THE PRODUCTION OF PHILIP
BARRY‘S WEE QNLLLBfi FOR A
COLLEGEAUDIENCE AND A
WRITTEN ANALYSIS OF THE
PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN 2 ADAPTING
'I‘HP. SCRIPT, CASTING, REHEARSING.
AND DIRECTING THE PLAY

Thesis for theDegree of M. A.
MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE

Barbara )ane Forbes

3947

 

Thisistooertflgthatthe

thesis entitled

'mo l’roductlon of Phillip Barry's Hotel

Universe for a. College Audience and a.

Fitter: Analysis of the Pronouns Involved

in adapting the Script. Casting, Rabat-lung,
I

and Directing $111,3ng by

Barbara Jane lorbos

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

“ester of Arts degree in Speech. Dramatic»
and Radio

“ W,

Major professor

 

Date to? t 239 191W

 

H496

 

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The Production of Philip Barry's Hots; Universe
for a College Audience and a Written Analysis
.of the Problems Involved in: Adapting the

Script; Casting; Reheareing; and
Directing the Play.

by

Barbara Jane Forbes

w

A THESIS

Submitted to the Graduate School oquichigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied
Science in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Speech, Dramatice, and Radio
1947

m

g}

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dean.Ralph
C. Huston of the School of Graduate Studies, President
John A. Hannah, and Secretary Karl McDonel for granting
the use of the facilities of Fairchild Theatre to make
this thesis production possible. My gratitude is also
expressed to Professor Paul D. Bagwell, acting head of
the Department of Speech, Dramatics, and Radio, and to
C. H. Nickle, adviser for Theta Alpha Phi for their
contribution in further backing this production. Thanks
is due too, to Samuel French, Inc., of New York, for
their courtesy in granting the use of the play royalty
free.

In presenting any play there are so many who con-
tribute so much that any director is at a loss to
adequately thank his co-workers. However, my special
thanks goes to the cast who gave so willingly of their
time and talents so that our efforts might be 'Just
right'; to my oo-produoer Shirley Foresman for her
patience, cooperation and understanding; to William
Lutzke, stage manager, and his crew, headed by Robert
Von Sternberg for their able contribution; to Christian
Schram for her efficient service as prompter; to Leslie
Scott, manager, and Mrs. Ivarene Button, secretary of
the Student Union, for their willingness in finding re-
hearsal rooms; to Walter Pung, manager of the Auditorium,

and James usher, stage carpenter, for their cooperation

190/88

on all phases of production.

Last, but by no means least, is my gratitude
to Donald 0. Buoll, Director of Dramatics, for his
sympathetic understanding, perseverance, and guidance
in the supervision of both the prodcution and the
writing of this thesis. Without his cheerful and
faithful confidence in those more difficult moments,
this thesis would have been far less stimulating and

worthwhile.

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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

THE DEPARTMENT OF SPE
P R E

and
ECH, DRAMATICS, AND RADIO

SENTS

HOTEL UNIVERSE

by PHILIP BARRY

Directed by
BARBARA FORBES

as a Master’s

 

Fairchild Theatre 8

Produced by
SHIRLEY FORESMAN

Thesis Production

:15 pm. August 1, 1947

 

CAST OF CHARACTERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat Farley William Devereaux
Tom Ames Irving Haggart
Hape Ames Lois Vosburg
Lily Malone Zoe Carr
Alice Kendall Alice Luniewski
Ann Field Marie Posz
Norman Rose Stanley White
Felix Johr‘r Holder

 

Stephen Field

Anthony Chapp

 

The action of the play is continuous, and takes place in the course

of about two hours, upon the terr
near Toulon.

ace of a house in the south of France,

The time is an evening in early July.

 

PRODUCTION CREW

Production Manager

Robert Von Sternberg

 

Stage Manager

William Lutzke

 

Assistant Stage Manager for Cast
Assistant Stage Manager for Crew
Prompter

John Holder
Clare Alubowicz
Christina Schram

 

 

 

Construction, Painting, and Staging
Robert Von Sternberg, Ray Reich, co-chairmen

 

 

William Lutzke, Ray Gilewicz, Al Beck, Loretta Majewski, Don
Alderman, Bill Watson, John Chase, Richard Doyle, Patricia Thwing,

Bette Fuller
Properties

Bette Williams, Chairman

 

Clare Alubowicz, Kenneth Hemmeter, Dick Jarman

Costumes

 

Stephen J awarowski, Patricia
Sound

Doreen Koebel, Chairman
Harmon
Bette Fuller

 

Make-up

Ann Van Sickle, Chairman

 

John Swank, Jane McClintock, Kenneth Hemmeter

Publicity

Robert Davis, Ray Reich, Jean Fagan

 

Lighting

...... Karl Lamereaux

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our sincere thanks to the following for their aid
in producing HOTEL UNIVERSE: Samuel French, Inc., of New York
for their kindness in deferring the royalty for this production; Paul D.
Bagwell, Acting Head of the Department of Speech, Dramatics and Radio,
for his advice and assistance; Donald 0. Buell, Director of Dramatics,
for his encouragement, advice and supervision; C. H. Nickle, technical
director, for assistance in the settings, lighting, and the technical phases
of this production; James Maher, Stage Carpenter of Fairchild Theater,
for his aid backstage; Leslie Scott, Mrs. Ivarene Button, and the Staff
of the Student Union Building for their kindness in arranging rehearsal
space and for the loan of preperties; Mrs. Isabelle Gonon and the Staff
of the Counsellor of Women’s Office; Theta Alpha Phi, Dramatic Fra-
ternity, co-sponsor; E. G. Pung, for his general assistance, and Joseph
Alexanian, Bancroft Flower Shop and Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, for the
loan of prOperties.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I GENERAL PRODUCTION PROBLEMS

A. Adapting the script. 0 O O 0 O O O O O O .2
B. Casting the play. . . . . . . . . .. . . .5
C. Rehearsing the play. . . . . . . . . . . 10
D. The play in production. . . . . . . . . .19

PART II THE SCRIPT
The script with all deletions and additions
of line, and all directions. . . . . . . .5
PART III DIRECTING PROBLEMS
A. The author, his plays, a critical

estimate with special emphasis on
Hotel Universe. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 

B. The Technical Value Problems. . . . . . 18
1. Composition. . . . . . . . . .
2. Picturization. . . . . . . . . . . .25
3. Pantomime. . . . . . . . . . .
4. movement. 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O 54
5 O Rhythm. 0 O O O O O O O '0 O O O 0 O 48

C. The Dramatic Value Problems

I. The analysis of the Author's Purpose
of Hotel Universe. . . . . . . . .57
2. The Author‘s use of Action. . . . . 60
3. The Author's use of Dialogue. . . . 67
4. The Author's use of Character. . . .80

 

PART IV MISCELLANEOUS
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Publicity and Promotion. . . . . . .‘. . . . 4

ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece
PAT: And to kiss that lovely mouth that
had the rim of milk along the tOp of it.
(p. 142)

Ensemble Scene
ANN: Why shouldn't he fire the sunset
gun if he likes? I think it's splendid
of him! (p. 48)
Part II 0 O 0 O O O 0 O O 0 O O O O 48

Floor Plan of Set
Part III 0 o O O c o s O O o I 0 O 21

Ensemble Scene
STEPHEN: So which way would you go--
where would you travel? (p. 110)
Part III C O s O O O O O O 0 O O O 28

PART ONE

GENERAL PRODUCTION PROBLEMS

A. ADAPTING THE SCRIPT.

Several factors immediately present themselves
when a student is looking for a suitable script to
present as a graduate thesis production. The play
should have an appeal to a college audience, and yet
at the same time offer enough of a directing problem
to test the ingenuity and abilities of any director.

Among the more popular American playwrights who
have held a special appeal for this director was Philip
Barry. Many of his comedies have been on the list of
favored readings, so when this Opportunity presented
itself, Barry was among the first authors who were
checked. As will be pointed out many times in the pages
which follow, Philip Barry is a paradoxical author. He
is either highly successful or a positive failure.
However among these 'failures' in the commercial theatre
are many artistic successes. Such, in this director's
opinion is Hotel Ugiverse.

There were two tests to be put the play. The
drama had definite audience appeal for the younger gen-
eration. Although this play was written with an eye to
the disillusionment of World War I generation, many of
the ideas are as applicable today when World War II
veterans are striving to readjust. Mr. Barry asked many

2

of the same questions that the veterans are asking and
his answers seemed to be adequate ones for now. The
reception which the play received and the comments
aroused by the play proved this first theory and Justi-
fied the choice.

The second test--a play to test the abilities of
the director---was more than met by Hotel Universg,
Barry is no innovator of new forms of playwriting. Most
of his comedies and dramas follow the three-act pattern
very closely. In this play he decided to turn his back
on convention and present a full length offering with
no breaks. Here was two hours of uninterrupted drama
that a director would have to keep on the move if the
attention was to be held. Then too, there was an in-
terpretation problem which would tax the talents of
both director and cast. The play as will be shown later
is an admixture of comedy lines and situations, and
philosOphic theories and fantasy. A steady directing
hand would be necessary to steer this play to a safe
harbor.

The adaption problems were few. The play has an
honesty and a.maturity of eXpression that college men
and women should be able to understand and accept. Since

all of the material was in keeping with the spirit of

-

3

the play and the characters, none of the lines were
changed. From the reaction of the audience during
the play, this confidence in their intelligence
seemed Justified.
, There were, however, several references to
World War I, which might have been misinterpreted
and these lines were not tied in with the major idea
of the play the references to the war (only two)
were omitted.

One other slight technical difficulty necessitated
a minor change. In the script, Mr. Barry has Pat play-
ing and singing a local French song, and the little
Jingling phrase of 'rat-applan' appeared several times.
The song was not available and consequently the music
was omitted. With the choice of leading men limited
during the summer session, an actor without musical
leanings had to be used, so the musical emission was
for the best. The other music required was heard off
stage and blended into the mood of the various scenes.
A recording of the rooster-crow was also used with tell-

ing effects.

B. CASTING THE PLAY.

As every director has discovered, the casting of
each play brings up individual problems. The plans
and hopes of the director envisioned in the quiet of
his own study are quite different from the results
obtarned on Opening night. Consequently this dis-
cussion of the casting situation will divide itself
into general divisions, the characters as seen by the
director, and the characters as played by the cast.

One advantage of Hotel Universg is its small
cast. There are only five men and four women needed.
All of these people are quite different and in their
own way demand balanced abilities among all the actors.
While Pat Farley, the leading man, and Ann Field, the
leading woman have a major share of the play to carry,
still the others all fit into this complex picture
and a weak link anywhere would have been very noticable.

In analyzing the casting problem, the following
were the character qualifications desired:

Stephen Eigldp-a mature voice, facial features
which could be made up to look like a man of sixty,
mature bodily movement.

App Egglgr-young, yet mature, good-looking in an
expensive, sephisticated way, grace of movement, calm,
lower-toned voice, a physical contrast to Pat.

Pat Farlgy--ability to characterize the difficult

5

Barry lines, look as if he was wealthy, preferably
play the piano, physical contrast to Ann.

Lgly Malone-striking looking as an actress
would be striking, very much at ease, preferably be
able to dance, pick up the timing on the lines.

29m,Amg§r—in early thirties, 'ayerage American"
looking, physical contrast to Hope.

ngg_§mg§r-in late twenties, mature, physical
contrast to Tom, un-emotional.

,Aligg Kendal;--interpret sleep-walking scene,
young, attractive, good figure, physical contrast to
Norman.

Norman Egggr-older, mature, intellectual inter-
pretation, smooth-looking, at ease, physical contrast
to Alice.

Egligr-dignified, preferably speak French. The
lean well develOped man of work who moves quietly and
efficiently.

No director, if he is wise, will go to tryouts
with too many preconceived ideas. The disappointment
in not finding “Just what I'm looking for'I may be too
great. This adaptability of a limited group of actors
was the chief problem in selecting the cast for,§g£gl
ggivergg. Fortunately there was available one of the
more experienced character actors (Anthony Chapp) for
the role of Stephen. He had the voice qualitites, the

‘

6

ability to read the complex lines, and the physical
qualities of age that made shaping Stephen much less
a job than might have been.

Pat offered more difficulties. Physically the
young man (William Devereaux) was all that was needed.
He was tall, slight of build with an aesthetic face.
Vocally he had some habits that had to be broken down,
especially in his pitch patterns. By working to keep
the voice down and to relieve the strain a degree of
maturity and sophistication resulted. He had.a fine
feeling for the shadings of line and a good sense of
character reaction.

Marie Posz, cast as Ann had an etherial quality
about her that changed slightly the original conception
of the character. She had an intensity and a lightness
that made Ann a more high-strung personality than the
author intended. Physically she had the carriage, poise
and charm needed to give the impression of a daughter
of the rich. Ann was, however, not one of the 'outdoor
set'.

Zoe Carr, taking the part of Lily, had the physical
appearance of an actress, dark and high featured. Her
chief problem was capturing the,flip breezincss that
Barry wanted in this seemingly blase woman. By stress-
ing the comedy readings in the real-life scenes, she

twas able to get a decided contrast in her young-girl
sequence. Her youthful appearance and quality of voice

7

made the scene have an added point when as a girl her
illusions about a drunken father were shattered. Since
she carried so much of the Barry mood and quality, this
lack of comedy reading was a disadvantage to the play
to some extent.

Both Stanley White and Alice Luniewski, playing
lorman.and Alice, were veterans of campus dramatic activity
and consequently carried their complex roles with ease.
Alice caught the vapid 'can't be bothered' mood of the
character in contrast to the pathetic little person of
the dream sequence. Norman was played with a sympathetic
understanding of the racial qualities which might have
antagonized the audience. His transitions from the fur
peddlar to the financier were especially convincing.

Irving Haggart, taking the role of Tom, was a
little slow in catching the religious import of the
character, but once this point was cleared, he developed
into the maturity of’middle-aged disillusionment. Vocally
he too had a problem of presenting age, which with
special coaching and rehearsals reached a more than
passable point. His work in the 'little boy' sequence
was especially effective.

Lois Vosberg, as Hope, had.the thankless role in
the play. Of all the characters, Barry had the least

sympathy with this I'overly normal' woman. Since this

8

was Miss Vosburg's first campus appearance, her point
of attainment was quite adquate, but not as advanced

as the work of some of the others. With the few lines
that she had to deal with, all of which were so much

on the one-tone level, her characterization was accept-
able. An overly sympathetic treatment of this character
would have been about all an experienced actress could
have done with the role. _

John Holder, cast as Felix, had the selfeobliter-
ating quality that makes for good butlering. Voice again
was a problem and constant pounding on projection had
a beneficial effect. He was greeted with rounds of
laughter on his every appearance, which was not the
fault of the actor, but the fault of the repetition of
a character with the same type of lines and the same
business to do. This problem will be discussed in a

later section--the Play in Production.

C. REHEARSING THE PLAY.

H932;_Universg offered many rehearsal problems
which were typical of the average play and some that
were of a more specific nature. Since the play had no
intermissions, the cast was warned at the very start
that the whole drama would have to move stoadily for-
ward and that the two-some scenes would have to be
especially well played. This need for keeping the play
moving was constantly stressed from the early rehearsals
right through to final dress rehearsal.

One of the major problems was getting the cast to
visualize the setting with the various levels and stairs
that would be used. Because of the many previous book-
ings in Fairchild Theatre, no rehearsals on stage could
be arranged until after the twentieth rehearsal. At
that time, however, all of the levels were available,
and from then on, the actors found the action.much easier
to do.

Because of the difficulty in reading the Barry lines,
and the necessity of deciding on the meaning of lines
and characters, more time than usual was spent on just
reading the play through. By the end of the third.re-
hearsal period the cast had a clearcut idea as to what
both the author and this director had in mind on the
purpose of the play and the relationship of character.

10

The time was well spent, for when the cast started to
block in the movement and the action each actor had a
more complete understanding of what he was doing.

The blocking in of the major action took another
four rehearsals. As has been stated, the visualizing
problem was a hard one to solve. About all that could
be done was to mark out on the rehearsal floor (of the
Union Ballroom) where the steps and levels would be, as
well as actually placing the furniture. As the actor
moved to a change of level, he or she was reminded 'now
you are on level one", or 'now you are climbing the stairs
to level two', or "this is played on level three.“ While
this system was unsatisfactory, at least the actor was
getting the idea of change implanted in his memory and
was mentally climbing stairs and working with height.

The next six rehearsals were spent in memorizing
lines and action. During this time some extra after-
noon coaching sessions were held with those actors Who
had the longer two-some scenes, Pat and Ann, and Stephen
and Lily. (These scenes will later be referred to by
the names of the two characters with a hyphen between
them.) This was done so that the time at the evening
rehearsals could be spent working on the group ensemble
scenes. As far as possible the scenes were kept in order
so that a sense of sequence would be maintained. Since

‘the pay is so specifically a 'scene' type of production,

11

breaking down into rehearsal units was not too difficult.
The divisions worked themselves out to be from the be-
ginning of the play to the first Pat-Ann scene on page 76,
then omitting that scene the next session would begin
with page 94 and run to the second Pat-Ann scene on page
133. Then omitting again the second Pat-Ann sequence the
work went on from page 146 to the end of the play.

From the thirteenth to the eighteenth rehearsal the
time was spent (without scripts) in polishing up and
sharpening characterization, working on special readings
and the beginning of putting the whole play together.

The cast found two special problems in learning lines.
Many of the comedy scenes were written with short quickly
spoken lines, with cues that had to be picked up with
lightening speed. These scenes needed more time, since

a missed cue would throw the rhythm of the play off.
Special line-rehearsals were held and emphasis placed on
speed. The second major problem was the long and complex
philosophic lines which Stephen had when expounding his
theory of life. He found difficulty memorizing the longer
speeches, and the cast had difficulty sustaining their
characters while the lines were being spoken. Special
attention had to be drawn again and again as to the re-
action each character would have to this idea.

Three rehearsals after the twentieth were held on

stage prior to the two dress rehearsals. These stage

12

sessions were devoted mainly to smoothing out bad ad-
justments in movement, projection of voices and char-
acterizations, and getting the actors accustomed to the
feel of the stage and theatre. By this time the play
was running fairly smoothly except for a few minor dif-
ficulties with spot scenes for action and an occasional
line break. The problem of keeping the play moving was
stressed again and again, and the cast began to feel
their responsibility. By dress rehearsal time the play
itself was fairly presentable. Lines were moving well,
and.most of the characters were responding to the stage-
auditorium setup satisfactorily. The scenes offering
the most trouble was the moody Opening sequence when

Mr. Barry projects his cast into an immediate state of
'nerves' and the play must reach a high pitch almost
from the first curtain; the fight sequence and the sub-
sequent breaking away; the Tom-Hope-Stephen scene fer
right timing and toning of the love making; the timing of
the entrance of the butler later in the play.

However these problems worked out in final dress
rehearsals. The first dress was largely a technical re-
hearsal. Since there were so many intricate light cues
that had to be timed in, the continuity of the play was
broken. Slight readjustments had to be made for furniture
arrangements, but there were few changes that needed to be
made. In spite of the many breaks, the various scenes blended

13

well into each other, and both the cast and director
felt that the play was ready for its final dress.

Because of a difficulty in booking the theatre
this summer, an unusual procedure was used for the final
dress. This last session was held the afternoon of
performance. There was an advantage to this methods--
the play was fresh and vivid in the minds of the actors
as they went into an evening performance, but for many
of the younger, more inexperienced members of the cast
the strain of two performances in one day was a heavy
drain and they were showing the results before the even-
ing was over.

Final dress rehearsal went very smoothly with no
breaks being allowed. With lights, costumes, make-up
and the setting, the cast felt the magic spell of the
theatre and responded with.more emotional reaction than
they had during any of the rehearsals. A few invited
guests were favorably impressed with the play, and gave
a slight response to the humor of the play by laughing
audibly. This gave the cast a little Opportunity to try
for the holding and timing of laughs.

A total of twenty-seven full-cast and individual
rehearsals were held. Five of those rehearsals were held
on the stage where the play was given. If more time had
been available on stage the cast would.have had a little

.mmore confidence in itself. A certain amount of blocking

14

for action, and working on lines may be held in a re-
hearsal room, but no cast can get the feel of its stage

and auditorium without working in that location.

The detailed rehearsal schedule with time, place

and material covered follows.

15

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

The entire cast is expected to attend all rehearsals,

except those on special call.

Honday, June 30, 7:15-9:30PM, Union Tower Room. Tryouts.

Tuesday, July 1, 7:15-9:30PM, Union Tower Room. Tryouts.

Iednesday, July 2, 7:15-9:30Pu, Union Ballroom. Fina;
112232.

1.

3.

Thursday, July 3, 7:15-9:30PM, Union Ballroom. 3&-
ihrhssh. ‘

Monday, July 7, 7:15-9:30PM, Union Ballroom. Rea -
through.

Tuesday, July 8, 7:15-9:30PM, Union Ballroom. ‘Bgad-
1222232-

lednesday, July 9, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. §;22_-
ing, pages l-éQ.

Thursday, July 10, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. Blgcking,
pages 29-76.

Saturday, July 12, 1:00-3:00PM, Union Ballroom. Blogkigg,
page; 7§-§4, l§3-146, (Special call-Pat and Ann)

Monday, July 14, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. Blocking,

29399 34-133,146-;66,
Tuesday, July 15, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. Pages

1-760
lednesday, July 16, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. Pages
16

94-;§3, 146-166.
lO.Thursday, July 17, 4:00-6:00PM, Union Ballroom. Pages

76- 4 3 46. (Special call--Pat and Ann)

11.Thursday, July 17, 7:15-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. ,Eaggg
1-76.

12.Friday, July 18, 6:30—8:45PM, Union Ballroom. Pages 94-
L§3-146-166.

13.8aturday, July 19, 10:00-12:00AM, Room 240, Auditorium.
gages lBS—lfia. (Special call-Stephen and Lily)

l4.Saturday, July 19, 1:00-3:00Pu, Union Ballroom. gaggg
76-94 33- 46 (Special call-Pat and Ann)

15.8unday, July 20, lO:30-l:OOAM, Union Ballroom. .Zaggs
lzlém '

16.Honday, July 21, 7:00-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. [gaggg
94-133, 146-166,

l7.Tuesday, July 22, 7:00—10:00Pl, Union Ballroom. gasps
L:Z§,

18.Wednesday, July 23, 7:00-10:00PM, Union Ballroom. gaggs
22:166.

19.Thursday, July 24, 4:00-6:00PM, Union Ballroom. gaggg
17-94, (Special call—~Pat and Ann)

20.Thursday, July 24, 7:00-10:00PM, Fairchild Stage. agar
through entire 21 x.

21.Friday, July 25, 6:30-9:00PM, Union Ballroom. Pages 1-76.

22.8aturday, July 26, 1:00-5:00PH, Fairchild Stage. ,fiynr

17

thrgagh entire play.
23. Monday, July 28, 7:00-10:00PM, Fairchild Stage.

Baa-through entire play.

24. Tuesday, July 28, 7:00-10:00PM, Union Ballroom.
Pagas 94-166,

25. Wednesday, July 30, 7:00-10:00PM, Union Ballroom.
Pages 1-94,

26. Thursday, July 31, 6:30-11:00PM, Fairchild Stage.
Firat agess rehearsal.

27. Friday, August 1, 1:00-5:00PM, Fairchild Stage.
Figs; drass rehearsal,

Friday, August 1, 6:30-11:00PM, Fairchild Stage.

Pgadactioa,

18

D. THE PLAY IN PRODUCTION

The zero-hour for any director is the moment
when the audience settles down in the darkened house
and the curtain rises and suddenly he realizes that
the work of so many weeks has reached its climax.
Sitting in the rear of the auditorium as a member of
the audience, he tries to view the play with the calm-
ness of any play-goer seeing the production for the first
time. Often this calmness is more outward show than
inward peace of mind. Consequently, to give a dispassion-
ate evaluation of the play isn't always possible.

The capacity audience that greeted.Hotel Universe
.was an inspiration to both cast and.director. That
emotional stimulation that comes with seeing faces in
the auditorium put a magnetic spark into the cast and
these scenes that had seemed problems in rehearsal were
played smoothly in performance.

Since no two audiences are alike and trying to
gauge what might happen is risky, the cast was not warned
as to expected reactions. Although the play did not drag,
the physical strain of sitting and looking at the stage
for two hours proved too much for the average playgoer.
There was strict attention at all times, and few evidences
of disinterest, but after the first ninety minutes an

unexpected reaction was set off. Laughter at unexpected

19

moments kept bursting forth. Every time the Butler
appeared to remind the guests that time was passing,
he was greeted with laughter even before he could say
his lines. Pat's calls for 'Mary' and 'Ann' off stage
also aroused laughs. The repeating of the names in a
plaintive voice struck the audience as funny. Had this
reaction been anticipated or if the play had been repeated,
a change in reading might have avoided the situation.

There seemed to be some confusion just at first
when the cast went into the fantasy scenes. Whether the
Opening of these scenes should have been pointed up more
sharply with more obvious changes in character and panto-
mime is a question that is hard to answer. Possibly the
situation might have been aided by using a specific change
in color in lighting as these scenes started. Something
was needed to tell the audience that a change was about
to begin.

Fortunately, the audience reaction did not affect
the cast to the point where any one overplayed. Now
and then an actor has an inepiration to improve on his
interpretation of his role on the spur of the moment. In
this cast the play was presented as rehearsed and, if
audience reaction in the lobby may be taken as an indi-
cation, the drama was enjoyed, although not completely
understood. This inability to understand all that Mr.

'Barry was trying to say was not limited to the Michigan

80

State College audience, if the critical estimates as
published by the gentlemen of the New York Critic's
Circle may be taken seriously. Several of these reviews
of the play appear in a later section of this thesis.

Ho director is ever completely satisfied with his
production and this is the case of this director with
‘gaga;_Univers . Seeing the play in production brought
out many points which could have been improved upon, but
one learns by doing and improves a technique by testing
it. The human equation, which is such an unpredictable
factor, in the theatre can only be learned by actually
trying out, on an audience, the theories learned from
texts. The worth of this type of thesis lies in the
opportunity of learning by producing the play and study-
ing the reactions in the theatre itself.

21

PART TWO

THE SCRIPT

Definitions of Abbreviations

.......Center stage
.......Down stage
.......Left stage
.......Right stage
.......Upper stage

HGWt‘UO

.......Cross stage

HOTEL UNIVERSE

The Terrace is like a s pacious, out—door room, irregu-
larly paved with flags of gray stone. The house itself
forms one wall on the left, a wall from which two
screened doors open—the first from a hall, the second
from a sitting-room. Down Left, against this wall a
flight of outside stairs, guarded by a slender iron rail-
ing. mounts to a balcony.

The other entrance is at Right, down from the
garden by stone steps. A three-foot wall follows the
back and left sides of the terrace just to where the row
of small cypresses, which screens the garden terrace,
begins. Over and beyond the wall nothing is visible: sea
meets sky without a line to mark the meeting. There,
the angle of the terrace is like a wedge into space.

Down Right, a small but ancient fig-tree in full leaf
rises from the pavement. There is a large fan—back chair
beneath it. Upon the wall at Back, there are two folding-
cushions. A small upright piano stands against the wall
of the house. Near it, there is a table, upon which stand
a carafe of brandy, a bottle of Cointreau, a bottle of
champagne, and glasses. A few straw and wicker chairs
and a sofa complete the furniture. It is about nine
o’clock in the evening, and still quite light.

ANN FIELD sits at a small table at Left, a silver-coffee-
service before her. She is about twenty-eight, and lovely.
Near her, taking their cafes, sit TOM and HOPE AMEs,

4. HOTEL UNIVERSE

LILY MALONE and NORMAN BOSE. 0n the other side of
the terrace, half asleep upon a cushion with a cofl'ee-
cup beside her, ALICE KENDALL reclines. She is twenty-
sia', very smart and rather pretty. PAT FARLEY is at the
piano. He is thirty-two, medium tall, slight, likable
looking. NORMAN ROSE is the handsomest of the men,
and about thirty-eight. TOM AMES is forty, of amiable
good looks. HOPE, his wife, is four years younger, in full
bloom. LILY MALONE is small, slight and thirty. With-
out a feature to remark upon, she is able to impart to
her small, impudent face a certain prettiness. All are
browned by the sun and wear light summer clothes. The
women, except LILY, who is in a linen day-dress, wear
simple evening-dresses. The men are in flannels.)

 

PAT

—And this is a cheerful number from the heart of
Old Provence: “Le Roy a. fait battre Tambour.”
Yvette 'Guilbert used to do it.

[He plays and sings the song, with-6W .
WWWW-
plm-plaa-plan.” . -

TOM WM)
Sad.

’HOPE
Oh, isn’t it!

LILY
Lovely, though.

ALICE
But Ann said to play something gay.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 5

 

PAT .
Yes? How gay, Ann—very gay? (file looks at ANN.

Why.) Well, here’s how the monks tried to be gay
at Easter. It’s Gregorian—eleventh century—rejoice,
rejoice— God, how gay. (He begins to intone thg
chant; “H glleluiah! H alleluiah!” )— Can’t you see
the lines Of them, shuffling along, heads down, hands
in sleeves, re J Oicing, rejoicing?

file continues to sing “H alleluiah! H alleluiah!” Sud-
flzly ANN rises.

 

ANN
Pat!
Lut he goes on singing. ANN mounts the steps to

 

Waves into the house. W— Haas 6125:,

goes-tom.

HOPE
Pat—

PAT

What? , - . K
HOPE

Quit it!
PAT

Why?

HOPE

 

Why must we take our nerves. out on Ann?

PAT
“Nerves” did you say?

up

”/58 [UP f0
EEnd of: 30/60_

6 HOTEL UNIVERSE

HOPE
—You heard what I said. And you’ve been the worst.
Knowing what you used to be to her, I suppose the
torture’s great fun.

 

PAT
Go away, Hope.

HOPE
.—-Then why do you suppose she suddenly leaves us
this way?

PAT
It’s her own house, isn’t it?

HOPE

Yes—and a fine time we’ve been giving her in it!
The wonder to me is that she’s endured our bad man-
ners as long as she has.

TOM
Oh come now, darling——

HOPE

 

1 iv 73m

X 6064’ {a ~

I mean it! All we’ve done for three mortal days has
been to sit around and make bitter cracks about any-
thing we could put our tongues tO.—Don’t you real-
ize that we’re the first Americans she’s seen since she’s
been here? She begged us to come. It meant so much
to her to have us. And nowj on our very last night

 

650 ('I’ f o ,5 [warm

with her, we still behave likE—oh, I’m so ashamed.
[She returns to her 'chair.

TOM
What do you want us to do, Hope?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 7

 

NORMAN
Yes, what shall we?

HOPE

I don’t know—something—anything but what we
have been. It must be horrible for her, living here.
She had a right to expect we’d bring some breath of
life with us. And what have we given her?

PAT

Say it: the breath Of death.

LILY ( to HOPE )

You know the reason for our so-called “nerves”,
don’t you?
TOM uickl

Now don’t start that, Lily. We agreed when we left
Antibes not to speak Of that again.

. NORMAN

Yes—Ann’s got enough to depress her, without add-
ing the sad story Of a person she never knew or

heard of.

LILY

Nobody’s going to burden Ann with it. The point is,
what it did to us. Every time I close my eyes I see
him: a bright, sweet, utterly unimaginative boy of
twenty-six—

HOPE
Don’t—

LILY
——Standing up there, brown as a berry in a pair Of

Rise

8 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

blue swimming-pants on the highest rock over the
sea, and— Pat, did you really hear him say that?

PAT
Of course Q3], He said: “Look, Farley, I’m off for

Africa!”
TOM
It was the most beautiful dive I’ve ever seen.

ALICE

He couldn’t have meant it. I’m sure it was an acci-
dent.

PAT
Accident nothing. It was suicide.

LILY

Just five minutes before, I was rubbing his back with
Oil. He asked me to. He couldn’t reach between the
shoulders.

PAT

Little mother—
LILY

Shut up.

HOPE
He had a daisy behind his ear, the way a grocer-boy

wears a pencil——

TOM

And didn’t look silly, either.

LILY
Not he !

HOTEL UNIVERSE 9

NORMAN
Of course there must have been some reason for what

he did.

HOPE

Please, let’s not talk about it any more. It isn’t safe .

to dwell on things like that. It makes you morbid.

TOM
There was something grand about the way he did it.

LILY

He laughed up at me—the way his teeth gleamed from
the water! —Did he have unusually white teeth?

PAT
——Brushed them night and morning. Promised nurse
he would. -

HOPE
Pat—-

PAT

Oh, what the hell—you all make me sick. None of
us gave a hang for him. We scarcely knew him.

TOM
We do now.

PAT
A neat job, I call it—no body to dispose of. You
know, it’s the devil getting a body out of France. The
export duty’s enormous. And I think there’s a luxury-
tax. TDD I Ofiendyou? Sorry.

LILY
Why‘did he do it? Why did he do it?

*- OtACI‘J tar”
away

51,7ka Chan]
0 D 101.4!) a

10 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT
He’d just had enough, that’s all. Eleven O’clock in
the morning, up on a rock in the blazing sun— Ee-
looks away, his eyes narrowing; “I’m Off for Africa”
and that’s all. Lord, it’s magnificent. It’s scored

for drums, that. Why-rat—
W’

TOM
-Look here, if we don’t get that boy of? our minds—

 

LILY

I know. There’s something contagious about it. It’s
like having been in a room with a person with—

HOPE
Lily—
LILY
All right.

TOM

N 0 one is to mention it again. We’re here on this visit
to dispense cheer to Ann, aren’t we? Isn’t that why
we came? Well, then—

LILY

Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless.—As cheer-makers I’d
sell the lot of us at a nickel a pound, on the hoof.

TOM

We can keep the ball in the air until we go, at any
rate.

