Goodnight Children Everywhere and Other Plays
Page 9
BETTY: She must have. Her glass has been used.
HENRY: Put in something. Don’t put in much.
JOE: Let’s say seven pounds twenty. What’s the VAT on that?
PHILIP: Just estimate, Joe.
BETTY (To Henry): Here’s some money.
JOE: Let me look at that. (Takes the bill) I say we leave no more than ten percent. I mean we’re leaving tomorrow, right? We’re not coming back for a year.
END OF PLAY
TWO SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS
For Anton Lesser and Roger Michell
PRODUCTION HISTORY
Two Shakespearean Actors was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It opened at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, on August 29, 1990. It was directed by Roger Michell, with assistant direction by Clarissa Brown; the set design was by Alexandra Byrne, the lighting design was by Rick Fisher, the music was composed by Jeremy Sams and the stage managers were Jondon Gourkan, David Mann and Liz Lawrence. The cast was as follows:
EDWIN FORREST
Anton Lesser
MISS JANE BASS
Polly Kemp
MISS HELEN BURTON
Catherine White
MISS ANNE HOLLAND
Georgiana Dacombe
TILTON
George Raistrick
THOMAS FISHER
George Anton
ROBERT JONES
Ken Shorter
MR. BLAKELY
Arnold Yarrow
SCOTT
Trevor Martin
JOHN RYDER
Paul Jesson
WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY
John Carlisle
CHARLES CLARK
Michael Gardiner
MRS. POPE
Penny Jones
GEORGE BRADSHAW
John Warnaby
FREDERICK WEMYSS
Alfred Burke
JAMES BRIDGES
Vincent Regan
JOHN SEFTON
Michael Bott
MR. CHIPPINDALE
Bill McGuirk
PETER ARNOLD
Andrew Havill
CATHERINE FORREST
Mary Chater
MISS WEMYSS
Rowena King
DION BOUCICAULT
Ciaran Hinds
AGNES ROBERTSON
Yolanda Vazquez
WASHINGTON IRVING
John Bott
Two Shakespearean Actors was subsequently produced by Lincoln Center Theatre (Gregory Mosher, Director; Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) at The Cort Theatre on December 17, 1991. It was directed by Jack O’Brien; the set design was by David Jenkins, the costume design was by Jane Greenwood, the lighting design was by Jules Fisher, the sound design was by Jeff Ladman, the original score was by Bob James; the fight director was Steve Rankin, the production stage manager was Alan Hall and the stage manager was Deborah Clelland. The cast was as follows:
EDWIN FORREST
Victor Garber
MISS JANE BASS
Jennifer Van Dyck
MISS HELEN BURTON
Judy Kuhn
MISS ANNE HOLLAND
Hope Davis
TILTON
Tom Lacy
THOMAS FISHER
Graham Winton
ROBERT JONES
John Wojda
MR. BLAKELY
Richard Clarke
SCOTT
Jeffrey Allan Chandler
JOHN RYDER
Zeljko Ivanek
WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY
Brian Bedford
CHARLES CLARK
Alan Brasington
MRS. POPE
Le Clanché Du Rand
GEORGE BRADSHAW
Michael Butler
FREDERICK WEMYSS
Bill Moor
JAMES BRIDGES
Tim MacDonald
JOHN SEFTON
James Murtaugh
MR. CHIPPINDALE
Mitchell Edmonds
PETER ARNOLD
Ben Bodé
CATHERINE FORREST
Frances Conroy
MISS WEMYSS
Katie Finneran
DION BOUCICAULT
Eric Stoltz
AGNES ROBERTSON
Laura Innes
WASHINGTON IRVING
Tom Aldredge
Other actors and servants were played by: David Andrew MacDonald, Katie MacNichol, Susan Pellegrino and Thomas Schall.
