ON OUR WAY
TO THE FAIR
By Bill Savage
[email protected]
© 2015
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
Synopsis
ACT I
In Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1939, Walter Dudek, a young coal truck driver from the
poor immigrant town of South Patch, south of the city, enters a lunchroom to persuade his friend
Charlie Kollar to accompany him, his girlfriend, and two of his sisters to the World’s Fair in New York.
Later that day, Walter talks to his sister Emma and her alcoholic boyfriend, Harry Konopki.
Unbeknownst to Walter, Emma and Harry are not going to the fair; they plan to elope to Niagara Falls
to escape the poverty of South Patch. After Walter leaves, Emma tells Harry about the guilt she has felt
over the years as a result of a promise she made to her mother, a promise she now has to break to get
out. Later, Sophie and Dottie Dudek, Emma’s two sisters, are joined by Emma, who informs Sophie she
won’t be going to the fair, and asks Sophie why she seems to want to be the family’s black sheep.
Emma tells Dottie about her plans to elope.
ACT II
At the train station in Scranton, Harry and Emma inform everybody of their plans, and then head for
the train to Niagara Falls. On the train to New York, once the dust settles, Dottie and Charlie meet and
she tells him about her dreams and her life in South Patch. After an Entr’acte signifying their day at the
fair, the group of four (including Walter’s girlfriend, Martha) talk about the fair. The men retreat to the
club car to express their fears about the gloomy world situation. Dottie, in a dream sequence, talks with
Emma about what the future holds for the family, and how Dottie will fulfill Emma’s promise.
ACT III
In 1964, a crippled Walter Dudek lives in a VA hospital, having lost his legs on D-Day. Emma, now a
widow, visits him and tells him about what drove her to leave in 1939, and about her promise. Later,
Dottie visits Sophie, now herself virtually a cripple and living alone in a small South Patch apartment.
She finally gets Sophie to disclose the reason why she has been such a nasty woman all her life, and
comes to understand that Sophie too was a victim of the previous generation’s actions. After an
Entr’acte signifying the 1964 World’s Fair, Emma and Dottie end a day at the fair, where each discloses
to the other the secret she knows about the family – Emma’s promise, and Sophie’s revelation to Dottie.
They talk about visiting the next World’s Fair in New York 25 years later. An off-screen coda states
there never was another fair in New York in the 20th century.
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION LIST
Walter Dudek
Charlie Kollar
Emma Dudek
Dottie Dudek
Sophie Dudek
Harry Konopki
Martha Urbanski
A nurse
A conductor
male
male
female
female
female
male
female
female
male
spoken
spoken
spoken
spoken
spoken
spoken
spoken
spoken
walk-on
24/49
23
30/55
21/46
28/53
30
24
25
30
lead
supporting
lead
supporting
lead
supporting
supporting
supporting
supporting
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
SETTINGS
ACT 1
Scene 1: A lunchroom in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a Wednesday summer morning, 1939.
Scene 2: The back porch of the Dudek home in South Patch, a poor town south of Scranton. That
afternoon.
Scene 3: The same porch. That evening.
ACT II
Scene 1: The railroad station in Scranton, that Saturday morning.
Scene 2: A passenger car en route to New York, moments later.
Scene 3: A passenger car leaving New York, that evening.
Scene 4: The club car of the same train.
Scene 5: The passenger car.
ACT III
Scene 1: A VA Hospital in Scranton, a Wednesday summer morning, 1964.
Scene 2: Sophie Dudek's apartment, South Patch, that evening.
Scene 3: Outside the 1964 New York World's Fair, that Saturday evening
I-1 Page 1
ACT I
Scene 1: A lunchroom, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1939.
(Lights up, late on a Wednesday morning in the
summer of 1939. Charlie Kollar, the counter man, is
cleaning up from a previous customer when Walter
Dudek, an athletic-looking coal truck driver and a
friend of his, enters.)
CHARLIE
(Looking up)
Well, well, if it ain’t my old pal Dudek. Long time no see, there, bud!
WALTER
(Sitting down at the counter)
Aww, c'mon … it ain’t been that long, Charlie!
CHARLIE
I guess it ain’t … so anyway, what brings you into town, big fella?
(They both laugh. Charlie pours him a coffee.)
WALTER
Aww … ya know. Couple different things. They had me out in the boonies make
deliveries there for a while, but now they got me back in the city, so I figured I'd
stop by and see my old pal Charlie!
CHARLIE
Must be nice to get back into town again.
WALTER
You shred it, wheat!
(They both laugh)
CHARLIE
So how's the family, Walter?
WALTER
(Waves his hand dismissively)
The folks? Aww, they never get outta South Patch. Hell, the old lady barely ever
leaves her room. And the old man, well, he’s always gripin’ about something or
other … mine owners, unions, all that crap. Can’t blame him, though. I mean, I
think if my insides was all busted up like his, I’d be grouchy, too.
CHARLIE
Yeah, he's one of them fellas that got busted up in the mines, ain’t he?
WALTER
Yeah, he’s all ruptured and can’t barely walk. Been that way a couple a years now.
Went to work one day, got himself hurt and … well, they pulled up with a horse
and wagon, dumped him on the porch, and said they needed me to go to the mine
the next morning to take his place.
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 2
CHARLIE
And that's how you got on the coal truck?
WALTER
Well, I was in the mines for a while when it turned out one of the fellas I played
ball with in South Patch had an uncle who was drivin’ a coal truck at the time, and
he heard I wanted to get outta the mines, so he went and told the supervisor he
needed a helper. Thank God for that.
CHARLIE
Yeah, that mine work is rough, ain't it. But anyways, did you come in here to tell
me your life story, or are you gonna order something?
(Walter fakes taking a swing at him and laughs.)
WALTER
A real wisenheimer, you are, Kollar … All right, let’s see. How about a grilled
cheese … little tomato inside … slip a little bacon in there, too?
CHARLIE
Okay.
WALTER
And tell ya what … how about you burn the edges a little?
CHARLIE
Sure thing, boss.
(Charlie turns to yell the order.)
Hey Chet, gimme a GC, tomato and bacon, burn the edges!
(He turns back toward Walter.)
Let’s hope he gets it right. You know Chet, dontcha?
WALTER
Yeah … I know Chet.
CHARLIE
Yeah, so you know how Chet is … you gotta tell him things a couple of times
before he gets it right!
(They both laugh.)
CHARLIE
So anyway, Walter, what else brings you in? Besides Chet’s cookin’, that is.
WALTER
Well, ya know what, Charlie, it's funny, 'cause I was meanin' to ask you somethin'.
CHARLIE
Oh yeah?
WALTER
Yeah! Ya know, Charlie, I got this gal named Martha –
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 3
CHARLIE
(Chuckles and nods)
Oh yeah, I know about Martha.
WALTER
What’s that supposed to mean?
CHARLIE
Well, jeepers, Walter, everybody who’s been to a dance at the Town Hall has seen
Martha. She’s only the best-lookin’ doll for about twenty miles around!
WALTER
Well, yeah, she is … and youse all better remember whose gal she is, too!
CHARLIE
Yeah, I know –
WALTER
Anyways … Martha, bein' a city girl here, she's … well, she’s a little restless, ya
know? She thinks she’s gonna be a big movie star some day and the other day, she
pulls out a copy of Life magazine, and she shows me some pictures of that
World’s Fair they got goin’ in New York City … you been hearin' about that,
Charlie?
CHARLIE
Well, sure, who ain’t heard about the World’s Fair?
WALTER
Yeah, well, Martha sure has! And she got it into her head that she wants to go see
it.
CHARLIE
Uh-oh! That’s gonna cost somebody some cabbage!
WALTER
Yeah, that’s what I thought at first. But it really ain’t that bad, actually. I been able
to sock some cabbage away after I hand some of it over to the folks, and I got
more than enough to take the train to New York for the fair.
CHARLIE
That’s cause you ain’t a lunchroom counter man!
WALTER
Yeah, and I ain’t plannin’ on becomin’ one, either. But gettin’ back to what I was
sayin’, Martha has been buggin’ me to go to the World’s Fair for a couple of
weeks now. But there’s been kind of a bug in the ointment with that.
CHARLIE
What’s that?
(Charlie puts the sandwich on the counter. Walter
looks at it, looks around Charlie toward the back,
and doesn’t eat it just yet.)
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 4
WALTER
Well, ya gotta understand my point of view here, Charlie. Even though this is
gonna cost me some dough, it’s a pretty good deal from my end. I get to go to
New York with my gal … and like you said yourself, she’s a real looker.
CHARLIE
She sure is.
WALTER
So we’re talkin’, what, ten, twelve hours by ourselves? No folks, no sisters or
brothers. During that time, odds would seem pretty could that a fella could get a
little lovin’ in there, ya know?
(Charlie chuckles and nods.)
Of course, just as I’m thinkin’ this, Martha’s old lady comes along and throws
cold water on the whole thing!
CHARLIE
Uh-oh!
WALTER
Yep … her old lady gets wind of the whole thing, and she decides she don’t want
her daughter goin’ to the big city alone with a single man. Which kinda frosts me
because I been actin’ like a choir boy around her folks … but anyway, that’s what
the old lady says. So I’m thinkin’, “Well, that’s the end of that plan!”
(Walter picks up his sandwich, then pauses.)
But then, the other day, she comes up to me and … now, you know, she don’t
speak English too good, just like your folks or my folks, so it was all in broken
English.
(He begins to imitate the woman’s Eastern
European accent.)
But she comes up to me and she says, “Now Walter, wouldn't it be nice if one of
your sisters goes along with you and Martha to New York? Just so nothing goes
out there, you know?”
CHARLIE
Well, you do got a lot of sisters, dontcha?
WALTER
Yeah, but I wasn’t plannin’ on needin’ a chaperone. But anyways, the old lady
won’t take no for an answer. Either I get somebody else to go with us, or we don’t
go.
CHARLIE
So which one of your sisters are you takin’? Not the one who was gonna be a
nun?
WALTER
You mean Sophie … well, yeah, she did go in to become a nun, but she quit right
off. Now she just argues with everybody all the time. But no, she ain't goin'.
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 5
CHARLIE
Ain't you got an older sister, too?
WALTER
I was getting’ to that … You’re talkin’ about Emma, the oldest … well, the oldest
one of our family who survived, anyways. She sorta runs things down there, ya
know. And really, she's a great gal. Smart, good-lookin', if she had a chance to get
outta there once in a while.
CHARLIE
Didn't you tell me she had a boyfriend? That –
(Charlie puts his hand to his mouth to suggest a
drinking motion.)
WALTER
Yeah, Harry –
(Walter makes the same motion.)
Anyways, Emma don’t get out much. About all she does is go down to the beer
garden once in a while to make sure Harry gets home okay. She comes out to my
ballgames once in a while. It’s too bad, ya know? If Emma grew up in … say …
New York … or even here … anywhere but in South Patch … I’d betcha she’d be
a real successful dame.
CHARLIE
Yeah, there ain’t much happenin’ down where you live.
WALTER
There ain't nothin' happenin down there! Except old-timers sittin' around bitchin'
about the old country, and fellas like Harry, sittin' in the beer garden four, five
hours a night. The funny thing is, I like Harry … at least when he ain’t stinkin’
drunk. And I’d like to see Emma have a good time. So I figured, as long as
Martha's old lady wanted somebody to go with us, why not those two? I even said
I’d pick up the train fare … if Harry could scrape up enough dough for the rest.
CHARLIE
So did she take you up on it?
WALTER
That’s the thing. What do you think she says to me? She says, “Well, Walter, I
don’t think I should run off and leave things unattended down here … unless …”
CHARLIE
Uh-huh –
WALTER
She says she’ll go if … and only if … I’ll let Dottie come with us.
CHARLIE
Dottie?
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 6
WALTER
Yep. Our youngest sister … well, the youngest one still alive, anyways. We had
one more after, but she died young of consumption, you know? So anyways, that
left Dottie the youngest. She’s a cute kid … well, hell, she ain't really a kid no
more! She just turned twenty-one. Smartest one of the bunch. A real bug’s ear.
(Charlie stares at Walter, who has some of the
sandwich.)
CHARLIE
So whatcha getting’ at here, bud?
(Walter dabs a napkin at his mouth and takes a sip
of coffee.)
WALTER
Well, let’s do the arithmetic, pal. If I can get Emma to go, then Martha can go. But
Emma won’t go unless Dottie goes.
CHARLIE
Yeah?
WALTER
Now, Emma don’t want Dottie to feel like a killjoy. So she says, “Don’t you know
some fella that can come with us, so’s he can keep her company? I mean,
somebody we can keep an eye on, cause we ain’t gonna let nobody try to make a
play for Dottie.”
CHARLIE
(Backs away from the counter)
Aw, c’mon Walter! You askin me to take your sister? … Well, she don’t sound too
… Now just wait a cotton-pickin’ minute! Who’s gonna pay for all this?
WALTER
Take it easy, Charlie! … Sheesh! … First of all, I’ll pay for the train fare ... for
everybody. That’s six people! Do you think you can scrape up enough cabbage to
pay for maybe two tickets to get into the fair? I heard it’s about a buck to get in.
Ain’t you got two bucks to spare for a free trip to New York, and a chance to
return a big, big favor somebody did for you a couple of weeks ago?
(Charlie shrugs, thinks a moment, then begins to chuckle)
CHARLIE
I … I suppose! Sheesh! I guess it serves me right for shootin’ craps with them
West Side boys … Okay, you got me!
WALTER
Well, don’t make it sound like you’s goin’ to the chair! All you gotta do is show
up Saturday at the train station, talk nice to my little sister, keep your greasyspoon-cookin’ hands off her, and you get a free trip to New York. And that’ll keep
Emma happy, which will just so happen to free me up to sneak off for a few hours
with Martha … which is the whole point of this thing to begin with!
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-1 Page 7
CHARLIE
You got it all planned, don'tcha?
WALTER
You shred it, wheat! This’ll get me in like Flynn with my gal, and, hey, Charlie,
just look around you! I mean, yeah, you don't live in South Patch … but this ain't
exactly New York City either! And I’m tellin ya, our Dottie, she’s a fun kid. You
never know, right? You never know?
CHARLIE
You’re sure she ain’t the crazy one?
WALTER
Naw, this one is one smart kid. Sorta the dreamer type, in a way. But remember,
she ain’t been out of South Patch in her life. Walkin’ to church, goin’ to see me
play ball, that’s been the extent of her travels. That and goin' to the drug store in
town … but anyways … she’s gonna look at you, she’s gonna see a fella who’s
been to the C.C. Camp in Virginia … She’s gonna think you’re some kinda world
traveler! So whatcha say, kid?
(Charlie shakes his head and laughs.)
CHARLIE
Yeah, yeah. So we're doin' this on Saturday, right?
WALTER
Yep … I’ll get everybody up here somehow from South Patch, and we’ll meet you
at the train station at around seven in the morning. You’ll be back home by
midnight. And you’ll make … well, you’ll make at least one of us very happy!
CHARLIE
(Starts to clean up Walter’s dishes)
Yeah, well, it’s the least I can do.
(Walter gets up to leave. They shake hands. Walter
leans over and pinches Charlie’s cheek, then
shadow boxes him before heading for the door.)
WALTER
That's the spirit, buddy boy! You and me, and Dottie and Martha, and Emma and
… well, if we can keep Harry sober for a day … we’re on our way, buddy. We’re
all on our way … to the World’s Fair!
(Exit. Lights out.)
ON OUR WAY TO THE FAIR
I-2 Page 1
Scene 2: The back porch of the Dudek home in South Patch, a poor town
south of Scranton. That afternoon.
(Lights up on the same day, late afternoon. Walter
Dudek approaches the back porch of a rundown
house in South Patch, a poor, mostly immigrant
town. The house is made of wood, but the paint has
faded. Chickens can be heard in the background.
Walter looks more worn out and dirtier than he was
earlier in the day. He sits on the porch and lights a
cigarette. His older sister Emma comes out of the
house, carrying a broom. She is wearing a faded,
but clean, old dress. Her hair is tied back.)
EMMA
Hey Walter, welcome home. Looks like you had a long day. Don’t forget to leave
me your dirty clothes so’s I can wash `em.
WALTER
(Doesn’t look at her at first)
What’s the hurry? I can wear `em again tomorrow like this.
EMMA
(Sits down next to him and stares at him)
Now, now … it don’t work that way! Just `cause this family ain’t got no money,
that don't mean you gotta go to work in dirty clothes, does it?
(She pinches Walter on the cheek. He smiles and
puts out his cigarette.)
WALTER
I guess not. Just been a long day, that’s all. Made all my deliveries in town today,
plus I went and talked to that doctor about Pa. He said he’s either gotta wear the
truss or suffer even worse than he does now. So there ain't much nobody can do
about it.
EMMA
(Smirks and shakes her head)
Well, he hates that truss, so I guess we gotta listen to him moanin’ all the time.
WALTER
(Looks at her and smiles)
Yep. Well, at least we'll get one day not havin' to hear it.
EMMA
Whatcha mean, “We”? You mean you and Martha?
I-2 Page 2
WALTER
Well, yeah, but also you and Harry.
EMMA
(Stands back up)
Now wait a minute … You know what I told you about that!
WALTER
Yeah, yeah, I know.
EMMA
So you startin’ to see things my way?
(They both sit and look outward for a few seconds.)
WALTER
Em … It ain't that I didn’t see things your way. I just wasn’t quite sure I wanted to
go through with it. But I talked to my friend Charlie in town today, and he said
he’ll tag along and keep Dottie company this weekend so’s I don’t have to leave
you and Harry behind.
EMMA
Yeah, I bet that’s what he said! You probably had to do a little arm-twistin’ to get
him to go along with it.
WALTER
Not really. He just didn’t think he could afford it. But I told him I’d pay their train
fare, and he was all ears.
(Emma paces a little bit.)
EMMA
Um … this Charlie … What’s he do again?
WALTER
He works in a lunchroom downtown. He’s not a bad guy, though. Sometimes he
gets in with the wrong crowd and –
EMMA
He calls you to help him out?
WALTER
Sometimes.
(They both laugh)
EMMA
How old is he anyway?
WALTER
Charlie? Year or two younger than me, I think.
EMMA
Ain’t got no girlfriend?
(Walter laughs and is mildly embarrassed.)
I-2 Page 3
WALTER
I don’t know … I ain’t never seen him with one. But I don’t follow him around
twenty-four hours a day, neither. He didn’t say nothin’ about that when I made
this proposition to him today. I mean, if the guy had a steady gal, I don’t think
he’d have gone for my deal. I mean, I was pretty clear … I even told him he was
gonna keep his greasy hands off my sister.
EMMA
Greasy?
WALTER
Yeah, you know, he works at a lunch counter.
EMMA
Oh … well, it sounds like you laid it on the line for him. I just hope –
(Walter gets up and puts his hand on her shoulder.)
WALTER
Em … trust me, this guy ain’t doin’ nothin’ with Dottie or anybody else except
goin’ to New York.
EMMA
And he ain’t gonna disappear with her somewhere? He ain’t gonna run off and we
never see him again?
WALTER
Now why would he do somethin' like that. He knows better than that.
EMMA
Well, okay, I guess you know what you’re doin’.
WALTER
So, we all set then? I mean, is there any doubt now that you’re gonna go? I gotta
tell Martha’s old lady you’re gonna be chaperonin’ us.
EMMA
Well I don’t know about that!
WALTER
Well, at least I can tell her that you’re gonna go!
EMMA
Yeah … sure … assumin’ Harry is okay to go … we … we'll be there Saturday
morning.
WALTER
He better be okay to go! Anyways, I ain’t gonna tell Martha’s mother that Harry is
comin’. That might not set too well, ya know? I mean, me personally, I ain’t got
no problems with Harry when he’s … well, when he’s –
EMMA
Yeah, Walter, I know … when he’s sober.
