Haven’t I helped to make things go on this farm, sharing gladly with the planting and the harvesting? Am I to be married to the soil forever, with no happiness coming?

ANTERO:              If you should fall into disgrace, what are we to do, your own kin, who’ll bear the brunt of your chosen shame forever?

SABINA:               Shame? Is it a shame to be happy?

ANTERO:              Can’t you appreciate what it is to have a name?

SABINA:               What care I, if I myself am not happy a little?

ANTERO:              Are you saying you won’t listen at all?

SABINA:               I love him so, Antero! I love him!

ANTERO:              All right, but you know nothing about him whatsoever. It’s only three months you’ve known him!

SABINA:               I don’t care about that!

ANTERO:              It’s your duty to care!

SABINA:               Mr. George loves me! I know he does! My heart tells me he does!

ANTERO:              I don’t care what your wild heart tells you! What I care about is your own good self, do you hear me?

SABINA:               He’s good to me Antero! Mr. George Is a good man. He’s a fine man. And I tell you he loves me!

ANTERO:              I warn you he’ll leave you like thunder!

SABINA:               No, no, he won’t. He won’t!

ANTERO:              Oh yes he will! I know enough of these sleek and tired and world-wise merchant men from the city! I’ve seen it happen!

SABINA:               (DREAMILY) Mr. George and I will be married someday… soon, Antero! He’ll build me a fine house in the city, and surely I’ll bring him forth a good child into that house, and many more if I am able!

ANTERNO:          Get married to him then, if you can! But if you don’t I’ll show both of you where to enjoy your pleasures.

SABINA:               You will not! You dare not! Oh, let’s not quarrel! Come, you had better go and open the gate quickly for he will be here now any minute. I’ll light the lamp, Antero!

ANTERNO:          You stay away from the lamp!

SABINA:               (Quietly) It’s my own lamp. Surely, I’ll light it!

ANTERNO:          Give me that lamp!

SABINA:               Let go the lamp, Anterno! Please let it go! You’ll break the lamp.

ANTERNO:          I don’t care! It’s this devil of a lamp itself giving you such foolish notions about love.

SABINA:               Give me the lamp! It’s my lamp!

ANTERNO:          (Wrestling, he seizes the lamp and smashes it against the floor.) There goes your devil of a lamp! You fool!

                                There is a tense speechless moment between them. Sabina picks up several of the broken pieces and fingers them speechlessly. The turtle is heard again.

SABINA:               I’ll open the gate.

ANTERO:              You can’t! I won’t let you! You shan’t make a scene least of all. Think of the neighbors! (He pulls her from the door)

SABINA:               (Struggling from him) Let me go!

ANTERNO:          Think of the scandal, you fool!

MR. GEORGE:    (At the gate) Sa-bi-na! Open the gate! Sabina are you there?

                                Sabina rushes to the windows again.

SABINA:               Yes, Mr. George, I’ve been waiting! (Then to Anterno, wildly) He’s coming round the backyard through the garden. He is coming now. Can you hear me? Mr. George himself is coming up!

Anterno slaps her fiercely, throwing her to the floor. She utters a stifled cry.

SABINA:               It’s alright now. You can have the front gate to yourself! It doesn’t matter now! He is here! He is coming himself!

ANTERNO:          Go ahead, wallow in the mud with him, you reckless little fool! Go to the devil with him if you want to. Only don’t you dare tell me afterwards what bitter fruit you’ve gathered in the end!

                There is another silence broken by the approaching steps of Mr. George. Antero goes out through the front door. Sabina rises quickly and straightens herself up. Mr. George enters cheerfully from the back door.

                He is kind, cheerful, somewhat tired but romantic-looking, businessman of about thirty years, prosperous and plump, but not too fleshy; good-looking in a stout American way and bearing about him an earthly kind of simplicity. There is gentleness in his tired voice. In fact, there is something romantic and alarmingly disarming about him. He wears a white linen suit, white shoes, and a white tropical helmet. He carries a week-end bag with him.

