DRAMATIC WORK

 

by Ben Scranton

Syn­op­sis

When an African-Amer­i­can woman submits an unusual piece of orig­i­nal art to a show whose

theme is ‘The End of Society as We Know It’ debate ensues between the white arts administrator

and the artist.  They nav­i­gate a treach­er­ous maze of verbal spar­ring, pop­u­lat­ed with racial barbs

and per­son­al threats.  The play is a satire on race rela­tions and the role of art in society.

 

Char­ac­ters

DORIS SMITH African-Amer­i­can.  65+.  Pleas­ant.  Cheer­ful.  Up-beat. 

RANDALL JONES White.  30–35.  But­toned-up.  Con­ser­v­a­tive.  By-the-book. 

 

Time Present day.

Place The reg­is­tra­tion table at a munic­i­pal art show in a high school gym­na­si­um located in a run-down part of the city.

 

DORIS

(Approach­ing the table.  She carries a large bag.) 

Hello.  Doris Smith.  Here is my fifty-dollar entry fee. 

(Hands him cash.) 

RANDALL

Very well.  Thank you. 

(Checks the reg­is­tra­tion list.  Places money in a cash box.  His back­pack sits to one side.) 

Here’s your receipt. 

 

DORIS

Thank you.  It is so nice to have the show in my neigh­bor­hood.  I walked here. 

 

RANDALL

Yes, it cer­tain­ly is dif­fer­ent.  The Arts League received a grant from the state to support the under­served areas of the city.  To reach out and embrace everyone. 

 

DORIS

Is that how they put it? 

 

RANDALL

Culture enrich­es every segment of society. 

 

DORIS

I always knew I was a segment, and now I’ve been embraced.  (beat) You’ve never been to this part of town, have you? 

 

RANDALL

No, I haven’t.  We aim to reach out.  Our goal is to – 

 

DORIS

Yes, I know.  You received a state grant to embrace everyone.

RANDALL

Our shows are usually held in the audi­to­ri­um at The Fine Arts Museum in mid-town.

 

DORIS

I’ve been there. 

 

RANDALL

Yes, well uh, your art work madam?

 

(She opens a large bag and takes out an over-sized pair of sharp-tipped scis­sors which are entire­ly covered by black and white paint.  They are pro­fes­sion­al scis­sors, or shears, as might be used by a tailor or a fabric cutter.  They are large enough to be menacing.)

 

RANDALL

This?  This is your entry?

 

DORIS

Yes.  I see you’re impressed.

 

RANDALL

But, scis­sors?  Madam, you under­stand we receive paint­ings at this show.

 

DORIS

Yes, of course.  I painted the scissors.

 

RANDALL

I can see that.  Did you email us the entry form along with photos of three exam­ples of your work?

 

DORIS

I did.  I’m all thumbs with the com­put­er so my nephew helped me.  I’m sure it went through.

 

RANDALL

Do you have a copy of the form with you?

 

DORIS

Cer­tain­ly.  (She rum­mages through her bag to produce the form.  Hands it to him.)

 

RANDALL

This does seem in order.  The thing is, we never received your form.  If we had, we would not have accept­ed the – 

 

DORIS

My name appears on your reg­is­tra­tion list. 

 

RANDALL

Yes, that is true, however – 

 

DORIS 

(Joyful.  Pro­duc­ing a photo from her bag,)

Take a look at this.  It’s a pink flamin­go in a yellow tutu.  What I did here was to combine a kitschy yard orna­ment with the del­i­ca­cy of a ballerina’s tutu.

 

RANDALL

That is amusing, I suppose.  Now, back to the scissors.

 

DORIS

I call it The Lithe Pink­ness of Grace. 

 

RANDALL 

Your take on Grace Kelly, is it?  Princess Grace of Monaco?  A flamin­go in a tutu.  There are so many possibilities.

 

(They share a laugh.  His is insincere.)

 

DORIS

Should I change the title?

 

RANDALL 

Oh no, keep it pink.  It’s mem­o­rable.  That’s what you desire isn’t it?  To be memorable.

 

DORIS

Oh, to be remem­bered for my art after I’m gone.  That would be some­thing, wouldn’t it?  I’m so pleased you like it and can see it’s intrin­sic value as art. 

 

RANDALL

Really?  Art?  Value?