HOPE
We’ve simply got to. Think of her—buried down

HOTEL UNIVERSE 11

 

here for three years in this fake, rootless country,
dying of homesickness with a half-mad father—
ALICE
I saw him, you know. Y “— 51225 “p
HOPE
You did!
NORMAN
When?
TOM

Where, Alice? '

ALICE

It must have been him. Last night I woke up and
couldn’t get back tO sleep again. I thought I heard
someone down here, so I came out on the balcony. It
was a funny light. Everything was—I don’t know—
awfully pale. For instance, that fig-tree didn’t seem
to have any color.

 

TOM.
But where was he? Here?

ALICE

Yes. At least there was a man— quite a nice-looking
man, with gray hair. He was all in white. He was

 

standing here at the walLlooking out over. The light- P0; t ’10
house was lit, and every now and then it would light ’7 5 /
him all up. 0/ we /

PAT (unimpressed)
Was there a very bright star in the sky?

ALICE
I didn’t notice.

C “\u

Gesture s A

toward jars/9n /

12 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

LILY

You ought to look out for those things, Alice, you
really ought.

ALICE
I can see it all so distinctly, even to the way a button
on his coat caught the light and a lace on his shoe
that was untied and dragged along after him.

PAT
Then what did he do—ride Off on a unicorn?

ALICE
NO. he just went up there into the garden, the rooster
after him.

HOPE

The what?

ALICE

Didn’t I tell you? He had a white rooster with him.
—After awhile I heard it crow, quite far away.
0

HOPE
It must have been dawn then-—

ALICE
Nor-it was nowhere near it.

LILY
Well, it must have been dawn somewhere-—

PAT _
It usually is— ‘

TOM

You dreamed all that, Alice.

HOTEL UNIVERSE l3

 

ALICE
I saw it.

PAT
—While we’re here he’s staying down at the what-do-

you-call-it—the little house—the bastide. I imag-L

ine he’s sicker than he thinks. A fine end for one Of
the foremost electrical experts in the country, eh?
A swell finish for the only first-rate physicist we’ve
ever had.

ALICE
But hasn’t he always been a little—you-know?

PAT

 

fi_ XU to ”2440?
to big, -/£f level

[Yerman I'na’fca‘l‘tg

 

He never seemed so to me.—Who’ll have a drink?

[Le refills his glass.

NORMAN
But when was it he began to crack?

PAT
Only about five or six years agO.—This is a noble
brandy.

TOM

I heard something about his haranguing a crowd in
Central Park once—

PAT
He can’t take people casually—that was part of his
trouble. He’s supposed to have some kind of power
over them. Somebody said it’s because he always seems
so close to death.-——It tastes like cucumbers.

he would Iikoa.
dr/hk.

‘— iii-6

 

l to Cam/L

5tana1hj s
loo k riff 0““

14 HOTEL UNIVERSE A

 

LILY

I’ve never known anyone to seem further f rom‘it than
that boy standing there on that rock, and—

HOPE
Lily!
LILY
Oh, all right.——Only I never have—not anyone.

PAT

Finally Ann had to bring him here, where he doesn’t
see anyone but her, and seems to be all right. It’s a
swell deal for Ann. LH is tone change&) So we thought
we’d come and put on a show for liar, did we? We
thought we’d remind her of what a big, gay, exciting
life exists outside these walls—rub a little salt in,
just so she’d be really content to stay on here—is
that it?

TOM
Lord, you can be a louse.

PAT
You bet I cam—If Ann has any illusions about what
goes on in the great big wonderful world back home, I
haven’t. ~

[ He goes t2 llK gqfl and-0W.
HOPE
Just the same, Pat—

PAT
——Oh, go ahead. DO as you like. Be bright, be merry.

IA gilence, LILY looks about hen:

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE l5

 

LILY

I’m not happy in this old place. It’s too violent, it’s
too dramatic. I know I’m an actress but hang it, I’m
on a holiday. You get a sense Of things being born all
the time. They come bursting out Of the ground.
There’s too much raw life about.

TOM

The house used to be a small hotel—the Hotel de
l’Univers, it was called. I heard a tale or two about it
down at the port today. It had been deserted for
quite awhile before Ann and her father took it.

HOPE

Deserted? Why?

TOM
The boatman said things began to happen.

I PAT laughs.

PAT -
The man in 608 had a nightmare, and the lady in
609 rang for ice-water.

ALICE .
Things 9 What things?

TOM ’ -

The idea seemed to be that people began to resemble
other people and the place itself other places. And
time went sort Of funny. Their pasts kept crop-
.Ping Up-

LILY
—Excuse me, friends, but I ’m taking the night-boat
for Albany.

l6 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

TOM
I’m only telling you what I heard at the port.

NORMAN
There may be something in it.—— When I stepped out

 

K136

on this terrace the other night, it was for all the
world like the Grand Central the first time I saw
it, when I was fifteen. I don’t mean just the way it
looked. I mean-—

LILY

 

{Yarns/m
Xu to Hf/WJ

I know—and now it’s a hill-top in New Hampshire.
We played Concord once. I used to climb out my win-
dow at night when Father had drunk enough to sleep
—and up it, and lie on my back there.

[She closes her eyes.

TOM

Maybe what you call the “raw life” here makes peo—
ple children again.——-Lord, I remember the way Un-
der the Piano became as many places in as many mo-
ments: a boat to London, and then London. An air-
ship, and a grocery-store. A circus-tent, and ’way
down cellar.—And it was—for the moment it really
was.

Ilsilence. Then:

HOPE
Tom, I wonder how the children are? I’m worried. I
think I’ll cable.

Mnother silence. Then:

LILY
Dear, dear Father——how I miss him.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 17

ALICE

Oh, she’s got her father on the brain. Every theatre
we went to in Paris, she did nothing but talk about
how he used to play—

LILY
That’s enough, Alice.

ALICE

Of course we’re sorry he’s dead, but why we should
be bored with endless accounts of his—

LILY
I say it’s enough!

TOM
This is pleasant.

HOPE
I tell you, you’re all in a state.

PAT

I don’t doubt that the people who used to come here '
were, too. Lord knows it’s on the edge of the world.

. I HOPE glances toward the house.

HOPE

“Here she is. Now for Heaven’s sake—
LANN comes in from the house. (be Icon, Clear)

ANN

—That was foolish of me. Please don’t mind. (She,
.goes to the cofiee-table.) More coffee, anyone?

TOM
I will.

18 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE
Me too. It’s so delicious.

ANN
- It took me two years to discover why French coffee
was so vile.

HOPE
I could have told you. They load it full Of chickory.

ANN .
But the real trouble is in the roasting. They roast it
black, till it looks like shoe-buttons.

,1, : --: 1m
“MW

—When I was a child, I used to have a pair Of button-
shoes that I wore Sundays.

WW
away-—

TOM
I don’t think they make them anymore.

ANN

—SO what did I do, but buy a roasting-machine of my
own. It makes a very fine smell of a morning. More,
Pat?

[PAT turns.

PAT
If to /"’?€/W’ fl Thanks, I’ll take another brandy.
6145/6.

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 19

 

TOM
SO will Tom. I like my good things together.
|PAT fls two glasses for them,and returns to the; .
wall with his. “r — 4/0551” 5"
.—.....___.... {Jo /om
HOPE
It stays light so late, doesn’t it?

 

ANN

Wasn’t the beach a glory tO-day? Wasn’t it? Oh, I

love that beach! It’s my mother.—Q_’Vh_y do you go? .

Why don’t you all stay on with me? I’ll be good to £2": “/0
you—

LILY
If we could——

ANN
You’re really splendid, you know. You are so
splendid!

LILY
Don’t make me cry, Ann.

ANN

You? (She laughs.) Imagine! (And turn; {9 PAL}
What are you doing there, Pat?

PAT
Me? Oh, just looking—

ANN
But I thought you didn’t like views.

PAT

This isn’t a view. For a view you’ve got to have a
horizon. There’s not a sign of one out there. The sea

=5. 25 ’62? 06

20 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

meets the sky without a line to mark the meeting. The
dome begins under your feet. The arc’s perfect.

ANN

But I want to see your face. I’m fond of your lean,
brown face— He turns to her.) That’s better !—
Pat, you’re Older. (Lie turns away again.)—But I
like you better Older!

LILY (after a slight pause)

It’s fantastic, this terrace. It just hangs here. Some-
day it’ll float Off in space—and anchor there, like an
island in time.—I’m full of whimsies tO-night. I need
a good dose at bed-time. '

 

ANN
Lily, why do you spoil everything you say?
LILY
Do I?
ANN
Yes. What are you afraid of?
LILY
Oh—these people’s. gibes.
ANN '

I don’t understand it.

LILY
Ah, Ann—come on home with us! We do need you so.

HOPE

Yes, Ann! TO Paris to-night—§ail with us Wednes-
day. Just as a farewell-present. Oh, do!

HOTEL UNIVERSE 21

 

ANN
What a grand idea !—Tied up in a box—ribbons!
Lovely!

HOPE
Isn’t it even possible?

I ANN lagghs.

 

ANN
N o dear, it’s not—not possibly possible. .
|LILY fickw a book and begins to read it. z:- from // ‘ao/
HOPE ta 5/:

But surely you could leave your father for a month,
say. You could get a good nurse in Marseilles or
, Toulon, and—
ANN
Father doesn’t need a nurse.

HOPE
I’m sorry. I’m stupid.
ANN '
NO you’re not. You’re sweet. You’re all sweet. But
I’m like that theoule tree-jum, smell it !-I live here.
NORMAN
Three years is quite a while in one place-—

ANN

Not here. Ever since we came my sense. Of time’s been
confined to music.

|PAT lg’ hts a cgg' arette.

PAT .
——Look, everyone: there’s nothing travels so fast as

fn‘tars /0wsl'

Jam»

22 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

light—thirty million miles a minute. But by the time
they see this match on Orion we’ll all have been dead
fifty years, maybe more.

[FELIX, a French butler of about fifty. in g white sum;

mer unifiormLcomes in from the house.

ANN ( lagghing )

There’s a modest man!—He thinks they’re hanging
out of windows on Orion, to see him light a little

match! (She turn; Mimi—Oui, Felix?

FELIX to PAT
Pardon, Monsieur—

PAT
Oui ?
FELIX

Il est neuf heure juste, Monsieur.

PAT
Bon. Merci.

[115le traverses the terrace and goes out into the
garden.

ALICE
.-—And why was that, may I ask?

PAT

We’ve got to leave before eleven. I told him to let me
know every half-hour from nine until then.

ANN
That was perfectly dear of you, Pat. That will help.
(A moment. Then impulsively) Oh, I don’t see why
ym you to. Pat—stay—

HOTEL UNIVERSE 23

 

PAT
I wish I could, but I’ve got dates with mOuntains.

WWW“-

 

 

 

 

 

TOM
If you had any sense at all you’d know you ought to m _ x f0 Affidl’
train for mountain-climbing. taéé
PAT
I feel pretty good, thanks.—-Oh, by the way, would __ #44655 /£#5”J‘
you mailsome letters for me in New York? from 500‘ c9!)
TOM I ®4_// - I 5.9 73/97-
’9 II/gs 5-55,” ’40
Sure 5/”?
TOM
—The big one’s got no address.
PAT
There are four or five others inside it. I thought
they’d be easier to carry.
[33; Mg the envelopes in his pocket, the large one
. ll l. E ii ——
TOM
You were wrong.
[EY slams her book shut and tosses it W 0/2 to 54 é/a

LILY
—-Another blonde heroine who won’t take her milk,
and Mama .will throw up.
[There is a silence, which ALICE finally b13913:
ALICE
--Did I tell you ?—I saw the most amusing boat this

(am [From ”fear”..-
tdé/g. {a [49/5

tha/ 5ft ‘

24 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

afternoon: all white, with sienna sails, and a thin
white prow— ,
Mnother silence.

TOM

 

—Gondolas are built in a rather curious way. You
know how they seem to pivot—well—
Iflut he relapses into silence.

HOPE .
bf”)

The air’s so heavy—gale hie a glass of water, some-
one- p/sass, 73m-

[TOM gives her his glass of champagne. HOPE takes
.a swallow, and chokes.

HOPE

 

This isn’t water.

TOM
The water in France isn’t safe. It’s full Of French-

 

4 500/ o/Cs‘a’la,

men.
PAT
.-——And sometimes an American, who swims out too
far. -
DILY turns on him, angrily.
LILY
Oh damn you, Pat! Shut your trap, will you?
NORMAN (guicklg)
How long is the drive to Toulon?
TOM
Fifty minutes, Mr. Rose.

. HOPE (rekctively)

—Bags to be packed.

HOTEL UNIVERSE

NJ
2::

 

ANN

N o, no—please—there’s all the time in the world!
[Another brief silence. Then PAT speaks.

 

' PAT

It was funny motoring over here. We passed the Old
Hotel Beau-Site in Cannes. Lord, how it took me back.
I had an English tutor there, named Briggs, when I
was twelve. He fell in love with my mother.

ALICE

What did she do? Fire him?

PAT

Heavens, nO.—Mother?

@ORMAN starts a record on a portable gramophone
which stands upon the wall—it is the “N ailla” of De-
libes.

LILY

Dear God, not that again. If you knew what that tune
does to me.

[NORMAN promptly turns it off Wei-his-
sha-isn. Silence is again about to descend upon them,
but HOPE will not have it.

HOPE

Seriously, Ann—how did you know we were at An-
tibes?

ANN

I told you: I had a hunch.

EOM’S elbow catches on the bulky envelope pro-
truding from his coat pocket. Unnoticed by PAT, he
takes it out, opens it and eartracts four smaller en-
velopes Fonz. it.

 

 

 

__ pan/M

(04 //
5' 7gp:

ft; 1.74 an

is err/e”

26 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE
I know you said that. But seriously——

ANN
I have them, I tell you !—It’s not my first one about.
Pat, is it Pat ?—DO you remember my cable to Lon—
don once, years ago?

PAT .
What? Oh yes—yes, sure.

ANN .
I got a feeling that he was in some kind of trouble,
so I cabled.-—-But what the trouble was, I never.
knew.

ITOM is distributingt the letters in his inside pockets

and his wallet.

 

 

LILY to PAT.)

Don’t tell me anything’s ever gone against you, dar- .
ling. I couldn’t bear it.

ANN
—I asked you about it once before, didn’t I?

PAT
Did you?

ANN
Yes. Don’t you know what you said?

PAT
What?
[ljow TOM has but one letter without a place for it.
He kreads the address upon it, starts slightly, frowns,

 

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 27

 

ANN

You said: “I’ll tell you that the day before I die.”

PAT
All right. That still goes.
NORMAN
It sounds ominous.
ANN
Doesn’t it!
[10M taps the letter reflectivelyfl'
TOM (suddenly)
Pat—this letter—-

 

 

[LAT turns swiftly, goes to him, and takes it from :45 J’ From we //
hi8 hand. V Oéqck 0‘“ 6%
PAT
Oh'——Oh, that—I’ll tell you about that later.
TOM .

I think you’d better.
ELY is watching ANN.

LI LY

—I wish I was like Ann. —Ann, I do wish I was like
you. I feel so inadequate near you.

I ANN laughs and-5km

ANN

Darling! You’re famous—I’m nobody. I do nothing
but read of your triumphs.

LILY

—The triumph of trash. You can have my public, if
you’ll give me your heart. .

[dug/7.5 a n d'

far/75 a way

28 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
But you have it already!
LILY
I’d like to think that.
TOM
You may.
LILY
I want to play Cordelia in King Lear.

NORMAN
Cordelia?! You? J

 

LILY
—And Booth turns a handspring in his grave. All
right, but somehow that part fascinates me. When-
ever I think of it I go absolutely cold. And still I 0
know that if ever I have the guts to do Cordelia, my
life will be a different thing.

PAT
Then why not try it? I’ll back you, Lily.

LILY (in frgg’ ht)

NO! N O! I wouldn’t dare. (2an she laughs. )—-No.
I start my farewell tour any day now. I’m going to
play the Styx instead.—That’s a joke, the river
Styx.

NORMAN
Everybody laugh.
| LILY springs up.

LILY
Norman, there are times when I can’t stand this

HOTEL UNIVERSE 29

damned Jewish superiority of yours, and this is one
of them.

 

NORMAN
Really? I’m so sorry.

LILY
-—The way you look down from your eminence of M
three thousand years—honestly, who do you think
you are, some Disraeli?

NORMAN
He was later, wasn’t he?

LILY (to the others)
You see?

NORMAN

Besides, I’ve always considered him enormously over-
rated.

LILY

I wouldn’t mind so much if it made you happy. But
you’re one of the most wretched men I know.

TOM
Go on—bankers are always happy.

ALICE

Norman’s more than a banker. He’s a financial
genius. My uncle says so.

(ANN laughs)
ANN

There, Norman! Now are you happy?
Limoment. Then:

Al? [.0 to
fiftdfld éy DC
C'xfl/l/‘x’

If, é'O/D/é/pa
”ha/r and
J/f'

30 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

NORMAN
No. -——I’ll tell you, Ann: here’s how I see my life—

 

[talc/”def;

LILY
Tune in on Norman Rose Hour.

NORMAN

——There are several angles to it: When a man decides
he wants to accumulate a fortune—-

TOM
It’s going to be a speech.

I D to f/aor /gy5/ PAT '
A (74‘ 50/6“ __ __ —I can’t speak to Mr. Morgan just now. Tell him I’ll
call him back.

TOM

 

/l/or r t/
t ”74” de —Nine-thirty A. M. The great Norman Rose enters
a 67/ a” 2” /M/ his office—

I 7”" {72.0” A [He goes to the table.
(fad/L W

 

, LILY (in three tones of voic_e)

Good morning, Mr. Rose. Good morning, Mr. Rose!
Good morning, Mr. Rose! .
[10M grunts, seats himself at the table and contem-

 

fl

 

vi/ égflx'm/ bx)» 2% plates the bottles and glasses.

JZdfld TO/ year - TOM '

Z‘d 5/5. I see my desk is piled with work again.
LILY

You must learn to depute the smaller duties to under-
lings, Mr. Rose.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 31

 

TOM

I have to think Of my stock-holders. (LILY knocks

three times upon hon-book; TOM turns.) Who’ 3 there?
LILY 74bit

It’s me, Mr. Rose. Little Lily Malone. You know me.
TOM (wearily)

Come in, come in!

 

 

 

[lJLY enters the great mgn’s office. 0245/05 (90 y,
LILY taé/E-
——A gentleman to see you, sir.
TOM . _ flra é: For’
I don’t like gentlemen. It’s ladies I like.—Come closer, 4 / _ 54; g. ftp;
Miss Malone. 64C A: ”ad. a/L
W. Face/5
LILY
-—A Mr. Patrick Farley. Morgan and Company.
Sleighs and Violins Mended.
TOM
Show him in.
_ LILY
—Mr. Rose will see you now, Mr. Farley. PAT comes /% t Jz‘gps
in, LIL‘.’ announces him: ) Mr. Farley, Mr. Rose. ———I toward taé/g

 

How you’ll like each OTher.

f LILY retires. TOM indicates a chair. PAT seats himself.

" (If? I I? zf'a .5‘1'2!’
TOM A and 0/”- sofa.
Well, Farley, what is it?

pat [/17 “4/?
160/ éaéé.

 

 

PAT
It’s—just about everything, Doctor. I feel awful.

32 HOTEL UNIVERSE

TOM

 

Your Chemistry is down. C-minus.

PAT
Yes, sir.
TOM

Your Physics is down. D.

PAT .

Yes, sir. °
TOM

Your English is down.
PAT

Yes, sir. I can keep everything down now, sir.

TOM
You were not so good at that last night, Farley.

PAT

I think you are forgetting your place, Rose. Please
remember that my grandfather kept slaves, and your
grandfather was one of them.

TOM

Yes, and a good one!

PAT (sneering)

—Pride Of race, eh?
TOM

If you like.
PAT

And if I don’t?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 33

 

TOM
Farley, I am a busy man.

PAT

—Just so. And that is why I want to ask you a ques-
tion :—-—That shipment of ear-marked gold for
Sweden—

TOM
My God.

PAT

Don’t temporize, Mr. Rose. He, is my God as well as
yours.

TOM
But I must have a moment to myself, to think. (Sud-
denlg.) I know what! I’ll telephone about it!
we takes a long spoon from the table and holds the
handle to his ear.

 

PAT

—That was the Old Norman Rose speaking. That was
the Norman Rose we once knew, and loved.
fiOM speaks into the other end of the spogn.

TOM

Get me Equitable Trust. (Then to PAIQ What ever
became of your Aunt Jessie Sprague?

PAT
None Of that now! Don’t try to get me off on sex.

TOM (to the chmeL
Hello?

34 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT

Say this to him first: Say “what is ear-marked gold?”
LTOM nods and waits a moment. Then;-

 

TOM

Hello, is that you, Trust? Yes. This is Norman Rose
speaking—the Old Norman Rose. Listen now, Eq—
about that gold for Sweden—Sweden, yes.———Look
here, old man, maybe you can tell me: what is ear-
marked gold? (PAT nods approvingly. There is a
silence. TOM holds his hand over the end of the spoori
a—n—d turns to PAT.)—-He’s bluffing. (Another moment,
Then again to th? spoon :) Oh it is, is it? That’s what
it is, is it? Well, let me tell you something: you’re not
a big enough man to bluff Norman Rose. No sir !—
Well, it’s your business to know! (To PAT.)-——Still
bluffing. (3) the telephone.) All right, all right—
that’s all right with me! Kit if you think you can——
hello! Hello, are you there? Hello—hello— (He puts
@wn the spoon and turns to PAT.) He’s gone. He’s
hung up, the big bmr. W

@Tjires him with his eye.

PAT

It’s you who are blufling, Rose. (He points his finger
at him,) What is ear-marked gold?

TOM (confused)
I—why, it’s—I’m not sure, but I think it’s——

 

 

 

 

PAT

We have no place here for men who are not sure.
\

TOM
Don’t be hard on me, boy.

HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT

I’ll give you two alternatives.
TOM

Make it three.
PAT

I’ll give you three alternatives.
TOM

Four.
PAT

Four and a half.

TOM

Five. Five twenty-five!
mT’S fist descends upon the table.

PAT

35

Sold !—TO the gentleman in the straw hat, for five

twenty-five !

TOM
But who—who are you?

[EAT risesLopens his coat, and flints to his hgdgg,

PAT

The Chairman Of your Board of Directors. (TOM

eaks uiet '

Good after-

noon, Mr. Rose. (10M rises, and makes one mute gs -

tyre of appeal.) Good afternoon, Mr. Rose.

[10M hulks out. of his oflice, a broken man. PAT seats

himself at the table and pours a ran ,_

NORMAN (laughigg)

 

II? 2‘30 lama-no cfig/p

 

 

All right! I’ll resign! "k

I}? Cfid/r’ L 0’4.
llfeor i‘a 5/5.

IPIS‘a — lté 654/1",
W 0/ (/1. 00"
tad/g,

36 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE

Silly—they are so silly.

ANN
It was lovely! DO another-—

HOPE

NO, they mustn’t. I’m always afraid they’ll slip over
the line and turn into the people they’re pretending
to be.

LILY
It would be grand just to let yourself go sometime.
I wonder what would happen?

HOPE
I hate to think.

LILY

It couldn’t be any worse than it is (She closes her
eyes.) Hopeless, hopeless—-

NORMAN

What?

LILY
Hopeless.

Manning)
WWW
NORMAN ( to LILY)

But while there’s life, my dear-—

LILY
—There’s the rent to pay.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 37

 

PAT

—And what’s the big premium on life, I’d like to
know?

NORMAN
Well, it does look like all we’ve got.

W“ 1.. g] gll';
TOM

PAT we're dig/amt 7764” we sad 7‘: be, (/04; 11”,”.
. Our schedule is different, ’ .

——What I mean is, we’ll have had the works at forty
instead of eighty.

NORMAN

I’ve got a theory people expect __tOO much from life.
ANN

But you can’t! That’s one thing that’s not possible!
LILY

Then why is everyone so disappointed in it?
ANN ’

Because all they concern themselves with are its prob-
abilities. Think Of the things that might happen, can
happen, do happen! The possibilities!

LILY

There might be a ray of hope in that. Who, for in-
stance, would ever have thought that the little back-
stage rat I was, would spend a week-end with the
King of Spain ?—Not that I enjoyed it.

38 HOTEL UNIVERSE

ALICE

—-SnOb.

ANN ( laughing)

 

You might spend a week-end with yourself some—
time, Lily. You just might have a lovely time.

LILY '
I’d bore myself stiff. I’d get to showing myself card-

tricks.

TOM
A person’s got tO look for disillusionment all the way
along. It’s the price paid by everyone who uses his
head for anything but a hat-rack.

ANN ’
But Tom! What do you want with illusions in the
first place?

LILY
Oh—just to make himself feel important. That’s why
he quit his business with such a great big gesture.

TOM
I quit publishing because it seemed ridiculous to de-
vote my life to bringing out books about life.

LILY

’Exactly—and how important the gesture made you
feel. Sure. That’s what we’re all after—and that’s all
we’re after.

ANN

You know, Lily, you’re so completely de—bunked,
there’s very little Of you left. .

HOTEL UNIVERSE 39

 

LILY
I tell you, to beat this game you’ve got to be born
rich and healthy, and preferably a Farley—with
Pat’s private slant that nothing matters a damn any-
way.

PAT
Is that my slant?

LILY
Isn’t it?
ANN
It wasn’t when I knew him.

PAT
People change, they say.
ANN

It breaks my heart to have you change, Pat.
[LAT glances at her, then looks away. ALICE stretchgs
upon her cushi9__n.

ALICE
Oh, you all think too much. Why don’t you be like me?
LILY -
Need you ask, dear?
ALICE

I know that when I die, I die. But in the meantime I
hope to keep my days and nights fairly full.

LILY
Of what?
ALICE

I may not be as clever as you, Lily, but I’m a whole
lot happier.

40 - HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

[She yawns luwriouslyi.

LILY

I have a cat that is, too.

ALICE
I love cats. Cats have the right idea.

PAT
They also have kittens.
[NORMAN clears his throat.
NORMAN

It all resolves itself into the fundamental problem
Of the location Of Man in the Universe?

PAT
Really? Is that all?

TOM

Oh Lord, how can anyone believe he matters any,
when he knows that in a few years he’ll be dead and
done with?

ANN
You honestly think that this is all there is, then?

TOM
This what?

ANN

This life.

TOM
Why, of course. Don’t you?

[ANN lagghs.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 41

 

ANN

Oh no, no, no! Of course not! Not possibly.
Ehey all look at her in astonishment. Even Alli]!
raises herself upon her elbow on the cushion. LILY
murmurs.

LILY

—She’s marvellous. She’s really marvellous.

TOM
Chemistry is chemistry, Ann.

ANN (still laughing)

 

Heavens, Tom, is that as far as you’ve got?

LILY

There’s always the next step. Look: you see that
nice little white scar there? ‘

Qhe holds one hand out jor her to see, wrist ugsard.
ANN is serious in a moment.

 

ANN
Lily—what do you mean!

HOPE
Lily! You didn’t!

LILY
—Didn’t I, though—At last a real use for Old razor—
blades.

HOPE
But when?

LILY
Oh—about a year ago. I forget, exactly.

42 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE
But my dear—why?

LILY
I just got sick of myself. @e apologizes.)-—It
wasn’t very successful. I know too much. I mRe the
tourniquet myself.

PAT
That’s right, Actress, do your stuff. God’s out front
tO-night.

LILY

—Will you tell the Kind Gentleman I enjoyed his
little piece, but found no part in it for me?

TOM
Don’t talk that way, Lily.

LILY

Why not?

TOM
It’s blasphemy. I was born a Catholic, and I don’t
like it.
[LILY stares at him, finds him quite serious.

LILY

“Blasph—”? I haven’t heard that word in years. Say
another.

NORMAN '
I thought you’d given up your religion?

TOM
SO I have. But all the same, the only real dope on life

HOTEL UNIVERSE 4:3

I ever got was from an old priest at school. I’d like
to see that old fellow again. He was a nice Old fellow.
Father Francis, his name was.

 

ANN

There’s been a great space left in you, Tom. It will
take some filling.

TOM
And with what?
LILY . .
They say cyanide is quite satisfactory.
HOPE
Don’t, Lily—
LILY

Why? Don’t tell me you’ve never thought Of it.

(HOPE is about to reply, but does n01.) Ha-ha! t-
Caught you— :3 .. or”; (ea/41

 

TOM
Darling—you haven’t really—
HOPE
Well, haven’t you?
TOM
I know, but——
HOPE
Is it anyone’s special privilege? Am I not worthy?
LLILY laughs, and turns to ALICE.

LILY

Alice?

‘ [ALICE sits up.

44 HOTEL UNIVERSE

ALICE
Yes, dear?

LILY

 

No, there’d be no point in it for you—it would be too
little change—But what about you, Norman? DO
you ever yearn out windows?
EORMAN smiles.

NORMAN
I can’t say I’ve ever seriously contemplated it, no.

LILY
Then go on and contemplate it.
[Abrief pause. Then:

NORMAN

Well, I wouldn’t do anything positive—but if I knew
I could save my life by changing from this chair to
that one, I doubt if I’d move.

Mgai/n LILY laughs. ANN is gazing at them in amaze-
ment.

LILY
0W.
mar-(briefly)-
W.
LILY
—And as for you, Patrick? How long since your last
confession?
PAT

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s never crossed my
mind.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 45

 

LILY
And if I were you, I’d take precious good care it
never did.

PAT

Thanks. You’re kind. I’ll remember.

LILY

—Because I don’t think it would cross yours. I think
it would stick there.

Lil—’3 owls" ’33/13/3/ .I/75

L42”) Italy/me“ w:
Cat/7 coo/)2 ago
0&7: tiaay’), "

4m; : ’

 

 

4mg) Four out of six. Not a bad average, is it?

TOM
Pat, why was that letter addressed to me?
|PAT smiles.

PAT
Suppose my foot. should slip on an Alp?

TOM
DO you expect it to?

PAT
Not particularly, but there’s always the hope.

TOM
You’re not usually so foresighted.

PAT
But this time I am.

TOM
——-I don’t like it. May I read it now?

PAT

It would make me feel a little foolish. It’s signed
“oceans of love, Patrick.”

75-5-wa 1e47, "

 

46 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
What letter are you talkingabout?

PAT
One that he—

ALICE (suddenlg)
Oh, good Lord—

HOPE
What’s the matter?

ALICE
Suddenly I had the most abominable chill.

LILY
On a night like this?

ALICE

What a fool I am, really. .

EORMAN wraps W about her.
LILY sweetly) 0" ”0"”, J°"’"

Please dear, let me say that.

NORMAN

I wouldn’t give two francs for any of our nervous
systems.

HOPE

It’s probably too much sun and too little sleep for a
week.

[PAT pours himself another brandy.

PAT

—And the grape—the grape and the grain. I
[And drains the glass. Again silence descends upgp-
M. HOPE finally breaks it. , - F

HOTEL UNIVERSE 47

 

HOPE
Is it always so heavenly here, Ann?

ANN
—Except for some overcast nights in the Autumn
with no moon, no stars. Then there’s such blackness
as you wouldn’t believe.—Only the light from the
lighthouse on the Ile de Port-Cros, crossing the, ter-
race here—like the finger of God, Father says.
[I t has got darker, but the atmosphere possesm
muons quality that imparts a strange definitenegs
oLoutline to the o_bjects and the people upon thé
terrace. Again, silence. Then: W

 

LILY

I’m sad.—I could cry.——I am crying—Oh, behave
yourself.

[Suddenly ANN stands bolt upright, gg’ id.

HOPE
What is it? !

ANN
Wait a minute.

HOPE
Honestly, Ann, I do wish—

ANN
Wait! (For a moment they wait, silent, tense. Then

from the distance is heard one muflled report.)
—There‘It’s all right. Don’t wgry.

HOPE
But what on earth was it?

5/6.:

0"65’3 far”

48 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN

It’s Father. He’s at the bastide. Sometimes he fires
a sunset-gun. I get to expect it.

ALICE (awed)

He won’t do it again tO-night, will he?

ANN
I said a sunset-gun. It sets only once a day as a rule.
@here is a silence. She rises, abruptly.) Well, why
shouldn’t he, if he likes? I think it’s splendid of him!

 

der/4:7 amber“ 535,] -

(A moment. Then she laughs shortly.) Sorry! (Waits
W—I imagine He’a
seem a trifle strange to you, but to me it’s a pretty
grand sort of strangeness. I believe he is a very wise
man.

TOM
I don’t doubt it.

ANN
I don’t always understand him, but that’s my fault.
I understand better than I used to, and sometime I
hope to understand all. SO I just try to follow him
wherever his mind leads. I’ve been beautiful places
there with him. ’

TOM (gfiej a pause)
I unearthed a marble tablet in the lower garden to-
day. It was in Latin and said: “TO Semptronius who,
at age 12, danced here, and pleased.”

ANN
But how charming that is !—Can’t you see him ?—
Semptronius—'-

[TOM rises. All at once he is as excited as a child.

O l . l o i l {I
L
a . r C l r .r - u f t 9 I1”. : I ra H (B: r r r t r
v 4 a c H. Ix Is .3. . -41 4 . l O -
c .c , ,. 4; r r r;.. I we.» 4 . -rr r I .r. L- .

 

 

.Sé‘J .

. fooom0
i. . .

3....»

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 49

TOM

I’d like to dance here, too. (To PAT.) Will you play?
And would anyone mind?

HOPE
—Now that’s what I mean! Really, we’re not acting
at all sensibly, don’t you realize it?
[30M looks at her, and returns to the wall.

TOM

[Cl ['0 2 flJ/ual
bee/kg ”/4; '

(U toga/wg/

 

—Ten years ago I wouldn’t even have asked. It’s a
rotten feeling, knowing your youth’s gone—knowing
that all the brave things you once dreamed of doing,
somehow just won’t get done.