CHARACTERS
Actors at the Broadway Theatre
(in parentheses, the parts they play)
EDWIN FORREST (Macbeth; Metamora), early forties
MISS JANE BASS (1st Witch), twenties
MISS HELEN BURTON (2nd Witch; Goodenough), twenties
MISS ANNE HOLLAND (3rd Witch; Nahmeokee), twenties
TILTON (Porter; Church), sixties
THOMAS FISHER (Young Siward; Kaneshine), late twenties
FANNY WALLACK (Lady Macbeth); forties
ROBERT JONES (Banquo, Malcolm; Annawandah), early thirties
MR. BLAKELY (Duncan; Errington), fifties
SCOTT (normally plays Macduff, but is injured), thirties
JOHN RYDER (fills in as Macduff), English and the traveling companion of Macready, thirties
Actors at the Astor Place Opera House (in parentheses, the parts they play)
WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY (Macbeth), English, late fifties
CHARLES CLARK (Macduff), forties
MRS. POPE (Lady Macbeth), thirties
GEORGE BRADSHAW (Banquo), forties
FREDERICK WEMYSS (Siward, Old Man), sixties
JAMES BRIDGES (Young Siward, 3rd Witch, Ross), early twenties
JOHN SEFTON (1st Witch, Donalbain), forties
MR. CHIPPINDALE (2nd Witch), forties
PETER ARNOLD (Malcolm), twenties
Others
CATHERINE FORREST, wife of Edwin, English, thirties
MISS WEMYSS, an aspiring actress, daughter of Frederick Wemyss, late teens
DION BOUCICAULT, playwright and actor, English/Irish, thirties
AGNES ROBERTSON, actress and Boucicault’s wife, late twenties
WASHINGTON IRVING, writer and amateur actor, sixties
OTHER ACTORS AND SERVANTS
SETTING
The play concerns imagined events surrounding the following true incident: on Thursday May 10, 1849, while the English actor William Charles Macready was performing Macbeth at the Astor Place Opera House in New York City, a riot erupted which resulted in the death of thirty-four people and the injury of more than a hundred more.
Each scene has a title—the location of the scene—which should be projected moments before the scene begins.
ACT ONE
SCENE 1
THURSDAY MAY 3, 1849. 11 P.M.
A tavern, New York. Two large tables.
At one table, six men and two women: William Charles Macready, John Ryder, Charles Clark, George Bradshaw, James Bridges, Frederick Wemyss, Mrs. Pope and Miss Wemyss. With the exceptions of Miss Wemyss and John Ryder, all are members of Macready’s acting company, which is now rehearsing a production of Macbeth at the Astor Place Opera House.
At another table: Tilton, an older actor, who is a member of the acting company with which Edwin Forrest is now performing at the Broadway Theatre.
The Macready group has been here for some time; beer, wine, etc., on the table. Tilton has only just arrived.
CLARK (To Tilton as he sits down): How did it happen?
BRADSHAW: Before you answer that, who was he playing?
TILTON: Cassio.
(Beat.)
BRADSHAW: Scott as Cassio? I thought he was Forrest’s Iago?
MRS. POPE: Not this season. (Beat) Earlier in the season.
TILTON: Who told you that?
MRS. POPE: In Baltimore wasn’t he Iago?
TILTON: Scott told you that.
MRS. POPE: Didn’t he sit here, at this very table, and say he was born to play
Iago? (Beat) I heard him say this. Did anyone else hear him say this? (Beat) He said this is what he learned from playing the part in Baltimore. Or maybe it was Philadelphia.
TILTON: He’s never played Iago in his life. (Beat) Once he played it. Something like five people had to get sick at the same time. It took that sort of luck. And then he knew about every third line. That’s not playing Iago. (Beat) He’s never actually played the part.
MRS. POPE: You played Iago, did you, Tilton?
TILTON: For years and years. (Short pause) Anyway, he slipped. Playing Cassio he slipped. And . . . (Beat) I wasn’t on stage. This is what everyone was telling me.
CLARK: How much of the finger did he cut off?
TILTON: All of it! (Beat) I don’t know. There was blood everywhere, though. I saw his shirt. After he left, it was there lying across a chair. (Beat) Blood all over it. (Beat) Someone said the dagger cut it all off and it was still on stage. (Beat) But I didn’t see it. So . . . (Shrugs)
(Short pause.)
BRADSHAW: What else was Scott playing, Tilton?