MR. GEORGE:    Well, well, how’s little Sabina this evening?

SABINA:               (Running too him) Mr. George! Mr. George! I’ve been waiting!

MR. GEORGE:    (Embracing her warmly) I sure feel grand to see you again, Sabina!

SABINA:               I’m so glad you’re back, just as you promised me!

MR. GEORGE:    Of course! Of course I was coming back! You’ve been crying Sabina! What is it?

SABINA:               Nothing! Only I’ve been waiting! Now I’m so happy you’re back.

MR. GEORGE:    Do you love me that much, really?

SABINA:               Each night while you were away, I’ve been praying, Mr. George. Each night I kept on thinking, wondering what you were doing and wishing all the time you’d hurry back safe and happy!

MR.GEORGE:     I thought about you an awful lot myself.

SABINA:               I was afraid you wouldn’t return to Kawakan.

MR.GEORGE:     I can’t forget Kawakan. It’s the place for me. I’ve kept my word, and I shall keep it again. The month spent without you was terribly dull.

 SABINA:              You must rest now and be comfortable, Mr. George. Let me help you with your things. You can change your clothes in my room if you wish to, and shall bring you bag inside. Your bath has been ready ever since this morning.

MR.GEORGE:     You are very thoughtful, Sabina. I like you, and I like this farm. (He takes off his coat. Sabina takes it from him.) That’s a good girl. How restful it is here in Kawakan. I’ve been longing to come back.

                He rolls his shirt sleeves up, unfastens his holster and hands it to Sabina together with his bag and helmet. She takes them all into her room. He loosens his tie, then sits down and relaxes, and begins stretching comfortably. Sabina returns with her dressing gown and a towel and slippers.

SABINA:               I’ll place the things you’ll need for your bath here, Mr. George. Rest yourself now, and I’ll get you some supper.

MR. GOERGE:    (Holding her by the hand) Don’t bother, I’m not hungry! Let’s just sit here and be quiet for a while, shall we, Sabina?

SABINA:               Oh, but if you’re tired… Well, then…

MR. GEORGE:    Tell me, Sabina, what makes you kind to me?

SABINA:               The earth itself is kind when the sun is good, and you’ve been good, Mr. George!

MR.GEORGE:     (Thoughtfully) The women I know are kind, but you’re so much kinder! God knows how much I’ve missed you.

SABINA:               I’ve missed you too, Mr. George.

MR GEORGE:     (Embracing her passionately) This whole month I’ve missed you! And I need you, Sabina! I need you!

SABINA:               (Softly) Mr. George?

Mr. GEORGE:     Yes, My dearest?

SABINA:               Will you always love me?

MR. GEORGE:    Always! Forever and always!

SABINA:               (After a while, timidly) Will you... let me keep that love?

MR. GEORGE:    It’s all yours, sweet! I never knew what love meant until I met you, Sabina!

SABINA:               And I never felt so happy before you came, Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    I’ve never felt so happy myself. Oh, God, what I have missed.

SABINA:               (Simply) It’s myself I offer gladly, Mr. George. All that you want of me, my life, my love, my heart which says: I’ll love you always no matter what or where  or when! That’s how much I love you, Mr. George, for me you’re the bright sun, and I make a pledge to that sun and promise to love you forever, even when the gods themselves have stopped turning night into day!

MR.GEORGE:     My little brown Sabina! Can’t it be like this always?

SABINA:               Forever, Mr. George! Our love will last forever!

                                They kiss again.

MR. GEORGE:    Now I know the traders are wrong! They say you Filipino women are no good as sweethearts. What do they know about you? What do they know about love?

SABINA:               Let’s just love and be contented.

MR. GEORGE:    Black, brown, or white, we’re all the same and nothing matters much, save this gift for loving. Sure, people are all the same, Sabina!

SABINA:               Grandfather always tells me, outside love nothing lives. And I believe him, Mr. George! Do people love much where you came from, Mr. George?

MR. GEORGE:    Yes, they do!

SABINA:               And are there some who are selfish too?

