The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by Tennessee Williams Page B

Twenty Minutes
was first performed 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:
A WOMAN
Lara Grice
A MAN
Sean Glazebrook

Scene: the corner of a fashionable city apartment with a radio, chair, sofa, and cellaret with floor lamp. A man and a woman of about forty have just returned from a late party. The man is glancing through the paper and drinking a hi-ball. The woman is smoking
.
    WOMAN : They say that every twenty minutes somebody in America kills himself.
    MAN : Who says?
    WOMAN : The newspapers.
    MAN : How the hell do they know!
    WOMAN : They’ve got statistics.
    MAN : My God, they’ve statistics for everything, haven’t they! [
He turns a page
.]
    WOMAN : That’s rather often don’t you think? For people to be killing themselves?
    MAN : No. Not often enough really when you think of the number and kinds of people there are.
    WOMAN [
turning away
]: You’re such a cynic, George.
    MAN [
lightly
]: Oh, no, just a realist.
    WOMAN : Call it what you wish, I think you’re a very cold-blooded proposition.
    MAN : I belong to a cold-blooded generation. The generation of fish. We sink or swim and nobody gives a damn which. [
He takes another drink
.]
    WOMAN : Thank God I was born with a set of decent emotions!
    MAN : Emotions are troublesome things.
    WOMAN : Without them life is just a set of automatic reflexes.
    MAN : What’s wrong with that? Damned convenient I think! Saves one a lot of needless stewing. Have a drink?
    WOMAN : No, thank you. I’ve had my quota tonight.
    MAN : I can’t say they’ve done you much good.
    WOMAN : I’m still conscious, if that’s what you mean.
    MAN : Yes. That’s what I mean. [
He turns the radio on
.]
    WOMAN [
clasping her head
]: Please leave it off!
    MAN : Why?
    WOMAN : I’ve got a headache.
    MAN : Take an aspirin.
    WOMAN : It isn’t that kind of a headache. [
She sinks onto the couch
.]
    MAN : What kind is it, then?
    WOMAN : The kind that goes on and on and never stops.
    MAN : May I suggest a remedy?
    WOMAN : Yes, if you only would.
    MAN : You’ll find my revolver in the left-hand drawer of the chifferobe. Results guaranteed.
    WOMAN : Perhaps I will surprise you by using it some day.
    MAN : Nothing would surprise me. [
He drinks again
.]
    WOMAN : No. I guess nothing would. Are you really alive?
    MAN : I think so.
    WOMAN : But you’re not absolutely sure of it?
    MAN : One can’t be sure of anything these days.
    WOMAN : Do you have sensations?
    MAN : Yes.
    WOMAN : Likes and dislikes?
    MAN : Yes.
    WOMAN : What do you like, George?
    MAN : Hmm. The faint spicy fragrance of a carnation, good whiskey, and—
    WOMAN : And being untrue to your wife!
    MAN [
giving her a quick, cold glance
]: Yes, that most of all.
    WOMAN : You’re admirably frank about it.
    MAN : Why shouldn’t I be?
    WOMAN : You might wish to spare my feelings.
    MAN : Your feelings are yours, not mine.
    WOMAN : You loved me once.
    MAN : Did I?
    WOMAN : Yes. Once.
    MAN : How do you know?
    WOMAN : You told me that you did.
    MAN : Perhaps I was lying.
    WOMAN [
violently
]: If you were you ought to be hanged for it!
    MAN : Why?
    WOMAN : Because I believed you!
    MAN : You were much too credulous in your younger days.
    WOMAN : I guess I never belonged to this generation of fish, which you’re so proud of representing!
    MAN : No, my dear. You’re a hopeless anachronism.
    WOMAN : I thank God for that if it means having red blood in my veins!
    MAN : Do you?
    WOMAN : Yes.
    MAN : Even though it makes you miserable?
    WOMAN : Yes, even though it makes me miserable.
    MAN : Ah, well.
    WOMAN : I can’t live without something to care