PAT (gs a small boy would say it :)
I wanna go out to the South Seas like Father Damien!

TOM (soberlg )

I did, at that.

ALICE
Who is Father Damien?

TOM (reciting)
Father Damien was a noble priest who went to the
South Seas to help the lepers and got it himself.

HOPE .
Sometimes I don’t know his voice from little Tommy’s.
[Suddenly TOM stands up upon the wall.

TOM ~
Look, Mummy! Look where I am!
HOPE

*— fiacxky oat L

——- 0/98 0/) faci/o’o
of («/4 // new to
fleas;

!- XU to Jig/as-

 

Get down, Tom, you’ll fall.

490/ 50A

50 HOTEL UNIVERSE
TOM

Don’t punish me, Mummy.—Reason with me.
HOPE

—Acting like that! I don’t know where you think
you are.
[TOM descends from the wall.

 

TOM
—Under the piano. LHe moves away W to-
£6 arm 56/0“ ward the table. )—Under the apple tree— (H e seats
/§f/u&/ himself 07088- -leq(led WWW-tune

 

 

moment, then he
calls, as a small boy would.) Hey, Pat! Pat! C’mon
over! -

[PAT comes forward to him.

PAT

[' H , .
Fat If" ello Tom
75/271 ; TOM

_ Hello, yourself.

PAT
Where’re the other fellows?
TOM
How should I know? I got better things to do than
follow them all over everywheres.
[fie examines his stick with interest. PAT seats him-

gglf on the ground beside him.

HOPE

Don’t, Tom. —Make them stop, Ann. They go too far
a with it.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 51
[But ANN is silent, watchiyg them intently,

PAT

—Gosh, I feel good, don’t you?

 

TOM

I feel all right.

PAT
—But don’t you ever feel—gosh, I don’t know—

good?

TOM

You don’t feel very good when you’ve got things the
matter with you, like I have.

PAT

What have you got? (No answer. ) Aw, come on, Tom
—is it really bad?
trOM’s head bends lower over his stick:

TOM
It’s awful.

PAT
Aw gosh, I’m sorry—tell me, Tom—
IA moment, they:
TOM .
Will you promise never so long as you live-— (3“
ygds eagerly. )—I think I’ve got something, Pat.

PAT

What?

TOM

I think I got the leprosy.

52 ' HOTEL UNIVERSE
PAT ( a‘ggalled)

You’ve—? Gosh, Tom, why do you think that?

 

TOM

I read a book last night about Father Damien in the
South Seas and he got the leprosy and I think I’ve
got it.

PAT
How—how do you suppose you ever—

TOM
I gave a old woman a dime the other day, and she went
and kissed my hand, and I think it must Of been her
that gave it to me.

PAT
But didn’t you wash or anything?

‘

TOM
I couldn’t till I got home. And it takes awful fast.
Look at that—

LH e shows his wrist.

PAT

Where?
we almost touches TOM’s wrist—but draws his hand
back, fearfully.

TOM
Doesn’t it look sort Of—white to you?

 

PAT
It does, sort of.

TOM
——And scaly. That’s the way it starts. My foot’s

HOTEL UNIVERSE 53

the same way. I could tell for sure by putting it in
hot water.

 

PAT
Hot water !

TOM .
If you’ve got it, you'don’t feel anything, not even
the water, even. Father Damien didn’t. That’s the
way he knew.

 

 

 

mORMAN is drawn over to them. He too, hag begun 571'” alibi D

whistling softly. His tune is “Pony Boy.” ’50:: to 1‘ ‘7‘
PAT

Oh, he was prob’ly just a crazy Ole priest.—H’lo,

Norman.

TOM scowls. NORMAN estures “
whistling, hands in yockgtg.
TOM
——A what, did you say?
PAT
Well, there are crazy priests. Anyways, I bet there
have been, sometime. .

TOM
Never. Never one. God wouldn’t let there be.

NORMAN
What about Theo-philus?

TOM

Who ?

NORMAN

Theo-philus. — {{an

 

54 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

TOM

What did he do that -was so crazy?

NORMAN
Just burnt the libary at Alexandria, that’s all.

TOM _
I never even heard Of it.

PAT

I did. Alexander the Great built it, quite a long time
ago, to please his vanity.

NORMAN (recitgzg’ )
———And Theo-philus was a crazy Christian monk that
burnt up the libary which was the greatest in the
whole world and which history tells us contained
over seventy thousand volumes.

TOM

Well, if he did‘, I bet he had some good reason. I bet
they were impure books, or something.

NORMAN
He was crazy.

TOM
I bet he 'knew they were good and lashivious and he
just burnt ’em to the honor and glory Of God.

NORMAN
He was crazy.

PAT ( pointedly)

Of course you’d say so, anyway. I guess you’d say
any Christian holy man of God was crazy.

.HOTEL UNIVERSE 55

 

NORMAN
I wouldn’t either. (A moment.) Why would I?
PAT

I suppose you think we didn’t notice you didn’t eat
that ham—sandwich the other day and asked for a
sardine.

NORMAN
I wanted a sardine. I like sardines better. I like their
taste better.

PAT

Yes, you do !

TOM (to PAT)

-——Anyone says sardines taste better’n ham says so
for some good alterior reason, you bet.

NORMAN .
You know what you are, don’t you?

TOM
What?

' NORMAN

 

Cath’lic! Cath’lic! 1%,» to at
TOM (soberly) 73m

I am a Catholic. Yes. I am proud to be a Catholic.
NORMAN ’

Yes—well, before I’d go to confession and things—

TOM

You know why ?—You wouldn’t get the chance. They
wouldn’t let you in. See, Mr. Jew?

56 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT
You are a Jew, aren’t you?
[NORMAN raises his head proudly.
NORMAN
Of course I am. What about it?
TOM
You crucified our Lord, that’s what about it.

NORMAN

Oh, no I didn’t.

PAT

Who did, then?

NORMAN

—The Roman soldiers. See?’
PAT
Oh, you think you know everything. All you do is sit
around and read books, little Ikey.
NORMAN ' ,
I’m not an Ikey! Don’t you call me that!

TOM ( to PAT )

—You’re just as bad as he is. A heretic’s what you
are— Protestant-dog-sit-On-a-log-and-eat-meat—On-
Friday!

PAT
I’ll eat anything I like any day I like—see? And
ham.

TOM

It’s all right now, only wait’ll you die. Just wait’ll
then.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 57
PAT (to NORMAN) '

Pooh, “when I die.” That’s what the priest tells

him— .

 

TOM
Well, just let me tell you: when I grow up maybe
I’m going to be a priest. See? Maybe I’ve got a
vacation right this minute. See?

PAT
A what?

TOM
A vacation—a call.
[PAT looks at him in wonder.

PAT

Gosh.

TOM ( closer to him) '
Just think that over, Mr. Fresh.—And when you
hear of me going out to the South Seas and places
like Father Dami— -
Westrycis, he remembers his malady. In fear he
peers at his wrist ggain. ‘
PAT
Is it any worse?
TOM
I—I think it’s spread a little.

PAT
Listen—

TOM
What—

Mirna» feta”):
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58 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT -

I know a fellow’s got a doctor-book. Only he won’t
lend it. You got to look at it at his house. Shall
we—?

 

TOM
All right. (A moment. Them) Pat——
PAT
What?
TOM

What would you do if you had the—the you-know?

PAT after thoughl)
I’d kill myself.

TOM
You couldn’t. You’d go straight to hell. And the
tortures of the you-know are as nothing to the tor-
tures of hell.

PAT
Just the same I’d do it, though. I certainly wouldn’t
go around with the lepr— (30M claps his hand over

W Let go!

TOM
—-You promised! (To NORMAN.)—You get out. Get
out, now !—If you know what’s good for you—
[NORMAN leaves them. PAT struggles.

 

PAT
Let go! I’m—I can’t breathe. Let go—!
LS_till TOM holds him. PAT struggles harder. He be-
M to beat at him with his fists. Finally freeigg

HOTEL UNIVERSE 59
«— l/{y X fox?

himself, he goes at him more violently. TOM retaliatgg,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pano
They go up and down the terrace, advancing, ze-
treating, clinching, separating, raining blows up:_‘H fi/ylit LC f1”;—
each other in dead earnest. HOPE suddenly realizes afidv
that thpyare no logger playing, and cries:
HOPE
Stop it! (But theygo on. She—begins—to-flrike-mt- ,(f, ,9 755,»
an.) Stop! Stop it, do you hear me? W
imalamalaiammm) Norman!
W ,
NORMAN I
Come on, Rowe—that’s enough! (fly hgldg hg' nary ’4’"? 1". ”La/{33‘
W What’s got into you two?
[HOPE stands between PAT and TOM, protecti TOM.
They are gasfl'ng for breath, glariyg at each other.
TOM lurches forward once more.
HOPE
Stop, Tom '—How Often must I tell you— (Then
Mae-hams.) Oh, didn’t I beg you
not t0! 4/)” fences:
W:
Pa 2‘ e. cfiwxhc!
ANN 5/10” can If: It”),

Pat—Pat, dear-—

IPA: stares at her blankly for a moment, then as;
denly slumps down into a chair.

PAT
I’m—I don’t know—

I NQEMAN releases TOM, who stares first at HOPE, then
gt PAT, amazement rowi in his eyes.

//o /c/: 72m ”'7
arm:

 

so HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ALICE
Well, Of all the—

ANN
Wait !-—Are you all right, Pat?

PAT ( weakly)

Sure.

[meow-beam

HOPE
Oh, I’m scared—I’m so scared.

ANN

Of what, Hope—Of seeing life hurst the walls of the
little room we try to keep it in?
[fiuddenly TOM turns upon her.

TOM

Well, Ann—if you know so much, what’s the answer
to the whole works?

ANN

_ If I could tell you—

 

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Tom—listen—

TOM middenly savage)
I say, what’s the answer? I want to know! Q13

averts his head, sharpljeb) God help me, I’ve got to
know!

 

ANN

—But I can’t tell you !—I don’t know how.—Oh my
dean's—what is to become of you? How can I let

HOTEL UNIVERSE 61

you go to rave the world like ghosts this way?
You’re so pitiful, and I love you so!
£1:le comes in from the garden.
FELIX to ANN
Pardon, Mademoiselle—

ANN
Oui? Qu’est-ce-que c’est?

FELIX

C’est 1e pére de Mademoiselle qui fait demander si
elle a besoin de lui.

ANN
Ou est-i1?

FELIX

A la bastide, Mademoiselle.

IA moment. ANN looks about her, at the others.

7.18.2: '
ANN

I’ll go tO him.

|She Woes out, up the garden steps.

FELIX turns to PAT.
X'J

 

FELIX

Pardon, Monsieur—i1 est neuf heures-et-demi, Mon-
sieur. ’

”PAT
Merci.
LPELIX bows and goes out, into the house, taking the

cgfi’ee-ser'oice with him. There is a lo_ng silence, then
LILY collects herself and speaks.

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62 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

LILY
What did he say to Ann?

ALICE
Her father sent to ask if she needed him. She’s gone
to him.

HOPE
Needed him !——For what, I wonder.
|Another pause. LILY ventures hopefugyg

LILY
It is not generally known that polo was invented by

 

h;

 

Chinese women.—An interesting fact, is it not? (Ma

(me replies.)—Nopej
NORMAN (regctively fl)

—I’d like to go all alone to Andora.

ALICE
Where’s that? ,

NORMAN
I don’t know.

ALICE
Then what do you want to go for?

NORMAN
NO Federal Reserve—no “giant mergers.”—Time to
think—Lord, time to think!

LILY
About what?

NORMAN
Lily, I’m sorrier for you than for anyone I know.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 63

 

LILY
I don’t want your pity, Mr. Rose. I just want your
money.

NORMAN ( gandering )

When I was working in that fur shop. on Twenty-
third street, I was a free man. (A moment. Then-he

W I think I’ll go in and pack.
[And goes qui into the hogsg. _ 1 10(1)”wa

TOM
Of course I think the trouble with Norman is, he’s
caught and he knows it. He’d like to retire now, but
he can’t. TOO much depends on him.

I PAT lauglzg shortlyL

PAT
—All looking for the answer, when there isn’t any
answer. (A moment. p—Unless maybe it’s “Off for

Africa.”

 

HOPE
—That will do, Pat. Don’t even start it.

ALICE

I still don’t see why men like you three can’t enjoy
life.

LILY
Promise me something, dear—

ALICE

What?

011 5244/)»- Zf‘a
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64 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

LILY

—When you die, leave your head to the Rockefeller
Institute. It’s a little gem.
[ALICE rises and moves toward the house.

ALICE
Oh, you’re always so bright—

LILY
I know. Isn’t it the devil?

ALICE
If you weren’t, an fond, such a common little piece—

LILY

—N’est ce pas? (.110 the others.)—She thinks in
French.

 

{At the-door ALICE turns and contemglates them.

ALICE
Honestly, it’s all so boring—
I'And goes out.

LILY

The trouble with that girl is complete lack of vita-
mins A to Z.

HOPE
DO you suppose Norman is really in love with her?

LILY

$9215 0,, 54/4 I don’t know. Anyhow, there’s a chink in that fine

Semitic pride Of his. It would never risk a refusal.

HOPE
But surely if she cared for him—

HOTEL UNIVERSE 65

 

LILY
She doesn’t—too much effort.
[ A pause. TOM rises. __ I 04

TOM
Oh Lord, if only I’d died at fifteen.

PAT
Maybe you did.
HOPE
It’s been a ghastly week all around. NO wonder we’re m A) -
depressed. we
LI‘OM looks at her.
TOM
Hope, sometimes I feel I don’t know you at all. (if?
e.)—And we’re sup—__ _ X to I?
posed to be the lucky ones! We’re the ones who’ve
got the world by the top of the head-€11 let you

 

 

 

 

know when I’m packed, Hope. 4/
LAnd goes out. / fli- -
HOPE (40972»?
I’m coming now. ’(To PAT and LILch-He came Iii-”t"- a/tE’A/bz

 

abroad this time to study the origins Of Ecclesiastical ’6‘?“ ”C 9/ /OQ t

Precedence in Rome. He got as far as Antibes. He
gets vaguer all the time. I’m so worried about him I
can’t see straight.

W I ia/sz- 0/ 5140/23-

 

PAT '
Of course I think Tom’s trouble is having too much I to A2746”; 645/5
time on his hands. ' toys? aé—hg a J
I n
HOPE , fife/sf: 0/2; 270 I?

But it’s his time to himself he always said he wanted!
That would solve everything. And now that he’s got -

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66 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

it, it’s not enough. I wish to heaven we were home
with the children and he was still rushing madly for
the 8: 22. He cursed it, but it kept him going.

PAT
You’re just travel—worn, that’s all. Why not let him

 

make his crusades for Truth by himself?

HOPE

—And get sent for the first day he’s lonely? That’s
what’s always happened—Except once, just once,
when he did go to Canada for a month. W
He accomplished two things toward his soul’s salva-
tion there—two great things.

PAT

What ?

HOPE

—He grew a red beard and leab ed to whistle
through his teeth. (She moves the stairs.)
—Talk about children! He’s the worst one I’ve got.
Oh, if you knew how I want to stay home with my
real babies!

[And goes into the house.

LILY
——Which is the answer, Of course, to Hope.

PAT

What is?

LILY

She’s so peaceful, so normal. She’s all home and
babies.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 67

 

PAT
That’s not a bad thing to be.

LILY

It’s a grand thing to be.—And so is it to be the fine,
free, roving soul that Tom might. It’s the combina-
tion that’s wrong. Of course I think the real trouble
with them both is— (LMdefly she stops, a/nd laughs.)

DO you realize what we’ve been doing? ; w [54,75 émzé ox;

Jfa.
PAT

What?

LILY

—When I go in, what will you say about me ?—The
trouble with Lily is what? What’s wrong with Lily?

PAT
Is there anything?

LILY
Plenty. But Pat—

PAT

What?

LILY
I think we’ve been good for each other, don’t you?

PAT
I suppose so.

LILY

You lie, you don’t!
[EAT looks at her mildly.

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68 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT
, Don’t be violent, Lily.
[LILY groans.

 

LILY
—Now he’s going ’to turn gent on me again. That’s
the catch with you: you were born a gent and you
can’t get over it.

PAT
I think I’ve done pretty well.

LILY
Oh you do, do you? Well, listen to mt.h

PAT
Lily, I’m sunk—And low, deep, full fathom five.’
[ She looks:gt him curiously. There is a silence. Then
she speaks in a difierent tone:

LILY
Have a drink.

PAT
NO, thanks.

LILY
Pat, when I first knew you, your spine had turned to
jelly—

PAT
Yes ?

LILY
Yes. And your slant was all wrong. You’d been ex-

HOTEL UNIVERSE 69

pecting too much of something—I don’t know what
—and hadn’t got it. You were a mass of sobs.

 

PAT
That’s a pretty picture.

LILY
It was you.—I’d knocked around enough, man and
boy, to know what people really are. I taught you
to expect nothing, didn’t I?

PAT
Yes.
[She raises her glass.

 

LILY
’ —And what a dandy little mother’s-helper this is—

|§he drinks.
PAT

Yes.
LILY

—And that there’s no de-lousing station big enough

to pass the whole world through.
PAT

That’s right.

mm
WeHafle—a-d-rink:
Wm.

PAT
——I suppose they’re good things to have learned.

LILY
I’ve changed your slant, haven’t I?

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70 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT .
Something has.

LILY

You’ve done a lot for me, too. How is it I don’t fall
in love with you, I wonder—

PAT
I don’t know. Have you tried very hard?

LILY
Awfully hard.

PAT
I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just not your type.

LILY _
Would you like to be?

PAT
I never gave it much thought.

LILY
Don’t I attract you at all, Pat?

PAT
You might, if I thought about it.

LILY

Think about it. AMI-WW
Male-eyes. ) Have you thought?

PAT

Um.

LILY
What’s the answer?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 71

 

PAT
I’m attracted.

LILY

Much?
PAT
Quite a lot.

LILY
Would you mind kissing me, Pat?

PAT
On the contrary.

LILY

 

Then do, please. (He kisses heri. She clings to him
briefly, then turns away.) Oh, it’s so awful—

w lad/7.7 over 45,»

5'0 4763‘ 5.5/-

 

PAT
Thanks! (Then:)—What is?

LILY
I don’t feel anything. I don’t feel anything at all.

PAT
No. I thought not.
[She tumuickgh

LILY
You knew about me?

PAT
I imagined.
LILY

Don’t get me wrong, Pat. I’m not one of the girls,
either.

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72 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT
I never supposed you were.

LILY
I just—don’t feel anything for anyone.

PAT
Some people have all the luck.

LILY

Oh, no—don’t say that! I want to, so much— (Ii
moment.) It seems to me—dimly—way back some-
where, I loved someone terribly. I don’t know who—-
my father, maybe.

PAT
There you go about your father again.

LILY
——All I know is, that since, there’s been nothing.

PAT

Maybe that did the trick, Lily.

LILY
How ?
PAT

Maybe that’s all you get.

LILY
You’re a wise guy, in a way.

PAT .
You think?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 73

LILY Weed} —— fasten: fOWMJ
—The Farley brow, eight months gone with Minerva. FOMédd
Where do you get all your dope? r

 

 

PAT
The ravens feed me.

LILY
0h, hell—nothing happens anymore.

PAT
Buck up, Lily. Something will before you know it.

LILY

A broken neck would be welcome.

PAT
Give things a chance. Don’t try so hard for them.

LILY
All right, teacher.—Have another drink?

PAT
Later—when the night wears on a bit.

LILY
Yes—and won’t it, though—
[ALICE appears on the balcony,

ALICE ( lowly)

Listen, you two—
LLILY puts on her humorless smile.

 

LILY

Yes, Angel? (To PAT.) Reach me my Winchester,
will you?

Peta/7).: 5/” are:
25' a feel/e:

I 157 dear/Sr - Asa/Kr.—

74' HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ALICE
Honestly, I’ve got the queerest feeling.

LILY
I told you a week ago you swallow tOO fast.

ALICE
——I don’t suppose we could decently'leave before
eleven—

PAT
No, I don’t suppose we could.

ALICE
I was afraid we couldn’t. (She moves toward the

doorway, but sways against the railigg, §b£ eg-
claims, weakly:) Oh—come up here a minute, some-

one—will you? I feel awful.

 

LILY
Right away, dear.
[ALICE goes out, into the house ggain.

PAT
You’d better go. She may be ill.
I O l l I g 3 g ‘1 i

LILY

 

Ann’s coming back. One thing, Pat—

PAT
What?

LILY (as she moves to follow ALICE)
If I were you, I’d be careful to-night.

PAT

About, what?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 75

 

LILY

About Ann. You may not know it, but you’ re still
the world to that girl.

PAT
You’re talking tripe, Lily.

 

LILY
Just the same, I’d be careful. (PAT turns abruptly

 

 

and looks out over the wall. PW

 

 

ANN comes in from the garden.) Ann—do you sup-

pose your maid could give me a hand with my'things?
ANN .

But of course! She’s in my room. Call her.

[LILY mounts the steps. FELIX takes out his watch.
LILY .

—And it isn’t tripe, my Patrick.

[From far in the distance beyond the wall a small

gncil of light is cast. It performs an arc in space,

sweeging across the tgrrace, flooding over the uppgr
wall ofihe house and disaggearing again in the gar-

den above.
FELIX

 

Pardon, Monsieur— i1 manque dix-sept minutes de
dix heure, Monsieur.
PAT (without turning)
Bon.
IFELIx goes into the house.
LILY (gt the top of the steps)
What happens when you forget to wind him up?

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76 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

|She goes into the house Water—deem ‘27}!

.Ltands silently_watching_ PAT until the door has
closed behind LILY. Then suddenly, swiftly, she goes

to him» takes him WW
about, facing her.

PAT
Oh hello, Ann.

IFrom the distance yiano—music begins to be heard.

ANN Llowly, intensely)
I won’t have it, Pat. I just will not have it!

 

PAT
ItP—What’s that you won’t have?

ANN
Something’s burning you up. Tell me what it is!

PAT
I’m afraid you’re imagining things. VVhere’s the mu-
sic from?

ANN

Réné Mayer has a house up the road. It’s always full

of musicians.—You’ve got to listen to me. I—

PAT

Have you heard Sandy Patch’s new song? (_H_e_
’ )—It’s called “Drunk and

 

Disorderly.” It goes like this—-

ANN
Don’t, Pat—we haven’t time——

HOTEL UNIVERSE 77

PAT . .
Then let’s get the others down, shall we?-—And en-
joy what there is left.

 

 

 

LHe makes a move toward the house. Her hand upon. J24,” 0,, /.;7‘
his arm stops him. /“£/

ANN
Wait!

[She looks away, to control herself, her hand still
upon his arm.

PAT

I’m all right, my dear. Really I am.

ANN
“Te’ve known each other quite a few years, now—-

PAT
We have, haven’t we? I feel pretty Spry, though,
don’t you?

ANN
We’ve always been able to talk.

PAT
They say I could talk when I was only— ”a ‘7”” ‘7 «3’5“!»
EH , ,,. l! ,. bay/st at (If:

' (Mm eta/J (fade

ANN

—Which we’ve always done directly, and honestly.

 

PAT

Yes ?

ANN
Shan’t we now?

78 HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT .
If you like. Why not?

 

ANN

When you leave to-night I shan’t see you again for
at least a year—maybe more—

PAT
Oh—before I forget—
[From his pocket, in a fold of tissue-paper, he brings
a very simple and fine ruby pendant, and gives it to
her.

ANN
What is it?

PAT
It was Mother’s. I’m sure she’d want you to have it.
I know I do.

ANN
Beautiful—

PAT

I think so.
ANN

But Pat—it’s priceless—-
PAT

So was she. So is Ann.

ANN
Oh, thank you for it! Put it on for me— (He catches

iL around her throat. She turns again, facing him,
then stands for a moment with her foreh'ead against

his breast.) Pat—my dear Pat—

HOTEL UNIVERSE 79

 

PAT
Things don’t go the way we’d like them to, Ann.
IA moment, then she leaves him.

ANN
—You’ve been dodging around corners, to get away

 

from me.

PAT.
I didn’t know it.

ANN

I won’t bite you, Pat.—What’s been happening to
you these past three years? I’m still a little inter-
ested.

PAT
It’s been pretty much the same sort of life, thanks.

ANN
What are you doing with all that money?

PAT
Oh—spending some Of it—giving away quite a lot
of it. It’s an awful pile to make a dent in.

ANN

You never found the job we used to talk so much
about—

|PAT smiles.
PAT
How well she knows me.

ANN

There are only two people in this world who are
really important to me, you and Father.

 

Ital.

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80 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT
I’m—thanks, Ann. That’s good to know.
ANN
I’ve been able to help him a little—

PAT

I should think you had.

ANN
I’d give the eyes right out of my head, if I could
help_ you. LHe lifts her hand to his lim, kisses it, and
turns away), Oh Pat, Pat—whatever has happened

 

 

 

holds loaf? fiahd/

Bey-34125 dang /P

to you?

PAT
Myself.

 

ANN
—Don’t you go telling yourself you’re no good!
You’re the best there is.

PAT
You don’t know.

ANN

Oh, yes I do!

PAT
Anyhow, let’s not get solemn about—

ANN
—And what do you suppose it means to me to know
that a person I love as I love you is breaking up into
little pieces over something I’ve no share in?

PAT
But Ann—you don’t love me anymore.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 81

 

ANN
I do, though. I’ve never got over it—never. I love
you with all my heart. (A silence. She smiles un-
certainty. 2—1 don’t suppose by any chance you love
me back— ~

PAT (with difficulty)
There’s something in the way. Nothing can ever
come Of you and me now. There’s something in thy—
[H e turns away, with an exclamation.

 

ANN

Tell me.

PAT
I can’t.

ANN

—You’ll be shocked to hear I’m living with you in
my mind. I’ve taught myself to dream about you
nearly every night. That gives me—rights.

PAT

 

Ah, Ann—let it go—please let it go.

ANN
I can’t. I simply can’t.—You’ve always been a life-
and-death person. You take things terribly hard. I’m
sure it’s not as hopeless as it seems. LBut he does not

 

answer. )—Do you remember the first time we met,
on the Westbury Road P—me lost, with a sprained
ankle, and you—

'PAT
———When I forget anything about you and me—

[to data“ '/

6’1." 7/
175””- a/ a way

Kip/at

tar/15 tic/)6,

82 HOTEL UNIVERSE

ANN
I wish we could get back there. I wish we could start
from the Westbury Road again.

 

PAT
—But we can’t.

ANN
—Such a dear, serious boy you were. All the time
you were in college you used to come to me with your
little troubles—

| He layghs.

PAT
—Would I row on the Crew?—I didn’t make the

 

[0 to [€601 0/ _‘
Jofa. 0/70] 97%: i

0/) arm 1

Dramatic Club.—VVhat if they passed me up on
Tap Day.—Poor Ann—

ANN
I was important to you then—

PAT
You still are.

ANN
Come to me now with your big trouble, Pat.
PAT
I’m just a flop, darling.
ANN
It’s a little soon to decide that, don’t you think?
PAT .
I told you my schedule was different.

ANN
Pat, whatever happened, happened four years ago.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 83

You came back from a year in England, and you

were changed. It was a girl, wasn’t it? I saw her—W pat [I‘M/145.5008
picture in your study. What was it—wouldn’t she Ac ands—x21,-
have you?

| PAT smiles.

PAT

I forget. What did she look like?

 

ANN

Very young, quite English, very fair. A lovely face-—
pretty, oh, so pretty.

PAT
‘ Funny—I’ve forgotten.

ANN

I haven’t.—Then you went over again the next win—
ter—for how long was it?

PAT
I don’t know—three weeks—

ANN

That’s when I had my hunch about you. It wasn’t
long after you’d sailed. I was walking up Madison
Avenue and in a florist’s window I saw a lot of haw-
thorn blossoms—

| PAT starts slightly.

PAT
Hawthorn—

ANN

Yes. They were lovely, and I was going in to get
some when all at once I began to feel terribly queer.

£155 "to ”7 i0

84 HOTEL UNIVERSE

It was as if the bottom had drOpped out of every-
thing. I knew it had something to do with you, and
I love you and I just went on home without them.

 

PAT
I don’t get it at all.
ANN

Nor do I.—But'the next morning I passed the same
shop and saw that the hawthorn was gone. Somehow,
that was terrible. I couldn’t get warm again all day.
I love you and I had to cable you.

PAT
I don’t get it.
ANN
I’ve never known such a change in a person, as in

 

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Irv/vat

,P/ise - 5am emf;

you when you came back; Suddenly you were as hard
as nails, and so bitter. I hated leaving you that way
when I came here with Father. But I was sure you’d
get through it somehow, back to yourself. Now I see
that you haven’t. I see that it’s worse than it ever

_ was, it’s destroying you. Oh, Patf—it 'can’t be just
some fool of a girl who wouldn’tTiave you.—What
has done it?

PAT

 

Honestly, Ann—it’s all so long ago.

ANN

But I’ve got to know. Tell me!
EAT shakes his head.

PAT
It’s all too ridiculous. Really. I never even think of
it anymore.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 85

 

ANN

Whether you do or not, it’s got you still. Something
awful’s got you. Tell me—it will help to tell me. Ah,
please—because I love you—

PAT
I would if I could. I want to. I simply can’t.

ANN

I’ll find out !

PAT
All right, Ann.

ANN
—But can’t you accept it, somehow? Can’t you take
life whole—all Of it—for what it is, and be glad Of
it? Why do you have to go at it with a tin box of
paints, daubing it up pretty? You’re grown-up, now.;
—Why, my dear! What have I said? What is there
in that, to hurt you so?

Pat {fez/'2‘;
0’71 far/75d“?

PAT
Listen: you can have your marvellous life. I’m not
taking any.

 

 

Tar/7.: 0/7 Aer

ANN _
What are you talking about?!

PAT
—The lot of you—clutching, grabbing at some little
satisfaction that lasts a day or two—a swell busi-
ness.

ANN '

You dare talk to me about my life like that! fi_’7a‘£53 “3 5 5619

back

 

86 HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT
Yours—theirs—anyone’s—

ANN

Oh, you’re horrible——
EAT looks at her intentljh

I to 32%,”

 

 

PAT
So you’re the last to go. You fail me too—

ANN (a cry)

r/
CO/ ‘77” /5’/5/ —You?—And who are you, that you shouldn’t be

failed sometime?

 

PAT
I don’t know, Ann. I’ve often wondered. (Again he
moves to the wall and stands looking out over it, the

 

 

 

4/7!) Jiis on émcfi :Lht from the lighthouse breaking over his head.
a, WWW. Er mm the (12‘
(P00 3' /ws/ tance, the piano-music begins to be heard more

 

clearly. For a long time they are silent. Then PAT
gyeaks. His voice is one of wonder, almost of fright.)
—They’re right about this flee—it is so, you-
know—it’s really so—-

 

Jiiarm ”f slimy/rt ”$th t . ,
ahead 3 15'
PAT

—Like other places—like another place—

ANN
Where?

PAT
—A house my mother had in Florida, four years
ago, when I came back from England-—

HOTEL UNIVERSE 87

 

ANN
That was the second time—

PAT

Yes. It was in March. I came straight down here
from New York—I mean straight down there.
Mother was in the patio all alone, having coffee—
Q‘till he looks out over the wall, without turning.)
—I had so much to tell her—I’ll never forget it—I
thought if only I could talk to someone who—

[fim speaks, softly:
ANN
Hello, Son. It’s good to have you back.

PAT

——-Could talk to someone who might, just might,
have some little faint idea of what 1—

ANN
Hello, Son. It’s good to have you back. \

lg moment. Then:
PAT (a murmur)
Hello, Mother. It’s good to be back.
[& comes forward- to her, slowly. J’fow/f 75am,
ANN ’5 (so 2572 he,
I didn’t expect you quite so soon.

PAT
I know.

[is sinks down W on the floor beside
her, The eyes of both are straight ahead, not looking

at each other.

Aafla/ an J’doee/cér

88 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
You’re looking tired.

PAT "

It was a rotten trip. (He goes on in a low voige,
almost mechanically.)—I think I’ll stay awhile this

time.

 

ANN
I’m glad.
PAT

It seems like a pleasant place.

ANN
It’s peaceful.

PAT

That’s good.

ANN

 

Ah, Pat—what is it, dear? I’ve worried so about you.

PAT
Yes. I suppose.

ANN
I’ve wanted to ask, but—

PAT
I know. I just couldn’t talk.

ANN
Are you so very much in love?

PAT

Yes.

HOTEL UNIVERSE

89

 

ANN
Tell me about her. Who is she?

PAT
Oh, it’s all over now.

ANN
Over?

PAT
Yes.

ANN
But are you sure?

PAT

I’m certain.
[A moment. Then:

ANN
Who was she, then?

PAT

—Mary Carr—the niece of one of my dons at Cam-
bridge. (A_moment. His voice hardens.)—-Cambridge
——another of Father’s fake ideas. Finish me off, eh?
Turn me into the little gentleman. Every inch a

Farley— God!
ANN

Hush, Pat—
PAT

—-Be good at everything. Shine! 'Always shine! And
if you can’t, don’t play.-—I can still hear his voice.

9O HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
—Mary Carr, I’ve seen her photograph. She’s very
lovely.

PAT

Yes.

ANN
——And young.

PAT
She was eighteen in November. L4 pause. Then sud-
denly. ) God, that is young. Father was right therein—t
least.

 

ANN
What happened when he went over to you last
year—

PAT

I cabled I wanted to get married. He cabled me to
wait, he was coming. I waited. He came. He talked
me out Of it. (Bitterly. )—She wasn’t suitable.

ANN
But that wasn’t your reason—
PAT ,
I tell you I let him talk me out of it!

ANN -'
You agreed to put it ofl',_that’s all.