MR. GEORGE:    There are rascals there too, and sometimes they win out in the end.

SABINA:               Here, there are selfish misers too, Mr. George. And it’s they, too who win out in the end.

MR. GEORGE:    These Kawakan folks aren’t so bad!

SABINA:               Mr. George, I wish to tell you a dream I’ve been dreaming! I want to come to the city with you.

MR.GEORGE:     Cities can be so tiring, Sabina! City folks can be so tiring.

SABINA:               Is that true, Mr. George?

MR.GEORGE:     Indeed, they do.

SABINA:               Then I don’t want to tire you.

MR. GEORGE:    We all have dreams! I, too, have a dream, and mine is here in Kawakan. Don’t you like it here?

SABINA:               (Resistantly) As long as you are happy, then nothing at all will matter.

MR. GEORGE:    I’m happy here, Sabina! Come… don’t you think it’s time to go to sleep?

SABINA:               Just as you wish, Mr. George. I’ll have your room ready in a minute.

She goes into her room, but she comes back quickly with a silver sewing box.

SABINA:               Before we say goodnight, there’s something I want to show you.

MR.GEORGE:     Yes, dear, what is it?

SABINA:               (As she takes out several embroidered handkerchiefs from the box) I’ve worked them all myself, Mr. George, every night while you were away.

MR. GEORGE:    (Taking the handkerchief) Sabina, they’re lovely! “To Mr. Georg.e” Well! Well!

SABINA:               I’m glad you like them. They are for you, Mr. George. There’s a little thought I wove into each letter, Mr. George!

MR.GEORGE:     Darling, I cannot thank you! You’re the sweetest thing.

SABINA:               I kept thinking about you and I will be married some day. And I’ll bring a child into that house, and many more if I am able.

MR.GEORGE: Sweetheart

SABINA:               There’s just one more thing I want to show you. (She shows him a baby’s lace bonnet.) For the gift itself I’ll bring you into that house.

MR.GEORGE:     (Trying not to show his confusion) Sabina! Do you mean… are you?

SABINA:               Oh, I’m glad I’ve told you!

MR.GEORGE:     That’s wonderful, darling! (Silence) Sabina, have you told anyone?

SABINA:               I’ve told no one, Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    Are you sure, Sabina?

SABINA:               I’m very sure, Mr. George!

MR.GEORGE:     Then don’t tell anyone… not yet… not for just a while yet… will you, dear?

SABINA:               If you wish it, I shall tell no one!… Aren’t you happy, Mr. George?

MR. GEORGE:    (Distractedly) Yes, yes, of course, my dearest!

SABINA:               (Thoughtfully) I’m so glad you’re happy. And I am so happy we’re to be married.

MR.GEORGE:     Come close to me, darling, there’s something awful difficult I want to tell you. We cannot get married.

SABINA:               (Looking at him in consternation) What?... Why? You don’t mean what you’re saying!

MR. GEORGE:    I do. I’m already married, Sabina!

SABINA:               (Stupefied) You’re telling me a lie!

MR.GEORGE:     I’m telling you the honest truth, dear.

SABINA:               Then, it’s…

MR.GEORGE:     Yes, it’s true.

SABINA:               (Brokenly) Oh!... Oh!... It’s true then?  What Antero said is true then!... There’s someone else?... Someone else between us!

MR.GEORGE:     She can’t come between us! I promise you! Somehow, I’ve never known her, my wife, I mean. She can’t make herself part of me as you have, Sabina! And I wanted so much to keep your love.

SABINA:               (Turning away defeatedly) You’ve cheated me! You’ve lied to me…

MR.GEORGE:     I didn’t want to lose you, that’s why! Honest, I didn’t…

SABINA:               You lied! You lied!... Oh, you’ve cheated me!

MR.GEORGE:     Dearest, I couldn’t help it!

SABINA:               (Softly, intensely) You’ll never know what it is to love!

MR.GEORGE:     I never knew love until I met you!