(Walter looks at her and nods.)
I-2 Page 4
WALTER
It’s just that … ya know … everybody in town –
EMMA
Yeah, I know. Everybody is aware that Harry’s a drunk. I can’t blame ya, Walter. I
wouldn’t say nothin’ to her either.
(Walter lights another cigarette. Emma picks her
head up and forces a smile. She puts her hand on
Walter's.)
Listen, I know this is all kinda getting’ to be a bigger deal than you wanted, but
trust me, it’s gonna work out.
WALTER
Yeah, I mean … it’ll be a good time.
(Emma smiles at him.)
EMMA
Sure it will! And I’m really glad you’re gonna take Dottie. I mean, Walter … you
can go out and play ball, drive a coal truck, do whatever. But for us girls, there are
only two ways outta here. One is to find a man, marry him, and spend the rest of
your life makin’ sure your kids don’t end up like most of the people around here.
(Walter nods)
And the second way … well, it’s what happens to a lot of people around here …
including to our baby sister that was born right after Dottie. You get consumption
or you take sick some other way, and they send you up to the mountains, and you
die. For us girls, it’s one or the other.
WALTER
Well, there is a third way. You could do what Sophie tried to do.
EMMA
Yeah, well, that ain't for everybody, either. And besides … you saw how far that
went.
(They both giggle. Emma gets up and takes a deep
breath, then puts her hands on her hips and stares at
Walter.)
Them sisters don’t know how lucky they were, though. Imagine bein’ cooped up
with her in a convent? It's bad enough bein' cooped up with her here!
(They both laugh again.)
WALTER
Yep, I see your point, Em. I wish it weren't like that, but it is. I guess maybe that’s
why I wanted Dottie to go on this trip. I mean, Sophie, she’s a lost cause –
EMMA
Oh no, Walter, there ain’t no way anybody would wanna go to New York with
Sophie!
I-2 Page 5
WALTER
That's for sure. But anyways, Em, here’s the plan. We all gotta get up real early
Saturday so we can get to the train depot by about seven. I’m gonna borrow a
wagon off one of the fellas at work and drive us there. So you gotta make sure
Dottie and you are ready, and that Harry is … well, I'll leave Harry's state up to
you. I’ll take care of me and Martha.
EMMA
I promise Harry’s gonna be there … in fact, he might just surprise you how perky
he’s gonna be.
WALTER
At that hour in the moring? I’ll believe that when I see it. Now, in the meantime,
how you gonna square all this with Ma and Pa … not to mention Sophie?
EMMA
I ain’t worried about Ma and Pa no more. If Ma ain’t gonna do nothin’ but go to
church and then crawl back up to her bedroom, then I ain't gonna get her
permission for nothin! And what’s Pa got to say about anythin’ these days,
anyways?
WALTER
Actually, I’ll tell Pa. He ain't gonna care. If it ain't got nothin' to do with the old
country or the mines … or that rupture of his … he ain't gonna care. But what
about Sophie?
EMMA
I'll deal with her. Like always.
WALTER
(Laughs)
You can handle it.
EMMA
Yeah … that’s me. “You can handle it, Emma!”
WALTER
I can hear her now!
(He imitates Sophie whining)
“I ain’t never been to New York!”… “I never get to go anywhere!”
(Emma bends over laughing.)
EMMA
I’m … I’m sorry … but that’s so darned funny! You got her down to a tee, Walter!
(They both laugh, then Walter puts his arm around her.)
WALTER
Em, everything’s gonna be okay. We know how much we appreciate you around
here. Don’t know why you do it, but we’re glad you do what you do. And I don’t
know what we’d do if you suddenly weren’t here no more.
I-2 Page 6
EMMA
Now that don’t sound much like Sophie, Walter!
WALTER
Nope, that was all me. And I'd hate to find out what would happen if you –
(Walter stops and begins to laugh as he appears to
see somebody coming toward them from offstage.
Emma turns around and her eyes get big too. In the
background, a man is singing in a slurred voice.)
HARRY
“Ah, sweet miss-tery of life … at last I found thee...”
(Walter starts to laugh as Emma shakes her head
and sits on the porch.)
“Ah, at last I've found the secret of it all!”
WALTER
Well, if it ain't Nelson Eddy!
EMMA
Ttust me, it ain't!
(Harry Konopki stumbles toward them. He is
dressed in work clothes that are rumpled, with the
shirttail hanging out. His hair is messed and he
obviously has been drinking. He heads toward
Walter with his hand extended. His speech is
slurred.)
HARRY
Well, if it ain’t my old pal Dudek … How's it goin’, you big coal cracker, you?
WALTER
(Reaches out to shake his hand)
That’s Mister Dudek to you, Harry. I swear, I never know whether it’s better to run
into you on your way to the beer garden or when you’re on your way back! Was
you the one buyin’ the drinks today?
HARRY
(Pretends to rummage through his pockets)
Tell the truth, I don't know! But I know somebody was!
WALTER
Busy down there tonight?
HARRY
Oh, yeah! Old man Kuharski was givin' me a hard time about … uh … well, he
was givin’ me a hard time about somethin’, that's for sure!
WALTER
Probably your bill. And I bet you didn't say nothin’ back, right?
I-2 Page 7
HARRY
Now Walter, you know me! I got great respect for my elders … especially that old
son of a bitch!
(Emma is doing a slow burn, but she’s used to this
display.)
EMMA
Watch the language, Harry!
(Harry turns and moves toward Emma, who turns
away when he tries to hug her.)
You stay over there … I ain't walkin’ around the rest of the night smellin’ like I
just got outta the brewery!
HARRY
(To Walter)
See how she treats me?
WALTER
Well, you kinda brought it on yourself. Then again, I’ve seen you worse than this.
So anyways, whatcha doin’ over here, Harry? Ain’t you ready to go home and
sleep it off yet?
HARRY
Aww … I ain’t gotta … No, Walter, I came over to see your sister.
WALTER
Which one?
HARRY
(Points at Emma)
This one here! I ain't comin' around to see that crazy one!
EMMA
Now wait a minute! You may be drunk, Harry Konopki, but you ain't gonna get
away with callin’ one a my sisters crazy!
WALTER
Yeah, Harry! You gotta be part of the family to do that! And I'm gonna bet you
ain't got no diamond ring in your pocket there!
(Harry and Emma both stare at Walter. Harry turns
to Emma.)
HARRY
Well, you know I meant that I came to see you, Sweetie!
(Emma waves him off and gets up, standing off to
the side with her arms folded. Walter gives Harry a
cigarette and lights one for each of them.)
I-2 Page 8
WALTER
Harry, if I didn’t know you better, I’d get mad at you. But I know that tomorrow
mornin’, when they line up for work, you’re gonna end up doin’ the work of three
other fellas. I don’t know how you do it, but I seen it done enough times to know
you do.
(Harry smiles. Walter approaches Emma.)
Anyways, Em, I guess I better go get changed and get ready to go over to
Martha’s for a while. I think everything’s all set for what we were talkin’ about for
Saturday.
(Walter turns to Harry.)
Now you’re gonna be up and at `em and rarin’ to go on Saturday morning, eh,
buddy?
(Harry seems to get more serious. Emma stares at him.)
HARRY
Well … yeah … You betcha, big fella. I'll be ready to go on Saturday. Wouldn’t
miss it for the world.
WALTER
Like in the World's Fair?
(Harry shrugs as Emma takes a deep breath.)
HARRY
Uh … yeah … the World's Fair.
(For a moment, all three go silent and look at each other.)
WALTER
And don’t forget Harry, I gotta get you and Emma back here in good shape
Saturday night … Can’t be goin’ to Mass all groggy-eyed, ya know?
EMMA
Yeah Harry, you know … Mass … on Sunday. We gotta make it to mass on
Sunday.
(Walter looks puzzled, but hugs Emma and shakes
Harry's hand, then exits. Harry and Emma sit down
on the porch.)
HARRY
So, Sweetie Pie, I guess you didn't let the cat outta the bag then?
EMMA
No, I didn't. But … I don’t know, Harry, maybe I should have.
HARRY
Well, he’ll know soon enough. When we’re on our way to Niagara Falls.
I-2 Page 9
EMMA
I know, but I’m worried about how I’m gonna tell Dottie, never mind Walter.
Should I tell her before we go, or after?
HARRY
I ain't so sure you should risk it, but that's up to you. Were you thinkin’ of tellin’
her tonight?
(They both pause and look to the distance. Harry
smokes continuously.)
EMMA
I’m thinkin’ about it. I just feel like I gotta tell somebody!
HARRY
Maybe. But one thing’s for sure. You … I mean, we … we gotta get outta here
now. We hung around here way too long for our own good, Em, and you just can’t
keep dealin’ with your Ma and your Pa and that crazy sister of yours. And you just
gotta have faith that everybody you’re leavin’ behind can handle things around
here, at least until they get married off and get outta here themselves.
EMMA
I wish it was that easy.
(Harry lights a cigarette, his hands shaking.)
HARRY
How come it ain’t, then, Em?
EMMA
Whaddya mean?
(Harry, who seems to be sobering up a bit, leans closer to her.)
HARRY
I mean, why you agonizin’ over it the way you are? You done your share around
here … you been doin' the work of two or three gals.
(Emma seems worried and Harry takes her hand.)
What’s wrong, babe? Is there somethin’ you ain’t told me? We ain’t supposed to
have no secrets now, ya know?
(Emma looks up at the sky, then back toward the
house. She takes a deep breath, and gets up as Harry
sits on the porch.)
EMMA
Harry, have I ever tell you that I wanted to become a teacher?
(Harry shrugs as if he can’t remember.)
HARRY
I think you mentioned it.
I-2 Page 10
EMMA
Well, I did. I wanted to teach poor immigrant kids, kids like me, like my sisters,
like Walter. I’ll never forget how I felt when I first started to learn English in
school … I was the first one here to learn English, ya know?
HARRY
Yeah, I guess that was a big deal back then.
EMMA
It sure was to me! I couldn’t have been more proud. And that’s what I wanted to
do. I never set out to be some kinda housemaid around here, havin’ to yell at
Sophie to feed the chickens and all that stuff. I wanted to be a teacher. But then
you know what happened.
HARRY
I do?
EMMA
The war came. I was still a little girl when my older brother Cyril lied about his
age and went off to join the war.
HARRY
The one who went and worked on an ambulance over there or something? I
thought he died of the influenza back in nineteen?
EMMA
He did, but when he went off to the war the year before that, they made me leave
school and stay here. Then when he died of the influenza, I became the oldest
around here. I was only eleven or twelve by then. I never wanted to be the oldest,
Harry. I just … I just wanted to be … a teacher.
HARRY
So what else happened when you became the oldest? Are you sayin’ somethin’
happened after that?
EMMA
Yeah … somethin’ happened. I tried my best to be the big sister around here, but I
also still was dreamin' about bein' a teacher. But one day, after Ma had Walter and
Dottie, I guess it just kinda became too much for her to handle. So she went
upstairs, with all her saints and statues and candles, and spent all but an hour or so
every day up there. She still does, in fact.
(Emma bows her head briefly, then raises it again.)
HARRY
I'll tell ya Em, this is a poor town. But everybody always says you folks is the
poorest.
EMMA
Yeah, I know … people used to tell their kids, “If you don't mind, I'm gonna send
you off to live with the Dudeks.” Or “Pick up your mess! Who you think you are
… one of them Dudeks?”
I-2 Page 11
(Harry nods. He looks back at the house and starts
to shake his head.)
EMMA, contd.
But anyways, my Ma and Pa, they didn’t do nothin’ no more. I did my best, Harry,
but it started to really worry me. I was afraid I was never gonna get to go back to
school, back to learn how to be a teacher. … And that’s when it happened.
HARRY
What happened?
(Emma pauses and looks into Harry's eyes. He
seems startled at first.)
EMMA
Harry, before we do what we’re plannin’ to do, I got somethin’ I just gotta get off
my mind …
HARRY
Yeah … sure.
EMMA
Harry, it’s gonna be 1940 soon. Babies don't die no more like they did in the old
days. And people are just different than they was back, say, twenty years ago.
HARRY
Em … why are you talkin’ about babies?
EMMA
Aww … it ain’t about babies! It’s about family, you know? People ask me all the
time … you know, at church mainly … They say to me, Who’s gonna take care of
your Ma and Pa?” They just figure we’re all gonna leave here and leave them to
die off alone, I guess. But … well … it ain’t that simple.
HARRY
Em .. .what in the world are you gettin’ at?
EMMA
It just ain’t that simple!
HARRY
What ain’t that simple?
EMMA
Just up and leavin’ here.
HARRY
Em … Don’t tell me you’re gettin’ cold feet!
EMMA
I’m not, but … Harry … just listen!
I-2 Page 12
(Brief pause. Harry feels as if he's trapped by what
she’s getting at. Emma is shaking as she seems to
have something to say. She takes a deep breath and
starts to say it.)
EMMA, contd.
Harry … what I’m about to tell ya … I swear, I ain’t told anybody else before.
Not my brother or my sisters ...or nobody. But right after my brother Cyril died,
like I said, my Ma was just lyin’ around all the time. One day she called me in to
her room. Now, you gotta understand, Harry, I never liked to go in ta Ma’s room
much. It was a scary place to me … it still is. Religious statues everywhere.
Candles burnin’ all the time. All sorts of stuff on the walls from the old country.
Dark and cold all the time.
(Harry puts his hands to his mouth as he listens.)
Anyways … I went up there and as soon as I got in the room, Ma started talkin’.
She was talkin' in the old language, but I’m gonna say it in English. I don’t like
the old language no more, Harry, and I sure didn’t like it after what Ma said that
day.
(Emma begins to shake slightly, but she begins
talking with an Eastern European accent, imitating
and channeling her mother.)
EMMA (as Mother)
“Now Emma, you know, your Pa and me ain’t going to be able to hang on much
longer. And with Cyril gone … well … you’re the oldest now.”
(She alternates between her own thoughts and
repeating what her mother said.)
EMMA
The oldest? I wasn't even a teenager yet!
EMMA (as Mother)
“And because you’re the oldest, I want you to make a promise. A promise! Right
here and now!”
EMMA
A promise? What kinda promise could I make? I was still just a little girl!
EMMA (as Mother)
“You gotta promise me, in front of the father, the son and the Holy Ghost …”
(Emma makes the sign of the cross)
… and in front of the blessed mother and all the saints …
EMMA
Now I really was shaking! The blessed mother and the saints? Why was she
bringing them into it? What did they care about some promise she wanted me to
make?
I-2 Page 13
EMMA (as Mother)
“… I want you to promise all of us … promise us that as long as any of your
brothers or sisters are alive, that you’ll be responsible for them. That whatever
happens to them will be because of you. You're the oldest. It's all up to you!”
(Emma stops and wipes her eyes. She waits a few
seconds and stares at Harry.)
EMMA
Can you imagine how that made me feel, Harry? How scared I was? How could I
make a promise like that? All of our lives? What did that mean?
EMMA (as Mother)
“Answer me!”
EMMA
But I couldn’t. So she yelled again. Harry … she yelled so loud that, I swear, I
thought the saints in those pictures on her wall was gonna jump out and choke the
life outta me if I didn’t say somethin’! Then she yelled at me again, louder than
ever:
EMMA (as Mother)
(Screams)
“ANSWER ME!”
(She shakes as she remembers it)
EMMA
When she said it the first time … I wanted to say I couldn’t do it. But when she
yelled it again … when she screamed it at me … I just saw all those saints and the
Virgin Mary watchin’ me, waitin’ for an answer. Harry, I swear, I saw them
watchin’ me …
(Harry's eyes open wider as he listens. He stares at
Emma constantly.)
And at that moment, Harry, I knew that if I tried to say no, that if I said I wanted
to be a teacher and get outta South Patch and have my own family … I just knew
that somehow I was gonna be … I was gonna be sent straight to some part of hell
for girls who don’t keep their Ma’s promises.
(She bites her lip as she thinks about it)
So I just yelled back, loud as my little lungs could, in the old language:
“YES, YES … I PROMISE!!!”
(Emma is shaking. She wipes away a tear, then
composes herself. Harry seems shocked.)
Once I said that, Ma fell back down on the bed and told me to get out. I guess she
figured she got what she wanted. Me? I came out here, and I sat on the porch for a
long time … I've hated this porch ever since.
I-2 Page 14
(She wanders around the stage silently for a
moment, and wipes her eyes. Harry gets up and
goes toward her, but she stops him.)
EMMA, contd.
So now, Harry, you want me to go with you Saturday. To go off to Niagara Falls
and then come back here, and to say, “Okay, I’m a married woman now.
Everybody can just go take care of themselves!”
(Harry seems to want to comfort her, but he's back
to shaking himself.)
HARRY
Em, I –
(Emma composes herself.)
EMMA
So that’s what I’m gonna do. I got no choice. But I ain't gonna come back here.
We're gonna stay up there … ain't you got family in Buffalo?
HARRY
Yeah, but –
EMMA
Let's just stay up there.You can get a job, and we can both … we can both live up
there. Harry, I gotta get outta here, and you gotta get outta here, and I know, in my
heart, that every damn member of this family has gotta get outta here, away from
these chickens and this horrible old house, and away from these people and their
old country ways!
(Harry just nods and listens.)
But I’m scared, Harry! What if I’m doin’ the wrong thing?
(Harry gets up and she falls into his arms.)
HARRY
Well, I don't know about that. I might be a drunk, Emma, and maybe I look and
feel a lot older than my years. But you can’t go through the rest of your life bein’
scared of a promise you made to your sick old Ma twenty years ago. I ain’t no
bishop or priest or even all that great a Catholic, I suppose, but I got a pretty good
idea that all them saints, and especially the Virgin Mary, that they don’t sit up
there somewhere and hold the prettiest girl in South Patch to some promises she
was forced to make twenty years ago.
(He puts his face in his hands and kisses her on the
forehead.)
Yeah, Em, we can stay up in Buffalo. I got an uncle up there who's always told me
he can get me a job. We can stay up there and both get away from all this … all
this around here. Like I said, I might be a drunk, but I ain't a crazy one, ya know!
I-2 Page 15
EMMA
(Smiles and pauses)
Yeah, Harry, you might be right about that … yep … (pauses) I’m referrin’ to the
part about how you just might be a drunk.
(They both laugh.)
HARRY
So enough about the promise you made to your Ma. You got another promise to
make in a couple of days. One of them “for better or worse” promises, ya know?
EMMA
I know … and I will. But do this for me, Harry, won’t ya? Let me just see, before
we go, if there’s some way I can do both. I’m gonna get outta here, and stay outta
here. But maybe, just maybe, I can sorta … keep that … that other darned promise
I made twenty years ago.
(Harry seems confused, but he smiles. Then he
stumbles a bit, and catches himself on her
shoulders.)
HARRY
As long as you come with me at the end …
EMMA
I will.
(Emma wipes her eyes and they share a brief kiss.
Harry lets her go.)
And I guess you'll be stoppin’ by here again tomorrow, eh? After you stop by the
beer garden, that is …
HARRY
(Shrugs and nods, then points at her.)
You know me pretty well, Miss Dudek. Pretty darned well. And besides … I gotta
get a few more free drinks outta old man Kuharski before I leave town!
(Harry touches her cheek, shudders one more time
and, finding his bearings, staggers off and exits.
Emma wipes her eyes again, stares upward, makes
the sign of the cross, and says the opening of the
Hail Mary in Latin.)
EMMA
In nomine Patris, et Filli, et Spiritus Sancti … Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus
tecum -(She puts down her head one more time. Blackout.)
I-3 Page 1
Scene 3: The Dudeks’ back porch.