PAT
Yes—that’s .what I told myself—and that’s what I
told Mary.——_—That’s what the little swine I was,

HOTEL UNIVERSE 91

grunted at Mary—just put it off‘ awhile, that’s all.
But somehow the point missed Mary—somehow she
didn’t get me.—She just stopped talking in the
middle of a word, and went into the house. And I
took a train, and sailed with him. He was ill then—
Or said he was——we couldn’t wait a day.

ANN (hesitantlu. after a pause)

You—I suppose you and she-—you’d been a good
deal to each other. .

 

PAT
VVe’d been everything.
ANN
I see.

PAT

—But there wasn’t to be a baby, if that’s what you
mean— (Again the bitter voice returnsQ Wise boy,
young Farley. He knows his way around!

' ANN
But you wrote her. Surely you wrote her.

PAT

All the time, but I never had one little word from
her. A dozen times I’d have gone over, but how
could I with Father dying and then all that tangle
settling the estate? (He concludes, lowly. )——It was
a year and three months since I’d seen her, when
I’d sailed. I didn’t even wire——I was afraid she’d
run away somewhere.

ANN
But she hadn’t, had she?

92 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT

NO.

ANN
She was there—

PAT
She was there.

limoment. Then:

ANN
——And she just won’t have you.

[WM-comm He turns to her.

PAT

Mother, she just won’t have me. LSuddenlu he stares
at her.) You’re not—oh, damn you, Ann—

XL 0,, 34/514] IHe rises, and leaves her. She follows him.

ANN
All right! But tell me. You’ve got to finish now!
(1n another voice.)—Surely it isn’t hopeless. Surely
you can—

 

PAT
But it is, you see.

ANN
I don’t believe it. Where is she now?
PAT
Down in the ground.
ANN
Pat—she isn’t—?
PAT
She is, though—as a doornail.

fire: on 400

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 93

 

ANN
Oh, my poor boy—

PAT
My poor Mary.

ANN
But listen to me—listen—!

PAT

NO. You do. @e points his finger at her, and
speaks.) Three days before I came, she walked out
under a tree where—she’d walked out under a haw-
thorn-tree at the end of a very sweet lane we knew,
and stood there and shot herself.

 

ANN

Pat—Pat—

[H e moves away from her. .1?wa slow/f

PAT .0 :50 f/aor /g.¢-/

You wanted to know, didn’t you?
[She looks at him. Then:

ANN

—SO I lose you to a dead girl.

PAT

 

I’ve lost myself to her. #- I ’9 ,0/450

ANN
You loved me first!

PAT

But she died— WW
5‘, I l 0 fl 0! g! !i a i—If

94- HOTEL UNIVERSE

- only I could get back to her somehow. If I could just
H540, ”7 flan/J let her know I did come back.

ANN

How much of it is losing her—and how much the loss
Of yourself? ‘

 

 

PAT
I don’t understand that.
0'] ANN
I D 7‘0 2 " AV” —You used to have a fair Opinion of Pat Farley.
dad/i7] Z 321/ 0/ That was essential to you—that was you.
Jofa. PAT
All I know is that nothing’s been any good to me
since. I’m licked, Ann.

ANN

 

Well, what are you going to do about it?

| Unnoti.c_e_d_ by_them STEPHEN FIELD has appeared at
thg top of tlg garden-steps. where hefistd-nds, Elig-
ure in white, watching them. He is about fifty-eifltt,
slight in build, gray-haired, with a face uncommgn:ly
strong, fine and sensitive, lined and worn as it is,
my, too, as it is.

 

 

PAT
What is there to?
ANN didenly, sharply)
Pat! .
PAT Lwithout turnirg)
What?

ANN

You said you’d tell me this the day before you died—

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 95

[Q she reaches the word, he strikes a chord and
was it. .

 

PAT

—But I changed my mind, didn’t I?—And told you
now! (He turns toward the house, and callgg) What’ll
I play? Call your tunes, gents—almost closing-time!

ANN

—And the letter to Tom—. Qh my dear—what is it?

PAT

Don’t be a fool.

[A momentJ then STEPHEN speaks:
STEPHEN

Pat—

PAT (without turning;
What do you want?
[Lie is completely unnerved now1
STEPHEN
I wouldn’t do it, if I were yOu.
PAT
DO what?
STEPHEN
I really wouldn’t. Things may change.
we speaks with a clear, incisive strength. '
PAT .
—Change? How? Who wants things changed? (H:

turns, stares at him a moment, then rises.) Oh, how
do you do, Mr. Field. How are youP—Everything’s

 

X0! to 12.:

fidfl 09 on 5/3
Jive /C‘/£/'5

_ 000%.)“ ”ifi

 

fine with me. Everything is—

(:64 0"

Pris _

96 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

STEPHEN
—And yet I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t go from here
to those high places—to that strange.accident. I
really wouldn’t.
PAT laughs shortly.

PAT

Honestly !—If you think just because a fellow’s
planned a trip to climb an Alp or 'two—
LANN takes his shoulders in her hands, turns him

about and gases into his eyes.
ANN

Pat !

PAT

I don’t know what he’s talking about. (To STEPHEN. )

 

'72me o

I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re be-
yond me. I can’t follow all this—

‘3

ANN
Oh, my poor Sweet, why do you want to do it? (Sly
Ighakes his shoulders.) Why?

PAT

 

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flee 502”

/a,;/ é, la¢//

- Why not ?——Maybe you can tell me that !—Why not?
——I should have three years ago, but I was too yel~
low then. @3511 she stares. Another silence, then he
pulls away from her, mumbling:)—All right. Don’t
worry about me? It’s all right. Small brain-storm,
that’s all.—Over now—

ANN
Promise it !

|H e gestures vaguely.

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 97

 

STEPHEN
It is not so easy. He is in love with death.

E , I‘, , , I. :' .l,,.

”W5!

 

[And goes to the point of the wall, where he stand; ‘
y’th hi; gggk tg them.
ANN __./4”” [($19 (’0

 

Father—Pat’s mine—I'can’t lose Pat!
[FELIX comes out upon the balcony, watch in hand.
STEPHEN descends the steps and comes upon the ter-

m

STEPHEN

I know, dear. (He is wgtghiyg the hang, )—But let

us take it quietly. Let us take it very quietly—

FELIx to PAT
Pardon, Monsieur— il est dix heure, juste.

[PAT does not reply. FELIX ggeg out.

STEPHEN

—Here are your other friends.
[TOM and HOPE enter.

TOM (to HOPE, mks-balcony.)
—NO, no—what’s the good of talking?

(0609' 0470/

HOPE
Well maybe if you’d——
Qhe sees STEPHEN, and stops.

98 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANN
This—these are Tom and Hope Ames.-—My Father,
Hope.
HOPE
X ta offs/peg»). #— How do you do, Mr. Field?
TOM
I tfi’ésfiéflj” —— ‘ How do you do, Sir?
J '41" ”I mEPHEN murmurs ggreetigg. LILY enters from the
,7”, house.
.5 a. /00”f LILY
——I gave Alice a bromide, and she’s sleeping like a
log. She’s—
LS'he sees STEPHEN, and stops.
STEPHEN
What a beautiful color you all are. You look like
[1‘0 PC - savages. People don’t realize that the sun here in the
Midi is—
TOM
Didn’t I meet you once with Father Francis at St.
Luke’s?
STEPHEN

I’m afraid not.

TOM

Perhaps it’s just that your voice reminds me of him.
IQLY, eyes wide, stands staring at STEPHEN.

STEPHEN ( to HOPE )

What do you think of our little retreat here?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 99

 

HOPE

It’s lovely. The days have gone so quickly.

STEPHEN

—Quickly—so quickly. (To LILY. )—Why do you

stare at me so?

 

LILY
Why I—I’m terribly sorry. I— w éfirt
STEPHEN a”, #5 “’19”:

But what is it?

LILY
It’s just that you’re so like my own father—-

STEPHEN

Yes ?

LILY

He was an actor in a touring-company. He died years
ago in Cleveland. He wanted me to be a dancer. I
used to dance for him, often. It was a great pleasure
to him. I mean to say—

STEPHEN ( gently )

I am sure it was.

[NORMAN comes in from the house.

Ida/Er- 0/00 ’-
LILY (in a burst)

—He was superb! He was so kind, so loving. He was

the most beautiful man I’ve ever—! LShe stops sud- __ 9 e

denly, then continues :)—But he deserted my mother, .2752 . 6 64w”
you know. He waS_simply foul to her.—Hell, I sup- ”2;
pose he was just a ham actor—yes, and a drunkard,

 

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{ad/5.

100 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

 

to boot. (Again she stops.)—What am I spilling all
this for? What’s bitinime now ?‘j
[STEPHEN turns inquiringly to ANN.

ANN

=——Lily Malone, Father.

STEPHEN

Poor child. (To NORMAN. )——And this?
NORMAN (advancing)

I’m Norman Rose, sir.

LThey shake hands.

STEPHEN
I understand that you must leave us soon.

 

NORMAN
I’m afraid we must, sin—At eleven, to be exact.

STEPHEN
That is unfortunate. gggin he smiley Well—let
us set the hour-glass on its Side, and ask the Old
Gentleman to put his sickle by, and sit down with us
and rest a moment. (He seats himself.) Before you
go I want you all to see my bed of white phlox in
the lower garden. In the moonlight it is white as
white was never. I have banked the petunias near it—

HOPE (delightedly)

But I did that at home!
[STEPHEN is watching the balcony. ALICE has ag
geared upon it.

 

STEPHEN

The Odor at night is so Sweet, SO pungent—cinnamon
and gunpowder.—And is this Alice?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 101

. [ ALICE comes down the stairway without touchipg
the railing, eyes far away, walking as in a dream. ANN
rises.

 

 

ANN
Yes-r—

LILY

GO back to bed, you foolish girl.

[ALICE approaches them, unseeing.

 

ANN

-—This is my father.—Alice Kendall, Father.

STEPHEN
How do you do, my dear?
[Bit she does not regard him. ~-—-- I (I #3:."
NORMAN /&0£/
She’s—!
ANN
Father, what is it?

STEPHEN

Sh! Be gentle with her— v— I {a f
HOPE

Oh, I don’t like it!
LILY

I told you about that time she walked out into the
hall, in Paris.
[ANN gpes to ALICE.

 

ANN

—-There, dear, it’s all right. Just be quiet—quiet—
[ET is watching her, fascinated;

 

102 HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT
Take her back. It’s horrible—
[S .,,, ’ ,. ,, ll , !l , Flt
wall.

 

HOPE
Norman—don’t let her hurt herself!
QORMAN Wm followed her.

ANN

Alice—Alice—
[ALICE turns to her. In a moment her eyes uncloud.

 

ALICE

—But hello, my dear. They didn’t tell me you were
coming down. Divine house, isn’t it?

[She speaks as if she were readigg aloud.

ANN
Listen to me a moment, dear—

ALICE

They’re right. There’s nothing like May in Eng-
land. Who’s on the party, do you know?

ANN

Oh—lots of people. But Alice, listen—

ALICE
Any extra men?

ANN

I think so.
[PAT goes to the wall and stands there with his back
to them.

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 103

 

ALICE
I like this Norman person-—

ANN
Yes, he’s very nice. But—
LLUCE lagging shriLlL

ALICE

I know !.——But not too nice! (Lier voice lowers, con-
fidentially.) My dear, he burns me up. He looks so
strong-—so strong. I’ll bet he’d give a girl a roll for
her money, don’t you? (A moment. Then to hers_e_lf,

with real fgeliyg; )-—Why can’t he tell ?—Why
doesn’t he know the way I ache for him?

 

 

PAT
Take her back, take her back—

ALICE

612,0: r

——Which one shall I wear ?—I think the blue one, SPA/a, figijfd’
with the ruflle down the front— dries/”:7 30w”-
dress. //‘7 ”5”,? 5/7,:

HOPE

But she mustn’t—!

[ANN turns to NORMAN with a helplesg gggtyre.
NORMAN

I’ll speak to hen—Alice!

[ALICE whispers:
ALICE

Who’s that ?—Is that you, Norman?

NORMAN
Hello, Alice—

 

104 HOTEL UNIVERSE

ALICE
It was naughty of you to bring me here, you know
it was— (She leans toward him.) What did you tell
the clerk at the desk?

 

 

NORMAN
Why, I just said that—

ALICE

Oh, I’m a pretty girl! (She extends her arms. N011:
MAN takes one of her hwnds in his.) Why does no one
want me? What are they afraid of?

NORMAN
Maybe they do. (He turns to the others, painfully.)

I love this girl. I’ve been crazy about her for years.

STEPHEN
Humble yourself before her beauty, sir.

ALICE
Come—there are people in the next room. I can hear
them. They may come in«—— LSuddenly she drags her
hand from his and cries in terror:)—Ann—-Ann!
(ANN goes to her swiftlg.)—This man’s—been fol- I

lowing me everywhere—

 

ANN

It’s all right, darling, he won’t hurt you. He’s a nice
man.
[ALICE begins to whimper.

ALICE

Is he? (She turns to NORMANM.) Are you?
(He nods, speechless. She darts a glance at ANN and

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 105

huddles herself: in her arms.)—But look at me—out
on the street like this. Where’s my little jacket? I
want my little jacket—

LORMAN wraps Wetsuit-blanket about her and

Wrasse- her drtSS/r‘j i049”

NORMAN

 

Here you are, dear.

I He leads her gentltho the steps. She looks up at him
with a smile (j childlike trust. ‘

ALICE
You are a nice man—

.[l'heg mount the steps. There is a silence until they

 

 

 

Wham-
LILY .
She seemed to be so many places all at once. ‘ 5/ 5'5
STEPHEN
Sleep has freed her from time and space. One day _ [j [”2 ill / (415/
sleep’s sister will free her further. (Hm- behind J‘o/Ca

.)—And
near the white phlox I have a dappled pink variety

which I developed by crossing a strain of crimson—

TOM ( an appeal)

Mr. Field— What’s the——? Mr. F ield—!____....._-i--m. ~~ ,_._... Pm},

, STEPHEN

—Yes. It does be'wilder one at first. I know. I too
used to believe life had one aspect only. I was so sure
that sleep and dreaming was—well, sleep and dream-
ing. And of course I knew that with death it was all
over—

U 60 114/2215]

__.

106 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

PAT

Well ?

sTEPHEN
Well, now I know I was mistaken.

PAT
How?

STEPHEN

I have found out a simple thing: that in existence
there are three estates. There is this life Of chairs
and tables, of getting up and sitting down. There is
the life one lives in one’s imagining, in which one
wishes, dreams, remembers. There is the life past
death, which in itself contains the others. The three
estates are one. We dwell now in this one, now in that
—but in whichever we may be, breezes from the others
still blow upon us.

PAT
I’m sorry, I don’t follow you.

STEPHEN
There are no words for it. It is a sense, a knowing.
It may come upon you in a field one day, or as you
turn a corner, or one fine morning, as you stoop to
lace your shoe (A brief pause.)—Or even as it came
on me.

TOM
How was that, sir?

STEPHEN

Here on this terrace.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 107

 

ANN
Father—

STEPHEN
I know, dear.

PAT
—So life does go on, does it?

STEPHEN
Oh, yes. Of course.

PAT
How, for instance?
leEPHEN smiles.

STEPHEN
—As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be—

PAT
—World without end, eh?

STEPHEN
Without end.

PAT ‘ .
Hah! That’d be a good joke.
LILY

Look out, Pat. ‘
[NORMAN comes out gain upon the balcony and
stands there, watchigg them.

 

 

STEPHEN
—-Let us be bold and change the “world” to “uni— u; (7—— X 2.5 ‘25,,“
verse.”—A fine night, isn’t it? (His gesture includes " 0/) 55‘7””?

the skid—There is the space we one day shall it: .gfla/ y/z,

108 HOTEL UNIVERSE

habit, with all our memories and all our dreams. I
ask you to admire this, gentlemen—

 

LILY
It’s not always so fine, is it?

STEPHEN
But I ask you to admire that, too! M) If one
could but once see his life whole, present and past to-
gether in one living instant, he would not wish to
leave it before his time—oh no!

PAT
I know my time.

STEPHEN
I thought I knew mine once. My mind was quite made
up, that night. Nothing was to deter me.—But the
light from the Ile de Port-Cros described its are as
it does now. (He stands erect.) It stopped me, held
me.—How long I stood here, I don’t know. But when
I was aware a'gain—

ANN
Father—

TOM

——VVhat had happened 0 'ou? (HOPEJoes to him

’ and trieL@__drgw_higrz“Mk9m-W murmur-
ina “Tom—Tom!” but he does not answe; am 122E
not come. ) Say what had happened!

[The terrace, in a brief space, has become flooded
with moonlight. There is a silence. Then STEPHEN

begins to speak again this time more softly, gentl ,
coaxinglg.

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE - 109

 

STEPHEN

I had walked back in time. It is a very interesting ex-
cursion. You merely lift your foot, place it so, and
there you are—or are you? One thinks one is going
forward and one finds instead the remembered touch
of water somewhere—the odor of geranium—sight
of a blowing curtain—the faint sound of snow—the
taste of apples. One finds the pattern of his life,
traced with the dreadful clarity of dream. Then he
knows that all that comes in remains—nothing is lost
—all is important.

ANN (a small voicg)
Father—

STEPHEN

Are you afraid?!
IA moment. Then:

ANN
N o.

HOPE (in a whisper)

But I am, I am! Tom—Tom, listen-—
LTOM does not stir. HOPE leaves him.

STEPHEN
Here is the moon at last, you see ?—Here is our day’s

reflection, hung in space. (Ho-hum
and-999W Space is an endless sea,

and time the waves that swell within it, advanc-
ing and retreating. Now and again the waves are
still and one may venture any way one wishes. (A

W) They seem to be still now—quite still.

“‘ filo/05 XL

110 HOTEL UNIVERSE

So which way would you go—where would you
travel?

l/p; [(3 w [A silence. Wade-WW.

TOM

 

To what I was—

[Another silence. LILY moves toward STEPHEN.
LILY

To him I love—
NORMAN (after a moment) _

Wherever I should g7:—
Lflfgiurns and goes into the house again.

 

 

Z J 7,, HOPE
w!" a 0 “ Nowhere. I’m happy as I am—-or would be, if Tom
JéafiaAz/a’ A”), were—

LA silence. Theg:
PAT (ahmurmuri
To Mary—Mary—

ANN a CT .'

No, no !—TO the Westbury Road!
M)

m
STEPHEN LIL

Listen: there is a turning. All things are turned to
a roundness. Wherever there is an end, from it
springs the beginning.

HIT-(63W
W

, ...- ._- —

HOTEL UNIVERSE 111

 

LLILY moves to the garden st_eps and out, following
Lhe movement of STEPHEN’S hand. TOM turns and
flees at HOPE with a curious expression.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOPE
What’s the matter with you?
STEPHEN It
__ - 0
Pat—Ann—it was not so lOng ago. Was it so long ’4 Q'é 447/
ago? 00 ~ [/6
BEN shakes her head hopelessly, and moves toward
the garden, mounts the steps and goes out. Slowly PAT
crosses the terrace in the opposite direction, ME
enters the house.
HOPE (to TOM)
What are you staring at?
ITOM smiles, but does not reply. STEPHEN turns to
EM and HOPE. W
STEPHEN
And for us—Shall we see my white phlox, first?
HOPE
Oh, Mr. Field—you mustn’t let them go on like this!_*fi + — I to d on
It’s so frightening. (She turns and sees TOM still star- /.>:7‘/M£/

 

in at her. Tom’s lOOking at me In the queerest way.
——It’s as if he didn’t know me.

STEPHEN
Possibly you have changed.

HOPE
I.-—?

STEPHEN
—-In his eyes. Perhaps you have one child too many.

1 12 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE
I don’t know what you mean.

STEPHEN

It may be that he sees you not as a mother, but as a
woman that he loves. I should not discourage that.
[30M goes to HOPE and gently turns her about, fac-
- i_r_tg;him. He looks at her with a curious smile.
oft/(Wm I
1 fl HOPE
I? ' Tom, what’s the. matter with you, anyhow? (flgL
answer is to take her in his _grms and kiss her, Sh;
figs herselfQ Honestly, I don’t know what you’re
thinking of ! What on earth has— (He takes her jace
infi his hands gnd kisses her again. She averts her
head.) I can’t imagine what’s come over you. I want
to talk to Mr. Field. (To STEPHEN.) It seems to me
that you’re all— (TOM comes to her again, takes
both her hands in HES—and smiles into heLem I’m

56E fooling. I really mean it.

PAT (from the house)
Mary? Mary!

HOPE (10 STEPHEN)

Who’s he callingP—I tell you it isn’t good for peo-
ple to let themselves go that way— QOM draws her
into his arms, and holds her there; ‘It’s a form of
self-indulgence.—Stop, Tom! It’s a—- (Again TOM
kisses her. Tom, will you let me go!

@ opens his arms sudderiy and she is freed, almost
filing. She recovers herself and turns once more,
with dignity, to STEPHEN.

HOTEL UNIVERSE 113
PAT (from the house)

Mary! Where are you?

 

HOPE

The things that are happening here to-night aren’t
natural, and what’s not natural must be wrong.‘

STEPHEN
To me they are more natural than nature.

HOPE
Of course I don’t pretend to follow your extraor-
dinary— (Erom behindLher, TOM is takizg the [mix
m’ns from her hair. She stamps her foot in egaspem-
tion.) Honestly! This is too much! (To STEPHEE)
I hope you realize that goings on of this sort are not
at all usual with us.

 

STEPHEN
I think that is a pity.
'Eenderlg, lovingly, TOM kisses the back of her neck.

HOPE
Tom—don’t be an utter fool! (Io STEPHEN.)——To
me, life is a very simple thing—

STEPHEN
IS it?

HOPE
One has one’s home, one’s children and one’s hus-
band—

STEPHEN

Or has one home and Children only?
[H_OPE looks at him, startled. TOM returns to the wall.

- 04c

Ply/2%..

1 1 4- HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE

You mean you think that to me, Tom’s just an-
other—?

STEPHEN

What do you think?

[HOPE turns to TOM.

HOPE

Tom, darling—surely you must know that I—
EILY’S voice is heard from the garden, callang' as a

h’ttle m’rl would.

LILY

Good-bye, Pa! Good-byeL—Come right home after,
won’t you, Pa?

 

HOPE (to STEPHEN)
You see? That’s Lily. Oh I know she’ll hurt her-
self! (Z:o TOM.) Now you stay right here, won’t you?
Please, Tom—like a good boy. W
W Lily! Wait, dear!
[Amomenh then TOM speaks from the depths of his
wretchedness :

TOM

Oh, Father Francis—can’t a fellow do anything
without it’s being sinful?

 

 

Woeflo a chair and seats himself.

 

STEPHEN
What have you to tell me?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 115

 

afz‘aI-zf fl

TOM
—SO much. I know it’s after hours. I know you’re ___________ fir); and
tired, but—

STEPHEN
Come—

|TOM comes, head downLhands clasped. He kneels be-
side STEPHEN’S chair and makes the Sign of the Crag;

TOM

—Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It is about
three months ago since my last confession. Since then,
I accuse myself of the following sins: Father, I’ve
cursed and sworn and taken the name of the Lord
in vain. I’ve, neglected my morning prayers and
missed Mass once, and been distracted during Mass
seven times—

STEPHEN
Yes—but what is really wrong?

TOM
I’ve been drunk, and had immodest thoughts, and
eaten meat on an Ember-Day, and committed acts of
impurity four times—

STEPHEN
But what is really wrong?

] TOM chokes.

TOM 1

Oh, Father Francis—I don’t believe any more! N oth~
ing’s got any meaning for me. I look around me, and

nothing means anything at all—and I want it to! It W ‘ dead ”'2 Auk/s

must—it’s got to—or I’ll, or I’ll—

[wok up 425
#414,,»

w

 

116 HOTEL UNIVERSE

STEPHEN
Your childhood faith is gone-—

TOM
It wasn’t true.

STEPHEN
Are you so sure?

TOM
Yes, and it meant so much to me. I even thought I
ought to be a priest, but I lost my faith.

STEPHEN
Perhaps in order that you need not be one.

TOM
I know I’ve got no soul—nobody has.

STEPHEN

Look closer.

TOM .
I have. It isn’t there. There isn’t any. There never
was.

STEPHEN
At some time there is a soul born to every body— -
and like it, subject to many ills. But the soul’s life is
the only life there is, so the world is peopledl’vith the
living and with the dead, We know the living. Some-
times the dead deceive us.

TOM
You mean that maybe mine is—?

HOTEL UNIVERSE 117

 

STEPHEN
No. The dead do not deceive me.—I mean that birth
is painful. The infant suffers too.

TOM _
It’s awful—I can’t stand it. Let me be damned!

STEPHEN
N o.

TOM
But now I’m nothing—let me be something!

STEPHEN
Now you begin to be.

TOM
I keep wanting to do great things—too great for
what I am—

STEPHEN
There are many men who would go to the ends of the
earth for God—

TOM
I would! I keep starting to-——

STEPHEN
—And cannot get through their own gardens.
TOM
Oh, d n’t! I’m such a weak soul—
. .

STEPHEN
-—Such a human being.

TOM ,
Something always stops me, always—-

1 1 8 HOTEL UNIVERSE

STEPHEN

 

Your own humanity.—But there are strong souls who
never leave their gardens. Their strength is not in
the doing, but in the wish to do. There is no strength
anywhere, but in the wish. Once realized, it has spent
itself, and must be born again.

TOM
But I don’t know what I’m here at all for—

STEPHEN
To suffer and to rejoice. To gain, to lose. To love,
and to be rejected. To be young and middle-aged and
old. To know life as it happens, and then to say, “this
is it.”

TOM
Yes—but who am I? And what shall I be when it’s

over?

STEPHEN

You are the sum of all your possibilities, all your de-
sires—each faint impression, each small experience—

TOM
—But when it’s over?!

STEPHEN

You will be what your spirit wants and takes. of
them. Life is a wish. Wishing is never over.
[Abrief silence. TOM rises to his feet.

TOM
—Then everything about me has a meaning !—-Every-

. HOTEL UNIVERSE ' 119

. thing I see and feel and think and do—dream, even!
[STEPHEN closes his hand over TOM’S.

 

STEPHEN

Great heaven, yes !

TOM
I’ve got a feeling that I’m dreaming now.

STEPHEN
It may be.

PAT Mm the house)
Mary!
TOM
—But Father Francis—are you ill?

STEPHEN
Why ?

TOM
You look awfully white—and your hand—it was as
cold as ice. I’m afraid I’ve been a strain for you.
Good Lord, Father—you do look white. Here—take
this— (He gges to the table and pours a glass pf
brandy. STEPHLgoes to the fan-back chair in the
shadow in the corner of the terrace. TOM turns with
the glass.) This will fix y.ou 'I’lIiS—fliy, fliere are
you, Father? (He looks about him:) Confound it,
where’s he gone to? He looked sick— (He calls.)
Father Francis!
[STEPHEN does no‘ghqnswer. TOM moves toward the

house with the brand. As he reaches the steps, Nog- L

MAN darts out with a small, white fur-m in his I

A
V“

X L #0 ”gear fa 6/5
3 “‘J/é/ue/

Ir deck 0/?

IPC area.

120 ‘ HOTEL UNIVERSE

NORMAN
One minute, Mister!

TOM
What do you want? Have you seen Father Francis?

NORMAN (in a moderate Jewish accent)
How’d you like to buy a nice fur neck-piece?

TOM
Don’t be a fool.

NORMAN

—Make a present to your lady-friend, eh? You can
have it cheap—-

TOM
N 0, thanks. Let me by—I’m in a hurry.

NORMAN
All right—I resign—I quit !-—I’ll get a job as run-
ner in a bank. In five years I’ll be rich—I’ll be the
biggest man in Wall Street! (Again he ofers the
ru .) Look—five dollars—it’s worth fifty—
TOM tries to pass him.

TOM
Oh, for God’s sake, Norman—Father F rancis is ill—-

NORMAN

I’ll have money, power—that’s what makes you
happy—that’s the life! A ain w Look: It’s
a bargain. Buy it. An insi e 1p: the National City’s
taken half the issue at 91, and Pritchard, Ames is
bidding for another hundred thousand at—

,_.‘--..__...V4 II

HOTEL UNIVERSE I21

 

TOM suddenl
I know—the bastide!

NORMAN

Don’t you call me that, you leper!
[10M pulls away from him.

TOM

Get away, I’m not fooling. Lame-by!
[He crosses the terrace quickly, and goes up the gar-

den stgps apd o t.
NORMAN

But what a bargain! (He shrugs.) I should care.
(Then he turns and speaks to the empty chair :9:

{pant of him,) Look here, Mr. Sterner—I resign—
I’m through!

STEPHEN (fiom the corner of the terrace, hidden in his
chair.)
When I’ve given you such a fine opportunity, when
I have even—?

NORMAN

Oh, I’ll pay you back !—But I’m quitting, see? I’ve
got better things to do than this. I’ll educate my-
self. I’ll—

STEPHEN

So ambitious, eh? Ah, you’re all alike, you young
people—And next you marry a Gentile girl I sup-
pose, and have her despise you—ruin you.

NORMAN

Oh no !—Say, am I such a fool as that? Marry a
schiksa—me? Whose uncle is a rabbi—? I guess not!

C c/m/r

ll“??? - [ya /[
J/ow/f l

122 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

 

 

But what I’ll do is get an honest job—yes! “White
fox”—this cat-fur! I’m sick of it—I’m through. I’ll

get up in the world. You watch me! Have educated

people for my friends—

STEPHEN

May you be happy with them.

NORMAN

—Happy and strong and rich and honest! Watch
me! (He afiers the despised rug to another unseen

gligpt, u' gauged, and shrugs again.) N o ?—I should

care!

|And re-enters the house, whistling. For a moment
STEPHEN is alone upon the terrace. PAT’S voiceTTs
héard from the house, in growing ahrm:

PAT

—Aren’t you here ?—It’s me—it’s Pat, Mary!
|§T§2HEN passes his hand over his brow.

STEPHEN

My head—my head. (A moment. Then:)—But this
is very strange. What is this mist that closes in
around me? This is a winter mist, and it is summer.
Wait a bit, you, .I am not ready yet!

we distant music changes to “L’Enfant et ses
Sortieeqes” from Ravel’s ballet “Five o’ClocF"
1414, her hair flying about her shoulders, runs Mn
the steps from the garden. She ii crossing inThE
direction of the house, when the musiFstops hTi'T

She listens intentlyjor a moment, W

 

 

a fchair. Her appearance has chapged to that ofa

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 123
girl of thirteen. She begins to rise up and down mum

her toes, in a formal movement of ballet-practice. Her

r h becomes a little short. Frowning, she bends
gnd feels her instep. STEPHEN rises from his chair:
gnd M to her. She exclaims in joy.

 

IJLY

Pa! Oh Pa, you did come right home!
[ihe runs and kisses him. He strokes her head.

STEPHEN

Well, well, well—and how has my little sprite endured
her prison? '
Ill e speaks in the eloquent voice of an old-fashioned
actor. .

LILY
—Prison? Oh, I’ve been all right. I like it here. I
think it’s a nice hotel—nicer than the one in Harris-
burg was, much nicer, warmer.—Pa, were you good
to—night?

STEPHEN

I was splendid.

EFF I) 5,. li,.,.i

IJLY

How many curtain-calls were there?

STEPHEN
Alas, none. But I was magnificent.

LILY
I wish I’d gone. I wish you’d of let me. Could I. maybe

come tomorrow aft?

.5‘2.‘ ,5
[22: (on 0/7 2224’

[’59 0’7 /£//£V&/

(159 1’1 2% /71(0/’

124 HOTEL UNIVERSE

STEPHEN
Say “afternoon,” child. Do not clip your words.

LILY
“Afternoon.”.——But could I?

STEPHEN

We shall see. (With afigestupe.) Fix me my drink—
(LILY goes to the tgble and makes a brandy-and-

 

[dJ/e ~Jizpéan
J’é’ 0/) z J'fl/ 0/

s4

soda.)—And one for yourself.

LILY
I—‘—-I don’t want any.

STEPHEN
And one for yourself, I said !—’Twill do you good.

LILY
Just a little one, then—it makes me feel so funny.
@EPHEN’S manner begins to changp;

STEPHEN

I like you funny.

LILY
Can I put sugar in it?

STEPHEN
Put anything you like in it. Put salt in it.

LILY
Oh—I wouldn’t like that!

She brings him the glass, and a small one for her-
self. He seizes her glass and tag“; it,

STEPHEN
Water !

 

.w— ..

HOTEL UNIVERSE 125

 

LILY in ' ht
But Pa, I—

STEPHEN
—-Your mother’s daughter, eh? Lying, deceiving—

LILY
I’m not! I just didn’t want—

STEPHEN ( the actor)

Whose child are you, eh? Are you my child, at all?

LILY
Oh yes, yes! Pa—I am your child! Truly I am!

STEPHEN
Then obey Inc—without question, without equivoca-
tion.‘ (He drains his glass and gives it to her.) Fill
them both.

LILY

All right. I’ll put some in—I’ll put a lot in.
[Again sheaqpes to the table with the W3

them and returns to him.

STEPHEN

Let me taste— fie tastes her glass, and fives it

 

back to her.) That’s better. You are your old man’s
daughter. Give me a kiss—

[She kisses his cheek. He takes a swallow from his
fldss and she does likewise.

LILY

 

——But you aren’t an old man! You aren’t old at all.
And look, Pa: I don’t ever lie to you. I love you
too much to. I just can’t tell you how much I— ( She
strikes a posture, and declaimsQ “Then poorr‘Cor-

-— Agni-e

————— sit

’XOL

WWW vii/”e cl}

{Agata

4 1" fleet

ADI-re

XJI' deb/00’ A5! "
(60 1‘0 6200/

and
zia b/e.

