Read Online The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by Tennessee Williams - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tennessee Williams
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Nobody will be the wiser.
VASHYA : And I—I reject your proposition! I reject it completely. I know my position. I am the one who makes bargains. Me, Vashya, not you. And I—I defy you to expose me. Go on! Do it if you dare! If you do, the powers I represent will stop supplying your country with arms. You’ll be defenseless. You’ll be at your enemy’s mercy. The great warships will hum over your capitol, dropping bombs, gases, annihilating you, blasting you to bits! You won’t have an ounce of gunpowder to fire back. And it will be me, Vashya, that you’ll have to thank for it. I’ll take you and I’ll— [
The sound of a bottle breaking is heard
.] I’ll smash you like that! [
Then, more quietly
.] You see, Lord Huntington, this war will end when and
HOW
I choose! You have my answer—now GO! [
Screaming
.] Go! Go! Take your hat and get out of my house, before I—! [
Pause
.]
LADY SHONTINE : The men have come for you, Vashya.
VASHYA [
hoarsely
]: Get back to your room!
LADY SHONTINE : No, I will not. The men have come for you again. They’re tired of waiting for you, Vashya. You’ve got to go back with them this time.
LORD HUNTINGTON [
to himself
]: She’s got a revolver!
VASHYA [
noticing the gun
]: Lillian! Where is the Doctor? Doctor Frelich!
LADY SHONTINE : The Doctor is in there with the men, Vashya. He gave me this.
VASHYA : Doctor! Dr. Frelich!
LADY SHONTINE : He said that I’d have to MAKE you go with the men, Vashya. He said that otherwise you’d never have the courage to go. So he gave me this and he told me to send you with them. Don’t you see them, Vashya? They’re all coming into this room. They’re standing around you now. They’re waiting for you to go with them.
VASHYA : Put down that gun!
LADY SHONTINE : No, I will not!
VASHYA [
cringing
]: Lord Huntington!
Lord Huntington!
LADY SHONTINE : It’s no use, Vashya. The men won’t take “no” for an answer this time. You sent them to the front. And now it’s your time to go with them.
VASHYA : Stop her! She’s getting ready to fire! Stop her! She’s gone mad! The woman is out of her mind!
LADY SHONTINE : Goodbye, Vashya.
VASHYA [
panic-stricken
]: No, no, for God’s sake! Don’t fire! Doctor, Doctor! Don’t let her kill me! You—Lord Huntington! This is MURDER! You wouldn’t—please—I beg of you, please, please! You can’t kill me, Lillian! I won’t die! I won’t! I’ve got to live a little while longer!
LADY SHONTINE : Goodbye, Vashya.
VASHYA : Wait! Wait just one minute! I can’t die now!
[
Lady Shontine shoots. Vashya falls
.]
VASHYA [
hoarsely
]: Princess! Little Princess! Remember me! I’ll be good to you! So good to you, Princess! [
Sobbing
.] We’ll be happy again, my dear! We’ll go back to the lake where we spent those first nights—you remember? The nightingales singing and—STOP ! STOP!
[
Lady Shontine shoots again
.]
DR. FRELICH : He’s dead.
LORD HUNTINGTON : Quite?
DR. FRELICH : Yes.
LORD HUNTINGTON : Lady Shontine shot him in self-defense.
DR. FRELICH : Yes, of course.
LORD HUNTINGTON : And the revolver?
DR. FRELICH : Mine. I gave it to her. It was in the medical kit.
LORD HUNTINGTON : That part can be overlooked.
PHILLIP : Sir—Sir Vashya!
LADY SHONTINE : Yes, he’s gone! He’s gone with the others! You can tell them all that Vashya’s gone to the front!
LORD HUNTINGTON [
almost inaudibly
]: Extraordinary!