(Lights up, as Dottie Dudek is sweeping the back
porch of the family’s house. She is pretty but
wearing a worn dress and her hair is tied back. She
is humming the tune to “Begin the Beguine” on and
off while she sweeps. A commotion is heard
offstage. Dottie stops sweeping and steps away
from the door. Sophie Dudek comes out through the
door. An older, shrewish, frail-looking woman,
dressed even more poorly than Dottie, she yells
back into the house as she comes back.)
SOPHIE
All right, all right! I’m doin’ it! These chickens ain’t gonna starve, ya know!
(Dottie smiles as Sophie walks out. Sophie shakes
her head as she walks past Dottie.)
DOTTIE
Sophie, you know that Ma don’t understand you when you yell at her in English!
SOPHIE
Aw, she understands well enough. Anyways, I don’t suppose you already fed these
birds by any chance?
DOTTIE
No Sophie … I've been too busy sweepin’
SOPHIE
Yeah, well, one of these days, it’d be nice to have somebody do it for me.
DOTTIE
Well sure … who wouldn’t want that?
(Dottie goes back to humming. Sophie stops and
looks puzzled.)
SOPHIE
What’s that you’re hummin’?
DOTTIE
Some song … I heard it playin’ on the radio the other day. A couple of kids down
the road were whistlin’ it, too.
SOPHIE
At the drug store?
DOTTIE
Well, yeah! Where else would I have heard it? We ain’t got no radio here.
SOPHIE
Yeah … well … some of us never get to go to the drug store, neither.
I-3 Page 2
DOTTIE
Don’t look at me, Sophie. I ain’t stoppin’ you from goin’ to the drug store.
(She goes back to humming the song. Sophie picks
up a pail that is near the porch.)
SOPHIE
The only tune I get to hear comes outta these birds!
(Dottie laughs. Sophie faces offstage and starts
squawking at the birds.)
DOTTIE
Aw, Sophie, now don’t you go frightenin’ the hens. You do that and we ain’t
gonna have any eggs around here.
SOPHIE
Personally, I’d rather turn 'em into some meat!
DOTTIE
Well, maybe if you were nicer to Walter –
SOPHIE
Yeah, I know … Walter always gets the meat first.
DOTTIE
Well, maybe you should take it up with Em.
SOPHIE
Nah … I ain’t takin’ it up with nobody!
(Dottie goes back to humming and Sophie throws
some feed out of the pail in the direction of the
chicken coop. Emma opens the door and peeks
outside.)
EMMA
What’s all the commotion out here now? Ain’t we had enough yellin’ in here?
SOPHIE
Are they still barkin’ in there?
(Emma comes outside and puts her hands on her hips.)
EMMA
Well, Ma is still yappin’ about you and the chickens.
SOPHIE
She worries more about the chickens eatin’ than she does about us.
(All three laugh.)
DOTTIE
And what’s Pa doin’?
I-3 Page 3
EMMA
Same as always. He’s sittin’ around, smokin’, complainin’ about the mines.
Talkin’ to himself, of course. I guess he must think his friends from the old
country are in there with him.
DOTTIE
Yeah, every time them friends of his from the old country come over, that’s all
they do … complain about the mines. And then they start talkin’ about the
Russians, or whoever it was who took over their land back in the old country.
SOPHIE
And then they start singin’ them songs.
EMMA
You mean the ones about the old country not bein’ lost … whatever the heck that
means.
SOPHIE
Makes my skin crawl!
DOTTIE
I guess it’s just their way of thinkin’ back to when they was young.
SOPHIE
Well, if that’s how they feel, they shoulda stayed over there.
EMMA
Now Sophie … if they’d a done that, you’d be livin’ over there now!
SOPHIE
Yeah … well maybe things would be better over there!
(Dottie and Emma chuckle)
EMMA
I kinda doubt that, Sophie. As backward as South Patch is, at least we ain’t got
soldiers knockin’ on our doors here.
SOPHIE
Yeah, but none of us got no “new world” to go to from here, do we?
EMMA
I don’t know about that.
SOPHIE
Is that a fact? So you think there’s a big, wonderful world out there, eh? Sounds
like you’re expectin’ to find somethin’ better!
DOTTIE
I think we all wanna do that.
SOPHIE
Yeah, but some of us ain't gonna be so lucky, are we?
I-3 Page 4
EMMA
Well, maybe it ain’t all luck, Sophie. I mean, look at you. You had your chance to
get outta here.
SOPHIE
Yeah … so?
DOTTIE
And after all, Sophie, you are older than Walter and me.
(Emma signals to Dottie to be quiet, turns to Sophie.)
EMMA
Sophie, I know you ain’t very happy here these days, but it ain’t no use bein’
bitter about it. Let’s face it, you coulda stayed in the convent when you was there.
I mean, if it’s so bad here –
SOPHIE
I didn’t go into the convent because it was so bad here … I went because …
EMMA
You went because your friend Mary Ann joined up.
SOPHIE
I went because I felt the calling.
EMMA
Yeah, that’s what you told Ma, but if you really felt the calling, you wouldn't have
come back here after a month.
SOPHIE
Well … that’s between me and them … and between me and God, too. I didn’t do
nothin’ wrong –
EMMA
From what I heard, you was always arguin’ with everybody, and you kept wantin’
to do things your own way.
SOPHIE
Now that ain’t true! I went in there and did everything they said to do.
EMMA
No, that’s what everybody else did. But you spent most of your time bein’
contrary and complainin’, didn’t you?
SOPHIE
Only when they weren’t treating me right.
EMMA
But if you go into a convent, ain’t you supposed to do everything they tell you to
do? Ain’t that kinda the idea in there?
SOPHIE
You don’t understand.
I-3 Page 5
EMMA
Maybe not. But look where you are now. Back here with the rest of us. Miserable
most of the time. And worst of all, you’re getting’ more and more like Ma every
day –
SOPHIE
Now don’t you say that!
EMMA
You’re always fightin’ with somebody, ain’t ya? For example, look at how you act
around Walter’s girlfriend Martha –
SOPHIE
You mean that whore?
DOTTIE
Sophie!
EMMA
Sophie, you shut your mouth about that. What if Walter heard you talkin’ like
that?
SOPHIE
Well, she don’t like me and I don’t like her.
EMMA
Yeah, but she don’t like `cause she knows how you talk about her. But it ain’t any
of your business what she wears, or if she has on perfume, or if she gets her hair
done every week.
DOTTIE
There’s plenty of women all over the world who do that.
SOPHIE
Not the way she does!
EMMA
Oh, she ain’t that bad! She’s just a city girl. She ain’t no different than lots of girls
in the city.
SOPHIE
It sounds like you wanna go join `em.
EMMA
I didn’t say that. But there is a whole world out there, and it ain’t like Ma and Pa’s
world, ya know? And we sure can’t spend the rest of their lives in that world!
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with us thinking about our own futures, our own lives outside
… outside of this house, outside of this little, backward town.
DOTTIE
Wow, Em, I ain’t never heard you talk like this before!
SOPHIE
Me neither. It almost sounds like you’s plannin’ to go somewhere.
I-3 Page 6
EMMA
Well, yeah, Sophie, actually … we are plannin’ to go somewhere.
SOPHIE
Whatcha mean, “we?”
EMMA
Me, and Walter … and …
(She looks at Dottie.)
And Dottie.
SOPHIE
Now wait a minute! I don’t like the sound of this! I think somebody better tell me
what the heck is goin’ on!
DOTTIE
Yeah, Em, what’s goin’ on?
EMMA
Well, Dottie, I wasn’t gonna break it to you this way, but since Sophie kinda put
me up to it … Walter and me, and Martha and Harry, we was plannin’ on goin’ to
New York on Saturday –
DOTTIE, SOPHIE
New York?
EMMA
Yeah, New York. To that World’s Fair they got goin’ there.
SOPHIE
Now wait a minute. Why didn’t nobody ask me about this?
EMMA
Sophie … it was … it was kinda the way we all wanted it.
SOPHIE
You mean to tell me –
EMMA
For starters, you know that you don’t get along with my Harry.
SOPHIE
Maybe if he was sober once in a while –
EMMA
Now you mind your business about that! The fact is, you and Harry don’t get
along. And then there’s Martha … and don’t you go callin’ her any names, at least
until I finish! You know that she don’t care for your bein’ … well … judgin’ her
about her wearin’ certain types of clothes and –
SOPHIE
You mean walkin’ around with her ass stickin’ out!
I-3 Page 7
DOTTIE
Sophie!
EMMA
Don’t be talkin’ like that no more, Sophie. Whatever me and you and Ma and
anybody else thinks of her, she’s Walter’s gal, and it ain’t our place to say
anything about her.
SOPHIE
At least until she gets to hell, I guess.
EMMA
Well, that ain’t your decision, is it?
DOTTIE
I ain’t got no problems with Martha …
(Sophie glares at Dottie, who shrugs innocently and
sweeps some more.)
EMMA
But let’s face it Sophie, there’s also the fact that you just put everybody in a foul
mood every time you go somewhere. I mean, even the church picnic last year.
Everybody was havin’ a good time, but then you showed up. And you started
findin’ fault with everything. I remember you had that little girl from down the
tracks … what’s that girl’s name, Dottie?
DOTTIE
Josephine –
EMMA
Yeah, Josephine. You had her cryin’ because you said she was throwin’ herself at
some boy. All she did was give him a little hug when he won the ring-tossin’
contest. You said she was actin’ like a hussy.
SOPHIE
Well I don’t like seein’ gals throw themselves at fellas like that.
EMMA
She wasn’t throwin’ herself at him … and even if she was, it wasn’t none of your
business! You ain’t the girl’s Ma!
DOTTIE
Josephine was down in the dumps for a long time after that.
EMMA
So that’s why we decided –
SOPHIE
You decided? Who decided?
EMMA
Me and Walter, mainly. We decided you should stay stated here.
(Sophie points to Dottie)
I-3 Page 8
SOPHIE
But she gets to go? The baby of the family?
DOTTIE
Really, Sophie, I didn’t ask –
(Emma signals to Dottie to be quiet.)
EMMA
Dottie is old enough now to see some of the world, Sophie. Me and you never got
to see it when we were her age. And I don't wanna see nobody else in this family
end up like you.
SOPHIE
Oh really? And what's that supposed to mean?
EMMA
Nothing … I shouldn't have –
SOPHIE
But you did, didn’t ya? So let's hear it. What you mean … “end up like me?”
(Emma takes a deep breath, looks upward, then
stares at Sophie.)
EMMA
Sophie, there’s somethin’ I just don’t understand. You didn't always used to be
like this. I swear, sometimes, I sit around and try to figure it out. But I can't never
come up with nothin’. Sophie, you gotta believe me, it hurts me to see you …
you’re the sister who came along right after me … and it hurts me to see you
turning yourself into one of those women -SOPHIE
What kind of “women?”
EMMA
Let me put it to you this way. Do you really … I mean really … do you want to
become like …
(Emma pauses and thinks for a moment.)
You know, my Harry’s mom has a couple of brothers and sisters, and they're all
sorta backward, you know? Just like Ma and Pa, I guess. But they have this one
sister, I can't recall her name … but she's … she’s the worst of the bunch. Always
gettin’ on everybody’s nerves, and buttin’ into everybody else’s business. And
Harry and the others, they call her … they call her the “crazy aunt” of the family.
SOPHIE
So?
EMMA
Well, Sophie, I can't for the life of me figure out why anybody would wanna be
like that! I mean, why would a woman want people to think of her that way?
(She pauses and stares directly at Sophie.)
I-3 Page 9
EMMA, contd.
But then I see the way you act around here, and … well, it seems to me like you
… maybe I'm wrong, Sophie … but it seems like … it seems like you're on your
way to becomin’ the “crazy old aunt” of this family.
SOPHIE
(Incredulous)
What? Crazy old aunt? That's just ridiculous! That’s what you think I wanna be?
A crazy old aunt? Of all the nonsense. You got some nerve Emma Dudek!
EMMA
Sophie, maybe we just don’t understand you no more. But the fact is, what with
you always bein' contrary and miserable with all of us all the time … well, what's
happenin' this weekend is, with you gettin’ left behind, that’s the kinda thing that’s
gonna keep happenin’ to you for the rest of your life.
(Sophie bites her lip and seems angry.)
SOPHIE
So … all of youse … you decided that for me, did you? So it's decided … I get
left here with Ma and Pa?
EMMA
Sophie … I'm sorry. Maybe if I could get inside that head of yours and figure out
why you do the things you do. But I just can’t. I can’t figure why a girl like you
would want to end up like that.
SOPHIE
You’re just assumin’ that I wanna end up like that.
EMMA
By the way you act you do.
SOPHIE
And that’s my business, ain’t it? I’ll tell you … you … tellin' me I'm becomin' the
crazy aunt of this family! Who are you to judge me and what I am or ain't gonna
become?
EMMA
I ain't … I ain't tryin' to judge. More than anything, I’d just like to know why you
act the way you do. But then again Sophie, maybe you just don't know the answer
yourself.
(Emma shrugs. Sophie appears ready to cry, but she
is also angry.)
SOPHIE
Okay, then! Run off to your big World’s Fair, you two! I guess I know for sure
where I stand around here. Stuck with Ma and Pa!
(She storms back into the house)
I-3 Page 10
DOTTIE
Wow, she’s pretty upset.
EMMA
Yeah, she is. I don’t necessarily like talkin’ to her like that. But you remember,
Dottie, it ain’t us who did this to Sophie. I don’t know who, or what, did it, or if
she did it to herself. But God help me, Dottie, if I live to be a hundred, I'll never
understand why she became like that!
(Emma sighs and Dottie nods.)
So anyways, are you really surprised that I said you were going to the World’s
Fair with me and Walter?
DOTTIE
Well, yeah! I never even knew they was havin’ one, not until I heard some people
talkin’ about it on the radio the other day –
EMMA
I keep forgettin’ about you and that radio! We always know where to find you if
we need you. At the drug store … your lifeline to the world, ain’t it? Too bad we
can’t get you a radio of your own, eh?
DOTTIE
Aww, I really don’t go down to the drug store that much, Em. It’s just that when
I’m there … it just amazes me to hear all about what’s goin’ on in the world! It’s
scary, sure. But it’s also amazin’.
EMMA
I know, and that’s why I wanted you to go to the fair.
DOTTIE
It does sound exciting. I can’t even imagine what they’re gonna have there.
EMMA
I even made sure that Walter got a fellow he knows to come along with us and
keep you company.
DOTTIE
A fellow?
EMMA
Yeah, a fellow! But don’t get nervous. It’s just some fellow he knows from the
city. Don’t be scared … ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to you with Walter and me …
well, with Walter there, anyways.
DOTTIE
I guess not. So, how about you, Em? Are you excited?
EMMA
To get out of here?
DOTTIE
Well, I meant to see the fair.
I-3 Page 11
EMMA
Uh … I suppose –
DOTTIE
You don’t seem too excited. You told me not to be nervous, but you seem a little
bit nervous yourself.
EMMA
No, I’m ok … it’s just –
(She motions to Dottie to sit on the porch with her.
She looks upward, clinches her fists, and then puts
her hand on Dottie’s knee.)
Dottie, I got a little somethin’ to tell you. And you gotta promise you won’t tell
nobody else what I’m about to tell you. Not Walter. And especially not Sophie.
DOTTIE
Okay.
EMMA
Well, honey, here’s the thing. You see, I ain’t actually goin’ to the World’s Fair
with you all.
DOTTIE
Huh?
EMMA
You see, come Saturday, when we all meet up to go to New York, Harry and me,
we’re … well, we’re gonna go someplace else.
DOTTIE
Instead of to the fair? I’m kinda confused, Em. Where else would you wanna go?
EMMA
Um … actually, we’re gonna get on a different train from youse. One that’s goin’
to Niagara Falls.
DOTTIE
Niagara Falls? Oh, I heard of that! Ain’t that where people go to –
(Dottie leans back in shock, and Emma nods her head.)
EMMA
Yeah, Dottie. Harry and me … we’re gonna get married up there.
DOTTIE
Married? You, Em? But why in the world?
EMMA
I can’t say I expect you to understand, Dottie. I ain’t so sure I understand it
myself. But … it’s just somethin’ I’ve thought about, and Harry and me, we’ve
talked about it, and … it’s just somethin’ … somethin’ I’ve gotta do.
DOTTIE
I mean … how come? Because of Sophie?
I-3 Page 12
EMMA
No … not just that. Dottie, I mean, that’s part of it. But I think you probably know
that I’ve spent a long time being responsible for all of you here. It’s been tough,
what with Ma and Pa gettin’ older and all. You know, most of the time, they act
more like little kids than they do like grownups.
DOTTIE
I guess so. They are kinda helpless in some ways, with Ma not seein’ very well,
and neither one speakin’ much English.
EMMA
Yeah. I mean, we all live on Ma’s blind pension, and whatever money Walter
makes. But Walter ain’t gonna be around here forever, and Sophie ain’t had a job
in years, since before she went into the convent. And me, I can’t do nothin’ to
make money because I’m stuck here all the time. And … I … I just can’t do it
anymore, Dottie. Can you understand that?
DOTTIE
I … I guess so. Kinda, anyways. Actually, I don’t know what I’m thinkin’! I guess
we’re all so used to you bein’ here and doin’ so much, that it never occurred to
any of us what all that responsibility was doin’ to you.
EMMA
I know, and Dottie, you gotta believe me, if I could think of any other way –
DOTTIE
So … does this mean we ain’t gonna see you no more?
EMMA
Well, I ain’t sure … but for now, the plan is that we’re gonna live up there, at least
to start, with some of Harry’s relations in Buffalo.
DOTTIE
Buffalo? But … but what’s gonna happen here?
(She points to the inside.)
EMMA
Well, I been tryin’ to figure that out, actually. Believe me, Dottie, this ain’t easy
for me. You don’t know how hard it is. But the only thing I can think of, is that
Sophie’s gonna be the one responsible for Ma and Pa and –
DOTTIE
Oh no, Em … ain’t no way Sophie can be in charge!
(Emma gets up and paces around. Dottie watches
her. Emma looks back at the house and then sits
back next to Dottie again. She takes her by the
hand.)
EMMA
Dottie … listen to me. I realize that by doin’ this, I’m gonna be doin’ somethin’ I
swore I was never gonna do to nobody in this world, and especially not to you.
I-3 Page 13
But I gotta … I gotta ask you to … I gotta ask you to make me … make me … a
promise!
DOTTIE
A promise?
(Dottie is fairly calm, but Emma is shaking.)
EMMA
Dottie … you need to understand … there are two things I gotta know before I …
before I leave. One, I gotta know that you are gonna get away from all this as
soon as you can. I know you’re gonna have to live under Sophie’s thumb a little
bit, but you … you gotta get outta here as fast as you can, okay?
DOTTIE
Well, sure, Em … but –
EMMA
But there’s another thing, and this is the part that’s really hard for me … and I
can’t really explain now why that is … but it is. I need you to promise me that
even when you do leave, that you somehow make sure you don’t never leave Ma
or Pa, or later on, even Sophie, down here alone all the time, by themselves,
feelin’ forgotten.
DOTTIE
Forgotten? Why would I? …
EMMA
Never mind why … I just … I just gotta know that there ain’t never gonna come a
time when there ain’t at least one member of this family who I know will never
leave Ma and Pa and Sophie down here alone. Even if none of us are livin’ here
no more. Can you promise me that?
(Dottie gets up and looks back at Emma, who is still
sitting on the porch.)
DOTTIE
You mean, you want me to promise that I won’t abandon Ma and Pa and … and
Sophie? Even if I get married and move away?
(Emma nods, seemingly embarrassed to have asked
Dottie to make a promise. Dottie smiles.)
Em, do you remember what we told Sophie a little while ago? We said she had her
chance to get out, and she didn’t do it. And how because of that, she don’t care
about nobody else but herself now?
EMMA
That’s for sure.
