BY STEVE GOLD
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Susan Thaxter…………………………………………………Unidentified
Lucinda Thaxter………………………………………………Susan’s mother
TIME: The present
PLACE: New York City
Act I
The down stage center portion of the stage is lit, the rest is dark. The setting is a Manhattan town house, represented by a stage right wooden chair. Two aristocratic-looking women enter up stage right: one of the women is sixtyish in age, the other in her forties. The younger woman leads the older on to the wooden chair and sits her. The younger woman is named Susan Thaxter, the older woman is her mother, Lucinda. Both are dressed casually and stylishly in an upper-class sort of way. The older woman seems befuddled and puzzled by her surroundings, with a permanent, far-away expression. A subtle sense of despair punctuates the entire scene, emphasized by dim lighting.
SUSAN
Mother?
pause
Mother?
LUCINDA
Huh?
SUSAN
It’s me, Mother.
LUCINDA
. . . You?
pause
How . . . are you?
SUSAN
I’m fine.
LUCINDA
I’m glad.
SUSAN
Are you hungry?
LUCINDA
What?
SUSAN
Are you hungry?
LUCINDA
I . . . I don’t think so.
SUSAN
Don’t you know for sure?
LUCINDA
Do I . . . have to eat?
SUSAN
You don’t have to do anything.
LUCINDA
Promise?
SUSAN
Have I ever forced you to do anything?
LUCINDA
. . . I don’t remember.
SUSAN
Well, I haven’t.
LUCINDA
That’s nice.
SUSAN
Do you think you’re in prison?
LUCINDA
Have I ever been there?
SUSAN
Certainly not.
LUCINDA
Have you?
SUSAN
wistful
I’m in prison now.
LUCINDA
Are you?
SUSAN
Yes.
LUCINDA
Escape.
SUSAN
dejected
. . . There’s no escape for me . . .
LUCINDA
That’s a pity.
SUSAN
I’m not complaining.
LUCINDA
You should—you’ll feel better.
SUSAN
. . . I’ve no right to complain.
LUCINDA
Why not?
SUSAN
Because you’re my mother.
LUCINDA
Go ahead. Complain—I don’t mind.
SUSAN
People like us never complain . . . it’s bad form.
LUCINDA
If that’s how you feel, then good-bye.
stands, takes several steps toward the up stage right exit until SUSAN stops her
SUSAN
Where are you going?
LUCINDA
Home.
SUSAN
You are home.
LUCINDA
I . . . I am?
SUSAN
Yes.
LUCINDA
I knew it looked familiar.
SUSAN leads LUCINDA back to the chair, sits her
SUSAN
I should hope so.
LUCINDA
glances about the place
It looks very nice.
SUSAN
Yes, it is.
LUCINDA
I like the furniture.
SUSAN
You picked it out.
LUCINDA
amazed
I did?
SUSAN
Every piece.
LUCINDA
I have good taste.
SUSAN
Indeed.
LUCINDA
How long have I lived here?
SUSAN
crosses to stage left
Fifty-odd years.
LUCINDA
That’s a long time.
SUSAN
. . . I grew up in this house.
LUCINDA
Were you happy?
SUSAN
. . . I was never happier.
LUCINDA
That’s good.
SUSAN
I should never have left. . . . I should’ve stayed a child . . . like Peter Pan.
LUCINDA
Why did you leave?
SUSAN
irritated
I got married, Mother.
pause
LUCINDA
Are you mad at me?
SUSAN
I’m not mad.
LUCINDA
You sound mad.
SUSAN
I’m not. . . . It’s just that sometimes I forget how you are.
LUCINDA
I forget too.
SUSAN
Not the way I do.
LUCINDA
meekly
You’re not mad at me?
SUSAN
No.
pause
LUCINDA
proudly blurting out her words
I used to be a good tennis player.
pause
SUSAN
intrigued
What made you say that?
LUCINDA
It came to me . . . all of a sudden.
SUSAN
curious
You remember playing tennis?
LUCINDA
Yes.
SUSAN
But you don’t recognize this house.
LUCINDA
Not right now.
shy chuckle
. . . Isn’t that funny?
pause
SUSAN
to stage center
Do you ever remember me as a girl?
LUCINDA
Sometimes.
SUSAN
Now?
LUCINDA
. . . Bits and pieces.
SUSAN
What do you remember?
LUCINDA
Are you interested?
SUSAN
Yes.
LUCINDA
I remember nursing you.
pause
SUSAN
quietly taken aback
You do?
LUCINDA
slowly, dreamily
. . . It brought me great pleasure . . . the way your mouth fastened on to my breast . . . a tingling feeling. . . . I never felt so happy . . . so alive . . . I can still see it . . . see it in my mind . . . I wish it could last forever . . . isn’t that the damnedest thing?
pause
SUSAN
It took until now for you to tell me this?
LUCINDA
I never did before?
SUSAN
Never.
LUCINDA
I should have . . .
her voice trailing off
. . . How foolish of me.
SUSAN
. . . That’s alright, Mother.
LUCINDA
worried
You’re . . . not mad at me now?
SUSAN
Why do you keep asking me?
LUCINDA
Because I didn’t tell you until now.
SUSAN
. . . I could never be mad at you.
LUCINDA
feebly
Promise?
SUSAN
You’re all I have, Mother.
forlorn
There’s no one left anymore.
long pause
LUCINDA
frustrated
stands; moves to stage center
I know I’ve lived a life. I’m sure I have. . . . But I can’t remember . . . sometimes I remember parts of it, but mostly . . . mostly it’s a dark room.
SUSAN
quietly
. . . Getting darker.
LUCINDA
There’s something the matter with me, isn’t there?
SUSAN
There is.
LUCINDA
mournful
I’m terribly sorry.
SUSAN
For what?
LUCINDA
For being a burden.
SUSAN
I never said that.
LUCINDA
I feel like I am.
SUSAN
You could never be a burden to me. You’re all I have.
LUCINDA
Don’t you have children?
pause
SUSAN
tight-jawed
I had a son . . . Spencer.
LUCINDA
Where is he?
pause
SUSAN
. . . He died . . . six months after Father.
pause
LUCINDA
It’s terrible to lose a child.
SUSAN
distantly
So they say.
pause
LUCINDA
Are you lonely?
SUSAN
a few steps down stage
. . . Yes.
LUCINDA
. . . Is it because of me?
SUSAN
No.
LUCINDA
. . . I’m lonely.
SUSAN
quietly moved
. . . I wish I . . . I could do something. Maybe this new doctor can help us.
LUCINDA
What new doctor?
SUSAN
The one we saw yesterday.
LUCINDA
Was he nice?
SUSAN
I suppose so—what difference does it make?
LUCINDA
Maybe I’m not sick after all.
SUSAN
You just said there’s something the matter with you.
LUCINDA
But maybe I’m wrong.
SUSAN
Mother, what’s my name?
LUCINDA
Your name?
SUSAN
Yes.
LUCINDA
Let me see. It’s . . .it’s . . . I don’t . . . quite. . . .
SUSAN
It’s Susan.
LUCINDA
Susan.
SUSAN
You picked it out yourself.
LUCINDA
Did I?
SUSAN
Yes.
LUCINDA
ashen face
I must . . . I must write it down . . . could you bring me a pencil and paper?
long pause
SUSAN slowly crosses to LUCINDA at stage center, hugs her, then gently kisses her on the cheek.
(SLOW FADE TO BLACK)
End