SABINA:               (Remorsefully) Oh, I can’t believe anything you say now! (She sobs bitterly, but softly)

MR.GEORGE:     Dearest, you must listen to me! You’ve got to believe me!

SABINA:               The first time you said you loved me, I believed you then as I believe truly in a god! And I came to you thinking there was nothing between us! But you’ve cheated me! You’ve lied to me!

MR. GEORGE:    Don’t say that! Nothing should matter between us. Let us go on being happy together, just as we have been doing, Sabina!

SABINA:               I can’t be happy now. There’s an emptiness lying between us now, a wide, black, silent darkness! And no power on earth can brighten this darkness forever.

MR. GOERGE:    You’ve got to listen to me. You must listen to me!

SABINA:               I can only hear them laughing now! I can only hear the misers of love laughing in the darkness!

MR. GEORGE:    Others can’t come between our love!

SABINA:               Perhaps they’re not misers after all! Yes I can hear them shouting! Outside love, all is death!

MR. GEORGE:    Sabina, for God’s sake, listen to me!

SABINA:               (Moving away) No! No!... It’s all so strange! At first I believed you, and then one day you lied, and I woke up and my belief in you died forever! I can’t even believe in myself anymore!

MR GEORGE:     What are you saying to me? Think only of our love! Think of our love!

SABINA:               And what of me? What is to become of me? What shall I ever tell them now? (She goes into him again in a frenzy of fear and helplessness.) Mr. George, help me!... Tell me it’s all a lie. Tell me everything is not death! Tell me there’s a love better than life itself.

MR GEORGE:     Yes, Sabina! Our love! Our love! Better than life itself! Oh, I love you still, you must believe me!

SABINA:               I’m scared of them, Mr. George! I’m afraid of the darkness!

MR GEORGE:     I’m here, don’t be afraid!

SABINA:               Yes, yes, I mustn’t be afraid, Mr. George! I mustn’t be afraid!...

MR. GEORGE:    We’ll love each other always! Always!

SABINA:               We’ll watch the darkness together!

MR. GEORGE:    You must get a little rest now. You must sleep. You must have something to quiet your nerves! Now! You’ll be all right tomorrow!

SABINA:               Oh yes! Tomorrow! Tomorrow!... I’m happy for tomorrow, Mr. George! I’m not scared now, Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    That’s right, dear! I\ll get you something from the car to calm your nerves. (He rises)

SABINA:               I’m all right, if you promise to come back!

MR. GEORGE:    I shan’t be a minute, Sabina!

SABINA:               I shall be waiting, Mr. George! I shall be waiting forever!

MR GEORGE:     That’s good! That’s the girl. (He goes)

                                She stares blankly into the darkness and keeps on mumbling.

SABINA:               (In a monotone) Outside love, nothing lives!... Nothing lives… Tomorrow… Tomorrow… Outside love… Grandpa, where are you? Mother… Mother… where are you? (Footsteps are heard from the main door. She faces the door fearfully.) Mother, death lives… death lives… It’s Mother!... It’s Mother…

But it is Antero who appears. She recoils fearfully from him,

SABINA:               Oh, it’s only you, Antero. I thought it was Mother.

ANTERO:              (Coldly) A nice time for you to think of Mother! There’s no use now! I don’t care if your conscience bothers you now!

SABINA:               (Blankly) Yes! Antero, yes! (Antero starts for the kitchen door.) Antero, listen to me! Don’t be angry with me!

ANTERO:              Don’t you tell me anything! Get married if you can, quickly. The sooner you leave this house, the better. Go to the city with him, if you can! I don’t care!

SABINA:               (Holding on to him) No, no Antero!... I know now that I was wrong!... Listen to me! (She clings to him.)

ANTERO:              So it’s no, is it? (He pushes her abruptly away; she falls.) My God, don’t come to me! Don’t talk to me! Don’t you dare tell any of us anything! (He goes to the kitchen leaving her on the floor.)

SABINA:               Antero, listen to me! Antero, come back! (She’s cries pitifully.) It’s all right now! I was wrong, Antero! I only wanted to tell you that you were right. I was wrong. But tomorrow… tomorrow… it will be alright tomorrow!

