The March Of The Bonus Army SAMPLE By Isaac Rathbone Isaac Rathbone [email protected] www.isaacrathbone.com © Isaac Rathbone THE MARCH OF THE BONUS ARMY By Isaac Rathbone TIME & SETTING The play takes place from the years 1918-­‐1936, across America but mostly in the greater Washington, DC area. PRODUCTION NOTES Any production of this play must feel as if it is being staged in 1932. There may be no projections, pre-­‐recorded sound or effects, complicated lighting equipment, etc. All songs must be sung live. All instruments must be played. All sound effects must be created using live foley techniques. And all of this needs to be seen by the audience. Sets should be suggestive with props and small pieces. A simple rule should be applied to any production question: If the Bonus Army themselves couldn’t do it, then you shouldn’t either! THE COMPANY NARRATOR African-­‐American Man. He wears clothes that are simple and of the time period. PORTLAND A Veteran. He is handsome, rugged, and speaks with passion and energy. Although he is a leader for the cause, he is a reluctant demogauge. ISLAMODORA She is a temptress and a voice of emotion. Although she is part of the COMPANY, she is a voice coming from within PORTLAND. She wears an attractive dress, though not necessarily “high class.” ANACOSTIA The voice of a Mother. She is matronly, opinionated and stubborn. She wears a rural-­‐
style dress. When she plays PORTLAND’S mother, she perhaps wears a different hat, glasses and apron etc to distinguish her. WASHINGTON The voice of a Politician. He is very “two-­‐faced,” either spewing words of kindness or vitriol. He wears nice suits, vests, tie etc. ST. LOUIS The voice of a sympathetic Veteran. He is kind and understanding. He reaches out to help the Bonus Army when he can. While playing other figures, he should wear certain costume pieces to distinguish himself. The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 1 © Isaac Rathbone Prologue
LIGHTS- A slow and folksy version of the
famous World War I song “Over There” is
plucked on a guitar or banjo. PORTLAND
stands at center, at attention. Alone. He is
dressed in his World War I Infantry Uniform,
complete with bayonet and tin helmet. He is
a textbook image of the “Dough Boy” soldier.
The NARRATOR stands down
addresses the audience.
stage
right.
He
NARRATOR
Honoring those who've served is about more than the words
we say on Veterans Day. It's about how we treat our
veterans every single day of the year. It's about making
sure they have the care they need and the benefits that
they've earned when they come home. President Barrack
Obama.
PORTLAND relaxes and sets his bayonet down.
He wearily takes off his helmet. And during
the rest of the Prologue, changes from his
uniform into his civilian clothes. He packs
his uniform into a wooden footlocker.
ST. LOUIS enters
looks at PORTLAND.
and
stands
upstage.
He
PORTLAND
The day I marched off to war, in 1917, we were paraded
through the center of town to the train station. Through
the crowd, a Civil War Veteran over 70 years old, reached
out and grabbed me by the arm. He was wearing his tattered
old Union Blue Calvary cap; faded and weathered by time. He
grumbled, “Son, you are all heroes right now…”
ST. LOUIS & PORTLAND
“But someday, they’ll treat you like dogs.”
ANACOSTIA enters reading a letter.
NARRATOR
Peace fails when we forget that agreements, once made,
cannot be broken without a price. President Ronald Reagan.
PORTLAND
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 2 © Isaac Rathbone Dear Mother: I am not going to take any chances in sending
my money home to you. I am sorry if this will cause any
additional monetary hardships. But I will deposit my wages
with the paymaster and receive four percent interest. This
seems like counting chickens before the egg cracks,
ANACOSTIA & PORTLAND
But I will have quite a little sum when I get my discharge.
NARRATOR
The First World War produced man's first great effort in
recent times to solve by international cooperation the
problems of war. That experiment continues in our present
day
-still
imperfect,
still
short
of
its
responsibilities, but it does offer a hope that some day
nations can live in harmony. President John F. Kennedy.
ISLAMODORA enters. She approaches
and stands directly behind him.