 

 

_‘

126 HOTEL UNIVERSE

delia!———And yet, not so; Since, I am sure, my love’s
more richer than my tongue_./ . good, my Lord,
you have begot me, bred me, lode me: I return those
duties back as are right fit—obey you, love you, and
most honor you.”

STEPHEN
“Pray, do not mock me: I am a yery foolish, fond
old man. Fourscore and upward, and, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind. . . . Do not
laugh at me: for, as I am a man, I think this lady
to be my child, Cordelia.”

LILY
“And SO I am, I am!”

STEPHEN
—Not bad, not half bad. You get the feeling well
enough, but you lack voice. You need filling out
everywhere. You’re thin all over. I don’t like you

thin—What did you do while I was playing?

LILY
Well, you know how it snowed—-

STEPHEN

Yes?
[:S'heis sipping from her glass.
LILY .
Well, I got a whole shoe-box full 011' the window-sill

and I was making a little girl out of it, only as fast
as I made her she melted.

STEPHEN

What else?

“A->._‘--

-v‘ -w'fi" _ -_-

- .—__- -__.__ _
_4

HOTEL UNIVERSE 127

 

LILY

 

Well, I did my toe-exercises. ¥

STEPHEN
For how long?

LILY
A whole hour.—VVell, almost a whole hour.

STEPHEN
You’re lying to me.
LILY
Oh no, Pa!
STEPHEN

Don’t you ever lie to me.

LILY

Oh, no.

STEPHEN
If you do, I’ll treat you the way I did your mother.

LILY

‘1’? ’9 5/70/o/

we

 

Pa! You wouldn’t ever leave me!

STEPHEN ’
Just let me Catch you lying once.
LILY
But I never, never!
STEPHEN
See that you don’t..
LILY
. I don’t know what I’d do if ever you should leave me—

T I *0 J’VEflém

128 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

STEPHEN
—Pick up with Some cheap tout, most likely, and
go off with him.

LELY turns her innocep} 3315‘ upon him.

 

 

LILY
What?
STEPHEN

Never mind. @he passes her hand vaguely over her
eyes. )—What ails you?

LILY '

 

It’s—beginning to feel, in my head.

STEPHEN

Drink it down.

LILY
I can’t. My throat won’t turn over any more. And—
and things are going round—

STEPHEN
Then start the music and go around with them.
[She giggles.

LILY
Oh, that’s funny! That’s so funny. You’re such a
funny man.

STEPHEN
Stop laughing.

LILY
I—I can’t stop.

STEPHEN

Go start the music— (Stmgling hard to control

“—3—.

HOTEL UNIVERSE I29

her hysterics, LILY starts the gramophone. Again, it
is the “Nailla” of Delibes. He follows the introdzTc-
tory bars with his hand, as if conductipg an orches-
.I.“_-) N ow then-—

[132th difliculty, she empties her glass, and begins to

dance, haltipgly.
LILY (an appeal) 7

Oh, Pa—
STEPHEN

What?
LILY

I don’t want to.

STEPHEN

Why not?

 

 

 

LILY
My foot hurts. I hurt my foot practising.

STEPHEN
If you’d done it right, you wouldn’t have hurt it. Go
on and dance.

LILY
I can’t, truly I can’t.

STEPHEN
IS a man to have no amusement when he comes home
of nights after playing his heart out to Silly fools
who don’t know art from turnips? Come on—get go-
ing.

LILY (almost in tears)

Par—this isn’t- like you. This isn’t my you at all. My

 

 

3k.1h4c

X ‘14! $7605»,
fece/ 6700/7612:
5’5: 44nd

1 30 HOTEL UNIVERSE

you tells me stories about queens and palaces and
you hold me on your knee and rock me Off to sleep
and you tuck. me in at night and say God love you,
little daughter. That’s what you do.

 

"fill

. STEPHEN
72th :0 g, Oh I do, do I? And how often? In my tender moments
J2: r M: e A” l twice a year.—Not like me, is it? I’ll Show you what’s
like me. Will you dance?

 

 

LILY
Oh yes, yes. See? I’m dancing——
Jfgofim Air Ligain she begins to dance, this time more haltingly.
/&(/e/~ 1., 7ny fl IQ stand‘s over her.
/£ue/ STEPHEN

Faster !—Wasn’t Burbage amused when he came
home? Wasn’t Barrett and wasn’t Booth? IS it too
much to ask, eh?

LILY
Oh no, Pa! See me, Pa?

STEPHEN
That’s better.

LEW;
anting )

LIL—My hurt foot—it won’t go up any more—

 

STEPHEN
NO? Try it.
[HOPE appears at the top of the garden-steps, where
w t the rr
LILY

But I am trying !—Is it all right if I just—P (Again

HOTEL UNIVERSE 131

 

ghe tries to rise upon her toes, and cannot. She at-

tempt; a pitifiukms seul, fgils in it, file to the flgor.

Then, all at once she turns into a ragipg fury and , _ @n /c/aar /m/
,sppeams:) God damn! Hell! . A ’/’C J/‘f’lm

| He lapghs. '

STEPHEN

Good !

 

LI LY

Oh, I hate you. I hate you. I don’t love you anymore!

STEPHEN ,
Splendid! Go on—more!
[She rises do her feet and confronts him, trembling

wt!) page.

LILY

You’re a dirty drunk! You left my mother'when she
was sick. You can’t act. You’re just a super, that’s
all you are. You can’t act any“! I

[Lapghim, he holds his arms out to her.

STEPHEN
Come here. Give uS a kiss.

LI LY

No. You smell of whisky and nasty grease-paint. ‘
You’re dirty—I hate you! I won’t stay with you any
longer—I’ll run away, that’s what I’ll do!

PAT (from the houpe)
Mary! I’ve come back. Where are you?

LSTEPHEN’S voice changes back to his own voige, Syd-
denlg he seems very tired.

Z/p arts: as

”id/”st CA‘”? ~

132 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

STEPHEN
—Then go quickly. Go very quickly. See—there is
the door. It is open. Go in, and up the stairs, and
to your room.
Lhe gazes at him for a moment, then turns and walks
directlLLo the steps and into the house. Afl-
SW his hand over his e es.

There is a slight pause, then HOPE comes down from ,

the garden.

HOPE
Oh, that was terrible! Why did you do it?

STEPHEN .
I—? I did nothing. Tell me what happened—

HOPE
You know perfectly well what happened!—And she
adored him. She— (She turns and follows LILY into
the house, callingg Lily!

LSEEPHEN is alone. He rises from his chair with ef-

fect, and mgveg toward the garden-steps. He stif-
fen; guddenly, then exclaims in wonder:

STEPHEN

What’s this? (Another moment T
sharply: ) Come now! What is it?! (lie slumps

 

 

W, and plucks at his left arm, which
gone limpI then tries to raise his rTght hand to
his head, and cannot.)———Cerebral hemorrhage, is
that it? That’s very interesting, I’m sure. The left
side is quite numb—the lesion must be in the right

lobe, in the Area of— God, when we crack we crack,
don’t we? (A moment. Then summoning his remain-

_._._T

J_‘_-M l —_..._ r—r—A— ———

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 133

ing strength: )—But I am not ready, yet! (He makes
his way to the fan-back chair in the corngr of the

terrace and slowly lets himself into it. He calls :) Pat!
Ann! (Another moment.) There—there’s the pulse
-—it is quite hard, quite stringy—(Again he calls.)
Ann !—-But the breathing is regular, Doctor—diffi-
cult, but regular.—I say, not yet! I’ll go, but in my
proper time—Curious there is no pain—only a sense
of——- (He catches his breath.)—NO pain, did I say?
(And g'gllects his strength for a final cryQ Ann!
[And sinks lower into his chair. From the distance
piano-music begins to be heard again. It is a pepp-
lar waltz, of ten years ago. A moment, then ANN
comes down the steps fiom the garden. She i; limp-
WWW
self:

ANN

 

 

Poor dear—poor darling—what can I do for him?
(As she reaches the sofa her ankle gives way unjgr
her and she sinks down umn the joor, exclaimipg:)
Ouch’—ouch—Oh, where is that road?

[LAT—comes in from the housghcalling sot tlg:

PAT

 

 

Mary! Where are you, Mary?

ANN

Ouch——ouch—-
[PAT hesitates a moment, then comes up to her.

PAT ,
Excuse me. Is there anything the-—?

IANN starts in clam.

_ 3 5.07““

[5270’ 0/5494,

pat read/7&5 *0 —'!"_"—‘I.

Hoaw dank/5,

qg'és fiat/£34
bar

 

134 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
—Oh !
PAT

I’m all right. I’m harmless.—But I was just wander—
ing around here and I saw you from across the field
and I thought something might be the matter, and—

ANN
—There is. Plenty.
PAT
What? Can I help?
ANN '

Well, for one thing, I’ve probably broken my ankle. ;
And for another, I’m lost. And for another—no, I’m 3.,
not sure you can. . - l

PAT
Does your ankle hurt?

ANN

Oh no, it feels wonderful. They do, you know.—
Ouch!

PAT !
Maybe if I could get a car up into this field for you— '

ANN
Have you got one that climbs fences?

PAT '
What are you lost from?

ANN-

The Westbury Road.
[A breeze brings the music closer.

‘w

HOTEL UNIVERSE 135

‘

 

PAT
That’s easy.
ANN
It hasn’t been.
PAT
You’re practically on it. It’s just over there—
ANN
N o!
PAT
Honest.
ANN
Then what’s that music I’ve been hearing? Isn’t it
the Club?
PAT
N 0. It’s from a party I’m at.

ANN
At?

PAT
Well, one I got away from.

ANN

Whose?

PAT
Mine. At my house.

ANN
I’m impressed. Why wasn’t I asked?

PAT
You would have been.—Where do you live?

136 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN

I’m staying down here with some people named Ames.

But I got the wanders and had to walk.

PAT

So did I.—-~Tom and Hope Ames?

ANN

That’s right.

PAT
They said they couldn’t come.

' ANN

Maybe they don’t like parties. Or maybe they didn’t
want people to see me. In the Spring I get freckled.
—Oh, this damned ankle! '

PAT
Quit talking about your ankle. What’s your name?

ANN
Ann Field. What’s yours?

PAT
Don’t laugh—

ANN
N o.

PAT

Patrick— (Sh; laughs.) You said you wouldn’t.

ANN

But I’ve always wanted to know one !—What was it
you said to Mike?

Aunt“ ._ ..s.-.__. L A

u... “A-

A— _. -

44‘ __‘ _ _.__._ I

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 137

 

PAT

That’s not very new, you know.——My last name’s
Farley.

ANN

—Not one of the great, enormous, important, rich
ones!

PAT

Well—

ANN

—Please, forget everything I’ve said. You’re beauti-
ful. You’ll get me home all right.

PAT

I’m—er—I came down for the Spring holidays, and
I thought I’d swing a little party, and—

ANN
Why, bless his heart, he’s embarrassed! Lovely!

PAT

Oh, go to hell.

ANN
You’re sweet. I think you’re really sweet.
[ l I . ii I . l l

PAT

Foolish to stay indoors a night like this. Foolish
to sleep even.—You’ve got awfully pretty hands.

ANN
Thanks. My eyes are nice, too. They don’t cross, or
anything.

138 HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT
Say—you come right back at a fellow, don’t you?

 

ANN

Do I?

PAT
. —Ever read a poem called “Pale hands I loved beside
the Shal-i-mar”?

ANN (sggpigiopglg)
What about it?
PAT .
I just wondered. Didn’t you like it?
ANN .
I thought it was awful.
PAT
Why?
ANN ‘
I don’t know. I just did.

PAT
You’re a funny girl. Maybe you don’t like poetry.

ANN

-——Maybe I do! (He laughs.) I like the way you laugh.

PAT
I’ll hire me a couple of expert ticklers.

[4M then they both laugh.

ANN
You have awfully whiteteeth, haven’t you?

[fleddinlmfiam-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 139

 

PAT

—-What ?

ANN
I said, you have—

PA'r (study)
I know—I’m trying to think: there was someone
with white teeth that gleamed from the water—oh,
never mind. (Another moment, Then:)—Funny, our
meeting like this. I suppose that’s the way good
things happen. -

ANN
Maybe—I wish you’d brought a crutch, though, or
a wheel-chair.
[He eyes her reflectively.

PAT
How much do you weigh?

ANN
Something fairly serious—or I did. To-night I’ve
walked a good deal of it off.

PAT . -

We’ve got to do something about moving you.

ANN .
I hoped you’d get around to that.
PAT

That is, eventually. There’s lots of time.—Say, are
you moody?

ANN
Maybe.—Am I?

140 HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT

 

Because I am. That’s why I got to walking to-night.
I had something on my mind.

ANN

SO had I.

PAT
Really ? What?

ANN '
My father.

PAT
IS he—is he sick?

ANN
I don’t know.—What is it that worried you?

PAT (a moment)
—Well, you see, at Christmas I came down with the
Copes—

ANN
Are they like the measles?
[PAT la/uglhs, and explains:

 

PAT
-—Down here, with Johnny and Nora Cope. Well, one
night we were coming home quite late from some-
wheres and we stopped in at the dog-wagon in the
village to get— (Hwops suddenly and stares at
ha.) J ee-rusalem! I believe you’re her!

ANN '
“She,” you should say.—Who?

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE . 141

 

PAT (gvprcome with awe)
Good Lord Almighty—

ANN
I wonder if it’s the same dog-wagon I know.

PAT

Of course !—But this is— Gosh! Do you know what
this means to me?

ANN
I’m trying awfully hard to follow, but—

PAT (We)
I had a Western, with a lot of onions, and we got
up to go and there was a girl there Sitting at the
counter with a couple of other people and a great
big glass of milk and She looked up as I went by,
and—
[ANN smiles.

ANN

I did, didn’t I?
PAT (excitedly)

- Yes !—and the milk had made a little white rim
along your upper lip and— '

ANN (distressed)

Oh dear—

PAT

It was beautiful.—And ever since, I’ve seen your
face the whole time, in my mind, and I could never
find you. It’s been terrible.——And now— Oh Lord!

—Imagine !

l 42 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

[935}: smiles.
ANN

VVell—here I am.
PAT

It’s just miraculous, that’s all, it’s miraculous. Gosh,
I don’t know what to say. You know this isn’t like
the usual—there’s something terribly right about it.
—Ever since that night I’ve been longing to— J eez,
I thought I’d go crazy if I couldn’t find you—been
longing to take your face in my hands like this,
and—

[He takes her face between his hands.

ANN
Wait. Let me look at you.
[She looks.

PAT

I’m not much on looks—

ANN
Shhh! (She logks_a long time.) Why—it’s the
queerest thing. I think I—

 

PAT .
——And to kiss that lovely mouth that had the white
rim along the top of it—

ANN .

But somehow—I don’t think you’d better—yet—

PAT
No, I suppose not—But I don’t see why! (AM‘
mint. Still they gaze at each other. Them) Look:

‘

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 143

do you ever get a feeling that you—oh, Lord—that
you know all about it?

 

ANN
Sometimes.

PAT

I do) now! I’ve never felt alive before! Everything’s
as clear as— («SuddenlyL directly.) Look: I’ll be at
the Ameses for lunch tomorrow. Tell ’em I like steak.

| ANN laughs.

ANN
I like you!

PAT
—As much as I like steak?

ANN
How much do you like Steak?

PAT
I’m crazy for it. I dream about it. Well—?
[dam ANN laughs, ang rises.

ANN
Come on. '

[Hg catches her hand in his.

PAT
Ah, Ann—tell me, Ann!

ANN
No, no! This is ridiculous. It’s—-
[She frees hers—elf.

401%; Ida: and

0/) 315/
2197 /£7 flees!

I44! HOTEL UNIVERSE

PAT .
Oh, please! Tell me—do you like me?
[A moment. Then:

ANN

Yes.

PAT

Much?

 

ANN

A lot. Terribly!
[For PAT this is almost too much m.

PAT

Gosh, I’m glad.

ANN

I hope I’ll be.——Come on—shall we?

PAT
Look: You’ve got to come up to the ‘Spring Dance
with me, and the ball games, and the boat races—I
row Number Seven—and—Oh, Ann—

ANN
What, Pat?

PAT
It’s wonderful.

ANN

It is, it is.-—Do come—come on— (W
another step or two, toward the garden-stepe, where

 

 

0) floor

2
gme, She iecovere herself andhshlh 'LMLJLM, '
tppps and looks at him, For W

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 145

eggs hold them together. At length they kiss. For an
m at ANN clings to him, then leaves him.) Pat-—

Pat—we’re crazy.

 

PAT
No !

ANN (breathlessly)

Come on—. We must—

[W. He turns.

PAT
First, let’s look back at our meadow.

[ANN frowns, half puzzled, half in alarm. Then:

ANN (suddenly, sharply)
No! That’s wrong!
[He had not said that. The spell is breakiyg.
PAT
What is? (He takes a deg) breath.)—Um! Doesn’t
it smell good, though! What is it? Hawthorn?
ANN

No!

PAT (slowly, from very far away)
But I—I guess they’re right. I guess there’s nothing
like May in England— (Suddenly he stope, "leaching
her-hand. His face becomks troubled. He looks at tly
gage, frowning.) What’s that house?

 

 

ANN (a sudden cry)
Don’t think, Pat! Don’t think at all! Come with
me— .
PAT
—But there’s something I’ve got to do in this house.

m {a 2'1”

/606/ I’m Adam

W

146 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ANN
No!

PAT

Yes. And I can’t think what. And it’s terribly im-
portant. I’ve waited too long. It’s got to be done at
once. It’s getting late.—I know !—I’ve got to pack a
bag. It’s late. I’ve got to get that bag packed. I’ve
got to pack a bag and catch a boat and go to Eng-
land.

[ANN is still at the garden-steps. His eyes have not

left the house.

ANN
Stay with me, Pat! I’ll lose you there!

PAT
I tell you she’s waiting, and it’s getting late.

[Again he moves toward the lump.

ANN
Oh, why must I always lose you?

[She goes up the garden-steps and out. PA]: mange;
MWW— ’

STEPHEN

Pat!
EAT halts, turn: slowly, lookLat him, then g_o_es to
my, '

PAT
VVhy—why how do you do, Mr. Carr! I feel as if I’d
been away for—I came across the fields and down the
lane—the hawthorn’s early, isn’t it? I didn’t wire. I
thought I’d surprise her. How has she been?

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 147

STEPHEN , “

 

You cannot surprise her.

PAT

You mean she had a hunch that I was—? But where
is she, then? I’ve been calling her all over everywhere.
(STEPHEN does not reply. Suddenly PAT become;
alarmed.) Ey, flat is ibis:1.301{e? Because if it is
*3 .

—yes, and What about my letters? Why didn’t she
answer them? Did you and Father fix it so she wouldn’t
get them? I’ve been almost crazy. I’ve been—where is

she? She’s here—I know she’s here— (He calls:)
Ann! (Then; feeling somflhing wrong, whispers.)—

 

 

 

 

Mary. (Zlhen, more confidently.) It’s Pat, Mary! 22/
(He turns again to STEPHEN.)—And you needn’t 13:50” ‘2

think we’re going to stay on with people who fixed it
up to separate us, either. Not for one minute. I’m
going to take her with me this very night, and—

STEPHEN
That is too soon.

PAT

It’s not. Haven’t we waited years already? We’ll be
wanting to get married right away. Tomorrow, most
likely—or the next day—-

STEPHEN
—Too soon.

PAT

Look here, Mr. Carr— (Lhen correcting himself .°)
Mr. Field.—I know you’re a sick man. But Ann’s got
her whole life ahead of her. You can’t take it from
her. You’ve taken too much of it already. I don’t hold ‘

148 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

with those old ideas. Ann and I are in love, and if you
don’t grant that that’s the most important thing, it’s
time you did. I’m sorry to have to put it this way, but
I’ve got to speak as I feel. I’ll certainly never expect
a child of mine to—to—

STEPHEN

——To what?

PAT
——To give her whole life up to me, and I don’t think you
should.

STEPHEN
I see.

PAT
You let her bring you here, away from all the—

STEPHEN .
——She has needed me as much these last three years as

I have needed her.

 

PAT
That may be. But——

STEPHEN
Wait! (He looks at PAT intently, then speaks with a
W:)—But now she does not need me any
longer.

PAT

What are you looking like that for? What do ypu
mean? (liken suddenly, wildly:) She’s not! That’s

not 'true——you’re lying. It’s not possible—it can’t be!
She’s here—I know she’s here! (W3 Ann!

Ann!

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE ‘ 149

 

STEPHEN
She does not come.

PAT
. Ann, dear! It’s Pat, Ann!

STEPHEN A
And still she does not come.

PAT

Oh, don’t keep saying that! She’s here—I can feel
her all about me. (He wheels about and looks around '
M) What kind of a deal is this, anyway? What am

 

I doing—dreaming? (Then one last desgairing any)
Ann! (And a long silence, F mum—13mm shL. __ flea/”3 i a,
a? 0'

 

thought I wasn’t coming back— (Another moment.
kan, in anguish:)—I can’t believe—but how? How
did she? She couldn’t have hurt that sweet place at
her temple, that lovely breast. What has death to do
with her?

STEPHEN
—With anyone.

PAT

But I did come back! I wasn’t the swine she thought
me. I did comev—she must know that. I’m sure she
knows it!

STEPHEN
So then, you have your picture back—-

PAT
My picture?

fake; 409447

Hun-AT

150 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

STEPHEN
The one you love so—your picture of yourself. Now
your pet illusion is whole again, and all is well, eh?

PAT
I don’t know what you’re—

STEPHEN
You built your whole life upon an illusion—and it
went—and still you want it back—from death, even!

PAT .

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

STEPHEN
Your idea of your own perfection.

PAT
That’s not true—

 

STEPHEN
NOP—You came back, yes—but in your own time.

7 A swine? Indeed you are !—But what brought you?
How much of it was the self-contempt you felt for
having left her?

PAT
None of it.

STEPHEN
—And how much your love of her, your want of her?

PAT

All!

STEPHEN
Which is it you can’t live with, now? Which is it that
spoils your picture? '

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 151

 

PAT

Oh, be still about my picture! You’re talking about a
spoiled boy, stuffed with what he thought were fine
ideals. Fakes, all of them! I’ve left that boy behind.
I’ve got no picture anymore. I know I’m what I am—
myself! ‘

STEPHEN

Then can you face yourself—say good-bye to your
last illusion, and come through alive?

PAT
Go—will you? _

STEPHEN

If you cannot—what else is there for you?
[A moment. Then: '

PAT (to himself)
—Off to Africa.

STEPHEN
Well—? ’
[IA]: moves toward th_egarden-step_s.

PAT
at aa't' 5/
Off to—! (gut the steps, he stops. When

Meaks, it is with—afine, saving scorn : )——One big
last shining gesture, eh? Watching myself go by. An-
other pretty picture: “He died for love.” (He raises

his head.) No!—That’s for the weak ones. I stay.

STEPHEN. (a murmur.)
That’s right, that’s right.

‘ —-—-.....—__ Ill 24’de

féaépk

152 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

 

} [He leaves him, and moves painfully toward his cor-
} 1m;
;’ PAT
Jails: 7‘0 Jilin-r L , But I want her so. Ann—Ann—
fiw/ 0', AW [znmx come; in frgm (“2ng
FELIX

Pardon, Monsieur—je regrette que j’avais laissé pas-
ser l’heure. Maintenant, il est onze heures moins douze.
Je regrette beaucoup, Monsieur. C’est ma faute.
[PAT does not reply. FELIX goes out. A momentm
ANN’S voice is heard softly, from the gardegg:

ANN
Pat?

PAT (a org of joy)
Ann! (In an ins‘tgz t_ he is up the garden-steps and out.)
I’ll find you this time. Ann!
[STEPHEN grapes for his chair in the corner agd seats

Welf-
STEPHEN

—All right, you. Very well—I am ready. This ends,
and that begins.—Oh, so you’d like to end it, would
you? All of it, eh? (I_If_half rises, gasping for breath.)
Well, you can’t! -—I tell' you—you cannot! (Gasp-
4 ing) I tell you—!

1 [There is a slight shuffling sound, as he slumps into
42317». I moment. Then TOM comes in from the gm
with the brandy—glass, as FELIX enters fromjhe lay,“
a crosses the terrac t him °

travelmg’ ~hgg1.

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 153

 

FELIX

Pardon, Monsieur—
|H e goes up the garden-steps and out. HOPE comes in

 

from the house. She is drgssed to leave. She sees TOM
and goes to him quickly.

HOPE
Tom, Tom—
TOM

-—I beg your pardon, but have you by any chance

seen an Old priest called Father— (2'31; M 72222‘
aim—ban) Why—why, hello, Hope—

HOPE ‘
—Who, did you say?

TOM .
Why—I don’t know— (H e frowns at the brandy-
M.) I thought I—I had this for someone—who
was it? I was taking it to him, to—Lord, I don’t

know— (EH: looks at her closer.)—How are the chil-
dren?

IHLX goms in from the house, also dressed for @-
parture.
HOPE

—The children—that’s good, that is !-—Do you real-
ize that that’s just what you’ve been acting like?

TOM (to himself)
—Under the piano. Under the——
[ALICE comes down the stairs irom the balcony. She
wears a coat and carries a small traveling-bag.

ALICE

Listen: could anyone tell me what’s got into the Rose
man?

—.

J

_‘ [0606/ 0/00/-

TA meet
lb 6 4/64.

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154 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

HOPE

Not Norman, too!

ALICE

—I opened my door into the hall, and there he was,
stretched on the floor outside it, fast asleep on a fur-
rug. (She looks back over her shoulder.)—And now
he’s—

[ILORMAN appears upon the balcony, the fur—rug still
over his arm.

NORMAN (heartily)

Well, everyone—how goes it?

TOM

What’s that you’ve got?

NORMAN

How’d you like to—? (@Mnd frowns at the
134g) Why, it’s a— (fig aggmt team; him.) Damned
if I know.

[He drops it, and cleans hi2 famd' iogs hay; 9111' .

TOM

Was it a bargain?

[SWhunflamlu

NORMAN

W

—Am I right in believing that some pretty funny
business went on here tO-night?

[All look troubled, eyeing one another furtivelthIg-
ing to We out how much the other remembersthgo

mggh one remember; onegglf.

LILY ( figallg)

I. 1W9“, I don’t know if you’d call it funny—but sud—

HOTEL UNIVERSE 155

 

denly everything seems possible.—It’s like beginning
all Over again.
[anion-43W.)
ALICE
I hope I didn’t miss anything. I had a delicious nap.;»~

LILY
-—And did you dream?

ALICE

Dream ?——I should say not. I was too dead. (W

silence. All stare infront 0 them. Finall ALICE s eaks

WW- )Did I tell you?

—Once when I was in England staying with the Pot-

ters, they had a— (Then suddenly, with an air gt du’ -
goverg.)—Why, Norman! That was where I met you,
wasn’t it ?

NORMAN
Yes.

ALICE

——Strange.
[Again silence. Then:

TOM

At school the big idea used to be to sneak Off in the
afternoons and smoke real tobacco in real pipes.—
Lord, how big that made us feel.

NORMAN (aftg; gngther moment)

—I often wonder what happened to old Morris
Sterner. He gave me my first real job. ——Once he told
me that-— .

 

 

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156 HOTEL UNIVERSE

[But he relapses into silence, which LILY at length
breaks.

LILY
It’s fantastic, this terrace. It just hangs here. Some

day it will float off into space, and anchor there, like
an island in time.

HOPE

Don’t !
ALICE

Don’t what?
HOPE

Please, everyone make sense. It must be nearly time to
leave.

TOM

Hope— (She turns to him.) Would you mind awfully
if I don’t sail with you?

HOPE
Why?
TOM
I want to ‘go off somewhere by myself for awhile. I

think at last I’ve really got a line on something that
may be the answer for me.

HOPE (unconvinced)
Yes?
TOM

———In a way it’s a kind of faith, in place of the old
one—maybe it’s the same. Anyhow, I want to work
it out. A

HOTEL UNIVERSE 157

 

HOPE

Sweet Tom.
[PAT and ANN are nearing the terrace from the ar-
den. PAT’S voice is heard:

PAT

There’s so much I’d have gone without—
[They come in, her hand in his, and stand together

WW8-
TOM (to HOPE)
.——I don’t know how long it will take—but if I send for
you—
[HOPE smiles.

I

HOPE
Don’t come——

TOM

Don’t come. '

[Now everyone is talking in concert:
PAT

—Without so many good, quiet things—

TOM

I’m excited about this, Hope.
HOPE _

So am I, Tom—if you do it.

PAT (to ANN) .

I want to Sit with the wife I love, and read books, and
look at maps——

LILY
You won’t believe me when I tell you—

 

)4/w's X0?

158 HOTEL UNIVERSE

 

ALICE

What?

LILY
Next year I’m going to play Cordelia in King Lear.
PAT
—And fish trout—streams with my boys, and take my
daughter walking—
HOPE "
—What time :5 it, Norman? Oughtn’t we be starting?

NORMAN
I’m not going to Paris.
[ALICEglances at him W.

HOPE
Really !——And who was it who simply had to be home
by the tenth for a corporation meeting?

NORMAN
They can meet without me. They can whistle for me.
I’ll be in Andora.

PAT (to ANN)
—And build a house and mend a fence, and be tired Of
a good day’s work, and sleep—

NORMAN

What, Alice?

 

HOTEL ' UNIVERSE 159

 

ALICE
I’ll miss you.—Take me with you!
[NORMAN starts forward.

NORMAN
You’d come !?

ALICE
Just ask me.

NORMAN
Alice—

ALICE
—Darling.
[Then :

NORMAN

That’s the way to see Andora! .
[ALICE and NORMAN keep on gazing at each other as
fihey could never look their fil.

TOM (suddenly)

Now I know how it happened ! (To ANN.) Where’s your

father?

[LILY rises quickly, and stares toward STEPHEN’S: m _ I lack I‘D 2 a
chain which conceals him from their view. /&ve/

ANN
He must have gone down to the bastide.—Why?

TOM
Hotel Universe !+He’ll know.

ANN

'What ?

’flcms hack
{ocean/A

104° to
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1

160 HOTEL UNIVERSE

TOM
Don’t you know the story?

ANN
Oh—you mean about Réné Mayer’s house-—
TOM
I mean about this house—
ANN

You must be mixed; Tom. This was built in nineteen-
twelve by a man from Lyons.

[WW
TOM
Are you sure?

ANN
' Oh, yes. Father leased it from him.
iLILY starts back from STEPHEN’S W“
(lamb '

LILY
Pa !

HOPE
Don’t, Lily—please don’t again—
LILY
Pat—Pat!
[ L1 e goes to her.
PAT
What is it, Lily?
LILY (am)
——I don’t know, I don’t know——

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 161

 

 

 

 

 

ANN
Lily—darling— [3 >4 [’7’
LILY
—I feel as if all that held me together had suddenly
let go.
[She begins to cry, softly.
ANN
Lil y—darling—don’t !
LILY
It’s all right—I’ll be all right—
[mrx re-enters from the garden and-gm. 5142 q; or)
FELIX 5’ ée:
Pardon, Monsieur—i1 est onze heure juste, Monsieur.
HOPE

Eleven! We’ve got to fly!
[WW¢ ,
ALICE
We’ll probably be late at that.
NORMAN
Oh, no—not if we hurry.
TOM
You can make good time on these roads at night.

FELIX (to ANN)
Pardon, Mademoiselle, les valises sont dans les voi-

tures. -" FM/jass
04f fijdr/ag

 

ANN
—Your bags are all in.

 

Kite/4’00

 

162 HOTEL UNIVERSE

TOM

 

’Where’s yours, Pat? Are you ready?

LILY

No! You’ve got to stay! Do you understand that 2’.—
You’ve got to stay!

PAT
Why yes, of course.——I’m not going.
[ANN glances at him quickly,

ANN
Pat !

PAT
I’m staying, Ann.

TOM
Now there’s a good idea!

HOPE
I had a hunch Pat was no mountain-climber!

NORMAN
That’s the stuff, Pat.

[HOPE goes to ANN and kisses her. ggcn slip; kw

throu h NORMAN’S.

 

HOPE
Good—bye, Ann.

ANN
Good—bye, dear.

TOM
Good—bye, Pat. Take it easy for awhile.

 

‘ —‘.__.W_ ‘a—e. LN,”

 

 

 

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 163

 

PAT

Yes. Good-bye, Tom.

LILY
Hurry, hurry!
[TOM kisses ANN.

 

TOM

Good-bye and thanks, Ann.——-Say good-bye to your
father for me.

HOPE
Yes.

NORMAN
Yes !
I TOM frowns.

TOM
Say to him, that—

LILY
Hurry, hurry!

TOM
—Say good-bye to him.

NORMAN
Do you want to come with us, Tom?- [14}? ’6

[WW-

TOM
To Andora? Why, it sounds like a good idea.

 

HOPE
No, no! Alone! You’ve got to go alone!

‘3'“ ‘1 ‘0 in .73.;
vo-I—L—v—

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151/eve!

I ._fi-.-—r. A_.
o

164- HOTEL UNIVERSE

TOM

But Hope—you know what a friendly soul I am. You
know how I need company.

HOPE ( o the others)
What can you do with him?

[They qo out. NORMAN and ALICE mount them,
' calligg over their shoulders:

NORMAN AND ALICE
Good-bye! Thanks ! Good—bye!
[PAT, ANN and LILY are left.

LILY

You two—you’re for each other, aren’t you?
PAT

I hope so.
ANN

Then we are.

LILY (to ANN)

Your father—remember what he said? It does go 0 1” ‘
(ANN looks at her.) Wherever we may be—breezeS
from the other fields still blow upon us—

ANN
Why, yes. Why do you—?
LILY

I think that’s good to know. God love him. God 10" 6
you. Good-bye;-

[She mounts the steps, pauses for 231 has; f immat

 

HOTEL UNIVERSE 165

to glance down at STEPHEN, then goes out into the

garden PAT End ANN are left Wham.
check. -

ANN

 

Dear love.

s
PAT

I want to make love to you for years. Oh, it’s a life,
Ann!

