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The Awakening
Scene One: Six p.m. on a dreary Friday, December 5, 1884. The sun sets on shabby genteel furniture in a gloomy parlor. Scene Two: 2:00 a.m. the wee morning, December 6, 1884.
Scene One: Same night, 2:30 a.m., December 6, 1884 continuous with previous scene. Scene Two: Six days later, December 12, 1884 dusk. Scene Three: A week later, December 19, 1884, late afternoon. Scene Four: Six months later, June 19, 1884, morning. Scene Five: That evening, June 19, 1884, suppertime.
Scene One: Six p.m. on a dreary Friday, December 5, 1884. The sun sets on shabby genteel furniture in a gloomy parlor. KATE CHOPIN, 32, enters in a glamorous robe, her beautiful auburn hair disheveled; she turns up an oil lamp of clear glass with an amethyst tinge—useful for anyone who rides about at night—and stokes the fading fire. Retrieving pencils and her manuscript from inside a walnut dresser, she makes sure she is alone, pours tea and stretches out to write. Someone knocks at the door and hollers, “There’s a beggar outside.” Kate stuffs the manuscript under a cushion, hands money through the door, returns to writing. A jangle of carriage bells. Christmas carolers sing off-key. Kate looks up annoyed, sips tea, then puts in earplugs. Shouts offstage. A pounding at the door and a cry, “The tax collector is here.” Kate writes furiously so she breaks a pencil point. She sharpens it with a knife. Tears up three pages, breaks another pencil. An overhead projection or loudspeaker resounds phrases from her novel, The Awakening. The use of echoing effects, projections of faces on screens, or loudspeakers can heighten the dreamlike mood of Kate writing. KATE “She was seeking herself and discovering herself. No. She was seeking herself and finding herself. (Pause) But the voices were not safe. Were not soothing. But the voices were not soothing that came to her (Pause) from the darkness . . . in the sky above and stars.” More incessant ringing of a service bell. Children’s cries offstage. Kate hides the manuscript, but an end sticks out. She trips over a toy, unlocks the door, exits. Outside bells jangle and a carriage arrives. OSCAR CHOPIN, 38, a good-looking but gaunt cotton merchant, enters. He starts to change into a patched cashmere sweater, and is startled to see Kate’s manuscript. He smiles on scanning the cover. A noise offstage. Oscar hides the manuscript. Kate reenters with books wrapped in gold paper. Oscar moves determinedly to Kate, touches her seductively...
Performance History Invited staged readings at the Jefferson Market Library. Staged readings at the National Arts Club, HB Studios and the Pen and Brush, 2004.
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