PORTLAND
PORTLAND
Out on a patrol last night, we came across four enemy
soldiers. We were able to make quick work of them with out
bayonets. Without even a sound. And I am numb to the pains
of remorse. Because the world in which I live in, there are
only two divisionsISLAMODORA & PORTLAND
Human Beings and Germans!
WASHINGTON enters.
NARRATOR
We owe it to the dead that we redeem our promise that their
sacrifice would help bring peace to the world. We owe to
those who suffered and yet lived an obligation of national
assistance, each according to his need. President Herbert
Hoover.
PORTLAND
When I came home, I passed back through town. A lot of the
same boys my age were still there. Didn’t see a lick of
action. Their civilian work was deemed essential to the war
effort. It was the first time I ever questioned my
decision, when I was told to…
Work or Fight!
WASHINGTON & PORTLAND
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 3 © Isaac Rathbone NARRATOR
The reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn
pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s
service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of
the thing from which it has freed us and because of the
opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with
peace and justice in the councils of the nations. President
Woodrow Wilson, November 11, 1918. Armistice day.
ST. LOUIS
Cease-fire!
NARRATOR
The end of the Great War.
ANACOSTIA
The boys are coming back home!
The COMPANY celebrates. The shower the stage
with ticker tape and confetti.
NARRATOR
The end of the war to end all wars.
ANACOSTIA
It is time to welcome them with open arms!
ISLAMODORA
It is time to celebrate!
ST. LOUIS
It is time to get back to work!
WASHINGTON
It is time to return to the way things were!
PORTLAND
The way things were.
SCENE 1- PORTLAND
NARRATOR
Portland, Oregon.
ANACOSTIA, ST. LOUIS and WASHINGTON surround
PORTLAND, congratulating him. ISLAMODORA stands
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 4 © Isaac Rathbone off to the side, opposite the NARRATOR, observing
the scene. ANACOSTIA embraces him.
NARRATOR
These men were gone for a few short years.
ANACOSTIA
Because of those terrible guns, I read some boys are coming
home deaf. You’re not (shouting to his ear) YOU’RE NOT
DEAF, ARE YOU SON?
PORTLAND
I’m okay, Ma.
NARRATOR
For most returning soldiers and sailors?
ST. LOUIS
Heckuva job, boy, kickin’ those Krauts in the seat of their
pants!
NARRATOR
Things will never return to the way things were.
WASHINGTON
Your country’s proud of you.
NARRATOR
Might as well be something written
forgotten story. in
a
fable
or
old
PORTLAND
I’m happy to get back to…
PORTLAND & ISLAMODORA
The way things were.
PORTLAND gives ISLAMODORA a look. She joins
ANACOSTIA, ST. LOUIS and WASHINGTON as they
spread out around the stage.
NARRATOR
The wage earners, the breadwinners, the laborers, the
farmhands, the apprentice boys all taken away from their
homes and trades and worked for lesser wages for almost two
years. And in some cases, much longer than that.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 5 © Isaac Rathbone PORTLAND
They say there’s lots of work to be had.
NARRATOR
The roaring 20s.
ANACOSTIA
Sure is. I’ll take you down to the Grocer. He’s got a HELP
WANTED sign up. Had it there for days.
NARRATOR
High times.
PORTLAND approaches ST. LOUIS.
ST. LOUIS
No, we’re not hiring.
NARRATOR
Loud music.
PORLTAND approaches WASHINGTON.
What’s your
collateral.
WASHINGTON
collateral? Can’t
give
you
a
loan
without
NARRATOR
A decade of Heavy Weight Boxers.
ANACOSTIA
I’m not putting my house up so you can take out a loan.
NARRATOR
Home run hitters.
WASHINGTON
I can extend you a line of credit, but the interest is
going to be high.
NARRATOR
Parties. Automobiles. Money.
ST. LOUIS
I want to help out a fellow veteran, but I’m just not able
to hire right now.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 6 © Isaac Rathbone NARRATOR
A decade of opulence, surplus, and good times.
