CAIN and his wife, JAREL, in their early forties, have just returned from a gala banquet in CAIN’S honor; now they are preparing for bed. CAIN undresses slowly, still savoring his delight in being named "Rotarian of the Year." JAREL wears a sheer and obviously expensive negligee, but she hasn’t yet removed her jewelry. She is doing this now and she has quite a bit to remove, perhaps a bit too much...
Dusk; JAREL is sitting on the front steps of an old farmhouse, a building once almost elegant, now genteelly collapsing, its midwestern rococo gingerbread hanging in many places by a single, disinterested, rusty nail. The porch behind JAREL is small; its only piece of furniture is an ancient, unravelling wicker table, also seedy, with several wine bottles on it. JAREL is wearing funeral black - bu...
Shortly after midnight; a grimy train station in a midwestern city. CAIN wearing a conductor’s hat, opens a thermos and pours a cup of coffee, adds to it from a flask he carries in his jacket. GRACE enters; opens a large handbag, her only luggage, takes out an apple, or some other fruit, and eats. As CAIN drinks, he turns to look at the woman. Finally she notices him, and she smiles. GRACE It’s a ...
A woman in black, calling. It is dusk, and imperceptibly the lights dim, until the last four or five speeches are given in almost total darkness. A single pool of light may be used. EVE Cain! Cain! Ca-a-a-i-n! (No answer) That’s all right - I know you can hear me. That’s perfectly all right. Well, they rip you to pieces when they’re born, and they keep at it until you’re dead - it’s the natural, i...
In JAREL’S apartment. There is a table in the room, with a telephone on it. JAREL is seated. SETH is standing, with a deck of cards in his hand. JAREL Look, I never invited you here, I never asked you to come in, and I absolutely do not want to go back to him. And, finally, I don’t want to play any silly game. SETH Don’t knock what you haven’t tried. JAREL I could always try calling the police. Yo...
A travel agency. There may be several large, exotic travel posters in the background. GRACE WILLOW, in her early twenties, a receptionist, is behind a desk or counter. SETH is on the other side, facing away. SETH (Singing) Tall in a grove of willow trees A tower stands, white as tombs; Tall is my Daddy, tower tall, He has a castle with many rooms. The linen’s starched, still and white, The tower’s...
