MOTHER: Who did you say that to?
GLORIA: Nobody. Myself. [Gets up tiredly.] I practiced my dance routine this morning at the Elk’s Social Hall. My wind’s kind of bad but otherwise I’m okay.
MOTHER: You can’t expect a complete return to health, Bessie.
GLORIA: Can’t I?
MOTHER: No, you’ve had hemorrhage, Bessie. The tissues can heal but . . .
GLORIA [wildly]: STOP IT! [In her cry there is all the tortured passion for life that a human heart can contain.] Stop it, Mother! [Pause.] There’s only one lie contained in this advertisement. At liberty—that’s the lie! —I am not at liberty, Mother, I’m caught in a trap!
MOTHER [closing her eyes]: So am I.
GLORIA: Oh, but I’m not discouraged! —No, it’s just that I haven’t had such good luck to brag about lately . . . [She turns and exits the door, left. The mother stiffly waiting. After a moment, a burst of hysterical sobbing is heard through the door. The mother leans over slowly and turns down the lamp.]
MOTHER: Yes—and neither have I.
CURTAIN OR BLACKOUT
THE MAGIC TOWER
The Magic Tower premiered on March 23, 2011 at the Southern Rep Theatre, New Orleans, as part of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival’s centennial tribute to Williams. It was directed by Aimée Hayes; the set design was by Ashley Sehorn; the costume design was by Laura Sirkin-Brown; the sound design was by Mike Harkins; the props were designed by Sarah Zoghbi; and the lighting design was by Joan Long. The cast, in order of appearance, was as follows:
| LINDA, an ex-vaudeville actress | Lara Grice |
| JIM, a young artist | Alex LeMonier |
| MRS. O’FALLON, an Irish landlady | Cecile Monteyne |
| MOLLY, the landlady’s daughter | Sarah Faust |
| BABE, a chorus girl | Cecile Monteyne |
| MITCH, a vaudeville hoofer | Chris Marroy |
Time: a rainy Sunday evening in late winter. Scene: a garret converted into the living quarters of an unsuccessful young artist and his wife. It is a single room, evidently used for all domestic purposes as well as the artist’s work. There is a large bay window in the center of the back wall. The door is to the left. In the right hand corner is a table bearing a washtub and an electric grill, partly concealed by an ornamental screen. In front of the screen (or any other convenient position) is a studio couch with a bright assortment of pillows. About the walls are colorful batiks and watercolors. Facing the bay window is an easel over which is hung an artist’s smock, hat and cane. The room has an ingenious, very inexpensive charm.
As the curtain rises Linda is discovered at the ironing board, front center. She is moving the iron slowly up and down in one spot, her eyes fastened broodingly on Jim. Jim is reading a magazine.
Linda is more mature than Jim. She is still young and fresh but in voice and movement she has an air of quiet wisdom. Her rather cryptic smile is suggestive of emotional reserves and undiscovered depths of experience. There is something of the Mona Lisa about her.