                She rises and looks around slowly, then cries and runs to her bedroom. There is a short silence. Then a gunshot is heard. A brief silence again. Antero comes in excitedly, looks around, then rushes to the bedroom.

ANTERO:              Sabina! Sabina, where are you?

MR. GEORGE:    (Outside) Sabina!

ANTERO:              (Coming out nervously) Mr. George!

                                Mr. George enters excitedly.

MR. GEORGE:    I heard a shot, Antero! What is it?

                                Antero is too overcome to answer.

MR. GEORGE:    For God’s Sake, where’s Sabina? (He rushes to the bedroom.) Sabina! Why?

                                Mr. George comes out carrying Sabina’s dying body.

MR. GEORGE:    Call the doctor, quick, Antero!

ANTERO:              There’s no doctor in this village!

                                He goes out. Mr. George places Sabina on the easy chair by the window.

SABINA:               I’m not afraid any more, Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    Don’t talk!

SABINA:               Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    Darling, forgive me.

SABINA:               Will you think of me... always?

MR. GEORGE:    I’ll always love you.

SABINA:               (With an effort) Tell the traders... you knew of a dark woman... who was faithful, Mr. George!

MR. GEORGE:    Sabina, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!

SABINA:               I shall be waiting, Mr. George... on a sand hill by the sea… I shall be waiting forever… (She dies.)

MR. GEORGE:    (Sobbing) Sabina!... It’s all my fault!

                The others, Antero, Cleta, Ariston, Rustica, Mamerto, Ursula, and the two neighbors, come in hurriedly.

CLETA:                  What happened? (She suddenly realizes Sabina is dead and cries hysterically.) Grandma! Grandma! She’s dead!

                The others try to quiet her. The old woman approaches Sabina’s body and begins mourning. The men place the bamboo couch in front of the altar, the women take a white blanket from the room, and spread it on the couch.

OLD WOMAN:   (Praying) It’s an evil night! It’s an evil night, Mr. George!

                The men carry Sabina’s body and lay her gently on the couch. They cover half of her body with another white blanket. The others begin praying and mourning over the body. Mr. George comes away from the window and joined the mourners.

CLETA:                  (Calling out to Mr. George) Mr. George! Mr. George! Please leave our Sabina alone!

                The mourners look strangely at Mr. George but he goes to the head of the couch and kneels sorrowfully by Sabina’s body.

OLD WOMAN:   (Lamenting) It is evil night, Mamerto.

OLD MAN:           Her death’s but her new life just begun, Rustica! Her life’s bigger than our petty lives now! Ours will be the sadness now, ours will be the loneliness forever! And we shan’t be happy till our selfish hearts have learned to love truly forever.

They start  to pray again. A brilliant shaft of moonlight falls on Sabina’s body as the men carry her out, praying as the go.

                A bamboo flute is heard far away. Once more we hear the turtle crying.

AFTER READING...

• How did you feel about the story?
• Do you believe in superstitions?
• If you were Sabina's brother, would you do the same? Or would you do things differently?
• If you were Sabina's grandfather, what advice would you give Sabina? Would you support her? Why or why not?
• What are the red flags you've noticed about Mr. George?
• If you know someone like Sabina, how would you make her listen to you as a family or as a friend?
• If you were in Sabina's place, what would you do after knowing Mr. George's situation?
• If you were to end the story, how would you end it?

    I was in college when I encoded this play from my literature book that my professor, Sir Abrera, gave to me during my internship. As the years pass by, I've seen experiences similar to that of Sabina and just like Sabina, those Sabinas never listened to the advice people gave them because of the emotions they felt during the relationship. Sometimes, people mistook infatuation with love. Sometimes, the Mr. Georges say all the right things which is why the Sabinas fall for them in no time. Sometimes, it's also hard to tell if someone is being true to his words or not. I hope that by reading this gem, we could reflect on a few things that matter the most in our life. This is what literature is all about. Keep reading!