WASHINGTON
Here. (Hands PORTLAND a broom) Front steps of the bank need
to be cleared.
NARRATOR
But not for all.
The
NARRATOR
takes
up
a
dustpan
and
whiskbroom and helps PORTLAND sweep up the
old confetti and ticker tape.
PORTLAND
You from around here?
NARRATOR
You know, I’ve been all over. So much that I wouldn’t say
I’m from anywhere in particular.
PORTLAND
Go wherever the work is.
NARRATOR
You got that right. You?
PORTLAND
Portland, Oregon. Born and raised. Minus the time when I
was in France.
NARRATOR
France? You a writer? Painter?
Soldier.
PORTLAND
NARRATOR
There on business, not pleasure.
PORTLAND
You got that right. Argone. Marne. Paive.
NARRATOR
Whew! That’s some action. So you must be familiar with this
one.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 7 © Isaac Rathbone NARRATOR
sings
“Mademoiselle
from
Armentieres.” When PORTLAND joins, one may
play either ukulele or harmonica.
NARRATOR
Mademoiselle from Armetieres, parlez vous.
Mademoiselle from Armetieres, parles vous.
PORTLAND & NARRATOR
You didn’t have to know her long,
To find the reason men went wrong.
Hinky dinky Parlez Vous!
PORTLAND
On her bed, she sure was fun, Parlez Vous.
On her bed, she sure was fun, Parlez Vous.
PORTLAND & NARRATOR
On her bed, she sure was fun,
Shook her ass like a machine gun,
Hinky dinky Parlez Vous!
They both sing and laugh.
PORTLAND
How long were you over there?
NARRATOR
Too long. What was your rank?
PORTLAND
Sergeant. First class.
NARRATOR
Is that right? What’s a man of your rank doing cleaning up
garbage with colored folk? Shouldn’t you be barking at some
sorry-ass son of a bitch to clean it up?
PORTLAND
A job’s a job.
NARRATOR
Finances in a bit of bind, I imagine. Can’t pay the bills?
Mired in that spiral of bad credit since you got back?
PORTLAND is silent as he cleans. ANACOSTIA
enters.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 8 © Isaac Rathbone NARRATOR
Poverty does double damage. It affects the body & wrecks
self-respect. Right? Bills pile up. Creditors make one too
many house calls. And good homes get broken down.
PORTLAND
And not just the outside is in disrepair.
ANACOSTIA
Keep that chin of yours up. You’ll get through this tough
time.
NARRATOR
Married?
ANACOSTIA
You’re father and I had our difficult times, but the word
divorce never escaped these lips!
PORTLAND
I was. Not any more. Living with my Mother for now.
ANACOSTIA
How am I supposed to face this
embarrassed her family and ours!
community
now?
You’ve
PORTLAND
You know, it’s one thing to suffer physical aliments from
your service.
ANACOSTIA
There’s plenty of good work to be found for a man. You just
need to seek it out.
PORTLAND
Sympathy and charity is extended to men with limbs shot to
pieces. Blinded or skin burned from the gas. As it should,
of course.
ANACOSTIA
There’s no need to take to drink. No good comes of it and
it’s not legal in this country.
PORTLAND
But people don’t have the same sympathies when some of us
just aren’t quite in tune with our surroundings any more.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 9 © Isaac Rathbone ANACOSTIA
The preacher can’t help you if you don’t tell him what’s on
your mind.
For an experience
effect.
NARRATOR
so loud,
war
sure
can
have
a
silent
PORTLAND
And there is a hopelessness of having war make sense for
those folks who only understand life in peacetime.
ANACOSTIA
There is no excuse for your demeanor. This is not how my
son used to act.
NARRATOR
Like they’re fish, swimming in a creek, having some idea of
what living on land is like.
PORTLAND
When one is reeled out on to a dry bank to die in the air,
only then will they know something about it.
PORTLAND sits. He takes out a small flask
and drinks, as WASHINGTON, ST. LOUIS and
ISLAMODORA enter.