ANN

I know, dear—don’t I know! (She murmurs.)-—Thank
you, Father.

PAT
Yes—thanks! In the distance, far of in the garden, a
cock crows hoarsely. PAT starts.) What’s that? What
time is it?

ANN
Hush, darling, never mind.—It’s just an Old white
rooster—one of Father’s pets—his clock he calls
him. ‘

PAT
It mustbe dawn somewhere.

ANN
But of course, dear—always!

PAT
Wherever there is an end, he said—

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ANN

HOTEL UNIVERSE

-—From it the beginning springs.
[She stares straight in front 9f her, her apprw

mwing in her eyes. Slowly, fearfully, her head tugm

 

 

animate...

ithhe direction of STEPHEN. Silence. MW

CURTAIN

 

V

_
t

i
l

 

PART THREE

DIRECTING PROBLEMS

A. The Author, his plays, a critical
estimate with special emphasis
on Hotel Universe

A. The Author, His Plays--a critical estimate
with emphasis on £232; Universe

Although Philip Barry is reCOgnized as one of
the most successful of present American playwrights,
he is also held by many to be one of the most un-
successful. His You and I Hogiday, Pagfg Egggg, Egg
Animal Kingdom, The Eggladelphia Story, and Foolish
Hotigg all have enviable box office records, each
running well over the 100 performances, which Broadway
reOOgnizes as the mark of a successful play. On the
other hand his White Wings, gggg, Hotel Universe, 2;;
Jo ous Season, fifthog§_Love, and Here Cgme the C;oggs
while winning critical acclaim, have been 'failures”
at the box-office.

Bernard Sobel in his Theatre Handbook1 has char-
acterized Philip Barry as "the familiar case of the
clown longing to play Hamleg and doomed to real success
only when he clings to the comedy which is his forte.
For Barry's plays fall into two distinct oatagories,
which bear striking resemblance, his gay drawing-room
comedies, and his more serious, inspirational, even
3Ymbolioal dramas ....... His comedies from Ygg ang I
to Ihe Philadelphfa Story have been successful commer-
cially; his significant works from In a Garden to Egg;
Come the O;own§ have generally failed to be in the 'hit'

 

l Sobel, Bernard, The :heatre Handbook and Digest of Plays,
Crown Publishers, New York 1940 p.78

2

class.‘

His failures have never deterred this independent,
free-thinking author and.consequently some of his even-
ings in the theatre have been very exciting. Such is
the case of fipyg;_Universe. While this play was not a
Broadway success, Mr. Barry was trying to express his
ideas in a different manner and these differences make
the drama an interesting one to study and to present.

Since the play is filled with so many personal
reactions that clearly indicate the author himself, a
more detailed study of his life and his other plays '
might clarify some of the problems that are involved
in producing his Eggs; Univsrge.

Strangely enough, the biographers have trouble
in finding many facts that carry much significance in
his writings. He was born in Rochester, New York, in
1896, and, aside from a rigorous, Catholic education,
had little happen to him that did not happen to the
average boy in the 1900's. He graduated from a Catholic
high school, and except for a brief post in the diplomatic
service in Washington and at the Embassy in London, his
education was unbroken and in 1919 he graduated from Yale.
From Yale to Harvard was a brief stop and into the '47
Workshop of Professor George Pierce Baker was a natural
course for a budding playwright. In 1921 his drama,

Ygg gnd I, won the Robert Herndon Prize and a subsequent

3

Broadway production of the same play, in 1923, started
him on his successful professional career. The Youngest
In a Garden, White Wings, gghn, Paris Bound, Cock Robin,
(co-authored with Elmer Rice while both of these play-
wrights were in Paris), Holida , and Hotel Universe
followed in quick succession, and written before the
depression of 1930.

In the period following, during the greatest
economic upheaval this country has ever experienced,
Barry turned to the serious side, and, offering his
solutions to some of the problems facing the depression
generation, presented Tomorrow and Tomorrow, The Animal
gigggom, The Joyous Season, ggight Star, and Here Come
the Clowns, all of which were financial failures. Re-
turning to his brilliant comedy writing of the decade

'before, he proved in The Philadelphia Story that he could
still write a successful play, though his latter two

plays, Without Love and Foolish Notion, classed as
comedies, failed to measure up in writing or in appeal.
The great variety of plays that Mr. Barry has
written would lead one to believe that each would be
quite different from the others. Actually, however, the
similarities among them are much more striking than
the differences. These similarities, which might be
classified as “typical Barry features", are never quite

.hidden.under the different lines and.situations of each

4

play.

Quite often, there is some physical spot - usually
somewhere in the house of the main character or char-
acters - which represents all the freedom from worry
and from the restraint of I'big business", which Barry
so abhors--a sort of refuge and place of escape. It
may be the "music-room on the top floor of the Hutton's
town house in uptown New York, near the East River,'. as
in Parig Bound. It may be the playroom at the top of
the Edward Seton house, as in Hgliday. It may be, in
You and i, an attic made into a studio, or the made-over
room of In a Garde . Or it may be the terrace of the
old house down on the Mediterranean, Hotel Universe,
which offers respite from the tension of the hard world.
But wherever it is, it appears in enough of Barry's
plays to become almost a trademark.

Character develOpment is not Barry's forte. The
people who inhabit his plays could very easily be moved
from one play to another with no appreciable change
necessary. They may have different names-Pat Farley
in Hotgi Universe, Johnny Case in Holiday, Hatey White
in You ans:= I-—but their background is the same, their
language is the same, their outlook is the same. They
are all Philip Barry, trying to preach, with a smile on
his lips. His leading women may be short or tall, blond
or brunette, but they are always young, beautiful, witty,

understanding, and willing to be the fond companion and
ready helpmate to the man of their choice. Usually,
somewhere in the gay crowd, is the "hard, outward appear-
ance-with the heart of gold.‘' It may be Ned in Hoiiday,
or Lily in Hotel Universe or Fanny Shippan in Paris Bog; ,
but it is always a good, standard Barry 'type'. This
criticism of the similarity of characterization is in

no way to be taken as criticism of the individual roles.
Host of them are thoroughly real and delightfully charm-
ing, when viewed separately, each in his own play. But
viewed collectively, Barry's lack of originality is quite
noticable.

One more feature of what might be termed Itypical
Barry“ is his little playacting scene, out of which he
seems to get such delight-«the scene within a scene
where everyone suddenly seems to be reading a very gay
and amusing script. At least, they never miss their
cues. The Norman Rose hour in Hgtei Universe is an
example, or the Nick Potter autobiOgraphy in the second
act of Hoiiday. Audiences enjoy these moments, whenever
they appear, for they are masterpieces of nonsense.

Finally, Barry's fundamental philosophy appears
and reappears in practically every one of his plays.

The right to do as one pleases and the desire
for leisure are two themes basic in most of his
plays. They are the motives which successively
impel Richard Winslow in The Y un est, Maitland
White in Yo and I, Adrian Terry in.In a Garden

6

 

Johnny Case in Holiday........and Norman Rose
and Tom Ames in Hotel Universe to turn their
backs on success and prosperity and seek a
more satisfying existence. Without such
freedom--freedom of action outside, freedom
of the spirit inside-~1ife is unendurable;
this is the principal tenet of Philip Barry's
philosOphy.2

Although it was stated a few paragraphs back
that very little biographical material was available
on Philip Barry, many critics feel that he reveals
himself to a great extent in his writing.

The late Hontrose J. Moses, outstanding
critic of the theatre, made the unique state-
ment: His plays are really Barry in quest of
himself. There is no American dramatist of
the same stamp. He cannot take life too
soberly; he shadow-boxes with ideas and phil-
osophies, he writes the most exquisite dialogue,
he can be absurdly childish and delicately
serious. His gossamer plays are shot through
with patterns of ideas always in the bud, and
the ideas are never given a chance to become
full blown. His stories are spider webs of
quaint spinning, with problematic knots which
help to hold the dramas together. His serious-
ness is never left alone a minute; the puckered
brow is chased by the inexaustible good humor.
If he should consider himself, Philip Barry
would find his youth in his p1aya.3

George Jean Nathon, critic and reviewer,
takes the Opposing point of view: Once content
to write at least an approximation to pure and
unadulterated light comedy, be some years ago
became obsessed by the notion that, in addition
to his talent in that direction, he was a creature
of puissant brain and that it was his duty, along
with his pleasure, to share its pearls with the
public. From this hallucination there presently
issued not only a quota of pseudo-philosophical
cpera that sorely grieved that portion of the
public whose mental capacities were slightly in

s. Flexner, Eleanor, American Piaywrighis 1918-1938.
fig Simon and Schuster, New York, 1938. p. 249-250
3. Moses, lontrose J., and Krutoh, Joseph Wood, editors,

Representative American Dramas: Natignai and Local.
Little, Brown and Co.,Boston, 1941. p 767.

 

excess of those of the average ballet critic
but, further, a proportion of comedies which
were not satisfied to be merely comedies but.
which deemed it incumbent upon them to include
a variety of solemn passages confiding their
author's profundities on divers cosmic enigmas.
The result was and is a species of entertain-
ment that sacrifices light comedy to heavy
pletitudinizing and that in sum suggests an
undergraduate at a small Methodist college
wildly celebrating the completion of a cribbsd

thesis with a couple of beers.

John Mason Brown, noted Broadway critic and
lecturer, in reviewing Here Come the Clowns, had this

to say concerning the author:

You are conscious of the anguish which has
sent Mr. Barry straying into Pirandello's domains.

Even when you are hopelessly lost, you listen.
And listening, you find yourself pleased by the
play's many proofs that Here Cpme the 0],on is
written by a man who really knows how to write.
He may confuse you. He may be confused himself.
He may have chosen the most elaborate of all
trick ways to arrive at a very simple conclusion.
But he has style. He has perceptive mind. He

is sensitive and adroit. He can put dialogue
‘to uses truly revelatory. And he is a painstaking

craftsman capable of ingenious planning.

With these general criticisms of Barry's writing
in mind, we turn now to specific reviews of Hotpl Universe.

Joseph Wood Krutch, author of many books on the theatre

did not like the play:

The idea is passable and, I believe, suffic-

iently good Freudianism: but what the play needs
Every

desperately is more matter and less art.
incident loses its outlines because every incident

is swathed in layer after layer of fuzzy verbiage
about Life, Death, the Great Beyond, and the fact
announced by a mysterious white cock given to

(
apparently untimely crowings) that 'somewhere it
is always dawn'. The dramatic personae are supposed

to represent the intellectual as well as the social
elite, but they indulge in the most appalling mystical

Nathan, George Jean, The Theatre Book of the Year:194g-

-;§43: §_Record and an Interpretation. Alfred A Knopf,
New York, 1943. P. 123-124

R

chitchat and are responsible for a stream

of discourse upon the surface of which float
fragments of mangled Einstein together with

all sorts of spongy, half-digested or com-
pletely indigestible bits which seem to be

the remains of a meal formerly made upon

some of the more repulsive varieties of New
Thought. Such ideas pass current in Greenwich
Village salons when dusk and cocktails have
combined to elevate the spirits and depress

the judgment, but they are not taken seriously
by captahns of finance and other authentic big-
wigs, unless the upper classes have degenerated
further than even the more earnest satirists
maintain.6

To quote again from John Mason Brown, the follow-

ing is his review of Hotpi Universe, as it appeared
in his column, I'Two On the Aisle', in The New Yorg
Post, on April 15, 1930:

The occasionally fine, often moving, fre-
quently boring, and generally confusing dis-
cussion which is the subject of Hotel Universp
makes as clear as anything else could that Mr.
Barry has a will and a way of his own. It
makes equally clear that he has the courage to
satisfy himself without stooping to any of
those compromises in subject matter or in treat-
ment which are usually made in the hope of sat-
isfying audiences. Certainly he has never shown
a greater willingness to go his way, regardless
of who may care to follow him, than in this
most pretentious of his plays. In Hptel Upiverse
Mr. Barry has not only been intrepid enough to
ask playgoers to remain in their seats for a
full two hours without granting them a single

 

5. Brown,John.Nason, Broadway in Review, W.W.Norton.&
Co., Inc., New York, 1940. p. 166-167.
6. Krutch, Joseph Wood, Thp American Drama Since i9i8:

Ag Iniormp; Histogy. Random House, New York, 1939.
p. 170-171. '

9

moment's recess. He has also been bold
enough to ask them to sit before a play

as unlike the common run of plays as it is
dissimilar to those highly individual and
charming comedies Mr. Barry has written in
the past.

One difference, and a striking one,
between Mr. Barry's former comedies and his
present cosmic discussion springs from the
fact that, where all of Mr. Barry's comedies
in the past were reducible to a main idea
which could be eXpressed in a single sentence,
there is no sentence--indeed no paragraph-
which could hold the ever-wandering ideas of
Hotel Universe. Nor can any first-night re-
view hope to do the play justice. It can
only make a confused record of the soript'e
confusion, while admitting the integrity of
its aim and the frequent highness of its reach.

Instead of arguing any single case, as
he was content to do when he stated the case
of marriage versus art in You and I, or marriage
versus divorce in Paris Bound, or marriage
versus money in Hoiiday, or life versus fiction
in I a Garden, or progressives versus react-
ionaries in White flipgs, Mr. Barry has pondered
in Hotei Universe upon the world's imponderable
questions.

Stirred, as everyone must be at one time or
another, by the “Everlasting Ayes' and 'Nays'
to which all are heir both in and out of college,
he has sought, with the all-too-considerable
aid of Freud, to plumb the mysteries of life,
and see behind its appearances into the complicated
fabric of the human consciousness.

To do this he has chosen the terrace of a
house in southern France which faces on the Med-
iterranean. On to this terrace, this “fantastic
terrace" which reminds people of other places and
of their former selves, he has sent Ann Field
(Katherine Alexander), the girl who owns the house
with her halfamad father (Morris Carnovsky) and
her five guests. They are the Ameses, Tom (Franchot
Tone) who is a Catholic, and his beautiful but
unimaginative wife (Phyllis Povah), whose normal
happy life in her children and her home makes her
already afraid of and puzzled by the strange things

10

which are taking place; Lily Malone (Ruth
Gordon), a little actress who is crazy to
defy her public and play Cordelia; the
completely physical Alice Kendall (Ruthelma
Stevens), who is in love with Norman.Rose,

a Jew (Earle Larimore), and Pat Farley (Glenn
Anders), who is in love with a girl who is
dead and is loved by Ann Field.

Each of these in his or her own way
are samples of the “lucky ones,“ those same
lucky ones out of whom Mr. Barry has built so
many well-dressed comedies in the past. Now,
however, it is disillusionment and unhappiness
which they face, because of the strange spell
this strange place has cast over them. They
are thinking, as Mr. Barry has one of them tell
us, of the estates of man, of his mortal estate,
his imaginative being and the world that lies
beyond the grave. As Mr. Barry also tells us,
“the breezes blow from one to another“ of these
estates. In addition to the threefold world
in which they live, his characters are troubled
with the enigma of time and the consideration
of their own worth.

It is nearly nine o'clock when they begin
talking. But as the time goes by Pat has in-
structed a servant to appear to inform them of
each half hour as it passes, for all of these
guests must take a train at eleven. They are
sitting on the moonlit terrace discussing the
death of an acquaintance. Four out of the six
of them admit they, too, would be willing to die.

Little by little they begin to think back
to their childhoods, turning to the past as so
many of Mr. Barry's characters have done befre.
Finally the three men start playing “under the
piano“ or “under the apple tree,“ chaqing into
boys who are playing at Father Damien, and fight-
ing over “Jew“, “Catholic“ and “heretic“ in what
is the best scene in the play and one of the
best scenes Mr. Barry has written.

From then on Hotel Upiversg, which holds
its own remarkably well for its first hour,
suddenly begins to decline if for no other reason
than that Mr. Barry is faced with the dilemma of
having to solve his questions as well as put them.
-From then on, too, the thinness and the empty

11

pretentiousness of his material begin to show
through the necromancy of his dialogue. For
tortured as he may be, and sensitive and gifted
as he undeniably is, Mr. Barry has not yet ac-
quired the wisdom or the philosophic stature
with which to answer the Sphinx's riddle.

He brings the weird and clairvoyant Mr.
Field on to his terrace, and thereupon his
play begins to slip through his hands-~even
away from his habitual taste-—into obvious
and hackneyed scenes which at times are
amazingly insensitive and silly. His young
peeple, or at least most of them, begin to
see in old Mr. Field the priest, the rabbi,
or the drunken father who has influenced them
in their youth. But the worst of Mr. Barry's
more uncertain scenes is the inexcusable one
in which he has Alice Kendall slip off her
evening gown in the unsubtle attempt to sym-
bolize her desire for Norman Rose.

When old Mr. Field dies, Mr. Barry's young
peOple shake off their pasts, discarding both
their cloying inhibitions and their childhood
memories, all of which leads to Mr. Barry's con-
clusion that whenever there is an end, then
there is a beginning, a conclusion which it
must be confessed does not come as a sufficient
solution to two solid hours of seeking out the
mysteries of life.

Bromidio and sophomoric as are some of the
preachier stretches of the second half of this
unusual and strangely uneven play, Hptel Univergp
is admirably acted by the Guild's acting company
and its guest players. Miss Alexander as Miss
Field, Miss Gordon as the actress, Phyllis Povah
as the wife, Earle Larimore as the Jew, Franchot
Tone as the Catholic, and Glenn Anders as the
egotist, give admirable individual performances,
contributing to an ensemble extraordinary for its
fluidity and general excellence. Morris Carnovsky,
as old Stephen Field, undoubtedly does all that
can be done with a part intrinsically false.

But in spite of the excellence of the acting ,
Mr. Moeller's capable direction and Mr. Simonson 3
excellent atmospheric setting, yes, and in spite
of the general interest and the earlier and better
,portion of the play, Hots; Universe comes as a

12

disappointment. Not that it is not a
brave experiment and a finely sincere
effort, for it is. But that is shows
that, like Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Barry is
happiest when he is not thinking too
deeply.7

The late Montrose J. Moses gives an expert

analysis of the generation which is represented in

Hpiei Univepgg

The younger generation which came out
of the War had its bitter cracks against
everything: they set out to repudiate the
world as it was: they left from their cal-
culations entirely any illusions that might
have been ready at hand for them; they were
not sure of anything, but they were willing
and anxious to think of everything. What
they knew for a certainty was that they had
had enough of what they called the “older
generation“, which had bungled the world
into a great social and economic mess; they
were--in other words-—out on a voyage of new
discovery.

If they had taken anything with them in
their mental kit other than rebellion, they
might not have so easily fallen into morbidity.
If they had been willing to pause by the road-
side, to spend a week-end with themselves as
they were fundamentally, and to chart the seven
seas of existence, they might not have turned
so violently against the life they fina11y<same
to live, after they turned against the life of
the older generation. As I see it, that is the
entire philosophical matrix in Philip Barry's
plays. In {29: Boun “, youth married gains
its experience, becomes ripened in the spirit
of compromise. In “Holiday“, youth fights
against the pressure of life that would stran 1e
hte joie de vivre. In.Hotel Upiverse, youth s
fagged. Barry would substitute a sense of fun
for the vacuous living of the older generation.
“Life is exciting,“ exclaims Youth. I'Life is
an exacting business,“ exclaims the older
generation. Barry's plays have about them the
atmosphere of youthful excitement. In“Hoiiiay“

'7. ‘srown, 33hr; Mason, Twp Op the Aisi ; Ten Years of the
Amerippp Theatre in Performance. I.W.Nortonm& Company,
nc., New ork, 1938. p.159-163.

13

 

 

the exclamation is, “We are all grand at
seventeen.“ What is the disillusionment
in “Hote Univers .“ 7

Plays of the younger generation, with
which we have been deluged for many years
past, all seem to agree upon the restless-
ness of the rebel. “Holiday“ is restless.
But, even though the rebel, who repudiates
the conventions of society, goes out to think
bravely about life, he soon realizes that
thinking about life is not living, and the
two points of view sometimes end in disillus-
ionment. So we have the poignant moments in
“Hotel Universe “

 

After the War, young people looked upon
the world as hideous; they could not square
their own questions with any of the answers
offered by their elders. They became violently
interested in the problems of why they were
here and whither they were going. That is a
typical youthful attitude of the past decade,
of all decades. They have debated the morality
preached in the pulpit and have been witness
to the repudiation of that morality as exploited
in the newspapers. So, the restless group that
Philip Barry introduces in “Hotel Universe“
is but the reflection of that awful drifting
uncertainty into which rebelliousness so often
takes us. Barry's characters express their
doubts because they have only a smattering
connection with the permanent things of the
universe. They distrust any permanency whatso-
ever. They would not work on schedule time
because they wish an untried schedule fer life
of their very own, that would make life worth
living. In “Hoiiday: the hero decides that it
were best for people to let fresh air into life
while it is young; to take a holiday first and to
work afterwards.

In this spirit, young peOple are willing to
risk everything. They are sometimes willing to
risk death, and, in a moment of despondenoy,
they are willing even to take life as a sacrifice.
They do not yet know the value of case; they only
know that they must go quickly through the adven-
ture. One of the characters in “Hots; Univerpp“

l4

contemplates killing himself, and an older,

a wiser bein tells him that things may change --
why do it? e is sufficiently knowing of the
younger generation not to say to this young
person: “You ppy change. In this world there is
a certain law of maturity which comes from ex-
perience; you are in a state of flux; you know
nothing of the certainty of calm.“

Not one of Barry's characters but is thus
drawn rebellious. In most of his dramas, with
a flash or two, he suggests that there is a
practical side to life which, humorous though
it may be in dialogue, serves also its purpose
as a stabilizer of excessive energy. One of his
people says: “While there is life there is rent
to pay“: in itself a wisecrack, but representing
a point of view which might serve to brin back
a rebellious spirit to a point of rest. or a
point of rest is as necessary in life as it is,
according to Ruskin and Coventry Patmore, in art.8

 

8. Moses, op. cit. p. 768-769
15

Chronological List of Plays by Philip Barry.

A mpg 193.; gm, produced by Professor George Pierce
Baker's 47 Workshop, Morosco Theatre, New York,
April 18, 1921.

Zgn 939 i, produced by Richard Herndon, Belmont Theatre,
New York, February 19, 1923.

2pp_ipppgpp1, produced by Robert Milton, Gaiety Theatre,
New York, December 22, 1924.

In A £92322, produced by Arthur Hopkins, Plymouth Theatre,
New York, November 16, 1925.

!piip‘gipgp, produced by Winthrcp Ames, Booth Theatre,
New York, October 15, 1926.

ggpp, produced by The Actors Theatre, Inc., Klaw Theatre,
New York, November 4, 1927.

‘zpyi§_§pppd,prcduced by Arthur Hopkins, Music Hall, New
York, December 27, 1927.

gppy_§ppip, (with Elmer Rice) produced by Guthrie McClintic,
Forty-eighth St. Theatre, New York, January 12, 1928.

Hciiday, produced by Arthur Hopkins, Plymouth Theatre,
New York, November 26, 1928.

igpppi_Universe, produced by The Theatre Guild, Martin Beck
Theatre, New York, April 14, 1930.

T morrow & T orrow, produced by Gilbert Miller, Henry
Miller Theatre, New York, January 13, 1931.

16

2pp_§pipp;,§ingdpm, produced by Gilbert Miller, and
Leslie Howard, Broadhurst Theatre, New York,
January 12, 1932.

Egg Joyppp Season, produced by Arthur Hopkins, Belasco
Theatre, New York, January 29, 1934.

ppigpt St , produced by Arthur Hopkins, Empire Theatre,
New York, October 15, 1935.

m Mfiadapted from a play by Eleanor Golden and
Eloise Barrangon), produced by Jed Harris, Empire
Theatre, New York, August 25, 1936.

19.3.0. 933; 111.9 Clgwns, produced by Eddie Bowling, Booth
Theatre, New York, December 8, 1938.

2gp Philadelphia Stor , produced by The Theatre Guild,
Shubert Theatre, New York, March 29, 1939.

Withouylhpyp, produced by The Theatre Guild, St. James
Theatre, November 10, 1942.

Ipoiisp Nption, produced by The Theatre Guild, Martin
Beck Theatre, March 13, 1945.

17

B. The Technical Value Problems

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Composition
Picturization
Pantomime
Movement

Rhythm

B. The Technical Value Problems.

Following the directing procedure as established
by the Department of Speech, Dramaticaand Radio, the
philosophy of the late Alexander Dean will be used in
the analysis of the directing problems.

The director, according to Dean must deal with
all phases of directing, “dramatic action and dramatic
sound and in terms of the emotional and intellectual
concepts of the author's script."9 The technical values
as he lists them, are the elements which deal with the
visual problems that occur in all plays. The planning
of a stage setting so that the areas will be usable
and then using all of the areas as planned. This is
listed as “Composition.'I As the artist on his canvas
studies, selects and arranges his scene or subjects
so that those seeing his picture will understand it
and be satisfied, so the stage director must do the
same for his audience as they watch his Stage.

But just an arrangement of a scene is not enough in the
theatre. The audience is interested mainly in the
people and what happens to them. Hence the director
must deal with more than mere composition. He must show
relationships between characters and reactions to sit-
uations (picturization), he must supply a certain alunnt

of action to hold interest (movement)and see that this

9: Dean, Alexander, ippdamentals of Play Directing,
Farrar and Rinehart, New York 1941, p.32

18

 

action is done as the characters would do it (panto-
mime). This whole pattern is tied together and
carried forward as a unit by allowing the play to
progress at certain speeds with variations of this
basic speed as the scene demands(rhythm).

Thus,the technical values include what use
the director makes of his factors of composition,
picturization, movement, pantomime, and rhythm.

The specific problems as encountered in Hotel Univerpp
will be discussed in the sections which fellow.

19

1. Composition.

The first factor with which a director finds
himself dealing in analysing a play for the tech-
nical values is “composition.“ According to Dean:
“Composition is the rational arrangement of the
peOple in a stage group through the use of emphasis,
stability, sequence and balance to achieve an
instinctively satisfying clarity and beauty.“10
However, before an arrangement of people can be made,
a satisfactory arrangement of stage areas must be
worked out. This was the first of the major deci-
sions to be made in directing this play.

The setting was planned with definite composi-
tional factors in mind. There were three major areas
in the whole setting: the house where Ann Field, her
father and their guests were living, the terrace
where all of the action of the play takes place, and
the mysterious garden with its strange charm. The
immediate problem was to provide a terrace where two
hours of unbroken action might take place. Again three
major areas were evident. The first area was that of
the intimate, protected action,centered around a piano;
the second was still informal, but more casual,around
the liquor table; the third was the more remote and
mysterious area where fantasy might be revealed

and where unreality might flourish. This

 

10. Ibid, pg. 137.

 

 

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area was conceived, in imagination, as being on a
higher level than the other two.

A few pieces of furniture were specifically
called for in the script, and the rest was left to
the discretion of the director and designer. In
order to get remoteness in the set, three levels
were used. The floor level was planned for the gen-
eral living scenes (area I on floor plan) and the
furniture included the piano, davenport, easy chairs
and coffee table. The second level (area II) contained
the chaise lounge where Alice spent the first one-third
of the play, the liquor table holding a supply of bev-
erages, two chairs, and the portable phonograph. The
third level (area III, upstage right) was almost three
feet above area one, and was large enough to contain
Stephen's chair, a low white bench, and a section of
retaining wall, strong enough to hold Tom.

These three levels were joined by a series ofisteps,
which offered playing areas within themselves, so that
many attractive stage pictures could be used. The light-
ing arrangement was so planned that each area could be
used separately by bringing up and down the lights and
varying the intensities on the areas. This isolation
of area pointed up the separate scenes, yet the set also

lent itself well to full stage use as during the opening

21

scene when all but area three was inhabited, or during
Alice's sleep-walking scene (page 101 of the script),
when every area on the stage was in use.

The flight of steps, stage right, also led to
an even higher level-the balcony which leads into the
remoter sections of the house. The steps were used
primarily for exits, except for the entrance of Alice
asleep and the entrance of Lily as she watched Stephen
and saw, in him, her own father. The upper balcony
was too small an area for much more than a single person
to stand, and consequently little use was made of it.

The characters were kept predominately in the
areas which seemed to be best suited for them. Stephen
played the major portion of his scenes on the highest
terrace level, staying in the range of the lighthouse.
His chair was so placed that he had the emphasis when
he needed it, but could be blocked out during his later
illness and death scenes. Except for the introduction
scene when little of unreality had yet crept into the
play, Stephen did not come away from his area except
when he was portraying another character.

Pat and Ann used all levels going from the very
intimate “Westbury Road“ scene on the davenport, to
the remoter sections of the house and garden. Tom

stayed largely in the first and second areas going into

22

the third area for his one brief climbing scene. Hope,
as the down-to-earth, matter-of-fact member of the party
ventured only as high as area II. Alice wandered into
area III only when in her sleep-walking scene. Other-
wise she spent most of her time reclining on the chaise
lounge in area II. Norman.Rose, tycoon and would-be
intellectual, followed Alice's example by going into
area III only once. He is content to stay in areas I
and II with a brief scene on the balcony toward the end
of the script.

Lily made free use of the lower two areas and the
stairs as already noted. Only when she realized what
Stephen had done in breaking the spell in which she was
caught, did she work into area III and then only for a
brief moment. Felix was kept as the one normal note
in the play and consequently he never ventured above
area two, although he did appear once on the balcony.

The stage as visualized worked well in the practi-
cal application of production. As the two-some scenes
followed each other, the change of area, together with
the change of lighting kept the interest of the audience
alive. The furniture arrangement within these areas
also aided in getting variety into the scenes, as well
as aiding in pointing up the emphatic character or line.

’As is apt to be true in plays which stress characters

23

Ital: 11'...»th

and ideas, the composition problems are not per-
plexing. An adequate arrangement of the set is
needed but beyond that this factor offered few

barriers.

' 24

2. Picturizaticn.

Picturization adds the actor's contribution
to the scene. According to Dean picturization is
defined as 'the visual interpretation of each moment
of the play. It is the placing of characters so
as to suggest their mental and emotional attitudes
toward one another so that the dramatic nature of
the situation will be conveyed without the use of
dia10gue or movement."11 This is the play as viewed
through the closed glass doors of the lobby--action
without words.

Fortunately for the director, ggtg; Universe
offers but few picturization problems. The ensemble
scenes are few and far between, and those are obvious
in their intent. The play Opens with a scene in which
all of the characters on stage re relaxing. There is
an air of uneasiness and slight antagonism among the
guests. This was accomplished by having the two lower
areas used by seated actors. Each was in a little
section by him or herself. HOpe, in the down right chair.
Pat st the piano. Ann at one end of the davenport,
with Tom at the other. Alice stretched out in her
lounging chair, Lily at the right of the liquor table
and Norman seated at the foot of the garden steps.

Little change in general feeling was necessary and

 

ll. Ibid, pg.203
25

except for an occasional cross to give distance
between characters, no special picturization problems
arose.

The Norman.Rose hour needed a little dramatizing.
The principals in the little scene were shifted to the
liquor table which became a stage. Here Pat and Tom
acted out their little drama to the general amusement
of observers Alice, Norman, Lily, Ann and Hope, who
settled down on Opposite sides of the stage where a
better view might be gained. The two actors held the
center of attention until the scene was broken by Tom
moving away from the table and Norman coming over to
it.

The scenes between the unreal sequences needed
very little picturization because of their simple story-
telling nature. All that was necessary was to arrange
the group into positions which indicated conversation
or story-telling. The same applied to the scenes with
only two actors, either real or unreal. They were
placed in a general conversational relationship, that
plainly conveyed the meaning to the audience.

In the little boy scene, the three boys are brought
down into the downstage left area, again for the purpose
of separating them from the onlookers, and yet keeping

“them visible to all. There they assumed the character-

36

 

 

istic positions of small boys--sitting on the floor.

As two of the boys ganged up on the third, or as all
three were bickering against each other, their various
relationships were suggested by two of them getting to-
gether to exclude the third or by all three remaining
equidistant apart, pointing at each other, or turning
away as the occasion demanded. As Pat and Tom started
to fight, Norman was shoved aside, giving the boys
plenty of room for action. When the onlookers realized
that they were really fighting in earnest, the group
broke up to separate the two, forming two decided
factions. In the action immediately following, Ann
served as a unifying force as she moved to the other
group and then back to Pat.

The next two scenes through the Lily-Pat and the
Pat-Ann scenes were twosome sequences as mentioned
above, needing very little along the picturization line.

The next problem was to show how the group felt
toward Stephen upon his introduction. Ann, as his de-
voted daughter, stayed by him, to perform the intro-
ductions. Stephen had to stay near the center because
the guests' reactions to him had.to be visible to the
audience. He was the focus of all attention and as
such, symbolized visibly his role as the pivot around

which all of them would come to revolve.

27

 

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As the play advanced to Alice's sleep-walking
scene, four peOple's reactions were shown by pictur-
'ization. Alice was shown as being released from all
inhibitions, which sent her to an area completely
away from the rest of the group. The first person to
go to her was Ann, representing Stephen and his phil-
osOphical release. The other person to go to her was
Norman, the man who loved her and whom she loved.
Pat's violent reaction to this unusual display of
freedom is to turn his back completely on her, unable
to stand such a bearing of soul.

The next scene, presenting much of Stephen's
philosophy, needed care in the placing of Stephen so
that he would be the center of interest and so that
the rest could listen comfortably. He was placed on
a higher level almost in the center, with Ann again
nearby, and the guests arranged around the stage.

