ARIA DA CAPO A PLAY IN ONE ACT Copyright, 1920 By Edna St. Vincent Millay Printed in the U. S. A. PERSONS Pierrot Columbine Cothurnus, Masque of Tragedy Thyrsis -\ ShepherdsCorydon -/ [Scene: A stage] [The curtain rises on a stage set for a Harlequinade, a merry black and white interior. Directly behind the footlights, and running parallel with them, is a long table, covered with a gay black and white cloth, on which is spread a banquet. At the opposite ends of this table, seated on delicate thin‐legged chairs with high backs, are Pierrot and Columbine, dressed according to the tradition, excepting that Pierrot is in lilac, and Columbine in pink. They are dining. ] COLUMBINE: Pierrot, a macaroon! I cannot _live_ without a macaroon! PIERROT: My only love, You are _so_ intense! . . . Is it Tuesday, Columbine?—I’ll kiss you if it’s Tuesday. COLUMBINE: It is Wednesday, If you must know . . . . Is this my artichoke, Or yours? PIERROT: Ah, Columbine, —as if it mattered!Wednesday . . . . Will it be Tuesday, then, to‐morrow, By any chance? COLUMBINE: To‐morrow will be—Pierrot, That isn’t funny! PIERROT: I thought it rather nice. Well, let us drink some wine and lose our headsAnd love each other. COLUMBINE: Pierrot, don’t you loveMe now? PIERROT: La, what a woman!—how should I know?Pour me some wine: I’ll tell you presently. COLUMBINE: Pierrot, do you know, I think you drink too much. PIERROT: Yes, I dare say I do. . . . Or else too little. It’s hard to tell. You see, I am always wantingA little more than what I have, —or elseA little less. There’s something wrong. My dear, How many fingers have you? COLUMBINE: La, indeed, How should I know?—It always takes me one handTo count the other with. It’s too confusing. Why? PIERROT: Why?—I am a student, Columbine;And search into all matters. COLUMBINE: La, indeed?—Count them yourself, then! PIERROT: No. Or, rather, nay. ’Tis of no consequence. . . . I am becomeA painter, suddenly, —and you impress me—Ah, yes!—six orange bull’s‐eyes, four green pin‐wheels, And one magenta jelly‐roll, —the titleAs follows: Woman Taking in Cheese from Fire‐Escape. COLUMBINE: Well, I like that! So that is all I’ve meantTo you! PIERROT: Hush! All at once I am becomeA pianist. I will image you in sound. . . . On a new scale. . . , Without tonality. . . Vivace senza tempo senza tutto. . . . Title: Uptown Express at Six O’Clock. Pour me a drink. COLUMBINE: Pierrot, you work too hard. You need a rest. Come on out into the garden, And sing me something sad. PIERROT: Don’t stand so near me!I am become a socialist. I loveHumanity; but I hate people. Columbine, Put on your mittens, child; your hands are cold. COLUMBINE: My hands are _not_ cold! PIERROT: Oh, I am sure they are. And you must have a shawl to wrap about you, And sit by the fire. COLUMBINE: Why, I’ll do no such thing!I’m hot as a spoon in a teacup! PIERROT: Columbine, I’m a philanthropist. I know I am, Because I feel so restless. Do not scream, Or it will be the worse for you! COLUMBINE: Pierrot, My vinaigrette! I cannot _live_ withoutMy vinaigrette! PIERROT: My only love, you are_So_ fundamental! . . . How would you like to beAn actress, Columbine?—I am becomeYour manager. COLUMBINE: Why, Pierrot, _I_ can’t act. PIERROT: Can’t act! Can’t act! La, listen to the woman!What’s that to do with the price of furs?—You’re blonde, Are you not?—you have no education, have you?—Can’t act! You underrate yourself, my dear! COLUMBINE: Yes, I suppose I do. PIERROT: As for the rest, I’ll teach you how to cry, and how to die, And other little tricks; and the house will love you. You’ll be a star by five o’clock . . . That is, If you will let me pay for your apartment. COLUMBINE: _Let_ you?—well, that’s a good one!Ha! Ha! Ha!But why? PIERROT: But why?—well, as to that, my dear, I cannot say. It’s just a matter of form. COLUMBINE: Pierrot, I’m getting tired of caviarAnd peacocks’ livers. Isn’t there something elseThat people eat?—some humble vegetable, That grows in the ground? PIERROT: Well, there are mushrooms. COLUMBINE: Mushrooms!That’s so! I had forgotten . . . Mushrooms . . . Mushrooms. . . . I cannot _live_ with . . . How do you like this gown? PIERROT: Not much. I’m tired of gowns that have the waist‐lineAbout the waist, and the hem around the bottom, —And women with their breasts in front of them!—Zut and ehè! Where does one go from here! COLUMBINE: Here’s a persimmon, love. You always liked them. PIERROT: I am become a critic; there is nothingI can enjoy. . . . However, set it aside;I’ll eat it between meals. COLUMBINE: Pierrot, do you know, Sometimes I think you’re making fun of me. PIERROT: My love, by yon black moon, you wrong us both. COLUMBINE: There isn’t a sign of a moon, Pierrot. PIERROT: Of course not. There never was. “Moon’s” just a word to swear by. “Mutton!”