PORTLAND
And those who spent the war in the trenches were paid half
that of those that who spent the war in farms and
factories. They reward others for a job well done. A dollar
a day was not equal pay.
NARRATOR
A man good enough to shed his blood for his country is good
enough for a square deal afterward. President Teddy
Roosevelt.
PORTLAND
Banks and corporations have been repaid their war debts.
What about us? What about the soldier that fought hand to
hand? Sailed the oceans on waves of worry, while the Krauts
lurked below?
NARRATOR
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 10 © Isaac Rathbone 1924.
WASHINGTON
The World War Adjusted Compensation Act, calling for an
adjustment of wages for veterans who served, has passed in
Chambers of the Legislature.
ST. LOUIS
With enough support to override a presidential veto.
NARRATOR
Patriotism, bought and sold is no longer patriotism. We owe
no bonus to able-bodied veterans of the World War.
President Calvin Coolidge.
PORTLAND
Bonus? Hogwash! It’s an adjusted wage!
NARRATOR
However, there was a catch. Those who earned fifty dollars
or less were paid immediately.
ANACOSTIA
The last shall be served first.
NARRATOR
The rest shall receive their payment in 1945.
ANACOSTIA
The first shall be served last.
PORTLAND
It’s a slap in the face. If we make it that long!
ISLAMODORA
The Tombstone Bonus.
NARRATOR
1929. The roaring twenties end with the loudest crash in
history.
ISLAMODORA
Mellon pulled the whistle,
Hoover rang the bell.
Wall Street gave the signal,
And the Country went to Hell!
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 11 © Isaac Rathbone ISLAMODORA sings, “Nobody Knows You When
You’re
Down
&
Out.”
She,
along
with
ANACOSTIA,
ST.
LOUIS,
PORTLAND
&
the
NARRATOR put on heavy overcoats and caps.
They slowly wander the stage, keeping warm
from the cold and assemble into a breadline
across the stage.
NARRATOR
After it’s biggest party, the country woke up with its
biggest hangover. (to PORTLAND) By golly are these winters
ever wet.
PORTLAND
I’m happier to be soaking here than in France, but when you
got no prospects and nothing to eat, the rain seems to fall
a bit heavier on your shoulders.
No one was working.
NARRATOR
WASHINGTON
No one is working.
ANACOSTIA
No one is working.
ISLAMODORA
No one is working.
ST. LOUIS
No one is working.
PORTLAND
No one is working. Not even the veterans.
WASHINGTON
They can’t afford to pay their bills.
ST. LOUIS
They can’t afford to start a new business.
ANACOSTIA
They can’t afford to feed their families.
ISLAMODORA
They can’t afford to take a girl to the moving pictures.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 12 © Isaac Rathbone PORTLAND
Of course, don’t tell that to President Hoover.
PORTLAND joins the breadline at the end.
WASHINGOTN stands on the other end, with a
pot and spoon, serving them.
WASHINGTON
We are in sight of the day when Poverty will be banished
from this nation.
PORTLAND
We’ve fallen far down into the valley of despair.
WASHINGTON
The worst effect of the crash upon unemployment will pass
in the next 60 days.
PORTLAND
Driven into blind alleys from which there seems no escape.
WASHINGTON
No one is actually starving.
PORTLAND
Nothing to look forward to, except the shoulders of the exserviceman standing in front of him in the breadline.
A newspaper gets passed along the line and
handed to PORTLAND. The NARRATOR reads over
his shoulder.
NARRATOR
1932.
PORTLAND
Reading newspapers, picked out of public trashcans.
He crosses downstage as he reads. WASHINGTON
puts down the pot and “grandstands” on it.
NARRATOR
Extensions of credit to foreign nations, loans to railroad
& large corporations.
PORTLAND
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 13 © Isaac Rathbone But nothing for the vets. The men who fought and bled for
the country where they now freeze and starve.
NARRATOR
But there are some men in Washington looking to help.
