Main Street (Barnes & Noble Classics Ser - Sinclair Lewis [121]
Carol moaned, “Oh, but Vida dear, do forgive me but this farce—Now what I’d like us to give is something distinguished. Say Shaw’s ‘Androcles.’ Have any of you read it?”
“Yes. Good play,” said Guy Pollock.
Then Raymie Wutherspoon astoundingly spoke up:
“So have I. I read through all the plays in the public library, so’s to be ready for this meeting. And—But I don’t believe you grasp the irreligious ideas in this ‘Androcles,’ Mrs. Kennicott. I guess the feminine mind is too innocent to understand all these immoral writers. I’m sure I don’t want to criticize Bernard Shaw; I understand he is very popular with the highbrows in Minneapolis; but just the same—As far as I can make out, he’s downright improper! The things he says— Well, it would be a very risky thing for our young folks to see. It seems to me that a play that doesn’t leave a nice taste in the mouth and that hasn’t any message is nothing but—nothing but—Well, whatever it may be, it isn’t art. So—Now I’ve found a play that is clean, and there’s some awfully funny scenes in it, too. I laughed out loud, reading it. It’s called ‘His Mother’s Heart,’ and it’s about a young man in college who gets in with a lot of freethinkers and boozers and everything, but in the end his mother’s influence—”
Juanita Haydock broke in with a derisive, “Oh rats, Raymie! Can the mother’s influence! I say let’s give something with some class to it. I bet we could get the rights to ‘The Girl from Kankakee,’ and that’s a real show. It ran for eleven months in New York!”
“That would be lots of fun, if it wouldn’t cost too much,” reflected Vida.
Carol’s was the only vote cast against “The Girl from Kankakee.”
II
She disliked “The Girl from Kankakee” even more than she had expected. It narrated the success of a farm-lassie in clearing her brother of a charge of forgery. She became secretary to a New York millionaire and social counselor to his wife; and after a well-conceived speech on the discomfort of having money, she married his son.
There was also a humorous office-boy.
Carol discerned that both Juanita Haydock and Ella Stowbody wanted the lead. She let Juanita have it. Juanita kissed her and in the exuberant manner of a new star presented to the executive committee her theory, “What we want in a play is humor and pep. There’s where American playwrights put it all over these darn old European glooms.”
As selected by Carol and confirmed by the committee, the persons of the play were:
John Grimm, a millionaire Guy Pollock
His wife Miss Vida Sherwin
His son Dr. Harvey Dillon
His business rival Raymond T. Wutherspoon
Friend of Mrs. Grimm Miss Ella Stowbody
The girl from Kankakee Mrs. Harold C. Haydock
Her brother Dr. Terence Gould
Her mother Mrs. David Dyer
Stenographer Miss Rita Simons
Office-boy Miss Myrtle Cass
Maid in the Grimms’ home Mrs. W. P Kennicott
Direction of Mrs. Kennicott
Among the minor lamentations was Maud Dyer’s “Well of course I suppose I look old enough to be Juanita’s mother, even if Juanita is eight months older than I am, but I don’t know as I care to have everybody noticing it and—”
Carol pleaded, “Oh, my dear! You two look exactly the same age. I chose you because you have such a darling complexion, and you know with powder and a white wig, anybody looks twice her age, and I want the mother to be sweet, no matter who else is.”
Ella Stowbody, the professional, perceiving that it was because of a conspiracy of jealousy that she had been given a small part, alternated between lofty amusement and Christian patience.
Carol hinted that the play would be improved by cutting, but as every actor except Vida and Guy and herself wailed at the loss of a single line, she was defeated. She told herself that, after all, a great deal could be done with direction and settings.
Sam Clark had boastfully written about the dramatic association to his schoolmate, Percy Bresnahan, president of the Velvet Motor Company of Boston. Bresnahan sent a check for a hundred dollars; Sam added twenty-five and brought the fund to Carol, fondly crying,