Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays Part 181

HANK. Did you--love him--so much?

PADIE [_very low_]. Once--a little. [_With sudden, fierce joy._] I don't care! Now--I kin--live!

HANK [_looking out over the desert where the dawn begins to show_]. Both of us.

[_Curtain._]

THE SLAVE WITH TWO FACES

AN ALLEGORY

BY MARY CAROLYN DAVIES

Copyright, 1918, by Egmont Arens.

All rights reserved.

Reprinted from No. 6, of the "Flying Stag Plays," published by Egmont Arens, by special permission of Miss Davies. The professional and amateur stage rights on this play are strictly reserved by the author.

Applications for permission to produce this play should be made to Egmont Arens, 17 West 8th Street, New York.

THE SLAVE WITH TWO FACES was first produced in New York City by the Provincetown Players, on January 25th, 1918, with the following cast:

LIFE, THE SLAVE _Ida Rauh._ FIRST GIRL _Blanche Hays._ SECOND GIRL _Dorothy Upjohn._ A WOMAN _Alice MacDougal._ A MAN _O. K. Liveright._ A YOUNG MAN _Hutchinson Collins._ A WORKMAN _O. K. Liveright._ _And Others._

Scene designed by Norman Jacobsen. Produced under the direction of Nina Moise. Incidental music written by Alfred Kreymborg.

THE SLAVE WITH TWO FACES

AN ALLEGORY BY MARY CAROLYN DAVIES

[_THE SCENE is a wood through which runs a path. Wild rose bushes and other wood-things border it. On opposite sides of the path stand two girls waiting. They have not looked at each other. The girls wear that useful sort of gown which, with the addition of a crown, makes a queen--without, makes a peasant. The first girl wears a crown. The second carries one carelessly in her hand._]

FIRST GIRL [_looking across at the other_]. For whom are you waiting?

SECOND GIRL. I am waiting for Life.

FIRST GIRL. I am waiting for Life also.

SECOND GIRL. They said that he would pa.s.s this way. Do you believe that he will pa.s.s this way?

FIRST GIRL. He pa.s.ses all ways.

SECOND GIRL [_still breathing quickly_]. I ran to meet Life.

FIRST GIRL. Are you not afraid of him?

SECOND GIRL. Yes. That is why I ran to meet him.

FIRST GIRL [_to herself_]. I, too, ran to meet him.

SECOND GIRL. Ah! he is coming!

FIRST GIRL. No. It is only the little quarreling words of the leaves, and the winds that are always urging them to go away.

SECOND GIRL. The leaves do not go.

FIRST GIRL. Some day they will go. And that the wind knows.

FIRST GIRL. Why are you not wearing your crown?

SECOND GIRL. Why should we wear crowns? [_She places the crown upon her head._]

FIRST GIRL. Do you not know?

SECOND GIRL. No.

FIRST GIRL. That is all of wisdom--the wearing of crowns before the eyes of Life.

SECOND GIRL. I do not understand you.

FIRST GIRL. Few understand wisdom--even those who need it most--

SECOND GIRL. He is coming! I heard a sound.

FIRST GIRL. It was only the sound of a petal dreaming that it had fallen from the rose-tree.

SECOND GIRL. I have waited--

FIRST GIRL. We all long for him. We cry out to him. When he comes, he hurts us, he tortures us. He kills us, unless we know the secret.

SECOND GIRL. What is the secret?

FIRST GIRL. That he is a slave. He pretends! He pretends! But always he knows in his heart that he is a slave. Only of those who have learned his secret is he afraid.

SECOND GIRL. Tell me more!

FIRST GIRL. Over those who are afraid of him he is a tyrant. He obeys--Kings and Queens!

SECOND GIRL. Then that--