WASHINGTON
It is our responsibility to accelerate payment to the
veterans of the Great War. And I refuse to use the
degrading term of bonus. It is not a bonus, nor a free
handout. It’s an honest debt that America must pay back. I
know it’s an election year. So you can imagine that some of
my colleagues are just playing football with the bill.
Passing it back and forth to make it look like their
sympathies lay with you, the starving vet in the street.
But some of us honest politicians are looking to pass a
bill that will…
WASHINGTON & PORTLAND
Pay the Veterans now!
PORTLAND joins WASHINGTON, pushing him off
his pot.
PORTLAND
I say, we march all the way from Portland to Washington and
demand our payment! And we won’t leave the Capital until
the checks are in our hands!
After a pause, the COMPANY laughs him at.
NARRATOR
The right to be heard does not automatically include the
right to be taken seriously. Vice President Hubert
Humphrey.
PORTLAND starts
audience.
to
“work
the
crowd”
and
PORTLAND
This is not comedy! Highly organized lobbies are producing
results, regardless of the justice or injustice of demands.
There is little difference between hunger in Washington &
hunger here in Portland. We may not have the money, but we
have the numbers. There are thousands of vets just like you
and me: average men, with the same faults, the same desires
and the same spirit that marched with pride in these
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 14 © Isaac Rathbone streets in 1917. Three hundred men who speak are louder
than a million who stay silent!
The NARRATOR then steps forward and puts on
a garrison cap.
NARRATOR
I’ll go.
PORTLAND and the NARRATOR begin to organize.
PORTLAND
We’ll break down into companies.
Each can
Sergeants.
NARRATOR
commanded by
be
Captains,
Lieutenants
and
PORTLAND
Each man must swear his allegiance to the Constitution and
the Flag.
NARRATOR
If we can’t go to Washington like a group of gentlemen,
citizens and soldiers, then we don’t go at all.
PORTLAND
No panhandling or begging!
attacking the government!
And
no
indulgence
in
talk
NARRATOR
No drinking.
PORTLAND
Right. No drinking. We have no Quartermaster to act as a
Fairy God Mother. So we’ve got to be diligent with keeping
track of our finances.
ANACOSTIA
enters,
though
speaks with the NARRATOR.
PORTLAND
only
ANACOSTIA
So you’re going?
NARRATOR
How much have we got?
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 15 © Isaac Rathbone PORTLAND
Thirty dollars.
With three
dollars.
ANACOSTIA
hundred men? You
can’t
do
much
with
thirty
PORTLAND
In each town, we’ll hold a parade and pass a hat.
ANACOSTIA
What are you going to do for food?
NARRATOR
Plenty of us know how to hunt and fish.
PORTLAND
We can contact American Legion companies and VFW chapters.
See if they can donate some meals along the way.
ANACOSTIA
Washington is so very far away from home. Even the Good
Lord couldn’t turn thirty dollars into train fare for three
hundred.
PORTLAND
If these arrangements fail, those men will grumble as much
as old maiden ladies on a cook tour.
NARRATOR
But with more profanity. What about the men with families?
Are you
behind?
asking
ANACOSTIA
them to leave
their
wives
and
children
PORTLAND
Hell, as long as they follow our rules, they can bring
their families along.
ANACOSTIA
Well, I’m staying right here.
PORTLAND turns toward
NARRATOR steps away.
ANACOSTIA
as
the
PORTLAND
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 16 © Isaac Rathbone I didn’t ask you to come!
He turns to leave.
ANACOSTIA
You didn’t pack too much.
PORTLAND
I don’t own too much.
ANACOSTIA
I remember the last time I saw you off. It just about broke
my heart.
PORTLAND
No pressed uniform or clean boots this time.
ANACOSTIA
And now it’s not just the clothes that have got the extra
wrinkles.
PORTLAND
It’s a different war I’m
there’ll be no bayonets.
marching
off
to.
This
time
ANACOSTIA
You make sure to write me.