 

DORIS

It makes a bold state­ment com­bin­ing crass com­mer­cial­ism as rep­re­sent­ed by the flamin­go, which appeals to one segment of society, with the del­i­ca­cy of an artis­tic item, the tutu, which is asso­ci­at­ed with the ballet and patron­ized by a dif­fer­ent segment of society.  It’s oil and water. 

 

RANDALL

Class warfare is what it is.  (beat) I know what hap­pened.  This was an inter­nal admin­is­tra­tive error.  Your form got mis­ap­plied.  This piece might be con­sid­ered in the absur­dist show we are spon­sor­ing next spring, but not here.

 

DORIS

Your inter­nal admin­is­tra­tive mis­takes are not my concern. 

 

RANDALL

But, madam – 

 

DORIS

I do not wish to wait until next year.

RANDALL

I see.  (beat) What does this rep­re­sent?  (Point­ing to the scissors.)

 

DORIS

Oh!  (thrilled) Do you record the artist’s intent here at the reg­is­tra­tion table?  Will it be typed on a card and dis­played next to my scis­sors?  How won­der­ful.  Are you a judge too? 

 

RANDALL

No madam, I am not a judge, and I don’t take state­ments of any kind. 

 

DORIS

You do have an opinion.

 

RANDALL

Yes, but I do not judge.

 

DORIS

We all judge dear.  Whether it’s evident to others, well … who’s to say.  Although some folks are quite trans­par­ent.  What’s your name? 

 

RANDALL

Randall.

 

DORIS

That’s a storied name with medieval origins derived from Ran­dolph, meaning shield.  Doris is 

from the Greek meaning the sea, bountiful. 

 

RANDALL

Madam, I’m afraid – 

 

DORIS

(Urgent.) Afraid?  Are you quite well?

 

RANDALL

Yes, I’m fine.  What I mean to say is scis­sors are a rather unusual choice I’m afraid.

 

DORIS

Oh, you are afraid.  Afraid of what others might think or say in accept­ing my artwork, is that it? 

Or, is it some­thing else?  Are you afraid of me?

 

RANDALL

Madam, I assure you I am not afraid of you.

 

DORIS

About what my art, as you said earlier, represents.

 

RANDALL

If you wait until next spring, perhaps – 

DORIS

I have no inten­tion in waiting.  I’m on bor­rowed time.  The admin­is­tra­tive error, as you call it, is an inter­nal matter unre­lat­ed to me or my artwork.  It is not my concern.

 

RANDALL

Your bor­rowed time, while unfor­tu­nate, is not my concern. 

 

DORIS

I see.  We obvi­ous­ly differ in what this show should be.  Who actu­al­ly gets rep­re­sent­ed here anyway?  Is seems to me this is an example of, what was it, class warfare I believe you called it?

 

RANDALL

That was in ref­er­ence to your flamin­go in a tutu, not this show.  Madam, your entry rep­re­sents nothing.  It is not acceptable. 

 

DORIS

Oh Randall, you do judge.  My entry rep­re­sents the theme of the show, ‘The End of Society as 

We Know It.’

 

RANDALL

Yes, I know the theme. 

 

DORIS

I don’t think you do or you would see that my entry is – 

 

RANDALL

Perhaps if you went away and came back with a painting. 

 

DORIS

I am not going away Randall.  My name is on the reg­is­tra­tion list, and you have taken my payment.  Now, if I may be given my lot number I’ll be on my way.

 

RANDALL

Madam – 

 

DORIS

Doris.

 

RANDALL

Doris.  The Art League will support me when I tell you, this venue is not for you.

 

DORIS

I’ve titled it, Black and White Scis­sors.  It rep­re­sents the shred­ding of society. 

 

RANDALL

I see.  How clever.

 

DORIS

Thank you.  Are you famil­iar with the concept of ‘Ready-Mades’ as it relates to art?

 

RANDALL

Yes.  I know the term.

 

DORIS

Ready-Mades are natural or dis­card­ed objects, often mass-pro­duced, found by chance and held to 

have aes­thet­ic value by the artist.  One takes an object and creates art.  It has been said Picasso 

was the first to utilize it in 1912 in his still life, Chair Caning.  Do you know the artist Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Lor­ing­hoven or Marcel Duchamp?

 

RANDALL

Yes.  (Snarky) Do you suppose they will be here?