CURTAIN
CURTAINS FOR THE GENTLEMAN
(A ONE-ACT PLAY)
CHARACTERS
GENTLEMAN GEORGE
FLOSSIE
MIKE , a café owner
A BUM
MAC , a cop
THE PATCH
The action takes place on a street corner in the downtown slum district of a large city. It is a bitter cold night in mid-December. In the background is a cheap dive called the Gay Life Cafe, front door facing stage front. On the corner is a fire plug and a lamppost. As the curtains open two figures are discovered standing on the corner, a man and a woman. The man is young and debonair, handsomely dressed for the
VASHYA : And I—I reject your proposition! I reject it completely. I know my position. I am the one who makes bargains. Me, Vashya, not you. And I—I defy you to expose me. Go on! Do it if you dare! If you do, the powers I represent will stop supplying your country with arms. You’ll be defenseless. You’ll be at your enemy’s mercy. The great warships will hum over your capitol, dropping bombs, gases, annihilating you, blasting you to bits! You won’t have an ounce of gunpowder to fire back. And it will be me, Vashya, that you’ll have to thank for it. I’ll take you and I’ll— [
The sound of a bottle breaking is heard
.] I’ll smash you like that! [
Then, more quietly
.] You see, Lord Huntington, this war will end when and
HOW
I choose! You have my answer—now GO! [
Screaming
.] Go! Go! Take your hat and get out of my house, before I—! [
Pause
.]
LADY SHONTINE : The men have come for you, Vashya.
VASHYA [
hoarsely
]: Get back to your room!
LADY SHONTINE : No, I will not. The men have come for you again. They’re tired of waiting for you, Vashya. You’ve got to go back with them this time.
LORD HUNTINGTON [
to himself
]: She’s got a revolver!
VASHYA [
noticing the gun
]: Lillian! Where is the Doctor? Doctor Frelich!
LADY SHONTINE : The Doctor is in there with the men, Vashya. He gave me this.
VASHYA : Doctor! Dr. Frelich!
LADY SHONTINE : He said that I’d have to MAKE you go with the men, Vashya. He said that otherwise you’d never have the courage to go. So he gave me this and he told me to send you with them. Don’t you see them, Vashya? They’re all coming into this room. They’re standing around you now. They’re waiting for you to go with them.
VASHYA : Put down that gun!
LADY SHONTINE : No, I will not!
VASHYA [
cringing
]: Lord Huntington!
Lord Huntington!
LADY SHONTINE : It’s no use, Vashya. The men won’t take “no” for an answer this time. You sent them to the front. And now it’s your time to go with them.
VASHYA : Stop her! She’s getting ready to fire! Stop her! She’s gone mad! The woman is out of her mind!
LADY SHONTINE : Goodbye, Vashya.
VASHYA [
panic-stricken
]: No, no, for God’s sake! Don’t fire! Doctor, Doctor! Don’t let her kill me! You—Lord Huntington! This is MURDER! You wouldn’t—please—I beg of you, please, please! You can’t kill me, Lillian! I won’t die! I won’t! I’ve got to live a little while longer!
LADY SHONTINE : Goodbye, Vashya.
VASHYA : Wait! Wait just one minute! I can’t die now!
[
Lady Shontine shoots. Vashya falls
.]
VASHYA [
hoarsely
]: Princess! Little Princess! Remember me! I’ll be good to you! So good to you, Princess! [
Sobbing
.] We’ll be happy again, my dear! We’ll go back to the lake where we spent those first nights—you remember? The nightingales singing and—STOP ! STOP!
[
Lady Shontine shoots again
.]
DR. FRELICH : He’s dead.
LORD HUNTINGTON : Quite?
DR. FRELICH : Yes.
LORD HUNTINGTON : Lady Shontine shot him in self-defense.
DR. FRELICH : Yes, of course.
LORD HUNTINGTON : And the revolver?
DR. FRELICH : Mine. I gave it to her. It was in the medical kit.
LORD HUNTINGTON : That part can be overlooked.
PHILLIP : Sir—Sir Vashya!
LADY SHONTINE : Yes, he’s gone! He’s gone with the others! You can tell them all that Vashya’s gone to the front!
LORD HUNTINGTON [
almost inaudibly
]: Extraordinary!
CURTAIN
CURTAINS FOR THE GENTLEMAN
(A ONE-ACT PLAY)
CHARACTERS
GENTLEMAN GEORGE
FLOSSIE
MIKE , a café owner
A BUM
MAC , a cop
THE PATCH
The action takes place on a street corner in the downtown slum district of a large city. It is a bitter cold night in mid-December. In the background is a cheap dive called the Gay Life Cafe, front door facing stage front. On the corner is a fire plug and a lamppost. As the curtains open two figures are discovered standing on the corner, a man and a woman. The man is young and debonair, handsomely dressed for the
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