TILTON: Let me think. In Jack Cade—what? What does he play? (Beat) I’m not in Jack Cade. I don’t remember. (Beat) He’s very good in it, they say. (Beat) But we don’t do Jack Cade for—two weeks? I don’t remember. I think that. And then there’s his Macduff. He does play Macduff. I don’t know what Ned’ll do about losing a Macduff. There’s a part I also used to play.
MRS. POPE: I can see how that would have been a very good role for you.
TILTON: My wife always said that same thing. She loved my Macduff. (Beat) I always thought that odd—for a wife to like such a part—what with all that happens to his family in the play.
MRS. POPE: I doubt if she was thinking about it that way.
TILTON: She was a smart woman, Mrs. Pope.
MRS. POPE: I remember her well.
(Beat.)
RYDER (Suddenly standing and calling): If you need a Macduff! If this— If he—
(Others look at him.)
I know the part. I’ve played . . . I’m not doing anything at this— Now. (Turns to Macready) Unless you think—
(Beat.)
CLARK (Introducing): Mr. John Ryder.
(Tilton nods.)
And Mr. Macready, I’m sure you—
TILTON: I have seen you on stage many many times, sir.
(Macready smiles, then turns to Ryder.)
MACREADY (Nodding toward Tilton): What’s his—?
(Ryder shrugs.)
MRS. POPE: Tilton.
(Macready shakes his head, not knowing who he is. Short pause.)
TILTON: I shall pass this information along to Mr. Forrest.
RYDER: Thank you. I would appreciate it. (Sits. Beat. Suddenly he stands again) Would you care to join us? If that’s all—
TILTON: I am supposed to save— (Gestures “this table”)
(Ryder nods and sits. Pause.)
BRADSHAW: I wonder how long he’ll be out.
(Beat. Mrs. Pope looks at him.)
Scott.
WEMYSS: I wonder if he was drinking. Scott drinks.
MRS. POPE: Not anymore. Not like when he did drink.
WEMYSS: He was drinking like that last week.
MACREADY (Interrupting, not having listened to what anyone has been saying): I only want to say—to all of you—that I am having a wonderful time. So thank you.
(Others nod at him.)
MRS. POPE (To Wemyss): When did you see him last week?
MACREADY (Interrupting again): I think our rehearsals . . . I want you to know I could not be more pleased. And I am not speaking as an Englishman to— (Beat) No, I happen to love American—Everyone here is so— It’s rich. It’s—I was telling John just the other day, wasn’t it? I was saying that I think American accents, they are so much closer to what Shakespeare himself spoke. You are so much closer. I think this has almost been proven. I mean, you—as American actors— I appreciate the way you have taken me in. The warmth. I feel this. I— (Beat) Thank you. (Beat. Stares at Clark) Much closer to what Shakespeare himself spoke. You! Without even— Just instinctively. All one’s sophistication, it really can get in the way, can’t it?! (Laughs) We poor English actors—right, John? Well, it’s so much hard work and practice and study, and then one comes here and sees you— How you— The energy it comes so easy for you. (Short pause. He looks at each actor at his table, one by one) Anyway, I salute you. I have wanted to say this all week. Every night I tell John, I meant to say this. Here I have found in New York, an American group of— Which is almost like a group of English actors. I can’t say more. (Short pause) Let me get some more to drink. (He reaches for money) I won’t stay long, I promise you. Don’t worry. (Laughs to himself) I want to buy— I want to pay— (Takes out some money and turns to Ryder) John, would you . . .?
(He hands money to Ryder, who hesitates. Macready drinks. Ryder goes off to the bar. Pause.)
WEMYSS (To Mrs. Pope): Last week. Maybe Tuesday. He was in here drinking like he used to.
MRS. POPE: I’m sorry to hear that.
BRADSHAW: And after he slipped and cut himself—
TILTON: Cut it off. The whole finger’s off.
BRADSHAW: He then what? What happened to the—
TILTON: They finished the scene. Everyone. Scott, too. Like nothing happened. Blood was spurting and he stays.
MRS. POPE: Incredible.
MACREADY: Good for him! Good for him!
MRS. POPE (To herself, shaking her head): For two dollars a performance.
CLARK: Something like that happens, you don’t think, you act instinctively.
MRS. POPE: Stupidly.