 

DORIS

(Amused) Oh no Randall.  You are a sar­cas­tic wit aren’t you.  They are both dead. 

 

RANDALL

Yes, very.

 

DORIS

There is a con­tro­ver­sary that in 1917 either Baroness Elsa or Marcel Duchamp pur­chased a porce­lain urinal from a plumb­ing supply ware­house in Paris turned it upside down and created the most famous of all Ready-Made art works titled Fountain.

 

RANDALL

Is this a joke?  Are you making fun of me and this show?

 

DORIS

Why no dear.  It’s no joke.  You have a ten­den­cy to be fearful, which you fail to acknowledge. 

Don’t be stupid too.  “Nothing in the world is more dan­ger­ous than sincere igno­rance and con­sci­en­tious stu­pid­i­ty.”  Martin Luther King.

 

RANDALL

You seem to know every­thing don’t you.  Well, I can play this game too.  “The great­est enemy of knowl­edge is not igno­rance.  It is the illu­sion of knowl­edge.”  Stephen Hawking.

 

DORIS

Well done, Randall.  You are a clever one.  Since the scis­sors are not to your liking, I will open 

them to create two daggers.  Like this.

 

(In a strong gesture she brings the scis­sors up over her head with the blades open and 

direct­ed at him.  In defi­ance, she holds this posi­tion through his next two lines.)

 

RANDALL

Madam, Doris, please put the scis­sors down. 

(Agi­tat­ed, growing more and more fearful.)

The review board will cat­e­gor­i­cal­ly reject the scis­sors and the daggers.  This is not art.  Put the 

scis­sors down! 

 

DORIS

It is art.  Art is an expres­sion by the artist to make a bold and mean­ing­ful state­ment.  Not just 

show pretty colors on a canvas.  You would do well to acknowl­edge that. 

 

(She moves closer.)

 

RANDALL

This is unac­cept­able.  You are a danger.  I knew we shouldn’t have come into this neigh­bor­hood.  Well, I came prepared. 

 

(He reaches into his back­pack and takes out a letter opener.)

 

DORIS

(Lowers the scissors.)

Oh Randall, how dra­mat­ic.  Is that a letter opener?

 

RANDALL

Yes.  But not just any letter opener.  It’s from the gift shop at The Fine Arts Museum.  See, there is the insignia. 

 

DORIS

Is this some form of sarcasm?  Or mocking? 

 

RANDALL

You are mis­guid­ed madam.  Action must be taken.  Now give me those scissors. 

 

DORIS

Now you want the scissors? 

 

RANDALL

You have threat­ened me. 

 

DORIS

This form of per­son­al­ized terror is not the answer, dear.  Fear creates vio­lence.  It must be confined. 

 

RANDALL

Give me those scissors!

 

DORIS

There is always another way.  Now put down the letter opener.

 

RANDALL

Not as long as you bran­dish that weapon.  Look, I have tried to reason with you, even engag­ing in a dis­cus­sion of art history but you fail to accept the fact that I am reject­ing you.

 

DORIS

Oh?  Reject­ing me as a person, or reject­ing my art? 

(Silence) 

I see.  You are afraid of me aren’t you.  Should I be afraid of you, Randall?  ‘Action must be 

taken’ is a telling statement. 

(Silence) 

Very well.  In that case, I have another Ready-Made object to show you. 

 

(She reaches into her bag and takes out a letter opener.)

 

RANDALL

That will be another fifty-dollars.

 

DORIS

I don’t think so.  You reject­ed the scis­sors.  This replaces the scis­sors.  Just as effec­tive in support of the theme, don’t you think?  Also, from the gift shop.

 

RANDALL

But those are the wooden ones.  Mine are metal.  I’ve got the upper hand. 

 

DORIS

But I’ve got the letter opener and the scissors.

 

RANDALL 

Well, I’ve got a pen too.  Some­place.  (beat) It seems we have a standoff. 

 

DORIS

Yes, as ridicu­lous as it is, we do.  Here we stand with scis­sors and letter openers as rep­re­sen­ta­tives in a long-running, his­toric, fre­quent­ly violent, dif­fer­ence of opinion.

 

RANDALL

My opinion of you is – 

 

DORIS

Careful Randall.  Once said, not soon forgotten.

 

RANDALL

I will hold my opinion, and this posi­tion, for as long as nec­es­sary.  Much longer than you.