—now _there’s_ a thing you can lay the hands on, And set the tooth in! Listen, Columbine:I always lied about the moon and you. Food is my only lust. COLUMBINE: Well, eat it, then, For Heaven’s sake, and stop your silly noise!I haven’t heard the clock tick for an hour. PIERROT: It’s ticking all the same. If you were a fly, You would be dead by now. And if I were a parrot, I could be talking for a thousand years! [Enter COTHURNUS. ] PIERROT: Hello, what’s this, for God’s sake?—What’s the matter?Say, whadda you mean?—get off the stage, my friend, And pinch yourself, —you’re walking in your sleep! COTHURNUS: I never sleep. PIERROT: Well, anyhow, clear out. You don’t belong on here. Wait for your own scene!Whadda you think this is, —a dress‐rehearsal? COTHURNUS: Sir, I am tired of waiting. I will waitNo longer. PIERROT: Well, but whadda you going to do?The scene is set for me! COTHURNUS: True, sir; yet ICan play the scene. PIERROT: Your scene is down for later! COTHURNUS: That, too, is true, sir; but I play it now. PIERROT: Oh, very well!—Anyway, I am tiredOf black and white. At least, I think I am. [Exit COLUMBINE. ] Yes, I am sure I am. I know what I’ll do!—I’ll go and strum the moon, that’s what I’ll do. . . . Unless, perhaps . . . You never can tell . . . I may be, You know, tired of the moon. Well, anyway, I’ll go find Columbine. . . . And when I find her, I will address her thus: “Ehè, Pierrette!”—There’s something in that. [Exit PIERROT. ] COTHURNUS: You, Thyrsis! Corydon!Where are you? THYRSIS: [Off stage. ] Sir, we are in our dressing‐room! COTHURNUS: Come out and do the scene. CORYDON: [Off stage. ] You are mocking us!—The scene is down for later. COTHURNUS: That is true;But we will play it now. I am the scene. [Seats himself on high place in back of stage. ] [Enter CORYDON and THYRSIS. ] CORYDON: Sir, we are counting on this little hour. We said, “Here is an hour, —in which to thinkA mighty thought, and sing a trifling song, And look at nothing. ”—And, behold! the hour, Even as we spoke, was over, and the act begun, Under our feet! THYRSIS: Sir, we are not in the fancyTo play the play. We had thought to play it later. CORYDON: Besides, this is the setting for a farce. Our scene requires a wall; we cannot buildA wall of tissue‐paper! THYRSIS: We cannot actA tragedy with comic properties! COTHURNUS: Try it and see. I think you’ll find you can. One wall is like another. And regardingThe matter of your insufficient mood, The important thing is that you speak the lines, And make the gestures. Wherefore I shall remainThroughout, and hold the prompt‐book. Are you ready? CORYDON‐THYRSIS: [Sorrowfully. ] Sir, we are always ready. COTHURNUS: Play the play! [CORYDON and THYRSIS move the table and chairs to one side out of the way, and seat themselves in a half‐reclining position on the floor. ] THYRSIS: How gently in the silence, Corydon, Our sheep go up the bank. They crop a grassThat’s yellow where the sun is out, and blackWhere the clouds drag their shadows. Have you noticedHow steadily, yet with what a slanting eyeThey graze? CORYDON: As if they thought of other things. What say you, Thyrsis, do they only questionWhere next to pull?—Or do their far minds draw themThus vaguely north of west and south of east? THYRSIS: One cannot say. . . . The black lamb wears its burdocksAs if they were a garland, —have you noticed?Purple and white—and drinks the bitten grassAs if it were a wine. CORYDON: I’ve noticed that. What say you, Thyrsis, shall we make a songAbout a lamb that thought himself a shepherd? THYRSIS: Why, yes!—that is, why, —no. (I have forgotten my line. ) COTHURNUS: [Prompting. ] “I know a game worth two of that!” THYRSIS: Oh, yes. . . . I know a game worth two of that!Let’s gather rocks, and build a wall between us;And say that over there belongs to me, And over here to you! CORYDON: Why, —very well. And say you may not come upon my sideUnless I say you may! THYRSIS: Nor you on mine!And if you should, ’twould be the worse for you! [They weave a wall of colored crêpe paper ribbons from the centre front to the centre back of the stage, fastening the ends to COLUMBINE’S chair in front and to PIERROT’S chair in the back. ] CORYDON: Now there’s a wall a man may see across, But not attempt to scale. THYRSIS: An excellent wall. CORYDON: Come, let us separate, and sit aloneA little while, and lay a plot wherebyWe may outdo each other. [They seat themselves on opposite sides of the wall. ] PIERROT: [Off stage. ] Ehè, Pierrette! COLUMBINE: [Off stage. ] My name is Columbine!Leave me alone! THYRSIS: [Coming up to the wall. ]Corydon, after all, and in spite of the factI started it myself, I do not like thisSo very much. What is the sense of sayingI do not want you on my side the wall?It is a silly game. I’d much preferMaking the little song you spoke of making, About the lamb, you know, that thought himselfA shepherd!