DOTTIE
But the thing is, what if she had stayed in the convent, and what if she was still
there now? And then you left, and then Walter left? Do you really think Ma and
Pa would just be left here alone? Of course not. Em, I wouldn’t let that happen.
I-3 Page 14
And I don’t think any of the rest of you would, neither. I mean, even if we all
moved away, somebody would still be here, one way or another. You know what I
mean?
EMMA
No. Not really –
DOTTIE
Look, once she finds out what you and Harry done, Sophie’s gonna make it sound
like she got stuck here to take care of Ma and Pa. But she’s only gonna do that to
make everybody feel sorry for her. She ain’t really gonna take care of Ma and Pa
that much. And I, for one, ain’t gonna let her get away with that.
EMMA
So what you’re sayin’ is, you plan on leavin’ someday, but you’re still gonna be
around to take care of Ma and Pa?
DOTTIE
What I’m sayin’ is that there’s somethin’ inside every one of us that ties us to this
here family. Maybe we was born with it, or maybe somebody put it there. And in
Sophie’s case, it got driven outta her somehow.
EMMA
Yeah, somehow.
(Dottie sits back down next to Emma, and puts her
hand on hers.)
DOTTIE
But anyways, there ain’t no way I’m gonna just pull up and let Sophie drive Ma
and Pa more crazy than they are now.. She ain’t gettin’ away with that! You
wanted me to promise? Sure, I’ll promise. Why wouldn’t I promise? To be honest,
I almost look forward to seein’ if I can do it.
(Emma seems startled.)
EMMA
Look forward? … Are you sure?
DOTTIE
You bet I’m excited … and I ain’t even been to the World’s Fair yet! Imagine how
inspired I’m gonna be after that! Why … after I see what’s out there in New York,
and what the rest of the world has to offer, you think I’m gonna come back here
and let Sophie push me around?
(Emma smiles and shakes her head.)
So anyway, we got this settled, then, right? You’re gonna go off and get married,
and we’re gonna take care of things around here. You go off and do what you
gotta do. You took care of us long enough, Mrs. Konopki. We’re gonna take
things from here on in.
EMMA
Oh boy, you’re the first to call me that!
I-3 Page 15
DOTTIE
I guess you’d better get used to it then!
(Dottie takes a look at her dress, runs the material between her fingers, and smiles
at Emma.)
Ok, then, Mrs. Konopki. How’s about you and me go upstairs so’s we can look
over your dresses. You need to look sharp for your trip to Niagara Falls. And me, I
need to look sharp at the World’s Fair!
(They rise, hug, go into the house. Blackout. Curtain.)
END OF ACT I
II-1 Page 1
ACT II
Scene 1: The waiting room of a train station, the day of the trip to the
World’s Fair.
(Inside the lobby of the train station in Scranton on
Saturday morning. Walter and Dottie, and Walter’s
girlfriend Martha, are seated on a long bench,
waiting for the others to arrive. Walter is wearing a
suit with a straw hat. Martha is wearing a dress and
has a hat. Dottie is wearing one of Emma’s handme-down dresses. Walter keeps looking at his
watch, and taps it throughout.)
WALTER
Damned dime store watch!
(Martha points to the side.)
MARTHA
There is a clock right over there, you know? We are at a train station!
WALTER
I know, I know. Darn Woolworth’s watch. It ain’t never worked right!
(He looks toward the clock Martha was referring to.)
Where the heck are they, anyway? We got a train to catch!
MARTHA
Are you referring to your pal from town here, or to your sister and her …
boyfriend? None of them are here yet.
WALTER
It would be nice if somebody showed up!
DOTTIE
Don’t worry, Walter. Emma will be here!
WALTER
I still ain’t sure why they just didn’t come up on the bus with us
(Dottie shrugs and stammers.)
DOTTIE
I … I ain’t sure, Walter, but Emma, she knows what she’s doin’
(Martha looks to the side and sees somebody approaching.)
MARTHA
Is this that other fella we’re waiting for?
(Walter looks up and chuckles.)
WALTER
Yeah, it’s him, all right! Now Dottie, you be nice to this fella, okay?
II-1 Page 2
DOTTIE
Sure, as long as I wanna be nice to him!
(Charlie stumbles into the station, breathing a bit
hard after running. He’s dressed almost identically
to Walter.)
CHARLIE
Oh, thank God I ain’t late! I didn’t think I was gonna make it!
WALTER
Naw, you got a half hour, yet. But since you live so close, I was figurin’ you’d be
here before any of us!
CHARLIE
Yeah, I know! But I got tied up with a couple of fellas last night and got in a little
later than I thought I would. And darn it if I forgot to lay out my suit last night!
(Dottie giggles and Martha seems bothered.)
WALTER
Well, at least you made it! And you look as good as you’re ever gonna look, I
guess!
(Charlie taps Walter in the arm, and Walter responds by shadow boxing him for a
few seconds.)
Anyways, I guess I oughta make the introductions now. Charlie Kollar, this here’s
my gal, Martha Urbanski.
(Martha nods as Charlie bows slightly.)
CHARLIE
Nice to meet you, Martha! I heard a lot about you –
(Walter taps Charlie in the arm.)
MARTHA
It’s nice to be talked about, I suppose!
(Walter signals to Dottie to stand up, which she does.)
WALTER
And this here, Charlie, this is my little sister … Dottie Dudek.
(Charlie’s eyes grow bigger and Dottie smiles at
him as they shake hands. Each seems attracted to
the other.)
CHARLIE
It’s … it’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Dudek.
DOTTIE
Aww … nobody ain’t called me that before! Not even Ma or Pa!
(Walter interrupts her.)
II-1 Page 3
WALTER
Umm … never mind that, Dottie. Charlie ain’t that interested in what Ma or Pa
say.
CHARLIE
No, that’s okay.
WALTER
Well, then, I ain’t interested in it right now. I’m only interested in seein’ one other
Dudek … the one who ain’t here yet!
(Dottie smiles and sits back down next to Martha.
Charlie isn’t sure what to do so he continues
standing. Martha begins to put on lipstick, which
Dottie watches.)
MARTHA
Will you stop worrying? They’ll be here!
WALTER
They got about fifteen more –
(Walter stops and stares offstage. There is a brief
commotion offstage, and Emma and Harry arrive.
Harry is dressed in the same manner as the other
two men, and he has a large suitcase with him.
Emma is wearing her best white dress. Walter puts
his hands on his hips and stares at them.)
EMMA
Hi everybody … sorry if we’re a little late!
(Walter gets between them and the others. He
continues the same stance.)
WALTER
I was gonna ask what the heck was keepin’ you two … but now … now I think I
got another question.
(Martha and Charlie look at each other and shrug.
Dottie puts her hand to her mouth.)
EMMA
You do, eh?
WALTER
Yes I do! But I think the answer I’m lookin’ for is gonna have to come from my
old pal Konopki here!
(Harry stops and puts down the suitcase. He is also
breathing hard and seems nervous. He stands
directly in front of Walter.)
HARRY
Hey, there, Walter. So … I … I betcha you got some questions for us.
II-1 Page 4
(Walter puts his hands down and shrugs slightly.)
WALTER
Well, you just might say that, buddy boy!
(Emma steps in between them.)
EMMA
I think I oughta explain!
WALTER
I think somebody oughta explain!
EMMA
Well, Walter, as you can see, we kinda –
WALTER
I know what you’s kinda doin’! You kinda look like you’s plannin’ a longer trip
than I thought you was, that’s what I think you’s kinda doin’!
EMMA
It’s just that –
WALTER
It never dawned on me that youse two were late on account of you were packin’ a
suitcase!
EMMA
Well, as you can see –
WALTER
Yeah, Em, I can see! I got two eyes! Obviously, somebody here is plannin’ on
takin’ a little trip beyond what we was discussin’ … and unless my old pal
Konopki here is runnin’ off to join the Foreign Legion or somethin’, I think
maybe he ain’t the only one who’s been doin’ the plannin’!
EMMA
Boy, can’t get nothin’ past you, can we Walter?
(There’s a pause, as Walter looks at Harry, then
back at Emma. The others just sit and watch.)
WALTER
So, Harry, assumin’ you got your wits about you … spill it! You must got
somethin’ to say!
HARRY
Look, Walter –
(Emma steps in between them.)
EMMA
It’s okay, Harry. I’ll handle this. Walter, the fact is, me and Harry, we ain’t goin’ to
the fair. It’s not that we don’t wanna go. We do … I mean, who wouldn’t? But we
… we got somethin’ else we gotta do instead.
II-1 Page 5
WALTER
Whaddya mean, somethin’ else you gotta do? You mean –
(Emma raises her hands. The others look startled.)
EMMA
No, no! It ain’t that! Stop jumpin’ to … jumpin’ to conclusions `til you know the
whole story! Okay … maybe I shouldn’t have said we gotta do it! But what I
mean is, me and Harry, we been talkin’ about it a lot, and we both just think that if
we don’t get outta South Patch right now … well, we’re just afraid we ain’t never
gonna do it!
WALTER
So just to be clear … youse two are runnin’ off to –
EMMA
Yeah, to get married!
(Walter takes a deep breath. He looks back at the
others. Charlie and Martha seem stunned. Dottie
seems calm. He turns to Emma and Harry.)
WALTER
Married, huh? Jeepers cats Em! Ain’t you thought about some of the –
(He turns to Martha.)
WALTER
What’s that word?
MARTHA
You mean, “ramifications?”
WALTER
Yeah, the ramifications? I mean … I can understand you wantin’ to get away and
all, but … what about … for cryin’ out loud, Em, what the Sam Hell is gonna
happen back home?
EMMA
Believe me, I thought about that a lot more than you ever will. I know there’s
gonna be a lot of screamin’ and fightin’ and all that … that’s why I just sneaked
out this mornin’ before everybody was up. Me and Harry been talkin’ about this a
long time. We’ve been makin’ sure it’s the right thing to do. And we think it is,
Walter. And as far as Ma and Pa and Sophie and all … .
(She looks at Dottie.)
I think it’s all gonna be okay back there, Walter.
(Dottie gets up and puts her hand on Walter’s arm.)
DOTTIE
Yeah, Walter, it’ll be okay. Em and Harry, they know what they’s doin’!
(Walter looks at her, grimaces, and then turns back
to Emma and Harry.)
II-1 Page 6
WALTER
Son of a gun! Don’t this top all? Well darn it, if our little baby sister thinks this is
copacetic, then I guess … Son of a gun!
(Walter steps away, shakes his head, and starts to
chuckle. He approaches Harry and slaps him on the
back.)
Well, Harry, I gotta say that you’re startin’ to look like a married man already … I
mean, I see she’s makin’ you lug that big suitcase with youse two, eh?
HARRY
I … I guess so …
(Walter motions to Emma to hug him, which she
does. Then he lets her go.)
WALTER
So, if youse two ain’t goin’ to the fair, where are you goin’?
EMMA
We … got tickets up to Niagara Falls.
WALTER
Niagara Falls! Jeepers Cats, Em!
EMMA
It seemed like the right place to do it, Walter!
(Walter looks at Harry.)
WALTER
For cryin’ out loud, Konopki, what’d ya do, rob a bank or somethin’? Niagara
Falls!
HARRY
I just … I just took what I had and … listen Walter, it ain’t costin’ that much! And
it’s … like Em said … it’s what we gotta do.
WALTER
And … I mean, do youse two … do you got any real plans, though? I mean,
Harry, what about your job? Are youse two gonna come back here at all?
HARRY
Well, the thing is … I got family in Buffalo, and –
WALTER
Buffalo! What in blue blazes? Buffalo?
EMMA
It’ll be a clean break for a while, Walter! Harry’s uncle is gettin’ him a job in a
steel mill up there and everything!
II-1 Page 7
(A train announcement is made.)
ANNOUNCEMENT
Train 453 en route to Hoboken and all points in between, now boarding on Track
B!
(Walter turns and looks offstage.)
WALTER
Damn! That’s us!
(He looks back at Emma and Harry.)
Buffalo? Job in a steel mill? Damn it, youse two!
(He shakes his head.)
Well, I guess there ain’t much more any of us can say now, is there?
(Charlie and Martha shrug. Dottie nods.)
So … when’s your train leavin’?
HARRY
About an hour.
WALTER
Well … listen, I … I know I ain’t gonna talk youse two outta this. And do be
honest, I ain’t sure I wanna try.
(Emma puts her hand on his arm again.)
EMMA
Listen, I know, Walter. I know. But it’s for the best right now.
(Walter stops and thinks, while Dottie, Charlie and
Martha rise. Dottie comes forward as Charlie and
Martha leave for the train, and Harry backs off.
Lights only on Walter, Emma and Dottie.)
Walter … Dottie … I swear, I never … You gotta believe me. I wouldn’t be doin’
this if I didn’t know, in my heart, that youse two can take care of everything back
there without me. Better, probably. I just know that youse two not only are gonna
get outta there as soon as you can, but that you’re also gonna take care of Ma and
Pa, and even Sophie … somehow. Walter, you got Martha and, while we don’t
always see eye to eye, me and her, she’s your gal and that’s all right with me.
(She turns to Dottie.)
Honey, we … you know I trust you to do everything that we always talked about,
for the family and for yourself … well, Dottie, one of these days, I promise …
one of these days, I’m gonna look back and say, “Emma, back then that day when
you went off with Harry, and when Dottie went off to the World’s Fair, that might
just be the best think the both of youse two ever did!”
II-1 Page 8
DOTTIE
Don’t worry about me, Em. You take care of yourself. I gotta feelin’ you’re right.
I gotta feelin’ that the way things are goin’ is the way they was always meant to
be. And I want youse two to go up to Niagara Falls without worryin’ about what
Ma or Pa or Sophie or anybody else says. And even Walter here, he’s gonna get
used to it soon enough, okay?
(Emma smiles, and hugs Dottie. Then she turns to
Walter, pointing to Dottie.)
EMMA
You know, Walter, this one here, as long as she’s around somehow, I got a feelin’
you ain’t gonna have to worry about too much!
(Walter looks at them both and laughs. He shakes his head.)
WALTER
Darn you Dudek girls! You’re all plum crazy, I swear!
(Walter and Emma hug. Emma departs.)
DOTTIE
Well, Walter?
WALTER
Well what, Dottie?
DOTTIE
Let’s go! We got a train to catch, and we got a gal and a fella waitin’ for us! And
we ain’t the ones runnin’ off to Niagara Falls!
(Walter laughs.)
And one more thing.
WALTER
What’s that?
DOTTIE
I sure as heck don’t wanna be late for my first trip to my first World’s Fair!
(Walter laughs, and they rush off to catch the train. Lights out.)
II-2 Page 1
Scene 2: Inside a passenger car en route to New York, moments later.
(Lights up on the inside of a passenger car. Dottie,
Walter, Charlie, and Martha enter the car and
approach their seats on the train. Dottie and Charlie
take opposite seats closest to the audience, and
Martha takes a seat next to Dottie. Walter stands to
make sure everybody is okay.)
WALTER
Okay then, everybody in their right seats? Well, then, needless to say, things ain’t
gone quite the way I expected today … have they?
MARTHA
(Brushes off the seat and sits down)
That’s an understatement for you!
WALTER
Sure, it was a shock, but what’s done is done, and ain’t nothin’ any of us can do
about it now!
(Dottie nods. Walter sits down and looks at her.)
I’m not sure what’s gonna happen back home after this, kid. But I want you to
promise me that you’re still gonna try to have a good time today, okay?
DOTTIE
Oh, don’t worry about that, Walter, I promise. I’m … I’m okay. Really.
WALTER
Actually, it’s funny, but you don’t seem all that surprised about all this.
DOTTIE
Well, you know … me and Emma … we talk.
WALTER
(Seems surprised)
Hmm … So did she say anything to you about all this?
DOTTIE
You promise you won’t get mad at me?
WALTER
I promise.
DOTTIE
Well, the other night, after I found out about that I was goin’ on this trip … and
after me and Em had it out with Sophie a little bit, well, Em … she sorta told me
that she was thinkin’ about doin’ this. But you gotta believe me Walter, I never
thought for sure that they was gonna go through with it!
WALTER
You didn’t tell nobody else about this, did ya?
II-2 Page 2
DOTTIE
Naw … that’s another promise I made, not to say nothin’. Even to you. And I
made darned sure I stayed away from Sophie!
WALTER
Yeah, and she woulda gotten Ma and Pa all riled up, which would’ve been a mess.
I’m pretty sure they don’t know about this yet.
DOTTIE
I sure didn’t tell `em!
WALTER
(Lights a cigarette)
Yeah, well, I’ll deal with that when we get back. I’ll tell Pa first. He won’t get as
hysterical about it as Ma probably will. I think Pa kinda likes Harry, so that’ll
help. Harry’s the only other one who can handle that whiskey Pa keeps hidden
away … so if I tell Pa first, he can tell Ma, and they can bicker about it between
themselves the rest of the day.
(He looks at Charlie and Martha)
Hey, I’m sorry that youse two got all wrapped up in all this crazy Dudek family
drama!
CHARLIE
Aw, it ain’t none of my business anyways!
MARTHA
Yeah, and I actually kinda admire what those two are doin’. Kinda romantic, goin’
to Niagara Falls, ain’t it?
(She looks at Walter, who shrugs.)
Anyways, I can’t really blame your sister for wantin’ to get away … from that
beat-up old house or yours, and especially from that crazy old-maid hag sister you
got livin’ there …
WALTER
Now, now … Let’s not talk about her today!
MARTHA
I know … but I’m sure that was part of Emma’s thinkin’ … Who would wanna be
around that fruitcake all the time? I think she could drive anybody to the loony
bin. Sure, maybe Emma coulda picked a better fella than that one she ran off with
... what with his drinkin’ and all …
WALTER
Yeah, but ya know what? I think bein’ married might settle Harry down a bit. He’s
a good worker when he’s sober. That’s the ticket … keepin’ him from drinkin’ If
Em can do that, even halfway, they should be all right.
(He picks his head up and slaps Charlie on the knee.)
II-2 Page 3
WALTER, contd.
Anyways, enough of all that! Emma and Harry are off to Niagara Falls! And I
ain’t gonna let any of that ruin our trip to the fair.
(He raises his hand as if he has a drink in it.)
Here’s to them both! And here’s to us, goin’ to see the New York World’s Fair!
MARTHA
Finally!
WALTER
Mind your sass, gal!
(They all laugh. A conductor walks by and Walter
hands him their tickets. The conductor punches the
tickets and moves along. Walter gets up and offers a
hand to Martha.)
So, lovey dovey, whatcha’ say we go for a little walk back to the club car and
leave these two kids to get acquainted?
MARTHA
(Pointing toward Charlie)
You sure about that? This one here looks like he’s trouble!
WALTER
Naw, he’s gonna mind his manners … Ain’t you Charlie?
(Charlie smiles and nods)
Dottie, you can tell Walter all about all the exciting things that happen in South
Patch.
MARTHA
That oughta take about two minutes.
(They all laugh, and Walter and Martha depart.
Charlie and Dottie look slightly uncomfortable, but
Dottie is smiling and looking at Charlie, who
decides to start a conversation.)
CHARLIE
Well … I … I ain’t sure what to make of what just happened … I mean, I wasn’t
even sure that gal was you and Walter’s sister! First time in my life I ever seen
anbody elopin’!
DOTTIE
Yeah, me neither! But that’s Emma. But like Walter said, there’s gonna be some
changes. I guess I’m gonna have to take up some of the things that Emma used to
do back home.
CHARLIE
That don’t sound like a lotta fun. But I don’t know much about your family,
actually. Walter, he don’t talk much about it, you know?
II-2 Page 4
DOTTIE
Yeah, I guess not. He probably don’t think about us much when he’s out on the
road.
CHARLIE
Yeah, a lot of guys in town here know Walter. I see him once or twice a week,
when he comes into the lunchroom where I work.