MACREADY (Banging the table, ignoring everyone): Good for him! (Laughs) John’s like that, too. My good friend John. (Gestures toward Ryder, then laughs) He was in Spartacus. With me. This was with me in Leeds. (Coughs, getting everyone’s attention) Listen to this. He needs to come on with his arm on fire. And we have worked this out. Carefully. (Beat) His arm on fire. (Beat) A metal band is put around his arm. And he carries a blanket—so if anything does happen . . . Which it shouldn’t, but you want to be safe. This is an actor that I employ. I must be safe. The blanket he is to take and pat out the flame if—Whatever. If he needs to, has to. Anyway, he lights the flame just before his entrance. And he comes on now. (Beat) Fire blazing. Great effect. But someone this time has missed a cue. So we wait a moment. This happens even in the English theatre, let me tell you. Someone misses an entrance. (Beat) So the fire blazes for a little longer than it is supposed to. But John, he— He does nothing. Then he leaves. And so on. But then later we hear that his whole arm is quite badly burned. (Beat) He had let it burn! And why? Because he said— (Beat) The line he is to speak—he has a line which normally comes only a few seconds after he enters, but—and now this line, because of the mistake, it’s coming a bit later, he says it—the line—I forget the line, but he says it. And it gets a nice little laugh. It always gets a nice little laugh. (Beat) And he says, that’s why he didn’t want to pat out the fire. Because he needed the blaze, he thought, to get that nice laugh. (Beat) So he let his arm burn! (Laughs. Short pause) Just to get the laugh!
MRS. POPE: We understood.
(No one else is laughing.)
MACREADY (Laughing): I love John. From that day, I have loved him. That’s the sort of—I don’t know. (Beat) Nothing deceptive about him. Very rare for an actor. (Beat) A good friend. (Smiles) A good man to have around. (Drinks)
(Long pause.)
TILTON (Finally): Scott’s wife was nearly hysterical. (Beat) She’s pregnant.
BRADSHAW (To Mrs. Pope): You know his wife.
(She nods.)
MACREADY (Suddenly hitting the table again): In England, acting is a noble profession, gentlemen! (Beat) And ladies.
(Ryder enters with more to drink. No one says anything as he sets the drinks down. Awkward pause.)
I won’t ask you to show your scar, John. (Laughs)
MRS. POPE (Quickly chang
ing the subject): Anyone else seen Hackett?
WEMYSS: Why would we—?
MRS. POPE: He’s offering seasons. He offered me a season.
WEMYSS: I wouldn’t take a season.
MRS. POPE: He’s doubled what he’s paying. At least for me. (Beat) I may take a season.
BRADSHAW: He never asks me. We socialize. My wife sees his wife. Two three times a month, I think. But he never . . .
TILTON: He came around last week after Richelieu.
MRS. POPE: I heard this.
TILTON: He made offers. (Beat) To Jack. To Mary. To Florence.
BRADSHAW: Why does he need both Mary and Florence?
WEMYSS: Which Jack? Wheatley?
TILTON: Hooper. Jack Hooper.
MRS. POPE: Jack Wheatley’s ill. Didn’t you know?
WEMYSS: No. No, I didn’t.
(Beat.)
BRADSHAW: I thought you’d worked a lot with Wheatley.
WEMYSS: No.
BRADSHAW: Weren’t you together in—
WEMYSS: Wheatley wasn’t in it then. When I was. (Beat) I took over his role. I saw him play the role. We’ve met. We’ve been out together. Many times. In groups. Nice man. (Beat) He’s not that old.
CLARK: He is a nice man.
BRIDGES: He has children everywhere.
MRS. POPE: I’ve heard this.
WEMYSS: Where is he?
TILTON: At home. Went back to his wife.
(Short pause.)
WEMYSS (To his daughter): We’re about the same age. Wheatley and me.
MACREADY (Grabbing Clark’s shoulder): Mr. Clark, it was a very good rehearsal today. Very good.
(Beat.)
CLARK: Thank you.
(Short pause.)
MRS. POPE: Mr. Macready, as you’ve brought up the rehearsals . . . (Looks at the others for a second) Do you happen to know if I’ll be needed tomorrow in the afternoon?