—what do you say? [Pause. ] CORYDON: [At wall. ] (I have forgotten the line. ) COTHURNUS: [Prompting. ] “How do I know this isn’t a trick?” CORYDON: Oh, yes. . . . How do I know this isn’t a trickTo get upon my land? THYRSIS: Oh, Corydon, You _know_ it’s not a trick. I do not likeThe game, that’s all. Come over here, or let meCome over there. CORYDON: It is a clever trickTo get upon my land. [Seats himself as before. ] THYRSIS: Oh, very well! [Seats himself as before. ][To himself. ] I think I never knew a sillier game. CORYDON: [Coming to wall. ]Oh, Thyrsis, just a minute!—all the waterIs on your side the wall, and the sheep are thirsty. I hadn’t thought of that. THYRSIS: Oh, hadn’t you? CORYDON: Why, what do you mean? THYRSIS: What do I mean?—I meanThat I can play a game as well as you can. And if the pool is on my side, it’s onMy side, that’s all. CORYDON: You mean you’d let the sheepGo thirsty? THYRSIS: Well, they’re not my sheep. My sheepHave water enough. CORYDON: _Your_ sheep! You are mad, to call themYours—mine—they are all one flock! Thyrsis, you can’t meanTo keep the water from them, just becauseThey happened to be grazing over hereInstead of over there, when we set the wall up? THYRSIS: Oh, can’t I?—wait and see!—and if you tryTo lead them over here, you’ll wish you hadn’t! CORYDON: I wonder how it happens all the waterIs on your side. . . . I’ll say you had an eye outFor lots of little things, my innocent friend, When I said, “Let us make a song, ” and you said, “I know a game worth two of that!” COLUMBINE: [Off stage. ] Pierrot, D’you know, I think you must be getting old, Or fat, or something, —stupid, anyway!—Can’t you put on some other kind of collar? THYRSIS: You know as well as I do, Corydon, I never thought anything of the kind. _Don’t_ you? CORYDON: I _do_ not. THYRSIS: Don’t you? CORYDON: Oh, I suppose so. Thyrsis, let’s drop this, —what do you say?—it’s onlyA game, you know . . . We seem to be forgettingIt’s only a game ... A pretty serious gameIt’s getting to be, when one of us is willingTo let the sheep go thirsty for the sake of it. THYRSIS: I know it, Corydon. [They reach out their arms to each other across the wall. ] COTHURNUS: [Prompting. ] “But how do I know—” THYRSIS: Oh, yes. . . . But how do I know this isn’t a trickTo water your sheep, and get the laugh on me? CORYDON: You can’t know, that’s the difficult thing about it, Of course, —you can’t be sure. You have to takeMy word for it. And I know just how you feel. But one of us has to take a risk, or else, Why, don’t you see?—the game goes on forever! . . . It’s terrible, when you stop to think of it. . . . Oh, Thyrsis, now for the first time I feelThis wall is actually a wall, a thingCome up between us, shutting you awayFrom me. . . . I do not know you any more! THYRSIS: No, don’t say that! Oh, Corydon, I’m willingTo drop it all, if you will! Come on overAnd water your sheep! It is an ugly game. I hated it from the first. . . . How did it start? CORYDON: I do not know . . . I do not know . . . I thinkI am afraid of you!—you are a stranger!I never set eyes on you before! “Come overAnd water my sheep, ” indeed!—They’ll be more thirstyThan they are now before I bring them overInto your land, and have you mixing them upWith yours, and calling them yours, and trying tokeep them! [Enter COLUMBINE] COLUMBINE: [To COTHURNUS. ] Glummy, I want my hat. THYRSIS: Take it, and go. COLUMBINE: Take it and go, indeed. Is it my hat, Or isn’t it? Is this my scene, or not?Take it and go! Really, you know, you twoAre awfully funny! [Exit COLUMBINE] THYRSIS: Corydon, my friend, I’m going to leave you now, and whittle meA pipe, or sing a song, or go to sleep. When you have come to your senses, let me know. [Goes back to where he has been sitting, lies down and sleeps. ] [CORYDON, in going back to where he has been sitting, stumbles over bowl of colored confetti and colored paper ribbons. ] CORYDON: Why, what is this?—Red stones—and purple stones—And stones stuck full of gold!—The ground is fullOf gold and colored stones! . . . I’m glad the wallWas up before I found them!—Otherwise, I should have had to share them. As it is, They all belong to me. . . . Unless— [He goes to wall and digs up and down the length of it, to see if there are jewels on the other side. ] None here—None here—none here—They all belong to me![Sits. ] THYRSIS: [Awakening. ] How curious! I thought the little black lambCame up and licked my hair; I saw the woolAbout its neck as plain as anything!It must have been a dream. The little black lambIs on the other side of the wall, I’m sure. [Goes to wall and looks over. CORYDON is seated on the ground, tossing the confetti up into the air and catching it. ] Hello, what’s that you’ve got there, Corydon? CORYDON: Jewels. THYRSIS: Jewels?