DOTTIE
You must meet lots of people.
CHARLIE
Yeah, and it’s a funny thing. They like to tell me all about their problems.
Sometimes I think they should put a collar on me, so’s I can start hearin’
confessions!
(They both laugh, then Dottie puts her hand to her
mouth as if she’s had a thought.)
DOTTIE
Uh, Charlie, now that you mention the lunchroom … if you … if you don’t mind
my askin’ … do they have … do they have a radio where you work?
CHARLIE
A radio?
DOTTIE
Yeah, you know, where they play music and all that?
CHARLIE
Well, yeah, I know what a radio is and … sure … yeah, we have one at the
lunchroom. But it’s pretty run down. And you can’t hear it too good, what with all
the customers yakkin’ away all the time. Why’d you ask?
DOTTIE
Oh, nothin’ … I was just wonderin’.
CHARLIE
It ain’t a big deal to me, though. I mean, we got a radio at our house and –
DOTTIE
You do? You mean … you actually have a radio? In your house?
CHARLIE
Well, sure. We got a radio. It ain’t much, and it takes a while to warm up and all.
Sometimes we gotta shake it a bit. But sure, we got one. Why … ain’t you folks
got one?
(Dottie seems nervous and struggles to answer.)
DOTTIE
Well, no. … We ain’t got one at our house –
CHARLIE
You ain’t got one at all?
II-2 Page 5
(Dottie seems embarrassed but recovers quickly)
DOTTIE
Well, no … not just yet.
CHARLIE
Hmm … that’s surprising. It is nineteen-thirty-nine … I thought everybody -DOTTIE
But I do know about radio, though!
CHARLIE
You do?
DOTTIE
Well, I know a little bit, anyways.
CHARLIE
But if you ain’t got one at your house, then –
DOTTIE
No, we don’t, but sometimes I get to hear the radio down at Kuchinsky’s.
CHARLIE
Are they your neighbors or somethin’?
DOTTIE
No, they own the drug store in town. The only store in town, really. And it’s the
only place I can go to where they got a radio.
CHARLIE
So you go to the drug store to listen to the radio?
DOTTIE
Well, yeah. I mean … I usually pretend I’m lookin’ around for some aspirin for
my Pa, or readin’ the magazines or somethin’ … But mostly I’m just listenin’ to
what’s playin’ on the radio.
CHARLIE
Hmmm … Well, I suppose that’s one way to do it … if you ain’t got one at home,
that is. But you probably don’t get to listen much. I mean, the store ain’t open at
night, is it?
DOTTIE
Well, I ain’t supposed to go down there myself at night anyways. But maybe on a
Sunday afternoon, or maybe on a Saturday, like today, I can go down there.
Sometimes if Walter’s playin’ ball in the park, I can sneak off during the middle
of the game and go down to the drug store and listen.
CHARLIE
But there ain’t much to listen to at that time of the day.
II-2 Page 6
DOTTIE
Yeah, but that don’t matter to me. I don’t care if it’s the news, or some ballgame,
or whatever. I just wanna hear what’s happenin’ out there in the world. But
mainly, I like to hear the music.
CHARLIE
You like music, eh?
DOTTIE
Oh yeah! There was this one day, not too long ago, and they had on this music
from … come to think of it, it was comin’ from New York! From some big hotel,
as I recall.
CHARLIE
Yeah, they got big hotels there … at least that’s what I hear.
DOTTIE
Anyways, this fella, a fella by the name of Miller or somethin’
CHARLIE
Glenn Miller?
DOTTIE
Yeah, I suppose that was him. He was playin’ this song …
(Dottie hums a few notes of Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade.”)
CHARLIE
“Moonlight Serenade.”
DOTTIE
Huh?
CHARLIE
That song. It’s called “Moonlight Serenade.”
DOTTIE
Oh, well, I didn’t know that … I didn’t even know it had a name! I just know I
liked it. Funny how I remember that tune, though, ain’t it?
(She hums a few more notes.)
CHARLIE
Well, it is a catchy tune. One of the biggest hits in the country. Easy to dance to,
nice and slow ...
(He makes a slow-dancing motion with his torso.)
But … I mean … ain’t nobody got a jukebox in your town? Don’t they ever have
no dances there?
DOTTIE
Jukebox? Dances? Naw … other than the church basement, we ain’t got no place
for that. And besides, my Ma and Pa wouldn’t let me go to no dances.
II-2 Page 7
(Charlie nods. Dottie smiles and starts to think
about the radio again.)
DOTTIE, contd.
Anyways, Charlie, can I tell you about this one time, with me and the radio …?
CHARLIE
Sure.
DOTTIE
One time, on a Sunday night, there was a church picnic goin’ on. Em fixed it so
we all could go, but after a while, I didn’t think there was nothin’ much to do
there. So … and you gotta promise not to tell Walter about this … but right before
seven o’clock, I sneaked off and ran down to Kuchinsky’s. Of course, it wasn’t
open, but Mrs. Kuchinsky, she was in workin’ with the cash register or somethin’.
She looked up and she saw me peekin’ into the store. She knew that I like listenin’
to the radio, so she came over and opened the door.
(She repeats a dialog with the wife of the drug
store’s owner.)
“Dottie Dudek, what you doin’ out here by yourself this time of night?”
“I … I’m sorry Mrs. Kuchinsky, but everybody else is up at the picnic, and I was
… well, I just thought I’d come down here and see if …”
“You thought you’d come down and see if we was open so’s you could listen to the
radio, eh?”
“Uh … I … I guess so!”
“Well, girl, I’ll tell ya, you got it bad for that radio! But anyways, c’mon in!
Mister Kuchinsky’s upstairs, dead to the world! He won’t be up `til around dawn,
most likely. You can come on in here and listen with me. Now, are you sure your
Ma and Pa won’t mind?”
“Aww … no, I’ll go right back up to the picnic in a little bit. I just never … I just
never got to hear nothin’ on the radio in the nighttime like this!”
“Well, you sure picked a good night for it! Girl, you’re in for a treat!”
(Dottie resumes talking to Charlie in her normal voice.)
So anyways, she turned on the radio and fiddled with the knobs a bit. She even
had to smack it once or twice to get the signal. And the next thing I knew, I heard
these three bells …
(She mimics the three chimes of NBC and then
mimics an announcer sotto voce.)
Ding-dong-ding! This is the National Broadcasting Company!
(Charlie chuckles and nods. Dottie returns to normal voice)
II-2 Page 8
DOTTIE, contd.
And then … and I’ll never forget this, Charlie, if I live to be a hundred … some
other fella came on, and there was music in the background, and he said …
(She imitates the announcer Don Wilson.)
“This is the Jell-o Program, starring … Jack Benny!”
CHARLIE
Jack Benny, eh?
DOTTIE
You know him?
CHARLIE
Sure do. Everybody knows Jack Benny. I listen to his program every Sunday
night.
DOTTIE
Well, I never heard of him before that night. But Charlie, I swear, I started
laughin’ so hard, I thought Mrs. Kuchinsky was gonna have to knock me on the
head to get me to stop! I never heard nothin’ so funny! And he had that fella with
him, the fella’ who cooks for him –
CHARLIE
Rochester? The colored fellow?
DOTTIE
Yeah, Rochester! Nobody told me he was a colored fella … but anyways, ain’t he
just the funniest fella?
CHARLIE
He sure is.
DOTTIE
Oh God, Charlie. If I could listen to that program every Sunday night … I swear, I
don’t think I’d get any chores done all week. I’d be too excited, waitin’ for
Sunday night!
CHARLIE
Well, that’s one of the most famous programs on the radio, Dottie, but they got
lots of programs like that … and lots of musical programs, too. Every night, on a
couple of different channels!
DOTTIE
Oh dear … Charlie … it’s probably a good thing I ain’t got my own set. I don’t
think I’d ever leave my room if I had my own set in there.
(Charlie laughs, looks out the window, and thinks.)
CHARLIE
You know, these fellas … Glenn Miller, Jack Benny, all of them … you know,
they don’t just work on the radio. They travel around a lot, doin’ their shows in all
sorts of different towns. In fact, I went to a dance a few weeks ago … I went stag,
II-2 Page 9
mind you … me and my pal Chet … but we went to a dance and they had another
band leader, a fella who I think’s even a bigger star than Miller, actually, a clarinet
player by the name of Benny Goodman.
DOTTIE
Really?
CHARLIE
Yeah, he came to our town hall, which is big enough to have dances … like once a
month. And the gals get all dolled up and come to the dances, and the fellas get all
spruced up and they ask the gals to dance. Sometimes the gals say yes and
sometimes they don’t. Of course, if you bring your own gal to the dance, then
that’s the one you stay with.
DOTTIE
And do you do that?
CHARLIE
Uh … no … not really. I ain’t had the right gal to take to the dance as of yet.
(They both smile, then look down awkwardly. There
seems to be an attraction between them.)
DOTTIE
I … naw, I better not say that!
CHARLIE
No, go ahead.
DOTTIE
Well … I’d … I think I’d really love to go to one of them dances.
CHARLIE
You know, it don’t cost you gals nothing to get in!
DOTTIE
Is that right? Even I can afford that!
(They both nod and smile.)
CHARLIE
You know, one thing’s for sure, though, Dottie. Maybe I been been to a couple of
dances at the town hall, but I sure ain’t been to a World’s Fair before!
DOTTIE
I know! Ain’t you excited?
CHARLIE
Well, yeah, sure I am! I mean, when Walter first asked me about it, I wasn’t so
sure –
DOTTIE
Did he tell you I was coming?
II-2 Page 10
CHARLIE
He said he had some sisters who were coming, and that one of them would be
with her boyfriend.
DOTTIE
So you thought he was … what do they call it? You thought he was setting you up
with one of the others?
(Charlie chuckles)
CHARLIE
I gotta admit, I was wonderin’ what he had up his sleeve. But how about you? Did
you always know you were goin’ to the fair?
DOTTIE
Oh no, they just told me the other day. And I been on pins and needles ever since.
At first, when they told me another fella was comin’, I was a little scared. But I
ain’t scared no more, Charlie. Don’t know what it is, but you seem kinda … well,
you seem kinda nice, I guess.
CHARLIE
Thanks … I guess.
(They both look out the window briefly and are
silent. Charlie smokes nervously.)
CHARLIE
You know … they have them dances about once a month.
DOTTIE
Really?
CHARLIE
And sooner or later, I betcha Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman’s gonna swing
through town again.
DOTTIE
That oughta be somethin’ … There oughta be lots of gals there for fellas like you
to dance with.
CHARLIE
Well, yeah, but it’s always better if you have your own … I mean … you know, if
Walter and your Ma and Pa …
DOTTIE
You mean, you’d wanna take me?
CHARLIE
I was just thinkin’—
DOTTIE
Gosh, I ain’t never been asked to a dance before!
CHARLIE
I don’t wanna cause no trouble, though.
II-2 Page 11
DOTTIE
Oh, it ain’t no trouble, Charlie. After today, I just know I’m gonna be doin’ a lot
of things I ain’t never done before. Heck, a week ago, who ever thought I’d be
goin’ to the World’s Fair?
CHARLIE
Me neither!
DOTTIE
So … yeah, Charlie … I’d love to go to one of them dances with you sometime!
Now, if you’d have asked me a week ago, I mighta had some doubts. I might have
been too scared to leave South Patch. But with what’s happened around me the
last couple of days, and with all the thinkin’ and promisin’ I been doin’ lately …
well, heck yeah! It’s gonna be all right.
(Charlie smiles and leans back in his seat)
CHARLIE
Well, all right, then!
(They’re both smiling as Walter and Martha return
from the club car.)
WALTER
Well, look at these two smiley faces! Whatcha been doin’, Kollar, impressin’ my
sister with your big city ways?
DOTTIE
Mind what you say there, Walter. You know, Charlie even has his own radio!
WALTER
He has his? … Oh boy! … I forgot that if there’s one way to get on the good side
of this kid, all a fella needs is a radio!
(Everybody but Dottie laughs.)
So Charlie’s got his own radio, does he? Darn it, Kollar, why ain’t you never told
me that before? You mean you ain’t gotta go down to the drug store to listen to it?
DOTTIE
No … and he gets to hear Jack Benny and all of them every night!
WALTER
Jack Benny? Hell, even I don’t get to listen to him!
(The all laugh and Walter and Martha sit down.)
MARTHA
Well, all of youse, maybe we’ll get lucky and Jack Benny will be at the World’s
Fair. Then you won’t have to wait until tomorrow night to hear his program.
(Walter leans back and lights up a cigarette.)
WALTER
Yeah, well, I wouldn’t hold my breath! And besides, after the kind of day I’ve
had, I think I’d rather see Ginger Rogers in the flesh!
II-2 Page 12
(Martha socks him in the arm.)
MARTHA
Ginger … Ginger Rogers? Whatcha wanna see her for? For one thing, Mister
Dudek, you know you can’t dance!
WALTER
Yeah, but with her I’dlearn!
DOTTIE
Hey Walter, speakin’ of dancin’ …
(Charlie shakes his head and tries to tell her not to
say anything.)
CHARLIE
Uh … Dottie –
(Charlie puts his finger to his mouth to suggest she
should be quiet.)
DOTTIE
What?
WALTER
Yeah, what?
DOTTIE
Oh, nothin’, Walter. I just thought you’d like to know … Charlie just said he
might be takin’ me to one of them dances in the city someday.
WALTER
Oh he did, did he?
CHARLIE
Hey Walter, I –
(Dottie leans forward and emphatically looks at Walter.)
DOTTIE
Yeah, he did! And I said I would like that.
WALTER
Oh you did, huh?
(Walter stares at them both, first looking as if he’s
angry, but then he smiles. Then he turns to Martha.)
WALTER
Sweetie, how’s about you tell me, what did I do to deserve this? All I wanted to
do was go to the World’s Fair with my best gal, and get away for one day after
drivin’ a coal truck all week. And now look at me! I got one sister ridin’ the rails
up to Niagara Falls to get married on the Q-T! I got another one who’s been sittin’
back in South Patch stewin’ the past couple of days because we left her there with
the folks. And now I got my baby sister sittin’ here tellin’ me she’s plannin’ on
goin’ dancin’ with a short-order cook … and that I better learn to like it!
II-2 Page 13
(They all laugh.)
WALTER, contd.
This train better get to New York fast … `cause we gotta get these two to the
World’s Fair before they make any more plans! I might be able to explain losin’
one sister on the way there, but I sure as heck ain’t gonna go home and tell Ma
and Pa I lost both of `em in one day!
(They all laugh some more. Dottie pats Walter on the knee.)
DOTTIE
No, Walter, you ain’t gotta worry about that! Maybe Emma needed to run away
before she went to the fair, but I ain’t missin’ this for the world. You know, I been
makin’ lotsa promises to lotsa people over the last coupla days, but right now, I’m
makin’ one to myself. For the next coupla hours, I ain’t gonna be Dottie Dudek
from South Patch, sneakin’ off to listen to the radio at the drug store and dreamin’
about that big wonderful world out there. I’m gonna go and see it for myself. I
gotta feelin’ this is gonna be a great, big, wonderful World’s Fair we’re goin’ to,
Walter, and ain’t none of us gonna feel exactly the same once we get back on this
train tonight, and for a long time to come!
(Walter smiles and shakes his head. The four of
them put their hands together in the center space
between them.)
MARTHA
To the World’s Fair, then!
ALL FOUR
To the World’s Fair!
(Lights out.)
II-Entr’acte Page 1
ENTR’ACTE
(On a lighted curtain, silhouettes of the Trylon and the Perisphere, the
symbols of the 1939 World’s Fair, are seen. The instrumental version of the
song “It’s a Big, Wide Wonderful World” plays. There are assorted muffled
crowd noises and assorted sounds of hawkers in the background, children
laughing, and amusement rides running, suggesting a busy day at the
World’s Fair.
The curtain then goes dark, except for numerous twinkling lights,
symbolizing the lights of the fair at night. A piano plays Villa-Lobos’ “New
York Skyline Melody” for about two minutes. Blackout.)
II-3 Page 1
Scene 3. Passenger car for the return trip from the fair.
(Lights up on the inside of another passenger car.
There’s a little bit of noise as the two couples get on
board. The girls are carrying 1930s style bags that
hold souvenirs and gifts they bought or were given
at the fair. Dottie’s bag has a small stuffed bear
sticking out of it. Walter lets the other three sit
down, then takes a seat.)
WALTER
Okay, now, is everybody on board? Remember, I can’t afford to leave anybody
behind!
(Martha takes off her shoes and begins rubbing her feet.)
MARTHA
Boy, a World’s Fair can really tire you out. My feet are killing me!
DOTTIE
I don’t think I’ll be able to walk for a week!
MARTHA
Well, you sure saw a lot. What a change of scenery for you, though. From that
town you live in to –
DOTTIE
To the rest of the world!
(They all laugh. Charlie leans back in his chair.
Walter addresses Dottie.)
WALTER
Well, don’t get no ideas about hangin’ around any longer. I don’t wanna have to
tell Ma and Pa the last time I saw you, you was in Jersey!
(The girls laugh.)
MARTHA
And what do you suppose my pa would say if he found out you left me in Jersey?
WALTER
He’d probably give me a reward!
(Martha slaps Walter on the arm and he laughs.)
DOTTIE
Hey Walter, if I stayed in Jersey, what do you think Sophie would say?
(Walter leans back and laughs.)
WALTER
Plenty, I’m sure.
II-3 Page 2
MARTHA
(Grimaces)
Well, you just tell that crazy old maid to mind her own business!
(Walter nudges Martha, as if to scold her. He looks
back at Dottie and Charlie.)
WALTER
So, let’s hear it! How’d you two like the fair?
CHARLIE
Um … well … I liked that place where they showed what life will be like in thirty
years …
WALTER
Oh, that General Motors thing? Talkin’ about what cars are gonna be likey in
nineteen-sixty?
(Turns to Charlie)
Whatcha figure a car is gonna cost by then, Charlie? At least a couple a hundred
bucks, I’d guess.
(Charlie nods and laughs.)
MARTHA
I thought that time capsule thing was amazing! Just imagine … they ain’t gonna
open that for five-thousand years! I kinda wish my name was in there, ya know?
Not that I expect anybody’s gonna know who I am five-thousand years years from
now!
(She reaches into her purse and pulls out some pins.)
But I hope you all got lots of souvenir pins, like I did. Here’s my Borden’s pin …
(She shows the pin to the others.) Look, it’s Elsie the Cow!
(She reaches into her purse for a small button.)
And here’s one that says, “I was there. New York World’s Fair.”
(Charlie laughs and pulls a little Heinz pickle pin out of his pocket.)
CHARLIE
Well, I liked the pickle place!
(They all laugh. Dottie reaches into her bag and
pulls out her own pickle pin.)
DOTTIE
I got one of them, too! And I ain’t never gonna give this up!
(Backstage. A conductor faintly yells “All Aboard!”
Charlie reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out
another small pin.)
II-3 Page 3
CHARLIE
And I got a little ham!
(Dottie reaches into her bag and pulls out the same
pin.)
DOTTIE
Here’s my ham, too! Hey Walter, when was the last time we had this much ham
back at the house?
WALTER
Never, probably!
(Charlie pulls out a small Brownie camera and
begins to look at it.)
CHARLIE
Can’t wait to see how these pictures turn out!
(Walter smacks him on the knee.)
WALTER
Ya know, Kollar, I could wring your neck … Why didn’t you tell me you was
gonna bring one of them cameras with you? By the time I found out you was
carryin’ a camera around, you two had used up all the film you had in there. Did
you ever think me and Martha mighta wanted a picture of ourselves at the World’s
Fair?