 

DORIS

Don’t under­es­ti­mate me dear.  My nephew is a police officer.  I’ve been trained in defen­sive moves.  (beat) Oh Randall, “nothing is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”

 

RANDALL

That state­ment is not your own.  It was said by Madam Curie.  You are condescending.

 

DORIS

And you are unduly fearful and reck­less.  I’m seventy-two years old, and you are, what, thirty-

some­thing?  I’m threat­en­ing your what?  Your lifestyle?  The city?  The country?  Your 

under­stand­ing of art? 

 

RANDALL 

Life imi­tates art.  There is plenty of vio­lence in art.  Edvard Munch’s The Scream for example.

 

DORIS

That is not vio­lence.  It exhibits anxiety and alien­ation.  What’s the entire quote?  Do you know? 

 

RANDALL 

“Life imi­tates Art far more than Art imi­tates Life.” 

 

DORIS

Oscar Wilde.  From his 1889 essay, ‘The Decay of Lying.’

 

RANDALL

Why did you ask if you knew? 

 

DORIS

To see if you knew.  You are an enigma, Randall.  (beat) What is it you do for a living?  This?

 

RANDALL

No.  Yes.  I mean I’m part-time at the museum.  I do other things too.

 

DORIS

What?  What is it you do?

 

RANDALL

I’m a pho­tog­ra­ph­er.  Mostly houses right now, for Realtor® list­ings.  But that’s just to make some money.  I’ve got other plans and other pho­tographs too.  More artis­tic ones. 

 

DORIS 

Oh?  Tell me.

 

RANDALL

Well, I’m taking an arts pho­tog­ra­phy class right now. 

 

DORIS

That’s won­der­ful.  I’d love to see some of your photographs.

 

RANDALL

Really?

 

DORIS

Yes.

 

RANDALL

Why?

DORIS

You’ve seen my work.  (Silence) It could be wonderful.

 

RANDALL

Well … the instruc­tor asked the class to vote for three pho­tographs to be in the school exhibit.  It was a secret vote.  I got chosen.

 

DORIS

You see.  It must be won­der­ful.  What is it?

 

RANDALL

A black and white landscape.

 

DORIS

Black and white like my scis­sors.  Oh Randall, we have some­thing in common.  Let’s see it.

 

RANDALL

(He sets the letter opener on the table and takes a port­fo­lio from his back­pack.  He gets more and more ener­gized as he explains the pho­to­graph to her.)  

This is the one she chose.  It’s a dead oak tree.  It’s not dead really.  It was taken in the winter, which you can see of course.  So, it’s a live oak tree, I think, but looks dead.  Just a bare tree with the sun and the snow.  A study in light and dark.

 

DORIS

I should say.  Look how the sun cuts through the branch­es right here.  This is very good.  It could be an Ansel Adams.

 

RANDALL

The instruc­tor likes it too.

 

DORIS

Well, of course she would.  Oh Randall, you’re an artist.  Just like me.

 

RANDALL

What?  Well, no.  Really?  You think?  I … guess so. 

 

DORIS

Isn’t that what you want to be? 

 

RANDALL

(Hes­i­tates, as if ver­bal­iz­ing it for the first time.)

Yes, I do. (beat) Tell you what, no promis­es, but I’ll ask the review board if they’ll put your scis­sors in the show. 

 

DORIS

Oh Randall.  That would be won­der­ful.  You are an enigma dear, puz­zling, and a challenge. 

 

RANDALL

“The power of the artist is to show people how to live.”  Another obser­va­tion by Wilde

 

DORIS

To teach them how to live, I would add.  Would you agree? 

 

RANDALL

That’s rea­son­able.  (beat) I’m not sure how we do that.

 

DORIS 

We observe dear.  People have been looking at art for cen­turies.  It speaks to us.  Changes us even.  Look!  We have put down our weapons. 

(The scis­sors and the letter openers are on the table.)

 

RANDALL

Office sup­plies really, aren’t they. 

 

DORIS

Yes.  But in the wrong hands … well.

 

RANDALL

Is this the end of society as we know it?

 

DORIS

That is the theme after all.  It’s up to us, don’t you believe?

 

RANDALL

Time will tell.

 

DORIS

How much time do you think we have?

 

End of play

 

This story orig­i­nal­ly appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 17.

Photo by Alek­san­dar Živković