—And where did you ever get them? CORYDON: Oh, over here. THYRSIS: You mean to say you found them, By digging around in the ground for them? CORYDON: [Unpleasantly. ] No, Thyrsis, By digging down for water for my sheep. THYRSIS: Corydon, come to the wall a minute, will you?I want to talk to you. CORYDON: I haven’t time. I’m making me a necklace of red stones. THYRSIS: I’ll give you all the water that you want, For one of those red stones, —if it’s a good one. CORYDON: Water?—what for?—what do I want of water? THYRSIS: Why, for your sheep! CORYDON: My sheep?—I’m not a shepherd! THYRSIS: Your sheep are dying of thirst. CORYDON: Man, haven’t I told youI can’t be bothered with a few untidyBrown sheep all full of burdocks?—I’m a merchant. That’s what I am!—And if I set my mind to itI dare say I could be an emperor![To himself. ] Wouldn’t I be a fool to spend my timeWatching a flock of sheep go up a hill, When I have these to play with?—when I have theseTo think about?—I can’t make up my mindWhether to buy a city, and have a thousandBeautiful girls to bathe me, and be happyUntil I die, or build a bridge, and name itThe Bridge of Corydon, —and be rememberedAfter I’m dead. THYRSIS: Corydon, come to the wall, Won’t you?—I want to tell you something. CORYDON: Hush!Be off! Be off! Go finish your nap, I tell you! THYRSIS: Corydon, listen: if you don’t want your sheep, Give them to me. CORYDON: Be off! Go finish your nap. A red one—and a blue one—and a red one—And a purple one—give you my sheep, did you say?—Come, come! What do you take me for, a fool?I’ve a lot of thinking to do, —and while I’m thinking, The sheep might just as well be over hereAs over there. . . . A blue one—and a red one— THYRSIS: But they will die! CORYDON: And a green one—and a coupleOf white ones, for a change. THYRSIS: Maybe I haveSome jewels on my side. CORYDON: And another green one—Maybe, but I don’t think so. You see, this rockIsn’t so very wide. It stops beforeIt gets to the wall. It seems to go quite deep, However. THYRSIS: [With hatred. ] I see. COLUMBINE: [Off stage. ] Look, Pierrot, there’s the moon. PIERROT: [Off stage. ] Nonsense! THYRSIS: I see. COLUMBINE: [Off stage. ] Sing me an old song, Pierrot, —Something I can remember. PIERROT: [Off stage. ] Columbine. Your mind is made of crumbs, —like an escallopOf oysters, —first a layer of crumbs, and thenAn oystery taste, and then a layer of crumbs. THYRSIS: [Searching. ] I find no jewels . . . But I wonder whatThe root of this black weed would do to a manIf he should taste it. ... I have seen a sheep die, With half the stalk still drooling from its mouth. ’Twould be a speedy remedy, I should think, For a festered pride and a feverish ambition. It has a curious root. I think I’ll hack itIn little pieces. . . . First I’ll get me a drink;And then I’ll hack that root in little piecesAs small as dust, and see what the color isInside. [Goes to bowl on floor. ] The pool is very clear. I seeA shepherd standing on the brink, with a red cloakAbout him, and a black weed in his hand. . . . ’Tis I. [Kneels and drinks. ] CORYDON: [Coming to wall. ] Hello, what are you doing, Thyrsis? THYRSIS: Digging for gold. CORYDON: I’ll give you all the goldYou want, if you’ll give me a bowl of water. If you don’t want too much, that is to say. THYRSIS: Ho, so you’ve changed your mind?—It’s different, Isn’t it, when you want a drink yourself? CORYDON: Of course it is. THYRSIS: Well, let me see ... A bowlOf water, —come back in an hour, Corydon. I’m busy now. CORYDON: Oh, Thyrsis, give me a bowlOf water!—and I’ll fill the bowl with jewels, And bring it back! THYRSIS: Be off, I’m busy now. [He catches sight of the weed, picks it up and looksat it, unseen by CORYDON. ] Wait!—Pick me out the finest stones you have . . . I’ll bring you a drink of water presently. CORYDON: [Goes back and sits down, with the jewels before him. ]A bowl of jewels is a lot of jewels. THYRSIS: [Chopping up the weed. ] I wonder if it has a bitter taste. CORYDON: There’s sure to be a stone or two among themI have grown fond of, pouring them from one handInto the other. THYRSIS: I hope it doesn’t tasteToo bitter, just at first. CORYDON: A bowl of jewelsIs far too many jewels to give awayAnd not get back again. THYRSIS: I don’t believeHe’ll notice. He’s too thirsty. He’ll gulp it downAnd never notice. CORYDON: There ought to be some wayTo get them back again. . . . I could give him a necklace, And snatch it back, after I’d drunk the water, I suppose. . . . Why, as for that, of course a _necklace_. . . . [He puts two or three of the colored tapes together and tries their strength by pulling them, after which he puts them around his neck and pulls them, gently, nodding to himself. He gets up and goes to the wall, with the colored tapes in his hands. ] [THYRSIS in the meantime has poured the powdered root—black confetti—into the pot which contained the flower and filled it up with wine from the punch‐bowl on the floor. He comes to the wall at the same time, holding the bowl of poison. ] THYRSIS: Come, get your bowl of water, Corydon. CORYDON: Ah, very good!