CHARLIE
Sorry, Walter, I just forgot. I kinda got carried away takin’ all those pictures of
everything. But we got some great shots, if they turn out. A bunch of the different
pavilions. That ball and pointy thing …
MARTHA
The Trylon and Perisphere.
CHARLIE
Yeah, that. And I got some pictures of them gals doin’ the fancy swimmin’ –
MARTHA
The Aquacade.
CHARLIE
Yeah, and the parachute drop, too. Probably a good thing Glenn Miller and Jack
Benny never showed up … I’d have run outta film to take pictures of them!
DOTTIE
Don’t forget, you got pictures of me!
WALTER
No kiddin’?
CHARLIE
Yeah, she wouldn’t let me take any pictures after a while unless she was in it.
II-3 Page 4
DOTTIE
I don’t think anybody ever took my picture before.
WALTER
Me neither. But that’s okay. I ain’t that photographic –
MARTHA
That’s “photogenic!”
WALTER
Yeah, and I ain’t that, either. But my baby sister sure is. I think she’s gonna look
awful pretty in front of that ball and pointy thing.
MARTHA
The Trylon and Perisphere!
WALTER
Whatever.
DOTTIE
I don’t know what I’ll look like, but I can’t wait to see them. Hey Charlie, how
does this work, anyways? When we gonna se `em?
CHARLIE
The pictures?
DOTTIE
Yeah! When do we get to see `em?
CHARLIE
Well, when we get back, I gotta take `em over to the photo shop. Walter, you
know the one I mean. The one down the street from the lunchroom?
WALTER
Oh yeah, the Jew’s photo shop. Markowitz or whatever his name is.
CHARLIE
Yeah, Sam Markowitz. Nice fella, actually. He comes into the lunchroom once in
a while. He’s always tellin’ me that if I have any pictures to develop, he’ll do it
cheap.
WALTER
Cheap, eh? He actually said that? “Cheap?”
CHARLIE
Yeah, really. “Cheap!” Funny thing about that Sammy, though. He don’t eat when
he comes in. He usually just comes in for a cup of coffee. He does his eatin’ at
Cohen’s, the deli around the corner. I guess he’s Kosher or somethin’. But
anyways, he has a pretty good business over there in his shop, from what I hear.
All the photographers from the newspaper down the street give him all their
business.
II-3 Page 5
WALTER
As long as he don’t give us the business, eh?
CHARLIE
(Grimaces and shakes his head.)
Now that ain’t fair, Walter! Sammy, he’s a good guy. I trust him. If he says cheap,
he means cheap! He’ll probably get the pictures back to me in about a week.
(They pause, and Martha curls up in her seat.)
MARTHA
Well, now that that’s been resolved, I’m going to take a nap.
WALTER
Okay, you do that. Hey Kollar, let’s continue this conversation in the club car,
with a little after-the-World’s Fair entertainment.
CHARLIE
Whatcha mean?
(Walter pulls two big cigars out of his pocket.)
WALTER
As in, a little bit of Havana!
CHARLIE
Well, all right! Time to go light up, eh big fella?
WALTER
You shred it, wheat!
(They all laugh. Walter and Charlie get up and walk
gingerly out of the moving car. Martha falls asleep.
Dottie looks out toward the audience. Lights out.)
II-4 Page 1
Scene 4: The club car
(Lights up as Walter and Charlie stumble into the
club car and take seats at the first round table they
encounter. Walter lights both their cigars.)
WALTER
(Leans back a bit)
Boy, what a day, eh?
CHARLIE
You betcha.
WALTER
It ain’t gonna be easy to go back to work Monday after all this.
CHARLIE
Yeah, nothin’ like havin’ to drag my rear end back into that hot lunchroom.
Although I do kinda look forward to goin’ back and tellin’ the boss about the
French guy cookin’ goose at the fair!
(They both laugh. Walter leans back and takes a
long puff on his cigar.)
WALTER
Yeah, your menu don’t exactly got room for goose!
(Charlie nods, but then both men get serious.)
Hey … is it just me, or do you got somethin’ on your mind?
CHARLIE
Well … ya know –
WALTER
Don’t tell me you’re all shook up about what Dottie said about youse two goin’ to
a dance? You ain’t any under obligation to do that.
CHARLIE
No, I really meant it!
WALTER
Well, okay then, I suppose it’s jake with me. As long as you got, you know, good
intentions?
CHARLIE
Sure I do. I guess we gotta make sure we do things like dancin’ while we can …
you know, with the way the world is now.
(Walter leans forward and puffs some more.)
WALTER
Yeah, I know. That’s just about all anybody’s talkin’ about at work these days.
Nobody’s talkin’ about baseball or the movies or nothin’ … just this one subject.
II-4 Page 2
CHARLIE
What’s goin on over there, right?
(They sigh and pause)
WALTER
Yep. It’s “Europe this,” and “Europe that.” I hear more about Europe when I’m
at work then I do when I’m home … and I got two folks who was born there!
(They both laugh heartily.)
But seriously … what the Sam Hell is wrong with them people over there?
CHARLIE
It guess they ain’t never gotten over what happened the last time,
WALTER
Yeah, well, that don’t surprise me. My old man sits around blabberin’ about stuff
that happened in the old country even before the last war. And anyways, I … well,
my family, anyway … can’t afford for me to get shipped over there just because
them Europeans can’t get along.
CHARLIE
Well, you got one sister taken off your hands today!
WALTER
Just one?
CHARLIE
Knock it off! All I did was talk about goin’ dancin’! I’ll tell ya what, though, if
you don’t mind me sayin’. She is a real cutie!
(Walter stares at Charlie, then laughs and slaps him
on the thigh.)
WALTER
Well, I know my sisters, Charlie, and I know Dottie had a look in her eyes, like
nothin’ I ain’t seen before.
CHARLIE
You really think so?
WALTER
I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t think so.
(Charlie smiles and seems pleased.)
Anyways, gettin’ back to our situation here … I don’t follow the news much
myself, but I heard a lot about this Hitler fella in Germany.
CHARLIE
Yeah, there’s Hitler. And there’s a guy in Italy … Mussolini. I hear about it in the
lunchroom every day. The fellas from the newspaper across the street, they’re
always comin’ in around lunch time, sayin’, “Ya hear what happened in Europe
today?”
II-4 Page 3
WALTER
Well, I wouldn’t know Hitler or Mussolini if either one of `em walked in this club
car right now. But I do know that I don’t wanna have to go over there to settle
whatever their problems are.
(Walter gets up and paces, swaying slightly with the train.)
CHARLIE
Yeah, I know, but the Germans already are takin’ over some countries? They took
over Austria and then –
WALTER
And what about the Slovak place?
CHARLIE
Czechoslovakia?
WALTER
Yeah … ain’t that where your folks are from?
CHARLIE
Yeah, and now they got that, too. I hear about that almost every day at home.
(Walter waves his hand off to the distance.)
WALTER
Aw, so what the hell do you care, though? Your folks ain’t there no more. Do you
know a single soul in that place? No, you don’t! And I ain’t never met any of my
relations in Europe, neither. I ain’t the least bit interested in it. Don’t wanna ever
go there, don’t wanna see it! That’s where my Ma and Pa came from, not me!
What do I care if the Germans take a couple of miles worth of chickens and pigs
and all the shit they leave behind? Let `em have it all … just so’s they all stay
over there … way over there!
(Charlie puts his hand to his chin. Walter notices it.)
Do you beg to differ or somethin’?
CHARLIE
No … no! I was just thinkin’ … I know my old man told me that the last time,
some guys from our neighborhood went over … and they didn’t come back.
WALTER
Well, that’s true … I think there was some guys from South Patch that didn’t
come back, neither. And ain’t that some kinda deal for ya? With all we been
through the last few years. Me and you, we’s the lucky ones … we got jobs! And
we wanna keep `em, don’t we? So what happens if a fella goes over there, and
when he comes back … still in one piece … there ain’t no more jobs?
(Charlie stays quiet. Walter clears his throat.)
Or, worse yet, what happens if a fella comes back like my old man? All busted up
… all blowed up here, missin’ somethin’ there. And he can’t work no more!
(Walter sits back down. They lean back in their
chairs. Walter looks out the window, seemingly
II-4 Page 4
agitated. The train bumps. A conductor comes
through and whispers something to Walter. Walter
nods and the conductor moves on.)
WALTER, contd.
Damn, I forgot about the tickets! But, son of a gun, Martha had `em! So I guess
we’re ridin’ legal, Charlie! Anyway, let’s change the subject. I don’t wanna think
about goin’ over there no more. Them fellas twenty years ago, that was just their
tough luck, ya know? So they never came back. We ain’t them. We seen a lot
more in twenty-some years than they ever would have anyhow. And we all just
been through this depression. And now we might have to go fight a war? No … it
just can’t end up like that, Charlie. It just can’t!
CHARLIE
I don’t know, Walter … I just don’t know.
(They both pause and stare in different directions;
Walter looks out a window and Charlie straight
ahead. Then they seem to recover.)
WALTER
So let’s get back to the present, then. Thanks for comin’ along today. I know
Dottie had a great time.
CHARLIE
Well, I did too!
WALTER
I have a feelin’ you might be comin’ down to South Patch a lot more than you did
before.
CHARLIE
Could be … But … that’s only if we all don’t end up over there.
WALTER
Dammit, Charlie, I said I didn’t wanna talk about that no more! Stop puttin’ a rifle
in my hands, will ya?
(Walter makes two fists and holds them up.)
If I’m gonna fight anybody, it’s gonna be some Irishman who mouths off to me at
the wrong time, or some ginzo who owes me money. And I’m gonna use … these!
These two weapons, right here!
(Walter puts his hands down and grimaces.)
I’m gonna drive my truck, I’m gonna play baseball, and I’m gonna think about
marryin’ that gal back in the other car back there. But dammit Charlie, we gotta
stop thinkin’ about this. Cause I sure as shootin’ ain’t plannin’ on goin’ over to
Europe and fightin’ any God-damned Germans!
(Charlie smiles and nods. The train bumps and they
both lean back, smoking cigars. Lights out.)
II-5 Page 1
Scene 5. The passenger car.
(Darkness except for key light on Dottie. Martha is
asleep, but Dottie is awake, looking out the window.
She is holding some of the items from the fair. As
she talks about gifts for the family, she pulls out
small items from the fair for each.)
DOTTIE
I don’t know how Martha is sleepin’ like that. I know we did a lot of walkin’, but
I sure ain’t tired! I don’t think I’m gonna sleep for a week. I’m just too excited!
(She reaches into her bag and pulls out a few small
souvenirs one by one, smiling as she looks at each,
then puts it back in the bag.)
I wasn’t sure what to get Emma and Harry. I didn’t know if I was gettin’ a World’s
Fair gift or a wedding gift! What do you get for a couple that just ran off and
eloped like that? They ain’t gonna have much on their minds `cept for getting’
settled in, wherever that is. I ain’t even sure I’m gonna see them two anytime
soon.
(Stage left, Emma appears, wearing a bit nicer dress
than earlier in the day. Key lights on each as they
have a dream sequence conversation.)
EMMA
Well, don’t be too sure about that, baby sister!
DOTTIE
Em! What are you doin’ here? Ain’t you off on your honeymoon yet?
EMMA
Sure I am. We’s all married up now and in Niagara Falls. But I felt like I had to
check up on all of youse, ya know? And I’ll tell ya what, Dottie, if I had to miss
that World’s Fair, this ain’t a bad second choice. I mean, I ain’t never seen nothin’
like this place. I never thought there was this much water in the world!
DOTTIE
Well, that’s good, Em. I’m glad you got to see somethin’ special, too. And who
knows, Em? Maybe someday you’ll get to see a World’s Fair, too.
EMMA
Yeah, maybe I will. So anyway, tell me. Did you have fun today?
DOTTIE
Oh, wow, did I? I can’t even begin to tell you all the things we saw. This fair …
you know, it’s all about what life’s gonna be like in the years to come.
EMMA
Oh yeah? Did they make it sound like it’s all gonna be sugar and spice and
everything nice?
II-5 Page 2
DOTTIE
(Laughing)
Yeah, they did! I guess they probably overdid it, didn’t they?
EMMA
Well, what does anybody know, really? I mean, we’re just two dirt-poor gals from
South Patch, and even with me leavin’ and all, I guess that’s what we’ll stay,
don’tcha think?
DOTTIE
So you definitely ain’t comin’ back?
EMMA
No, Dottie, I ain’t comin’ back. Not for now, anyways.
DOTTIE
Well I’m gonna miss you! But remember, I said I was gonna take care of things
back home, and I meant it. But I guess I’m also kinda excited because … well …
maybe I shouldn’t say -EMMA
No, go ahead!
DOTTIE
Well, you know that fella Charlie that came along with us today?
EMMA
Don’t tell me that you two hit it off?
DOTTIE
Yeah, I guess we did. We talked about the radio, and music … Em, he’s got a
radio in his house! How about that?
EMMA
Oh wow, you musta fallen hard when you heard that!
DOTTIE
Well, yeah … but we got a lot in common, too! He even took some pictures of me
at the fair! I can’t wait til you see `em! But, it’s more than that, ya know?
EMMA
Oh yeah … I know what you mean.
DOTTIE
Like when you first met Harry, I mean. That’s kinda how I feel now.
EMMA
Boy, oh boy … talk about the world of tomorrow, eh? One Dudek sister runs off
and elopes, and the other goes to New York and gets swept off her feet by a fella
from downtown. What’s Sophie gonna think about all that?
DOTTIE
Oh boy, Sophie! What is she gonna think?
II-5 Page 3
EMMA
Does that worry you?
DOTTIE
A little.
EMMA
Well, you shouldn’t let it worry you if you’re gonna handle things there. We
talked about this the other night, didn’t we? Sophie had her chance to leave and
she didn’t.
DOTTIE
But didn’t I promise?
EMMA
Well, yeah, you promised. But we all promise, and sometimes, we just can’t keep
those promises. Does that make us bad people? I don’t know, Dottie? I been
wrestlin’ with that longer than you wanna know. All I know is that like we said the
other night, even if I’m in Buffalo, if somethin’ happens with Ma or Pa, I’ll do
what I can to help. And if you end up with Charlie … or any fella … and you’re
livin’ somewhere else, I know you’ll do the same thing. But neither one of us ain’t
gotta spend the rest of our lives tryin’ to live up to somethin’, whether it’s real or
whether it’s somethin’ somebody dreamed up, that is gonna turn us into somebody
like Sophie, mad at the world, takin’ our frustrations out on everybody else.
DOTTIE
You really believe all that, Em?
(Emma puts her head down, pauses, and lifts it back up.)
EMMA
I’ve had to make myself believe it, Dottie, at least for the time bein’. I just … I
just couldn’t live with myself otherwise.
(They both put down their heads briefly. Emma
picks hers back up first.)
So anyways, honey, I’m glad to hear about you and Charlie. And I’m glad you
loved the fair. I’m sure you’ll never forget today, as long as you live. Maybe
someday, you can show your kids those pictures and tell them how a scared little
girl from South Patch started dreamin’ about tomorrow that day.
DOTTIE
Okay, Em. And someday, you gotta show me your pictures from Niagara Falls.
EMMA
There’s only gonna be one. And we had to pay some fella three dollars to them
take it! But yeah, I’ll show it to you, Dottie. Someday.
DOTTIE
Okay, Em. You’re right. I’m scared. But I’m also excited. We’re gonna do it, you
and me. We’re gonna make it out and live in that big world of tomorrow, whether
it’s good or whether it’s bad.
II-5 Page 4
EMMA
That’s what I wanted to hear. Bye-bye for now, honey, and don’t be afraid to
write.
DOTTIE
Bye, Em. And don’t worry. We’re gonna see each other. Just you wait!
(Key light fades off Emma.)
Yeah, Em, someday, after Ma and Pa are gone, and we all have kids of our own,
you and me can talk about all this. About all these promises we made, and the
promises we kept, and even the ones we didn’t keep. But now, I gotta think about
somethin’ else. I woke up today, and I was Dottie Dudek, the South Patch girl
who never did much or knew much about the world outside that little bitty coal
town. But today, well, I just saw New York City and the nineteen thirty-nine
World’s Fair. And I met me a fella who, if things work out, might be part of my
future, too.
(Dottie turns herself to face the audience.)
Now, I ain’t too sure what the rest of the world’s gonna do tomorrow. But I know
what I’m doin’. I’m gonna be like all those bright lights I just saw in New York
City … not a girl from some dark and dreary little town, but a bright light for my
family … the one I already got, and the one I’m gonna have someday. And then,
who knows, maybe years from now, if they ever have another World’s Fair in
New York, I can come back, and look around and say, without thinkin’ twice,
“Hey there Dottie, you sure did come an awful long way since you were here back
in nineteen thirty-nine!”
(Lights off Dottie. Curtain.)
END OF ACT II
III-1 Page 1
ACT III
Scene 1: A VA nursing home, a Wednesday afternoon, summer, 1964.
(Lights up on the visitor’s lounge in a VA nursing
home, summer, 1964. A middle-aged man is sitting
in a wheelchair, looking out a window. His legs are
gone above the knee. He has a blanket over his lap
and is wearing pajamas and a robe. He is Walter
Dudek, now in his 50s. He lost both his legs during
the invasion of Normandy in 1944. A younger nurse
approaches him.)
NURSE
Hey there, Walter … I have some good news. Your sister's here to see you. I was
just talking to her out front.
(Walter turns to her, looking surprised.)
WALTER
Sister? You mean Dottie?
NURSE
No, it isn’t the one who’s always here. This is another one.
(Walter nods)
Actually, I don’t recall seeing this particular sister here before. I think she’s your
older sister.
(Walter turns around the wheelchair, smiling.)
WALTER
Yeah, well, I got two older sisters. But I got a feeling which one it is.
NURSE
Yep, and she's got a big bag of goodies and other stuff for you ...
(The nurse turns and looks back.)
Here she comes now -(Emma Konopki enters, carrying a large shopping
bag. She is in her 50s and is wearing an expensivelooking black dress and what look like fairly
expensive black leather shoes. Her hair is done and
she’s wearing makeup.)
EMMA
Well, well ... look who it is!
(The nurse brings Walter toward Emma. Walter
appears to be in pain, but he smiles when he sees
Emma, who puts the bag down and leans down to
hug and kiss him.)
III-1 Page 2
WALTER
Hey there, Emma! Gosh, when this gal said my sister was here, I kinda knew she
didn’t mean Sophie!
EMMA
Oh really?
(Walter grimaces and shakes his head. The nurse exits.)
WALTER
First off, she don’t come alone, of course. Somebody woulda had to bring her,
most likely Dottie or Charlie. Tell ya the truth, though, I’m not sure I’d have let
her in anyway. Last time she was here ... about two years ago ... she did the same
thing she’s been doin’ every time she’s come over here since the end of the war.
She did nothin' but complain to me about how her legs hurt.
(Walter shakes his head and looks down where his legs were.)
Amazin’, ain’t it? She comes in here and tells a guy with no legs how her legs
hurt.
(Emma shrugs. Walter puts his hands on his lap.)
EMMA
I’m not surprised.
(Walter wheels over next to a chair, and he motions
for Emma to sit down.)
Anyways, I don’t talk to Sophie much these days. I let Dottie deal with it. You
know, it’s funny … I hear that when we lost Harry up there in Buffalo, Sophie
was down here acting like it was her husband who died. Funny thing is, she and
Harry never could stand each other.
WALTER
That’s for sure. By the way … I’m … I’m sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral,
but ...
(Emma puts her right index finger to her lips and
her left hand on Walter’s hand.)
EMMA
Now, now, none of that! Nobody expected you to be there. I know you can’t get
out much at all, much less to Buffalo. It was still darn cold up there and -(Emma starts to rub her eyes. Walter tries to comfort her.)