' The Hope-Tom scene brought the two in close con-
tact while Stephen was a separate force over at the
other side of the stage. As Tom realized that his
cause was hopeless, he moved away to the wall. It was
significant, too, that even when Stephen showed her
where her weakness lay, Hepe did not go to Tom but
was distracted by Lily's call and went into the garden.

, For the Father Francis sequence, the picturization

28

was inherent--that of the kneeling boy giving his con-
fession to the aged priest.

When Norman talked to Mr. Sterner, the chair was
empty for two reasons: Stephen had just had a spell
of dizziness and it would be inconsistent for him to
get right up and move to another area, and it pointed
up even more in this brief sequence that this was
the voice of Norman's conscience, telling him that
he wanted money in the first place to gain the free-
dom he thought went with it, and making him realize that
now that he did have money he should take advantage of
the limited amount of freedom that it did offer.

The Lily-Pat scene started, after the ballet,
with Lily's crossing to her father and welcoming him
with an enthusiatic embrace. She stayed beside him
until he asked for a drink, and she had to go to the
liquor table to fix it. For the Cordelia sequence,
the dramatization was all exaggerated, with many sweeps
and flourishes and the two moved to a new area to set
a small stage for their skit. As the father became
more intoxicated, he crossed to the liquor table and
Lily stayed a short distance away. In the part which
followed, when the father was shouting at the hysterical
Lily, the only time she went to him was to beg him to

be gentle. His only answer was to threaten to strike her.

29

She backed away from him and stayed away for the rest
Of the scene, showing that the illusion was breaking.

The Pat-Ann and the Pat-Mr. Carr scenes were the
twosomes mentioned before. In the next to the last
scene, as the guests were assembling, preparatory to
leaving, each entered still showing somewhat, some
effect Of his unreal scene. Gradually as they worked
their way back to reality, they assumed practically
the same stage positions as in the Opening scene.
This tied the whole play together, giving almost the
idea that perhaps all of this never happened at all
except in the people's imagination.

The curtain picture was of Pat and Ann, realiz-
ing that with the crowing Of the cook, a new dawn is
breaking for them. Ann, remembering that one life
must end when another begins, turned to the area of
her father, knowing he was dead even before she saw
him. With the hand that she once held out to her
father, now held out to Pat, the curtain fell, with
Ann and Pat starting out together, alone, and yet

with the influence of Stephen still around them.

 

3. Pantomimic Dramatization

Much of the very important "three-dimensional"
quality is given to a play by the little details of
business and pantomime which each actor uses as he
goes through his characterization. This is called
"pantomimic dramatization", about which Dean says:
"Pantomime is action without words. By action is meant
a sequence of facial expressions, gestures, hand Oper-
ations, and body positions and movements that, absorbed
from life, is used imaginatively by the actor and the
director to tell something about the elements of char-
acter, situation, locale, and atmosphere of a play.

If these elements are made clear without the use of
dialogue, they are dramatized by pantomime. This pro-

cess is called "pantomimic dramatization."12

Hotel Universe had very few pantomime problems

 

other than those found in the usual play. The handling
of the coffee cups, the drinking from and the handling
of the liquor glasses, the smoking of cigarettes, and
business with magazines and letters are found in pract-
ically every modern play, and were executed in this play
with little difficulty.

Where pantomimic dramatization did help the most

 

12. Ibid, pg. 297
51

was in the unreal scenes, since the properties and fur-
niture available on the terrace had to suffice for all
Of the different places and situations represented. In
the Norman Rose hour, all of the typical movements and
actions of the "big business“ man were exaggerated for
a comedy effect-the swaggering step, the lungs for
the secretary, the fear Of authority, as represented
by Pat's throwing his coat open to show an imaginary
badge. One of the most amusing moments was Tom's tele-
phone conversation, using a long mixing spoon for a
telephone-holding the end as he turns to speak to Pat,
and slamming it down at the end of the conversation.

The two fantasy scenes where older people went
back to their childhood presented the problem of getting
the actors of college age to take on the characteristic
gestures, body positions, and facial eXpressions of
youth. In the little boy scene, all three of the men
had to become boys of about ten years-—boys who would
be fascinated by Old sticks,who wOuld lock with eager-
ness and dread for leprosy, and I'pals" who would cut
a third person out-all this in young boys' favorite
position, squatting on the floor.

In the Lily-Pat sequence, Lily had to become a
young, imaginative girl of thirteen, full of big dreams

"of becoming a dancer, and absolutely worshiping this

32

wonderful man who is her father. Then she had to

show a change to growing fear of this drunken.man

who is also her father and from there, the pro-
gression into deep disgust and hate--all as a thirteenp
year-old girl.

Pantomimic dramatization was given special use
in only two other scenes. When Norman is in his land
of unreality, he goes back to being a Jewish peddler
and his business of trying to sell the fur rug to the
imaginary customers was quite typical of the East side
Jewish merchant. As Tom turns to Father Francis, he
automatically goes into the confessional ritual of the
Catholic church--the hands folded, the crossing, and
the kneeling. Special attention was given to these
smaller details which give depth to the characterizations

and to the entire play.

33

4. Movement.

figtgg Universe is a play primarily of character-
ization and Of idea, with very little inherent action.
Since the setting was completely different from the
one originally used on Broadway, the action recommended
by the author, outside of the barest fundamentals, could
not be used. So this director's foremost contribution
was in blocking in the movement to suit the setting,
interpretation, and cast. The play will not be analyzed
to justify the movement which was used.

The first scene extends from the beginning Of the
play to Ann's entrance (p. 17 of the script-—Part II).
Seven peOple were on stage as the curtain Opened, and
since the lines were very brief, mostly eXpository,
and shift rapidly from one person to another, little
movement other than the absolutely essential was deemed
necessary. HOps was taking her coffee in the chair
downstage right; Pat was at the piano, strumming out
his mournful tunes, Ann was seated on the right end
Of the sofa, with the coffee service in front of her;
Tom was sitting to the left Of Ann on the sofa; Alice,
:naturally was in the easiest chair on the terrace, the
one with a hassock, where she cOuld really relax. Lily

was seated at the liquor table, probably prefering liquor

l“

34

.' 'Al‘flul."

 

to cOffee anyway; and Norman was sitting on the garden
steps over at the left. Even though all the people are
under somewhat of an emotional strain, they have learned
to keep themselves pretty much under control and present
an outward picture Of relaxation, even though inwardly
tense. Ann's entrance broke into this strained scene,
and served to lighten and to change the mood. She was
determined to be the charming hostess, so she began
talking the moment she came in, on any subject that
presented itself, just so long as it was bright and gay.
The action, following this, until just before the
Norman Rose scene, was just as needed by the script,
such as the entrance of the butler, the crossing to the
liquor table and back, and Tom's business with Pat's
letters. Since the Norman Ross scene had to be played
around the liquor table, Lily had to move from there
to leave it free. Consequently, when she sprang up in
anger at Norman, she moved over to the piano, to get
away, physically as well as mentally, from his ridicule.
Then Norman crossed over to give his theory of life in
general and his own in particular, leaving most Of area
11 free for the next scene. Tom crossed from the sofa
up to the liquor table, with an exaggerated stride in
his version of “big business”, with Lily following,
“mimicking his stride, with imaginary notebook poised for

35

Ire!

dictation. And so into the sprightly little scene
of play-acting.
At the end of the scene, Tom, as the broken
Norman Rose, hulked over to the piano stool, amidst
the laughter of the onlookers, and the real Norman
laughingly said he'd resign, as he crossed over to
the liquor table and sat down beside Pat. Throughout
the following scene when suicide was the main subject ?

of discussion, very little movement was necessary again

V‘" _- “‘
i _

because of the nature Of lines. Because Lily went
right around the group, asking each his ideas on suicide,
the lines to Ann were changed to follow Pat's in logical
sequence, according to the way the group was seated.
Tom's lines (p. 49 of the script-Part II) which
led into the little boys scene, began to reveal a little
Of the influence of this strange Old house and some-
what Of a premonition Of what may follow. For that
reason he went, for just a few lines, up to the highest
level and from there even to the tOp of the wall, be-
fore he came down to the floor level in front Of area
II, to get into the scene with Pat and Norman. Hope,
however, never could reach Tom either spiritually or
mentally, so, even when she went to stop him, she
never got above the floor level.

As the fight stopped, Lily had moved over to the

36

right, Out Of the way. Alice was disturbed but not
enough to move, Ann, Hope, and Norman were stepping

the fighters, and Ann made Pat sit in the center chair
and stood beside him. Hope pulled Tom down to sit on
the first level, where she could comfort him. After
Ann and the butler had gone, Lily came out of her
corner once to give her interesting fact regarding

the invention of polo. Getting no response from any-
one, she retired to her chair to await a more Opportune
moment.

As HOps started to follow Tom into the house to
pack, she shows her confused and bewildered mind by
the many starts and.stOps. To motivate Pat's getting
out of his down center chair and over onto the sofa,
near Lily, for the next scene, he crossed to the liquor
table, mixed two drinks, and brought one to Lily, all
the time talking or listening to HOps.

The Pat-Lily scene was relatively short and the
first break did not need to come until Lily asked Pat
to think_abput whether he was attracted to her or not.
He got up from the sofa, and in mock seriousness, try-
ing to cover real seriousness, he crossed around in
back and over to the left end of the sofa. From there,
he leaned over Lily and kissed her. She clung to him

a moment, then broke away--completely away--down right

37

to the foot of the stairs. It was there that she re-
vealed the one thing that had been worrying her most-
the fact that she could not feel love for anyone--much

as she wanted to. But she immediately changed the
emphasis from herself to Pat, crossed to the sofa, and
was there when Alice cameout on to the balcony, to

give her plant line about being ill. As Lily went up

the stairs to help Alice, Pat crossed to return the
glasses to the table, which gave him a chance to change
to a new area for the next scene u up onto the second i”
level and the inter-area space. .

Ann came up to Pat and caught him on the second
level, about center, upstage, but as he started toward
the house to call the others, she tried to stop him
and they worked down-stage, ending up just about center
stage on the first level, to play their scene with the
pendant. Then Ann broke away from him, unable to stand
the thought of his not loving her as much as she loved
him. Then she forgets herself again, in her earnestness
at wanting to help him, and when he had kissed her hand,
she clung to even his hand in an effort to get him to
tell what it was that had happened to him, to make him
change 30.

Determined to be completely honest with him, Ann
told Pat of the story behind her hunch and cable of three

38

years before. It was hard to tell such a revealing
incident straight into his eyes, so she moved down

to the right arm of the sofa, while Pat crossed over

to the hassock. But, when she had finished, she had

to go to him again, to plead that he confide in her,
and then, because she knew somehow what was going to
happen, to tell him honestly that she would find

out, anyway. In breaking away from him, after his out-
burst against the day-to-day type of existence, Ann
crossed up to the highest level so that, with the
complete change of mood and situation, the very unp
real scene in which Ann played Pat's mother could

be played up there, at a distance from the audience,
from the rest Of the tables and chairs, from everything
that represents reality.

As the scene was broken, Pat came down to the
floor level and thus sharply cutting the mood with his
deep cynicism and bitterness. It was just as Ann sudd—
enly realized that Pat believed the only solution to
his problem lay in suicide, that Stephen, Ann's father,
entered bringing with him his very steadying and calm-
ing influence. Pat felt this breath of calmness, and
went back to the wall to contemplate what the future
held for him.

As each of the other guests came in, the air of

39

‘1‘

psacefulness surrounding Stephen, gradually took hold
Of them. Each was reminded of something or someone
in his past. Tom and Hope were the first on. They
came on arguing and stOpped all Of a sudden when they
saw Stephen. It was as if they realized that their
quarrels were so petty, in comparison to the greater, .
deeper ideas personified in Stephen. They were intro-
duced and went over to the left, out of the way of the

succeeding entrances. Lily came down the stairs and

‘4 —e

also stopped in the middle of a sentence at the sight
of Stephen, who reminded her so of her own father. As
though some force was drawing it out of her, she told
how wonderful her father was, how good he was to her,
and then, as she came the rest of the way down the
stairs, she revealed that he had deserted her mother
and had really been just a drunken ham-actor. As
she finished her story , she sank bewildered, into
the closest chair--beside the piano. Norman was the
next one in, stOpping just inside the lower door.
Stephen went over to meet him, to greet him and to
bring him into the group by showing him to the sofa.
All was in readiness for the first scene fantasy.
Alice, oddly enough, was the first one to step
over the border into anOther, freer realm, when she

came down the stairs and, in her dreaming sleep,

40

crossed up to the part of the stage which was nearest
to that other realm. There she played her scene, pass-
ing from one time to another, in one minute to another,
until Norman gained her confidence enough to take her
back up to her room.
Then, as each of the listeners interpreted what
.he heard according to his own life, Stephen sXplained
some of the ideas which he had figured out, in his
years away from civilization. Symbolizing the fact
that he was closer to Death than to Life he moved from
the second level, behind the sofa, to the higher third
level, where his chair had been placed, so that he
could watch the light-house and the shoreless sea beyond.
As Lily stepped toward him, when she thought with
love of her father, Stephen realized what he must do to
free her from this unnatural Obsession and he sent her
to the garden, to more or less wait her turn. He knew,
too, that Pat's help had to come from Ann so he asked
them to return to the time that was not too long ago-
to Westbury Road, where they first met. But they, too,
had to wait their turn-—first came Hope and Tom.
The revelation to Tom that Hops was a woman he
loved, rather than the mother he had grown so used to
expecting, had to show forth not in passionate kisses,

-but in sincere and devoted embraces. The area, on the

41

first level, was dimmed down with lighting, but care
still had to be taken that the gentleness and purity
Of Tom's love were predominant. SO he had the gentle,
tender touches-~holding her face in his two hands to
view this wonderful new person, gently taking her hair
down, and kissing the back of her neck. This new
devotion, however, did not come through to Hope, who
still as she left, spoke to Tom as a mother would to

a child. -

In the Father Francis scene which followed, there
was no Opportunity for big movement, so all of the small
gestures had to be emphasized. The prOgress of Tom's
working through his problem was shown in his movements:
first the familiar position of confession, next the
break-down into his hands, then the looking up to the
priest for guidance and help, Father Francis' answers
and explanation, and finally Tom's standing upon his OWn
two feet, as he saw the solution to his confusion.

When Norman came in, he had reverted to the sharp,
short daning movements, one usually associates with
small-time Jewish clerks. But when he made the decision
to become a runner in a bank, to become free of the 'eked-
out' living he was making, his stride took on new firmness
and he went off whistling.

The scene between Lily and Stephen as her father,

42

had the most movement of any of the scenes-in the
first part because the child-Lily would be restless
and unquiet, and then later, because the scene became
of a wild, somewhat brutal nature. Lily was crossing
from the garden to the house, when the sound of music
stOpped her, and she started her ballet exercises, As
her father called her, she ran to him, and the first
part of the scene was played on the first level. When

Stephen, as the actor, cried out that maybe she wasn't

his daughter at all, because she hadn't drunk the V
liquor, she did the scene from King Lear. Here she
knelt in deepest love to her father, in direct contrast
to later, when she knelt in absolute fright and terror
to plead with him to be gentle with her. From the time
that Stephen crossed up to the liquor table to the end
of the scene, he remained on the level above Lily, to
give him the advantage of height, in playing her domin-
eering and drunken father. Even when she was screaming
out her hate and disgust, it was from a lower level, at
this figure that had been towering over her for so long.
At the height of Lily's fury, Pat could be heard in the
house calling for Mary, and Stephen, realizing that
Lily had been helped, knew there was very little time
left to finish his work on this earth, and he sent her

away. HOps had watched the latter partwof the scene from

43

the garden steps. She could not understand that Stephen
had.been doing this for Lily's own good. She thought
only that he had been de-bunking this man Lily loved
too long and too well, and she ran into the house to
comfort Lily as best she could.

As Ann and Pat went into the rs-enaetment of their
:neeting at Westbury Road, Stephen was in the background,
in his chair, and though he could not be seen, his in-
fluence and spirit could be felt throughout. The short
lines of this scene were very natural and needed little ;4
action to help them sound spontaneous. As they were
leaving, Ann stepped up to the first level and the
added effort caused her ankle to give way. As Pat caught
her, her nearness was too much to bear, and he kissed
her. It was this kiss that broke the mood for Pat, and
he thought again of Mary and Of England and, forgetting
completely about Ann, started for the house. Ann saw
that she had lost him again to the dead girl and deject-
edly went back to the garden.

Stephen, realizing that there was one last person
to straighten out before he could leave, called Pat back,
appearing as a combination Of the fathers of the two
girls Pat loved. He, Stephen, stayed up on the highest
level through this whole scene because Death was to near.
Pat, when he believed he wanted Mary, stayed next to the
house, which represented for him England and all the ties

44

 

which have bound him to his dead love. When he re-
alized that it was Ann he was looking for, he turned
toward the garden, which represented the freedom and
quietude and complete serenity of Ann's love. Then

his love for Ann became all mixed up with the story of
Mary and again he almost convinced himself that suicide
was the answer. It was Stephen's telling him the hard
truth about his egocentric "picture', which showed him
that suicide would be taking the coward's way out--
that in order to live with himself, even in the world
beyond life, he would have to show the courage and
fortitude latent in each of us, to face life as it comes,
and to live it out in the fullest way to its fullest ex-
tent. Even then he sank to the steps, knowing how hard
it would be by himself. But suddenly Ann called to him
and from his line, 'I'll find you this time." We knew
that it had been Ann that he really had been seeking

all the time-even when he was calling for Mary.

Knowing now that his work on earth was over and
that his time for departure had come, Stephen was not
loathe to leave. He and Death were old friends; he
knew his destination and he was not afraid.

As the guests began to assemble, each revealed
the effect of the extraordinary events of these last
two hours, but none of them was quite sure what exactly

had happened. All were back in the very real, very

45

substantial world of tables and chairs, so they stayed
down in areas I and II. It was not until Tom thought

he had found the answer in the tales about Hotg;,Unive;§§
and.mentioned Ann's father, that Lily connects the two,
and crosses up to behind the big chair. There she
realized not only the death of Ann's father, but the end
of this‘terrible obsession which had held her in its

grip to tightly that she had used it for support.

The time was getting late and the guests hurriedly
took their leave, especially at Lily's insistence. She
wanted them all to leave before the discovery of the
death of this fine man who had played so many parts to
help each of these travelers solve the problems of his
life.

As Lily turned briefly to give a mute farewell to
this man who had been for a little, her father, we knew
that she was leaving more than any of the rest. But
she is hard; she will survive, and, because of this
eXperience, next year will play a very real and under-
standing Cordelia.

So Pat and Ann were left to begin their new life
tagether. This dawn was heralded strikingly by the
crowing of Stephen's pet rooster. With the words,
"Wherever there is an end...from it springs the beginn-
ing.‘ it came to Ann that since their life together was

_just beginning, someone's life must be at an end. She

46

takes a step up to her father's chair, realized that
he had already gone, and then turned with the hand
that had, in the past, reached out to Stephen, now
extended to Pat.

47

 

5. Rhythm.

One of the most important of the technical values
of which to be aware when directing a play is rhythm.
Dean defines rhythm as I'the eXperience that we receive
when a sequence of impressions auditory or visual, has
been ordered into a recurrence of accented groups.“
(Ibid. p 284) The author must think in terms of rhythm
when he is writing the play-in the lines, in the locale
and atmosphere and in the characters-and the director
must think of rhythm in interpreting the play as the
playwright sees it. In‘flgtg; U iverse, there are three
different rhythm patterns for the director to be conscious
of: the casual, light-hearted, wise-cracking reality,
the deep, philosOphical seriousness, and the unusual,
imaginative fantasy. The first is bright, quick super-
ficial, with Lily taking the lead. This is her field,
and she shines with her clever quips and her 'cafe‘
society“ humor. The second is, of course, mostly Stephen's,
since all of the philosophy revolves around him. This
has the deep, regular recurrence and resonance of a big
bell. The play slows down while Stephen is explaining
his theories of life and time and space, but it gains in
meaning and import. The casualness of the first rhythm
and the seriousness of the second have to be delicately
balanced by the director so that each dose not lean too

'far in one direction or the other. The third rhythm is

48

one of unreality. Sometimes this was obtained by using
the slow measured beat of the sleep-walking scene, some-
times as a contrast it was possible to use a very real,
down-to-earth flow of conversation with the situation
providing the unreality. However it is done, the
audience must be fully aware of what is going on even

if they don't know hpw,

It was possible in £932; Universe to use several
different ways of physically obtaining rhythm. The re-
current light fromthe lighthouse on the Ile de Port-
Cros all through the latter half of the play, symbolizes
the passage of time, and the beat and pulse of life
that is all around. Music, having such an obvious rhythm
itself, always helps in the tempo of a play, and music
was used in both of the Pat-Ann scenes and in the Lily-
Pat scene. In the latter, the movements of the ballet
brought a rise and fall which steadily built up to the
climax, when the music stopped dead and Lily carried
on alone, with no support. The regular appearance of
the butler not only pointed up the passage of time but
also provided a break of complete sanity and normality
into which ever of the scenes that he came in.

As was said before, Stephen in characterization,
represents the philosophical. He is a calming, quieting
influence but perhaps too close to the other world to

meet these very-much-of-this-world group of people, so

49

the author has put in Ann, his daughter-—raised by him,
living under the influence of his ideas, yet young
enough and human enough to serve as a bridge between
the realm he represents and the estate of the here and
now. Ann is most completely a blending of all three of
the basic rhythms of the play. Pat, on the other hand,
has the capacity for all of them but seems incapable of
finding himself or the answers he is looking for in any
but the first. He rejects Stephen's philosOphy as not
applicable, and he takes the third as a child would-
without question and without understanding. He seems,
more or less, to let the tide carry him where it will;
he will neither swim against it nor argue about where
it's taking him.

Lily, as Barry's favorite type of sophisticated
humor personified, stands out as the leader of the wit-
and-humor department. She is bright, stacatto, and timed
to the second. But having the imagination necessary to
be the actress that she is,she is the most pliable and
most easily susceptible to the spell that Stephen en-
folds around her. It is an easy thing for her to fall
into the childhood rhythms of the dance in her scene with
her father.

Tom Ames is like Pat in many ways. He too, is con-
fused by this new world which has been thrust upon the
younger generation by their elders. He is groping for

an answer somewhere away from that which he has known--

50

not realizing it might lie in his own wife. He, unlike
Pat, cannot accept the fantastic transition back to his
childhood, without some sort of orplanation. He thinks
it might hold the solution. Hope, his wife, has none
of the imagination necessary to understand the happen-
ings of the evening. She wants things to remain like
she is--calm, natural, clearly transparent, steady and
even, and permanent. '

Alice hasn't the intelligence to take in any of
what is going on, nor does she want to. She is slow-
moving, lazy, completely indifferent, and she knows
how to make the most of her feminine charms.. Norman
brings in the mental factor, with his reasoning, his
figuring everything down to a fine point, and even in
his recalled scene, where he thinks only in terms of
money, and power and influence.

Even Felix, the butler, brings in a rhythm of his
own--the completely sane, rational, stable feeling of
permanence and down-to-earthness.

The Opening scene opens at a rather unusually
high state of tension. Lily takes it to an even higher
state on her description of the suicide dive of the
week before, but the exposition necessary at the first
of a play, begins and the scene slows down while the
audience is informed of the background. Ann’s entrance

”comes as a definite spark to lift the scene with bright-

51

ness and small talk. With such a beginning, the scene
goes even higher with the Norman Rose hour, ending in
high hilarity. As a break between this play-acting
scene and the next, Barry has inserted the beginnings
of the philosophic angle: the brief revelation of some
of the reasons for the bewilderment and confusion, and
the discussion of suicide—~pro and con.

The little boy scene-—childlike-kept building up
in temp, until Pat and Tom are carried away literally
and end up fighting each other for all they're’worth.
This is at a high pitch and the audience needs relief
hence, the next scene necessary, also, to get everyone
off the stage. The Lily-Pat scene, though intense,
is low in pitch and in tempo and it blends right into
the Pat-Ann scene that follows. The rhythm slows down
even more to a very measured beat in the sequence when
Ann plays Pat's Mother, then very suddenly breaks and
rises to a new high on the climax of the scene, when
Ann realizes that Pat is heading toward suicide.

The introduction of Stephen brings with it calmness
and reassurance and we start into a downward swing through
the measured beat again of Alice's sleep-walking scene
and into Stephen's eXplanation of his phiIOBOphy. In
the Hope and Tom scene, there is a brief rise as HOps
works herself up in trying to keep her dignity, then
mthe philoBOphic mood takes over again for the Father

Francis scene. Norman's short scene with Mr. Sterner

52

starts the rhythm back to the higher state. The Lily-
Pat scene begins on the way up--with the music and
the childlike Lily doing her ballet dance and keeps on
going up to the high peak of the whole play when she
screams her hate out at her father. The second Ann-Pat
scene, though full of youth and gaity, is definitely a
diminishing scene. Even Pat's brief flareeup with Mr.
Field has little more than a momentary rise. As the
rest of the guests assemble, the play is slowing down.
Each in his own way has solved his problem and things
are going to be different from now on. As the play
slowly settles, it seems almost to start up again with
the sound of the cock crow--a note of hOpe and the

dawn of a new day.

53

Graphic Representation of the Rhythm of Hotel Universe

 

 

 

 

Scene Intensity of Rhythm
Low,slow Medium High,fast

Opening scene

to Ann's entrance

(ppgifl7) _f, -_l_
Ann's entrance to \\\\

Norman Rose scene

(pp. 17-30)

 

 

 

 

PhilOSOphic scene
(pp. 35-50)

Norman Rose scene ‘//I

 

 

Little boy scene 3
(pp. 50-60)

Brief explanatory

. scene

(pp. eo-ee)

 

 

(pp. 66-75)

Lily-Pat scene ‘“~“ ”(7

 

Pat-Ann scene 1‘\I
(pp. 76.94)

 

\\
Stephen's instroduction
(pp. 94-100)

 

 

 

Stephen's philosophy

Alice's sleep-walking
scene
(pp. 101-105) .
(pp. 105-111) \

 

HOps-Tom-Stephen
scene
(pp. 111-114)

 

Father Francis
scene
(pp. 1147119)

"Norman-Mr. Sterner
scene .
, (pp. 120-122)

54

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene

Low

 

Lily-Pa scene
(pp. 123—132)

Intensity of Rhythm
,algw Med H

 

Second Pat-Ann
scene
(pp. 133-146)

 

 

Pat-Mr. Carr
scene

(pp. 146-151)

 

 

Final ensemble scene
(pp. 152-164)

\

 

 

Final scene,
:Pat and Ann
(pp. 165-166)

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

Dramatic Value Problems

An analysis of the Author's
Purpose in Hotel Universe.

The Author's use of Action.
The Author's use of Dialogue.

The Author's use of Character

1. An Analysis of the Author's Purpose in
Hgtgl,Universe.

As the director deals with the general technical
value problems that arise in every play, he must also
consider what the author is trying to say, or do, or
prove, in writing the specific play. What is the pur-
pose for which this play is written.

The author may have an interesting story to tell
of what happened to Jones When this set of circumstances
occurred. If so his effort will be considered a story or
plot play. He may have in mind the telling of what
happened to one member of the Jones family, with emphasis
on the peculiarities or differences of said Mr. Jones.

If this is his purpose he has written a character play.
Or taking the Jones family as an illustration the author
may draw a lesson, preach a message, or underline an idea.
If so he has written an 'idea' play.

With this emphasis on story, character or idea in
mind, the playwright may go a step further and invade the
field of comedy, tragedy, melodrama, fires, or serio-
drama . These forms have come down to the theatre from
earliest times, and the playwrights of each generation
have turned to the general type of plays to leave the
stamp of their own period on the history of drama.

The modern playwrights have experimented with the

~-established forms of the past to bring a new note into

57

 

 

 

‘ I1], :’ ‘I. ‘

 

the theatre. Some of the authors have been more in-
ventive than others, and the “new" in drama has resulted.

Except for H232; Universe, Philip Barry has been
a conservative author. His one break with custom in
this play is to run the action continuously for the full
two house, in an effort to sustain the mood which he has
created. Beyond this one break, the play follows the
usual trend.

Before a director can proceed to the lesser details
he must determine what the anthor is trying to say, and
then determine the form in which the idea is placed.
Going back to the discussion of emphatic elements and
types of plays, H933; Universe would come under the broad
classification of a serio-drama. There is a mixture of
comedy and tragedy with a tendency toward the comedy side.
Life is righted for all concerned as the play ends, and
yet death has come for the leading character.

Specifically, Mr. Barry is trying to prove that
there is a rightness to life no matter how confused and
nonplussed man may become. To prove his point he has
used six very different but representative types of
people whose lives have become tangled either by out-
side or by inner circumstances. They meet a represent-
ative of the 'higher power' who has an insight into
'God, Man and the Universe“, and by reasoning together,

-the complications suddenly disappear and life once more

58

 

 

1
1
1
L l
i:
i:
Kan-n
I
l

 

has a rightness about it.
The major emphasis in the play is on the ideas
as illustrated by the characters. The weakness of‘the

play lies in its thinness of plot.

59

2. The Author's Use of Action Within the Script.

Once the director has determined the author's
underlying purpose in writing the play, he turns to
the script for suggestions as to how to interpret
the ideas advanced. One of the major aids which the
playwright will give is the action which is inherent
within the play or within the lines of the play. Any
play, if it moves forward at all, must do so on the
action which the author provides. Very often, this
action is the all important part of the script, as in
plays which stress the story element. On the other
hand, the author may be so anxious to state his theme
or draw his characters, that the action is secondary
and, in some cases, all but forgotten.

Mr. Barry has provided a minimum of inherent
action in H232; Universe, As was pointed out in the
discussion of Movement under the section on Technical
Values, this director's chief contribution was providing
activity which would dramatize the play. There is some
action whichhas been provided, however and the detailed
analysis of that action is as follows:

As has already been stated, the author's purpose
in presenting this play, is to offer to a confused and
bewildered generation the value of faith and understand-
ing and belief in varied forms. He has used a theatrical

trick in solving his problem, by giving his chief character,

60

Stephen, the power of the "beyond“ in showing to his
guests what actually happened or what might have been.
The main inherent action lies in these so-called.
fantasy sequences, or in the playpwithin-a-play se-
quences. There is little action in the opening expos-
itory scene. The first real action comes in the Norman
Rose hour when mock heroics move the characters about.
Exits and entrances are few in the first quarter of the
play. The talk of philosophy and suicide calls for
little action, and not until Tom begins to feel the
eeriness of the terrace and imagines a different place
and time, does action really start. His climb to the
high wall and his descent to 'under the apple tree'
mark the first major changes. Immediately following,
the three boys-Tom, Pat, Norman--go into their “little
boy' sequence and here the action reverts to huddling
on the floor, sitting crosslegged, rising to knees,

and finally into a friendly scuffle which goes into a
full-fledged fight. For the first time the stage is
alive with action. The fighters are separated, and peace
is restored between the warring factions.

Little action is needed in the twosome scenes that
follow, other than the exits and entrances--the slight
movement as the terrace starts weaving its spell. The
entrance of Stephen and the return of all the guests

motivates some movement involving the action of intro-

61

ductions, and the placing of guests. The scene of Lily
and her reaction to Stephen carries little movement
except that of coming down stairs. As Alice enters,
the scene shifts. She is sleep-walking and her wander-
ing carries her to the highest level. Here even in her
sleep, she reaches out to both Ann and Norman, to show
that she will always need support from someone else--
she will never be independent to the extent that the
others are. Ann, representing the philosophic world

of her father, crosses to her to try to quiet her and
get her to go back to bed, and Norman, the one she
loves, goes to her, eager to protect her and to give
her the support that she needs. In the moment when she
slips out of her dressing gown, there is symbolized all
of the freedom she is seeking and the throwing off of
the restraints and conventionalities which always plaque
her in real life. She goes to Norman freely until she
sees that she has revealed herself and her love, and it
seemed to her that she was standing out on the street
in her slip. Then Norman takes her hand in a new,
quiet way, not interested in her physically, but with a
deep and devoted love, and the two go into the house and
their own world.

The HOpe-Tom scene was undoubtedly meant to be
played with even more of Tom’s newly discovered passion
~coming through. But for a college audience, it was felt
that it would be better to keep the whole situation more

82

in the quiet, dream-like mood with the accent on Tom's
worshipfulness of this new vision which he sees.
Physical contact and movement were cut down and in its
place was substituted such simple, yet meaningful
gestures as Tom's trying to take down HOpe's hair, to
release it and her from all restraint. It is when
Stephen hits upon the real explanation of the Ames'
trouble, that Tom turns away to show his despair.

To get into the Father Francis scene, Tom is
back as a high-school boy going to confession. He
goes into the kneeling position, hands folded, to
enumerate the minor offenses, but we soon realize that
what is really wrong is that he needs a re-explanation
of his faith. As he goes from the bewildered boy to
the reassured young man, he goes from the kneeling
position to a full rise, until he is standing on his own
two feet, ready to face the world.

In direct contrast to Norman Roses's complete
lack for imagination and emotionality in real life, it
is he, alone, who does not need even a real person there
to reenact his scene. He talks to an empty chair, see-
ing Morris Sterner there, and he proffers his fur rug to
passers-by who do not exist. His movements are all those
usually associated with the Jewish race-~quick, damhng,
and sharp gestures and crosses--to point up the change

between his lowly beginning and the suave, cosmopolitan

63

that he is now.

There is much inherent action in the scene between
Lily and Stephen as her Pa. It cpens with the ballet
and the music, and in comparison we see the difference
between this time, when she is dancing of her own free
will--because she likes to, and later, when her father
forces her to dance even though her foot hurts. The
father in his growing drunkenness, must take frequent
drinks, finally going over and sitting at the liquor
table. Again a contrast is noticable between the time
Lily kneels to her father, in great love, in her play-
ing of Cordelia and the later time, when she kneels to
him, begging and pleading with him to be the father she
loves and remembers. But his only answer is to get more
furious with her and to threaten to strike her unless
she dances as he demands. She dances at a faster and
wilder pace until her ankle gives out and.she falls in
a heap at the feet of this drunken and ill-tempered man
who is her father. Itis from the floor that she first
cries out against him. Then as she gains strength,
she rises to her feet, and screams with her whole body.
At the sound of another needing help--Pat's calling for
Mary-~Stephen drops his character suddenly and completely
and with a simple gesture of his hand pointsthe way into
the house and back to reality for Lily.