—and for such a gift as thatI’ll give you more than a bowl of unset stones. I’ll give you three long necklaces, my friend. Come closer. Here they are. [Puts the ribbonsabout THYRSIS’ neck. ] THYRSIS: [Putting bowl to CORYDON’S mouth. ]I’ll hold the bowlUntil you’ve drunk it all. CORYDON: Then hold it steady. For every drop you spill I’ll have a stone backOut of this chain. THYRSIS: I shall not spill a drop. [CORYDON drinks, meanwhile beginning to strangle THYRSIS. ] THYRSIS: Don’t pull the string so tight. CORYDON: You’re spilling the water. THYRSIS: You’ve had enough—you’ve had enough—stop pullingThe string so tight! CORYDON: Why, that’s not tight at all ... How’s this? THYRSIS: [Drops bowl. ] You’re strangling me! Oh, Corydon!It’s only a game!—and you are strangling me! CORYDON: It’s only a game, is it?—Yet I believeYou’ve poisoned me in earnest! [Writhes andpulls the strings tighter, winding them aboutTHYRSIS’ neck. ] THYRSIS: Corydon! [Dies. ] CORYDON: You’ve poisoned me in earnest. . . . I feel so cold. . . . So cold . . . This is a very silly game. . . . Why do we play it?—let’s not play this gameA minute more . . . Let’s make a little songAbout a lamb. . . . I’m coming over the wall, No matter what you say, —I want to be near you. . . . [Groping his way, with arms wide before him, he strides through the frail papers of the wall without knowing it, and continues seeking for the wall straight across the stage. ] Where is the wall? [Gropes his way back, and stands very near THYRSIS without seeing him; he speaks slowly. ] There isn’t any wall, I think. [Takes a step forward, his foot touches THYRSIS’ body, and he falls down beside him. ] Thyrsis, where is your cloak?—just give meA little bit of your cloak! . . . [Draws corner of THYRSIS’ cloak over his shoulders, falls across THYRSIS’ body, and dies. ] [COTHURNUS closes the prompt‐book with a bang, arises matter‐of‐factly, comes down stage, and places the table over the two bodies, drawing down the cover so that they are hidden from any actors on the stage, but visible to the audience, pushing in their feet and hands with his boot. He then turns his back to the audience, and claps his hands twice. ] COTHURNUS: Strike the scene! [Exit COTHURNUS. ] [Enter PIERROT and COLUMBINE. ] PIERROT: Don’t puff so, Columbine! COLUMBINE: Lord, what a messThis set is in! If there’s one thing I hateAbove everything else, —even more than getting my feet wet—It’s clutter!—He might at least have left the sceneThe way he found it ... Don’t you say so, Pierrot? [She picks up punch bowl. They arrange chairs as before at ends of table. ] PIERROT: Well, I don’t know. I think it rather divertingThe way it is. [Yawns, picks up confetti bowl. ] Shall we begin? COLUMBINE: [Screams. ] My God!What’s that there under the table? PIERROT: It is the bodiesOf the two shepherds from the other play. COLUMBINE: [Slowly. ] How curious to strangle him like that, With colored paper ribbons. PIERROT: Yes, and yetI dare say he is just as dead. [Pauses. Calls. ]Cothurnus!Come drag these bodies out of here! We can’tSit down and eat with two dead bodies lyingUnder the table! . . . The audience wouldn’t stand for it! COTHURNUS: (Off stage. ) What makes you think so?—Pull down the tableclothOn the other side, and hide them from the house, And play the farce. The audience will forget. PIERROT: That’s so. Give me a hand there, Columbine. [PIERROT and COLUMBINE pull down the table cover in such a way that the two bodies are hidden from the house, then merrily set their bowls back on the table, draw up their chairs, and begin the play exactly as before. ] COLUMBINE: Pierrot, a macaroon, —I cannot _live_ without a macaroon! PIERROT: My only love, You are _so_ intense! ... Is it Tuesday, Columbine?—I’ll kiss you if it’s Tuesday. [Curtains begin to close slowly. ] COLUMBINE: It is Wednesday, If you must know. ... Is this my artichokeOr yours? PIERROT: Ah, Columbine, as if it mattered!Wednesday. . . . Will it be Tuesday, then, to‐morrow, By any chance? . . . [CURTAIN. ] AUTHOR’S NOTE ON THE PLAYING PO ARIA DA CAPO ORIGINAL CAST AS PLAYED BY THE PROVINCETOWN PLAYERS, NEW YORK CITY PIERROT HARRISON DOWD COLUMBINE NORMA MILLAY COTHURNUS HUGH FERRISS CORYDON CHARLES ELLIS THYRSIS JAMES LIGHT AUTHOR’S NOTE So great is my vexation always, when reading a play, to find itsprogress constantly being halted and its structure loosened byelaborate explanatory parentheses, that I resolved when I shouldpublish Aria da Capo to incorporate into its text only thoseexplanations the omission of which might confuse the reader or lenda wrong interpretation to the lines. Since, however, Aria da Capowas written not only to be read but also to be acted, and beingconscious that the exclusion of the usual