PORTLAND
I will. As soon as I get to Washington.
ANACOSTIA
Here. Take my Bible.
She hands him a small Bible.
ANACOSTIA
Now it’s not just a keepsake! You make sure to read that
everyday.
PORTLAND notices something in the pages of
the Bible. He opens it and takes out a small
collection of dollar bills that ANACOSTIA
has placed inside.
Safe travels, son.
ANACOSTIA
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 17 © Isaac Rathbone She turns away from him and joins the
COMPANY upstage. They use their makeshift
instruments to create the look and sounds of
a train.
NARRATOR
Most were strangers, but all former brothers in arms. The
lumberjack stood with the clerk. The clerk with the
prizefighter. The Prizefighter with the Rail Road man. The
Rail Road man with the sign painter, and so on.
PORTLAND
We just got word from our transportation committee at the
rail yard. We’ve been granted permission to load into some
empty cattle cars. All right, let’s get a move on. Sorry,
no dining accommodations.
NARRATOR
The cattle who escaped the slaughter- America’s Veterans.
ST. LOUIS
The dung hasn’t even been cleaned out of most of them.
PORTLAND
An American cattle car smells a damn sight better than a
French horse car. And this time, we know where we’re
headed.
ISLAMODORA
PORTLAND.
enters
and
stands
behind
WASHINGTON
Now wait a god damn minute! I ain’t had a steady job in 2
years and I may be up to my ankles in pig shit, but there
ain’t a chance in hell I’m riding with a coon!
PORTLAND
Now you wait a god damn minute!
discharge papers.
These
men
have
legit
ANACOSTIA
Sir, there are children with us. It’s not fitting for them
to be associating with Negros.
Any
man
who
PORTLAND
served…any
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE man,
18 is
entitled
to
his
© Isaac Rathbone compensation. And we’ll fight for everyone just the same.
Regardless if they are Catholic or Methodist or Jewish or
Negro. And if you have a problem with my friend and our
fellow soldier, then…
ISLAMODORA
Then what? You’ll fight ‘em over it?
PORTLAND
Then I suggest you find yourself an
transportation.
The COMPANY enters
PORTLAND begins to
tension.
alternate means of
into the
sing to
cattle car.
relieve the
PORTLAND
(Sung to the melody of “Mademoiselle from Armentieres”)
We’re going to ride the B&O, parlez-vous.
COMPANY
We’re going to ride the B&O, parlez-vous.
We’re going to ride the B&O.
The Good Lord, he told us so.
Hinkey Dinkey Parlez-vous.
NARRATOR
Across the mountains and into the Midwest, the Bonus Army
traveled through parts of the country ravaged by the
Depression.
ST. LOUIS
You seein’ all those hitchhikers and folks in them trucks
headed west? Someone’s got to tell ‘em that the California
Gold Rush is looooong gone.
ANACOSTIA
My grandparents once owned a farm in Kansas. I remember
running through fields of wheat so yellow, it almost hurt
the eyes. Now…dust.
WASHINGTON
Nothing but cobwebs and old ghosts in some of the houses.
Can’t see why the banks would want these properties.
ISLAMODORA
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 19 © Isaac Rathbone So much dead cattle by the tracks. Food that could have
been provided to many hungry people, now just feeding the
flies. The bankers and the businessmen don’t care, though.
They’re still getting their share of steak and butter for
their bread. Ain’t that right?
PORTLAND
Now let’s all put our voices to good use and quit grumbling
about the dreary state of things. Anybody know a good tune
we can sing?
WASHINGTON
Y’all know the Wabash Cannonball?
The COMPANY plays and sings “The Wabash
Cannonball” with energy and joy, taking
their minds off the conditions they are in.
The train suddenly comes to a screeching
halt, stopping their song.
What’s going?
We’ve stopped.
PORTLAND
NARRATOR
PORTLAND
Why? We’re not even close to Washington. Where are we?
The COMPANY exits off the train.
The March of the Bonus Army SAMPLE 20 © Isaac Rathbone