—— The Westbury Road scene between Pat and Ann, though

64

fantasy, is carried along primarily by the clever and
quick dialogue, without needing much action until to-
ward the end. There, on the motion of the strained
ankle giving way and the kiss, Pat suddenly is reminded
of another time and another place and, forgetting all
about Ann as a person, starts back from where he would
be going if he had followed through to the Westbury Road.
He slowly crosses from the freedom of the garden to
the restraint of the house, as if it were his bounden
duty-~as if he would be doing the wrong thing to go
where he could be happy. However, before he gets com-
pletely under the spell that the idea of Mary has woven
over him, he is called back by Stephen as the combination
of the two fathers. In the confusion of his ideas of
love, Pat stays first by the house representing Mary, and
then he crosses toward the garden symbolizing Ann and
freedom from this death-bound idea. His bewilderment
shows again when he thinks of Ann as being somehow un-
attainable and for a moment, unable to stand the thought
of facing the future without her, sinks to the steps,
head in hands. Then as she calls for him, as he used call
for his Mary, he is up and out into the garden to find
her this time.

As the guests began to gather in preparation for
leaving, the author put in small details to show that

”the whole group is fast getting back to actuality. The

65

one who has the hardest time breaking away from the
past is Lily, who still sees Stephen as her father,
though she knows that is wrong. Each person finally
is able to bid goodbye to Ann and Pat, and to head
out through the garden to'a new free future. Pat

A and Ann are left to begin their new life together,

as the dawn of a new day breaks.

66.

3. The Author's Use of DialOgue.

(All page reference in this section refer to the Script-—
Part II)

In checking further on the dramatization of the
playwright's purpose in presenting his play, the director
turns to the most helpful and most obvious medium provided--
the dialogue in the script itself.

There is no one who will not agree that Philip Barry,
confused and irrational though he may be in his reasoning,
is a writer of some fine note. The critics may disagree
with what he says but they cannot help but admire the
way that he says it. The line values in his plays are
definite and very clear-cut, presenting no great problem
in determining the type and the interpretation to be

L given.

ELSE lgpgg are those which send the play forward in
an ordered manner. Since ngglfUniverse is not primarily
a plot play, this type of line is not as prevalent as
usual. However, there are some very definite lines which
are designed to carry the play along. Every line giving
the time of evening that Felix, the butler, speaks, brings
with it the feeling of time passing and the fact that,
at eleven o'clock, the guests must leave. The lines on
the length of time it will take to get to Toulon (p.24)
and the fact that there are bags to be packed (9.24),
and Stephen's line on their leaving soon (p.100), are

‘le reminding the audience that these people are just

67

guests, soon to be leaving this unusal place. Hope's
lines toward the end of the play are all urging the
people back toward normality (pp 156-158).

Lipggygi exposition are those which give the back-
ground--what happened before this brief scene in these
people's lives. Hope's lines are the very first of the
play (p.6) tell us the fact that they are all guests at
the home of Ann Field and that they are leaving tonight.
All the lines following (pp. 8,9,10) are concerned with
this lad whose suicide had such an effect on the mood
of the whole group. Pat's lines (p. 13,14) give the
background of the Fields-father and daughter, and.

Tom tells the story of the Hotel this house is supposed
to have been (p. 15)

Gradually the past of each one of these lost
peOple who are gathered here is revealed.

Most of Pat's background is revealed in his scenes
with Ann: The pile of money he's trying to make a dent
in (p.79), the fact that he is one of “the great, enor-
mous, important, rich“ Farleys (p. 137), and that he
went to Cambridge (p. 89). He tells the whole story of
his affair with Mary,-the basis for his present attitude-
to Ann when she is playing his mother.

Lily tells us what the past, present and future
holds for her.

Norman is a financial genius to Alice (p.29) but

68

he used to be clerk in a little fur shop on Twenty-third
street (p.63) and we find out from his discussion with
Mr. Sterner (p.121-122) that he has worked himself up
the hard way. Most of the background given for Alice
comes out in.her sleepwalking scene, (p.102ff.), that
she has been Norman's mistress without realizing that
she was in love with him.

Each one of the scenes, when the Terrace becomes
another place and time goes backward, is an exposition
scene-~full of eXposition lives since each is showing
some section of the background of the peOple who play
in them. ‘

Locale Ldp§§_set the stage and the place, and
atmgsphere 1gpg§_set the time and the mood. Because
they often overlap, they will be discussed together.
Pat vies the country--France (p.9). Hope thinks of
Ann as being “buried down here for three years in
this fake, rootless country“, (p. lO-ll). The light-
house is mentioned twice before it comes on, once by

Alice (p. 11) and again by Ann (p. 47). There is a
beach near the house (Ann's line, p. 10) but “the

sea meets the sky without a linve to mark the meeting“
(Pat's line, p. 19-30). Lily's line on the vague unp
rest which she has felt since she cam here (p. 15)

and Tom's lines (p. 15) begin to bring out and emphasize
the unusual mood of this terrace—-which, its said,

sometimes used to resemble other places and other times

69

and “people's pasts kept crapping up.“ Both Lily and
Norman recognize this atmosphere (p. 16) and wonder if
may it could be true. Lily being the actress, again
senses the unusualness of this terrace (p. 20) and
significantly enough recalls the very same line (p.156)
after all the problems have been solved, here, in this
'spot. All of the names mentioned-~Paris, Marseilles,
Toulon, Cannes--re-affirm the country as France. Ann's
offering coffee (p.17) and the butler's giving the time
every half hour, set the time of the play as after dinner-
-starting about nine in the evening and ending a few
moments after eleven. From several lines we learn that
it is a lovely enening-though warm. HOps mentions that
the air is so heavy (p.24) and Lily thinks that is un~
usual for Alice to have a chill on such a night.(p.46)
Stephen never ceases to appreciate the beauty of the
weather and comments not only on the fine night (p.107)
but on the moon (p.109) which has Just become visible
to those on the terrace. ‘On the fantasy scenes, little
indication is given as to the surroundings--only a brief
statement of the general location--“under the piano--
under the apple tree“ for the little boy scene (p50);
the patio of a house Pat's mother had in Florida for the
Pat-Ann scene (p. 186-187; for Alice's sleepwalking scene
(p. losz.) many p1aces--“May in England“, “clerk at the
_.desk“ (indicating a hotel), “out on the street“; for

the Fatner Francis scene, the name, Father Francis recalls

7O

the Tom's lines: “an old priest at school“ (p. 43)

and “St. Lukes“ (p. 98); “...it's a nice hote1-nicer
than the one in Harrisburg was, much nicer, warmer,“
gives the general location of the Lily-Pa scene and

the single words, “Westbury Road“ immediately tell us
that this is where Pat and Ann met, as Ann mentioned in
their other scene (p. 81).

Comedy lines are those which are put in for a
definite purpose: to gain variety from the serious lines,
to give the audience relief from the tension of a previous
scene, or to provide good, general humor, Except for
the Norman Rose scene, most of the comedy lines are
scattered sparsely throughout the play. These people
are too tense and too disillusioned to do much Joking
except of the cynical, jabbing nature. Pat wants to
ridicule Tom's tale about the house, so he makes his
comment-“The man in 608 had a nightmare, and the lady
in 609 rang for ice-water“e-on the “things“ which were
said to have happened in this old Hotel Universe (p.15).
Lily uses an old cliche to try to change the mood of the
discussion and to conceal her tenseness (p. 15): “I'm
taking the night-boat for Albany“. Making light of a
memory which might have had some little effect on him,
Pat passes off the subject of his mother's affair with
the tutor in Cannes, in hiw answer to Alice's question
as to whether Mrs. Farley had fired the tutor: Pat

replies, “Heaven's, no--Mother?“ (p. 25). The sharp

71

relief comedy line of Lily's on the origin of polo

(p. 52), is funny to the audience because it is the
break after a highly tense scene. It is such a com-
plete change of thought and so utterly absurd, that

any other time it would have had the desired effect

and loosened the whole group up. As it is, the line
falls flat. There is a slight humorousness in the
quick, child-like resort to name-calling in the little
boy scene. “Catholic,“ “Mr. Jew,“ “Protestant-dog-
sit-on—a-log-and-eat-meat-on—Friday,“ (p. 55-55)

are all typical of the first way children think to

hurt each other. In the Westbury Roam scene (p. 133 ff)
the humor is that of lighthearted youth, the gay, gentle
poking of fun at everything that happens to catch the
fancy-not too much thought but a lot of laughter. The
Norman Rose scene has that particular brand of humor
that Barry delights so in writing. It is what might be
called “stream of consciousness“ bantering--between a
couple of quick-witted members of this society where

the quip is held highest on the list of conversational
types. The humor comes from the absolute absurdity and
utter nonsense of each new thought, which is, in no way
related to the preceding thought or to the following one.
The one thing which holds it all together is that it is
all a satire on “big business“- with all the words, sit-

..uations, and tones of big business, and one of the sense.

72

Lines p§_characteg are those spoken by the person

 

himself or by another, about him which indicate the type
of character he is, what his personality is like, how
he looks on life. Several lines, before Stephen's en-
trance, give clues as to what he is like. Alice gives
his physical appearance (p.11). Pat gives us some of
the reasons why Ann had to bring him here away from
civilization (p. 13) and Ann dedoribee her feelings
toward this wonderful man who is her father (p. 48).
It is a particularly significant line when the butler
comes in to tell Ann that Stephen wishes to know if
she needs him (p. 61). This points up a later line
of Stephen's (p. 148) that Ann has needed him as much
as he has needed her. The rest of the time, Stephen
reveals himself through his own speeches-his love of
flowers (p. 100); his recOgnition of the similarity
between his own trouble and these people's problems,
and his explanation of what had helped him (p. 105-106);
and his offering to help each one of them (p. 109-110),
knowing as he does that his time here in this world is
limited.

Ann is always thinking so much of others, and no
little of herself, that there are few lines acturally
revealing much of her character, though in everything
she says, we get the qualities of charm, graciousness

,and unselfisnness. Hope is amazed that Ann has endured

73

her guests' “Bad manners“ as long as she has (p.6),
when in reality, Ann as probably either not noticed

at all or is determined not to let it affect her
attitude toward these friends. Lily makes the state-
ment that she feels so inadequate near Ann (p. 27).

Ann has the heart that Lily wants and can never have.
Some of the affect of her father's philosophy can be
seen in her absolute belief in a world beyond this one
(p. 40-41). After the little boy scene, Ann realizes
what has happened and wants to help these peOple whom
she loves, but doesn't have quite the capability of

her father (p. 60-61). Two things are revealed about
Ann in her two scenes with Pat--her great love for him
and her complete and sincere frankness in telling him
so. There is nothing to be gained by avoiding the sub-
Ject so she does not bother. In her line (p. 97),
“Father--Pat's mine-~I can't lose Pat!“, and similar
lines (p. 146), she shows that she knows what will happen
to her if she loses Pat again after waiting for him for
so long.

The first line to give any indication of Pat's
real trouble is, is his line about having no illusions
whatsoever about the “great big wonderful world“ (p.14).
Lily says it is because Pat's slant is that “nothing
matters a damn anyway.“ (p.39) He reaches a conclusion,

directed at the rest, but, in reality, aimed at himself,

74

that everyone is looking for an answer, when there isn't
any-unless maybe it is suicide (p. 63). In this scene
with Lily, Pat says, himself, that he is sunk “a low,
deep, full fathom five“ (p. 68)-and Lily knows the
reason to be that she has taught him to expect nothing
in this world (p. 69). Ann shows how well she knows
him, when she says that he has always been such “life-
and-death person“, taking things so hard (P. 81). She
knows that it was something that happened in England
that made him change so, to come back “as hard as nails
and so bitter“ (p. 84). It is in Pat's last scene with
Stephen as Mr. Carr, (p. 150-151), that we find out, that
it is contempt for himself at having gone off and left
Mary that is causing all this disillusionment with life.
At the end he has found the answer to all of his discon-
tent and restlessness, in “good, quiet things“ (p. 157)
like reading, fishing and good honest hard work.

Lily's character is revealed mostly in her own
lines, except for an occasional comment, such as Norman's
(p. 62) when he says that he is sorrier for her than
for anyone he knows. She shows herself as being greatly
disturbed by the air surrounding this place (p. 15). She
greatly envies Ann's warmth and heart (p. 20, 27) and
she explains the reason for the wisecracking is that she
is afraid of these people's gibes. (p. 20) She tells

that she once tried commiting suicide (p. 42) because

1

75

she Just got sick of herself. At the end, we find

out, in her line, (p. 161) how much she had been

depending on this image of the father for support,

and how weak she feels not that it is gone.

Ann is the first to notice a space left in

tom (p. 43). He clarifies the emptiness a little

more when he tells of the many things that he wanted

to do that somehow just won't get done (p. 48). If

he'd only died at fifteen! (P. 65). Lily sees him as

a fine, free roving soul (p. 67) but we learn from

the Father Francis scene (p. 114 ff.) that he has been

bound so much by his Catholic upbringing and the con-

fusion of his faith. “I don't know what I'm here at all

for-“ (p. 118). After his place in the universe has

been explained and straightened out, he wants to go off

by himself for a while to think it all through, and to

apply it to portions of his oldfaith that have worn

thin (p. 156). It has given him new independence (p.157)

and he will come back to his marrhge a new, more patient,

more contented man. Every line of Hope's in which she

begs the group to stop talking in riddles and to please

make senee, shows her to be a normal, though imagination-

lacking, person who is frightened by that which she

doesn't understand. Its affecting Tom, too, and he's

the worst child she's got. “Oh, if you knew how I want
”'to stay home with my real babies!“ (p. 66). As she

76

explains to Stephen, “To me, life is a very simple
thing—-one has one's home, one's children and one‘s
husband.“ (p. 113), which constitutes her whole world. '
Lily says, “She's so peaceful, so normal-~all home

and babies,“ (p. 66).

Alice's best character lines (p. 39) come when
she gives her philosophy against thinking and against
being clever, and against everything except lazy
happiness and cats. Ans one line in her sleep-walking
scene which reveals a hidden worry (p. 104),“I'M a
pretty girl! Why does no one want me? What are they
afraid of?!

The character lines for Norman come through Lily's
comment (p. 29) that he is one of the most wretched men
she knows, and Tom's idea (p. 63) that Norman is caught
and knows it. He'd like to retire but too much depends
on him. Norman reveals much in stating the fact the; he
would like to Andora, where he would have'gigg,pp_th;pk
(p. 62).

There are two groups of philOBOphy lipgg in £9331
Universg. One group showing the disillusionment of the ‘
younger generation, and the fact that they are living
on faith in practically nothing, and the other group,
representing hope in the future, introducing a new set
of values to live by. The first group is headed by Pat:

7he admits that has no illusions about anything in this

77

world (p. 14). Tom follows with his statement (p. 38)
on having to expect disillusionment if you do any think-
ing at all, and besides what difference does it make,
when we'll all be dead and done with, in a few years
anyway (p. 40). Lily admits having enjoyed going
through this life that has been given to her, but
even she has found no place where she can fit in (p.42).
A significant line is “While there's life--there's the
rent to pay.“ (p.36), which cuts out the familiar “hope“
and substitues a never—ending materialism. Pat's theory
is that their age runs on a different schedule than the
preceding one-they will have had the works at forty
instead of eighty (p. 37), and Norman backs him up with
his idea that people expect too much from life (p. 37).
And all this comes from the generation that is supposed
to be made up of the “lucky ones...the ones who've got
the world by the top of the head.“ (p. 65).

In direct contrast to these cynical, disheartening
statements, comes the calm reassurance of Stephen's
and Ann's philosOphy: Ann's suggestion that they look
with hope toward the possibilities of life, instead of

 

always concerning themselves with the probabilities
(p. 37); Stephen's explanation of the three estates in
existence (P. 106) all of which have some effect on
our present lives; his describing of space and time as

~factors which can be controlled (p. 109), and his offer-

78

ing to help each one of the guests return to that
time in his life which has held the basis of all

the present maladjustment. In the Father Francis
scene, it is as though Stephen wants this message to
go out to all within hearing distance of his voice:
there is a purpose and a meaning to everything that
we think and dc--there is some reason for our being
here. We are all part of a huge wheel-each one of
us providing his share of balance-without anyone of

us the wheel will be thrown off balance.

79

4. The Author's Use of Character.

The third and final aid which the playwright gives
the director in the hunt for the play's purpose, lies
in the use made by the author of his characters. From
the earliest days of playwriting there has been the lead—
ing man who is beset by a problem or problems that must
be solved. The characters which surround this leading
figure have a number of duties to perform. They may be
used for plot purposes, for exposition development, for
comedy relief, or for the expounding of ideas. No wise
playwright uses a character without a purpose. All too
often a minor character has unbalanced a play by using
a peculiar talent to gain too much attention for himselfl.
Each character should not be used for more of a contri-
bution than the playwright has visualized.

In 5932;_Upiverse Mr. Barry has a very definite
use for each of the characters, and each is a separate
and distinct individual. Stephen Field is the Barry
conception of the Almight, a person of great insight and
understanding. His purpose is to unravel the tangled
threads of the lives of his guests. Ann, his daughter,
. who is the hostess to the six guests, starts as the_guide
and counsellor for her friends, but gives over her job
when Stephen appears on the scene. Felix, the butler,
is the only earthy character in the play. He is untouched

fhy anything except his round of butler's duties. The

80

visitors at the Field's Mediterranean Villa each re-
present a type in the limited strata of society from
which he has chosen to peOple his play.

Pat Farley is the wealthy young man whose back-
ground has wrecked his life and career. Tom Ames is
equally young, equally wealthy, but is caught with
too many intellectual concepts which he cannot answer.
Hope, his wife, is the overly normal individual who_
refuses to recognize that life may be complicated.
Norman Rose is an older man, successful and wealthy,
but his success has been his undoing for he has failed
to find the reason, even in his wealth, why he is un-
happy. Alice is one who has found that beauty will
Open doors to her that brains will not--so she has
successfully submerged all signs of intelligence. Lily
is the best example of an outward appearance of brittle
casualness, of hardness and coldness, almost, but not
quite, covering her simple spirit and warm tender heart.

To aid the director in presenting these general
types in the specific characters, a careful and com-
plete character analysis must be undertaken, to help in
bringing out the third dimension of depth.

Stephen, is a scientist-turned philosopher. He
has found that science can only go so far and beyond
that point, we must turn to faith-~in God, in some

,Infinite Guidance, or at least in the spiritual order

81

of nature. He has found his way through the mist set
up by civilization and this highly intellectual world
we are living in, and has almost gone beyond into that
other world of purity and freedom. Fortunately for

the group gathered here on the terrace, enough of

his spirit has remained behind to lead them through
their frustrations into lives of happiness and con-
tentment, such as he has only found now, this late

in life. The guests seem rather much in awe of Stephen,
but they needn't be. He is in reality a very simple
man, interested in his flowers, his pet rooster, and

in devoting his life to helping others to find the
mental ease and quietude that he now knows. He has
passed on to his daughter, Ann, as much as it is possible
to pass from one individual to another. From here on
she must discover for herself.

Ann has been used by the author as a kind of go-
between between herfather and this group of very realistic
peOple. Throughout the first half of the play, she is
the sympathetic, understanding and thoroughly charming
hostess, but at the same time she is preparing the audi-
ence for the philosophic ideas which Stephen will bring
in. She is the pivot of the first half, then after
Stephen comes in, the play revolves around him, and Ann
is free to face and solve her own problem. As for Ann,

lthe person, she has been raised by this deeply philosOphic

82

father, one who thinks in terms of truth and honesty,
and she has absorbed much of his forthrightness. She
has the graciousness that comes with comparitive
serenity and the charm that comes with maturity. It
is noticable that only two people cause her to lose
her emotional stability--the two who are the most im-
portant to her-~Pat and Stephen, her father. She
realizes that the only way to make Pat reveal what it
is that has so affected him, is to give him an Opportun-
ity to talk to someone, who is outside the immediate
picture but who is close enough to him to be terribly
interested in what concerns him. In her great love,
Ann becomes a combination of the woman, Pat's mother
must be and the woman Ann will be when she is on into
middle-age. She is deliberate, calm and understanding,
with the smoothness and the third-person detachment of
the charm they are under. From this journey forward in
time, she takes a step or two backward and becomes the
young, gay joking girl that she was when she and Pat
met-~full of quick laughter and quick soberness. At
the end of the play, however, she is a woman of in -
determinent age-~a woman in love--with an air of tran-
quility around her which reaches out to each person who
is near.

Hard, cynical, disillusioned Pat Farley has managed
with the assistance of Lily to build up a thick curtain

around himself, to screen fromihe world, the confused and

83

bewildered soul which refuses to be straightened out.
Outside interests--his father, the tradition of his
family, his wealth--have continually tried to mold
his destiny and to shape his way of life. He has a
great resentment against this interference from others,
but he has not been allowed to develop strength of
character enough to fight it. From the two other ages
of his life we are allowed to view, we can see that
his disgust with the world and with himself has but
lately come upon him. For three years, he has held
himself responsible for the suicide of the girl, Mary,
feeling that their love was unfulfilled because of a
lack in himself-because he hadn't fought back at these
material forces that blocked his happiness. It is for
Stephen to reveal to him that there was not a true love
thers--that it was only a picture which had replaced
an infatuation in the mind of this man who tends to
dramatize everything about him-—including himself.

Lily Malone is an actress, through and through.
She was born and raised in the theatre, she is now a
well-known star, with enough money from one source or
another to keep her in the manner she likes, and she
will probably go on into character roles in the only
life she knows. She is the “harden the outside, heart
of gold on the inside“ type of person, which often is

-found in Barry's plays. She reflects her occupation in

84

her speech, which is clipped, brittle, and times to

the fraction of the second. Only once in awhile does
another Lily come through-she keeps it pretty well
hidden. But sometimes the warmth and honesty of

her real character is revealed, and we know that the
positive sure face that she shows the audiences covers
a soft and often quite beautiful inner heart. Unlike
the others, it is an illusion, instead of a lack of
illusion, which is keeping her bound. She seems to have
two fathers--the gentle, wonderful, magnificent actor-
father and the harsh, cruel drunken ham, and, until her
scene with Stephen, she has been unable to connect the
two into one person. When she can finally see that

they are one and the same, and that the drunken father
far over-shadowed the other, she is freed from this link
with the past and can start looking to the future.

Tom Ames, as a character, can be identified in
some ways with the author. Perhaps it is because they
are so close, that Tom is one of the most sympathetic
characters in the play, and yet the most difficult to
understand. His problem might be the same as plagued
the young Barry, but because it is difficult to take
an chective viewpoint, the motivation and the solution
are somewhat confused. We know that Tom is groping for
a new faith to take the place of the old one which, he

,feels, has failed him. There is something missing from

85

his life, but he does not know what is-he only knows
that he is not living and is not complete in himself.

He has come away from home on what Pat calls Icrusades
for truth'I but what he really needs is not a new faith
but a new eXplanation and readjustment of the old one.
In HOps, all the time that he ha been married, he has
found a devoted wife and mother. She has been the per-
fect housekeeper, but, lacking completely in imagination
she has been unable to give him what he longed so for--
sympathetic understanding and someone to share his free,
roving spirit. With his faith straightened out, Tom will
come back from Andora with a new independence, able to
work out the answers by himself, and understanding and
loving Hope for what she is.

Hope is best described by Lily: "She's so peaceful,
so normal. She's all home and babies.“ She is a practical
down-to-earth modern woman,—very earnest and sincere in
her desire to help Tom, but bewildered as to what is wrong.
She doesn‘t realize that it is her own lack of imagination,
which is hindering her from understanding the nature of
Tom's problem. He looks to her for protection and she
responds with a maternal love which is not quite adequate
enough for Tom's emotional nature. She will never change,
but Tom, when he returns, will have learned to adapt to
her normalcy and non-imagination and they will find new

-happiness together.

Alice Kendall is described as being “twenty-six,
very smart and rather pretty.‘ She evidently has been
among the wealthy all her life, because she isn't used
to being self-supporting or independent. Having lived
by her beauty and smartness for so long, her brain
has sort of fallen into disuse, and thinking proves to
be such an effort that she rarely bothers. So, as the
philosOphy starts going by, she lets it go right over
her head, without even troubling to raise a.hand to
examine it. She knows she won't understand it anyway.
It isn't until her sleep-walking scene, when all of her
inhibitions are removed, that we learn that she has been
traveling as mistress to Norman and that, unusually
enough, she really is in love with him, and can't under-
stand why he doesn't love her. The warmth of Norman's
protection and concern comes through even the dream, and
at the end of the play, Alice realizes that life would
be empty without him. In humbleness and humility she
goes to him, asking to be taken along--wherever he goes.
This is the solution to the gnawing ache in Alice-this
feeling of being wanted, above all others, for herself
alone.

Norman represents reason over emotion, intelligence
over heart. He is a young Jew who, by his own ambition
and his desire for power and wealth, thinking they bring

“happiness, has worked himself up from a lower East Side

87

fur clerk to the head of a-big corporation-' a finan-
cial genius". He represents "big business'-that which
Philip Barry abhors, not for itself but for the demands
that is puts on those who are ensnared by it. Always

the grabbing after money, money, and more money, with

no leisure time, no life to call your own, draining all
your energy, all your individuality and all your imagin-
ation, leaving you old before your time. To show exactly
how much of a change has taken place in Norman, his scene
from the past is taken from the time when he is a little
Jewish clerk, with all the accent, mannerisms, and
techniques usually associated with that race-in complete
contrast to the suave, sophisticated member of the
“international" set that he is at the time of the play.
To give Barry's idea of what he think all business men
are yearning for, Norman's trouble is that he has no time
to himself-to just quietly contemplate life. He is tied
to his corporation and would be to the day he died, if
he hadn't been shown that he isn't so indispensible as

he thought, that his first responsibility lies with him-
self. If he wants to go offto Andora, they can whistle
for him--he's going! Maybe it's a good thing that all
business men don't feel the way Barry thinks they do.

The world would be in a rather sad shape. Felix, the
butler, with every entrance injects a note of absolute

“detachment, he is the perfect servant-~completely obli-

88

vious and untouched by all of the unusual happenings
of the evening. He is French, having probably come

with the house, and is very correct and in his place.

89

PART FOUR

MISCELLANEOUS

Bibliography

Bibliography.

Barry, Philip, lg; and I, Samuel French, New York, 1925.
Barry, Philip, £§£i§_§gund, Samuel French, New York, 1929.
Barry, Philip, flQlEé.El££§, Boni & Liveright, New York,1927.
Brown, John Mason, Broadway ig Review, W.W. Norton & Co.,l940.
Brown, John Mason, lwg_gg the Aiglg, W.W. Norton & Co.,

New York, 1937.

Brown, John Mason, Upstage: The American Theatre ig_Performance.

 

W.W. Norton & Co., 1936.
Clark, Barrett H., An_§gug_g§_American‘Qramg, J.B.Lippincott,
Co., Philadelphia, 1930.
Dean, Alexander, Fundamentalg g; P;§1_Directigg, Farrar
and Rinehart, Inc., New York, 1945.
Krutch, Joseph Wood, The American Drama Since legs; §g_
Informal Histor , Random House, New York, 1939.
Flexner, Eleanor, American Playwrights,'l§;§gl§§§, Simon
and Schuster, New York, 1938.
Mantle, Burns, Contemporary American Playwrights, Dodd,
Mead & 00., New York, 1938
Nathan, George Jean, The Theatre Book of the _Y_e_§_.r_ Leg-w:
‘A Record and Interpretagggg, Alfred A KnOpf, New York,1942
Nathan, George Jean, Ih§_Theatre Eggk g; the Year 1944:1945:
‘5 Record and Interpretation, Alfred A. Knopf,New York,l94E
Quinn, Arthur Hobson,'A History 2; the American Drama (£52m
2hg_§igil flag §g_the Present Day, F.S. Crofts & Co.
New York, 1936.

Sobel, Bernard,The Theatre Handbook and Digest of Plays,

 

2

Crown Publishers, New York, 1940.
Moses, Montrose J. and Krutch, Joseph Wood, editors,
Representitive American Dramag; Natgpnal and Local,

Little, Brown and 00., Boston, 1941

Publicity and Promotion

Nichigan State Eggs
Vol. 36 334, No.9
Wednesday, July 23, 1947

 

Marie Posz, Tony Chapp, Bill
Devereaux, Joe Carr, Bud Hag-
gart, Alice Luniewski, John Hold-
er, Lois Vosburg and Stan White
.will co-star in Phillip Barrie‘s‘
T“Hotel Universe,” which is being:
presented this term as a graduate
‘thesis production.

i Barabara Forbes, of Des Moines,

13., will direct the drama, and
Shirley Foresman, Appleton, Wis.,
twill act. as producer.

The action throughout the full-
length play is continuous, and
takes place within a two-hour in-
terval at a villa in the south of
,5 Frs nce. '

Barrie’s play is primarily a-
tense, emotional. drama, mirror—
ing the conflict of individual
character.

It will be presented August 1
in Fairchild theater. There will
be no charge for admission. ‘

 

 

 

Michigan State News
Vol. 36 334, No.ll
Wednesday, July 30, 1947

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.. e'. _ Masai“, ,_ girl
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u' ‘ ' __ (v . -

 

l Barry is the author of;
“The Philadelphia Story” and'
“Holiday,” and most of his
plays have been in a lighter vein
than “Hotel Universe,” which is
a serious character study.

The action'of the play is con-
‘tinuous and takes place in ”south-
. ern‘ France.

The play is under the direction
:01? Barbara Forbes, Des Moines‘,

18., and is produced by Shirley
Peresman, Appleton, Wise. both of‘
whom are graduate students.

William Devereaux, Lansing.
’ junior; Marie Posz, East Lansing:
senior; Anthony Chapp, Detroit
sophomore, and Irving Haggart,
Flint sophomre, are the leading

players.
No charge will be made for ad-
mission. ' .
g a -_-r - -- _- l.

 

 

-Kichigan State News

vol. 36 334, No.12 '

Friday, August 1, 1947

,, Drama Rehea recs

 

-As ..

.
not-"coun- ..

l

\ .
“’~“*wia*gh

Photo By Bransdorfer Brbs.

. Stanley White, Grand Blanc junior gives his interpretation of
lines to Zoe Carr fellow thespian. The summer play “Hotel
Universe" by Phillip Barry, is playing this evening at Fairchild
theater. The show is produced by Shirley Foresman and directed
by, Barbara Forbes, graduate students.

 

 

 

CARR " dividuals in the
group- is suffering from some fear
or obsession. Their common con-
cern over the problems of life and
death has been intensified by the
suicide of a fellow traveler.

Resolves Conflicts

The physicist, through his un—
derstandipg of universal forces, is
able to resolve each of their in-

pdtwdualwpquflicts and explain the

 
 

true? 111me21 of life. ,

---—

 

 

clude: Lois Vosburg, Pontiac; Zoe?
Carr, East Lansing junior; Marie
Posz, East Lansing senior; John
Holdei. Battle Creek freshman,
and'Alice Luniewski. Miss Lun-
iewski was seen in the Studio the-
ater’s production of “Far Off
Hills.”

There will be .no charge for ad-
mission.

 

 

 

 

 

x“

 

.l’. ll I. Iii-I'll.

 

Michigan State News
Vol. 36 334, No.13
Wednesday, August 6,1947

1 1 , '
iSum'mer Plays 3
[Draws CroWd

“Hotel Universe,” Philip Bar-
ry’s confusing drama played to a
capacity crowd of !enthusiastic
but confused students and facultyi
in Fairchild theater Friday.

Presented as a master’s thesis;
production by Barbara Forbes.
Des‘Moines, 1a., graduate student:
;and Shirley Foresman, Appleton,
iWis., graduate student, the drama
represented an excursion in ex-
perimental theater.

The cast permrmed exception-
ally well and full credit must go
to the scene designer and others
who did the stage effects.

William Devereauat as Pat Far-
ley and Anthony Chapp as Steph-
en Field were outstanding in car-
rying the load of the play.

Irving Haggart. Lois Vosburg.
ZoeqCarr. Alice Luniewski, Marie
Posz, Stanley White and John
Holder all did excellent work 'in
;character portrayal.

—J. K.

 

 

Postcards sent as personal invitations to

faculty and friends.

. I gy‘ . ,_ *1 h , '5 r. ,. '
.1 ' . 1i :.£‘) ~.\ ..; if z. i.
1""‘* 'i‘t ?""-“- 3 r“ i 1'“ i ".1.."".-"1'"f."‘9. .‘tr- T j' ' r
1 1- ~ ‘14 J‘ 2 " --‘~ 1' J- L ‘1 LT: . l ._ .'.I !49-: J‘nl .:. ‘v. -" 1" .5‘.‘~ J-:, are-fa: .. H.

Coriiaily invites you and your friends to the
CIYUMMLE; Thu:¢£§i*!3ductton ti‘

*3

:17 r 3'] «pa ,3
.‘a .4. ' 1331i?!)

9’ -' an F-‘. “W .._‘\‘fl.lm I

I 5 P1Uu° ?tllalength Drums by Phillip Barry
.1" 53 C i; a C1 by P TC) {l U C 8 d. by
‘rbnfia Sorbes Shirley Norseman

{lill‘ilfi’zBION FREE

‘tr‘eiiwld ‘i’twtme, FI'i‘i-T-Ly, August 1, 1.1347, 8:15) pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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