WALTER
Em, you ain’t gotta talk about that –
EMMA
No, it’s okay, Walter. I’m … I’m kinda over the worst of it now, you know? And
tell the truth, I don’t remember all that much about it.
(Emma wipes her eyes.)
III-1 Page 3
EMMA, contd.
You know, it’s funny about Sophie and all. One of the reasons Harry never would
consider moving back down here was because he was afraid we were gonna get
stuck having Sophie live with us after Ma and Pa died.
HARRY
Yeah, well, for all his faults, Harry had a lot of common sense most of the time.
EMMA
Yeah, I know … when he wasn’t drunk. But it was inevitable that he was gonna
go and die off on me the way he did. He’d drunk himself into the grave enough
for three men by the time he actually got there.
WALTER
Charlie was here a few weeks ago … and he was tellin’ me how he heard that the
kids in your neighborhood used to always find Harry lyin’ drunk by the railroad
tracks.
(Emma chuckles and shakes her head.)
EMMA
That was Harry, all right. The story around the neighborhood was that the kids
used to say he’d be walking a straight line on his way from the house, and all zigzagged on the way home.
WALTER
But I guess at the end, he never even got outta the house, huh?
EMMA
Yeah, they found him dead at the house one day, when I was off shoppin’.
WALTER
I heard he fell and broke his neck or somethin’.
EMMA
Yeah, but really, his liver died long before he did. But anyway, that was Harry.
Like we said years ago … “for better or worse.” Right? I can't blame nobody for
anything. I knew what Harry was that day we said good-bye to you all and headed
up to Niagara Falls to elope. Ma and Pa … they didn’t believe it, did they? Was
only when I got pregnant that they realized I was serious.
WALTER
Well, from what I hear, your kids are all doin’ pretty well.
EMMA
Yeah, they are. And it’s great to have the grandkids around and all. But I don’t
know … sometimes I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t sell the house and move back
down here.
WALTER
What? Why would you do that?
EMMA
Well, maybe Dottie could use a little help with –
III-1 Page 4
WALTER
With Sophie? Why would you want to put yourself through that now, at this stage
in your life?
EMMA
Well, sometimes I think –
WALTER
Naww, Em … you don’t owe anybody nothin’! I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean,
the best thing all of you did was get outta South Patch, whether you went thirty or
three-hundred miles away. And that was all we really wanted to do back in those
days. Back before the war, anyway.
EMMA
Yeah, what, twenty-five years ago? Seems like a million, doesn’t it? I swear,
Walter, there are times when I still wonder how many babies Ma really had …
counting the ones before us that never survived, you know?
(They both shake their heads in silence.)
WALTER
Yeah, well, that was a backward place and a backward time … with backward
people. The men got busted up like Pa did, and the women locked themselves
away with their saints and candles. Do you remember Ma’s room, Em?
(Emma stares as she recalls the room.)
EMMA
Yes Walter … yes I do. I never told you this before, but Ma used to take me up
there and kind of drill it into me that because I was the oldest girl, I was
responsible for everybody else.
WALTER
Is that what it was?
EMMA
What do you mean?
WALTER
I’ve had lots of time to think here, Em, and one of the things that always puzzled
me was why you spent all those years looking after everybody, and why you
drove yourself so hard that when you had the chance, you left and ran off with
Harry and never came back.
(He looks at her as she sits back down next to him.)
EMMA
Well, now you know. I still think about it, too. I don’t think a day goes by that I
don’t feel some guilt about leaving the way I did.
WALTER
What did Ma say to you, anyways?
III-1 Page 5
EMMA
Oh, it was back when I was real young. One day, she called me up there and made
me promise that I was never gonna stop looking out for everybody. She didn’t do
it in a nice way, either. It was … it was really a nightmare. She made me swear in
front of all those saints and in front of the Virgin Mary, and –
WALTER
Oh, God –
EMMA
Yeah, and even though I promised her I would, I guess it was right then when I
knew I had to leave as soon as I got the chance. Of course, I didn’t know anything
about eloping or any of that, but … actually, Walter, do you remember that night,
a few nights before we eloped, when Harry came over?
(Walter nods.)
Well, you know, even though Harry and I had talked about eloping for a while, I
was still kind of undecided about whether I should run off. But then I told him the
story about Ma and the promise that night. It was the first time I ever told it to
anybody that way. And that was when I knew I had to leave. But I haven’t ever
told that story again, Walter, until now.
WALTER
Dottie don’t know about it?
EMMA
No, she doesn’t. I’ve been wondering if I should tell her.
WALTER
Well that’s up to you. I think it might be only fair … but anyway, enough about all
that! So what’s this I hear you’re gonna finally make it to the World’s Fair this
time?
EMMA
Oh yeah! God, Walter, I wish you could go! It’s gonna be great. Me and Dottie
and Charlie, all the kids. Everybody except you and –
WALTER
Yeah, I know …
EMMA
I mean, I’d give anything for you to go. After what you’ve been through ..
(Dottie starts to cry but Walter waves her off.)
And I really wouldn’t have stood in the way of Sophie going … even though I
know I’d end up miserable because of it in the end. But it wasn’t my say. Dottie’s
the one who said, “Absolutely not!” Kind of like we did in thirty-nine.
WALTER
Well, ya know, Em, nobody ever did nothin’ like that to punish Sophie or nothin’
… She just … she just brought it all on herself.
III-1 Page 6
EMMA
I know … and just like back then, I think she’d just ruin the whole trip for
everybody else.
WALTER
Yeah, and that’s really too bad.
(Emma appears to be holding off tears.)
What’s wrong, Em? Now don’t tell me you’re cryin’ about Sophie –
EMMA
Well, Walter, I just … One of the things that I have never been able to understand
is why Sophie turned out the way she did. Why would somebody wanna be like
she is?
WALTER
I … I never could figure that either, Em. But I know one thing. If I could walk, I’d
drag her down here and have her meet some guys who are a lot worse off than any
of us. Or I’d take her down to my pal Chet’s grave.
EMMA
Yeah, he was Charlie's buddy, wasn’t he?
WALTER
He was Charlie’s best friend. A real character … you know, he gambled a little.
That’s how I met him and Charlie before the war. They liked to shoot craps in
those days. Once in a while, if the dice didn’t go their way, and they owed some
guy some money they didn’t have … and they never had any … they’d give me a
call. I’d go up and put the fear of God in the guy.
(He shakes his head and grimaces. He pats his lap,
where his legs would have been.)
Funny, isn’t it? I was the muscle in those days. Call Dudek if you got some guy
you wanna get worked over! And look at me now! Gettin’ wheeled around like
some two-bit Franklin Roosevelt!
(He trembles but composes himself quickly.)
But I guess I’m better off than Chet. He never made it out of Sicily in forty-three.
(Emma puts her arm on Walter's shoulder. Walter
pulls back, as if he’s being stern with her.)
Now, now, none of that! No bein’ sad on my account! Sure, I get depressed, sittin’
in here with all these old fellas … you know, Em, some of these guys go back to
the first war, and they got gas in their lungs. You oughta hear them coughin’ and
gaspin’ for air at night! But sure, I do think back to when I was a ballplayer, and
back to the days before the war … when I was with Martha and all. I think about
how different it could’ve been for me, and for everybody. Martha could’ve
married me, not that city councilman who ended up going to jail! I could’ve made
a lotta money workin’ for her old man. Maybe I could’ve even become manager
of one of them ballclubs they have around here.
III-1 Page 7
(Walter bites his lip, puts his hands where his legs
were, then resumes.)
WALTER, contd.
But it’s like I tell some of these other guys in here … those were just the times we
were born into! Nobody gave us a choice in that! So I can’t get married, I can’t
have kids. I can’t play ball … I can’t even go to a ballgame anymore. But there’s a
bunch of guys here in the same boat. Every now and then, they take us all out for
a ride. There’s guys in here who was with Patton … guys who fought at Iwo Jima,
or at Okinawa. Then there are guys who got wounded in Korea. And when we
meet up with other guys, from other homes, we got lots of stories to share. And
they ain’t always about the bad times … you know, the times when we got
injured. We talk about the good times, too. We talk about the battles we made it
through, the dames we ran across … no, Em. I know this is hard to believe, but
really … it ain’t all bad.
(Emma sniffles and wipes her eyes. Walter seems
content talking.)
But as hard as it is to sit here, Em, with my legs gone, my life nothin' close to
what I used to dream it would be … the fact is, I always knew that when it really
mattered, my family wouldn’t desert me.
(Emma puts her finger to Walter’s mouth.)
EMMA
And we never will. I promise … Even when I wasn’t here, when I was in Buffalo
and it seemed like I’d left you all behind back here, I really never … I never
deserted any of you, Walter. Not really. You believe me, don’t you, Walter?
(Walter nods. Emma stands up and goes toward the
window. She looks outside.)
You know somethin’, Walter? I ain’t sure which of us will see Ma next … you
know, in the next world or whatever … but if it’s me, I can promise you now, that
little immigrant woman's gonna get an earful from me.
WALTER
Did you and Ma talk about anything else before she died?
(Emma looks back at him.)
EMMA
I talked to her on the phone right before, and told her that even though I wasn’t
around, that she and Pa were always taken care of right up to the end. And …
well, thanks mainly to Dottie, I don’t think Ma oughta have any complaints!
(She looks upward briefly and yells toward the ceiling.)
You hear that Ma? Some of us … we done … we done the best we could!
(Walter nods. Emma rubs her eyes briefly, then smiles.)
III-1 Page 8
EMMA, contd.
Now then, Sergeant Dudek. Let's see what goodies your big sister brought for you
today!
(She takes the bag to the chair and they start to go
through it. Blackout.)
III-2 Page 1
Scene 2: Two days later, Sophie Dudek’s one-room apartment in South
Patch.)
(Sophie Dudek, now in her fifties, is seated on a
small wooden chair in a one-room apartment, where
she now lives alone. She is frail, and wears old,
tattered clothes, and has a heavy wooden cane next
to her and holds onto it. Her sister Dottie Kollar,
now in her forties and much healthier and welldressed, is standing in the room with her.)
DOTTIE
Sophie, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well … again … but we’ve been through this
a million times. I really don’t have time to argue with you every day like this.
SOPHIE
I know … nobody has time for me much anymore, do they?
DOTTIE
That’s not true, and you know it. You know Charlie and me, and even Walter
before he got hurt, we’ve spent the last twenty-five years running down there to
look after you and Ma and Pa … when they were alive, anyway. You and Ma,
before she died, you were at somebody’s house every Sunday, weren’t you? But it
just isn’t that easy anymore! Charlie’s got a lot on his mind, what with work and
all, and you aren’t the only one with health problems.
(Sophie rarely responds directly to anything Dottie says.)
SOPHIE
Yeah, well, I guess once Ma died, nobody cared what happened to me anymore.
DOTTIE
Nobody ever said that … except for you.
SOPHIE
I bet everybody’s glad to see me stuck here in this little hole of an apartment.
DOTTIE
This little hole? Sophie, I know this place isn’t much, but you’re living better now
than you did twenty-five years ago! Back then, you were always complaining
about feeding the chickens. And how you had to go outside in the cold to use the
outhouse. Now you got running water, and a clean bathroom, and you got gas
heat. And I know for a fact that the neighbors bring you food all the time. Heck, I
hear they even brought you some fried chicken the other day!
SOPHIE
Yeah, but you all got nice houses and everything, and look what I got. You ran off
and left me down here, and now I hear you’re all gonna run off without me again.
You’re all gonna go to New York again, to another World’s Fair … without me.
Just like you all did in thirty-nine!
(Dottie is surprised that Sophie knows about the plans.)
III-2 Page 2
DOTTIE
Who told you that? You been listening to the neighbors gossiping again?
SOPHIE
But you ain’t sayin it ain’t true!
DOTTIE
Well, somebody is just repeating something they shouldn’t have heard, and
shouldn’t have told you. But yes, we are going to the World’s Fair this weekend.
SOPHIE
Now who exactly is we?
DOTTIE
A bunch of people from Charlie’s company, me and Charlie and the kids, of
course, and … well, lots of people.
SOPHIE
Ain’t you forgettin’ somebody?
(Dottie shakes her head.)
DOTTIE
Yeah, you’re right, Sophie. Emma is coming too.
(Sophie shakes her head and pounds her cane on the floor.)
SOPHIE
Ain’t that just somethin’? She’s the one who ran off and left all her
responsibilities way back when, and now she gets to go to New York whilst I sit
here and …
DOTTIE
Now Sophie, there’s no point in rehashing things that happened twenty-five years
ago. Especially now, with Harry gone and Emma … well, I know you think that
Emma abandoned us when she ran off and got married. But to tell the truth,
Emma didn’t do anything that most people wouldn’t have done in that same
situation.
SOPHIE
Well, be that as it may, she’s the one who actually did it!
DOTTIE
Yeah, she did it! And yeah, I know, you kept living with Ma and Pa after Walter
and I left. But we all did what we had to do. Emma chose to leave. Walter had to
go off and fight in the war. I got married. And you … you’ve been acting the way
you’ve acted all these years, Sophie, and you’ve turned on almost everybody who
really cared about you. But even with all that … the fact is, nobody ever
abandoned Ma and Pa … or you!
(Sophie keeps shaking her head. Dottie kneels down
next to her and tries to put her hand on hers.)
III-2 Page 3
DOTTIE, contd.
Sophie, now that you brought up the last time we went to the World’s Fair, there’s
something I always wondered about that.
SOPHIE
What’s that?
DOTTIE
Do you remember that night just before we were getting ready to go to the
World’s Fair, when you were all upset because you weren’t going? Me and you
and Emma were in back of the house, talking … and you were feeding the
chickens, as I recall. At some point, while you were complaining about
everything, Emma up and asked you point-blank about your life.
(Sophie seems jarred by the memory, but doesn’t
want to let on.)
SOPHIE
I … I can’t say I remember that so much.
DOTTIE
As I recall, Emma asked you about your life.
SOPHIE
My life?
DOTTIE
Yeah. I remember she up and asked you why you were always acting the way you
did. She wanted to know why you seemed to go out of your way to be mean and
nasty to everybody, even to your brother and sisters, even though you knew they
still loved you anyways.
SOPHIE
(Seems startled)
Uh … no … can’t say I remember that. But I sure became the black sheep, didn’t
I?
DOTTIE
Well, I know I sure remember it. I remember it as if it happened just last night.
Emma said something like, “Sophie, why you always actin’ the way you do? Is it
just because you wanna make people feel sorry for you?”
SOPHIE
I … I can’t say I –
DOTTIE
Yep, that’s what she said. And then she said something I never heard before. She
remembered back to when you were a little girl, and how you were always
worried about how everybody else was doing. She made it sound like you were
the most caring, loving sister a girl could ever have! But then she said that right
after Cyril died, and then especially after you came back from the convent, it all
changed. That the only thing you wanted was to get things your own way. And
III-2 Page 4
then she asked you if you really wanted to go through your whole life being
known as the crazy sister of the family. Do you remember that, Sophie?
(Sophie looks down, sighs, and steels herself.)
SOPHIE
Crazy sister? Crazy aunt? I … I ain’t sure -DOTTIE
And you never answered her then, did you?
SOPHIE
I … I suppose not.
DOTTIE
Well, you know what, Sophie? Here it is, twenty-five years later, and the old
house is gone, and there aren’t any chickens around. But I’m asking you again.
Why have you been like this all these years? Don’t you know you could’ve had
the same lives any of us did? You could have gone out and gotten married. Heck,
you could’ve done it the way Emma did it, if that’s what you wanted to do. The
rest of us would’ve managed, just like we did anyway.
(Sophie taps the cane on the floor.)
What was it, Sophie? Was it Cyril? Or was it the convent? Or is there something
none of us will ever know about? Whatever it was, Sophie, all I want to know is
why? Why would you do this to yourself? We never wanted you to be a black
sheep … heck, we never wanted anybody to be a black sheep! All we wanted was
for you to be our sister! But ever since Emma asked you about it that night, I’ve
been wondering why you either turned yourself into that … or maybe you let
yourself be turned into that. And I just can’t help thinking that there has to be
something you ain’t told us. Something, Sophie, that might help us understand …
to understand why.
(Sophie pauses, grabs hold of the cane tightly,
almost hurting her hand. She bites her lip and stares
hard at Dottie.)
SOPHIE
You wanna know? I never … I guess I never thought anybody would really wanna
know why.
DOTTIE
No, you’re wrong. We do … well, at least I do!
(Sophie pauses, looks up at the sky, makes the sign
of the cross, seems to be mumbling a prayer, takes a
deep breath, and begins to speak, as if she is finally
getting to say something she’d only thought about.)
SOPHIE
It was … It was Cyril. And it was the convent. And it was Ma and Pa. And it was
the other kids in town laughin’ at me because I was a Dudek. And it was –
III-2 Page 5
(Sophie puts her hand to her mouth and starts
shaking and crying.)
SOPHIE, contd.
And it was lots of things.
(Dottie notices how upset she is and puts her hand
on her shoulder.)
DOTTIE
But … even with all that, it’s not that, is it? There’s something else you haven’t
told us all these years.
(Sophie looks up, still shaking. She sighs.)
SOPHIE
Why you think that?
DOTTIE
Because I’ve known you my whole life, and I never heard you talk like this
before.
(Sophie takes another deep breath and leans back.
Dottie kneels on one knee beside her).
SOPHIE
Well, you know, when Cyril took sick and passed on, that hurt me real bad. He
was my protector, you know?
DOTTIE
That’s what Ma said.
SOPHIE
And the kids laughin’ at me and all, well, I guess we all went through that.
DOTTIE
We sure did! All of us … even Walter!
SOPHIE
And the convent? You know, I … I think I acted the way I did there because …
well … Dottie, I swear to you, I I really, really wanted to be there. But all the
same, I never felt like I belonged there.
DOTTIE
Why not?
SOPHIE
Because I didn’t deserve it.
DOTTIE
You didn’t deserve it? But –
SOPHIE
I felt like I was dirty, too dirty to be there.
III-2 Page 6
DOTTIE
Dirty? Why? Because you were from South Patch?
SOPHIE
No, dirtier than that.
(They stare at each other. Sophie looks away in the
distance, takes a deep breath, and looks back at
Dottie.)
Dottie … Did you ever meet our Uncle Barney?
(Dottie shakes her head.)
DOTTIE
Who?
SOPHIE
Uncle Barney. Our Uncle Barney. To tell the truth, I ain’t sure he was our uncle at
all. But whoever he was, Uncle Barney, he used to come over to the house a lot
when I just was a little girl. And I remember Ma tellin’ me … “Don’t never go
down to the parlor when you see your Uncle Barney in there with your Pa!” And
I know for darn sure that Emma never did. You know, Dottie, back in those days,
Emma never … and I mean never … disobeyed anything Ma or Pa said.
(Dottie nods, Sophie is crying but tries to wipe her tears.)
Well, back in those days, I wasn’t necessarily like that … not all the time,
anyways. I guess I was curious, most of all. So one day, my curiosity got the best
of me, and I kinda sneaked down there. And Uncle Barney, he was sittin’ there all
by himself. A fat little man, smelled like he spent most of his time around lard or
somethin’ … you know, like it smells in a kitchen when they been fryin’ bacon.
Anyways, when he saw me, his eyes kinda lit up … it was sort of in a fiendish
way, I guess … and he said, “Well, well, who is this pretty little girl?”
(Sophie bows her head and lifts it back up.)
Now nobody had ever said that to me before, and … I guess … well, maybe if I’d
had been a little older, I’d have known better. But I was only about … I don’t
know … I guess I was about ten years old. And what does a little girl like that
know? So when Uncle Barney told me to come over and sit on his lap, I … I just
did. Well, after a minute or two of me sittin’ there, Uncle Barney started squirmin’
and makin’ all sorts of strange noises. I wanted to crawl off of him, but what did I
know? And besides, he had me in kind of a tight hold. Then I … I felt … I felt …
something –
DOTTIE
(Tugging on her arm)
Sophie, please!