directions, whileclarifying the play to the reader, may make it bare of suggestionsand somewhat baffling to the producer, I am adding here some remarkswhich have been found of value in preparing it for presentation onthe stage. Since the production of Aria da Capo by the Provincetown Players, Ihave received a great many letters from the directors of littletheatres, asking for copies of it with a view to producing it. Veryoften, after I send the play, I receive a letter in reply asking forsome suggestions for its presentation, and enclosing directquestions on points that have been difficult. It occurred to mefinally that it would be reasonable to make up a sort of informalprompt‐book to send about with the play; and it is that which isprinted below. It will be found incomplete and uneven, in someinstances unnecessarily detailed, in others not sufficiently so; allof which is due to the fact that it was put together loosely, fromanswers to chance questions, rather than logically, as an entity initself. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF “ARIA DA CAPO” SETTING: The setting required is simple:—a grey curtain, a long black table, two slender black high‐backed chairs, and a raised platform. Instead of wings and back‐drop the Provincetown Players cleverlyutilized painted screens, the heights varying from 6 to 10 feet, these being set right and left of the stage in such manner as togive the effect of depth and distance. The table, six feet long and two feet wide, has thin legs and ispainted black. When Pierrot and Columbine enter in the final scene, it is notnecessary that the table which Cothurnus has replaced shall entirelyconceal the bodies of Thyrsis and Corydon. Pierrot and Columbinemust ignore them until the lines indicate their discovery, no matterhow they may have fallen. Particular attention must be given to the chairs in this set. Theyare used to construct the tissue‐paper wall, and, althoughdelicate, should be heavy enough to remain solid and steady, up anddown stage, without the possibility of an upset when Corydon stridesthrough the wall. Near the footlights (actors’ left) are two sofa pillows, used torepresent the rocks against which the shepherds lean. On the left ofthe stage have another pillow, which Thyrsis places under his headwhen he lies down to sleep. Use cloth or crêpe paper for thesepillows, and have them of spotted black and white material, or ofany gay color except red or blue. Cothurnus occupies a chair upon a platform, up‐stage, centre, withtwo or three steps surrounding it on three sides. Drape this withplain heavy black cloth. The table covering is important. Its width is equal to that of theadded height and width of the table. As it must be moved to coverthe bodies of Thyrsis and Corydon, it should be of sufficient weightto prevent slipping. It will be well to experiment with this, toensure proper performance. The cover should have black and white spots and striped ends. The table is set as follows:—two large wooden bowls (at least seveninches high and fourteen inches in diameter). One is placed at eachend of the table. That at Columbine’s end should containpersimmons, pomegranates, grapes and other bright exotic fruits. Pierrot’s bowl has confetti and colored paper ribbons, the lattershowing plainly over the edge. (If Columbine uses practicalmacaroons, put them into this bowl. ) Near Columbine, place a practical uncooked artichoke; have this ofgood size, and nail it to a wooden standard, painted black. At bothplaces there are tall white wooden goblets. In the centre of the table there should be a curious, grotesque, butvery gay flower, standing upright in a pot of wood or heavy paper, which will not break when Thyrsis drops it. Concealed at the root ofthis plant there should be a small sack of black confetti, to beused in the “poison scene. ” The table should be set with nothing but these articles, and yetgive the appearance of bounty and elegance. Place the table parallel with the footlights, —the long side towardthe audience. Columbine’s chair is at the actors’ right, and Pierrot’sopposite—Columbine’s hat hangs from her chair‐top. Both chairs arefestooned with tissue‐paper ribbons, at least ten feet long, to beused later by the shepherds to represent their wall. These must beof such a texture as to break readily when Corydon walks through, and a prearranged transverse tear or two will assist in the promptbreakage when he does so. PROPERTIES: Two white wooden bowls, one filled with fruits and the other withconfetti and paper ribbons, —one ribbon to be of cotton or silk, inorder to be not too easily broken by Corydon when strangling Thyrsis Two tall white wooden goblets One artichoke nailed to a standard One flower in paper or wooden pot, the root wrapped with black crêpepaper (or use confetti) Black and white tablecloth Macaroons Boots and prompt‐book for