SOPHIE
Yeah, I guess there’s no point in going on, is there? Yeah, it’s what you think. You
probably know the rest. And after that, whenever Uncle Barney came around, I
III-2 Page 7
was supposed to sneak on down and see him. Of course, I didn’t want to. I
couldn’t get his smell outta my brain. I kept wishin’ they’d tell me he wasn’t
comin’ over, on account of he was dead! But he kept comin’ around, and after the
second or third time of sittin’ on his lap, he began to –
DOTTIE
Please don’t.
SOPHIE
No, it’s okay. I want to. Anyways … after a while, he began to put his hands
inside me. And he … he did things that made me feel … that made me feel that
thing again.
(Sophie puts her head down. Dottie is holding her hand hard.)
Anyway, after one of these times, I went back upstairs and, like I always did after
I saw Uncle Barney, I sat in a corner and I cried. But this time, right after, I heard
some yelling downstairs. It was in the old language, of course, and I could tell it
was Pa and Uncle Barney. Then I heard something crashing. And I heard Pa
screamin’, like he was in pain, and Ma screamin’ at Uncle Barney to get out. Then
Ma came and got me and told me never to go near Uncle Barney again. Then she
smacked me, right here …
(She points to her left cheek.)
And she said I was nothin’ but the family’s “dirty girl.” She said Pa had found out
what Uncle Barney did, and they had gotten in a fight, and that now Pa was hurt
worse than before. She said I shouldn’t have gone down there in the first place.
She said I was filthy, and that I was never to go near another man again, ever. She
called me a lot of names that day, Dot, names I still can’t bring myself to say, but
names that I ended up sayin’ about other women … you know, like that gal Walter
had back before the war?
(Dottie nods)
And … well … I never did go near another man after that.
DOTTIE
So what did Pa do?
SOPHIE
Pa was yelling that he was gonna get some men together and go kill Uncle
Barney, but of course, he never did. I don’t know what ever happened to Uncle
Barney. I guess he’s probably dead now. But after all this happened, and after
what Ma said, I knew that the only place I could go would be to the convent. I
knew I was never gonna be no good to any man after all that, and that the convent
was my only way to get outta there. And I guess I thought maybe I’d feel cleaner,
feel forgiven, once I got there. But I just couldn’t get over the feeling that I was
that filthy little girl Ma said I was. And I guess I got it set in my head, right then
and there, that if that was what everybody wanted me to be, then that’s what I was
gonna be. A dirty, good-for-nothin’ girl, the blackest of the black sheep family of
South Patch, the Dudeks.
III-2 Page 8
DOTTIE
Sophie, I …
SOPHIE
So you see, all this, it’s kinda the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? I got left behind
twenty-five years ago … and it wasn’t because I didn’t get along with Walter’s
gal, or because I would have been complainin’ about the trip. No, it was because I
was the “dirty girl.” I mean, that’s how it had to be! And then when Emma left,
and then you got married and Walter went off to war, I got stuck in South Patch
… and it was all because I was the “dirty girl.” I got this arthritis because I’m the
“dirty girl.” I’m the “crazy aunt” because I’m the “dirty girl.” And it all fits into
place. I became what that Uncle Barney and everybody else made me. The dirty
girl.
DOTTIE
Sophie, I’m so sorry we’ve blamed you all these years.
SOPHIE
No … you should have blamed me! I’d have blamed me, too! I know I’ve been a
nasty, awful, self-centered woman all my life! But don’t you see, there was
nothin’ else I could’ve been! That’s what they made me! And I guess I’m too old
to be anything else now.
(Dottie gets up and paces around. She looks at
Sophie, who is bent over in her chair.)
DOTTIE
Sophie, we want you to come with us to New York this time.
(Sophie picks her head up and shakes it.)
SOPHIE
No you don’t … well, maybe you think you do, now that you heard this, but you
don’t. You’re tryin’ to do what you always done, which is pick up whatever pieces
me or Ma or Pa … or even Walter … have left of our lives. I know you’re tryin’ to
show me that you understand now, that you know why I’ve been like this, and that
you’ll all be more patient with me and everything. But you gotta understand …
this is how it’s supposed to be!
DOTTIE
It’s never too late, Sophie.
SOPHIE
It is for me, Dottie. Yeah, I know, I probably could’ve tried to put all that about
Uncle Barney behind me and gone on with my life. But nobody could do that. I
sure couldn’t. So I’m just gonna stay put here, and feel all the pain of this
arthritis, and the pain of what my life could’ve been, I suppose. That’s all that’s
left now.
(She looks at Dottie and smiles.)
You gonna tell everybody else about this?
III-2 Page 9
DOTTIE
No … not unless you want me to.
SOPHIE
I’ll let you decide. But at least now you can go now with a clear conscience. And
at least you ain’t gotta wonder no more.
DOTTIE
I think maybe I should at least tell Emma there’s more to your story than she
knows.
SOPHIE
That’s up to you. I don’t care anymore. But I will say, it’s a little better knowin’
there’s at least one other person out there who knows why all this happened. It
don’t excuse it, but at least you know why.
DOTTIE
Sophie, I know what you said about feeling dirty and all, and about all these years
of being mean and nasty. But I’ll tell you what. Maybe someday, we’re all gonna
figure out that when all was said and done, you were actually the strongest one of
us all.
SOPHIE
Maybe.
DOTTIE
You sure you don’t want to come with us?
SOPHIE
Yeah, I’m sure.
(She puts her right hand to her heart.)
Somewhere in here, maybe, there’s a little part that wants to tell you all to go to
New York and have a good time for me. Maybe somewhere in here, there’s still a
little bit left of that girl you heard about, the one from before Uncle Barney came
around. But I ain’t never been able to find her.
DOTTIE
Well how about, after we get back from the fair, we all get together, and maybe
help you look?
(Sophie shrugs, seems in pain, and then nods slowly
and sighs. She motions for Dottie to leave. Dottie
helps her try to get up and then tries to hug her, but
Sophie rejects her hug. Dottie leaves, wiping her
eyes, and Sophie collapses back into her chair.
Lights out.)
III-Entr’acte Page 1
ENTR’ACTE
(A lighted curtain, with the silhouette of the Unisphere, the symbol of the
1964 New York World’s Fair. A minute or two of crowd noises, general piano
music, the sounds of children talking, car horns, subway trains, and men
hawking souvenirs and cold drinks.
After about a minute, the curtain goes dark. Flashes of light simulate the
nightly fireworks show at the fair. After about two minutes of that, twinkling
lights are seen against a dark curtain, signifying nighttime at the fair.)
III-3 Page 1
Scene 3: Near the entrance to the New York World’s Fair. A summer evening,
1964.
(Lights up on Emma walking toward the image of
the Unisphere. She stops and looks back. Offstage,
crowd noise, and Dottie's voice rises above it.)
DOTTIE
(Offstage)
You kids go ahead and get on the bus! Your Aunt Em and I are going to stay
behind and talk a little while!
(Dottie enters and joins Emma.)
EMMA
They don't want to leave, do they?
DOTTIE
I swear, it'll be a miracle if we don't end up losing somebody here!
EMMA
Aw, you'll do a head count before we go and everything will be fine. I'm sure
you'll have it all under control.
(They both laugh.)
EMMA
So, Dottie, what did you think of this World’s Fair? Did it bring back any
memories of the last time you were here?
(Dottie looks wistfully toward the Unisphere.)
DOTTIE
A little bit, but not as much as I thought it would. I mean, being back here on the
same ground and all … it was kind of interesting. And they really have some
amazing things to see here. But, when you think about it, it would have been
pretty hard to top what happened here twenty-five years ago.
EMMA
Yeah, I would think so.
DOTTIE
When I came here back in thirty-nine, I was just a girl. And I had never been
anyplace before … except to the church and the drug store! And to come here, to
see the “World of Tomorrow,” well, that was quite a shock. And don’t forget, that
was also the day I met Charlie! That alone would have made it one of the biggest
days in my life.
(Dottie giggles and taps Emma on the arm. Dottie reaches into her purse and pulls
out a photo from her previous trip to the World’s Fair.)
Here I am back then!
(Emma takes the photo and looks at it.)
III-3 Page 2
EMMA
Look at that pretty young girl! I used to know her!
DOTTIE
Yeah, I wonder whatever became of her!
(They both laugh. Emma reaches into her purse and
pulls out a wallet.)
EMMA
Here I am the same day. The only picture they took of me and Harry that day.
DOTTIE
What a beautiful bride!
EMMA
Yeah, beautiful … and on the run!
(They both laugh. Emma holds the two photos side
by side.)
Twenty-five years. In some ways it seems like a hundred, doesn’t it? But in some
ways, it’s like it was last week. Just look at the two of us, then, Dot. We sure
managed to get out of South Patch that day, didn’t we?
DOTTIE
Yep. We sure did.
(Each takes her photo, stares at it, and puts it back
in her purse.)
EMMA
I’m sure glad I got to come to this fair. I’d always been a little jealous you know!
Of course, now we still go one family member who hasn’t been.
DOTTIE
You mean Sophie? Well, whatever Sophie has been thinking all these years … I
… I just wouldn’t worry about it too much if I were you, Em.
(Emma seems startled.)
EMMA
If you say so. But it’s funny. I talked to her on the phone last night and –
DOTTIE
And?
EMMA
Well, she just didn't … she didn't seem like herself.
DOTTIE
What do you mean?
III-3 Page 3
EMMA
You know, she was complaining and all that, but she didn’t have … she didn’t
have that usual … anger, maybe? I don’t know … she seemed sort of … sort of
subdued, maybe?
DOTTIE
Subdued?
EMMA
Yeah, it was like she was in some kind of melancholy mood or something.
Definitely not like her, you know? Not a lot of the “black sheep” stuff she usually
throws at me.
DOTTIE
Yeah, well, Sophie can be complicated.
EMMA
Complicated? I never thought of … say, weren't you just over to see her the other
day? Did she seem different to you?
DOTTIE
A little bit.
EMMA
I mean, for one thing, when I was talking to her, I was waiting to hear a big sob
story about how she was being left behind today. But she never mentioned it.
DOTTIE
Yeah, well, Sophie can surprise you sometimes, Em.
(Emma looks puzzled. Dottie tries to change the subject.)
Em, I know you don’t regret going off and eloping with Harry back in thirty-nine,
but was there ever anything … well, anything you never told anybody about that?
EMMA
What do you mean?
DOTTIE
I don’t know, I was just curious.
(Emma stares at her, then looks back to the fair and
takes a deep breath.)
EMMA
Well, to tell the truth, Dottie … I was just talking to Walter about this, in fact …
the thing that’s always been hanging over my head about that is that … well,
when I did that, I … I broke a promise.
DOTTIE
Promise? What kind of promise?
(Emma looks upward for a moment. She takes hold
of Dottie’s hands.)
III-3 Page 4
EMMA
Dot, were you ever in Ma's room when you were a little girl?
DOTTIE
Sure. All the statues and candles burning … what a scary place!
(Dottie shivers from the thought.)
EMMA
Right. Well, one day, right before you were born, Ma made me go up into that
room. I was just a little girl myself, but I was looking forward to staying in school
and maybe becoming a teacher someday.
DOTTIE
I never knew you wanted to be a teacher.
EMMA
Well, I sure did. At least until that day, anyways. That’s when Ma called me up
there and made me promise … in front of all those saints and with all those
candles burning … she made me promise that I would look after everybody, for
the rest of our lives. I know now that she mainly meant Sophie, but she said
everybody. And … even though I really didn’t want to, I did promise. I swore that
I would. Then I … well, then I ran off and I broke that promise.
DOTTIE
Oh, Em, don't be silly. Ma said things like that all the time.
EMMA
No, Dottie, you don't understand. She was screaming at me! She made me swear
in front of the Blessed Mother and all –
(Dottie lets go and shakes her head.)
DOTTIE
Well, Em, now just stop it! First off, I don’t think the Blessed Mother holds little
girls to promises like that. And anyway, it all worked out! Ma and Pa, we looked
after both of them until they passed away. And Sophie, well, we did the best we
could with her … the best with what we knew, anyways.
(Emma looks puzzled. Dottie takes a deep breath.)
DOTTIE
But you? How many years did you spend taking care of us all before you left.
Nobody from the Virgin Mary on down could have expected more out of you than
that! And besides, Ma had no right to make a young girl like you make a promise
like that. Didn’t she run away from the old country when she was just a little girl?
For all we know, maybe she ran away from some kind of promise, too. No, Em,
you didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you stayed around longer than any of
us, Ma included, should have expected you to.
(Dottie puts her arm around Emma.)
III-3 Page 5
DOTTIE, contd.
And besides, from what I hear, there were a lot worse things than that going on in
that house for people to be guilty about!
EMMA
Huh?
(Dottie looks off, then stares at Emma.)
DOTTIE
Em, do you happen … do you remember a fellow by the name … of Uncle
Barney?
(Emma pulls away slightly.)
EMMA
Who told you about him?
DOTTIE
Do you remember him?
(Emma shakes her head and actually begins shaking.)
EMMA
Yes, I remember him. I … I know he used to come visit with Pa when me and
Sophie were both little girls. And I know that Ma told us never to bother Pa and
Uncle Barney when they were in the parlor together. Believe me, I didn’t have
any intention of bothering them. He was an ugly, fat, greasy-looking fellow … I
hated the sight of him. So I used to go upstairs and lock my door and never come
out when he was in the house. I didn't know why Ma told us to do that, but I knew
that I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Funny thing is, after one day, I heard
he and Pa got in a fight, and I never saw him again … Thank God!
DOTTIE
Do you know if Sophie hid away from him too?
EMMA
I … I assume she … Dottie, what are you getting at? You didn’t even know Uncle
Barney? Why would you -DOTTIE
Em … do you remember right before we went to the fair in thirty-nine, and me
and you and Sophie were out in the back of the house? We were talking, and you
asked her why she thought she was the way she was?
(Emma thinks and seems to remember.)
EMMA
Sort of.
DOTTIE
Well, I think I have a better idea about that now.
EMMA
You do?
III-3 Page 6
DOTTIE
Yes, Em. Sophie hasn't been mean and nasty to everybody all these years because
she was born that way, or because she was jealous of anybody, or because she had
to have things her own way. And it wasn't because our older brother died or –
EMMA
Dottie, what are you getting at?
DOTTIE
Em … the reason Sophie is the way she is … it's because she was –
(Emma realizes what Dottie is implying.)
EMMA
Oh no! Oh my God!
DOTTIE
That’s right, Em. She was … well, that Uncle Barney fellow, he … he took
advantage of her … in a … in a really bad way.
(Emma begins breathing hard and Dottie puts her
hands on Emma's shoulders.)
And then, to make matters worse, after it happened, I guess Ma sort of put the
blame on Sophie … or at least made Sophie feel … well, I guess Ma made Sophie
feel dirty … and filthy.
EMMA
So is that why Sophie wanted to go into the convent?
DOTTIE
Yes. But when she got there, she felt dirty. She said she didn't feel worthy. And
since then … I guess she's spent the rest of her life trying to live up to what Ma
told her she was.
(Emma still seems shocked.)
EMMA
How do you know all this?
DOTTIE
Sophie told me.
EMMA
And do you believe her?
DOTTIE
Yes, Em, I sure do. And that's probably why she seemed so quiet when you talked
to her. Because she finally got it out in the open after all these years of keeping it
in.
EMMA
Oh my God, Dot … all these years we thought …
III-3 Page 7
DOTTIE
Yeah, I know. I know what we all thought. But we didn't really know. Just like I
never knew about the promise Ma got you to make.
EMMA
I feel awful now.
DOTTIE
Well, how do you think I feel? Charlie and me, and now the kids, we’ve been
dealing with Sophie like she is for twenty-five years now! And we never realized
she was that way for a good reason, that it was some of Ma’s fault, and most of
Uncle Barney’s fault, not hers. I just wish I had asked her about this sooner.
(They both shake their heads and look to the fair.
Dottie turns back toward Emma.)
I asked Sophie if she wanted to come with us today. She said no. She said she is
what she is … that what she is is what Ma and Uncle Barney and everybody else
made her.
EMMA
Oh my God!
DOTTIE
Yeah, so when we get back, I was thinking maybe we could both go see her, and,
hard as it might be, see if we can't start working on seeing things the way she
does. Maybe it’s too late, maybe it’s impossible. But then again, maybe we can
start … maybe we can help her try to get back to the way she was before …
before all that!
EMMA
Sure Dot, we can do that. I'd like that.
(Dottie turns back toward the Unisphere, then back
to Emma.)
DOTTIE
You know, Em, when I was here twenty-five years ago, I remember thinking how
scared I was. I remember having the greatest day of my life here, and I knew I had
just met the fellow of my dreams in Charlie. But I also knew I was heading home
and that things weren't going to be the same. And they sure haven’t been. I never
would have believed you if you told me that our brother Walter, that big, strong
baseball player, would end up sitting in a VA hospital with his legs gone. I would
have never thought that after running back and forth to South Patch to look after
Ma and Pa, and Sophie, for twenty-five years, that I would find out what I found
out about Sophie. And I would never have guessed about that promise Ma forced
you to make, and how you been carrying around guilt for all these years.
EMMA
Me either.
III-3 Page 8
DOTTIE
But, you know, Em, I've spent all these years making sure, as best I could, that the
Dudek family didn’t fall apart. Ma and Pa went to their graves knowing that the
family everybody in South Patch laughed at, that it stuck together as best we
could. Even if we were broken up physically, even if we're torn apart emotionally,
the fact is, we made it, didn't we?
(Emma nods.)
I remember when I was a little girl, running off to the drug store and listening to
the radio, I used to hear the music, and the comedy shows, and I thought, “What a
great big, wonderful world!” But then, with the war, it all went straight to hell for
a couple of years. But the world made it back somehow. And you know, the more
I think about it, the Dudek family was a lot like that. We’ve been through a lot,
but we made it back.
(Dottie smiles and puts her hands together. She
stares at the lights.)
You know, Em, I was thinking, I wonder if they're gonna have another fair here
twenty-five years from now?
EMMA
Huh?
DOTTIE
Well, I mean, it's been twenty-five years since the last one. Why wouldn't they
have one twenty-five years from now?
EMMA
I … I suppose they could.
(Dottie appears wistful.)
DOTTIE
Well, I think they should! Even if I’m not around to see it.
EMMA
What do you mean? You'd only be –
DOTTIE
Never mind the arithmetic, Em! Even if I’m still around, I’d be too old for a third
World's Fair twenty-five years from now. But that's okay. Two World's Fairs are
enough for one lifetime. I'll just be happy if my kids can come to the next one.
Let's talk about that on the bus, okay. Let's get the kids on the bus to make a
promise … not the kind of promise Ma forced you to make … but a good
promise. Let's get them to promise that if there is a fair here in twenty-five years,
that they will come back … and they’ll bring their kids!
(Emma laughs.)
EMMA
Yes, let's do that.
III-3 Page 9
(Dottie takes Emma's hand and they begin to walk
away. Then she stops, and looks back at the
Unisphere, rubs her, eyes, and waves.)
DOTTIE
And so, New York World’s Fair Number Two … on behalf of the Dudeks of South
Patch …
(They both wave broadly toward the Unisphere.)
BOTH
See you in twenty-five years!
(They lock arms and exit. After they leave, the stage
is dark except for the twinkling lights, which slowly
dim as, offscreen, a woman’s voice makes an
announcement.)
WOMAN
“The second New York World’s Fair of the twentieth century closed for good in
October, 1965. There was no World’s Fair in New York twenty-five years after
that, nor was there one again, for the rest of the century.”
(Fade to all lights out. Curtain.)
END OF PLAY