Cothurnus (large flat black book) Also, if desired, mask of Tragedy for Cothurnus Crêpe or tissue streamers of different colors, including no red orblue, for wall. COSTUMES: PIERROT: Lavender or lilac satin, preferably a blue‐lavender. Careshould be taken that the lavender does not turn pink under the stagelights. Pierrot’s costume is the conventional smock with widetrousers, with black crêpe paper rosettes on the smock, wide whitetarleton ruff. Black evening pumps with black rosettes may be worn. Black silk skull‐cap. COLUMBINE: Tight black satin bodice cut very low, with straps overthe shoulders, quite like the modern evening gown; very fulltarleton skirts of different shades of pink and cerise, reaching tothe knees; ruffled bloomers of apple‐green tarleton, the rufflesshowing below the skirts; black silk stockings and black balletslippers, laced with green. Hat of lavender crêpe paper, withstreamers of gay colors—including, however, no clear red or blue. Hat should be small and very smart—not a _shepherdess_ hat. Columbineshould be made up to suggest a doll. As originally interpreted shehad short light hair, standing out bushily all over her head. Longhair should be rolled under to give a _bobbed_ effect, or could bearranged in obvious caricature of some extreme modern style, butmust look attractive, and must be blonde. COTHURNUS: Plain toga of dull purple in some heavy, unreflectingmaterial which will fall into large folds, lined with sombreflame‐color; a garment with large purple sleeves, of which only thesleeves were visible, was worn under the toga, —but the effect shouldbe classical; heavy boots should be worn, as nearly as possible likethe tragic Roman buskin; one end of the great toga is tied into arough hood which covers the actor’s head; a mask may be worn, but itis often difficult to speak through, and, if desired, the actor’sface may be made up to represent a mask of Tragedy. THYRSIS and CORYDON: These costumes, in striking contrast to theelegance of those of Pierrot and Columbine, should be very simple, and very roughly made; short tunics of outing‐flannel or some suchmaterial—fastened loosely over one shoulder, —one shoulder, as wellas most of the back and breast, exposed. Legs bare, or swathed fromthe knee to the ankle in rough strips of the same material. Sandals. Cloaks of heavier, cheap material fastened to the tunics in such away that they will appear to be simply flung over the shoulder, butactually fastened very cleverly in order to avoid tripping theshepherds, who are continually sitting down on the floor and gettingup again. Thyrsis wears a dark grey tunic and cloak of raw bright red, —but nota turkey‐red, as this color will kill the blue of Corydon’s cloak. Corydon wears tunic of light grey and cloak of brilliant blue. Theremust be no red or blue used anywhere in the entire play excepting inthe blue and red of these two cloaks. The two shepherds must be sostrong and vivid in every way that when Columbine comes in and says, “Is this my scene or not?” it will seem to the audience that it isshe, not the shepherds, who is hopelessly out of the scene. CHARACTERS: PIERROT: Pierrot sees clearly into existing evils and is renderedgaily cynical by them; he is both too indolent and too indifferentto do anything about it. Yet in several lines of the play his actualunhappiness is seen, —for instance, “Moon’s just a word to swearby, ” in which he expresses his conviction that all beauty andromance are fled from the world. At the end of the play the line, “Yes, and yet I dare say he is just as dead, ” must not be saidflippantly or cynically, but slowly and with much philosophicconcentration on the thought. From the moment when Columbine cries, “What’s that there under the table?” until Pierrot calls, “Cothurnus, come drag these bodies out of here!” they both standstaring at the two bodies, without moving in any way, or evenlifting their eyes. (This same _holding_ of the play is used severaltimes also by the shepherds, —for instance, always during theoff‐stage interpolations, they stand either staring at each other acrossthe wall, or maintaining whatever other position they may have hadwhen the off‐stage voice begins speaking, until the interruption isover, when they resume their drama quite as if nobody had spoken. )Columbine’s “How curious to strangle him like that” is spokenextremely slowly, in a voice of awe, curiosity, and horror. For amoment the two characters seem almost to feel and be subdued by thetragedy that has taken place. They remain standing very quietlywhile Cothurnus speaks his final lines off stage, and for a momentafter he has said, “The audience will forget”; then very slowlyraise their eyes and exchange glances, Pierrot nods his head curtlyand says, “That’s so”; they set their bowls gaily back on the table, and the play begins again. Pierrot in such lines as “Ah, Columbine, as if it mattered!” speakswith mock saccharine tenderness; but in such lines as “If you were afly you would be dead by now!” although he speaks very gaily hismalice must be apparent almost even to her; Columbine bores him todeath. When he says, “I’ll go and strum the moon!” he is for theinstant genuinely excited and interested; he is for this moment likea child, and is happy. COLUMBINE: Pretty and charming, but stupid; she never knows whatPierrot is talking about, and is so accustomed to him that she nolonger pretends to understand him; but she is very proud of him, andwhen he speaks she listens with trustful admiration. Herexpression, “I cannot live without” this or that, is a phrase sheuses in order to make herself more attractive, because she believesmen prefer women to be useless and extravagant; if left to herselfshe would be a domestic and capable person. COTHURNUS: This character should be played by a tall and imposingfigure with a tremendous voice. The voice of Cothurnus is one ofthe most important things in the acting play. He should have a voicedeeper than the voice used by any of the other persons, should speakweightily and with great dignity, but almost without intonation, andquite without feeling, as if he had said the same words many timesbefore. Only in his last speech may he be permitted a comment onthe situation. This speech should be spoken quite as impressively asthe others and fully as slowly. CORYDON and THYRSIS: These two characters are young, very simple, and childlike; they are acted upon by the force that sits on theback of the stage behind them. More and more as their quarreladvances they begin to see that something is wrong, but they have noidea what to do about it, and they scarcely realize what ishappening, the quarrel grows so from little things into big things. Corydon’s first vision of the tragedy is in “It’s terrible when youstop to think of it. ” Thyrsis’ first vision comes when he looks intothe pool; in seeing the familiar reflection he is struck by theunfamiliarity of one aspect of it, the poisonous root; for the firsttime he realizes that this man who is about to kill with poisonedwater his most beloved friend, is none other than Thyrsis_himself_, —“’Tis I!” The personalities of Thyrsis and Corydon arenot essentially different. They develop somewhat differently, because of the differing circumstances. When Columbine goes out for the first time she takes with her herartichoke and her wine‐glass, also a couple of macaroons, which shenibbles, going out. This helps to get the table cleared. The otherarticles are removed by the shepherds when they prepare the stagefor their scene, in this manner: at the cue “Sir, we are alwaysready. . . . Play the play!”, Corydon and Thyrsis come down stage, Corydon to Pierrot’s end of the table, Thyrsis to Columbia’s;simultaneously, first, they set back the chairs against the wall, Pierrot’s left front, Columbine’s right front; next they remove thetwo big bowls and set them in symmetrical positions on the floor, left front and right front, in such a way that the bowl of confettimay be the mine of jewels for Corydon, and the bowl of fruits, thepunch‐bowl, may represent the pool of water for Thyrsis; then, taking the table by the two ends, they set it back against the wall, right; next, while Corydon places the two pillows from the left wallon the floor to represent rocks in their pasture, Thyrsis removesfrom the table everything that is left on it except thetablecloth, —this should be only Pierrot’s wine‐goblet and the flowerin its pot. (The flower is to represent later the poisonous weedwhich Thyrsis finds, the wine‐goblet a drinking‐cup beside the pool, the flower‐pot a bowl in which to mix the poison and bring it toCorydon. ) The two shepherds do this setting of their stage swiftlyand silently, then seat themselves at once, in easy but beautifulpostures, and remain for a moment looking off as if at their sheepwhile a complete silence settles over the stage and house, —a_pastoral_ silence, if it is possible to suggest it—before theybegin to speak. When Columbine comes in, looking for her hat, she picks up the hatfrom her chair, now in the centre of the stage near the footlights, in a direct line with Pierrot’s, which is centre back, just in frontof Cothurnus, —the shepherds having set them in these positions, backto back, in order to have their aid in weaving the wall. Aftertaking her hat, Columbine stands looking at the shepherds to seewhat is going on. They do not look at her. After a moment Thyrsis, slowly, with his eyes steadfastly on Corydon’s, says, “Take it, andgo. ” When Columbine comes in in the final scene, she is wearing thehat. She takes it off, however, as she sits down again at the table, so that the second beginning of the play may recall as vividly aspossible to the audience the first beginning.